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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, History of American Socialisms, by John
+Humphrey Noyes
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: History of American Socialisms
+
+
+Author: John Humphrey Noyes
+
+
+
+Release Date: March 26, 2011  [eBook #35687]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF AMERICAN SOCIALISMS***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Fritz Ohrenschall and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
++-----------------------------------------------------------+
+| Transcriber's Note:                                       |
+|                                                           |
+| Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original     |
+| document have been preserved.                             |
+|                                                           |
+| Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. For     |
+| a complete list, please see the end of this document.     |
+|                                                           |
++-----------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF AMERICAN SOCIALISMS.
+
+by
+
+JOHN HUMPHREY NOYES.
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+This is an exact reprint
+of the scarce 1870 edition
+
+This edition
+Limited to 500 Copies
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The object of this book is to help the study of Socialism by the
+inductive method. It is, first and chiefly, a collection of facts; and
+the attempts at interpretation and generalization which are
+interspersed, are secondary and not intentionally dogmatic.
+
+It is certainly high time that Socialists should begin to take lessons
+from experience; and for this purpose, that they should chasten their
+confidence in flattering theories, and turn their attention to actual
+events.
+
+This country has been from the beginning, and especially for the last
+forty years, a laboratory in which Socialisms of all kinds have been
+experimenting. It may safely be assumed that Providence has presided
+over the operations, and has taken care to make them instructive. The
+disasters of Owenism and Fourierism have not been in vain; the
+successes of the Shakers and Rappites have not been set before us for
+nothing. We may hope to learn something from every experiment.
+
+The author, having had unusual advantages for observing the
+Socialistic movements, and especial good fortune in obtaining
+collections of observations made by others, has deemed it his duty to
+devote a year to the preparation of this history.
+
+As no other systematic account of American Socialisms exists, the
+facts here collected, aside from any interpretation of them, may be
+valuable to the student of history, and entertaining to the general
+reader.
+
+The present issue may be considered a proof-sheet, as carefully
+corrected as it can be by individual, vigilance. It is hoped that it
+will call out from experts in Socialism and others, corrections and
+additions that will improve it for future editions.
+
+_Wallingford, Conn., December, 1869._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                                    PAGE
+
+        I. INTRODUCTION                                         1
+
+       II. BIRDS-EYE VIEW                                      10
+
+      III. THEORY OF NATIONAL EXPERIENCE                       21
+
+       IV. NEW HARMONY                                         30
+
+        V. INQUEST ON NEW HARMONY                              44
+
+       VI. YELLOW SPRINGS COMMUNITY                            59
+
+      VII. NASHOBA                                             66
+
+     VIII. SEVEN EPITAPHS                                      73
+
+       IX. OWEN'S GENERAL CAREER                               81
+
+        X. CONNECTING LINKS                                    93
+
+       XI. CHANNING'S BROOK FARM                              102
+
+      XII. HOPEDALE                                           119
+
+     XIII. THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES                          133
+
+      XIV. THE NORTHAMPTON ASSOCIATION                        154
+
+       XV. THE SKANEATELES COMMUNITY                          161
+
+      XVI. SOCIAL ARCHITECTS                                  181
+
+     XVII. FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIALISM                          193
+
+    XVIII. LITERATURE OF FOURIERISM                           200
+
+      XIX. THE PERSONNEL OF FOURIERISM                        211
+
+       XX. THE SYLVANIA ASSOCIATION                           233
+
+      XXI. OTHER PENNSYLVANIA EXPERIMENTS                     251
+
+     XXII. THE VOLCANIC DISTRICT                              267
+
+    XXIII. THE CLARKSON PHALANX                               278
+
+     XXIV. THE SODUS BAY PHALANX                              286
+
+      XXV. OTHER NEW YORK EXPERIMENTS                         296
+
+     XXVI. THE MARLBORO ASSOCIATION                           309
+
+    XXVII. PRAIRIE HOME COMMUNITY                             316
+
+   XXVIII. THE TRUMBULL PHALANX                               328
+
+     XXIX. THE OHIO PHALANX                                   354
+
+      XXX. THE CLERMONT PHALANX                               366
+
+     XXXI. THE INTEGRAL PHALANX                               377
+
+    XXXII. THE ALPHADELPHIA PHALANX                           388
+
+   XXXIII. LA GRANGE PHALANX                                  397
+
+    XXXIV. OTHER WESTERN EXPERIMENTS                          404
+
+     XXXV. THE WISCONSIN PHALANX                              411
+
+    XXXVI. THE NORTH AMERICAN PHALANX                         449
+
+   XXXVII. LIFE AT THE NORTH AMERICAN                         468
+
+  XXXVIII. END OF THE NORTH AMERICAN                          487
+
+    XXXIX. CONVERSION OF BROOK FARM                           512
+
+       XL. BROOK FARM AND FOURIERISM                          529
+
+      XLI. BROOK FARM AND SWEDENBORGIANISM                    537
+
+     XLII. THE END OF BROOK FARM                              551
+
+    XLIII. THE SPIRITUALIST COMMUNITIES                       564
+
+     XLIV. THE BROCTON COMMUNITY                              577
+
+      XLV. THE SHAKERS                                        595
+
+     XLVI. THE ONEIDA COMMUNITY                               614
+
+    XLVII. REVIEW AND RESULTS                                 646
+
+   XLVIII. TWO SCHOOLS OF SOCIALISM                           658
+
+
+
+
+AMERICAN SOCIALISMS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+Many years ago, when a branch of the Oneida Community lived at Willow
+Place in Brooklyn, near New York, a sombre pilgrim called there one
+day, asking for rest and conversation. His business proved to be the
+collecting of memoirs of socialistic experiments. We treated him
+hospitably, and gave him the information he sought about our
+Community. He repeated his visit several times in the course of some
+following years, and finally seemed to take a very friendly interest
+in our experiment. Thus we became acquainted with him, and also in a
+measure with the work he had undertaken, which was nothing less than a
+history of all the Associations and Communities that have lived and
+died in this country, within the last thirty or forty years.
+
+This man's name was A.J. Macdonald. We remember that he was a person
+of small stature, with black hair and sharp eyes. He had a benevolent
+air, but seemed a little sad. We imagined that the sad scenes he had
+encountered while looking after the stories of so many short-lived
+Communities, had given him a tinge of melancholy. He was indeed the
+"Old Mortality" of Socialism, wandering from grave to grave, patiently
+deciphering the epitaphs of defunct "Phalanxes." We learned from him
+that he was a Scotchman by birth, and a printer by trade; that he was
+an admirer and disciple of Owen, and came from the "old country" some
+ten years before, partly to see and follow the fortunes of his
+master's experiments in Socialism: but finding Owenism in ruins and
+Fourierism going to ruin, he took upon himself the task of making a
+book, that should give future generations the benefit of the lessons
+taught by these attempts and failures.
+
+His own attempt was a failure. He gathered a huge mass of materials,
+wrote his preface, and then died in New York of the cholera. Our
+record of his last visit is dated February, 1854.
+
+Ten years later our attention was turned to the project of writing a
+history of American Socialisms. Such a book seemed to be a want of the
+times. We remembered Macdonald, and wished that by some chance we
+could obtain his collections. But we had lost all traces of them, and
+the hope of recovering them from the chaos of the great city where he
+died, seemed chimerical. Nevertheless some of our associates, then in
+business on Broadway, commenced inquiring at the printing offices, and
+soon found acquaintances of Macdonald, who directed them to the
+residence of his brother-in-law in the city. There, to our joyful
+surprise, we found the collections we were in search of, lying useless
+except as mementos, and a gentleman in charge of them who was willing
+we should take them and use them as we pleased.
+
+On examining our treasure, we found it to be a pile of manuscripts, of
+letter-paper size and three inches thick, with printed scraps from
+newspapers and pamphlets interspersed. All was in the loosest state of
+disorder; but we strung the leaves together, paged them, and made an
+index of their contents. The book thus extemporized has been our
+companion, as the reader will see, in the ensuing history. The number
+of its pages is seven hundred and forty-seven. The index has the names
+of sixty-nine Associative experiments, beginning with Brook Farm and
+ending with the Shakers. The memoirs are of various lengths, from a
+mere mention to a narrative of nearly a hundred pages. Among them are
+notices of leading Socialists, such as Owen, Fourier, Frances Wright,
+&c. The collection was in no fit condition for publication; but it
+marked out a path for us, and gave us a mass of material that has been
+very serviceable, and probably could not elsewhere be found.
+
+The breadth and thoroughness of Macdonald's intention will be seen in
+the following circular which, in the prosecution of his enterprise, he
+sent to many leading Socialists.
+
+    PRINTED LETTER OF INQUIRY.
+
+                                        "_New York, March, 1851._
+
+    "I have been for some time engaged in collecting the necessary
+    materials for a book, to be entitled '_The Communities of the
+    United States_,' in which I propose giving a brief account of
+    all the social and co-operative experiments that have been made
+    in this country--their origin, principles, and progress; and,
+    particularly, the causes of their success or failure.
+
+    "I have reason to believe, from long experience among social
+    reformers, that such a work is needed, and will be both useful
+    and interesting. It will serve as a guide to all future
+    experiments, showing what has already been done; like a
+    light-house, pointing to the rocks on which so many have been
+    wrecked, or to the haven in which the few have found rest. It
+    will give facts and statistics to be depended upon, gathered
+    from the most authentic sources, and forming a collection of
+    interesting narratives. It will show the errors of enthusiasts,
+    and the triumphs of the cool-thinking; the disappointments of
+    the sanguine, and the dear-bought experience of many social
+    adventurers. It will give mankind an idea of the labor of body
+    and mind that has been expended to realize a better state of
+    society; to substitute a social and co-operative state for a
+    competitive one; a system of harmony, for one of discord.
+
+    "To insure the truthfulness of the work, I propose to gather
+    most of my information from individuals who have actually been
+    engaged in the experiments of which I treat. With this object in
+    view, I take the liberty to address you, asking your aid in
+    carrying out my plan. I request you to give me an account of the
+    experiment in which you were engaged at ----. For instance, I
+    require such information as the following questions would call
+    forth, viz:
+
+    "1. Who originated it, or how was it originated?
+
+    "2. What were its principles and objects?
+
+    "3. What were its means in land and money?
+
+    "4. Was all the property put into common stock?
+
+    "5. What was the number of persons in the Association?
+
+    "6. What were their trades, occupations and amount of skill?
+
+    "7. Their education, natural intelligence and morality?
+
+    "8. What religious belief, and if any, how preached and
+    practised?
+
+    "9. How were members admitted? was there any standard by which
+    to judge them, or any property qualification necessary?
+
+    "10. Was there a written or printed constitution or laws? if so
+    can you send me a copy?
+
+    "11. Were pledges, fines, oaths, or any coercive means used?
+
+    "12. When and where did the Association commence its experiment?
+    Please describe the locality; what dwellings and other
+    conveniences were upon it; how many persons it could
+    accommodate; how many persons lived on the spot; how much land
+    was cultivated; whether there were plenty of provisions; &c.,
+    &c.
+
+    "13. How was the land obtained? Was it free or mortgaged? Who
+    owned it?
+
+    "14. Were the new circumstances of the associates superior or
+    inferior to the circumstances they enjoyed previous to their
+    associating?
+
+    "15. Did they obtain aid from without?
+
+    "16. What particular person or persons took the lead?
+
+    "17. Who managed the receipts and expenditures, and were they
+    honestly managed?
+
+    "18. Did the associates agree or disagree, and in what?
+
+    "19. How long did they keep together?
+
+    "20. When and why did they break up? State the causes, direct
+    and indirect.
+
+    "21. If successful, what were the causes of success?
+
+    "Any other information relating to the experiment, that you may
+    consider useful and interesting, will be acceptable. By such
+    information you will confer a great favor, and materially assist
+    me in what I consider a good undertaking.
+
+    "The work I contemplate will form a neat 12mo. volume, of from
+    200 to 280 pages, such as Lyell's 'Tour in the United States,'
+    or Gorrie's 'Churches and Sects of the United States.' It will
+    be published in New York and London at the lowest possible
+    price, say, within one dollar; and it is my intention, if
+    possible, to illustrate the work with views of Communities now
+    in progress, or of localities rendered interesting by having
+    once been the battle grounds of the new system against the old.
+
+    "Please make known the above, and favor me with the names and
+    addresses of persons who would be willing to assist me with such
+    information as I require.
+
+    "Trusting that I shall receive the same kind aid from you that I
+    have already received from so many of my friends,
+
+                        "I remain, very respectfully, yours,
+
+                                           "A.J. MACDONALD."
+
+Among the manuscripts in Macdonald's collection are many that were
+evidently written in response to this circular. Many others were
+written by himself as journals or reports of his own visits to various
+Associations. We have reason to believe that he spent most of his time
+from his arrival in this country in 1842 till his death in 1854, in
+pilgrimages to every Community, and even to every grave of a
+Community, that he could hear of, far and near.
+
+He had done his work when he died. His collection is nearly exhaustive
+in the extent of its survey. Very few Associations of any note are
+overlooked. And he evidently considered it ready for the press; for
+most of his memoirs are endorsed with the word "_Complete_," and with
+some methodical directions to the printer. He had even provided the
+illustrations promised in his circular. Among his manuscripts are the
+following pictures:
+
+A pencil sketch and also a small wood engraving of the buildings of
+the North American Phalanx;
+
+A wood engraving of the first mansion house of the Oneida Community;
+
+A pencil sketch of the village of Modern Times;
+
+A view in water-colors of the domain and cabin of the Clermont
+Phalanx;
+
+A pencil sketch of the Zoar settlement;
+
+Four wood engravings of Shaker scenes; two of them representing
+dances; one, a kneeling scene; and one, a "Mountain meeting;" also a
+pencil sketch of Shaker dwellings at Watervliet;
+
+A portrait of Robert Owen in wood;
+
+A very pretty view of New Harmony in India ink;
+
+A wood-cut of one of Owen's imaginary palaces;
+
+Two portraits of Frances Wright in wood; one representing her as she
+was in her prime of beauty, and the other, as she was in old age;
+
+A fine steel engraving of Fourier.
+
+In the following preface, which was found among Macdonald's
+manuscripts, and which is dated a few months before his death, we
+have a last and sure signal that he considered his collection
+finished:
+
+
+    PREFACE TO THE BOOK THAT WAS NEVER PUBLISHED.
+
+    "I performed the task of collecting the materials which form
+    this volume, because I thought I was doing good. At one time,
+    sanguine in anticipating brilliant results from Communism, I
+    imagined mankind better than they are, and that they would
+    speedily practise those principles which I considered so true.
+    But the experience of years is now upon me; I have mingled with
+    'the world,' seen _stern reality_, and now am anxious to do as
+    much as in me lies, to make known to the many thousands who look
+    for a 'better state' than this on earth as well as in heaven,
+    the amount (as it were at a glance) of the labors which have
+    been and are now being performed in this country to realize that
+    'better state'. It may help to waken dreamers, to guide lost
+    wanderers, to convince skeptics, to re-assure the hopeful; it
+    may serve the uses of Statesmen and Philosophers, and interest
+    the general reader; but it is most desirable that it should
+    increase the charity of all those who may please to examine it,
+    when they see that it was for Humanity, in nearly all instances,
+    that these things were done.
+
+    "Of necessity the work is imperfect, because of the difficulty
+    in obtaining information on such subjects; but the attempt,
+    whatever may be its result, should not be put off, since there
+    is reason to believe that if not now collected, many particulars
+    of the various movements would be forever lost.
+
+    "It remains for a future historian to continue the labor which I
+    have thus superficially commenced; for the day has not yet
+    arrived when it can be said that Communism or Association has
+    ceased to exist; and it is possible yet, in the progress of
+    things, that man will endeavor to cure his social diseases by
+    some such means; and a future history may contain the results of
+    more important experiments than have ever yet been attempted.
+
+    "I here return my thanks to the fearless, confiding, and
+    disinterested friends, who so freely shared with me what little
+    they possessed, to assist in the completion of this work. I name
+    them not, but rejoice in their assistance.
+
+                                                 A.J. MACDONALD.
+
+    "_New York City, 1854._"
+
+The tone of this preface indicates that Macdonald was discouraged. The
+effect of his book, if he had lived to publish it, would have been to
+aggravate the re-action against Socialism which followed the collapse
+of Fourierism. We hope to make a better use of his materials.
+
+It should not be imagined that we are about to edit his work. A large
+part of his collections we shall omit, as irrelevant to our purpose.
+That part which we use will often be reconstructed and generally
+condensed. Much of our material will be obtained from other sources.
+The plan and theory of this history are our own, and widely different
+from any that Macdonald would have been willing to indorse. With these
+qualifications, we still acknowledge a large debt of gratitude to him
+and to the Providence that gave us his collections.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF THE EXPERIMENTS.
+
+
+A general survey of the Socialistic field will be useful, before
+entering on the memoirs of particular Associations; and for this
+purpose we will now spread before us the entire Index of Macdonald's
+collections, adding to it a schedule of the number of pages which he
+gave to the several Associations, and the dates of their beginning and
+ending, so far as we have been able to find them. Many of the
+transitory Associations, it will be seen, "made no sign" when they
+died. The continuous Communities, such as the Shakers, of course have
+no terminal date.
+
+INDEX OF MACDONALD'S COLLECTION.
+
+    Associations, &c.                        No. of Pages.     Dates.
+    Alphadelphia Phalanx                          7            1843-6.
+    Auxiliary Branch of the Association
+      of All Classes of All Nations               3            1836.
+    Blue Spring Community                         1            1826-7.
+    Brazilian Experiment                          1            1841.
+    Brook Farm                                   20            1842-7.
+    Brooke's Experiment                           5            1844.
+    Brotherhood of the Union                      1            1850-1.
+    Bureau Co. Phalanx                            1            1843.
+    Cincinnati Brotherhood                        5            1845-8.
+    Clarkson Industrial Association              11            1844.
+    Clermont Phalanx                             13            1844-7.
+    Colony of Bethel                             11            1852.
+    Columbian Phalanx                             1            1845.
+    Commonwealth Society                          1            1819.
+    Communia Working Men's League                 1            1850.
+    Convention at Boston of the Friends
+    of Association                                2            1843.
+    Convention in New York for organizing
+      an Industrial Congress                      1            1845.
+    Co-operating Society of Alleghany Co.         1            1825.
+    Coxsackie Community                           2            1826-7.
+    Davis' Harmonial Brotherhood                  2            1851.
+    Dunkers                                       4            1724.
+    Ebenezer Community                            5            1843.
+    Emigration Society, 2d Section                4            1843.
+    Forrestville Community                        1            1825.
+    Fourier, Life of                              3
+    Franklin Community                            1            1826.
+    Garden Grove                                  1            1848.
+    Goose Pond Community                          1            1843.
+    Grand Prairie Community                       2            1847.
+    Grand Prairie Harmonial Institute             8            1853.
+    Guatemala Experiment                          1            1843.
+    Haverstraw Community                          3            1826.
+    Hopedale Community                           13            1842.
+    Hunt's Experiment of Equality                12            1843-7.
+    Icaria                                       82            1849
+    Integral Phalanx                              5            1845.
+    Jefferson County Industrial Association       3            1843.
+    Kendal Community                              4            1826.
+    Lagrange Phalanx                              2            1843.
+    Leraysville Phalanx                           5            1844.
+    Macluria                                      7            1826.
+    Marlboro Association                         10            1841.
+    McKean County Association                     1            1843.
+    Modern Times                                  3            1851.
+    Moorhouse Union                               6            1843.
+    Moravians, or United Brethren                 9            1745.
+    Murray, Orson S.                              3
+    Nashoba                                      14            1825-8.
+    New Lanark                                   10            1799.
+    New Harmony                                  60            1825-7.
+    North American Phalanx                       38            1843-55.
+    Northampton Association                       7            1842.
+    Ohio Phalanx                                 11            1844-5.
+    Oneida Community                             27            1847.
+    One-mentian Community                         6            1843.
+    Ontario Phalanx                               1            1844.
+    Owen, Robert                                 25
+    Prairie Home Community                       23            1844.
+    Raritan Bay Union                             5            1853.
+    Sangamon Phalanx                              1            1845.
+    Shakers                                      93            1776.
+    Skaneateles Community                        18            1843-6.
+    Social Reform Unity                          23            1842.
+    Sodus Bay Phalanx                             3            1844.
+    Spiritual Community at Mountain Cove          3            1853.
+    Spring Farm Association                       3            1846-9.
+    St. Louis Reform Association                  1            1851.
+    Sylvania Association                         25            1843-5.
+    Trumbull Phalanx                             13            1844-7.
+    United Germans                                2            1827.
+    Venezuelan Experiment                        25            1844-6.
+    Warren, Josiah, Time Store &c.               11            1842.
+    Washtenaw Phalanx                             1            1843.
+    Wisconsin Phalanx                            21            1844-50.
+    Wright, Frances                               9
+    Wilkinson, Jemima, and her Community          5            1780.
+    Yellow Springs Community                      1            1825.
+    Zoar                                          8            1819.
+
+On general survey of the matter contained in this index, we may begin
+to sort it in the following manner:
+
+First we will lay aside the antique _religious_ Associations, such as
+the Dunkers, Moravians, Zoarites, &c. We count at least seven of
+these, which do not properly belong to the modern socialistic
+movement, or even to American life. Having their origin in the old
+world, and most of them in the last century, and remaining without
+change, they exist only on the outskirts of general society.
+
+Next we put out of account the _foreign_ Associations, such as the
+Brazilian and Venezuelan experiments. With these may be classed those
+of the Icarians and some others, which, though within the United
+States, are, or were, really colonies of foreigners. We see six of
+this sort in the index.
+
+Thirdly, we dismiss two or three Spiritualistic attempts that are
+named in the list; first, because they never attained to the dignity
+of Associations; and secondly, because they belonged to a later
+movement than that which Macdonald undertook to record. The social
+experiments of the Spiritualists should be treated by themselves, as
+the _sequelę_ of the Fourier excitement of Macdonald's time.
+
+The Associations that are left after these exclusions, naturally fall
+into two groups, viz.; those of the OWEN MOVEMENT, and those of the
+FOURIER MOVEMENT.
+
+Robert Owen came to this country and commenced his experiments in
+Communism in 1824. This was the beginning of a national excitement,
+which had a course somewhat like that of a religious revival or a
+political campaign. This movement seems to have culminated in 1826;
+and, grouped around or near that year, we find in Macdonald's list,
+the names of eleven Communities. These were not all strictly Owenite
+Communities, but probably all owed their birth to the general
+excitement that followed Owen's labors, and may therefore, properly be
+classified as belonging to the Owen movement.
+
+Fourierism was introduced into this country by Albert Brisbane and
+Horace Greeley in 1842, and then commenced another great national
+movement similar to that of Owenism, but far more universal and
+enthusiastic. We consider the year 1843 the focal period of this
+social revival; and around that year or following it within the
+forties, we find the main group of Macdonald's Associations.
+Thirty-four of the list may clearly be referred to this epoch. Many,
+and perhaps most of them, never undertook to carry into practice
+Fourier's theories in full; and some of them would disclaim all
+affiliation with Fourierism; but they all originated in a common
+excitement, and that excitement took its rise from the publications of
+Brisbane and Greeley.
+
+Confining ourselves, for the present, to these two groups of
+Associations, belonging respectively to the Owen movement of 1826 and
+the Fourier movement of 1843, we will now give a brief statistical
+account of each Association; i.e., all we can find in Macdonald's
+collection, on the following points: 1, Locality; 2, Number of
+members; 3, Amount of land; 4, Amount of debt; 5, Duration. We give
+the amount of land instead of any other measurement of capital,
+because all and more than all the capital of the Associations was
+generally invested in land, and because it is difficult to
+distinguish, in most cases, between the cash capital that was actually
+paid in, and that which was only subscribed or talked about.
+
+As to the reliability of these statistics, we can only say that we
+have patiently picked them out, one by one, like scattered bones, from
+Macdonald's heap. Though they may be faulty in some details, we are
+confident that the general idea they give of the attempts and
+experiences of American Socialists, will not be far from the truth.
+
+
+_Experiments of the Owen Epoch._
+
+Blue Spring Community; Indiana; no particulars, except that it lasted
+"but a short time."
+
+Co-operative Society; Pennsylvania; no particulars.
+
+Coxsackie Community; New York; capital "small;" "very much in debt;"
+duration between 1 and 2 years.
+
+Forrestville Community; Indiana; "over 60 members;" 325 acres of land;
+duration more than a year.
+
+Franklin Community; New York; no particulars.
+
+Haverstraw Community; New York; about 80 members; 120 acres; debt
+$12,000; duration 5 months.
+
+Kendal Community; Ohio; 200 members; 200 acres; duration about 2
+years.
+
+Macluria; Indiana; 1200 acres; duration about 2 years.
+
+New Harmony; Indiana; 900 members; 30,000 acres, worth $150,000;
+duration nearly 3 years.
+
+Nashoba; Tennessee; 15 members; 2,000 acres; duration about 3 years.
+
+Yellow Spring Community; Ohio; 75 to 100 families; duration 3 months.
+
+
+_Experiments of the Fourier Epoch._
+
+Alphadelphia Phalanx; Michigan; 400 or 500 members; 2814 acres;
+duration 2 years and 9 months.
+
+Brook Farm; Massachusetts; 115 members; 200 acres; duration 5 years.
+
+Brooke's experiment; Ohio; few members; no further particulars.
+
+Bureau Co. Phalanx; Illinois; small; no particulars.
+
+Clarkson Industrial Association; New York; 420 members; 2000 acres;
+duration from 6 to 9 months.
+
+Clermont Phalanx; Ohio; 120 members; 900 acres; debt $19,000; duration
+2 years or more.
+
+Columbian Phalanx; Ohio; no particulars.
+
+Garden Grove; Iowa; no particulars.
+
+Goose Pond Community; Pennsylvania; 60 members; duration a few months.
+
+Grand Prairie Community; Ohio; no particulars.
+
+Hopedale; Massachusetts; 200 members; 500 acres; duration not stated,
+but commonly reported to be 17 or 18 years.
+
+Integral Phalanx; Illinois; 30 families; 508 acres; duration 17
+months.
+
+Jefferson Co. Industrial Association; New York; 400 members; 1200
+acres of land; duration a few months.
+
+Lagrange Phalanx; Indiana; 1000 acres; no further particulars.
+
+Leraysville Phalanx; Pennsylvania; 40 members; 300 acres; duration 8
+months.
+
+Marlboro Association; Ohio; 24 members; had "a load of debt;" duration
+nearly 4 years.
+
+McKean Co. Association; Pennsylvania; 30,000 acres; no further
+particulars.
+
+Moorhouse Union; New York; 120 acres; duration "a few months."
+
+North American Phalanx; New Jersey; 112 members; 673 acres; debt
+$17,000; duration 12 years.
+
+Northampton Association; Massachusetts; 130 members; 500 acres of
+land; debt $40,000; duration 4 years.
+
+Ohio Phalanx; 100 members; 2,200 acres; deeply in debt; duration 10
+months.
+
+One-mentian (meaning probably one-mind) Community; Pennsylvania; 800
+acres; duration one year.
+
+Ontario Phalanx; New York; brief duration.
+
+Prairie Home Community; Ohio; 500 acres; debt broke it up; duration
+one year.
+
+Raritan Bay Union; New Jersey; few members; 268 acres.
+
+Sangamon Phalanx; Illinois; no particulars.
+
+Skaneateles Community; New York; 150 members; 354 acres; debt $10,000;
+duration 2-1/2 years.
+
+Social Reform Unity; Pennsylvania; 20 members; 2,000 acres; debt
+$2,400; duration about 10 months.
+
+Sodus Bay Phalanx; New York; 300 members; 1,400 acres; duration a
+"short time."
+
+Spring Farm Association; Wisconsin; 10 families; duration 3 years.
+
+Sylvania Association; Pennsylvania; 145 members; 2394 acres; debt
+$7,900; duration nearly 2 years.
+
+Trumbull Phalanx; Ohio; 1500 acres; duration 2-1/2 years.
+
+Washtenaw Phalanx; Michigan; no particulars.
+
+Wisconsin Phalanx; 32 families; 1,800 acres; duration 6 years.
+
+
+_Recapitulation and Comments._
+
+1. _Localities._ The Owen group were distributed among the States as
+follows: in Indiana, 4; in New York, 3; in Ohio, 2; in Pennsylvania,
+1; in Tennessee, 1.
+
+The Fourier group were located as follows: in Ohio, 8; in New York, 6;
+in Pennsylvania, 6; in Massachusetts, 3; in Illinois, 3; in New
+Jersey, 2; in Michigan, 2; in Wisconsin, 2; in Indiana, 1; in Iowa, 1.
+
+Indiana had the greatest number in the first group, and the least in
+the second.
+
+New England was not represented in the Owen group; and only by three
+Associations in the Fourier group; and those three were all in
+Massachusetts.
+
+The southern states were represented by only one Association--that of
+Nashoba, in the Owen group--and that was little more than an
+eleemosynary attempt of Frances Wright to civilize the negroes.
+
+The two groups combined were distributed as follows: in Ohio, 10; in
+New York, 9; in Pennsylvania, 7; in Indiana, 5; in Massachusetts, 3;
+in Illinois, 3; in New Jersey, 2; in Michigan, 2; in Wisconsin, 2; in
+Tennessee, 1; in Iowa, 1.
+
+2. _Number of members._ The figures in our epitome (reckoning five
+persons to a family when families are mentioned), give an aggregate of
+4,801 members: but these belong to only twenty-five Associations. The
+numbers of the remaining twenty are not definitely reported. The
+average of those reported is about 192 to an Association. Extending
+this average to the rest, we have a total of 8,641.
+
+The numbers belonging to single Associations vary from 15 to 900; but
+in a majority of cases they were between 100 and 200.
+
+3. _The amount of land_ reported is enormous. Averaging it as we did
+in the case of the number of members, we make a grand total of 136,586
+acres, or about 3,000 acres to each Association! This is too much for
+any probable average. We will leave out as exceptional, the 60,000
+acres reported as belonging to New Harmony and the McKean Co.
+Association. Then averaging as before, we have a grand total of 44,624
+acres, or about 1,000 acres to each Association.
+
+Judging by our own experience we incline to think that this fondness
+for land, which has been the habit of Socialists, had much to do with
+their failures. Farming is about the hardest and longest of all roads
+to fortune: and it is the kind of labor in which there is the most
+uncertainty as to modes and theories, and of course the largest chance
+for disputes and discords in such complex bodies as Associations.
+Moreover the lust for land leads off into the wilderness, "out west,"
+or into by-places, far away from railroads and markets; whereas
+Socialism, if it is really ahead of civilization, ought to keep near
+the centers of business, and at the front of the general march of
+improvement. We should have advised the Phalanxes to limit their
+land-investments to a minimum, and put their strength as soon as
+possible into some form of manufacture. Almost any kind of a factory
+would be better than a farm for a Community nursery. We find hardly a
+vestige of this policy in Macdonald's collections. The saw-mill is the
+only form of mechanism that figures much in his reports. It is really
+ludicrous to see how uniformly an old saw-mill turns up in connection
+with each Association, and how zealously the brethren made much of it;
+but that is about all they attempted in the line of manufacturing.
+Land, land, land, was evidently regarded by them as the mother of all
+gain and comfort. Considering how much they must have run in debt for
+land, and how little profit they got from it, we may say of them
+almost literally, that they were "wrecked by running aground."
+
+4. _Amount of debt._ Macdonald's reports on this point are few and
+indefinite. The sums owed are stated for only seven of the
+Associations. They vary from $1,000 to $40,000. Five other
+Associations are reported as "very much in debt," "deeply in debt,"
+&c. The exact indebtedness of these and of the remaining thirty-three,
+is probably beyond the reach of history. But we have reason to think
+that nearly all of them bought, to begin with, a great deal more land
+than they paid for. This was the fashion of the socialistic schools
+and of the times.
+
+5. _The duration_ of fourteen Associations is not reported; twelve
+lasted less than 1 year; two 1 year; four between 1 and 2 years; three
+2 years; four between 2 and 3 years; one between 3 and 4 years; one 4
+years; one 5 years; one 6 years; one 12 years, and one (it is said) 17
+years. All died young, and most of them before they were two years
+old.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THEORY OF NATIONAL EXPERIENCE.
+
+
+Now that our phenomena are fairly before us, a little speculation may
+be appropriate. One wants to know what position these experiments,
+which started so gaily and failed so soon, occupy in the history of
+this country and of the world; what relation they have to
+Christianity; what their meaning is in the great scheme of Providence.
+Students of Socialism and history must have some theory about their
+place and significance in the great whole of things. We have studied
+them somewhat in the circumspective way, and will devote a few pages
+to our theory about them. It will at least correct any impression that
+we intend to treat them disrespectfully.
+
+And first we keep in mind a clear and wide distinction between the
+Associations and the movements from which they sprung. The word
+_movement_ is very convenient, though very indefinite. We use it to
+designate the wide-spread excitements and discussions about Socialism
+which led to the experiments we have epitomized. In our last chapter
+we incidentally compared the socialistic movements of the Owen and
+Fourier epochs to religious revivals. We might now complete the idea,
+by comparing the Associations that issued from those movements, to
+churches that were organized in consequence of the revivals. A vast
+spiritual and intellectual excitement is one thing; and the
+_institutions_ that rise out of it are another. We must not judge the
+excitement by the institutions.
+
+We get but a very imperfect idea of the Owen and Fourier movements
+from the short-lived experiments whose remains are before us in
+Macdonald's collections. In the first place Macdonald, faithful as he
+was, did not discover all the experiments that were made during those
+movements. We remember some that are not named in his manuscripts. And
+in the next place the numbers engaged in the practical attempts were
+very small, in comparison with the masses that entered into the
+enthusiasm of the general movements and abandoned themselves to the
+idea of an impending social revolution. The eight thousand and six
+hundred that we found by averaging Macdonald's list, might probably be
+doubled to represent the census of the obscure unknown attempts, and
+then multiplied by ten to cover the outside multitudes that were
+converted to Socialism in the course of the Owen and Fourier revivals.
+
+Owen in 1824 stirred the very life of the nation with his appeals to
+Kings and Congresses, and his vast experiments at New Harmony. Think
+of his family of nine hundred members on a farm of thirty thousand
+acres! A magnificent beginning, that thrilled the world! The general
+movement was proportionate to this beginning; and though this great
+Community and all the little ones that followed it failed and
+disappeared in a few years, the movement did not cease. Owen and his
+followers--especially his son Robert Dale Owen and Frances
+Wright--continued to agitate the country with newspapers, public
+lectures, and "Fanny Wright societies," till their ideas actually got
+foot-hold and influence in the great Democratic party. The special
+enthusiasm for practical attempts at Association culminated in 1826,
+and afterwards subsided; but the excitement about Owen's ideas, which
+was really the Owen movement, reached its height after 1830; and the
+embers of it are in the heart of the nation to this day.
+
+On the other hand, Fourier (by proxy) started another national
+excitement in 1842. With young Brisbane for its cosmopolitan apostle,
+and a national newspaper, such as the _New York Tribune_ was, for its
+organ, this movement, like Owen's, could not be otherwise than
+national in its dimensions. We shall have occasion hereafter to show
+how vast and deep it was, and how poorly it is represented by the
+Phalanxes that figure in Macdonald's memoirs. Meanwhile let the reader
+consider that several of the men who were leaders in this excitement,
+were also leaders then and afterwards in the old Whig party; and he
+will have reason to conclude that Socialism, in its duplex form of
+Owenism and Fourierism, has touched and modified both of the
+party-sections and all departments of the national life.
+
+We must not think of the two great socialistic revivals as altogether
+heterogeneous and separate. Their partizans maintained theoretical
+opposition to each other; but after all the main idea of both was _the
+enlargement of home--the extension of family union beyond the little
+man-and-wife circle to large corporations_. In this idea the two
+movements were one; and this was the charming idea that caught the
+attention and stirred the enthusiasm of the American people. Owenism
+prepared the way for Fourierism. The same men, or at least the same
+sort of men that took part in the Owen movement, were afterward
+carried away by the Fourier enthusiasm. The two movements may,
+therefore, be regarded as one; and in that view, the period of the
+great American socialistic revival extends from 1824, through the
+final and overwhelming excitement of 1843, to the collapse of
+Fourierism after 1846.
+
+As a man who has passed through a series of passional excitements, is
+never the same being afterward, so we insist that these socialistic
+paroxysms have changed the heart of the nation; and that a yearning
+toward social reconstruction has become a part of the continuous,
+permanent, inner experience of the American people. The Communities
+and Phalanxes died almost as soon as they were born, and are now
+almost forgotten. But the spirit of Socialism remains in the life of
+the nation. It was discouraged and cast down by the failures of 1828
+and 1846, and thus it learned salutary caution and self-control. But
+it lives still, as a hope watching for the morning, in thousands and
+perhaps millions who never took part in any of the experiments, and
+who are neither Owenites nor Fourierites, but simply Socialists
+without theory--believers in the possibility of a scientific and
+heavenly reconstruction of society.
+
+Thus our theory harmonizes Owenism with Fourierism, and regards them
+both as working toward the same end in American history. Now we will
+go a step further and attempt the reconciling of still greater
+repugnances.
+
+Since the war of 1812-15, the line of socialistic excitements lies
+parallel with the line of religious Revivals. Each had its two great
+leaders, and its two epochs of enthusiasm. Nettleton and Finney were
+to Revivals, what Owen and Fourier were to Socialism. Nettleton
+prepared the way for Finney, though he was opposed to him, as Owen
+prepared the way for Fourier. The enthusiasm in both movements had the
+same progression. Nettleton's agitation, like Owen's, was moderate and
+somewhat local. Finney, like Fourier, swept the nation as with a
+tempest. The Revival periods were a little in advance of those of
+Socialism. Nettleton commenced his labors in 1817, while Owen entered
+the field in 1824. Finney was at the height of his power in 1831-3,
+while Fourier was carrying all before him in 1842-3. Thus the
+movements were to a certain extent alternate. Opposed as they were to
+each other theologically--one being a movement of Bible men, and the
+other of infidels and liberals--they could not be expected to hold
+public attention simultaneously. But looking at the whole period from
+the end of the war in 1815 to the end of Fourierism after 1846, and
+allowing Revivals a little precedence over Socialism, we find the two
+lines of excitement parallel, and their phenomena wonderfully similar.
+
+As we have shown that the socialistic movement was national, so, if it
+were necessary, we might here show that the Revival movement was
+national. There was a time between 1831 and 1834 when the American
+people came as near to a surrender of all to the Kingdom of Heaven, as
+they came in 1843 to a socialistic revolution. The Millennium seemed
+as near in 1831, as Fourier's Age of Harmony seemed in 1843. And the
+final effect of Revivals was a hope watching for the morning, which
+remains in the life of the nation, side by side, nay identical with,
+the great hope of Socialism.
+
+And these movements--Revivalism and Socialism--opposed to each other
+as they may seem, and as they have been in the creeds of their
+partizans, are closely related in their essential nature and objects,
+and manifestly belong together in the scheme of Providence, as they do
+in the history of this nation. They are to each other as inner to
+outer--as soul to body--as life to its surroundings. The Revivalists
+had for their great idea the regeneration of the soul. The great idea
+of the Socialists was the regeneration of society, which is the soul's
+environment. These ideas belong together, and are the complements of
+each other. Neither can be successfully embodied by men whose minds
+are not wide enough to accept them both.
+
+In fact these two ideas, which in modern times are so wide apart, were
+present together in original Christianity. When the Spirit of truth
+pricked three thousand men to the heart and converted them on the day
+of Pentecost, its next effect was to resolve them into one family and
+introduce Communism of property. Thus the greatest of all Revivals was
+also the great inauguration of Socialism.
+
+Undoubtedly the Socialists will think we make too much of the Revival
+movement; and the Revivalists will think we make too much of the
+Socialistic movement; and the politicians will think we make too much
+of both, in assigning them important places in American history. But
+we hold that a man's deepest experiences are those of religion and
+love; and these are just the experiences in respect to which he is
+most apt to be ashamed, and most inclined to be silent. So the nation
+says but little, and tries to think that it thinks but little, about
+its Revivals and its Socialisms; but they are nevertheless the deepest
+and most interesting passages of its history, and worth more study as
+determinatives of character and destiny, than all its politics and
+diplomacies, its money matters and its wars.
+
+Doubtless the Revivalists and Socialists despise each other, and
+perhaps both will despise us for imagining that they can be
+reconciled. But we will say what we believe; and that is, that they
+have both failed in their attempts to bring heaven on earth, _because_
+they despised each other, and would not put their two great ideas
+together. The Revivalists failed for want of regeneration of society,
+and the Socialists failed for want of regeneration of the heart.
+
+On the one hand the Revivalists needed daily meetings and continuous
+criticism to save and perfect their converts; and these things they
+could not have without a thorough reconstruction of domestic life.
+They tried the expedient of "protracted meetings," which was really a
+half-way attack on the fashion of the world; but society was too
+strong for them, and their half-measures broke down, as all
+half-measures must. What they needed was to convert their churches
+into unitary families, and put them into unitary homes, where daily
+meetings and continuous criticism are possible;--and behold, this is
+Socialism!
+
+On the other hand the Socialists, as often as they came together in
+actual attempts to realize their ideals, found that they were too
+selfish for close organization. The moan of Macdonald was, that after
+seeing the stern reality of the experiments, he lost hope, and was
+obliged to confess that he had "imagined mankind better than they
+are." This was the final confession of the leaders in the Associative
+experiments generally, from Owen to the last of the Fourierites; and
+this confession means, that Socialism needed for its complement,
+regeneration of the heart;--and behold, this is Revivalism!
+
+These discords and failures of the past surely have not been in vain.
+Perhaps Providence has carried forward its regenerative designs in two
+lines thus far, for the sake of the advantage of a "division of
+labor." While the Bible men have worked for the regeneration of the
+soul, the infidels and liberals have been busy on the problem of the
+reconstruction of society. Working apart and in enmity, perhaps they
+have accomplished more for final harmony than they could have done
+together. Even their failures when rightly interpreted, may turn to
+good account. They have both helped to plant in the heart of the
+nation an unfailing hope of the "good time coming." Their lines of
+labor, though we have called them parallel, must really be convergent;
+and we may hope that the next phase of national history will be that
+of Revivalism and Socialism harmonized, and working together for the
+Kingdom of Heaven.
+
+To complete our historical theory, we must mention in conclusion, one
+point of contrast between the Socialisms and the Revivals.
+
+_The Socialisms were imported from Europe; while the Revivals were
+American productions._
+
+Owen was an Englishman, and Fourier was a Frenchman; but Nettleton and
+Finney were both Americans--both natives of Connecticut.
+
+In the comparison we confine ourselves to the period since the war of
+1812, because the history of the general socialistic excitements in
+this country is limited to that period. But the Revivals have an
+anterior history, extending back into the earliest times of New
+England. The great American _system_ of Revivals, of which the
+Nettleton and Finney excitements were the continuation, was born in
+the first half of the last century, in central Massachusetts. Jonathan
+Edwards, whose life extended from 1703 to 1758, was the father of it.
+So that not only since the war of 1812, but before the Revolution of
+1776, we find Revivalism, _as a system_, strictly an American
+production.
+
+We call the Owen and Fourier movements, _American_ Socialisms, because
+they were national in their dimensions, and American life chiefly was
+the subject of them. But looking at what may be called the _male_
+element in the production of them, they were really European
+movements, propagated in this country. Nevertheless, if we take the
+view that Socialism and Revivalism are a unit in the design of
+Providence, one looking to the regeneration of externals and the other
+to the regeneration of internals, we may still call the entire
+movement American, as having Revivalism, which is American, for its
+inner life, though Socialism, the outer element, was imported from
+England and France.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+NEW HARMONY.
+
+
+American Socialisms, as we have defined them and grouped their
+experiments, may be called _non-religious_ Socialisms. Several
+religious Communities flourished in this country before Owen's
+attempts, and have continued to flourish here since the collapse of
+Fourierism. But they were originally colonies of foreigners, and never
+were directly connected with movements that could be called national.
+Owen was the first Socialist that stirred the enthusiasm of the whole
+American people; and he was the first, so far as we know, who tried
+the experiment of a non-religious Community. And the whole series of
+experiments belonging to the two great groups of the Owen and Fourier
+epochs, followed in his footsteps. The exclusion of theology was their
+distinction and their boast.
+
+Our programme, limited as it is by its title to these national
+Socialisms, does not strictly include the religious Communities. Yet
+those Communities have played indirectly a very important part in the
+drama of American Socialisms, and will require considerable incidental
+attention as we proceed.
+
+In attempting to make out from Macdonald's collection an outline of
+Owen's great experiment at New Harmony (which was the prototype of all
+the Owen and Fourier experiments), we find ourselves at the outset
+quite unexpectedly dealing with a striking example of the relation
+between the religious and non-religious Communities.
+
+Owen did not build the village of New Harmony, nor create the
+improvements which prepared his 30,000 acres for his family of nine
+hundred. He bought them outright from a previous religious Community;
+and it is doubtful whether he would have ever gathered his nine
+hundred and made his experiment, if he had not found a place prepared
+for him by a sect of Christian Communists.
+
+Macdonald was an admirer, we might almost say a worshiper, of Owen. He
+gloats over New Harmony as the very Mecca of his devotion. There he
+spent his first eighteen months in this country. The finest picture in
+his collection is an elaborate India-ink drawing of the village. But
+he scarcely mentions the Rappites who built it. No separate account of
+them, such as he gives of the Shakers and Moravians, can be found in
+his manuscripts. This is an unaccountable neglect; for their
+pre-occupation of New Harmony and their transactions with Owen, must
+have thrust them upon his notice; and their history is intrinsically
+as interesting, to say the least, as that of any of the religious
+Communities.
+
+A glance at the history of the Rappites is in many ways indispensable,
+as an introduction to an account of Owen's New Harmony. We must
+therefore address ourselves to the task which Macdonald neglected.
+
+
+THE HARMONISTS.
+
+In the first years of the present century, old Würtemburg, a province
+always famous for its religious enthusiasms, was fermenting with
+excitement about the Millennium; and many of its enthusiasts were
+expecting the speedy personal advent of Christ. Among these George
+Rapp became a prominent preacher, and led forth a considerable sect
+into doctrines and ways that brought upon him and them severe
+persecutions. In 1803 he came to America to find a refuge for his
+flock. After due exploration he purchased 5000 acres of land in Butler
+Co., Pennsylvania, and commenced a settlement which he called Harmony.
+In the summer of 1804 two ship-loads of his disciples with their
+families--six hundred in all--came over the ocean and joined him. In
+1805 the Society was formally organized as a Christian Community, on
+the model of the Pentecostal church. For a time their fare was poor
+and their work was hard. An evil eye from their neighbors was upon
+them. But they lived down calumny and suspicion by well-doing, and
+soon made the wilderness blossom around them like the rose. In 1807
+they adopted the principle of celibacy; but in other respects they
+were far from being ascetics. Music, painting, sculpture, and other
+liberal arts flourished among them. Their museums and gardens were the
+wonder and delight of the region around them. In 1814, desiring warmer
+land and a better location for business, they sold all in Pennsylvania
+and removed to Indiana. On the banks of the Wabash they built a new
+village and again called it Harmony. Here they prospered more than
+ever, and their number increased to nearly a thousand. In 1824 they
+again became discontented with their location, on account of bad
+neighbors and malaria. Again they sold all, and returned to
+Pennsylvania; but not to their old home. They built their third and
+final village in Beaver Co, near Pittsburgh, and called it Economy.
+There they are to this day. They own railroads and oil wells and are
+reported to be millionaires of the unknown grade. In all their
+migrations from the old world to the new, from Pennsylvania to
+Indiana, and from Indiana back to Pennsylvania; in all their perils by
+persecutions, by false brethren, by pestilence, by poverty and wealth,
+their religion held them together, and their union gave them the
+strength that conquers prosperity. A notable example of what a hundred
+families can do when they have the wisdom of harmony, and fight the
+battle of life in a solid phalanx! A nobler "six hundred" than the
+famous dragoons of Balaklava!
+
+Such were the people who gave Robert Owen his first lessons in
+Communism, and sold him their home in Indiana. Ten of their best years
+they spent in building a village on the Wabash, not for themselves (as
+it turned out), but for a theater of the great infidel experiment.
+Rev. Aaron Williams, D.D., the historian to whom we are indebted for
+the facts of the above sketch, thus describes the negotiations and the
+transfer:
+
+"The Harmonists, when they began to think of returning to
+Pennsylvania, employed a certain Richard Flower, an Englishman, and a
+prominent member of an English settlement in their vicinity, to
+negotiate for a sale of their real estate, offering him five thousand
+dollars to find a purchaser. Flower went to England for this purpose,
+and hearing of Robert Owen's Community at New Lanark, he sought him
+out and succeeded in selling to him the town of Harmony, with all its
+houses, mills, factories and thirty thousand acres of land, for one
+hundred and fifty thousand dollars. This was an immense sacrifice; but
+they were determined to leave the country, and they submitted to the
+loss. Having in the meantime made a purchase of their present lands in
+Pennsylvania, on the Ohio river, they built a steamboat and removed in
+detachments to their new and final place of settlement."
+
+Thus Owen, the first experimenter in non-religious Association, had
+substantially the ready-made material conditions which Fourier and his
+followers considered indispensable to success.
+
+We proceed now to give a sketch of the Owen experiment chiefly in
+Macdonald's words. When our own language occurs it is generally a
+condensation of his.
+
+OWEN'S NEW HARMONY.
+
+"Robert Owen came to the United States in December 1824, to complete the
+purchase of the settlement at Harmony. Mr. Rapp had sent an agent to
+England to dispose of the property, and Mr. Owen fell in with him there.
+In the spring of 1825 Mr. Owen closed the bargain. The property
+consisted of about 30,000 acres of land; nearly 3,000 acres under
+cultivation by the society; 19 detached farms; 600 acres of improved
+land occupied by tenants; some fine orchards; eighteen acres of
+full-bearing vines; and the village, which was a regularly laid out
+town, with streets running at right angles to each other, and a public
+square, around which were large brick edifices, built by the Rappites
+for churches, schools, and other public purposes."
+
+We can form some idea of the size of the village from the fact which
+we learn from Mr. Williams, that the Rappites, while at Harmony,
+numbered one thousand souls. It does not appear from Macdonald's
+account that Owen and his Community made any important additions to
+the village.
+
+"On the departure of the Rappites, persons favorable to Mr. Owen's
+views came flocking to New Harmony (as it was thenceforth called) from
+all parts of the country. Tidings of the new social experiment spread
+far and wide; and, although it has been denied, yet it is undoubtedly
+true, that Mr. Owen in his public lectures invited the 'industrious
+and well disposed of all nations' to emigrate to New Harmony. The
+consequence was, that in the short space of six weeks from the
+commencement of the experiment, a population of eight hundred persons
+was drawn together, and in October 1825, the number had increased to
+nine hundred."
+
+As to the character of this population, Macdonald insists that it was
+"as good as it could be under the circumstances," and he gives the
+names of "many intelligent and benevolent individuals who were at
+various times residents at New Harmony." But he admits that there were
+some "black sheep" in the flock. "It is certain," he says, "that there
+was a proportion of needy and idle persons, who crowded in to avail
+themselves of Mr. Owen's liberal offer; and that they did their share
+of work more in the line of _destruction_ than _construction_."
+
+
+_Constitution No. 1._
+
+On the 27th of April 1825, Mr. Owen instituted a sort of provisional
+government. In an address to the people in New Harmony Hall, he
+informed them, "that he had bought that property, and had come there
+to introduce the practice of the new views; but he showed them the
+impossibility that persons educated as they were, should change at
+once from an irrational to a rational system of society, and the
+necessity for a 'half-way house,' in which to be prepared for the new
+system." Whereupon he tendered them a _Constitution_, of which we find
+no definite account, except that it was not fully Communistic, and was
+to hold the people in probationary training three years, under the
+title of the _Preliminary Society of New Harmony_. "After these
+proceedings Mr. Owen left New Harmony for Europe, and the Society was
+managed by the _Preliminary Committee_.(!)" We may imagine, each one
+for himself, what the nine hundred did while Mr. Owen was away.
+Macdonald compiled from the _New Harmony Gazette_ a very rapid but
+evidently defective account of the state of things in this important
+interval. He says nothing about the work on the 30,000 acres, but
+speaks of various minor businesses as "doing well." The only
+manufactures that appear to have "exceeded consumption" were those of
+soap and glue. A respectable apothecary "dispensed medicines without
+charge," and "the store supplied the inhabitants with all
+necessaries"--probably at Mr. Owen's expense. Education was considered
+"public property," and one hundred and thirty children were schooled,
+boarded and clothed from the public funds--probably at Mr. Owen's
+expense. Amusements flourished. The Society had a band of music;
+Tuesday evenings were appropriated to balls; Friday evenings to
+concerts--both in the old Rappite church. There was no provision for
+religious worship. Five military companies, "consisting of infantry,
+artillery, riflemen, veterans and fusileers," did duty from time to
+time on the public square.
+
+
+_Constitution No. 2._
+
+"Mr. Owen returned to New Harmony on the 12th of January, 1826, and
+soon after the members of the Preliminary Society held a convention,
+and adopted a constitution of a Community, entitled _The New Harmony
+Community of Equality_. Thus in less than a year, instead of three
+years as Mr. Owen had proposed, the 'half-way house' came to an end,
+and actual Communism commenced. A few of the members, who, on account
+of a difference of opinions, did not sign the new constitution, formed
+a second Community on the New Harmony estate about two miles from the
+town, in friendly connection with the first."
+
+The new government instituted by Mr. Owen, was to be in the hands of
+an _Executive Council_, subject at all times to the direction of the
+Community; and six gentlemen were appointed to this function. But
+Macdonald says: "Difficulties ensued in organizing the new Community.
+It appears that the plan of government by executive council would not
+work, and that the members were unanimous in calling upon Mr. Owen to
+take the sole management, judging from his experience that he was the
+only man who could do so. This call Mr. Owen accepted, and we learn
+that soon after general satisfaction and individual contentment took
+the place of suspense and uncertainty."
+
+This was in fact the inauguration of
+
+
+_Constitution No. 3._
+
+"In March the _Gazette_ says that under the indefatigable attention of
+Mr. Owen, order had been introduced into every department of
+business, and the farm presented a scene of active and steady
+industry. The Society was rapidly becoming a Community of Equality.
+The streets no longer exhibited groups of idle talkers, but each one
+was busily engaged in the occupation he had chosen. The public
+meetings, instead of being the arenas for contending orators, were
+changed into meetings of business, where consultations were held and
+measures adopted for the comfort of all the members of the Community.
+
+"In April there was a disturbance in the village on account of
+negotiations that were going on for securing the estate as private
+property. Some persons attempted to divide the town into several
+societies. Mr. Owen would not agree to this, and as he had the power,
+he made a selection, and by solemn examination constituted a _nucleus_
+of twenty-five men, which _nucleus_ was to admit members, Mr. Owen
+reserving the power to _veto_ every one admitted. There were to be
+three grades of members, viz., conditional members, probationary
+members, and persons on trial. (?) The Community was to be under the
+direction of Mr. Owen, until two-thirds of the members should think
+fit to govern themselves, provided the time was not less than twelve
+months."
+
+This may be called,
+
+
+_Constitution No. 4._
+
+In May a third Community had been formed; and the population was
+divided between No. 1, which was Mr. Owen's Community, No. 2, which
+was called Macluria, and No. 3, which was called _Feiba Peven_--a name
+designating in some mysterious way the latitude and longitude of New
+Harmony.
+
+"May 27. The immigration continued so steadily, that it became
+necessary for the Community to inform the friends of the new views
+that the accommodations were inadequate, and call upon them by
+advertisement not to come until further notice."
+
+
+_Constitution No. 5._
+
+"May 30. In consequence of a variety of troubles and disagreements,
+chiefly relating to the disposal of the property, a great meeting of
+the whole population was held, and it was decided to form four
+separate societies, each signing its own contract for such part of the
+property as it should purchase, and each managing its own affairs; but
+to trade with each other by paper money."
+
+Mr. Owen was now beginning to make sharp bargains with the independent
+Communities. Macdonald says, "He had lost money, and no doubt he tried
+to regain some of it, and used such means as he thought would prevent
+further loss."
+
+On the 4th of July Mr. Owen delivered his celebrated _Declaration of
+Mental Independence_, from which we give the following specimen:
+
+"I now declare to you and to the world, that Man, up to this hour, has
+been in all parts of the earth a slave to a Trinity of the most
+monstrous evils that could be combined to inflict mental and physical
+evil upon his whole race. I refer to Private or Individual Property,
+Absurd and Irrational systems of Religion, and Marriage founded on
+Individual Property, combined with some of these Irrational systems of
+Religion."
+
+"August 20. After Mr. Owen had given his usual address, it was
+unanimously agreed by the meeting that the entire population of New
+Harmony should meet three times a week in the Hall, for the purpose of
+being educated together. This practice was continued about six weeks,
+when Mr. Owen became sick and it was discontinued."
+
+
+_Constitution No. 6._
+
+"August 25. The people held a meeting at which they _abolished all
+officers_ then existing, and appointed three men as _dictators_."
+
+
+_Constitution No. 7._
+
+"Sept. 17. A large meeting of all the Societies and the whole
+population of the town took place at the Hall, for the purpose of
+considering a plan for the '_amelioration of the Society_, to improve
+the condition of the people, and make them more contented.' A message
+was received from Mr. Owen proposing to form a Community with as many
+as would join him, and put in all their property, save what might be
+thought necessary to reserve to help their friends; the government to
+consist of Robert Owen and four others of his choice, to be appointed
+by him every year; and not to be altered for five years. This movement
+of course nullified all previous organizations. Disagreements and
+jealousies ensued, and, as was the case on a former change being made,
+many persons left New Harmony.
+
+"Nov. 1. The _Gazette_ says: 'Eighteen months experience has proved to
+us, that the requisite qualifications for a permanent member of the
+Community of Common Property are, 1, Honesty of purpose; 2,
+Temperance; 3, Industry; 4, Carefulness; 5, Cleanliness; 6, Desire for
+knowledge; 7, A conviction of the fact that the character of man is
+formed for, and not by, himself.'
+
+"Nov. 8. Many persons leaving. The _Gazette_ shows how impossible it
+is for a Community of common property to exist, unless the members
+comprising it have acquired the genuine Community character.
+
+"Nov. 11. Mr. Owen reviewed the last six months' progress of the
+Community in a favorable light.
+
+"In December the use of ardent spirits was abolished.
+
+"Jan. 1827. Although there was an appearance of increased order and
+happiness, yet matters were drawing to a close. Owen was selling
+property to individuals; the greater part of the town was now resolved
+into individual lots; a grocery was established opposite the tavern;
+painted sign-boards began to be stuck up on the buildings, pointing out
+places of manufacture and trade; a sort of wax-figure-and-puppet-show
+was opened at one end of the boarding-house; and every thing was getting
+into the old style."
+
+It is useless to follow this wreck further. Everybody sees it must go
+down, and _why_ it must go down. It is like a great ship, wallowing
+helpless in the trough of a tempestuous sea, with nine hundred
+_passengers_, and no captain or organized crew! We skip to Macdonald's
+picture of the end.
+
+"June 18, 1827. The _Gazette_ advertised that Mr. Owen would meet the
+inhabitants of New Harmony and the neighborhood on the following
+Sunday, to bid them farewell. I find no account of this meeting, nor
+indeed of any further movements of Mr. Owen in the _Gazette_. After
+his departure the majority of the population also removed and
+scattered about the country. Those who remained returned to
+individualism, and settled as farmers and mechanics in the ordinary
+way. One portion of the estate was owned by Mr. Owen, and the other
+by Mr. Maclure. They sold, rented, or gave away the houses and lands,
+and their heirs and assigns have continued to do so to the present
+day."
+
+Fifteen years after the catastrophe Macdonald was at New Harmony,
+among the remains of the old Community population, and he says: "I was
+cautioned not to speak of Socialism, as the subject was unpopular. The
+advice was good; Socialism was unpopular, and with good reason. The
+people had been wearied and disappointed by it; had been filled full
+with theories, until they were nauseated, and had made such miserable
+attempts at practice, that they seemed ashamed of what they had been
+doing. An enthusiastic socialist would soon be cooled down at New
+Harmony."
+
+The strength of the reaction against Communism caused by Owen's
+failure, may be seen to this day in the sect devoted to "Individual
+Sovereignty." Josiah Warren, the leader of that sect, was a member of
+Owen's Community, and a witness of its confusions and downfall; from
+which he swung off into the extreme of anti-Communism. The village of
+"Modern Times," where all forms of social organization were scouted as
+unscientific, was the electric negative of New Harmony.
+
+Macdonald thus moralizes over his master's failure:
+
+"Mr. Owen said he wanted honesty of purpose, and he got dishonesty. He
+wanted temperance, and instead, he was continually troubled with the
+intemperate. He wanted industry, and he found idleness. He wanted
+cleanliness, and found dirt. He wanted carefulness, and found waste.
+He wanted to find desire for knowledge, but he found apathy. He wanted
+the principles of the formation of character understood, and he found
+them misunderstood. He wanted these good qualities combined in one
+and all the individuals of the Community, but he could not find them;
+neither could he find those who were self-sacrificing and enduring
+enough, to prepare and educate their children to possess these
+qualities. Thus it was proved that his principles were either entirely
+erroneous, or much in advance of the age in which he promulgated them.
+He seems to have forgotten, that if one and all the thousand persons
+assembled there, had possessed the qualities which he wished them to
+possess, there would have been no necessity for his vain exertions to
+form a Community; because there would of necessity be brotherly love,
+charity, industry and plenty. We want no more than these; and if this
+is the material to form Communities of, and we can not find it, we can
+not form Communities; and if we can not find parents who are ready and
+willing to educate their children, to give them these qualities for a
+Community life, then what hope is there of Communism in the future?"
+
+Almost the only redeeming feature in or near this whole scene of
+confusion--which might well be called New Discord instead of New
+Harmony--was the silent retreat of the Rappite thousand, which was so
+orderly that it almost escaped mention. Remembering their obscure
+achievements and their persistent success, we can still be sure that
+the _idea_ of Owen and his thousand was not a delusion, but an
+inspiration, that only needed wiser hearts, to become a happy
+reality.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+INQUEST ON NEW HARMONY.
+
+
+The only laudable object any one can have in rehearsing and studying
+the histories of the socialistic failures, is that of learning from
+them practical lessons for guidance in present and future experiments.
+With this in view, the great experiment at New Harmony is well worth
+faithful consideration. It was, as we have said, the first and most
+notable of the entire series of non-religious Communities. It had for
+its antecedent the vast reputation that Owen had gained by his success
+at New Lanark. He came to this country with the prestige of a reformer
+who had the confidence and patronage of Lords, Dukes and Sovereigns in
+the old world. His lectures were received with attention by large
+assemblies in our principal cities. At Washington he was accommodated
+by the Speaker and President with the Hall of Representatives, in
+which he delivered several lectures before the President, the
+President elect, all the judges of the Supreme Court, and a great
+number of members of Congress. He afterwards presented to the
+Government an expensive and elaborate model, with interior and working
+drawings, elevations, &c., of one of the magnificent communal edifices
+which he had projected. He had a large private fortune, and drew into
+his schemes other capitalists, so that his experiment had the
+advantage of unlimited wealth. That wealth, as we have seen, placed at
+his command unlimited land and a ready-made village. These attractions
+brought him men in unlimited numbers.
+
+How stupendous the revolution was that he contemplated as the result
+of his great gathering, is best seen in the famous words which he
+uttered in the public hall at New Harmony on the 4th of July, 1826. We
+have already quoted from this speech a paragraph (underscored and
+double-scored by Macdonald) about the awful Trinity of man's
+oppressors--"Private property, Irrational Religion, and Marriage." In
+the same vein he went on to say:
+
+"For nearly forty years have I been employed, heart and soul, day by
+day, almost without ceasing, in preparing the means and arranging the
+circumstances, to enable me to give the death-blow to the tyranny
+which, for unnumbered ages, has held the human mind spellbound in
+chains of such mysterious forms that no mortal has dared approach to
+set the suffering prisoner free! Nor has the fullness of time for the
+accomplishment of this great event, been completed until within this
+hour! Such has been the extraordinary course of events, that the
+Declaration of Political Independence in 1776, has produced its
+counterpart, the _Declaration of Mental Independence_ in 1826; the
+latter just half a century from the former.***
+
+"In furtherance of our great object we are preparing the means to
+bring up our children with industrious and useful habits, with
+national and of course rational ideas and views, with sincerity in all
+their proceedings; and to give them kind and affectionate feelings for
+each other, and charity, in the most extensive sense of the term, for
+all their fellow creatures.
+
+"By doing this, uniting our separate interests into one, by doing away
+with divided money transactions, by exchanging with each other our
+articles of produce on the basis of labor for equal labor, by looking
+forward to apply our surplus wealth to assist others to attain similar
+advantages, and by the abandonment of the use of spiritous liquors, we
+shall in a peculiar manner promote the object of every wise government
+and all really enlightened men.
+
+"And here we now are, as near perhaps as we can be in the center of
+the United States, even, as it were, like the little grain of mustard
+seed! But with these _Great Truths_ before us, with the practice of
+the social system, as soon as it shall be well understood among us,
+our principles will, I trust, spread from Community to Community, from
+State to State, from Continent to Continent, until this system and
+these _truths_ shall overshadow the whole earth, shedding fragrance
+and abundance, intelligence and happiness, upon all the sons of men!"
+
+Such were the antecedents and promises of the New Harmony experiment.
+The Professor appeared on the stage with a splendid reputation for
+previous thaumaturgy, with all the crucibles and chemicals around him
+that money could buy, with an audience before him that was gaping to
+see the last wonder of science: but on applying the flame that was to
+set all ablaze with happiness and glory, behold! the material prepared
+would not burn, but only sputtered and smoked; and the curtain had to
+come down upon a scene of confusion and disappointment!
+
+What was the difficulty? Where was the mistake? These are the
+questions that ought to be studied till they are fully answered; for
+scores and hundreds of just such experiments have been tried since,
+with the same disastrous results; and scores and hundreds will be
+tried hereafter, till we go back and hold a faithful inquest, and find
+a sure verdict, on this original failure.
+
+Let us hear, then, what has been, or can be said, by all sorts of
+judges, on the causes of Owen's failure, and learn what we can.
+
+Macdonald has an important chapter on this subject, from which we
+extract the following:
+
+"There is no doubt in my mind, that the absence of Robert Owen in the
+first year of the Community was one of the great causes of its
+failure; for he was naturally looked up to as the head, and his
+influence might have kept people together, at least so as to effect
+something similar to what had been effected at New Lanark. But with a
+people free as these were from a set religious creed, and consisting,
+as they did, of all nations and opinions, it is doubtful if even Mr.
+Owen, had he continued there all the time, could have kept them
+permanently together. No comparison can be made between that
+population and the Shakers, Rappites, or Zoarites, who are each of one
+religious faith, and, save the Shakers, of one nation.
+
+"Mr. Samson, of Cincinnati, was at New Harmony from the beginning to
+the end of the Community; he went there on the boat that took the last
+of the Rappites away. He says the cause of failure was a rogue, named
+Taylor, who insinuated himself into Mr. Owen's favor, and afterward
+swindled and deceived him in a variety of ways, among other things
+establishing a distillery, contrary to Mr. Owen's wishes and
+principles, and injurious to the Community.
+
+"Owen always held the property. He thought it would be ten or twelve
+years before the Community would fill up; but no sooner had the
+Rappites left, than the place was taken possession of by strangers
+from all parts, while Owen was absent in England and the place under
+the management of a committee. When Owen returned and found how things
+were going, he deemed it necessary to mike a change, and notices were
+published in all parts, telling people not to come there, as there
+were no accommodations for them; yet still they came, till at last
+Owen was compelled to have all the log-cabins that harbored them
+pulled down.
+
+"Taylor and Fauntleroy were Owen's associates. When Owen found out
+Taylor's rascality he resolved to abandon the partnership with him,
+which Taylor would only agree to upon Owen's giving him a large tract
+of land, upon which he proposed to form a Community of his own. The
+agreement was that he should have the land and _all upon it_. So on
+the night previous to the execution of the bargain, he had a large
+quantity of cattle and farm implements put upon the land, and he
+thereby came into possession of them! Instead of forming a Community,
+he built a distillery, and also set up a tan-yard in opposition to Mr.
+Owen!"
+
+In the _Free Enquirer_ of June 10th, 1829, there is an article by
+Robert Dale Owen on New Lanark and New Harmony, in which, after
+comparing the two places and showing the difference between them, he
+makes the following remark relative to the experiment at New Harmony:
+"There was not disinterested industry, there was not mutual
+confidence, there was not practical experience, there was not unison
+of action, because there was not unanimity of counsel: and these were
+the points of difference and dissension--the rocks on which the social
+bark struck and was wrecked."
+
+A letter in the _New Harmony Gazette_, of January 31, 1827, complains
+of the "slow progress of education in the Community--the heavy labor,
+and no recompense but _cold water_ and _inferior provisions_."
+
+Paul Brown, who wrote a book entitled "Twelve months at New Harmony,"
+among his many complaints says, "There was no such thing as real
+general _common stock_ brought into being in this place." He
+attributes all the troubles, to the anxiety about "_exclusive
+property_," principally on the part of Owen and his associates.
+Speaking of one of the secondary Societies, he says there were "class
+distinctions" in it; and Macluria or the School Society he condemns as
+being most aristocratical, "its few projectors being extremely
+wealthy."
+
+In the _New Moral World_ of October 12, 1839, there is an article on
+New Harmony, in which it is asserted that Mr. Owen was induced to
+purchase that place on the understanding that the Rappite population
+then residing there would remain, until he had gradually introduced
+other persons to acquire from them the systematic and orderly habits,
+as well as practical knowledge, which they had gained by many years of
+practice. But by the removal of Rapp and his followers, Mr. Owen was
+left with all the property on his hands, and he was thus compelled to
+get persons to come there to prevent things from going to ruin.
+
+Mr. Josiah Warren, in his "Practical Details of Equitable Commerce,"
+says: "Let us bear in mind that during the great experiments in New
+Harmony in 1825 and 1826, every thing went delightfully on, except
+pecuniary affairs! We should, no doubt, have succeeded but for
+property considerations. But then the experiments never would have
+been commenced but for property considerations. It was to annihilate
+social antagonism by a system of _common property_, that we undertook
+the experiments at all."
+
+Mr. Sargant, the English biographer of Owen, intimates several times
+that _religion_ was the first subject of discord at New Harmony. His
+own opinion of the cause of the catastrophe, he gives in the following
+words:
+
+"What were the causes of these failures? People will give different
+answers, according to the general sentiments they entertain. For
+myself I should say, that such experiments must fail, because it is
+impossible to mould to Communism the characters of men and women,
+formed by the present doctrines and practices of the world to intense
+individualism. I should indeed go further by stating my convictions,
+that even with persons brought up from childhood to act in common and
+live in common, it would be impossible to carry out a Communistic
+system, unless in a place utterly removed from contact with the world,
+or with the help of some powerful religious conviction. Mere
+benevolence, mere sentiments of universal philanthropy, are far too
+weak to bind the self-seeking affections of men."
+
+John Pratt, a Positivist, in a communication to _The Oneida Circular_,
+contributes the following philosophical observations:
+
+"Owen was a Scotch metaphysician of the old school. As such, he was a
+most excellent fault-finder and _disorganizer_. He could perceive and
+depict the existing discord, but knew not better than his
+contemporaries Shelley and Godwin, where to find the New Harmony. Like
+most men of the last generation he looked upon society as a
+manufactured product, and not as an organism endued with imperishable
+vitality and growth. Like them he attributed all the evils it endured
+to priests and politicians, whose immediate annihilation would be
+followed by immediate, everlasting and universal happiness. It would
+be astonishing if an experiment initiated by such a class of thinkers
+should succeed under the most favorable auspices. One word as to mere
+externals. Owen was a skeptic by training, and a cautious man of
+business by nature and nationality. He was professedly an entire
+convert to his own principles; yet set an example of distrust by
+holding on to his thirty thousand acres himself. This would do when
+dealing with starving Scotch peasantry, glad of the privilege of
+moderately remunerated labor, good food and clothing. Had he been a
+benevolent Southern planter he would have succeeded admirably with
+negro slaves, who would have been only too happy to accept any
+'Principles.' He had to do with people who had individual hopes and
+aspirations. The internal affinities of Owen's Commune were too weak
+to resist the attractions of the outer world. Had he brought his New
+Lanark disciples to New Harmony, the result would not have been
+different. Removed from the mechanical pressure of despair and want,
+his weakly cohered elements would quickly have crumbled away."
+
+Our chapter on New Harmony was submitted, soon after it was written,
+to an evening gathering of the Oneida Community, for the purpose of
+eliciting discussions that might throw light on the failure; and we
+take the liberty here to report some of the observations made on that
+occasion. They have the advantage of coming from persons who have had
+long experience in Community life.
+
+_E.H. Hamilton_ said--"My admiration is excited, to see a man who was
+prospering in business as Mr. Owen was, turn aside from the general
+drift of the world, toward social improvement. I have the impression
+that he was sincere. He risked his money on his theories to a certain
+extent. His attempt was a noble manifestation of humanity, so far as
+it goes. But he required other people to be what he was not himself.
+He complains of his followers, that they were not teachable. I do not
+think he was a teachable man. He got a glimpse of the truth, and of
+the possibilities of Communism; but he adopted certain ideas as to the
+way in which these results are to be obtained, and it seems to me, in
+regard to those ideas, he was not docile. It must be manifest to all
+candid minds, that all the improvement and civilization of the present
+time, go along with the development of Christianity; and I am led to
+wonder why a man with the discernment and honesty of Mr. Owen, was not
+more impressible to the truth in this direction. It seems to me he was
+as unreceptive to the truths of Christianity, as the people he got
+together at New Harmony were to his principles. His favorite dogma was
+that a man's character is formed for him, and not by himself. I
+suppose we might admit, in a certain sense, that a man's character is
+formed for him by the grace of God, or by evil spirits. But the notion
+that man is wholly the creature of external circumstances,
+irrespective of these influences, seems foolish and pig-headed."
+
+_H.J. Seymour._--"I should not object to Owen's doctrine of
+circumstances, if he would admit that the one great circumstance of a
+man's life is the possibility of finding out and doing the will of
+God, and getting into vital connection with him."
+
+_S.R. Leonard._--"The people Mr. Owen had to deal with in Scotland
+were of the servile class, employees in his cotton-factories, and were
+easily managed, compared with those he collected here in the United
+States. When he went to Indiana, and undertook to manage a family of a
+thousand democrats, he began to realize that he did not understand
+human nature, or the principles of Association."
+
+_T.R. Noyes._--"The novelty of Owen's ideas and his rejection of all
+religion, prevented him from drawing into his scheme the best class in
+this country. Probably for every honest man who went to New Harmony,
+there were several parasites ready to prey on him and his enterprise,
+because he offered them an easy life without religion. Even if he
+might have got on with simple-minded men and women like his Lanark
+operatives, it was out of the question with these greedy adventurers."
+
+_G.W. Hamilton._--"At the west I met some persons who claimed to be
+disciples of Owen. From what I saw of them, I should judge it would be
+very difficult to form a Community of such material. They were very
+strong in the doctrine that every man has a right to his own opinion;
+and declaimed loudly against the effect of religion upon people. They
+said the common ideas of God and duty operated a great deal worse upon
+the characters of men, than southern slavery. There is enough in such
+notions of independence, to break up any attempt at Communism."
+
+_F.W. Smith._--"I understand that Owen did not educate and appoint men
+as leaders and fathers, to take care of the society while he was
+crossing the ocean back and forth. He undertook to manage his own
+affairs, and at the same time to run this Community. Our experience
+has shown that it is necessary to have a father in a great family for
+daily and almost hourly advice. I should think it would be doubly
+necessary in such a Community as Owen collected, to have the wisest
+man always at his post."
+
+_C.A. Burt._--"There are only two ways of governing such an
+institution as a Community; it must be done either by law or by grace.
+Owen got a company together and abolished law, but did not establish
+grace; and so, necessarily failed."
+
+_L. Bolles._--"The popular idea is that Owen and his class of
+reformers had an ideal that was very beautiful and very perfect; that
+they had too much faith for their time--too much faith in humanity;
+that they were several hundred years in advance of their age; and that
+the world was not good enough to understand them and their beautiful
+ideas. That is the superficial view of these men. I think the truth
+is, they were not up to the times; that mankind, in point of real
+faith, were ahead of them. Their view that the evil in human nature is
+owing to outward surroundings, is an impeachment of the providence of
+God. It is the worst kind of unbelief. But they have taught us one
+great lesson; and that is, that good circumstances do _not_ make good
+men. I believe the circumstances of mankind are as good as Providence
+can make them, consistently with their own state of development and
+the well-being of their souls. Instead of seeking to sweep away
+existing governments and forms of outward things, we should thank God
+that he has given men institutions as good as they can bear. We know
+that he will give them better, as fast as they improve beyond those
+they have."
+
+_J.B. Herrick._--"Although the apparent effect of the failure of
+Owen's movement was to produce discouragement, still below all that
+discouragement there is, in the whole nation, generated in part by
+that movement, a hope watching for the morning. We have to thank Owen
+for so much, or rather to thank God, for using Owen to stimulate the
+public mind and bring it to that state in which it is able to receive
+and keep this hope for the future."
+
+_C.W. Underwood._--"Owen's experiment helped to demonstrate that there
+is no such thing as organization or unity without Christ and religion.
+But on the other hand we can see that Owen did much good. The churches
+were compelled to adopt many of his ideas. He certainly was the father
+of the infant-school system; and it is my impression that he started
+the reform-schools, houses of refuge, etc. He gave impulse, at any
+rate, to the present reformatory movements."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is noticeable, as a coļncidence with our observations on the lust
+for land in a preceding chapter, that Owen succeeded admirably in a
+factory, and failed miserably on a farm. Whether his 30,000 acres had
+anything to do with his actual failure or not, they would probably
+have been the ruin of his Community, if it had not failed from other
+causes.
+
+We have reason to believe from many hints, that _whisky_ had
+considerable agency in the demoralization and destruction of New
+Harmony. The affair of Taylor's distillery is one significant fact.
+Here is another from Macdonald:
+
+"I was one day at the tan-yard, where Squire B. and some others were
+standing, talking around the stove. During the conversation Squire B.
+asked us if he had ever told us how he had served 'old Owen' in
+Community times. He then informed us that he came from Illinois to New
+Harmony, and that a man in Illinois was owing him, and asked him to
+take a barrel of whisky for the debt. He could not well get the money;
+so took the whisky. When it came to New Harmony he did not know where
+to put it, but finally hid it in his cellar. Not long after Mr. Owen
+found that the people still got whisky from some quarter, he could not
+tell where, though he did his best to find out. At last he suspected
+Squire B., and came right into his shop and accused him of it; on
+which Squire B. had to own that it was he who retailed the whisky. 'It
+was taken for a debt,' said he, 'and what else was I to do to get rid
+of it?' Mr. Owen turned round, and in his simple manner said, 'Ah, I
+see you do not understand the principles.' This story was finished
+with a hearty laugh at 'old Owen.' I could not laugh, but felt that
+such men as Squire B. really did not understand the principles; and no
+wonder there are failures, when such men as he thrust themselves in,
+and frustrate benevolent designs."
+
+It was too early for a Community, when this country was a "nation of
+drunkards," as it was in 1825.
+
+Owen's method of getting together the material of his Community, seems
+to us the most obvious _external_ cause of his failure. It was like
+advertising for a wife; and we never heard of any body's getting a
+good wife by advertising. A public invitation to "the industrious and
+well-disposed of all nations," to come on and take possession of
+30,000 acres of land and a ready-made village, leaving each one to
+judge as to his own industry and disposition, would insure a prompt
+gathering--and also a speedy scattering.
+
+This method, or something like it, has been tried in most of the
+non-religious experiments. The joint-stock principle, which many of
+them adopted, necessarily invites all who choose to buy stock. That
+principle may form organizations that are able to carry on the
+businesses of banks and railroads after a fashion; because such
+businesses require but little character, except zeal and ability for
+money-making. But a true Community, or even a semi-Community, like the
+Fourier Phalanxes, requires far higher qualifications in its members
+and managers.
+
+The socialistic theorizers all assume that Association is a step in
+advance of civilization. If that is true, we must assume also that the
+most advanced class of civilization is that which must take the step;
+and a discrimination of some sort will be required, to get that class
+into the work, and shut off the barbarians who would hinder it.
+
+Judging from all our experience and observation, we should say that
+the two most essential requisites for the formation of successful
+Communities, are _religious principle_ and _previous acquaintance_ of
+the members. Both of these were lacking in Owen's experiment. The
+advertising method of gathering necessarily ignores both.
+
+Owen, in his old age, became a Spiritualist, and in the light of his
+new experience confessed what seems to us the principal cause of his
+failure. Sargant, his biographer, referring to chapter and verse in
+his writings says:
+
+"He confessed that until he received the revelations of Spiritualism,
+he had been quite unaware of the necessity of good _spiritual
+conditions_ for forming the character of men. The physical, the
+intellectual, the moral, and the practical conditions, he had
+understood, and had known how to provide for; but the spiritual he had
+overlooked. _Yet this, as he now saw, was the most important of all in
+the future development of mankind._"
+
+In the same new light, Owen recognized the principal cause of all real
+success. Sargant continues:
+
+"Owen says, that in looking back on his past life, he can trace the
+finger of God directing his steps, preserving his life under imminent
+dangers, and impelling him onward on many occasions. It was under the
+immediate guidance of the Spirit of God, that during the inexperience
+of his youth, he accomplished much good for the world. The
+preservation of his life from the peculiar dangers of childhood, was
+owing to the monitions of this good Spirit. To this superior invisible
+aid he owed his appointment, at the age of seven years, to be usher in
+a school, before the monitorial system of teaching was thought of. To
+this he must ascribe his migration from an inaccessible Welsh county
+to London, and then to Stamford, and his ability to maintain himself
+without assistance from his friends. So he goes on recounting all the
+events of his life, great and small, and attributing them to the
+SPECIAL PROVIDENCE OF GOD."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+YELLOW SPRINGS COMMUNITY.
+
+
+The fame of New Harmony has of course overshadowed and obscured all
+other experiments that resulted from Owen's labors in this country. It
+is perhaps scarcely known at this day that a Community almost as
+brilliant as Brook Farm, was started by his personal efforts at
+Cincinnati, even before he commenced operations at New Harmony. The
+following sketch, clipped by Macdonald from some old newspaper (the
+name and date of which are missing), is not only pleasant reading, but
+bears internal marks of painstaking and truthfulness. It is a model
+memoir of the life and death of a non-religious Community; and would
+serve for many others, by changing a few names, as ministers do when
+they re-preach old funeral sermons. The moral at the close, inferring
+the impracticability of Communism, may probably be accepted as sound,
+if restricted to non-religious experiments. The general career of Owen
+is sketched correctly and in rather a masterly manner: and the
+interesting fact is brought to light, that the beginning of the Owen
+movement in this country was signalized by a conjunction with
+Swedenborgianism. The significance of this fact will appear more
+fully, when we come to the history of the marriage between Fourierism
+and Swedenborgianism, which afterwards took place at Brook Farm.
+
+
+MEMOIR.
+
+"The narrative here presented," says the unknown writer, "was prepared
+at the request of a minister who had looked in vain for any account of
+the Communities established by Robert Owen in this country. It is
+simply what it pretends to be, reminiscences by one who, while a
+youth, resided with his parents as a member of the Community at Yellow
+Springs. For some years together since his manhood, he has been
+associated with several of the leading men of that experiment, and has
+through them been informed in relation to both its outer and _inner_
+history. The article may contain some errors, as of dates and other
+matters unimportant to a just view of the Community; but the social
+picture will be correct. With the hope that it may convey a useful
+lesson, it is submitted to the reader.
+
+"Robert Owen, the projector of the Communities at Yellow Springs,
+Ohio, and New Harmony, Indiana, was the owner of extensive
+manufactories at New Lanark, Scotland. He was a man of considerable
+learning, much observation, and full of the love of his fellow men;
+though a disbeliever in Christianity. His skeptical views concerning
+the Bible were fully announced in the celebrated debate at Cincinnati
+between himself and Dr. Alexander Campbell. But whatever may have been
+his faith, he proved his philanthropy by a long life of beneficent
+works. At his manufactories in Scotland he established a system based
+on community of labor, which was crowned with the happiest effects.
+But it should be remembered that Owen himself was the owner of the
+works and controlled all things by a single mind. The system,
+therefore, was only a beneficent scheme of government by a
+manufacturer, for the good of himself and his operatives.
+
+"Full of zeal for the improvement of society, Owen conceived that he
+had discovered the cause of most of its evils in the laws of _meum et
+tuum_; and that a state of society where there is nothing _mine_ or
+_thine_, would be a paradise begun. He brooded upon the idea of a
+Community of property, and connected it with schemes for the
+improvement of society, until he was ready to sacrifice his own
+property and devote his heart and his life to his fellow men upon this
+basis. Too discreet to inaugurate the new system among the poorer
+classes of his own country, whom he found perverted by prejudice and
+warped by the artificial forms of society there, he resolved to
+proceed to the United States, and among the comparatively unperverted
+people, liberal institutions and cheap lands of the West, to establish
+Communities, founded upon common property, social equality, and the
+equal value of every man's labor.
+
+"About the year 1824 Owen arrived in Cincinnati. He brought with him a
+history of his labors at New Lanark; with glowing and not unjust
+accounts of the beneficent effects of his efforts there. He exhibited
+plans for his proposed Communities here; with model farms, gardens,
+vineyards, play-grounds, orchards, and all the internal and external
+appliances of the social paradise. At Cincinnati he soon found many
+congenial spirits, among the first of whom was Daniel Roe, minister of
+the "New Jerusalem Church," a society of the followers of Swedenborg.
+This society was composed of a very superior class of people. They
+were intelligent, liberal, generous, cultivated men and women--many
+of them wealthy and highly educated. They were apparently the best
+possible material to organize and sustain a Community, such as Owen
+proposed. Mr. Roe and many of his congregation became fascinated with
+Owen and his Communism; and together with others in the city and
+elsewhere, soon organized a Community and furnished the means for
+purchasing an appropriate site for its location. In the meantime Owen
+proceeded to Harmony, and, with others, purchased that place, with all
+its buildings, vineyards, and lands, from Rapp, who emigrated to
+Pennsylvania and established his people at Economy. It will only be
+added of Owen, that after having seen the New Harmonians fairly
+established, he returned to Scotland.
+
+"After careful consultation and selection, it was decided by the
+Cincinnati Community to purchase a domain at Yellow Springs, about
+seventy-five miles north of the city, [now the site of Antioch
+College] as the most eligible place for their purpose. It was really
+one of the most delightful regions in the whole West, and well worthy
+the residence of a people who had resolved to make many sacrifices for
+what they honestly believed to be a great social and moral
+reformation.
+
+"The Community, as finally organized consisted of seventy-five or one
+hundred families; and included professional men, teachers, merchants,
+mechanics, farmers, and a few common laborers. Its economy was nearly
+as follows:
+
+"The property was held in trust forever, in behalf of the members of
+the Community, by the original purchasers, and their chosen
+successors, to be designated from time to time by the voice of the
+Community. All additional property thereafter to be acquired, by
+labor, purchase, or otherwise, was to be added to the common stock,
+for the benefit of each and all. Schools were to be established, to
+teach all things useful (except religion). Opinion upon all subjects
+was free; and the present good of the whole Community was the standard
+of morals. The Sabbath was a day of rest and recreation, to be
+improved by walks, rides, plays, and pleasing exercises; and by public
+lectures. Dancing was instituted as a most valuable means of physical
+and social culture; and the ten-pin alley and other sources of
+amusement were open to all.
+
+"But although Christianity was wholly ignored in the system, there was
+no free-loveism or other looseness of morals allowed. In short, this
+Community began its career under the most favorable auspices; and if
+any men and women in the world could have succeeded, these should have
+done so. How they _did_ succeed, and how they did not, will now be
+shown.
+
+"For the first few weeks, all entered into the new system with a will.
+Service was the order of the day. Men who seldom or never before
+labored with their hands, devoted themselves to agriculture and the
+mechanic arts, with a zeal which was at least commendable, though not
+always according to knowledge. Ministers of the gospel guided the
+plough; called the swine to their corn, instead of sinners to
+repentance; and let patience have her perfect work over an unruly yoke
+of oxen. Merchants exchanged the yard-stick for the rake or
+pitch-fork. All appeared to labor cheerfully for the common weal.
+Among the women there was even more apparent self-sacrifice. Ladies
+who had seldom seen the inside of their own kitchens, went into that
+of the common eating-house (formerly a hotel), and made themselves
+useful among pots and kettles: and refined young ladies, who had all
+their lives been waited upon, took their turns in waiting upon others
+at the table. And several times a week all parties who chose mingled
+in the social dance, in the great dining-hall."
+
+But notwithstanding the apparent heartiness and cordiality of this
+auspicious opening, it was in the social atmosphere of the Community
+that the first cloud arose. Self-love was a spirit which would not be
+exorcised. It whispered to the lowly maidens, whose former position in
+society had cultivated the spirit of meekness--"You are as good as the
+formerly rich and fortunate; insist upon your equality." It reminded
+the favorites of former society of their lost superiority; and in
+spite of all rules, tinctured their words and actions with the love of
+self. Similar thoughts and feelings soon arose among the men; and
+though not so soon exhibited, they were none the less deep and strong.
+It is unnecessary to descend to details: suffice it to say, that at
+the end of three months--_three months!_--the leading minds in the
+Community were compelled to acknowledge to each other that the social
+life of the Community could not be bounded by a single circle. They
+therefore acquiesced, but reluctantly, in its division into many
+little circles. Still they hoped and many of them no doubt believed,
+that though social equality was a failure, community of property was
+not. But whether the law of _mine and thine_ is natural or incidental
+in human character, it soon began to develop its sway. The
+industrious, the skillful and the strong, saw the products of their
+labor enjoyed by the indolent, the unskilled, and the improvident; and
+self-love rose against benevolence. A band of musicians insisted that
+their brassy harmony was as necessary to the common happiness as
+bread and meat; and declined to enter the harvest field or the
+work-shop. A lecturer upon natural science insisted upon talking only,
+while others worked. Mechanics, whose day's labor brought two dollars
+into the common stock, insisted that they should, in justice, work
+only half as long as the agriculturist, whose day's work brought but
+one.
+
+"For a while, of course, these jealousies were only felt; but they
+soon began to be spoken also. It was useless to remind all parties
+that the common labor of all ministered to the prosperity of the
+Community. _Individual_ happiness was the law of nature, and it could
+not be obliterated; and before a single year had passed, this law had
+scattered the members of that society, which had come together so
+earnestly and under such favorable circumstances, back into the
+selfish world from which they came.
+
+"The writer of this sketch has since heard the history of that
+eventful year reviewed with honesty and earnestness by the best men
+and most intelligent parties of that unfortunate social experiment.
+They admitted the favorable circumstances which surrounded its
+commencement; the intelligence, devotion, and earnestness which were
+brought to the cause by its projectors; and its final, total failure.
+And they rested ever after in the belief that man, though disposed to
+philanthropy, is essentially selfish; and that a community of social
+equality and common property is impossible."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+NASHOBA.
+
+
+Macdonald erects a magniloquent monument over the remains of Nashoba,
+the experiment of Frances Wright. This woman, little known to the
+present generation, was really the spiritual helpmate and better-half
+of the Owens, in the socialistic revival of 1826. Our impression is,
+not only that she was the leading woman in the communistic movement of
+that period, but that she had a very important agency in starting two
+other movements, that have had far greater success, and are at this
+moment strong in public favor: viz., Anti-Slavery and Woman's Rights.
+If justice were done, we are confident her name would figure high with
+those of Lundy, Garrison, and John Brown on the one hand, and with
+those of Abby Kelly, Lucy Stone and Anna Dickinson on the other. She
+was indeed the pioneer of the "strong-minded women." We copy the most
+important parts of Macdonald's memoir of Nashoba:
+
+"This experiment was made in Shelby Co., Tennessee, by the celebrated
+Frances Wright. The objects were, to form a Community in which the
+negro slave should be educated and upraised to a level with the
+whites, and thus prepared for freedom; and to set an example, which,
+if carried out, would eventually abolish slavery in the Southern
+States; also to make a home for good and great men and women of all
+countries, who might there sympathize with each other in their love
+and labor for humanity. She invited congenial minds from every quarter
+of the globe to unite with her in the search for truth and the pursuit
+of rational happiness. Herself a native of Scotland, she became imbued
+with these philanthropic views through a knowledge of the sufferings
+of a great portion of mankind in many countries, and of the condition
+of the negro in the United States in particular.
+
+"She traveled extensively in the Southern States, and explained her
+views to many of the planters. It was during these travels that she
+visited the German settlement of Rappites at Harmony, on the Wabash
+river, and after examining the wonderful industry of that Community,
+she was struck with the appropriateness of their system of coöperation
+to the carrying out of her aspirations. She also visited some of the
+Shaker establishments then existing in the United States, but she
+thought unfavorably of them. She renewed her visits of the Rappites,
+and was present on the occasion of their removal from Harmony to
+Economy on the Ohio, where she continued her acquaintance with them,
+receiving valuable knowledge from their experience, and, as it were,
+witnessing a new village, with its fields, orchards, gardens,
+vineyards, flouring-mills and manufactories, rise out of the earth,
+beneath the hands of some eight hundred trained laborers."
+
+Here is another indication of the important part the Rappites played
+in the early history of Owenism. As they cleared the 30,000 acres and
+built the village which was the theatre of Owen's great experiment, so
+it is evident from the above account and from other hints, that their
+Communistic ideas and manner of living were systematically studied by
+the Owen school, before and after the purchase of New Harmony. Indeed
+it is more than intimated in a passage from the _New Moral World_
+quoted in our 5th chapter, that Owen depended on their assistance in
+commencing his Community, and attributed his failure to their
+premature removal. On the whole we may conclude that Owen learned all
+he really knew about practical Communism, and more than he was able to
+imitate, from the Rappites. They learned Communism from the New
+Testament and the day of Pentecost.
+
+"In the autumn of 1825 [when New Harmony was under full sail in the
+absence of Mr. Owen], Frances Wright purchased 2,000 acres of good and
+pleasant woodland, lying on both sides of the Wolf river in west
+Tennessee, about thirteen miles above Memphis. She then purchased
+several negro families, comprising fifteen able hands, and commenced
+her practical experiment."
+
+Her plan in brief was, to take slaves in large numbers from time to
+time (either by purchase, or by inducing benevolent planters to donate
+their negroes to the institution), and to prepare them for liberty by
+education, giving them half of what they produced, and making them pay
+their way and purchase their emancipation, if necessary, by their
+labor. The working of the negroes and the general management of the
+Community was to be in the hands of the philanthropic and wealthy
+whites associated with the lady-founder. The theory was benevolent;
+but practically the institution must have been a two-story
+commonwealth, somewhat like the old Grecian States which founded
+liberty on Helotism. Or we might define it as a Brook Farm _plus_ a
+negro basis. The trouble at Brook Farm, according to Hawthorne, was,
+that the amateurs who took part in that 'pic-nic,' did not like to
+serve as 'chambermaids to the cows.' This difficulty was provided
+against at Nashoba.
+
+"We are informed that Frances Wright found in her new occupation
+intense and ever-increasing interest. But ere long she was seized by
+severe and reļterated sickness, which compelled her to make a voyage
+to Europe for the recovery of her health. 'During her absence,' says
+her biographer, 'an intriguing individual had disorganized every thing
+on the estate, and effected the removal of persons of confidence. All
+her serious difficulties proceeded from her white assistants, and not
+from the blacks.'"
+
+In December of the following year, she made over the Nashoba estate to
+a board of trustees, by a deed commencing thus:
+
+"I, Frances Wright, do give the lands after specified, to General
+Lafayette, William Maclure, Robert Owen, Cadwallader Colden,
+Richardson Whitby, Robert Jennings, Robert Dale Owen, George Flower,
+Camilla Wright, and James Richardson, to be held by them and their
+associates and their successors in perpetual trust for the benefit of
+the negro race."
+
+By another deed she gave the slaves of Nashoba to the before-mentioned
+trustees: and by still another she gave them all her personal
+property.
+
+In her appeal to the public in connection with this transfer, she
+explains at length her views of reform, and her reasons for choosing
+the above-named trustees instead of the Emancipation or Colonization
+Societies; and in respect to education says: 'No difference will be
+made in the schools between the white children and the children of
+color, whether in education or any other advantage.' After further
+explanation of her plans she goes on to say:
+
+"'It will be seen that this establishment is founded on the principle
+of community property and labor: preserving every advantage to those
+desirous, not of accumulating money but of enjoying life and rendering
+services to their fellow-creatures; these fellow-creatures, that is,
+the blacks here admitted, requiting these services by services equal
+or greater, by filling occupations which their habits render easy, and
+which, to their guides and assistants, might be difficult or
+unpleasing.' [Here is the 'negro basis.']
+
+"'No life of idleness, however, is proposed to the whites. Those who
+cannot work must give an equivalent in property. Gardening or other
+cultivation of the soil, useful trades practiced in the society or
+taught in the school, the teaching of every branch of knowledge,
+tending the children, and nursing the sick, will present a choice of
+employment sufficiently extensive.'"
+
+In the course of another year trouble had come and Disorganization had
+begun.
+
+"In March, 1828, the trustees published a communication in the
+_Nashoba Gazette_, explaining the difficulties they had to contend
+with, and the causes why the experience of two years had modified the
+original plan of Frances Wright. They show the impossibility of a
+co-operative Community succeeding without the members composing it are
+superior beings; 'for,' say they, 'if there be introduced into such a
+society thoughts of evil and unkindness, feelings of intolerance and
+words of dissension, it can not prosper. That which produces in the
+world only common-place jealousies and every-day squabbles, is
+sufficient to destroy a Community.'
+
+"The society has admitted some members to labor, and others as
+boarders from whom no labor was required; and in this they confess
+their error, and now propose to admit those only who possess the funds
+for their support.
+
+"The trustees go on to say that 'they desire to express distinctly
+that they have deferred, for the present, the attempt to have a
+society of co-operative labor; and they claim for the association only
+the title of a Preliminary Social Community.'
+
+"After describing the moral qualifications of members, who may be
+admitted without regard to color, they propose that each one shall
+yearly throw $100 into the common fund for board alone, to be paid
+quarterly in advance. Each one was also to build for himself or
+herself a small brick house, with piazza, according to a regular plan,
+and upon a spot of ground selected for the purpose, near the center or
+the lands of Nashoba."
+
+This communication is signed by Frances Wright, Richardson Whitby,
+Camilla Wright Whitby, and Robert Dale Owen, as resident trustee, and
+is dated Feb. 1, 1828.
+
+"It is probable that success did not further attend the experiment,
+for Francis Wright abandoned it soon after, and in June following
+removed to New Harmony, where, in conjunction with William Owen, she
+assumed for a short time the management of the _New Harmony Gazette_,
+which then had its name altered to the _New Harmony and Nashoba
+Gazette or Free Enquirer_.
+
+"Her biographer says that she abandoned, though not without a
+struggle, the peaceful shades of Nashoba, leaving the property in the
+charge of an individual, who was to hold the negroes ready for
+removal to Hayti the year following. In relinquishing her experiment
+in favor of the race, she held herself equally pledged to the colored
+families under her charge, to the southern state in which she had been
+a resident citizen, and to the American community at large, to remove
+her dependents to a country free to their color. This she executed a
+year after."
+
+This Communistic experiment and failure was nearly simultaneous with
+that of New Harmony, and was the immediate antecedent of Frances
+Wright's famous lecturing-tour. In December 1828 she was raising
+whirlwinds of excitement by her eloquence in Baltimore, Philadelphia
+and New York; and soon after the _New Harmony Gazette_, under the
+title of _The Free Enquirer_, was removed to the latter city, where it
+was ably edited several years by Frances Wright and Robert Dale Owen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+SEVEN EPITAPHS.
+
+
+We have passed the most notable monuments of the Owen epoch, and come
+now to obscurer graves. Doubtless many of the little Communities that
+followed New Harmony, and in a small way repeated its fortunes, were
+buried without memorial. We have on Macdonald's list the names of only
+seven more, and their epitaphs are for the most part very brief. We
+may as well group them all in one chapter, and copy what Macdonald
+says about them, without comment.
+
+
+EPITAPH NO. I. CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY, 1825.
+
+"Located at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Founded on the principles of
+Robert Owen. Benjamin Bakewell, President; John Snyder, Treasurer;
+Magnus M. Murray, Secretary."
+
+
+EPITAPH NO. II. FRANKLIN COMMUNITY, 1826.
+
+"Located somewhere in New York. Had a printed Constitution; also a
+'preparatory school.' No further particulars."
+
+
+EPITAPH NO. III. BLUE SPRINGS COMMUNITY. 1826-7.
+
+"A gathering under the above title, existed for a short time near
+Bloomington, Ind. It was said [by somebody] to be 'harmonious and
+prosperous' as late as Jan. 1, 1827; but as I find no trace of it in
+my researches, it is fair to conclude that it is numbered with the
+dead, like others of its day."
+
+
+EPITAPH NO. IV. FORRESTVILLE COMMUNITY. (INDIANA.)
+
+"This Society was formed on the 16th day of December, 1825, of four
+families consisting of thirty-one persons. March 26, 1826, the
+constitution was printed. During the year their number increased to
+over sixty. The business was transacted by three trustees, to be
+elected annually, together with a secretary and treasurer. The
+principles were purely republican. They had no established religion,
+the constitution only requiring that all candidates should be of good
+moral character, sober and industrious. They declared that 'a baptist,
+a methodist, a universalist, a quaker, a calvinist, a deist, or any
+other _ist_, provided he or she is a genuine good moralist, are
+equally privileged and equally esteemed.' They occupied 325 acres of
+land, two saw-mills, one grist-mill, a carding machine, and a tannery,
+and carried on wagon-making, shoe-making, blacksmithing, coopering,
+agriculture, &c."
+
+
+EPITAPH NO. V. HAVERSTRAW COMMUNITY.
+
+"This Society was formed in the year 1826 by a Mr. Fay (an attorney),
+Jacob Peterson and George Houston of New York, and Robert L. Ginengs
+of Philadelphia. It is probable that it originated in consequence of
+the lectures which were at that time delivered by Robert Owen in this
+country.
+
+"The principles and objects of the Society, as far as I can learn,
+were to better the condition of themselves and their fellowmen, which
+they conceived could be done by living in Community, having all things
+in common, giving equal rights to each, and abolishing the terms 'mine
+and thine.'
+
+"They increased their numbers to eighty persons, including women and
+children, and purchased an estate at Haverstraw, two miles back from
+the Hudson river, on the west side, about thirty miles above Mew York.
+There were 120 acres of wood land, two mansion houses, twelve or
+fourteen out-buildings, one saw-mill, and a rolling and
+splitting-mill: and the estate had a noble stream of water running
+through it. The property was owned by a Major Suffrens of Haverstraw,
+who demanded $18,000 for it. On this sum $6,000 were paid, and bond
+and mortgage were given for the remainder. To raise the $6,000 and to
+defray other expenses, Jacob Peterson advanced $7,000; another
+individual $300; and others subscribed sums as low as $10. Money,
+land, and every thing else were held as common stock for the equal
+benefit of all the members.
+
+"Among the members, were persons of various trades and occupations,
+such as carpenters, cabinet-makers, tailors, shoe-makers and farmers.
+It was the general opinion that the society, as a whole, possessed a
+large amount of intelligence; and both men and women were of good
+moral character. I was acquainted with two or three persons who were
+engaged in this enterprise, and must say I never saw more just and
+honorable old men than they were when I knew them.
+
+"It appears that they formed a church among themselves, which they
+denominated the _Church of Reason_; and on Sundays they attended
+meetings, where lectures were delivered to them on Morals,
+Philosophy, Agriculture and various scientific subjects. They had no
+religious ceremonies or articles of faith.
+
+"They admitted members by ballot. The details of their rules and
+regulations were never printed. I have reason to believe that they had
+an abundance of laws and by-laws; and that they disagreed upon these,
+as well as upon other matters.
+
+"While the Community lasted, they were well supplied with the
+necessaries of life, and generally speaking their circumstances were
+by no means inferior to those they had left.
+
+"The splitting and rolling mill was not used, but farming and
+mechanical operations were carried on; and it is supposed (as in many
+other instances) that if the officers of the society had acted right,
+the experiment would have succeeded; but by some means the affairs
+soon became disorderly, and though so much money had originally been
+raised, and assistance was received from without, yet the experiment
+came to an end after a struggle of only five months.
+
+"An informant asserts that dishonesty of the managers and want of good
+measures were the causes of failure, and expresses himself thus: 'We
+wanted men and women of skillful industry, sober and honest, with a
+knowledge of themselves, and a disposition to command and be
+commanded, and not men and women whose sole occupation is parade and
+talk.'
+
+"In this experiment, like many others, several individuals suffered
+pecuniary loss. Those who had but a home, left it for Community, and
+of course were thrown back in their progress. Those who had money and
+invested there, lost it. Jacob Peterson, of New York, who advanced
+$7,000, never got more than $300 of it back, and even that was lost
+to him through the dishonesty of those with whom he did business."
+
+
+EPITAPH NO. VI. COXSACKIE COMMUNITY.
+
+"This experiment also was commenced in 1826, and members from the
+Haverstraw experiment joined it on the breaking up of their Society.
+
+"The principal actors in this attempt, were Samuel Underhill, John
+Norberry, Nathaniel Underhill, Wm. G. Macy, Jethro Macy and Jacob
+Peterson. The objects were the same as at Haverstraw, but in trying to
+carry them out they met with no better success. It appears that the
+capital was small, and the estate, which was located seven miles back
+from Coxsackie on the Hudson river, was very much in debt. From the
+little information I am enabled to gather concerning this attempt, I
+judge that they made many laws, that their laws were bad, and that
+they had many persons engaged in talking and law-making, who did not
+work at any useful employment. The consequences were, that after
+struggling on for a little more than a year, this experiment came to
+an end. One of my informants thus expresses himself about this
+failure: 'There were few good men to steer things right. We wanted men
+and women who would be willing to live in simple habitations, and on
+plain and simple diet; who would be contented with plain and simple
+clothing, and who would band together for each others' good. With such
+we might have succeeded; but such attempts can not succeed without
+such people.'
+
+"In this little conflict there were many sacrifices; but those who
+survived and were still imbued with the principles, emigrated to Ohio,
+to fight again with the old system of things."
+
+
+EPITAPH NO. VII. KENDAL COMMUNITY.
+
+"This was an attempt to carry out the views of Mr. Owen. It was
+located near Canton, Stark County, Ohio. The purchase of the property
+was made in June 1826, by a body of freeholders, whose farms were
+mortgaged for the first payment, and who, on account of the difficulty
+of realizing cash for their estates, were under some embarrassment in
+their operations, though the property was a great bargain."
+
+Of this enterprise in its early stage the _Western Courier_ (Dec.,
+1826,) thus speaks:
+
+"The Kendal Community is rapidly on the increase; a number of
+dwellings have been erected in addition to those previously built; yet
+the increase of families has been such that there is much
+inconvenience experienced for want of house-room. The members are now
+employed in erecting a building 170 by 33 feet, which is intended to
+be temporarily occupied as private dwellings, but ultimately as
+work-shops. This and other improvements for the convenience of the
+place, will soon be completed.
+
+"Kendal is pleasantly and advantageously situated for health. We are
+informed that there is not a sick person on the premises. Mechanics of
+various professions have joined the Community, and are now occupied in
+prosecuting the various branches of industry. They have a woolen
+factory in which many hands are employed. Everything appears to be
+going on prosperously and harmoniously. There is observed a bustling
+emulation among the members. They labor hard, and are probably not
+exempt from the cares and perplexities incident to all worldly
+undertakings; and what society or system can claim immunity from
+them? The question is, whether they may not be mitigated. Trouble we
+believe to be a divisible quantity; it may be softened by sympathy and
+intercourse, as pleasure may be increased by union and companionship.
+These advantages have already been experienced at the Kendal
+Community, and its members are even now in possession of that which
+the poet hath declared to be the sum total of human happiness, viz.,
+Health, Peace and Competence."
+
+"Several families from the Coxsackie Community," says Macdonald, "had
+joined Kendal when the above was written, and the remainder were to
+follow as soon as they were prepared. The Kendal Community then
+numbered about one bundled and fifty members including children. They
+were engaged in manufacturing woolen goods on a small scale, had a few
+hops, and did considerable business on the farm. They speak of their
+'_choice spirits_;' and anticipate assistance to carry out their
+plans, and prove the success of the social system beyond all
+contradiction, by the disposal of property and settlement of affairs
+at Coxsackie. In their enthusiasm they assert, 'that unaided, and with
+only their own resources and experience, and above all, with their
+little band of _invincible spirits_, who are tired of the old system
+and are determined to conquer or die, they _must_ succeed.' I conclude
+they did not conquer but died, for I can learn nothing further
+concerning them."
+
+A recent letter from Mr. John Harmon, of Ravenna, Ohio, who was a
+member of the Kendal Community, gives a more definite account of its
+failure, as follows:
+
+"Our Community progressed harmoniously and prosperously, so long as
+the members had their health and a hope of paying for their domain.
+But a summer-fever attacked us, and seven heads of families died,
+among whom were several of our most valued and useful members. At the
+same time the rich proprietors of whom we purchased our land urged us
+to pay; and we could not sell a part of it and give a good title,
+because we were not incorporated. So we were compelled to give up and
+disperse, losing what we had paid, which was about $7,000. But we
+formed friendships that were enduring, and the failure never for a
+moment weakened my faith in the value of Communism."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We group the three last Communities together, because they were
+evidently closely related by members passing from one to another, as
+the earlier ones successively failed. This habit of migrating from one
+Community to another is an interesting characteristic of the veterans
+of Socialism, which we shall meet with frequently hereafter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+OWEN'S GENERAL CAREER.
+
+
+Confining ourselves strictly to memoirs of Associations, we might
+leave Owen now and go on to the experiments of the Fourier school. But
+this would hardly be doing justice to the father of American
+Socialisms. We have exhibited his great failure; and we must stop long
+enough to acknowledge his great success, and say briefly what we think
+of his whole life and influence. Indeed such a review is necessary to
+a just estimate of the Owen movement in this country.
+
+We accept what he himself said about his early achievements, that he
+was under the guidance of the Spirit of God, and was carried along by
+a wonderful series of special providences in his first labors for the
+good of the working classes. The originality, wisdom and success of
+his doings at New Lanark were manifestly supernatural. His factory
+village was indeed a light to the world, that gave the nations a great
+lesson in practical beneficence; and shines still amid the darkness of
+money-making selfishness and industrial misery. The single fact that
+he continued the wages of his operatives when the embargo stopped his
+business, actually paying out $35,000 in four months, to men who had
+nothing to do but to oil his machinery and keep it clean, stamps him
+as a genius of an order higher than Napoleon. By this bold maneuver of
+benevolence he won the confidence of his men, so that he could manage
+them afterwards as he pleased; and then he went on to reform and
+educate them, till they became a wonder to the world and a crown of
+glory to himself. So far we have no doubt that he walked with
+inspiration and special providence.
+
+On the other hand, it is also manifest, that his inspiration and
+success, so far at least as practical attempts were concerned,
+deserted him afterwards, and that much of the latter part of his life
+was spent in disastrous attempts to establish Communism, without the
+necessary spiritual conditions. His whole career may be likened to
+that of the first Napoleon, whose "star" insured victory till he
+reached a certain crisis; after which he lost every battle, and sunk
+into final and overwhelming defeat.
+
+In both cases there was a turning-point which can be marked.
+Napoleon's star deserted him when he put away Josephine. Owen
+evidently lost his hold on practical success when he declared war
+against religion. In his labors at New Lanark he was not an active
+infidel. The Bible was in his schools. Religion was at least tolerated
+and respected. He there married the daughter of Mr. Dale, a preacher
+of the Independents, who was his best friend and counsellor through
+the early years of his success. But when his work at New Lanark became
+famous, and he rose to companionship with dukes and kings, he outgrew
+the modesty and practical wisdom of his early life, and undertook the
+task of Universal Reform. Then it was that he fell into the mistake of
+confounding the principles of the Bible with the character and
+pretensions of his ecclesiastical opposers, and so came into the false
+position of open hostility to religion. Christ was in a similar
+temptation when he found the Scribes and Pharisees arrayed against
+him, with the Old Testament for their vantage ground; but he had
+wisdom enough to keep his foothold on that vantage ground, and drive
+them off. His programme was, "Think not that I am come to destroy the
+law and the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill."
+Whereas Owen, at the turning-point of his career, abandoned the Bible
+with all its magazines of power to his enemies, and went off into a
+hopeless warfare with Christianity and with all God's past
+administrations. From that time fortune deserted him. The splendid
+success of New Lanark was followed by the terrible defeat at New
+Harmony. The declaration of war against all religion was between them.
+Such is our interpretation of his life; and something like this must
+have been his own interpretation, when he confessed in the light of
+his later experience, that by overlooking spiritual conditions, he had
+missed the most important of all the elements of human improvement.
+
+And yet we must not push our parallel too far. Owen, unlike Napoleon,
+never knew when he was beaten, and fought on thirty years after his
+Waterloo. It would be a great mistake to imagine that the failure of
+New Harmony and of the attempts that followed it, was the end of
+Owen's achievements and influence, even in this country. Providence
+does not so waste its preparations and inspirations. Let us see what
+was left, and what Owen did, after the disasters of 1826-7.
+
+In the first place the failure of his Community at New Harmony was not
+the failure of the _village_ which he bought of the Rappites. That
+was built of substantial brick and stone. The houses and a portion of
+the population which he gathered there, remained and have continued to
+be a flourishing and rather peculiar village till the present time.
+Several Communities that came over from England in after-years made
+New Harmony their rendezvous, either on their arrival or when they
+broke up. So Macdonald, with the enthusiasm of a true Socialist, on
+landing in this country in 1842 first sought out New Harmony. There he
+found Josiah Warren, the apostle of Individualism, returned from his
+wanderings and failures, to set up a "Time Store" in the old seat of
+Socialism. We remember also, that Dr. J.R. Buchanan, the
+anthropologist, was at New Harmony in 1842, when he astonished the
+world with his novel experiments in Mesmerism, which Robert Dale Owen
+reported in a famous letter to the _Evening Post_, and which gave
+impetus and respectability to the beginnings of modern Spiritualism.
+These facts and many others indicate that New Harmony continued to be
+a center and refuge of Socialists and innovators long after the
+failure of the Community. Notwithstanding the unpopularity of
+Communism which Macdonald says he found there, it is probably a
+semi-socialist village to this day, representing more or less the
+spirit of Robert Owen.
+
+In the next place, with all his failures, Owen was successful in
+producing a fine family; and though he himself returned to England
+after the disaster at New Harmony, he bequeathed all his children to
+this country. Macdonald, writing in 1842, says: "Mr. Owen's family all
+reside in New Harmony. There are four sons and one daughter; viz.,
+William Owen, who is a merchant and bank director; Robert Dale Owen,
+a lawyer and politician, who attends to the affairs of the Owen
+Estate; David Dale Owen, a practical geologist; Richard Owen, a
+practical farmer; and Mrs. Fauntleroy. The four brothers, with the
+wives and families of three of them, live together in one large
+mansion."
+
+Mr. Owen in his published journal says that "his eldest son Robert
+Dale Owen, after writing much that was excellent, was twice elected
+member of Congress, and carried the bill for establishing the
+Smithsonian Institute in Washington; that his second son, David Dale
+Owen, was professor of chemistry, mineralogy and geology, and had been
+employed by successive American governments as their accredited
+geologist; that his third son, Major Richard Owen, was a professor in
+a Kentucky Military College; and that his only daughter living in
+1851, was the widow of a distinguished American officer."
+
+Robert Dale Owen undoubtedly has been and is, the spiritual as well as
+natural successor of Robert Owen. Wiser and more moderate than his
+father, he has risen out of the wreck of New Harmony to high stations
+and great influence in this country. He was originally associated with
+Frances Wright in her experiment at Nashoba, her lecturing career, and
+her editorial labors in New York. At that time he partook of the
+anti-religious zeal of his father. Opposition to revivals was the
+specialty of his paper, the _Free Enquirer_. In those days, also, he
+published his "Moral Physiology," a little book teaching in plain
+terms a method of controlling propagation--_not_ "Male Continence."
+This bold issue, attributed by his enemies to licentious proclivities,
+was really part of the socialistic movement of the time; and
+indicated the drift of Owenism toward sexual freedom and the abolition
+of marriage.
+
+Robert Dale Owen originated and carried the law in Indiana giving to
+married women a right to property separate from their husbands; and
+the famous facilities of divorce in that State are attributed to his
+influence.
+
+He, like his father, turned toward Spiritualism, notwithstanding his
+non-religious antecedents. His report of Dr. Buchanan's experiments,
+and his books and magazine-articles demonstrating the reality of a
+world of spirits, have been the most respectable and influential
+auxiliaries to the modern system of necromancy. There is an air of
+respect for religion in many of his publications, and even a happy
+freedom of Bible quotation, which is not found in his father's
+writings. Perhaps the variation is due to the blood of his mother, who
+was the daughter of a Bible man and a preacher.
+
+So much Mr. Owen left behind. Let us now follow him in his after
+career. He bade farewell to New Harmony and returned to England in
+June 1828. Acknowledging no real defeat or loss of confidence in his
+principles, he went right on in the labors of his mission, as Apostle
+of Communism for the world, holding himself ready for the most distant
+service at a moment's warning. His policy was slightly changed,
+looking more toward moving the nations, and less toward local
+experiments. In April 1828, he was again in this country, settling his
+affairs at New Harmony, and preaching his gospel among the people.
+During this visit the challenge to debate passed between him and Rev.
+Alexander Campbell, and an arrangement was made for a theological
+duel. He returned to England in the summer, and in November of the
+same year (1828) sailed again for America on a scheme of obtaining
+from the Mexican government a vast territory in Texas on which to
+develop Communism. After finishing the negotiations in Mexico (which
+negotiations were never executed), he came to the United States, and
+in April 1829 met Alexander Campbell at Cincinnati in a debate which
+was then famous, though now forgotten. From Cincinnati he proceeded to
+Washington, where he established intimate relations with Martin Van
+Buren, then Secretary of State, and had an important interview with
+Andrew Jackson, the President, laboring with these dignitaries on
+behalf of national friendship and his new social system. In the summer
+of 1829 he returned to England, and for some years after was engaged
+in labors for the conversion of the English government, and in some
+local attempts to establish "Equitable Commerce," "Labor Exchange" and
+partial Communism, all of which failed. Here Mr. Sargant, his English
+biographer, gives up the pursuit of him, and slurs over the rest of
+his life as though it were passed in obscurity and dotage. Not so
+Macdonald. We learn from him that after Mr. Owen had exceeded the
+allotment of three-score years and ten, he twice crossed the ocean to
+this country. Let us follow the faithful record of the disciple. We
+condense from Macdonald:
+
+In September 1844, Mr. Owen arrived in New York and immediately
+published in the _Herald_ (Sept. 21) an address to the people of the
+United States proclaiming his mission "to effect in peace the greatest
+revolution ever yet made in human society." Fourierism was at that
+time in the ascendant. Mr. Owen called at the office of the _Phalanx_,
+the organ of Brisbane, and was received with distinction. In October
+he visited his family at New Harmony. On his way he stopped at the
+Ohio Phalanx. In December he went to Washington with Robert Dale Owen,
+who was then member of Congress. The party in power was less friendly
+than that of 1829, and refused him the use of the National Halls. He
+lectured, or advertised to lecture, in Concert Hall, Pennsylvania
+Avenue. "In March 1845," says Macdonald, "I had the pleasure of
+hearing him lecture at the Minerva rooms in New York, after which he
+lectured in Lowell and other places." In May he visited Brook Farm. In
+June he published a manifesto, appointing a World's Convention, to be
+held in New York in October; and soon after sailed for England.
+Stopping there scarcely long enough to turn round, he was in this
+country again in season to give a course of lectures preparatory to
+the October Convention. After that Convention (which Macdonald
+confesses was a trifling affair) he continued his labors in various
+places. On the 26th of October Macdonald met him on the street in
+Albany, and spent some time with him at his lodgings in much pleasant
+gossip about New Lanark. In November he called at Hopedale. Adin
+Ballou, in a published report of the visit, dashed off a sketch of him
+and his projects, which is so good a likeness that we copy it here:
+
+"Robert Owen is a remarkable character, in years nearly seventy-five:
+in knowledge and experience super-abundant; in benevolence of heart
+transcendental; in honesty without disguise; in philanthropy
+unlimited; in religion a skeptic; in theology a Pantheist: in
+metaphysics a necessarian circumstantialist; in morals a universal
+exclusionist; in general conduct a philosophic non-resistant; in
+socialism a Communist; in hope a terrestrial elysianist; in practical
+business a methodist; in deportment an unequivocal gentleman.**
+
+"Mr. Owen has vast schemes to develop, and vast hopes of speedy
+success in establishing a great model of the new social state; which
+will quite instantaneously, as he thinks, bring the human race into a
+terrestrial Paradise. He insists on obtaining a million of dollars to
+be expended in lands, buildings, machinery, conveniences and
+beautifications, for his model Community; all to be finished and in
+perfect order, before he introduces to their new home the
+well-selected population who are to inhabit it. He flatters himself he
+shall be able, by some means, to induce capitalists, or perhaps
+Congress, to furnish the capital for this object. We were obliged to
+shake an incredulous head and tell him frankly how groundless, in our
+judgment, all such splendid anticipations must prove. He took it in
+good part, and declared his confidence unshaken, and his hopes
+undiscourageable by any man's unbelief."
+
+The winter of 1845--6 Mr. Owen appears to have spent in the west,
+probably at New Harmony. In June 1846, he was again in Albany, and
+this time for an important purpose. The Convention appointed to frame
+a new Constitution for the State of New York was then in session. He
+obtained the use of the Assembly Chamber and an audience of the
+delegates; and gave them two lectures on "Human Rights and Progress,"
+and withal on their own duties. Macdonald was present, and speaks
+enthusiastically of his energy and dignity. After reminding the
+Convention of the importance of the work they were about, he went on
+to say that "all religious systems, Constitutions, Governments and
+Laws are and have been founded in _error_, and that error is the
+false supposition that _man forms his own character_. They were about
+to form another Constitution based upon that error, and ere long more
+Constitutions would have to be made and altered, and so on, until the
+truth that the _character of man is formed for him_ shall be
+recognized, and the system of society based upon that principle become
+national and universal." "After the lecture," says Macdonald, "I
+lunched with Mr. Owen at the house of Mr. Ames. We had conversation on
+New Harmony, London, &c. Mr. Ames having expressed a desire for a
+photograph of Mr. Owen, I accompanied them to a gallery at the
+Exchange where I parted with him--perhaps forever! He returned soon
+after to England where he remains till the present time." [1854.]
+
+Six times after he was fifty years old, and twice after he was
+seventy, he crossed the Atlantic and back in the service of Communism!
+Let us not say that all this wonderful activity was useless. Let us
+not call this man a driveller and a monomaniac. Let us rather
+acknowledge that he was receiving and distributing an inspiration
+unknown even to himself, that had a sure aim, and that is at this
+moment conquering the world. His hallucination was not in his
+expectations, but in his ideas of methods and times.
+
+Owen had not much theory. His main idea was Communism, and that he got
+from the Rappites. His persistent assertion that man's character is
+formed for him by his circumstances, was his nearest approach to
+original doctrine; and this he virtually abandoned when he came to
+appreciate spiritual conditions. The rest of his teaching is summed up
+in the old injunction, "Be good," which is the burden of all
+preaching.
+
+But theory was not his function. Nor yet even practice. His business
+was to seed the world, and especially this country, with an
+unquenchable desire and hope for Communism; and this he did
+effectually.
+
+We call him the Father of American Socialisms, because he took
+possession of this country first. Fourierism was a secondary infusion.
+His English practicality was more in unison with the Yankee spirit,
+than the theorizing of the French school. He himself claimed the
+Fourierites as working on his job, grading the track by their half-way
+schemes of joint-stock and guaranteeism for his Rational Communism.
+And in this he was not far wrong. Communism or nothing, is likely to
+be the final demand of the American people.
+
+The most conspicuous trait in all Owen's labors and journeyings is his
+indomitable perseverance. And this trait he transmitted to a large
+breed of American Socialists. Read again the letter of John Harmon at
+the close of our last chapter. He is now an old man, but his faith in
+Communism remains unshaken; it is failure-proof. See how the veterans
+of Haverstraw, when their Community fell in pieces, moved to
+Coxsackie, and when the Coxsackie Community broke up, migrated to Ohio
+and joined the Kendal Community; and perhaps when the Kendal Community
+failed, they joined another, and another; and probably never gave up
+the hope of a Community-home. We have met with many such
+wanderers--men and women who were spoiled for the world by once
+tasting or at least imagining the sweets of Communism, and would not
+be turned back by any number of failures. Alcander Longley is a fine
+specimen of this class. He has tried every kind of Association, from
+Co-operation to Communism, including Fourierism and the nameless
+combinations of Spiritualism; and is now hard at work in the farthest
+corner of Missouri on his sixth experiment, as enthusiastic as ever!
+J.J. Franks is a still finer specimen. He began with Owenism. When
+that failed he enlisted with the Fourierites. During their campaign he
+bought five-thousand acres of land in the mountains of Virginia for a
+prospective Association, the Constitution of which he prepared and
+printed, though the Association itself never came into being. When
+Fourierism failed he devoted himself to Protective Unions. For twenty
+years past he has been a faithful disciple and patron of the Oneida
+Community. In such examples we trace the image and spirit of Robert
+Owen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+CONNECTING LINKS.
+
+
+In the transition from Owenism to Fourierism and later socialist
+movements, we find that Josiah Warren fulfills the function of a
+modulating chord. As we have already said, after seeing the wreck of
+Communism at New Harmony, he went clear over to the extreme doctrine
+of "Individual Sovereignty," and continued working on that theme
+through the period of Fourierism, till he founded the famous village
+of Modern Times on Long Island, and there became the master-spirit of
+a school, which has developed at least three famous movements, that
+are in some sense alive yet, long after the Communities and Phalanxes
+have gone to their graves.
+
+Imprimis, Dr. Thomas L. Nichols was a fellow of the royal society of
+Individual Sovereigns, and an _habitue_ of Modern Times, when he
+published his "Esoteric Anthropology" in 1853, and issued his printed
+catalogue of names for the reciprocal use of affinity-hunters all over
+the country; whereby he inaugurated the system of "Free Love" or
+Individual Sovereignty in sexual intercourse, that prevailed among the
+Spiritualists. He afterwards fell into a reaction opposite to
+Warren's, and swung clear back into Roman Catholicism. But "though
+dead, he yet speaketh."
+
+Secondly, Stephen Pearl Andrews was publishing-partner of Josiah
+Warren in the propagandism of Individual Sovereignty; and built or
+undertook to build a notable edifice at Modern Times, when that
+village was in its glory. He subsequently distinguished himself by
+instituting, in connection with Nichols and others, a series of
+"Sociables" for the Individual Sovereigns in New York city, which were
+broken up by the conservatives. He is also understood to have
+originated a great spiritual or intellectual hierarchy, called the
+"Pantarchy," and a system of Universology, which is not yet published,
+but has long been on the eve of organizing science and revolutionizing
+the world. On the whole he may be regarded as the American rival of
+Comte, as A.J. Davis is of Swedenborg.
+
+Lastly, Henry Edger, the actual hierarch of Positivism, one of the ten
+apostles _de propaganda fide_ appointed by Comte, was called to his
+great work from Warren's school at Modern Times. He is still a
+resident of that village, and has attempted within a year or two to
+form a Positivist Community there, but without success.
+
+The genealogy from Owen to these modern movements may be traced thus:
+
+Owen begat New Harmony; New Harmony (by reaction) begat Individual
+Sovereignty; Individual Sovereignty begat Modern Times; Modern Times
+was the mother of Free Love, the Grand Pantarchy, and the American
+branch of French Positivism. Josiah Warren was the personal link next
+to Owen, and deserves special notice. Macdonald gives the following
+account of him:
+
+
+JOSIAH WARREN.
+
+"This gentleman was one of the members of Mr. Owen's Community at New
+Harmony in 1826, and from the experience gained there, he became
+convinced that there was an important error in Mr. Owen's principles,
+and that error was _combination_. It was then that he developed the
+doctrine of Individual Sovereignty, and devised the plan of Equitable
+Commerce, which he labored on incessantly for many years. He
+communicated his views on Labor Exchange to Mr. Owen, who endeavored
+to practice them in London upon a large scale, but failed, as Mr.
+Warren asserts, through not carrying out the principle of
+_Individuality_. A similar attempt was made in Philadelphia, but also
+failed for the same cause.
+
+"After the failure of the New Harmony Community, Mr. Warren went to
+Cincinnati, and there opened a Time Store, which continued in
+operation long enough, as he says, to demonstrate the truth of his
+principles. After this, in association with others, he commenced an
+experiment in Tuscarawas Co., Ohio; but in consequence of sickness it
+was abandoned. His next experiment was at Mount Vernon, Indiana, which
+was unsuccessful. After that he opened a Time Store in New Harmony,
+which he was carrying on when I became acquainted with him in 1842.
+
+"The following must suffice as a description of
+
+THE NEW HARMONY TIME STORE.
+
+"A portion of a room was divided off by a lattice-work, in which were
+many racks and shelves containing a variety of small articles. In the
+center of this lattice an opening was left, through which the
+store-keeper could hand goods and take pay. On the wall at the back of
+the store-keeper and facing the customer, hung a clock, and underneath
+it a dial. In other parts of the room were various articles, such as
+molasses, corn, buckets, dry-goods, etc. There was a board hanging on
+the wall conspicuous enough for all persons to see, on which were
+placed the bills that had been paid to wholesale merchants for all the
+articles in the store; also the orders of individuals for various
+things.
+
+"I entered the store one day, and walking up to the wicket, requested
+the store-keeper to serve me with some glue. I was immediately asked
+if I had a '_Labor note_,' and on my saying no, I was told that I must
+get some one's note. My object in going there was to inquire if Mr.
+Warren would exchange labor with me; but this abrupt reception scared
+me, and I hastily departed. However, upon my becoming further
+acquainted with Mr. Warren, we exchanged labor notes, and I traded a
+little at the Time Store in the following manner:
+
+"I made or procured a written labor note, promising so many hours
+labor at so much per hour. Mr. Warren had similar labor notes. I went
+to the Time Store with my note and my cash, and informed the keeper
+that I wanted, for instance, a few yards of Kentucky jean. As soon as
+he commenced conversation or business with me, he set the dial which
+was under the clock, and marked the _time_. He then attended to me,
+giving me what I wanted, and in return taking from me as much cash as
+he paid for the article to the wholesale merchant; and as much time
+out of my labor note as he spent for me, according to the dial, in the
+sale of the article. I believe five per cent. was added to the cash
+cost, to pay rent and cover incidental expenses. The change for the
+labor notes was in small tickets representing time by the five, ten,
+or fifteen minutes; so that if I presented a note representing an
+hour's labor, and he had been occupied only ten minutes in serving
+me, he would have to give me forty minutes in change. I have seen Mr.
+Warren with a large bundle of these notes, representing various kinds
+and quantities of labor, from mechanics and others in New Harmony and
+its vicinity. Each individual who gave a note, affixed his or her own
+price per hour for labor. Women charged as high, or nearly as high, as
+men; and sometimes unskillful hands overrated their services. I knew
+an instance where an individual issued too many of his notes, and they
+became depreciated in value. I was informed that these notes were
+refused at the Time Store. It was supposed that public opinion would
+regulate these things, and I have no doubt that in time it would. In
+this experiment Mr. Warren said he had demonstrated as much as he
+intended. But I heard him complain of the difficulties he had to
+contend with, and especially of the want of common honesty.
+
+"The Time Store existed about two years and a half, and was then
+discontinued. In 1844 Mr. Warren went to Cincinnati and lectured upon
+his principles. On the breaking up of the Clermont Phalanx and the
+Cincinnati Brotherhood, Mr. Warren went to the spot where both
+failures had taken place, and there found four families who were
+disposed to try 'Equitable Commerce.' With these and a few other
+friends he started a village which he called Utopia, where he
+published the _Peaceful Revolutionist_ for a time.
+
+"His next and last movement was at Modern Times, on Long Island, a few
+miles from New York, whither he came in 1851."
+
+From a copy of the _Peaceful Revolutionist_, published by Warren at
+Utopia in 1845, we take the first of the two following extracts. The
+second, relating to Modern Times, is from a newspaper article pasted
+into Macdonald's collection, without date, but probably printed in
+1853. These will give a sufficient idea of the reaction from New
+Harmony, which, on several important lines of influence, connects Owen
+with the present time.
+
+
+A PEEP INTO UTOPIA.
+
+From an editorial by J. Warren.
+
+"Throughout the whole of our operations at this village, everything
+has been conducted so nearly on the _Individual_ basis, that not one
+meeting for legislation has taken place. No organization, no delegated
+power, no constitutions, no laws or bye-laws, rules or regulations,
+but such as each individual makes for himself and his own business; no
+officers, no priests nor prophets have been resorted to; nothing of
+this kind has been in demand. We have had a few meetings, but they
+were for friendly conversation, for music, dancing or some other
+social and pleasant pastime. Not even a single lecture upon the
+principles upon which we were acting, has been given on the premises!
+It was not necessary; for, as a lady remarked, 'the subject once
+stated and understood, there is nothing left to talk about; all is
+action after that.'
+
+"I do not mean to be understood that all are of one mind. On the
+contrary, in a progressive state there is no demand for conformity. We
+build on _Individuality_; any difference between us confirms our
+position. Differences, therefore, like the admissible discords in
+music, are a valuable part of our harmony! It is only when the rights
+of persons or property are actually invaded that collisions arise.
+These rights being clearly defined and sanctioned by public opinion,
+and temptations to encroachments being withdrawn, we may then consider
+our great problem practically solved. With regard to mere difference
+of opinion in taste, convenience, economy, equality, or even right and
+wrong, good and bad, sanity and insanity--all must be left to the
+supreme decision of each _Individual_, whenever he can take on himself
+the _cost_ of his decisions; which he cannot do while his interests or
+movements are united or combined with others. It is in combination or
+close connection only, that compromise and conformity are required.
+Peace, harmony, ease, security, happiness, will be found only in
+_Individuality_."
+
+
+A PEEP INTO MODERN TIMES.
+
+Conversation between a Resident and a Reporter.
+
+"We are not Fourierites. We do not believe in Association. Association
+will have to answer for very many of the evils with which mankind are
+now afflicted. We are not Communists; we are not Mormons; we are not
+Non-Resistants. If a man steals my property or injures me, I will take
+good care to make myself square with him. We are Protestants, we are
+Liberals. We believe in the SOVEREIGNTY OF THE INDIVIDUAL. We protest
+against all laws which interfere with INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS--hence we are
+Protestants. We believe in perfect liberty of will and action--hence
+we are Liberals. We have no compacts with each other, save the compact
+of individual happiness; and we hold that every man and every woman
+has a perfect and inalienable right to do and perform, all and
+singular, just exactly as he or she may choose, now and hereafter.
+But, gentlemen, this liberty to act must only be exercised at the
+_entire cost_ of the individuals so acting. They have no right to tax
+the community for the consequences of their deeds."
+
+"Then you go back to nearly the first principles of government, and
+acknowledge the necessity of some controlling power other than
+individual will?"
+
+"Not much--not much. In the present depraved state of society
+generally, we--few in numbers--are forced by circumstances into
+courses of action not precisely compatible with our principles or with
+the intent of our organization, thus: we are a new colony; we can not
+produce all which we consume, and many of our members are forced to go
+out into the world to earn what people call money, so that we may
+purchase our groceries, &c. We are mostly mechanics--eastern men.
+There is not yet a sufficient home demand for our labor to give
+constant employment to all. When we increase in numerical strength,
+our tinsmiths and shoemakers and hatters and artisans of that grade
+will not only find work at home, but will manufacture goods for sale.
+That will bring us money. We shall establish a Labor Exchange, so that
+if my neighbor, the blacksmith, wants my assistance, and I in turn
+desire his services, there will be a scale to fix the terms of the
+exchange."
+
+"But this would disturb Individual Sovereignty."
+
+"I don't see it. No one will be _forced_ to barter his labor for
+another's. If parties don't like the terms, they can make their own.
+There are three acres of corn across the way--it is good corn--a good
+crop--it is mine. You see that man now at work in the field cutting
+and stacking it. His work as a farmer is not so valuable as mine as a
+mason. We exchange, and it is a mutual benefit. Corn is just as good a
+measure of value as coin. You should read the pamphlet we are getting
+out. It will come cheap. Andrews has published an excellent work on
+this subject of Individual Sovereignty."
+
+"Have you any schools?"
+
+"Schools? Ah! we only have a sort of primary affair for small
+children. It is supported by individual subscription. Each parent pays
+his proportion."
+
+"How about women?"
+
+"Well, in regard to the ladies, we let them do about as they please,
+and they generally please to do about right. Yes, _they_ like the idea
+of Individual Sovereignty. We give them plenty of amusement; we have
+social parties, music, dancing, and other sports. They are not all
+Bloomers: they wear such dresses as suit the individual taste,
+_provided they can get them_!"
+
+"And the _breeches_ sometimes, I suppose?"
+
+"Certainly they can _wear the breeches_ if they choose."
+
+"Do you hold to marriage?"
+
+"Oh, marriage! Well, folks ask no questions in regard to _that_ among
+us. We, or at least some of us, do not believe in life-partnerships,
+when the parties can not live happily. Every person here is supposed
+to know his or her own interests best. We don't interfere; there is no
+eaves-dropping, or prying behind the curtain. Those are good members
+of society, who are industrious and mind their own business. The
+individual is sovereign and independent, and all laws tending to
+restrict the liberty he or she should enjoy, are founded in error, and
+should not be regarded."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+CHANNING'S BROOK FARM.
+
+
+We are now on the confines of the Fourier movement. The time-focus
+changes from 1826 to 1843. As the period of our history thus
+approaches the present time, our resources become more ample and
+authentic. Henceforward we shall not confine ourselves so closely to
+Macdonald's materials as we have done. The printed literature of
+Fourierism is more abundant than that of Owenism; and while we shall
+still follow the catalogue of Associations which we gave from
+Macdonald in our third chapter, and shall appropriate all that is
+interesting in his memoirs, we shall also avail ourselves freely of
+various publications of the Fourierists themselves. A full set of
+their leading periodicals, (probably the only one in existence) was
+thrust upon us by the freak of a half-crazed literary gentleman,
+nearly at the very time when we had the good fortune to find
+Macdonald's collections. We shall hereafter refer most frequently to
+the files of _The Dial_, _The Present_, _The Phalanx_, _The
+Harbinger_, and _The Tribune_.
+
+In order to understand the Fourier movement, we must look at the
+preparations for it. This we have already been doing, in studying
+Owenism. But there were other preparations. Owenism was the
+socialistic prelude. We must now attend to what may be called the
+religious preparations.
+
+Owenism was limited and local, chiefly because it was thoroughly
+non-religious and even anti-religious. In order that Fourierism might
+sweep the nation, it was necessary that it should ally itself to some
+form of popular religion, and especially that it should penetrate the
+strongholds of religious New England.
+
+To prepare for this combination, a differentiation in the New England
+church was going on simultaneously with the career of Owenism. After
+the war of 1815, the division of Congregationalism into Orthodoxy and
+Unitarianism, commenced. Excluding from our minds the doctrinal and
+ecclesiastical quarrels that attended this division, it is easy to see
+that Providence, which is always on both sides of every fight, aimed
+at division of labor in this movement. One party was set to defend
+religion; the other liberty. One stood by the old faith, like the Jew;
+the other went off into free-thinking and the fine arts, like the
+Greek. One worked on regeneration of the heart; the other on culture
+of the external life. In short, one had for its function the carrying
+through of the Revival system; the other the development of Socialism.
+
+The royal men of these two "houses of Israel" were Dr. Beecher and Dr.
+Channing; and both left royal families, direct or collateral. The
+Beechers are leading the Orthodox to this day; and the Channings, the
+Unitarians. We all know what Dr. Beecher and his children have done
+for revivals. He was the pivotal man between Nettleton and Finney in
+the last generation, and his children are the standard-bearers of
+revival religion in the present. What the Channings have done for
+Socialism is not so well known, and this is what we must now bring to
+view.
+
+First and chief of all the experiments of the Fourier epoch was BROOK
+FARM. And yet Brook Farm in its original conception, was not a Fourier
+formation at all, but an American seedling. It was the child of New
+England Unitarianism. Dr. Channing himself was the suggester of it. So
+says Ralph Waldo Emerson. As this is an interesting point of history,
+we have culled from a newspaper report of Mr. Emerson's lecture on
+Brook Farm, the following summary, from which it appears that Dr.
+Channing was the pivotal man between old-fashioned Unitarianism and
+Transcendentalism, and the father of _The Dial_ and of Brook Farm:
+
+
+EMERSON'S REMINISCENCES OF BROOK FARM.
+
+"In the year 1840 Dr. Channing took counsel with Mr. George Ripley on
+the point if it were possible to bring cultivated, thoughtful people
+together, and make a society that deserved the name. He early talked
+with Dr. John Collins Warren on the same thing, who admitted the
+wisdom of the purpose, and undertook to make the experiment. Dr.
+Channing repaired to his house with these thoughts; he found a well
+chosen assembly of gentlemen; mutual greetings and introductions and
+chattings all around, and he was in the way of introducing the general
+purpose of the conversation, when a side-door opened, the whole
+company streamed in to an oyster supper with good wines, and so ended
+that attempt in Boston. Channing opened his mind then to Ripley, and
+invited a large party of ladies and gentlemen. I had the honor to be
+present. No important consequences of the attempt followed. Margaret
+Fuller, Ripley, Bronson and Hedge, and many others, gradually came
+together, but only in the way of students. But I think there prevailed
+at that time a general belief in the city that this was some concert
+of doctrinaires to establish certain opinions, or to inaugurate some
+movement in literature, philosophy, or religion, but of which these
+conspirators were quite innocent. It was no concert, but only two or
+three men and women, who read alone with some vivacity. Perhaps all of
+them were surprised at the rumor that they were a school or sect, but
+more especially at the name of 'Transcendentalism.' Nobody knows who
+first applied the name. These persons became in the common chance of
+society acquainted with each other, and the result was a strong
+friendship, exclusive in proportion to its heat.***
+
+"From that time, meetings were held with conversation--with very
+little form--from house to house. Yet the intelligent character and
+varied ability of the company gave it some notoriety, and perhaps
+awakened some curiosity as to its aims and results. But nothing more
+serious came of it for a long time. A modest quarterly journal called
+_The Dial_, under the editorship of Margaret Fuller, enjoyed its
+obscurity for four years, when it ended. Its papers were the
+contributions and work of friendship among a narrow circle of writers.
+Perhaps its writers were also its chief readers. But it had some noble
+papers; perhaps the best of Margaret Fuller's. It had some numbers
+highly important, because they contained papers by Theodore Parker.**
+
+"I said the only result of the conversations which Dr. Channing had
+was to initiate the little quarterly called _The Dial_; but they had a
+further consequence in the creation of the society called the "Brook
+Farm" in 1841. Many of these persons who had compared their notes
+around in the libraries of each other upon speculative matters, became
+impatient of speculation, and wished to put it into practice. Mr.
+George Ripley, with some of his associates, established a society, of
+which the principle was, that the members should be stockholders, and
+that while some deposited money others should be allowed to give their
+labor in different kinds as an equivalent for money. It contained very
+many interesting and agreeable persons. Mr. Curtis of New York, and
+his brother of English Oxford, were members of the family; from the
+first also was Theodore Parker; Mr. Morton of Plymouth--engaged in the
+fisheries--eccentric; he built a house upon the farm, and he and his
+family continued in it till the end; Margaret Fuller, with her joyous
+conversations and sympathies. Many persons gave character and
+attractiveness to the place. The farm consisted of 200 acres, and
+occupied some spot near Reedville camp of later years. In and around
+it, whether as members, boarders, or visitors, were remarkable persons
+for character, intellect and accomplishments. *** The Rev. Wm. H.
+Channing, now of London, student of Socialism in France and England,
+was a frequent sojourner here, and in perfect sympathy with the
+experiment.***
+
+"Brook Farm existed six or seven years, when the society broke up and
+the farm was sold, and all parties came out with a loss; some had
+spent on it the accumulations of years. At the moment all regarded it
+as a failure; but I do not think that all so regard it now, but
+probably as an important chapter in their experience, which has been
+of life-long value. What knowledge has it not afforded them! What
+personal power which the studies of character have given: what
+accumulated culture many members owe to it; what mutual pleasure they
+took of each other! A close union like that in a ship's cabin, of
+persons in various conditions; clergymen, young collegians, merchants,
+mechanics, farmers' sons and daughters, with men of rare opportunities
+and culture."
+
+Mr. Emerson's lecture is doubtless reliable on the main point for
+which we quote from it--the Unitarian and Channing-arian origin of
+Brook Farm--but certainly superficial in its view of the substantial
+character and final purpose of that Community. Brook Farm, though
+American and Unitarian in its origin, became afterward the chief
+representative and propagative organ of Fourierism, as we shall
+ultimately show. The very blossom of the experiment, by which it
+seeded the nation and perpetuated its species, was its periodical,
+_The Harbinger_, and this belonged entirely to the Fourieristic period
+of its career. Emerson dilates on _The Dial_, but does not allude to
+_The Harbinger_. In thus ignoring the public function by which Brook
+Farm was signally related to the great socialistic revival of 1843,
+and to the whole of American Socialism, Emerson misses what we
+conceive to be the main significance of the experiment, and indeed of
+Unitarianism itself.
+
+And here we may say, in passing, that this brilliant Community has a
+right to complain that its story should have to be told by aliens.
+Emerson, who was not a member of it, nor in sympathy with the
+socialistic movement to which it abandoned itself, has volunteered a
+lecture of reminiscences; and Hawthorne, who joined it only to jilt
+it, has given the world a poetico-sneering romance about it; and that
+is all the first-hand information we have, except what can be gleaned
+from obsolete periodicals. George William Curtis, though he was a
+member, coolly exclaims in _Harper's Magazine:_
+
+"Strangely enough, Hawthorne is likely to be the chief future
+authority upon 'the romantic episode' of Brook Farm. Those who had it
+at heart more than he, whose faith and energy were all devoted to its
+development, and many of whom have every ability to make a permanent
+record, have never done so, and it is already so much a thing of the
+past, that it will probably never be done."
+
+In the name of history we ask, Why has not George William Curtis
+himself made the permanent record? Why has not George Ripley taken the
+story out of the mouths of the sneerers? Brook Farm might tell its own
+story through him, for he _was_ Brook Farm. It was George Ripley who
+took into his heart the inspiration of Dr. Channing, and went to work
+like a hero to make a fact of it; while Emerson stood by smiling
+incredulity. It was Ripley who put on his frock and carted manure, and
+set Hawthorne shoveling, and did his best for years to keep work
+going, that the Community might pay as well as play. It was no
+"picnic" or "romantic episode" or chance meeting "in a ship's cabin"
+to him. His whole soul was bent on making a _home_ of it. If a man's
+first-born, in whom his heart is bound up, dies at six years old, that
+does not turn the whole affair into a joke. There were others of the
+same spirit, but Ripley was the center of them.
+
+Brook Farm came very near being a _religious_ Community. It inherited
+the spirit of Dr. Channing and of Transcendentalism. The inspiration
+in the midst of which it was born, was intensely literary, but also
+religious. The Brook Farmers refer to it as the "revival," the
+"_newness_," the "_renaissance_." There was evidently an afflatus on
+the men, and they wrote and acted as they were moved. _The Dial_ was
+the original organ of this afflatus, and contains many articles that
+are edifying to Christians of good digestion. It was published
+quarterly, and the four volumes of it (sixteen numbers) extended from
+July 1840 to April 1844.
+
+The first notice we find of Brook Farm is in connection with an
+article in the second volume of _The Dial_ (Oct. 1841), entitled, "_A
+Glimpse of Christ's Idea of Society_." The writer of this most devout
+essay was Miss Elizabeth P. Peabody, then and since a distinguished
+literary lady. She was evidently in full sympathy with the "newness"
+out of which Brook Farm issued. Margaret Fuller, one of the
+constituents of Brook Farm, was editress of _The Dial_, and thus
+sanctioned the essay. Its reference to Brook Farm is avowed in a note
+at the end, and in a subsequent article. The following extracts give
+us
+
+
+THE ORIGINAL IDEAL OF BROOK FARM.
+
+[From _The Dial_, Oct. 1841.]
+
+"While we acknowledge the natural growth, the good design, and the
+noble effects of the apostolic church, and wish we had it, in place of
+our own more formal ones, we should not do so small justice to the
+divine soul of Jesus of Nazareth, as to admit that it was a main
+purpose of his to found it, or that when it was founded it realized
+his idea of human society. Indeed we probably do injustice to the
+apostles themselves, in supposing that they considered their churches
+anything more than initiatory. Their language implies that they looked
+forward to a time when the uttermost parts of the earth should be
+inherited by their beloved master; and beyond this, when even the
+name, which is still above every name, should be lost in the glory of
+the Father, who is to be all in all.
+
+"Some persons, indeed, refer all this sort of language to another
+world; but this is gratuitously done. Both Jesus and the apostles
+speak of life as the same in both worlds. For themselves individually
+they could not but speak principally of another world; but they imply
+no more than that death is an accident, which would not prevent, but
+hasten the enjoyment of that divine life, which they were laboring to
+make possible to all men, in time as well as in eternity.***
+
+"The Kingdom of Heaven, as it lay in the clear spirit of Jesus of
+Nazareth, is rising again upon vision. Nay, this Kingdom begins to be
+seen not only in religious ecstasy, in moral vision, but in the light
+of common sense, and the human understanding. Social science begins to
+verify the prophecy of poetry. The time has come when men ask
+themselves what Jesus meant when he said, 'Inasmuch as ye have not
+done it unto the least of these little ones, ye have not done it unto
+me.'
+
+"No sooner is it surmised that the Kingdom of Heaven and the Christian
+Church are the same thing, and that this thing is not an association
+outside of society, but a reörganization of society itself, on those
+very principles of love to God and love to man, which Jesus Christ
+realized in his own daily life, than we perceive the day of judgment
+for society is come, and all the words of Christ are so many trumpets
+of doom. For before the judgment-seat of his sayings, how do our
+governments, our trades, our etiquettes, even our benevolent
+institutions and churches look? What church in Christendom, that
+numbers among its members a pauper or a negro, may stand the thunder
+of that one word, 'Inasmuch as ye have not done it to the least of
+these little ones, ye have not done it unto me?' And yet the church of
+Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven, has not come upon earth, according to
+our daily prayer, unless not only every church, but every trade, every
+form of social intercourse, every institution political or other, can
+abide this test.***
+
+"One would think from the tone of conservatives, that Jesus accepted
+the society around him, as an adequate framework for individual
+development into beauty and life, instead of calling his disciples
+'out of the world.' We maintain, on the other hand, that Christ
+desired to reörganize society, and went to a depth of principle and a
+magnificence of plan for this end, which has never been appreciated,
+except here and there, by an individual, still less been carried
+out.***
+
+"There _are_ men and women, who have dared to say to one another, Why
+not have our daily life organized on Christ's own idea? Why not begin
+to move the mountain of custom and convention? Perhaps Jesus's method
+of thought and life is the Savior--is Christianity! For each man to
+think and live on this method is perhaps the Second Coming of Christ.
+To do unto the little ones as we would do unto _him_, would be perhaps
+the reign of the Saints--the Kingdom of Heaven. We have hitherto heard
+of Christ by the hearing of the ear; now let us see him, let us be
+him, and see what will come of that. Let us communicate with each
+other and live.***
+
+"There have been some plans and experiments of Community attempted in
+this country, which, like those elsewhere, are interesting chiefly as
+indicating paths in which we should _not_ go. Some have failed because
+their philosophy of human nature was inadequate, and their
+establishments did not regard man as he is, with all the elements of
+devil and angel within his actual constitution. Brisbane has made a
+plan worthy of study in some of its features, but erring in the same
+manner. He does not go down into a sufficient spiritual depth, to lay
+foundations which may support his superstructure. Our imagination
+before we reflect, no less than our reason after reflection, rebels
+against this attempt to circumvent moral freedom, and imprison it in
+his Phalanx.**
+
+"_The_ church of Christ's Idea, world-embracing, can be founded on
+nothing short of faith in the universal man, as he comes out of the
+hands of the Creator, with no law over his liberty, but the Eternal
+Ideas that lie at the foundation of his Being. Are you a man? This is
+the only question that is to be asked of a member of human society.
+And the enounced laws of that society should be an elastic medium of
+these Ideas; providing for their everlasting unfolding into new forms
+of influence, so that the man of time should be the growth of
+eternity, consciously and manifestly.
+
+"To form such a society as this is a great problem, whose perfect
+solution will take all the ages of time; but let the Spirit of God
+move freely over the great deep of social existence, and a creative
+light will come at his word; and after that long evening in which we
+are living, the morning of the first day shall dawn on a Christian
+society.***
+
+"N.B. A Postscript to this Essay, giving an account of a specific
+attempt to realize its principles, will appear in the next number."
+
+Thus, according to this writer, Brook Farm, in its inception, was an
+effort to establish the kingdom of God on earth; that kingdom in which
+"the will of God shall be done as it is done in heaven;" a higher
+state than that of the apostolic church; worthy even to be called the
+Second Coming of Christ, and the beginning of the day of judgment! A
+high religious aim, surely! and much like that proposed by the Shakers
+and other successful Communities, that have the reputation of being
+fanatical.
+
+The reader will notice that Miss Peabody, on behalf of Brook Farm,
+disclaims Fourierism, which was then just beginning to be heard of
+through Brisbane's _Social Destiny of Man_, first published in 1840.
+
+In the next number of _The Dial_ Miss Peabody fulfills her promise of
+information about Brook Farm, in an article entitled, "_Plan of the
+West Roxbury Community_." Some extracts will give an idea of the first
+tottering steps of the infant enterprise:
+
+    THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION OF BROOK FARM.
+
+    [From _The Dial_, Jan. 1842.]
+
+    "In the last number of _The Dial_, were some remarks, under the
+    perhaps ambitious title of, 'A Glimpse of Christ's Idea of
+    Society;' in a note to which it was intimated, that in this
+    number would be given an account of an attempt to realize in
+    some degree this great Ideal, by a little company in the midst
+    of us, as yet without name or visible existence. The attempt is
+    made on a very small scale. A few individuals, who, unknown to
+    each other, under different disciplines of life, reacting from
+    different social evils, but aiming at the same object,--of
+    being wholly true to their natures as men and women--have been
+    made acquainted with one another, and have determined to become
+    the Faculty of the Embryo University.
+
+    "In order to live a religious and moral life worthy the name,
+    they feel it is necessary to come out in some degree from the
+    world, and to form themselves into a community of property, so
+    far as to exclude competition and the ordinary rules of trade;
+    while they reserve sufficient private property, or the means of
+    obtaining it, for all purposes of independence, and isolation at
+    will. They have bought a farm, in order to make agriculture the
+    basis of their life, it being the most direct and simple in
+    relation to nature. A true life, although it aims beyond the
+    highest star, is redolent of the healthy earth. The perfume of
+    clover lingers about it. The lowing of cattle is the natural
+    bass to the melody of human voices. [Here we have the old
+    farming hobby of the socialists.]***
+
+    "The plan of the Community, as an economy, is in brief this: for
+    all who have property to take stock, and receive a fixed
+    interest thereon: then to keep house or board in commons, as
+    they shall severally desire, at the cost of provisions purchased
+    at wholesale, or raised on the farm; and for all to labor in
+    community, and be paid at a certain rate an hour, choosing their
+    own number of hours, and their own kind of work. With the
+    results of this labor and their interest, they are to pay their
+    board, and also purchase whatever else they require at cost, at
+    the warehouses of the Community, which are to be filled by the
+    Community as such. To perfect this economy, in the course of
+    time they must have all trades and all modes of business carried
+    on among themselves, from the lowest mechanical trade, which
+    contributes to the health and comfort of life, to the finest
+    art, which adorns it with food or drapery for the mind.
+
+    "All labor, whether bodily or intellectual, is to be paid at the
+    same rate of wages; on the principle that as the labor becomes
+    merely bodily, it is a greater sacrifice to the individual
+    laborer to give his time to it; because time is desirable for
+    the cultivation of the intellectual, in exact proportion to
+    ignorance. Besides, intellectual labor involves in itself higher
+    pleasures, and is more its own reward, than bodily labor.***
+
+    "After becoming members of this Community, none will be engaged
+    merely in bodily labor. The hours of labor for the Association
+    will be limited by a general law, and can be curtailed at the
+    will of the individual still more; and means will be given to
+    all for intellectual improvement and for social intercourse,
+    calculated to refine and expand. The hours redeemed from labor
+    by community, will not be re-applied to the acquisition of
+    wealth, but to the production of intellectual goods. This
+    Community aims to be rich, not in the metallic representative of
+    wealth, but in the wealth itself, which money should represent;
+    namely, LEISURE TO LIVE IN ALL THE FACULTIES OF THE SOUL. As a
+    Community, it will traffic with the world at large, in the
+    products of agricultural labor; and it will sell education to as
+    many young persons as can be domesticated in the families, and
+    enter into the common life with their own children. In the end
+    it hopes to be enabled to provide, not only all the necessaries,
+    but all the elegances desirable for bodily and for spiritual
+    health: books, apparatus, collections for science, works of art,
+    means of beautiful amusement. These things are to be common to
+    all; and thus that object, which alone gilds and refines the
+    passion for individual accumulation, will no longer exist for
+    desire, and whenever the sordid passion appears, it will be seen
+    in its naked selfishness. In its ultimate success, the Community
+    will realize all the ends which selfishness seeks, but involved
+    in spiritual blessings, which only greatness of soul can aspire
+    after.
+
+    "And the requisitions on the individuals, it is believed, will
+    make this the order forever. The spiritual good will always be
+    the condition of the temporal. Every one must labor for the
+    Community in a reasonable degree, or not taste its benefits.***
+    Whoever is willing to receive from his fellow men that for which
+    he gives no equivalent, will stay away from its precincts
+    forever. But whoever shall surrender himself to its principles,
+    shall find that its yoke is easy and its burden light.
+    Everything can be said of it, in a degree, which Christ said of
+    his kingdom, and therefore it is believed that in some measure
+    it does embody his idea. For its gate of entrance is strait and
+    narrow. It is literally a pearl hidden in a field. Those only
+    who are willing to lose their life for its sake shall find it.
+    Its voice is that which sent the young man sorrowing away: 'Go
+    sell all thy goods and give to the poor, and then come and
+    follow me.' 'Seek first the kingdom of Heaven and its
+    righteousness, and all other things shall be added to you.'***
+
+    "There may be some persons at a distance, who will ask, To what
+    degree has this Community gone into operation? We can not answer
+    this with precision, but we have a right to say that it has
+    purchased the farm which some of its members cultivated for a
+    year with success, by way of trying their love and skill for
+    agricultural labor; that in the only house they are as yet rich
+    enough to own, is collected a large family, including several
+    boarding scholars, and that all work and study together. They
+    seem to be glad to know of all who desire to join them in the
+    spirit, that at any moment, when they are able to enlarge their
+    habitations, they may call together those that belong to them."
+
+Thus far it is evident that Brook Farm was not a Fourier formation.
+Whether the beginnings of the excitement about Fourierism may not have
+secretly affected Dr. Channing and the Transcendentalists, we can not
+say. Brisbane's first publication and Dr. Channing's first suggestion
+of a Community (according to Emerson) took place in the same
+year--1840. But Brook Farm, as reported by Miss Peabody, up to January
+1842 had nothing to do with Fourierism, but was an original Yankee
+attempt to embody Christianity as understood by Unitarians and
+Transcendentalists; having a constitution (written or unwritten)
+invented perhaps by Ripley, or suggested by the collective wisdom of
+the associates. Without any great scientific theory, it started as
+other Yankee experiments have done, with the purpose of feeling its
+way toward co-operation, by the light of experience and common sense;
+beginning cautiously, as was proper, with the general plan of
+joint-stock; but calling itself a Community, and evidently bewitched
+with the idea which is the essential charm of all Socialisms, that it
+is possible to combine many families into one great home. Moreover
+thus far there was no "advertising for a wife," no gathering by public
+proclamation. The two conditions of success which we named as primary
+in a previous chapter, viz., _religious principle_ and _previous
+acquaintance_, were apparently secured. The nucleus was small in
+number, and well knit together by mutual acquaintance and spiritual
+sympathy. In all this, Brook Farm was the opposite of New Harmony.
+
+If we take Rev. William H. Channing, nephew and successor of Dr.
+Channing, as the exponent of Brook Farm--which we may safely do, since
+Emerson says he was "a frequent sojourner there, and in perfect
+sympathy with the experiment"--we have evidence that the Community had
+not fallen into the ranks of Fourierism at a considerably later
+period. On the 15th of September 1843, Mr. Channing commenced
+publishing in New York a monthly Magazine called _The Present_, the
+main object of which was nearly the same as that of _The Dial_, viz.,
+the discussion of religious Socialism, as understood at Brook Farm and
+among the Transcendentalists; and in his third number (Nov. 15) he
+used language concerning Fourier, which _The Phalanx_, Brisbane's
+organ (then also just commencing), criticised as disrespectful and
+painfully offensive.
+
+From this indication, slight as it is, we may safely conclude that the
+amalgamation of Brook Farm and Fourierism had not taken place up to
+November 1843, which was more than two years after Miss Peabody's
+announcement of the birth of the Community. So far Brook Farm was
+American and religious, and stood related to the Fourier revival only
+as a preparation. So far it was _Channing's_ Brook Farm. Its story
+after it became _Fourier's_ Brook Farm will be reserved for the end of
+our history of Fourierism.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+HOPEDALE.
+
+
+This Community was another anticipation of Fourierism, put forth by
+Massachusetts. It was similar in many respects to Brook Farm, and in
+its origin nearly contemporaneous. It was intensely religious in its
+ideal. As Brook Farm was the blossom of Unitarianism, so Hopedale was
+the blossom of Universalism. Rev. Adin Ballou, the founder, was a
+relative of the Rev. Hosea Ballou, and thus a scion of the royal
+family of the Universalists. Milford, the site of the Community, was
+the scene of Dr. Whittemore's first ministerial labors.
+
+Hopedale held on its way through the Fourier revival, solitary and
+independent, and consequently never attained so much public
+distinction as Brook Farm and other Associations that affiliated
+themselves to Fourierism; but considered by itself as a Yankee attempt
+to solve the socialistic problem, it deserves more attention than any
+of them. Our judgment of it, after some study, may be summed up thus:
+As it came nearest to being a religious community, so it commenced
+earlier, lasted longer, and was really more scientific and sensible
+than any of the other experiments of the Fourier epoch.
+
+Brook Farm was talked about in 1840, but we find no evidence of its
+organization till the fall of 1841. Whereas Mr. Ballou's Community
+dates its first compact from January 1841; though it did not commence
+operations at Hopedale till April 1842.
+
+The North American Phalanx is reputed to have outlived all the other
+Associations of the Fourier epoch; but we find, on close examination
+of dates, that Hopedale not only was born before it, but lived after
+it. The North American commenced in 1843, and dissolved in 1855.
+Hopedale commenced in 1841, and lasted certainly till 1856 or 1857.
+Ballou published an elaborate exposition of it in the winter of
+1854-5, and at that time Hopedale was at its highest point of success
+and promise. We can not find the exact date of its dissolution, but it
+is reported to have attained its seventeenth year, which would carry
+it to 1858. Indeed it is said there is a shell of an organization
+there now, which has continued from the Community, having a President,
+Secretary, &c., and holding occasional meetings; but its principal
+function at present is the care of the village cemetery.
+
+As to the theory and constitutional merits of the Hopedale Community,
+the reader shall judge for himself. Here is an exposition published in
+tract form by Mr. Ballou in 1851, outlining the scheme which was fully
+elaborated in his subsequent book:
+
+    "The Hopedale Community, originally called Fraternal Community,
+    No. 1, was formed at Mendon, Massachusetts, January 28, 1841, by
+    about thirty individuals from different parts of the State. In
+    the course of that year they purchased what was called the
+    'Jones Farm,' _alias_ 'The Dale,' in Milford. This estate they
+    named HOPEDALE--joining the word 'Hope' to its ancient
+    designation, as significant of the great things they hoped for
+    from a very humble and unpropitious beginning. About the first
+    of April 1842, a part of the members took possession of their
+    farm and commenced operations under as many disadvantages as can
+    well be imagined. Their present domain (December 1, 1851),
+    including all the lands purchased at different times, contains
+    about 500 acres. Their village consists of about thirty new
+    dwelling-houses, three mechanic shops, with water-power,
+    carpentering and other machinery, a small chapel, used also for
+    the purposes of education, and the old domicile, with the barns
+    and out-buildings much improved. There are now at Hopedale some
+    thirty-six families, besides single persons, youth and children,
+    making in all a population of about 175 souls.
+
+    "It is often asked, What are the peculiarities, and what the
+    advantages of the Hopedale Community? Its leading peculiarities
+    are the following:
+
+    "1. It is a church of Christ (so far as any human organization
+    of professed Christians, within a particular locality, have the
+    right to claim that title), based on a simple declaration of
+    faith in the religion of Jesus Christ, as he taught and
+    exemplified it, according to the scriptures of the New
+    Testament, and of acknowledged subjection to all the moral
+    obligations of that religion. No person can be a member, who
+    does not cordially assent to this comprehensive declaration.
+    Having given sufficient evidence of truthfulness in making such
+    a profession, each individual is left to judge for him or
+    herself, with entire freedom, what abstract doctrines are
+    taught, and also what external religious rites are enjoined in
+    the religion of Christ. No precise theological dogmas,
+    ordinances or ceremonies are prescribed or prohibited. In such
+    matters all the members are free, with mutual love and
+    toleration, to follow their own highest convictions of truth and
+    religious duty, answerable only to the great Head of the true
+    Church Universal. But in practical Christianity this church is
+    precise and strict. There its essentials are specific. It
+    insists on supreme love to God and man--that love which 'worketh
+    no ill' to friend or foe. It enjoins total abstinence from all
+    God-contemning words and deeds; all unchastity; all intoxicating
+    beverages; all oath-taking; all slave-holding and pro-slavery
+    compromises; all war and preparations for war; all capital and
+    other vindictive punishments; all insurrectionary, seditious,
+    mobocratic and personal violence against any government,
+    society, family or individual; all voluntary participation in
+    any anti-Christian government, under promise of unqualified
+    support--whether by doing military service, commencing actions
+    at law, holding office, voting, petitioning for penal laws,
+    aiding a legal posse by injurious force, or asking public
+    interference for protection which can be given only by such
+    force; all resistance of evil with evil; in fine, from all
+    things known to be sinful against God or human nature. This is
+    its acknowledged obligatory righteousness. It does not expect
+    immediate and exact perfection of its members, but holds up this
+    practical Christian standard, that all may do their utmost to
+    reach it, and at least be made sensible of their shortcomings.
+    Such are the peculiarities of the Hopedale Community as a
+    church.
+
+    "2. It is a Civil State, a miniature Christian Republic,
+    existing within, peaceably subject to, and tolerated by the
+    governments of Massachusetts and the United States, but
+    otherwise a commonwealth complete within itself. Those
+    governments tax and control its property, according to their own
+    laws, returning less to it than they exact from it. It makes
+    them no criminals to punish, no disorders to repress, no paupers
+    to support, no burdens to bear. It asks of them no corporate
+    powers, no military or penal protection. It has its own
+    Constitution, laws, regulations and municipal police; its own
+    Legislative, Judiciary and Executive authorities; its own
+    educational system of operations; its own methods of aid and
+    relief; its own moral and religious safeguards; its own fire
+    insurance and savings institutions; its own internal
+    arrangements for the holding of property, the management of
+    industry, and the raising of revenue; in fact, all the elements
+    and organic constituents of a Christian Republic, on a miniature
+    scale. There is no Red Republicanism in it, because it eschews
+    blood; yet it is the seedling of the true Democratic and Social
+    Republic, wherein neither caste, color, sex nor age stands
+    proscribed, but every human being shares justly in 'Liberty,
+    Equality and Fraternity.' Such is The Hopedale Community as a
+    Civil State.
+
+    "3. It is a universal religious, moral, philanthropic, and
+    social reform Association. It is a Missionary Society, for the
+    promulgation of New Testament Christianity, the reformation of
+    the nominal church, and the conversion of the world. It is a
+    moral suasion Temperance Society on the teetotal basis. It is a
+    moral power Anti-Slavery Society, radical and without
+    compromise. It is a Peace Society on the only impregnable
+    foundation of Christian non-resistance. It is a sound
+    theoretical and practical Woman's Rights Association. It is a
+    Charitable Society for the relief of suffering humanity, to the
+    extent of its humble ability. It is an Educational Society,
+    preparing to act an important part in the training of the young.
+    It is a socialistic Community, successfully actualizing, as well
+    as promulgating, practical Christian Socialism--the only kind of
+    Socialism likely to establish a true social state on earth. The
+    members of this Community are not under the necessity of
+    importing from abroad any of these valuable reforms, or of
+    keeping up a distinct organization for each of them, or of
+    transporting themselves to other places in search of
+    sympathizers. Their own Newcastle can furnish coal for
+    home-consumption, and some to supply the wants of its neighbors.
+    Such is the Hopedale Community as a Universal Reform Association
+    on Christian principles.
+
+    "_What are its Advantages?_
+
+    "1. It affords a theoretical and practical illustration of the
+    way whereby all human beings, willing to adopt it, may become
+    individually and socially happy. It clearly sets forth the
+    principles to be received, the righteousness to be exemplified,
+    and the social arrangements to be entered into, in order to this
+    happiness. It is in itself a capital school for self-correction
+    and improvement. No where else on earth is there a more
+    explicit, understandable, practicable system of ways and means
+    for those who really desire to enter into usefulness, peace and
+    rational enjoyment. This will one day be seen and acknowledged
+    by multitudes who now know nothing of it, or knowing, despise
+    it, or conceding its excellence, are unwilling to bow to its
+    wholesome requisitions. 'Yet the willing and the obedient shall
+    eat the good of the land.'
+
+    "2. It guarantees to all its members and dependents employment,
+    at least adequate to a comfortable subsistence; relief in want,
+    sickness or distress; decent opportunities for religious, moral
+    and intellectual culture; an orderly, well regulated
+    neighborhood; fraternal counsel, fellowship and protection under
+    all circumstances; and a suitable sphere of individual
+    enterprise and responsibility, in which each one may, by due
+    self-exertion, elevate himself to the highest point of his
+    capabilities.
+
+    "3. It solves the problem which has so long puzzled Socialists,
+    the harmonization of just individual freedom with social
+    co-operation. Here exists a system of arrangements, simple and
+    effective, under which all capital, industry, trade, talent,
+    skill and peculiar gifts may freely operate and co-operate, with
+    no restrictions other than those which Christian morality every
+    where rightfully imposes, constantly to the advantage of each
+    and all. All may thrive together as individuals and as a
+    Community, without degrading or impoverishing any. This
+    excellent system of arrangements in its present completeness is
+    the result of various and wisely improved experiences.
+
+    "4. It affords a peaceful and congenial home for all
+    conscientious persons, of whatsoever religious sect, class or
+    description heretofore, who now embrace practical Christianity,
+    substantially as this Community holds it, and can no longer
+    fellowship the popular religionists and politicians. Such need
+    sympathy, co-operation and fraternal association, without undue
+    interference in relation to non-essential peculiarities. Here
+    they may find what they need. Here they may give and receive
+    strength by rational, liberal Christian union.
+
+    "5. It affords a most desirable opportunity for those who mean
+    to be practical Christians in the use of property, talent, skill
+    or productive industry, to invest them. Here those goods and
+    gifts may all be so employed as to benefit their possessors to
+    the full extent of justice, while at the same time they afford
+    aid to the less favored, help build up a social state free from
+    the evils of irreligion, ignorance, poverty and vice, promote
+    the regeneration of the race, and thus resolve themselves into
+    treasure laid up where neither moth, nor rust, nor thieves can
+    reach them. Here property is preėminently safe, useful and
+    beneficent. It is Christianized. So, in a good degree, are
+    talent, skill, and productive industry.
+
+    "6. It affords small scope, place or encouragement for the
+    unprincipled, corrupt, supremely selfish, proud, ambitious,
+    miserly, sordid, quarrelsome, brutal, violent, lawless, fickle,
+    high-flying, loaferish, idle, vicious, envious and
+    mischief-making. It is no paradise for such; unless they
+    voluntarily make it first a moral penitentiary. Such will hasten
+    to more congenial localities; thus making room for the upright,
+    useful and peaceable.
+
+    "7. It affords a beginning, a specimen and a presage of a new
+    and glorious social Christendom--a grand confederation of
+    similar Communities--a world ultimately regenerated and
+    Edenized. All this shall be in the forthcoming future.
+
+    "The Hopedale Community was born in obscurity, cradled in
+    poverty, trained in adversity, and has grown to a promising
+    childhood, under the Divine guardianship, in spite of numberless
+    detriments. The bold predictions of many who despised its puny
+    infancy have proved false. The fears of timid and compassionate
+    friends that it would certainly fail have been put to rest. Even
+    the repeated desertion of professed friends, disheartened by
+    its imperfections, or alienated by too heavy trials of their
+    patience, has scarcely retarded its progress. God willed
+    otherwise. It has still many defects to outgrow, much impurity
+    to put away, and a great deal of improvement to make--moral,
+    intellectual and physical. But it will prevail and triumph. The
+    Most High will be glorified in making it the parent of a
+    numerous progeny of practical Christian Communities. Write,
+    saith the Spirit, and let this prediction be registered against
+    the time to come, for it shall be fulfilled."
+
+In the large work subsequently published, Mr. Ballou goes over the
+whole ground of Socialism in a systematic and masterly manner. If the
+people of this country were not so bewitched with importations from
+England and France, that they can not look at home productions in this
+line, his scheme would command as much attention as Fourier's, and a
+great deal more than Owen's. The fact of practical failure is nothing
+against him in the comparison, as it is common to all of them.
+
+For a specimen, take the following: Mr. Ballou finds all man's wants,
+rights and duties in seven spheres, viz.: 1, Individuality; 2,
+Connubiality; 3, Consanguinity; 4, Congeniality; 5, Federality; 6,
+Humanity; 7, Universality. These correspond very nearly to the series
+of spheres tabulated by Comtists. On the basis of this philosophy of
+human nature, Mr. Ballou proposes, not a mere monotony of Phalanxes or
+Communities, all alike, but an ascending series of four distinct kinds
+of Communities, viz.: 1, The Parochial Community, which is nearly the
+same as a common parish church; 2, The Rural Community, which is a
+social body occupying a distinct territorial domain, but not
+otherwise consolidated; 3, The Joint-stock Community, consolidating
+capital and labor, and paying dividends and wages; of which Hopedale
+itself was a specimen; and 4, The Common-stock Community, holding
+property in common and paying no dividends or wages; which is
+Communism proper. Mr. Ballou provides elaborate Constitutional forms
+for all of these social states, and shows their harmonious relation to
+each other. Then he builds them up into larger combinations, viz.: 1,
+Communal Municipalities, consisting of two or more Communities, making
+a town or city; 2, Communal States; 3, Communal Nations; and lastly,
+"the grand Fraternity of Nations, represented by Senators in the
+Supreme Unitary Council." Moreover he embroiders on all this an
+ascending series of categories for individual character. Citizens of
+the great Republic are expected to arrange themselves in seven
+Circles, viz.: 1, The Adoptive Circle, consisting of members whose
+connections with the world preclude their joining any integral
+Community; 2, The Unitive Circle, consisting of those who join in
+building up Rural and Joint-stock Communities; 3, The Preceptive
+Circle, consisting of persons devoted to teaching in any of its
+branches; 4, The Communistic Circle, consisting of members of common
+stock Communities; 5, The Expansive Circle, consisting of persons
+devoted to extending the Republic, by founding new Communities; 6, The
+Charitive Circle, consisting of working philanthropists; and 7, The
+Parentive Circle, consisting of the most worthy and reliable
+counselors--the fathers and mothers in Israel.
+
+This is only a skeleton. In the book all is worked into harmonious
+beauty. All is founded on religion; all is deduced from the Bible. We
+confess that if it were our doom to attempt Community-building by
+paper programme, we should choose Adin Ballou's scheme in preference
+to any thing we have ever been able to find in the lucubrations of
+Fourier or Owen.
+
+To give an idea of the high religious tone of Mr. Ballou and his
+Community, we quote the following passage from his preface:
+
+    "Let each class of dissenting socialists stand aloof from our
+    Republic and experiment to their heart's content on their own
+    wiser systems. It is their right to do so uninjured, at their
+    own cost. It is desirable that they should do so, in order that
+    it may be demonstrated as soon as possible which the true social
+    system is. When the radically defective have failed, there will
+    be a harmonious concentration of all the true and good around
+    the Practical Christian Standard. Meantime the author confides
+    this Cause calmly to the guidance, guardianship and benediction
+    of God, even that Heavenly Father who once manifested his divine
+    excellency in Jesus Christ, and who ever manifests himself
+    through the Christ-Spirit to all upright souls. He sincerely
+    believes the movement to have been originated and thus far
+    supervised by that Holy Spirit. He is confident that
+    well-appointed ministering angels have watched over it, and will
+    never cease to do so. This strong confidence has sustained him
+    from the beginning, under all temporary discouragements, and now
+    animates him with unwavering hopes for the future. The Hopedale
+    Community, the first constituent body of the new social order,
+    commenced the settlement of its Domain in the spring of 1842,
+    very small in numbers and pecuniary resources. Its disadvantages
+    were so multiform and obvious, that most Associationists of that
+    period regarded it as little better than a desperate
+    undertaking, alike contracted in its social platform, its funds,
+    and other fundamental requisites of success. Yet it has lived
+    and flourished, while its supposed superiors have nearly all
+    perished. Such was the will of God; such his promise to its
+    founders; such their trust in him; such the realization of their
+    hopes; and such the recompense of their persevering toils. And
+    such is the benignant Providence which will bear the Practical
+    Christian Republic onward through all its struggles to the
+    actualization of its sublime destiny. Its citizens 'seek first
+    the kingdom of God and his righteousness.' Therefore will all
+    things needful be added unto them. Let the future demonstrate
+    whether such a faith and such expectations are the dreams of a
+    shallow visionary, or the divinely inspired, well-grounded
+    assurances of a rightly balanced religious mind."
+
+Let it not be thought that Ballou was a mere theorizer. Unlike Owen
+and Fourier, he worked as well as wrote. Originally a clergyman and a
+gentleman, he gave up his salary, and served in the ranks as a common
+laborer for his cause. In conversation with one who reported to us, he
+said, that often-times in the early days of Hopedale he would be so
+tired at his work in the ditch or on the mill-dam, that he would go to
+a neighboring haystack, and lie down on the sunny side of it, wishing
+that he might go to sleep and never wake again! Then he would
+recuperate and go back to his work. Nearly all the recreation he had
+in those days, was to go out occasionally into the neighborhood and
+preach a funeral sermon!
+
+And this, by the way, is a fit occasion to say that in our opinion
+there ought to be a prohibitory duty on the importation of socialistic
+theories, that have not been worked out, as well as written out, by
+the inventors themselves. It is certainly cruel to set vast numbers of
+simple people agog with Utopian projects that will cost them their
+all, while the inventors and promulgators do nothing but write and
+talk. What kind of a theory of chemistry can a man write without a
+laboratory? What if Napoleon had written out a programme for the
+battle of Austerlitz, and then left one of his aids-de-camp to
+superintend the actual fighting?
+
+It will be noticed that Mr. Ballou, in his expositions, carries his
+assurance that his system is all right, and his confidence of success,
+to the verge of presumption. In this he appears to have partaken of a
+spirit that is common to all the socialist inventors. Fourier, without
+a laboratory or an experiment, was as dogmatic and infallible as
+though he were an oracle of God; and Owen, after a hundred defeats,
+never doubted the perfection of his scheme, and never fairly confessed
+a failure. But in the end Ballou rises above these theorizers, even in
+this matter. Our informant says he manfully owns that Hopedale was a
+_total_ failure.
+
+As to the causes of the catastrophe, his account is the old story of
+general depravity. The timber he got together was not suitable for
+building a Community. The men and women that joined him were very
+enthusiastic, and commenced with great zeal; their devotion to the
+cause seemed to be sincere; but they did not know themselves.
+
+The following details, given by Mr. Ballou, of the actual proceedings
+which brought Hopedale to its end, are very instructive in regard to
+the operation of the joint-stock principle.
+
+Mr. Ballou was the first President of the Community; but was
+ultimately superseded by E.D. Draper. This gentleman came to Hopedale
+with great enthusiasm for the cause. He was not wealthy, but was a
+sharp, enterprising business man; and very soon became the managing
+spirit of the whole concern. He had a brother associated with him in
+business, who had no sympathy with the Community enterprise. With this
+brother Mr. Draper became deeply engaged in outside operations, which
+were very lucrative. They gained in wealth by these operations, while
+the inside interests were gradually falling into neglect and bad
+management. The result was that the Community sunk capital from year
+to year. Meanwhile Draper bought up three-fourths of the joint-stock,
+and so had the legal control in his own hands. At length he became
+dissatisfied with the way matters were tending, and went to Mr. Ballou
+and told him that "this thing must not go any further." Mr. Ballou
+asked him if that meant that the Community must come to an end. He
+replied, "Yes." "There was no other way," said Mr. Ballou, "but to
+submit to it." He then said to Mr. Draper that he had one condition to
+put to him; that was, that he should assume the responsibility of
+paying the debts. Mr. Draper consented; the debts were paid; and thus
+terminated the Hopedale experiment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES.
+
+
+We have said that Brook Farm came very near being a religious
+Community; and that Hopedale came still nearer. In this respect these
+two stand alone among the experiments of the Fourier epoch. Here
+therefore is the place to bring to view in some brief way for purposes
+of comparison, the series of strictly religious Communities that we
+have referred to heretofore as colonies of foreigners. The following
+account of them first published in the _Social Record_, has the
+authority and freshness of testimony by an eye-witness. Of course it
+must not be taken as a view of the exotic Communities at the present
+time, but only at its date.
+
+
+    JACOBI'S SYNOPSIS.
+
+    "During the last eight years I have visited all the Communities
+    in this country, except the Icarian and Oneida societies,
+    staying at each from six months to two years, to get thoroughly
+    acquainted with their practical workings. I will mention each
+    society according to its age:
+
+    "1. Conrad Beizel, a German, founded the colony of Ephrata,
+    eight miles from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1713. There were at
+    times some thousands of members. The Bible was their guide;
+    they had all things in common; lived strictly a life of
+    celibacy; increased in numbers, and became very rich. Conrad was
+    at the head of the whole; he was the sun from which all others
+    received the rays of life and animation. He lived to a very old
+    age, but it was with him as with all other men; his sun was not
+    standing in the zenith all the time, but went down in the
+    afternoon. His rays had not power enough to warm up thousands of
+    members, as in younger days: he as the head became old and
+    lifeless, and the members began to leave. He appointed a very
+    amiable man as his successor, but he could not stop the
+    emigration. The property is now in the hands of trustees who
+    belong to the world, and gives an income of about $1200 a year.
+    Perhaps there are now twelve or fifteen members. Some of the
+    grand old buildings are yet standing. This was the first
+    Community in America.
+
+    "2. Ann Lee, an English woman, came to this country in 1774, and
+    founded the Shaker societies. I have visited four, and lived in
+    two. In point of order, neatness, regularity and economy, they
+    are far in advance of all the other societies. They are from
+    nearly all the civilized nations of the globe, and this is one
+    reason for their great temporal success. Other Communities do
+    not prosper as well, because they are composed too much of one
+    nation. In Ann Lee's time, and even some time after her
+    departure, they had many spiritual gifts, as never a body of
+    people after Christ's time has had; and they were of such a
+    nature as Christ said should be among his true followers; but
+    they have now lost them, so far as they are essential and
+    beneficial. The ministry is the head. Too much attention is
+    given to outward rules, that set up the ministers and elders as
+    patterns, and keep all minds on the same plane. While limited by
+    these rules there will be no progress, and their noble
+    institutions will become dead letters.
+
+    "3. George Rapp, a German, founded a society in the first
+    quarter of this century. After several removals they settled at
+    Economy, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, eighteen miles from
+    Pittsburg. They are all Germans; live strictly a life of
+    celibacy; take the Bible as their guide, as Rapp understood it.
+    They numbered about eighteen hundred in their best times, but
+    are now reduced to about three hundred, and most of them are far
+    advanced in years. They are very rich and industrious. Rapp was
+    their leader and head, and kept the society in prosperous motion
+    so long as he was able to exercise his influence; but as he
+    advanced in years and his mental strength and activity
+    diminished, the members fell off. He is dead; and his successor,
+    Mr. Baker, is advanced in years. They are next to the Shakers in
+    point of neatness and temporal prosperity; but unlike them in
+    being strict Bible-believers, and otherwise differing in their
+    religious views.
+
+    "4. Joseph Bimeler, a German, in 1816 founded the colony of
+    Zoar, in Tuscorora County, Ohio, twelve miles from New
+    Philadelphia, with about eight hundred of his German friends.
+    They are Bible believers in somewhat liberal style. Bimeler was
+    the main engine; he had to do all the thinking, preaching and
+    pulling the rest along. While he had strength all went on
+    seemingly very well; but as his strength began to fail the whole
+    concern went on slowly. I arrived the week after his death. The
+    members looked like a flock of sheep who had lost their
+    shepherd. Bimeler appointed a well-meaning man for his
+    successor, but as he was not Bimeler, he could not put his
+    engine before the train. Every member pushed forward or pulled
+    back just as he thought proper; and their thinking was a poor
+    affair, as they were not used to it. They live married or not,
+    just as they choose; are well off, a good moral people, and
+    number about five hundred.
+
+    "5. Samuel Snowberger, an American, founded a society in 1820 at
+    Snowhill, Pennsylvania, twenty miles from Harrisburg. He took
+    Ephrata as his pattern in every respect. The Snowbergers believe
+    in the Bible as explained in Beizel's writings. They are well
+    off, and number about thirty. [This society should be considered
+    an offshoot of No. 1.]
+
+    "6. Christian Metz, a German, with his followers, founded a
+    society eight miles from Buffalo, New York, in 1846. They called
+    themselves the inspired people, and their colony Ebenezer. They
+    believe in the Bible, as it is explained through their mediums.
+    Metz and one of the sisters have been mediums more than thirty
+    years, through whom one spirit speaks and writes. This spirit
+    guides the society in spiritual and temporal matters, and they
+    have never been disappointed in his counsels for their welfare.
+    They have been led by this spirit for more than a century in
+    Germany. They permit marriage, when, after application has been
+    made, the spirit consents to it; but the parties have to go
+    through some public mortification. In 1851 they had some
+    thousands of members. They have now removed to Iowa, where they
+    have 30,000 acres of land. This is the largest and richest
+    Community in the United States. One member brought in $100,000,
+    others $60,000, $40,000, $20,000, etc. They are an intelligent
+    and very kind people, and live in little comfortable cottages,
+    not having unitary houses as the other societies. They are not
+    anxious to get members, and none are received except by the
+    consent of the controlling spirit. They have a printing-press
+    for their own use, but do not publish any books.
+
+    "7. Erick Janson, a Swede, and his friends started a colony at
+    Bishop Hill, Illinois, in 1846, and now number about eight
+    hundred. They are Bible-believers according to their
+    explanations. They believe that a life of celibacy is more
+    adapted to develop the inner man, but marriage is not forbidden.
+    Their minds are not closed against liberal progress, when they
+    are convinced of the truth and usefulness of it. They began in
+    very poor circumstances, but are now well off, and not anxious
+    to get members; do not publish any books about their colony.
+    Janson died eight years ago. They have no head; but the people
+    select their preachers and trustees, who superintend the
+    different branches of business. They are kept in office as long
+    as the majority think proper. I am living there now.
+
+    "_August 26 1858._                                A. JACOBI."
+
+The connection between religion of some kind and success in these
+Communities, has come to be generally recognized, even among the old
+friends of non-religious Association. Thus Horace Greeley, in his
+"Recollections of a Busy Life," says:
+
+"That there have been--nay, are--decided successes in practical
+Socialism, is undeniable; but they all have that Communistic basis
+which seems to me irrational and calculated to prove fatal.***
+
+"I can easily account for the failure of Communism at New Harmony, and
+in several other experiments; I can not so easily account for its
+successes. Yet the fact stares us in the face that, while hundreds of
+banks and factories, and thousands of mercantile concerns, managed by
+shrewd, strong men, have gone into bankruptcy and perished, Shaker
+Communities, established more than sixty years ago, upon a basis of
+little property and less worldly wisdom, are living and prosperous
+to-day. And their experience has been imitated by the German
+Communities at Economy, Zoar, the Society of Ebenezer, &c., &c.
+Theory, however plausible, must respect the facts.***
+
+"Religion often makes practicable that which were else impossible, and
+divine love triumphs where human science is baffled. Thus I interpret
+the past successes and failures of Socialism.
+
+"With a firm and deep religious basis, any Socialistic scheme may
+succeed, though vicious in organization and at war with human nature,
+as I deem Shaker Communism and the antagonist or 'Free Love' Community
+of Perfectionists at Oneida. Without a basis of religious sympathy and
+religious aspiration, it will always be difficult, though I judge not
+impossible."
+
+Also Charles A. Dana, in old times a Fourierist and withal a Brook
+Farmer, now chief of _The New York Sun_, says in an editorial on the
+Brocton Association (May 1 1869):
+
+"Communities based upon peculiar religious views, have generally
+succeeded. The Shakers and the Oneida Community are conspicuous
+illustrations of this fact; while the failure of the various attempts
+made by the disciples of Fourier, Owen, and others, who have not had
+the support of religious fanaticism, proves that without this great
+force the most brilliant social theories are of little avail."
+
+It used to be said in the days of Slavery, that religious negroes were
+worth more in the market than the non-religious. Thus religion,
+considered as a working force in human nature, has long had a
+recognized commercial value. The logic of events seems now to be
+giving it a definite socialistic value. American experience certainly
+tends to the conclusion that religious men can hold together longer
+and accomplish more in close Association, than men without religion.
+
+But with this theory how shall we account for the failure of Brook
+Farm and Hopedale? They certainly had, as we have seen, much of the
+"fanaticism" of the Shakers and other successful Communities--at least
+in their expressed ideals. Evidently some peculiar species of
+religion, or some other condition than religion, is necessary to
+insure success. To discover the truth in this matter, let us take the
+best example of success we can find, and see what other principle
+besides religion is most prominent in it.
+
+The Shakers evidently stand highest on the list of successful
+Communities. Religion is their first principle; what is their second?
+Clearly the exclusion of marriage, or in other words, the subjection
+of the sexual relation to the Communistic principle. Here we have our
+clue; let us follow it. Can any example of success be found where this
+second condition is not present? We need not look for precisely the
+Shaker treatment of the sexual relation in other examples. Our
+question is simply this: Has any attempt at close Association ever
+succeeded, which took marriage into it substantially as it exists in
+ordinary society? Reviewing Jacobi's list, which includes all the
+Communities commonly reported to be successful, we find the following
+facts:
+
+1. The Communists of Ephrata live strictly a life of celibacy.
+
+2. The Rappites live strictly a life of celibacy; though Williams says
+they did not adopt this principle till 1807, which was four years
+after their settlement in Pennsylvania.
+
+3. The Zoarites marry or not as they choose, according to Jacobi; but
+Macdonald, who also visited them, says: "At their first organization
+marriage was strictly forbidden, not from any religious scruples as to
+its propriety, but as an indispensable matter of economy. They were
+too poor to rear children, and for years their little town presented
+the anomaly of a village without a single child to be seen or heard
+within its limits. Though this regulation has been for years removed,
+as no longer necessary, their settlement still retains much of its old
+character in this respect."
+
+4. The Snowbergers, taking Ephrata as their pattern, adhere strictly
+to celibacy.
+
+5. The Ebenezers, according to Jacobi, permit marriage, when their
+guiding spirit consents to it; but the parties have to go through some
+public mortification. Another account of the Ebenezers says: "They
+marry and are given in marriage; but what will be regarded as most
+extraordinary, they are practically Malthusians when the economy of
+their organization demands it. We have been told that when they
+contemplated emigration to this country, in view of their then
+condition and what they must encounter in fixing a new home, they
+concluded there should be no increase of their population by births
+for a given number of years; and the regulation was strictly adhered
+to."
+
+6. The Jansonists believe that a life of celibacy is more adapted to
+develop the life of the inner man; but marriage is not forbidden.
+
+Thus in all these Societies Communism evidently is stronger than
+marriage familism. The control over the sexual relation varies in
+stringency. The Shakers and perhaps the Ephratists exclude familism
+with religious horror; the Rappites give it no place, but their
+repugnance is less conspicuous; the Zoarites have no conscience
+against it, but exclude it from motives of economy; the Ebenezers
+excluded it only in the early stages of their growth, but long enough
+to show that they held it in subjection to Communism. The Jansonists
+favor celibacy; but do not prohibit marriage. The decreasing ratio of
+control corresponds very nearly to the series of dates at which these
+Communities commenced. The Ephratists settled in this country in 1713;
+the Shakers in 1774; the Rappites in 1804; the Zoarites in 1816; the
+Ebenezers in 1846; and the Jansonists in 1846. Thus there seems to be
+a tendency to departure from the stringent anti-familism of the
+Shakers, as one type of Communism after another is sent here from the
+Old World. Whether there is a complete correspondence of the fortunes
+of these several Communities to the strength of their anti-familism,
+is an interesting question which we are not prepared to answer. Only
+it is manifest that the Shakers, who discard the radix of old society
+with the greatest vehemence, and are most jealous for Communism as the
+prime unit of organization, have prospered most, and are making the
+longest and strongest mark on the history of Socialism. And in
+general it seems probable from the fact of success attending these
+forms of Communism to the exclusion of all others, that there is some
+rational connection between their control of the sexual relation and
+their prosperity.
+
+The only case that we have heard of as bearing against the hypothesis
+of such a connection, is that of the French colony of Icarians. We
+have seen their example appealed to as proof that Communism may exist
+without religion, and _with_ marriage. Our accounts, however, of this
+Society in its present state are very meager. The original Icarian
+Community, founded by Cabet at Nauvoo, not only tolerated but required
+marriage; and as it soon came to an end, its fate helps the
+anti-marriage theory. The present Society of Icarians is only a
+fragment of that Community--about sixty persons out of three hundred
+and sixty-five. Whether it retained its original constitution after
+separating from its founder, and how far it can fairly claim to be a
+success, we know not. All our other facts would lead us to expect that
+it will either subordinate the sexual relation to the Communistic, or
+that it will not long keep its Communism.
+
+Of course we shall not be understood as propounding the theory that
+the negative or Shaker method of disposing of marriage and the sexual
+relation, is the only one that can subordinate familism to Communism.
+The Oneida Communists claim that their control over amativeness and
+philoprogenitiveness, the two elements of familism, is carried much
+farther than that of the Shakers; inasmuch as they make those passions
+serve Communism, instead of opposing it, as they do under suppression.
+They dissolve the old dual unit of society, but take the constituent
+elements of it all back into Communism. The only reason why we do not
+name the Oneida Community among the examples of the connection between
+anti-marriage and success, is that we do not consider it old enough to
+be pronounced successful.
+
+Let us now go back to Brook Farm and Hopedale, and see how they stood
+in relation to marriage.
+
+We find nothing that indicates any attempt on the part of Brook Farm
+to meddle with the marriage relation. In the days of its original
+simplicity, it seems not to have thought of such a thing. It finally
+became a Fourier Phalanx, and of course came into more or less
+sympathy with the _expectations_ of radical social changes which
+Fourier encouraged. But it was always the policy of the _Harbinger_,
+the _Tribune_, and all the organs of Fourierism, to indignantly
+protest their innocence of any _present_ disloyalty to marriage. And
+yet we find in the _Dial_ (January 1844), an article about Brook Farm
+by Charles Lane, which shows in the following significant passage,
+that there was serious thinking among the Transcendentalists, as to
+the possibility of a clash between old familism and the larger style
+of life in the Phalanx:
+
+"The great problem of socialism now is, whether the existence of the
+marital family is compatible with that of the universal family, which
+the term 'Community' signifies. The maternal instinct, as hitherto
+educated, has declared itself so strongly in favor of the separate
+fireside, that Association, which appears so beautiful to the young
+and unattached soul, has yet accomplished little progress in the
+affections of that important section of the human race--the mothers.
+With fathers, the feeling in favor of the separate family is
+certainly less strong; but there is an undefinable tie, a sort of
+magnetic rapport, an invisible, inseverable, umbilical cord between
+the mother and child, which in most cases circumscribes her desires
+and ambition to her own immediate family. All the accepted adages and
+wise saws of society, all the precepts of morality, all the sanctions
+of theology, have for ages been employed to confirm this feeling. This
+is the chief corner-stone of present society; and to this maternal
+instinct have, till very lately, our most heartfelt appeals been made
+for the progress of the human race, by means of a deeper and more
+vital education. Pestalozzi and his most enlightened disciples are
+distinguished by this sentiment. And are we all at once to abandon, to
+deny, to destroy this supposed stronghold of virtue? Is it questioned
+whether the family arrangement of mankind is to be preserved? Is it
+discovered that the sanctuary, till now deemed the holiest on earth,
+is to be invaded by intermeddling skepticism, and its altars
+sacrilegiously destroyed by the rude hand of innovating progress? Here
+'social science' must be brought to issue. The question of Association
+and of marriage are one. If, as we have been popularly led to believe,
+the individual or separate family is in the true order of Providence,
+then the associative life is a false effort. If the associative life
+is true, then is the separate family a false arrangement. By the
+maternal feeling it appears to be decided, that the co-existence of
+both is incompatible, is impossible. So also say some religious sects.
+Social science ventures to assert their harmony. This is the grand
+problem now remaining to be solved, for at least the enlightening, if
+not for the vital elevation of humanity. That the affections can be
+divided, or bent with equal ardor on two objects, so opposed as
+universal and individual love, may at least be rationally doubted.
+History has not yet exhibited such phenomena in an associate body, and
+scarcely perhaps in any individual. The monasteries and convents,
+which have existed in all ages, have been maintained solely by the
+annihilation of that peculiar affection on which the separate family
+is based. The Shaker families, in which the two sexes are not entirely
+dissociated, can yet only maintain their union by forbidding and
+preventing the growth of personal affection other than that of a
+spiritual character. And this in fact is not personal in the sense of
+individual, but ever a manifestation of universal affection. Spite of
+the speculations of hopeful bachelors and ęsthetic spinsters, there is
+somewhat in the marriage bond which is found to counteract the
+universal nature of the affections, to a degree tending at least to
+make the considerate pause, before they assert that, by any social
+arrangements whatever, the two can be blended into one harmony. The
+general condition of married persons at this time is some evidence of
+the existence of such a doubt in their minds. Were they as convinced
+as the unmarried of the beauty and truth of associate life, the
+demonstration would be now presented. But might it not be enforced
+that the two family ideas really neutralize each other? Is it not
+quite certain that the human heart can not be set in two places? that
+man can not worship at two altars? It is only the determination to do
+what parents consider the best for themselves and their families,
+which renders the o'er populous world such a wilderness of self-hood
+as it is. Destroy this feeling, they say, and you prohibit every
+motive to exertion. Much truth is there in this affirmation. For to
+them, no other motive remains, nor indeed to any one else, save that
+of the universal good, which does not permit the building up of
+supposed self-good, and therefore forecloses all possibility of an
+individual family.
+
+"These observations, of course, equally apply to all the associative
+attempts, now attracting so much public attention; and perhaps most
+especially to such as have more of Fourier's designs than are
+observable at Brook Farm. The slight allusion in all the writers of
+the 'Phalansterian' class, to the subject of marriage, is rather
+remarkable. They are acute and eloquent in deploring Woman's oppressed
+and degraded position in past and present times, but are almost silent
+as to the future."
+
+So much for Brook Farm. Hopedale was thoroughly conservative in
+relation to marriage. The following is an extract from its
+Constitution:
+
+    "ARTICLE VIII. Sec. 1. Marriage, being one of the most important
+    and sacred of human relationships, ought to be guarded against
+    caprice and abuse by the highest wisdom which is available.
+    Therefore within the membership of this republic and the
+    dependencies thereof, marriage is specially commended to the
+    care of the Preceptive and Parentive circles. They are hereby
+    designated as the confidential counselors of all members and
+    dependents who may desire their mediation in cases of
+    matrimonial negotiation, contract or controversy; and shall be
+    held preėminently responsible for the prudent and faithful
+    discharge of their duties. But no person decidedly averse to
+    their interposition shall be considered under imperative
+    obligation to solicit or accept it. And it shall be considered
+    the perpetual duty of the Preceptive and Parentive Circles to
+    enlighten the public mind relative to the requisites of true
+    matrimony, and to elevate the marriage institution within this
+    Republic to the highest possible plane of purity and happiness.
+
+    "Sec. 2. Marriage shall always be solemnized in the presence of
+    two or more witnesses, by the distinct acknowledgment of the
+    parties before some member of the Preceptive, or of the
+    Parentive Circle, selected to preside on the occasion. And it
+    shall be the imperative duty of the member so presiding, to see
+    that every such marriage be recorded within ten days thereafter,
+    in the Registry of the Community to which one or both of them
+    shall at the time belong.
+
+    "Sec. 3. Divorce from the bonds of matrimony shall never be
+    allowable within the membership of this Republic, except for
+    adultery conclusively proved against the accused party. But
+    separations for other sufficient reasons may be sanctioned, with
+    the distinct understanding that neither party shall be at
+    liberty to marry again during the natural lifetime of the
+    other."
+
+On this text Mr. Ballou comments in his book to the extent of thirty
+pages, and occupies as many more with the severest criticisms of
+"Noyesism" and other forms of sexual innovation.
+
+The facts we have found stand thus: All the successful Communities,
+besides being religious, exercise control, more or less stringent,
+over the sexual relation; and this principle is most prominent in
+those that are most successful. But Brook Farm and Hopedale did not
+attempt any such control.
+
+We incline therefore to the conclusion that the Massachusetts
+Socialisms were weak, not altogether for want of religion, but because
+they were too conservative in regard to marriage, and thus could not
+digest and assimilate their material. Or in more general terms, the
+conclusion toward which our facts and reflections point is, first,
+that religion, not as a mere doctrine, but as an _afflatus_ having in
+itself a tendency to make many into one, is the first essential of
+successful Communism; and, secondly, that the _afflatus_ must be
+strong enough to decompose the old family unit and make Communism the
+home-center.
+
+We will conclude with some observations that seem necessary to
+complete our view of the religious Communities.
+
+When we speak of these societies as successful, this must not be
+understood in any absolute sense. Their success is evidently a thing
+of _degrees_. All of them appear to have been very successful at some
+period of their career in _making money_; which fact indicates plainly
+enough, that the theories of Owen and Fourier about "compound
+economies" and "combined industry," are not moonshine, but practical
+verities. We may consider it proved by abundant experiment, that it is
+easy for harmonious Associations to get a living, and to grow rich.
+But in other respects these religious Communities have had various
+fortunes. The oldest of them, Beizel's Colony of Ephrata, in its early
+days numbered its thousands; but in 1858 it had dwindled down to
+twelve or fifteen members. So the Rappites in their best time numbered
+from eight hundred to a thousand; but are now reduced to two or three
+hundred old people. This can hardly be called success, even if the
+money holds out. On the other hand, the Shakers appear to have kept
+their numbers good, as well as increased in wealth, for nearly a
+century; though Jacobi represents them as now at a stand-still. The
+rest of the Communities in his list, dating from 1816 to 1846, are
+perhaps not old enough to be pronounced permanently successful.
+Whether they are dwindling, like the Beizelites and Rappites, or at a
+stand-still, like the Shakers, or in a period of vigor and growth,
+Jacobi does not say; and we have no means of ascertaining. It is
+proper, however, to call them all successful in a relative sense; that
+is, as compared with the non-religious experiments. They have held
+together and made money for long periods; which is a success that the
+Owen and Fourier Communities have not attained.
+
+If required here to define absolute success, we should say that at the
+lowest it includes not merely self-support, but also self-perpetuation.
+And this attainment is nearly precluded by the ascetic method of
+treating the sexual relation. The adoption of foreign children can not
+be a reliable substitute for home-propagation. The highest ideal of a
+successful Community requires that it should be a complete nursery of
+human beings, doing for them all that the old family home has done, and
+a great deal more. Scientific propagation and universal culture should
+be its ends, and money-making only its means.
+
+The causes of the comparative success which the ascetic Communities
+have attained, we have found in their religious principles and their
+freedom from marriage. Jacobi seems disposed to give special
+prominence to _leadership_, as a cause of success. He evidently
+attributes the decline of the Beizelites, the Rappites and the
+Zoarites, to the old age and death of their founders. But something
+more than skillful leadership is necessary to account for the success
+of the Shakers. They had their greatest expansion after the death of
+Ann Lee. Jacobi recognizes, in his account of the Ebenezers, another
+centralizing and controlling influence, coöperating with leadership,
+which has probably had more to do with the success of all the
+religious Communities than leadership or anything else; viz.,
+_inspiration_. He says of the Ebenezers:
+
+"They call themselves the inspired people. They believe in the Bible,
+as it is explained through their mediums. Metz, the founder, and one
+of the sisters, have been mediums more than thirty years, through whom
+_one_ spirit speaks and writes. This spirit guides the society in
+spiritual and temporal matters, and they have never been disappointed
+in his counsels for their welfare. They have been led by this spirit
+for more than a century in Germany. No members are received except by
+the consent of this controlling spirit."
+
+Something like this must be true of all the Communities in Jacobi's
+list. This is what we mean by _afflatus_. Indeed, this is what we mean
+by _religion_, when we connect the success of Communities with their
+religion. Mere doctrines and forms without afflatus are not religion,
+and have no more power to organize successful Communities, than the
+theories of Owen and Fourier.
+
+Personal leadership has undoubtedly played a great part in connection
+with afflatus, in gathering and guiding the religious Communities.
+Afflatus requires personal mediums; and probably success depends on
+the due adjustment of the proportion between afflatus and medium. As
+afflatus is the permanent element, and personal leadership the
+transitory, it is likely that in the cases of the dwindling
+Communities, leadership has been too strong and afflatus too weak. A
+very great man, as medium of a feeble afflatus, may belittle a
+Community while he holds it together, and insure its dwindling away
+after his death. On the other hand, we see in the case of the Shakers,
+a strong afflatus, with an ordinary illiterate woman for its first
+medium; and the result is success continuing and increasing after her
+death.
+
+It is probably true, nevertheless, that an afflatus which is strong
+enough to make a strong man its medium _and keep him under_, will
+attain the greatest success; or in other words, that the greater the
+medium the better, other things being equal.
+
+In all cases of afflatus continuing after the death of the first
+medium, there seems to be an alternation of experience between
+afflatus and personal leadership, somewhat like that of the Primitive
+Christian Church. In that case, there was first an afflatus
+concentrated on a strong leader; then after the death of the leader, a
+distributed afflatus for a considerable period following the day of
+Pentecost; and finally another concentration of the afflatus on a
+strong leader in the person of Paul, who was the final organizer.
+
+Compare with this the experience of the Shakers. The afflatus (issuing
+from a combination of the Quaker principality with the "French
+Prophets") had Ann Lee for its first medium, and worked in the
+concentrated form during her life. After her death, there was a short
+interregnum of distributed inspiration. Finally the afflatus
+concentrated on another leader; and this time it was a man, Elder
+Meacham, who proved to be the final organizer. Each step of this
+progress is seen in the following brief history of Shakerism, from the
+American Cyclopędia:
+
+"The idea of a community of property, and of Shaker families or
+unitary households, was first broached by Mother Ann, who formed her
+little family into a model after which the general organizations of
+the Shaker order, as they now exist, have been arranged. She died in
+1784. In 1787 Joseph Meacham, formerly a Baptist preacher, but who had
+been one of Mother Ann's first converts at Watervliet, collected her
+adherents in a settlement at New Lebanon, and introduced both
+principles, together probably with some others not to be found in the
+revelations of their foundress. Within five years, under the efficient
+administration of Meacham, eleven Shaker settlements were founded,
+viz.: at New Lebanon, New York, which has always been regarded as the
+parent Society; at Watervliet, New York; at Hancock, Tyringham,
+Harvard, and Shirley, Massachusetts; at Enfield, Connecticut
+(Meacham's native town); at Canterbury and Enfield, New Hampshire; and
+at Alfred and New Gloucester, Maine."
+
+Going beyond the Communities for examples (as the principles of growth
+are the same in all spiritual organizations), we may in like manner
+compare the development of Mormonism with that of Christianity. Joseph
+Smith was the first medium. After his death came a period of
+distributed inspiration. Finally the afflatus concentrated on Brigham
+Young as its second medium, and he has organized Mormonism.
+
+For a still greater example, look at the Bonaparte dynasty. It can not
+be doubted that there is a persistent afflatus connected with that
+power. It was concentrated on the first Napoleon. After his deposal
+and death there was a long interregnum; but the afflatus was only
+distributed, not extinguished. At length it concentrated again on the
+present Napoleon; and he proves to be great in diplomacy and
+organization, as the first Napoleon was in war.
+
+We have said that the general conclusion toward which our facts and
+reflections point, is, first, that religion, not as a mere doctrine,
+but as an afflatus, is the first essential to successful Communism;
+and secondly, that the afflatus must be strong enough to make
+Communism the home-center. We may now add (if the law we have just
+enunciated is reliable), that the afflatus must also be strong enough
+to prevail over personal leadership in its mediums, and be able, when
+one leader dies, to find and use another.
+
+We must note however that this law of apparent transfer does not
+necessarily imply real change of leadership. In the case of
+Christianity, its adherents assume that the first leader was not
+displaced, but only transferred from the visible to the invisible
+sphere, and thus continued to be the administrative medium of the
+original afflatus. And something like this, we understand, is claimed
+by the Shakers in regard to Ann Lee.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE NORTHAMPTON ASSOCIATION.
+
+
+This Community, though its site was in a region where Jonathan Edwards
+and Revivalism reigned a hundred years before, could hardly be called
+religious. It seems to have represented a class sometimes called
+"Nothingarians." But like Brook Farm and Hopedale, it was an
+independent Yankee attempt to regenerate society, and a forerunner of
+Fourierism.
+
+Massachusetts, the center of New England, the mother of school systems
+and factory systems, of Faneuil Hall revolutions and Anti-Slavery
+revolutions, of Liberalism, Literature, and Social Science, appears to
+have anticipated the advent of Fourierism, and to have prepared herself
+for or against the rush of French ideas, by throwing out three
+experiments of her own on her three avenues of approach:--Unitarianism,
+Universalism, and Nothingarianism.
+
+The following neat account of the Northampton Community, is copied
+from a feminine manuscript in Macdonald's collection, on which he
+wrote in pencil:
+
+"_By Mrs. Judson, for me, through G.W. Benson, Williamsburg, February
+14 1853._"
+
+MEMOIR.
+
+"The Northampton Association of Education and Industry had its origin
+in the aspiration of a few individuals for a better and purer state of
+society--for freedom from the trammels of sect and bigotry, and an
+opportunity of carrying out their principles, socially, religiously,
+and otherwise, without restraint from the prevailing practices of the
+world around.
+
+"The projectors of this enterprise were Messrs. David Mack, Samuel L.
+Hill, George W. Benson and William Adam. These, with several others
+who were induced to unite with them, in all ten persons, held their
+first meeting April 8 1842, organized the Association, and adopted a
+preamble, constitution and by-laws.
+
+"This little band formed the nucleus, around which a large number soon
+clustered, all thinking, intelligent persons; all, or nearly all,
+seeing and feeling the imperfections of existing society, and seeking
+a purer, more free and elevated position as regards religion,
+politics, business, &c. It would not be true to say that _all_ the
+members of the Community were imbued with the true spirit of reform;
+but the leading minds were sincere reformers, earnest, truthful souls,
+sincerely desiring to advance the cause of truth and liberty. Some
+were young persons, attracted thither by friends, or coming there to
+seek employment on the same terms as members, and afterwards applying
+for full membership.
+
+"The Association was located about two and a half miles from the
+village and center of business of Northampton. The estate consisted of
+five hundred acres of land, a good water-privilege, a silk factory
+four stories in height, six dwelling-houses, a saw-mill and other
+property, all valued at about $31,000. This estate was formerly owned
+by the Northampton Silk Company; afterwards by J. Conant & Co., who
+sold it to the persons who originated the Association. The amount of
+stock paid in was $20,000. This left a debt of $11,000 upon the
+Community, which, in the enthusiasm of the new enterprise, they
+expected soon to pay by additions to their capital stock, and by the
+profits of labor. But by the withdrawal of members holding stock, and
+also by some further purchases of property, this debt was afterwards
+increased to nearly four times its original amount, and no progress
+was made toward its liquidation during the continuance of the
+Association.
+
+"Labor was remunerated equally; both sexes and all occupations
+receiving the same compensation.
+
+"It could not be expected that so many persons, bound by no pledges or
+'Articles of Faith,' should agree in all things. They were never asked
+when applying for membership, 'Do you believe so and so?' On the
+contrary, a good life and worthy motives were the only tests by which
+they were judged. Of course it was necessary, before they could be
+admitted, to decide the question, 'Can they be useful to the
+Association?'
+
+"The accommodations for families were extremely limited, and many
+times serious inconvenience was experienced, in consequence of small
+and few apartments. For the most part it was cheerfully sustained; at
+least, so long as there was any hope of success--that is, of paying
+the debts, and obtaining a livelihood. Most of the members had been
+accustomed to good, spacious houses, and every facility for
+comfortable living.
+
+"To obviate the difficulty of procuring suitable tenements for
+separate families, a community family was instituted, occupying a part
+of the silk-factory. Two stories of this building were appropriated to
+the use of such as chose to live at a common table and participate in
+the labor of the family. This also formed the home of young persons
+who were unconnected with families.
+
+"There was always plenty of food, and no one suffered for the
+necessaries or comforts of life. All were satisfied with simplicity,
+both in diet and dress.
+
+"At the first annual meeting, held January 18 1843, some important
+changes were made in the management of the affairs of the Association,
+and a new 'Preamble and Articles of Association,' tending toward
+consolidation and communism, were adopted for the year. This step was
+the occasion of dissatisfaction to some of the stockholders--to one in
+particular, and probably led to his withdrawal, before the expiration
+of the year.
+
+"Previous to this time some of the early members had become
+dissatisfied with life in a Community, and had withdrawn from all
+connection with it. They were persons who had been pleased with the
+avowed objects and principles of the Association, and with the persons
+composing it, and also looked upon it as a profitable investment of
+money. Of course in this they were disappointed, and they had no
+principles which would induce them to make sacrifices for the cause.
+
+"A department of education was organized, in which it was designed to
+unite study with labor, on the ground that no education is complete
+which does not combine physical with mental development. Mr. Adam was
+the first director of that department, and was an able and efficient
+teacher. He was succeeded by Mr. Mack and his wife, who were persons
+of much experience in teaching, and of superior attainments. A
+boarding-school was opened under their auspices, and several pupils
+were received from abroad, who pursued the same course as those
+belonging to the Association.
+
+"In the course of the third year a subscription was opened, for the
+purpose of relieving the necessities of the Association; and people
+interested in the object of Social Reform were solicited to invest
+money in this enterprise, no subscription to be binding unless the sum
+of $25,000 was raised. This sum never was subscribed, and of course no
+assistance was obtained in that way.
+
+"Many troubles were constantly growing out of the pecuniary
+difficulties in which the Community was involved. Many sacrifices were
+demanded, and much hard labor was required, and those whose hearts
+were not in the work withdrew.
+
+"As might be inferred from what has been said, there was no religious
+creed, and no particular form of religious worship enjoined. A meeting
+was sustained on the first day of the week most of the time while the
+Association existed, in which various subjects were discussed, and all
+had the right and an opportunity of expressing their opinions or
+personal feelings. Of course a great variety of views and sentiments
+were introduced. As the religious sentiment is strong in most minds,
+this introduction of every phase of religious belief was very
+exciting, producing in some dissatisfaction; in others, the shaking of
+all their preconceived views; and probably resulting in greater
+liberality and more charitable feelings in all.
+
+"The carrying out of different religious views was, perhaps, the
+occasion of more disagreement than any other subject: the more liberal
+party advocating the propriety and utility of amusements, such as
+card-playing, dancing, and the like; while others, owing perhaps to
+early education, which had taught them to look upon such things as
+sinful, now thought them detrimental and wholly improper, especially
+in the impoverished state of the Community. This disagreement operated
+to general disadvantage; as in consequence of it several worthy people
+and valuable members withdrew.
+
+"There was also a difference of opinion many times with regard to the
+management of business, which was principally in the hands of the
+trustees, viz., the President, Secretary, and Treasurer, and it is
+believed was honestly conducted.
+
+"The whole number of persons ever resident there, as nearly as can be
+ascertained, was two hundred and twenty; while probably the number of
+actual members at any one time did not exceed one hundred and thirty.
+
+"With regard to the dissolution of this organization, which took place
+November 1 1846, I can only quote from the official records. 'There
+being no business before the meeting, there was a general conversation
+among the members about the business prospects of the Association, and
+many were of the opinion that it was best to dissolve; as we were
+deeply in debt, and there was no prospect of any more stock being
+taken up, which was the only thing that could relieve us, as our
+earnings were not large, and those members who had left us, whose
+stock was due, were calling for it. Some spoke of the want of that
+harmony and brotherly feeling which were indispensable to the success
+of such an enterprise. Others spoke of the unwillingness to make
+sacrifices on the part of some of the members; also, of the lack of
+industry and the right appropriation of time.' At a subsequent meeting
+the Executive Council stated that 'in view of all the circumstances of
+the Association, they had decided upon a dissolution of the several
+departments as at present organized, and should proceed to close the
+affairs of the Association as soon as practicable.' So the Association
+ceased to exist.
+
+"The spirit which prompted it can never die; and though, in the
+carrying out of the principles which led to its organization, a
+failure has been experienced, yet the spirit of good-will and
+benevolence, that all-embracing charity, which led them to receive
+among them some unworthy and unprofitable members, still lives and is
+developing itself in other situations and by other means.
+
+"It is impossible to give a complete history of this Community--its
+changes--its trials--its failure, and in some respects, perhaps, its
+success. Much happiness was experienced there--much of trial and
+discipline. No doubt it had its influence on the surrounding world,
+leading them to greater liberality and Christian forbearance. It was a
+great innovation on the established order of things in the whole
+region, and was at first looked upon with horror and distrust. These
+prejudices in a great measure subsided, and gave way to a feeling of
+comparative respect. With other similar undertakings that have been
+abandoned, it has done its work; and may it be found that its
+influence has been for good and not for evil."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE SKANEATELES COMMUNITY.
+
+
+A wonderful year was 1843. Father Miller's prophetic calculations had
+created a vast expectation that it would be the year of the final
+conflagration. His confident followers had their ascension-robes
+ready; and outside multitudes saw the approach of that year with an
+uneasy impression that the advent of Christ, or something equally
+awful, was about to make an end of the world.
+
+And indeed tremendous events did come in 1843. If Father Miller and
+his followers had been discerning and humble enough to have accepted a
+spiritual fulfillment of their prophecies, they might have escaped the
+mortification of a total mistake as to the time. The events that came
+were these:
+
+The Anti-slavery movement, which for twelve years had been gathering
+into itself all minor reforms and firing the northern heart for
+revolution, came to its climax in the summer of 1843, in a rush of one
+hundred National Conventions! At the same time Brisbane had every
+thing ready for his great socialistic movement, and in the autumn of
+1843 the flood of Fourierism broke upon the country. Anti-slavery was
+destructive; Fourierism professed to be constructive. Both were
+rampant against existing civilization. Perhaps it will be found that
+in the junction and triumphant sweep of these forces, the old world,
+in an important sense, did come to an end.
+
+In 1843 Massachusetts, the great mother of notions, threw out in the
+face of impending Fourierism her fourth and last socialistic
+experiment. There was a mania abroad, that made common Yankees as
+confident of their ability to achieve new social machinery and save
+the world, as though they were Owens or Fouriers. The Unitarians at
+Brook Farm, the Universalists at Hopedale, and the Nothingarians at
+Northampton, had tried their hands at Community-building in 1841--2,
+and were in the full glory of success. It was time for Anti-slavery,
+the last and most vigorous of Massachusetts nurslings, to enter the
+socialistic field. This time, as if to make sure of out-flanking the
+French invasion, the post for the experiment was taken at Skaneateles
+(a town forty miles west of the present site of the Oneida Community),
+thus extending the Massachusetts line from Boston to Central New York.
+
+John A. Collins, the founder of the Skaneateles Community, was a
+Boston man, and had been a working Abolitionist up to the summer of
+1843. He was in fact the General Agent of the Massachusetts
+Anti-slavery Society, and in that capacity had superintended the one
+hundred National Conventions ordered by the Society for that year.
+During the latter part of this service he had turned his own attention
+and that of the Conventions he managed, so much toward his private
+schemes of Association, that he had not the face to claim his salary
+as Anti-slavery agent. His way was to get up a rousing Anti-slavery
+Convention, and conclude it by calling a socialistic Convention, to
+be held on the spot immediately after it. At the close of the campaign
+he resigned, and the Anti-slavery Board gave him the following
+certificate of character:
+
+"Voted, That the Board, in accepting the resignation of John A.
+Collins, tender him their sincerest thanks, and take this occasion to
+bear the most cordial testimony to the zeal and disinterestedness with
+which, at a great crisis, he threw himself a willing offering on the
+altar of the Anti-slavery cause, as well as to the energy and rare
+ability with which for four years he has discharged the duties of
+their General Agent; and in parting, offer him their best wishes for
+his future happiness and success."
+
+In October Mr. Collins bought at Skaneateles a farm of three hundred
+and fifty acres for $15,000, paying $5,000 down, and giving back a
+mortgage for the remainder. There was a good stone farm-house with
+barns and other buildings on the place. Mr. Collins gave a general
+invitation to join. One hundred and fifty responded to the call, and
+on the first of January 1844 the Community was under way, and the
+first number of its organ, _The Communitist_, was given to the world.
+
+The only document we find disclosing the fundamental principles of
+this Community is the following--which however was not ventilated in
+the _Communitist_, but found its way to the public through the
+_Skaneateles Columbian_, a neighboring paper. We copy _verbatim_:
+
+    _Articles of Belief and Disbelief, and Creed prepared and read
+    by John A. Collins, November 19, 1843._
+
+    "BELOVED FRIENDS: By your consent and advice, I am called upon
+    to make choice of those among you to aid me in establishing in
+    this place, a Community of property and interest, by which we
+    may be brought into love relations, through which, plenty and
+    intelligence may be ultimately secured to all the inhabitants of
+    this globe. To accomplish this great work there are but very
+    few, in consequence of their original organization, structure of
+    mind, education, habits and preconceived opinions, who are at
+    the present time adapted to work out this great problem of human
+    redemption. All who come together for this purpose, should be
+    united in thought and feeling on certain fundamental principles;
+    for without this, a Community of property would be but a farce.
+    Therefore it may be said with great propriety that the success
+    of the experiment will depend upon the wisdom exhibited in the
+    choice of the materials as agents for its accomplishment.
+
+    "Without going into the detail of the principles upon which this
+    Community is to be established, I will state briefly a few of
+    the fundamental principles which I regard as essential to be
+    assented to by every applicant for admission:
+
+    "1. RELIGION.--A disbelief in any special revelation of God to
+    man, touching his will, and thereby binding upon man as
+    authority in any arbitrary sense; that all forms of worship
+    should cease; that all religions of every age and nation, have
+    their origin in the same great falsehood, viz., God's special
+    Providences; that while we admire the precepts attributed to
+    Jesus of Nazareth, we do not regard them as binding because
+    uttered by him, but because they are true in themselves, and
+    best adapted to promote the happiness of the race: therefore we
+    regard the Sabbath as other days; the organized church as
+    adapted to produce strife and contention rather than love and
+    peace; the clergy as an imposition; the bible as no authority;
+    miracles as unphilosphical; and salvation from sin, or from
+    punishment in a future world, through a crucified God, as a
+    remnant of heathenism.
+
+    "2. GOVERNMENTS.--A disbelief in the rightful existence of all
+    governments based upon physical force; that they are organized
+    bands of bandits, whose authority is to be disregarded:
+    therefore we will not vote under such governments, or petition
+    to them, but demand them to disband; do no military duty; pay no
+    personal or property taxes; sit upon no juries; and never appeal
+    to the law for a redress of grievances, but use all peaceful and
+    moral means to secure their complete destruction.
+
+    "3. That there is to be no individual property, but all goods
+    shall be held in common; that the idea of mine and thine, as
+    regards the earth and its products, as now understood in the
+    exclusive sense, is to be disregarded and set aside; therefore,
+    when we unite, we will throw into the common treasury all the
+    property which is regarded as belonging to us, and forever after
+    yield up our individual claim and ownership in it; that no
+    compensation shall be demanded for our labor, if we should ever
+    leave.
+
+    "4. MARRIAGE.--[Orthodox as usual on this head.] That we regard
+    marriage as a true relation, growing out of the nature of
+    things--repudiating licentiousness, concubinage, adultery,
+    bigamy and polygamy; that marriage is designed for the happiness
+    of the parties and to promote love and virtue; that when such
+    parties have outlived their affections and can not longer
+    contribute to each other's happiness, the sooner the separation
+    takes place the better; and such separation shall not be a
+    barrier to the parties in again uniting with any one, when they
+    shall consider their happiness can be promoted thereby; that
+    parents are in duty bound to educate their children in habits of
+    virtue and love and industry; and that they are bound to unite
+    with the Community.
+
+    "5. EDUCATION OF CHILDREN.--That the Community owes to the
+    children a duty to secure them a virtuous education, and watch
+    over them with parental care.
+
+    "6. DIETETICS.--That a vegetable and fruit diet is essential to
+    the health of the body, and purity of the mind, and the
+    happiness of society; therefore, the killing and eating of
+    animals is essentially wrong, and should be renounced as soon as
+    possible, together with the use of all narcotics and stimulants.
+
+    "7. That all applicants shall, at the discretion of the
+    Community, be put upon probation of three or six months.
+
+    "8. Any person who shall force himself or herself upon the
+    Community, who has received no invitation from the Community, or
+    who does not assent to the views above enumerated, shall not be
+    treated or considered as a member of the Community; no work
+    shall be assigned to him or her if solicited, while at the same
+    time, he or she shall be regarded with the same kindness as all
+    or any other strangers--shall be furnished with food and
+    clothing; that if at any time any one shall dissent from any or
+    all of the principles above, he ought at once, in justice to
+    himself, to the Community, and to the world, to leave the
+    Association. To these views we hereby affix our respective
+    signatures.
+
+    "Assented to by all, except Q.A. Johnson, of Syracuse; J.
+    Josephine Johnson, do.; William Kennedy, do.; Solomon Johnson,
+    of Martinsburgh; and William C. Besson, of Lynn, Massachusetts."
+
+This was too strong, and had to be repudiated the next spring by the
+following editorial in the _Communitist_:
+
+    "CREEDS.--Our friends abroad require us to say a few words under
+    this head.
+
+    "We repudiate all creeds, sects, and parties, in whatever shape
+    or form they may present themselves. Our principles are as broad
+    as the universe, and as liberal as the elements that surround
+    us. They forbid the adoption and maintenance of any creed,
+    constitution, rules of faith, declarations of belief and
+    disbelief, touching any or all subjects; leaving each individual
+    free to think, believe and disbelieve, as he or she may be moved
+    by knowledge, habit, or spontaneous impulses. Belief and
+    disbelief are founded upon some kind of evidence, which may be
+    satisfactory to the individual to-day, but which other or better
+    evidence may change to-morrow. We estimate the man by his acts
+    rather than by his peculiar belief. We say to all, Believe what
+    you may, but act as well as you can.
+
+    "These principles do not deny to any one the right to draw out
+    his peculiar views--his belief and disbelief--on paper, and
+    present them for the consideration and adoption of others. Nor
+    do we deny the fact that such a thing has been done even with
+    us. But we are happy to inform all our friends and the world at
+    large, that such a document was not fully assented to and was
+    never adopted by the Community; and that the authors were among
+    the first to discover the error and retrace the step. The
+    document, with all proceedings under it, or relating thereto,
+    has long since been abolished and repudiated by unanimous
+    consent; and we now feel ourselves to be much wiser and better
+    than when we commenced."
+
+It will be noticed that there was a party in the Community, headed by
+Q.A. Johnson, who saw the error of the creed before Collins did, and
+refused to sign it. This Johnson and his party made much trouble for
+Collins; and the whole plot of the Community-drama turns on the
+struggle between these two men, as the reader will see in the sequel.
+
+Macdonald says, "A calamitous error was made in the deeding of the
+property. It appears that Mr. Collins, who purchased the property, and
+whose experiment it really was, permitted the name of another man
+[Q.A.J.] to be inserted in the deed, as a trustee, in connection with
+his own. He did this to avoid even the suspicion of selfishness. But
+his confidence was misplaced; as the individual alluded to
+subsequently acted both selfishly and dishonestly. Mr. Collins and his
+friends had to contend with the opposition of this person and one or
+two others during a great portion of the time."
+
+Mr. Finch, an Owenite, writing to the _New Moral World_, August 16,
+1845, says:
+
+Mr. Collins held to no-government or non-resistance principles: and
+while he claimed for the Community the right to receive and reject
+members, he refused to appeal to the government to aid him in
+expelling imposters, intruders and unruly members; which virtually
+amounted to throwing the doors wide open for the reception of all
+kinds of worthless characters. In consequence of his efforts to
+reduce that principle to practice, the Community soon swarmed with an
+indolent, unprincipled and selfish class of 'reformers,' as they
+termed themselves; one of whom, a lawyer [Q.A.J.], got half the estate
+into his own hands, and well-nigh ruined the concern. Mr. Collins,
+from his experience, at length became convinced of his errors as to
+these new-fangled Yankee notions, and has now abandoned them,
+recovered the property, got rid of the worthless and dissatisfied
+members, restored the society to peace and harmony, and they are now
+employed in forming a new Constitution for the society, in agreement
+with the knowledge they have all gained by the last two years'
+experience.
+
+    "Owing to the dissensions that arose from their defective
+    organization at the first, a considerable number of the
+    residents have either been dismissed, or have withdrawn from the
+    place. The population, therefore, at present numbers only eleven
+    adult male members, eight female, and seven children. The whole
+    number of members, male and female, labor most industriously
+    from six till six; and having large orders for their saw-mill
+    and turning shop, they work them night and day, with two sets of
+    men, working each twelve hours--the saw-mill and turning shop
+    being their principal sources of revenue."
+
+_The Communitist_, September 18, 1845, about two years after the
+commencement of the Community, and eight months before its end, gives
+the following picture of its experiences and prospects, from the
+lively pen of Mr. Collins:
+
+"Most happy are we to inform our readers and the friends of Community in
+general, that our prospects of success are now cheering. The dark
+clouds which so long hung over our movement, and at times threatened not
+only to destroy its peace, but its existence, have at last disappeared.
+We now have a clear sky, and the genial rays of a brilliant sun once
+more are radiating upon us. Our past experience, though grievous, will
+be of great service to us in our future progress, and will no doubt
+ultimately work out the fruits of unity, industry, abundance,
+intelligence and progress. It has taught us how far we may, in safety to
+our enterprise, advance; that some important steps may be taken, of the
+practicability of which we had doubts; and others, in the success of
+which we had but little faith, have proved both safe and expedient. Our
+previous convictions have been confirmed, that all is not gold that
+glitters; that not all who are most clamorous for reform are competent
+to become successful agents for its accomplishment; that there is
+floating upon the surface of society, a body of restless, disappointed,
+jealous, indolent spirits, disgusted with our present social system, not
+because it enchains the masses to poverty, ignorance, vice and endless
+servitude; but because they could not render it subservient to their
+private ends. Experience has convinced us that this class stands ready
+to mount every new movement that promises ease, abundance, and
+individual freedom; and that when such an enterprise refuses to
+interpret license for freedom, and insists that members shall make their
+strength, skill and talent subservient to the movement, then the cry of
+tyranny and oppression is raised against those who advocate such
+industry and self-denial; then the enterprise must become a scape-goat,
+to bear the fickleness, indolence, selfishness and envy of this class.
+But the above is not the only class of minds that our cause convened.
+From the great, noble, and disinterested principles which it embraces,
+from the high hopes which it inspires for progress, reform and, in a
+word, for human redemption, it has called many true reformers, genuine
+philanthropists, men and women of strong hands, brave hearts and
+vigorous minds.
+
+"Our enterprise, the most radical and reformatory in its profession,
+gathers these two extremes of character, from motives diametrically
+opposite. When these are brought together, it is reasonable to expect
+that, like an acid and alkali, they will effervesce, or, like the two
+opposite poles of a battery, will repel each other. For the last year
+it has been the principal object of the Community to rid itself of its
+cumbersome material, knowing that its very existence hinged upon this
+point. In this it has been successful. Much of this material was hired
+to go at an expense little if any short of three thousand dollars.
+People will marvel at this. But the Community, in its world-wide
+philanthropy, cast to the winds its power to expel unruly and
+turbulent members, which gave our quondam would-be-called 'Reformers,'
+an opportunity to reduce to practice, their real principles. In this
+winnowing process it would be somewhat remarkable if much good wheat
+had not been carried off with the chaff.
+
+"Communities and Associations, in their commencement too heavily
+charged with an impracticable, inexperienced, self-sufficient, gaseous
+class of mind, have generally exploded before they were conscious of
+the combustible material they embraced, or had acquired strength or
+experience sufficient to guard themselves against those elements which
+threaten their destruction. With a small crew well acclimated, we
+have doubled the cape, and are now upon a smooth sea, heading for the
+port of Communism.
+
+"The problem of social reform must be solved by its own members; by
+those possessed of living faith, indomitable perseverance, unflinching
+devotion and undying energy. The vicious, the sick, the infirm, the
+indolent, can not at present be serviceable to our cause. Community
+should neither be regarded in the light of a poor-house nor hospital.
+Our object is not so much to give a home to the poor, as to
+demonstrate to them their own power and resources, and thereby
+ultimately to destroy poverty. We make money no condition of
+membership; but poverty alone is not a sufficient qualification to
+secure admission. Stability of character, industrious habits, physical
+energy, moral strength, mental force, and benevolent feelings, are
+characteristics indispensable to a valuable Communist. A Community of
+such members has an inexhaustible mine of wealth, though not in
+possession of one dollar. Do not understand by this that we reject
+either men or money, simply because they happen to be united. The more
+wealth a good member brings, the better. It is, however, the smallest
+of all qualifications, in and of itself. There should be at first as
+few non-producers as possible. Single men and women and small families
+are best adapted to our condition and circumstances. In the
+commencement, the less children the better. It would be desirable to
+have none but the children born on the domain. Then they would grow up
+with an undivided Community feeling. Through the agency of such is our
+cause to be successfully carried forward. A man with a large family of
+non-producing children, must possess extraordinary powers, to justify
+his admission."
+
+Macdonald thus concludes the tale: "After the experiment had
+progressed between two and three years, Mr. Collins became convinced
+that he and his fellow members could not carry out in practice the
+Community idea. He resolved to abandon the attempt; and calling the
+members together, explained to them his feelings on the subject. He
+resigned the deed of the property into their hands, and soon after
+departed from Skaneateles, like one who had lost his nearest and
+dearest friend. Most of the members left soon after, and the Community
+quietly dissolved.
+
+"This experiment did not fail through pecuniary embarrassment. The
+property was worth twice as much when the Community dissolved, as it
+was at first; and was much more than sufficient to pay all debts. So
+it may be truly said, that this experiment was given up through a
+conviction in the mind of the originator, that the theory of the
+Community could not be carried out in practice--that the attempt was
+premature, and the necessary conditions did not yet exist. The
+Community ended in May 1846."
+
+Mr. Collins subsequently acknowledged in the public prints his
+abandonment of the schemes of philanthropy and social improvement in
+which he had been conspicuous; and returned, as a socialistic paper
+expressed it, "to the decencies and respectabilities of orthodox
+Whiggery."
+
+For side-lights to this general sketch which we have collected from
+Macdonald, Finch and Collins, we have consulted the files of the
+_Phalanx_ and the _Harbinger_. The following is all we find:
+
+_The Phalanx_, September 7, 1844, mentions that the _Communitist_ has
+reached its seventh number--has been enlarged and improved--has changed
+its terms from _gratis_ to $1.00 per year in advance--congratulates the
+Community on this improvement, but criticises its fundamental principle
+of Communism.
+
+_The Harbinger_, September 14, 1845, quotes a Rochester paper as
+saying that "the Skaneateles concern has been sifted again and again
+of its chaff or wheat, we hardly know which, until, from a very wild
+republic, it appears verging toward a sober monarchy; i.e., toward the
+unresisted sway of a single mind." On this the _Harbinger_ remarks:
+
+"The Skaneateles Community, so far from being a Fourier institution,
+has been in open and bitter hostility with that system; no man has
+taken stronger ground against the Fourier movement than its founder,
+Mr. John Collins; and although of late it has somewhat softened in its
+opposition to the views of Fourier, it is no more in unison with them
+than it is with the doctrines of the Presbyterian Church, or the
+'domestic arrangements' of South Carolina. We understand that Mr.
+Collins has essentially modified his ideas in regard to a true social
+order, since he commenced at Skaneateles; that he finds many
+principles to which he was attached in theory, untenable in practice;
+and that learning wisdom by experience, he is now aiming at results
+which are more practicable in their nature, than those which he had
+deeply at heart in the commencement. But with the most friendly
+feelings toward Mr. Collins and the Skaneateles Community, we declare
+that it has no connection with Association on the plan of Fourier; it
+is strictly speaking a Community of property--a system which we reject
+as the grave of liberty; though incomparably superior to the system
+of violence and fraud which is upheld in the existing order of
+society."
+
+In the _Harbinger_ of September 27, 1845, Mr. Ripley writes in
+friendly terms of the brightening prospects of the Skaneateles
+Community; objects to its Communistic principles and its hostility to
+religion; with these exceptions thinks well of it and wishes it
+success.
+
+In the _Harbinger_ of November 20, 1847, a year and more after the
+decease of the Community, an enthusiastic Associationist says that
+several defunct Phalanxes--the Skaneateles among the rest--"are not
+dead, but only asleep; and will wake up by and by to new and superior
+life!"
+
+Several members of the Oneida Community had more or less personal
+knowledge of the Skaneateles experiment. At our request they have
+written what they remember; which we present in conclusion, as the
+nearest we can get to an "inside view."
+
+
+RECOLLECTIONS OF H.J. SEYMOUR.
+
+"My acquaintance with the Skaneateles Community was limited to what I
+gathered under the following circumstances: John A. Collins lectured
+on Association in Westmoreland, near where I lived, in 1843. His
+eloquence had some effect on my father and his family, and on me among
+the rest. In the fall, when the Community started, my father sent my
+brother, then eighteen years old, with a wagon and yoke of oxen, to
+the Community. He remained there till nearly the middle of winter,
+when he returned home, ostensibly by invitation of my mother, who had
+become alarmed by the reports and evidences of the infidelity of
+Collins and his associates; but I am inclined to think my brother was
+ready to leave, having satisfied his aspirations for that kind of
+Communism. The next summer I made a call of a few hours at the
+Community in company with my mother; but most of my information about
+it is derived from my brother.
+
+"He spoke of Collins as full of fiery zeal, and a kind of fussy
+officiousness in business, but lacking in good judgment. To figure
+abroad as a lecturer was thought to be his appropriate sphere. The
+other most prominent leader was Q.A. Johnson of Syracuse. I have heard
+him represented as a long-headed, tonguey lawyer. The question to be
+settled soon after my brother's arrival, was, on which of the falls
+the saw-mill and machine-shop should be built. Collins said it should
+be on one; Johnson said it should be on the other; and the dispute
+waxed warm between them. I judge, from what my brother told me, that
+the conflict between these two men and their partisans raged through
+nearly the whole life of the Community, and was finally ended only by
+the withdrawal of Johnson, in consideration of a pretty round sum of
+money.
+
+"My brother did not make a practice of attending their evening
+meetings, for the reason that he was one of the hard workers and could
+not afford it; as there was an amount of disputing going on that was
+very wearisome to the flesh.
+
+"The question of diet was one about which the Community was greatly
+exercised. And there seems to have been an inner circle, among whom
+the dietetic furor worked with special violence. For the purpose of
+living what they considered a strictly natural life, they betook
+themselves to an exclusive diet of boiled wheat, and built themselves
+a shanty in the woods; hoping to secure long life and happiness by
+thus getting nearer to nature."
+
+
+RECOLLECTIONS OF E.L. HATCH.
+
+"I visited the Skaneateles Community twice, partly on business, and
+partly by request of a neighbor who was about to join, and wished me
+to join with him. I was received pleasantly and treated well. The
+first time, they gave me a cup of tea and bread and butter for supper.
+I told them I wished to fare as the rest did. They said it was usual
+for them to give visitors what they were accustomed to; but they were
+looking forward to some reform in this respect. In the morning I
+noticed that some poured milk on their plates, laid a slice of bread
+in it, and cut it into mouthfuls before eating. Some used molasses
+instead of milk. There was not much of the home-feeling there. Every
+one seemed to be setting an example, and trying to bring all the
+others to it. The second time I was there I discovered there were two
+parties. One man remarked to another on seeing meat on the table, that
+he 'guessed they had been to some grave-yard.' The other said he 'did
+not eat dead creatures.' After supper I was standing near some men in
+the sitting-room, when one said to another, 'How high is your God?'
+The answer was, 'About as high as my head.' The first, putting his
+hand up to his breast, said, 'Mine is so high.' I concluded they were
+infidels."
+
+
+RECOLLECTIONS OF L. VANVELZER.
+
+"I attended a Convention of Associationists held near the Skaneateles
+Community in 1845, and became very much interested in the principles
+set forth by John A. Collins and his friends. There was much
+excitement at that time all through the country in regard to
+Association. Quite a number came from Boston and joined the
+Skaneateles Community. Johnson and Collins seemed to be the two
+leading spirits, Collins was a strong advocate of infidel principles,
+and was very intolerant to all religious sects; while Johnson
+advocated religious principles and general toleration. In becoming
+acquainted with these two men, I was naturally drawn toward Johnson;
+this created jealousy between them. Mrs. Vanvelzer and myself talked a
+great deal about selling out and going there; but before we had made
+any practical move, I began to see that there was not any unity among
+them, but on the contrary a great deal of bickering and back-biting. I
+became disgusted with the whole affair. But my wife did not see things
+as I did at that time. She was determined to go, and did go. At the
+expiration of three or four weeks I went to see her, and found she was
+becoming dissatisfied. In consequence of her joining them, there had
+been a regular quarrel between the two parties, and it resulted in a
+rupture. They had a meeting that lasted nearly all night; Johnson and
+his party standing up for Mrs. Vanvelzer, and Collins and his party
+against her. Some went so far as to threaten Johnson's life. This
+state of things went on until they broke up, which was only a short
+time after Mrs. Vanvelzer left."
+
+
+RECOLLECTIONS OF MRS. S. VANVELZER.
+
+"In the winter of 1845 Mr. Collins and others associated with him
+lectured in Baldwinsville, where I then resided. My husband was
+interested in their teachings, and invited them to our house, where I
+had more or less conversation with them. They set forth their scheme
+in glowing colors, and professed that the doings of the day of
+Pentecost were their foundation; and withal they flattered me
+considerably, telling me I was just the woman to go to the Community
+and help carry out their principles and build up a home for humanity.
+
+"Well, I went; but I was disappointed. Nothing was as represented; but
+back-biting, evil-thinking, and quarreling were the order of the day.
+They set two tables in the same dining-room; one provided with
+ordinary food, though rather sparingly; the other with boiled wheat,
+rice and Graham mush, without salt or seasoning of any kind. They kept
+butter, sugar and milk under lock and key, and in fact almost every
+thing else. They had amusements, such as dancing, card-playing,
+checkers, etc. There were some 'affinity' affairs among them, which
+caused considerable gossiping. I remained there three weeks, and came
+away disgusted; but firm in the belief that Christian Communism would
+be carried out sometime."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Allen and Orvis, the lecturing missionaries of Fourierism sent out by
+Brook Farm in 1847, passed through Central New York in the course of
+their tour, and in their reports of their experiences to the
+_Harbinger_, thus bewailed the disastrous effects of Collins's
+experiment:
+
+"In Syracuse our meetings were almost a failure. Collins's Skaneateles
+'Hunt of Harmony,' or fight to conquer a peace, his infidelity, his
+disastrous failure after making such an outcry in behalf of a better
+order of society, and the ignorance of the people, who have not
+intelligence enough to discriminate between a true Constructive
+Reform, and the No-God, No-Government, No-Marriage, No-Money, No-Meat,
+No-Salt, No-Pepper system of Community, but think that Collins was a
+'Furyite' just like ourselves, has closed the ears of the people in
+this neighborhood against our words."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+SOCIAL ARCHITECTS.
+
+
+Thus far we have been disposing of the preludes of Fourierism. Before
+commencing the memoirs of the regular PHALANXES (which is the proper
+name of the Fourier Associations), we will devote a chapter or two to
+general views of Fourierism, as compared with other forms of
+Socialism, and as it was practically developed in this country.
+
+Parke Godwin was one of the earliest and ablest of the American
+expositors of Fourierism; second only, perhaps, to Albert Brisbane. In
+his "_Popular View of the Doctrines of Charles Fourier_" (an octavo
+pamphlet of 120 pages published in 1844), he has a chapter on "Social
+Architects," in which he proposes the following classification:
+
+    "These daring and original spirits arrange themselves in three
+    classes; the merely Theoretical; the simply Practical; and the
+    Theoretico-Practical combined. In other words, the Social
+    Architects whom we propose to consider, may be described as
+    those who ideally plan the new structure of society; those who
+    set immediately to work to make a new structure, without any
+    very large and comprehensive plan; and those who have both
+    devised a plan and attempted its actual execution.
+
+    "I. The Theoretical class is one which is most numerous, but
+    whose claims are the least worthy of attention. [Under this
+    head, Mr. Godwin mentions Plato, Sir Thomas More and Harrington,
+    and discusses their imaginative projects--the Republic, Utopia
+    and Oceana.]
+
+    "II. The Practical Architects of Society, or the Communities
+    instituted to exemplify a more perfect state of social life.
+    [The Essenes, Moravians, Shakers and Rappites are mentioned
+    under this head.]
+
+    "III. The Theoretico-Practical Architects of Society, or those
+    who have combined the enunciation of general principles of
+    social organization with actual experiments, of whom the best
+    representatives are St. Simon, Robert Owen and Charles Fourier.
+    This class will extend the basis of our inquiries, and demand a
+    more elaborate consideration."
+
+This classification, if it had not gone beyond the popular pamphlet in
+which it was started, might have been left without criticism. But it
+is substantially reproduced in the New American Cyclopędia under the
+head of "Socialism," and thus has become a standard doctrine. We will
+therefore point out what we conceive to be its errors, and indicate a
+truer classification.
+
+In the first place, from the account of St. Simon and Fourier which
+Mr. Godwin himself gives immediately after the last of his three
+headings, it is clear that they did _not_ belong to the
+theoretico-practical class. St. Simon undertook to perfect himself in
+all knowledge, and for this purpose experimented in many things, good
+and bad; but it does not appear that he ever tried his hand at
+Communism or Association of any kind. He published a book called "New
+Christianity," of which Godwin says:
+
+"It was an attempt to show, what had been often before attempted, that
+the spirit and practice of religion were not at one; that there was a
+wide chasm separating the revelation from the commentary, the text
+from the gloss, the Master from the Disciples. Nothing could have been
+more forcible than its attacks on the existing church, in which the
+Pope and Luther received an equal share of the blows. He convicted
+both parties of errors without number, and heresies the most
+monstrous. But he did not carry the same vigor into the development of
+the positive portions of his thought. He ceased to be logical, that he
+might be sentimental. Yet the truth which he insisted on was a great
+one--perhaps the greatest, _viz._, that the fundamental principle in
+the constitution of society, should be Love. Christ teaches all men,
+he says, that they are brothers; that humanity is one; that the true
+life of the individual is in the bosom of his race; and that the
+highest law of his being is the law of progress."
+
+On the basis of this sentimentalism, St. Simon appealed most
+eloquently to all classes to unite--to march as one man--to inscribe
+on their banners, "Paradise on earth is before us!" but Godwin says:
+
+"Alas! the magnanimous spirit which could utter these thrilling words
+was not destined to see their realization. The long process of
+starvation finally brought St. Simon to his end; but in the sufferings
+of death, as in the agony of life, his mind retained its calmness and
+sympathy, and he perished with these words of sublime confidence and
+hope on his lips: 'The future is ours!'
+
+"The few devoted friends who stood round that deathbed, took up the
+words, and began the work of propagation. The doctrine rapidly spread;
+it received a more precise and comprehensive development under the
+expositions of Bazard and Enfantan; and a few years saw a new family,
+which was also a new church, gathered at Menilmontant. On its banner
+was inscribed, 'To each, according to his capacity, and to each
+capacity according to its work.' Its government took the form of a
+religious hierarchy, and its main political principle was the
+abolition of inheritance.
+
+"It was evident that a society so constituted could not long be held
+together. Made up of enthusiasts, without definite principles of
+organization, trusting to feeling and not to science, its members soon
+began to quarrel, and the latter days of its existence were stained by
+disgusting license. St. Simon was one of the noblest spirits, but an
+unfit leader of any enterprise. He saw all things, says a friendly
+critic, through his heart. In this was his weakness; he wanted head;
+he wanted precise notions; he vainly hoped to reconstruct society by a
+sentiment; he laid the foundations of his house on sand."
+
+
+What is there in all this that entitles St. Simon to a place among the
+theoretico-practicals? How does it appear that he "combined the
+enunciation of general principles of social organization with actual
+experiments?" His followers tried to do something; but St. Simon
+himself, according to this account, did absolutely nothing but write
+and talk; and far from being a theoretico-practical, was not even
+theoretical, but only sentimental!
+
+Fourier was theoretical enough. But we look in vain through Mr.
+Godwin's account of him for any signs of the practical. He meditated
+much and wrote many books, and that is all. He was a student and a
+recluse to the end of his career. Instead of engaging in any practical
+attempt to realize his social theories, he quarreled with the only
+experiment that was made by his disciples during his life. Godwin
+says:
+
+    "A joint-stock company was formed in 1832, to realize the new
+    theory of Association; and one gentleman, M. Baudet Dulary,
+    member of parliament for the county of Seine and Oise, bought an
+    estate, which cost him five hundred thousand francs (one hundred
+    thousand dollars), for the express purpose of putting the theory
+    into practice. Operations were actually commenced; but for want
+    of sufficient capital to erect buildings and stock the farm, the
+    whole operation was paralyzed; and notwithstanding the natural
+    cause of cessation, the simple fact of stopping short after
+    having commenced operations, made a very unfavorable impression
+    upon the public mind. Success is the only criterion with the
+    indolent and indifferent, who do not take the trouble to reason
+    on circumstances and accidental difficulties.
+
+    "Fourier was very much vexed at the precipitation of his
+    partisans, who were too impatient to wait until sufficient means
+    had been obtained. They argued that the fact of having commenced
+    operations would attract the attention of capitalists, and
+    insure the necessary funds. He begged them to beware of
+    precipitation; told them how he had been deceived himself in
+    having to wait more than twenty years for a simple hearing,
+    which, from the importance of his discovery, he had fully
+    expected to obtain immediately. All his entreaties were in vain.
+    They told him he had not obtained a hearing sooner because he
+    was not accustomed to the duplicity of the world; and confident
+    in their own judgment, commenced without hesitation, and were
+    taught, at the expense of their own imprudence, to appreciate
+    more correctly the sluggish indifference of an ignorant public."
+
+Not only did Fourier thus wholly abstain from practical experiments
+himself and discourage those of others during his lifetime, but he
+condemned in advance all the experiments that have since been made in
+his name. He set the conditions of a legitimate experiment so high,
+that it has been thus far impossible to make a fair trial of
+Fourierism, and probably always will be. How Mr. Godwin could imagine
+him to be one of the theoretico-practicals, we do not understand. His
+system seems to us to have been as thoroughly separate from
+experiment, as it was possible for him to make it; and in that sense,
+as far removed from the modern standards of science, as the east is
+from the west. It can be defended only as a theory that came by
+inspiration or intuition, and therefore needs no experiment.
+Considered simply as the result of human lucubrations, it belongs with
+the _a priori_ theories of the ancient world, of which Youmans says:
+"The old philosophers, disdaining nature, retired into the ideal world
+of pure meditation, and holding that the mind is the measure of the
+universe, they believed they could reason out all truths from the
+depths of the soul."
+
+Owen, Mr. Godwin's third example, was really a theoretico-practical
+man; i.e. he attempted to carry his theories into practice--with what
+success we have seen. Instead of classing St. Simon and Fourier with
+him, we should name Ballou and Cabet as his proper compeers.
+
+Another error of Mr. Godwin is, in representing Plato as merely
+theoretical; meaning that the Republic, like the Utopia and Oceana,
+was "sketched as an exercise of the imagination or reason, rather than
+as a plan for actual experiment." It is recorded of Plato in the
+American Cyclopędia, that "he made a journey to Syracuse in the vain
+hope of realizing, through the new-crowned younger Dionysius, his
+ideal Republic." Thus, though he never made an actual experiment, he
+wished and intended to do so; which is quite as much as St. Simon and
+Fourier ever did.
+
+Mr. Godwin seems also to underrate the Practical Architects: i.e.
+those that we have called the successful Communities. It is hardly
+fair to represent them as merely practical. The Shakers certainly have
+a theory which is printed in a book; and there is no reason to doubt
+that such thinkers as Rapp, and Bimeler of the Zoarites, and the
+German nobleman that led the Ebenezers, had socialistic ideas which
+they either worked by or worked out in their practical operations, and
+which would compare favorably at least with the sentimentalisms of the
+first French school. If St. Simon and Owen and Fourier are to be
+called the theoretico-practicals, such workers as Ann Lee, Elder
+Meacham, Rapp, and Bimeler ought at least to be called the
+practico-theoreticals.
+
+Indeed these Practical Architects, who have actually given the world
+examples of successful Communism, have certainly contributed more to
+the great socialistic movement of modern times, than they have credit
+for in Godwin's classification, or in public opinion. We called
+attention, in the course of our sketch of the Owen movement, to the
+fact that Owen and his disciples studied the social economy of the
+Rappites, and were not only indebted to them for the village in which
+they made their great experiment, but leaned on them for practical
+ideas and hopes of success. These facts came to us at the first
+without our seeking them. But since then we have watched occasionally,
+in our readings of the socialistic journals and books, for indications
+that the Fourierist movement was affected in the same way by the
+silent successful examples; and we have been surprised to see how
+constantly the Shakers, Ebenezers &c., are referred to as
+illustrations of the possibilities and benefits of close Association.
+We will give a few examples of what we have found.
+
+_The Dial_, which was the nurse of Brook Farm and of the beginnings of
+Fourierism in this country, has two articles devoted to the Shakers.
+One of them entitled "A Day with the Shakers," is an elaborate and
+very favorable exhibition of their doctrines and manner of life. It
+concludes with the following observation:
+
+"The world as yet but slightingly appreciates the domestic and humane
+virtues of this recluse people; and we feel that in a record of
+attempts for the actualization of a better life, their designs and
+economies should not be omitted, especially as, during their first
+half century, they have had remarkable success."
+
+The other article, entitled the "Millennial Church," is a flattering
+review of a Shaker book. In it occurs the following paragraph:
+
+"It is interesting to observe, that while Fourier in France was
+speculating on the attainment of many advantages by union, these
+people have, at home, actually attained them. Fourier has the merit of
+beautiful words and theories; and their importation from a foreign
+land is made a subject for exultation by a large and excellent portion
+of our public; but the Shakers have the superior merit of excellent
+actions and practices; unappreciated, perhaps, because they are not
+exotic. 'Attractive Industry and Moral Harmony,' on which Fourier
+dwells so promisingly, have long characterized the Shakers, whose
+plans have always in view the passing of each individual into his or
+her right position, and of providing suitable, pleasant, and
+profitable employment for every one."
+
+Miss Peabody, in the article entitled "Christ's Idea of Society," from
+which we quoted in a former chapter, thus refers to the practical
+Communities:
+
+"The temporary success of the Hernhutters, the Moravians, the Shakers,
+and even the Rappites, has cleared away difficulties and solved
+problems of social science. It has been made plain that the material
+goods of life, 'the life that now is,' are not to be sacrificed (as by
+the anchorite) in doing fuller justice to the social principle. It has
+been proved, that with the same degree of labor, there is no way to
+compare with that of working in a Community, banded by some sufficient
+Idea to animate the will of the laborers. A greater quantity of wealth
+is procured with fewer hours of toil, and without any degradation of
+the laborer. All these Communities have demonstrated what the
+practical Dr. Franklin said, that if every one worked bodily three
+hours daily, there would be no necessity of any one's working more
+than three hours."
+
+A writer in _The Tribune_ (1845) at the end of a glowing account of
+the Ebenezers, says:
+
+"The labor they have accomplished and the improvements they have made
+are surprising; it speaks well for the superior efficiency of combined
+effort over isolated and individual effort. A gentleman who
+accompanied me, and who has seen the whole western part of this State
+settled, observed that they had made more improvements in two years,
+than were made in our most flourishing villages when first settled, in
+five or six."
+
+In _The Harbinger_ (1845) Mr. Brisbane gives an account of his visit
+to the same settlement, and concludes as follows:
+
+    "It is amazing to see the work which these people have
+    accomplished in two years; they have cleared large fields, and
+    brought them under cultivation; they have built, I should judge,
+    forty comfortable houses, handsomely finished and painted white;
+    many are quite large. They have the frame-work for quite an
+    additional number prepared; they are putting up a large woolen
+    manufactory, which is partly finished; they have six or eight
+    large barns filled with their crops, and others erecting, and
+    some minor branches of manufactures. I was amazed at the work
+    accomplished in less than two years. It testifies powerfully in
+    favor of combined effort."
+
+But enough for specimens. Such references to the works of the
+Practical Architects are scattered everywhere in socialistic
+literature. The conclusion toward which they lead is, that the
+successful religious Communities, silent and unconspicuous as they
+are, have been, after all, the specie-basis of the entire socialistic
+movement of modern times. A glimmering of this idea seems to have
+been in Mr. Godwin's mind, when he wrote the following:
+
+    "If, in spite of their ignorance, their mistakes, their
+    imperfections, and their despotisms, the worst of these
+    societies, which have adopted, with more or less favor, unitary
+    principles, have succeeded in accumulating immeasurable wealth,
+    what might have been done by a Community having a right
+    principle of organization and composed of intellectual and
+    upright men? Accordingly the discovery of such a principle has
+    become an object of earnest investigation on the part of some of
+    the most acute and disinterested men the world ever saw. This
+    inquiry has given rise to our third division, called
+    theoretico-practical architects of society."
+
+The great facts of modern Socialism are these: From 1776--the era of
+our national Revolution--the Shakers have been established in this
+country; first at two places in New York; then at four places in
+Massachusetts; at two in New Hampshire; two in Maine; one in
+Connecticut; and finally at two in Kentucky, and two in Ohio. In all
+these places prosperous religious Communism has been modestly and yet
+loudly preaching to the nation and the world. New England and New York
+and the great West have had actual Phalanxes before their eyes for
+nearly a century. And in all this time what has been acted on our
+American stage, has had England, France and Germany for its audience.
+The example of the Shakers has demonstrated, not merely that
+successful Communism is subjectively possible, but that this nation is
+free enough to let it grow. Who can doubt that this demonstration was
+known and watched in Germany from the beginning; and that it helped
+the successive experiments and emigrations of the Rappites, the
+Zoarites and the Ebenezers? These experiments, we have seen, were
+echoes of Shakerism, growing fainter and fainter, as the time-distance
+increased. Then the Shaker movement with its echoes was sounding also
+in England, when Robert Owen undertook to convert the world to
+Communism; and it is evident enough that he was really a far-off
+follower of the Rappites. France also had heard of Shakerism, before
+St. Simon or Fourier began to meditate and write Socialism. These men
+were nearly contemporaneous with Owen, and all three evidently obeyed
+a common impulse. That impulse was the sequel and certainly in part
+the effect of Shakerism. Thus it is no more than bare justice to say,
+that we are indebted to the Shakers more than to any or all other
+Social Architects of modern times. Their success has been the solid
+capital that has upheld all the paper theories, and counteracted the
+failures, of the French and English schools. It is very doubtful
+whether Owenism or Fourierism would have ever existed, or if they had,
+whether they would have ever moved the practical American nation, if
+the facts of Shakerism had not existed before them, and gone along
+with them.
+
+But to do complete justice we must go a step further. While we say
+that the Rappites, the Zoarites, the Ebenezers, the Owenites, and even
+the Fourierites are all echoes of the Shakers, we must also
+acknowledge that the Shakers are the far-off echoes of the PRIMITIVE
+CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIALISM.
+
+
+The main idea on which Owen and Fourier worked was the same. Both
+proposed to reconstruct society by gathering large numbers into
+unitary dwellings. Owen had as clear sense of the compound economies
+of Association as Fourier had, and discoursed as eloquently, if not as
+scientifically, on the beauties and blessings of combined industry.
+Both elaborated plans for vast buildings, which they proposed to
+substitute for ordinary family dwellings. Owen's communal edifice was
+to be a great hollow square, somewhat like a city block. Fourier's
+phalanstery, on the other hand, was to be a central palace with two
+wings. In like manner their plans of reconstructing society differed
+in details, but the main idea of combination in large households was
+the same.
+
+What they undertook to do may be illustrated by the history of
+bee-keeping. The usual way in this business is to provide hives that
+will hold only a few quarts of bees each, and so compel new
+generations to swarm and find new homes. But it has always been a
+problem among ingenious apiarians, how to construct compound hives,
+that will prevent the necessity of swarming, and either allow a single
+swarm to increase indefinitely, or induce many swarms to live
+together in contiguous apartments. We remember there was an invention
+of this kind that had quite a run about the time of the Fourier
+excitement. It was not very successful; and yet the idea seems not
+altogether chimerical; for it is known that wild bees, in certain
+situations, as in large hollow trees and in cavities among rocks, do
+actually accumulate their numbers and honey from generation to
+generation. Owen and Fourier, like the apiarian inventors (who are
+proverbially unpractical), undertook to construct, each in his own
+way, great compound hives for human beings; and they had the example
+of the Shakers (who may be considered the wild bees in the
+illustration) to countenance their schemes.
+
+The difference of their methods was this: Owen's plan was based on
+_Communism_; Fourier's plan was based on the _Joint-stock_ principle.
+Both of these modes of combination exist abundantly in common society.
+Every family is a little example of Communism; and every working
+partnership is an example of Joint-stockism. Communism creates homes;
+Joint-stockism manages business. Perhaps national idiosyncracies had
+something to do with the choice of principles in these two cases.
+_Home_ is an English word for an English idea. It is said there is no
+equivalent word in the French language. Owen, the Englishman, chose
+the home principle. Fourier, the Frenchman, chose the business
+principle.
+
+These two principles, as they exist in the world, are not
+antagonistic, but reciprocal. Home is the center from which men go
+forth to business; and business is the field from which they go home
+with the spoil. Home is the charm and stimulus of business; and
+business provides material for the comfort and beauty of home. This
+is the present practical relation between Communism and Joint-stockism
+every-where. And these two principles, thus working together, have had
+a wonderful expansion in modern times. Every body knows what progress
+has been made in Joint-stockism, from the old-fashioned simple
+partnership, to the thousands of corporations, small and great, that
+now do the work of the world. But Communism has had similar progress,
+from the little family circle, to the thousands of benevolent
+institutions that are now striving to make a home of the world. Every
+hospital and free school and public library that is comforting and
+civilizing mankind, is an extension of the free, loving element, that
+is the charm of home. And it is becoming more and more the fashion for
+men to spend the best part of their lives in accumulating millions by
+Joint-stockism, and at last lay their treasures at the feet of
+Communism, by endowing great public institutions of mercy or
+education.
+
+As these two principles are thus expanding side by side, the question
+arises, Which on the whole is prevailing and destined to prevail? and
+that means, which is primary in the order of truth, and which is
+secondary? The two great socialistic inventors seem to have taken
+opposite sides on this question. Owen believed that the grand advance
+which the world is about to make, will be into Communism. Fourier as
+confidently believed that civilization will ripen into universal
+Joint-stockism. In all cases of reciprocal dualism, there is
+manifestly a tendency to mutual absorption, coalescence and unity.
+Where shall we end? in Owenism or Fourierism? Or will a combination of
+both keep its place in the world hereafter, as it has done hitherto?
+and if so which will be primary and which secondary, and how will
+they be harmonized? We do not propose to answer these questions, but
+only to help the study of them, as we proceed with our history.
+
+A few facts, however, may be mentioned in passing, which lead toward
+some solution of them. One is, that the changes which are going on in
+the laws of marriage, are in the direction of Joint-stockism. The
+increase of woman's independence and separate property, is manifestly
+introducing Fourierism into the family circle, which is the oldest
+sanctuary of Communism. But over against this is the fact, that all
+the successful attempts at Socialism go in the other direction, toward
+Communism. Providence has presented Shakerism, which is Communism in
+the concrete, and Owenism, which is Communism in theory, to the
+attention of this country at advance of Fourierism; and there are many
+signs that the third great socialistic movement, which many believe to
+be impending, will be a returning wave of Communism. All these facts
+together might be interpreted as indicating that Joint-Stockism is
+devouring the institutions of the past, while Communism is seizing the
+institutions of the future.
+
+It must not be forgotten that, in representing Owen as the exponent of
+Communism, and Fourier as the exponent of Joint-stockism, we refer to
+their theoretical principles, and not at all to the experiments that
+have been made in their name. Those experiments were invariably
+compromises, and nearly all alike. We doubt whether there was ever an
+Owen Community that attempted unconditional Communism, even of worldly
+goods. Certainly Owen himself never got beyond provisional
+experiments, in which he held on to his land. And on the other hand,
+we doubt whether there was ever a Fourier Association that came any
+where near carrying out Joint-stockism, into all the minutię of
+account-keeping which pure Fourierism requires. When we leave theories
+and attempt actual combinations, it is a matter of course that we
+should communize as far as we dare; that is, as far as we can trust
+each other; and beyond that manage things as well as we can by some
+kind of Joint-stockism. Experiments therefore always fall into a
+combination of Owenism and Fourierism.
+
+If we could find out the metaphysical bases of the two principles
+represented respectively by Owen and Fourier, perhaps we should see
+that these practical combinations of them are, after all,
+scientifically legitimate. Let us search a little in this direction.
+
+Our view is, that unity of _life_ is the basis of Communism; and
+distinction of _persons_ is the basis of Joint-stockism. Property
+belongs to life, and so far as you and I have consciously one life, we
+must hold our goods in common; but so far as distinct personalities
+prevail, we must have separate properties. This statement of course
+raises the old question of the Trinitarian controversy, viz., whether
+two or more persons can have absolutely the same life--which we will
+not now stop to discuss. All we need to say is that, according to our
+theory, if there is no such thing as unity of life between a plurality
+of persons, then there is no basis for Communism.
+
+But the Communism which we find in families is certainly based on the
+assumption, right or wrong, that there is actual unity of life between
+husband and wife, and between parents and children. The common law of
+England and of most other countries recognizes only a unit in the
+male and female head of every family. The Bible declares man and wife
+to be "one flesh." Sexual intercourse is generally supposed to be a
+symbol of more complete unity in the interior life; and children are
+supposed to be branches of the one life of their parents. This theory
+is evidently the basis of family Communism.
+
+So also the basis of Bible Communism is the theory that in Christ,
+believers become spiritually one; and the law, "Thou shalt love thy
+neighbor as thyself," is founded on the assumption that "thy neighbor"
+is, or should be, a part of "thyself."
+
+In this view we can reduce Communism and Joint-stockism to one
+principle. The object of both is to secure property to life. Communism
+looks after the rights of the unitary life--call it _afflatus_ if you
+please--which organizes families and spiritual corporations.
+Joint-stockism attends to the rights of individuals. Both these forms
+of life have rights; and as all true rights can certainly be
+harmonized, Communism and Joint-stockism should find a way to work
+together. But the question returns after all, Which is primary and
+which is secondary? and so we are in the old quarrel again. Our
+opinion, however, is, that the long quarrel between afflatus and
+personality will be decided in favor of afflatus, and that personality
+will pass into the secondary position in the ages to come.
+
+Practically, Communism is a thing of degrees. With a small amount of
+vital unity, Communism is possible only in the limited sphere of
+familism. With more unity, public institutions of harmony and
+benevolence make their appearance. With another degree of unity,
+Communism of external property becomes possible, as among the Shakers.
+With still higher degrees, Communism may be introduced into the
+sexual and propagative relations. And in all these cases the
+correlative principle of Joint-stockism necessarily takes charge of
+all property that Communism leaves outside.
+
+Other differences of theory, besides this fundamental contrast of
+Communism and Joint-stockism, have been insisted upon by the
+respective partizans of Owen and Fourier; but they are less important,
+and we shall leave them to be exhibited incidentally in our memoirs of
+the Phalanxes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+LITERATURE OF FOURIERISM.
+
+
+The exposition of Fourierism in this country commenced with the
+publication of the "_Social Destiny of Man_," by Albert Brisbane, in
+1840. It is very probable that the excitement propagated by this book,
+turned the thoughts of Dr. Channing and the Transcendentalists toward
+Association, and led to the Massachusetts experiments which we have
+reported. Other influences prepared the way. Religious Liberalism and
+Anti-slavery were revolutionizing the world of thought, and
+predisposing all lively minds to the boldest innovations. But it is
+evident that the positive scheme of reconstructing society came from
+France through Brisbane. Brook Farm, Hopedale, the Northampton
+Community and the Skaneateles Community struck out, each on an
+independent theory of social architecture; but they all obeyed a
+common impulse; and that impulse, so far as it came by literature, is
+traceable to Brisbane's importation and translation of the writings of
+Charles Fourier.
+
+The second notable movement, preparatory to the great Fourier revival
+of 1843, was the opening of the _New York Tribune_ to the teachings of
+Brisbane and the Socialists. That paper was in its first volume, but
+already popular and ascending towards its zenith of rivalry with the
+_Herald_, when one morning in the spring of 1842, it appeared with the
+following caption at the top of one of its columns:
+
+    "ASSOCIATION; OR, PRINCIPLES OF A TRUE ORGANIZATION OF SOCIETY.
+
+    "This column has been purchased by the Advocates of Association,
+    in order to lay their principles before the public. Its
+    editorship is entirely distinct from that of the _Tribune_."
+
+By this contrivance, which might be called a paper within a paper,
+Brisbane became the independent editor of a small daily, with all the
+_Tribune's_ subscribers for his readers; and yet that journal could
+not be held responsible for his inculcations. It was known, however,
+that Horace Greeley, the editor-in-chief, was much in sympathy with
+Fourierism; so that Brisbane had the help of his popularity; though
+the stock-company of the _Tribune_ was not implicated. Whether the
+_Tribune_ lifted Fourierism or Fourierism lifted the _Tribune_, may be
+a matter of doubt; but we are inclined to think the paper had the best
+of the bargain; as it grew steadily afterward to its present
+dimensions, and all the more merrily for the _Herald's_ long
+persistence in calling it "our Fourierite cotemporary;" while
+Fourierism, after a year or two of glory, waned and disappeared.
+
+Brisbane edited his column with ability for more than a year. Our file
+(which is defective), extends from March 28, 1842, to May 28, 1843. At
+first the socialistic articles appeared twice a week; after August
+1842, three times a week; and during the latter part of the series,
+every day.
+
+This was Brisbane's great opportunity, and he improved it. All the
+popularities of Fourierism--"Attractive Industry," "Compound
+Economies," "Democracy of Association," "Equilibrium of the
+Passions"--were set before the _Tribune's_ vast public from day to
+day, with the art and zest of a young lawyer pleading before a court
+already in his favor. Interspersed with these topics were notices of
+socialistic meetings, reports of Fourier festivals, toasts and
+speeches at celebrations of Fourier's birthday, and all the usual
+stimulants of a growing popular cause. The rich were enticed; the poor
+were encouraged; the laboring classes were aroused; objections were
+answered; prejudices were annihilated; scoffing papers were silenced;
+the religious foundations of Fourierism were triumphantly exhibited.
+To show how gloriously things were going, it would be announced on one
+day that "Mr. Bennett has promised us the insertion of an article in
+this day's _Herald_, in vindication of our doctrines;" on the next,
+that "_The Democratic_ and _Boston Quarterly Reviews_, are publishing
+a series of articles on the system from the pen of A. Brisbane;" on
+the next, that "we have obtained a large Hall, seventy-seven feet deep
+by twenty-five feet wide, in Broadway, for the purpose of holding
+meetings and delivering lectures."
+
+Perhaps the reader would like to see a specimen of Brisbane's
+expositions. The following is the substance of one of his articles in
+the _Tribune_, dated March, 1842; subject--"Means of making a
+Practical Trial:"
+
+    "Before answering the question, How can Association be realized?
+    we will remark that we do not propose any sudden transformation
+    of the present system of society, but only a regular and gradual
+    substitution of a new order by local changes or replacement.
+    One Association must be started, and others will follow, without
+    overthrowing any true institutions in state or church, such as
+    universal suffrage or religious worship.
+
+    "If a few rich could be interested in the subject, a stock
+    company could be formed among them with a capital of four or
+    five hundred thousand dollars, which would be sufficient. Their
+    money would be safe: for the lands, edifices, flocks, &c., of
+    the Association, would be mortgaged to secure it. The sum which
+    is required to build a small railroad, a steamship, to start an
+    insurance company or a bank, would establish an Association.
+    Could not such a sum be raised?
+
+    "A practical trial of Association might be made by appropriation
+    from a State Legislature. Millions are now spent in constructing
+    canals and railroads that scarcely pay for repairs. Would it
+    endanger the constitution, injure the cause of democracy, or
+    shock the consciences of politicians, if a Legislature were to
+    advance for an Association, half a million of dollars secured by
+    mortgage on its lands and personal estate? We fear very much
+    that it might, and therefore not much is to be hoped from that
+    source.
+
+    "The truth of Association and attractive industry could also be
+    proved by children. A little Association or an industrial or
+    agricultural institution might be established with four hundred
+    children from the ages of five to fifteen. Various lighter
+    branches of agriculture and the mechanical arts, with little
+    tools and implements adapted to different ages, which are the
+    delight of children, could be prosecuted. These useful
+    occupations could, if organized according to a system which we
+    shall later explain, be rendered more pleasing and attractive
+    than are their plays at present. Such an Association would prove
+    the possibility of attractive industry, and that children could
+    support themselves by their own labor, and obtain at the same
+    time a superior industrial and scientific education. The
+    Smithsonian bequest might be applied to such a purpose, as could
+    have been Girard's noble donation, which has been so shamefully
+    mismanaged.
+
+    "The most easy plan, perhaps, for starting an Association would
+    be to induce four hundred persons to unite, and take each $1,000
+    worth of stock, which would form a capital of $400,000. With
+    this sum, an Association could be established, which could be
+    made to guarantee to every person a comfortable room in it and
+    board for life, as interest upon the investment of $1,000; so
+    that whatever reverses might happen to those forming the
+    Association, they would always be certain of having two great
+    essentials of existence--a dwelling to cover them, and a table
+    at which to sit. Let us explain how this could be effected.
+
+    "The stockholders would receive one-quarter of the total product
+    or profits of the Association; or if they preferred, they would
+    receive a fixed interest of eight per cent. At the time of a
+    general division of profits at the end of the year, the
+    stockholders would first receive their interest, and the balance
+    would be paid over to those who performed the labor. A slight
+    deviation would in this respect take place from the general law
+    of Association, which is to give one-quarter of the profits to
+    capital, whatever they may be; but additional inducements of
+    security should be held out to those who organize the first
+    Association.
+
+    "The investment of $1,000 would yield $80 annual interest. With
+    this sum the Association must guarantee a person a dwelling and
+    living; and this could be done. The edifice could be built for
+    $150,000, the interest upon which, at 10 per cent., would be
+    $15,000. Divide this sum by 400, which is the number of persons,
+    and we have $37.50 per annum, for each person as rent. Some of
+    the apartments would consist of several rooms, and rent for
+    $100, others for $90, others for $80, and so on in a descending
+    ratio, so that about one-half of the rooms could be rented at
+    $20 per annum. A person wishing to live at the cheapest rates
+    would have, after paying his rent, $60 left. As the Association
+    would raise all its fruit, grain, vegetables, cattle, &c., and
+    as it would economize immensely in fuel, number of cooks, and
+    every thing else, it could furnish the cheapest priced board at
+    $60 per annum, the second at $100, and the third at $150. Thus a
+    person who invested $1,000 would be certain of a comfortable
+    room and board for his interest, if he lived economically, and
+    would have whatever he might produce by his labor in addition.
+    He would live, besides, in an elegant edifice surrounded by
+    beautiful fields and gardens.
+
+    "If one-half of the persons taking stock did not wish to enter
+    the Association at first, but to continue their business in the
+    world, reserving the chance of so doing later, they could do so.
+    Experienced and intelligent agriculturists and mechanics would
+    be found to take their places; the buildings would be gradually
+    enlarged, and those who remained out could enter later as they
+    wished. They would receive, however, in the mean time their
+    interest in cash upon their capital. A family with two or three
+    children could enter upon taking from $2,000 to $2,500 worth of
+    stock.
+
+    "We have not space to enter into full details, but we can say
+    that the advantages and economies of combination and Association
+    are so immense, that if four hundred persons would unite, with a
+    capital of $1,000 each, they could establish an Association in
+    which they could produce, by means of economical machinery and
+    other facilities, four times as much by their labor as people do
+    at present, and live far cheaper and better than they now can;
+    or which, in age or in case of misfortune, would always secure
+    them a comfortable home.
+
+    "There are multitudes of persons who could easily withdraw
+    $1,000 from their business and invest it in an establishment of
+    this kind, and secure themselves against any reverses which may
+    later overtake them. In our societies, with their constantly
+    recurring revulsions and ruin, would they not be wise in so
+    doing?"
+
+With this specimen, we trust the imagination of the reader will be
+able to make out an adequate picture of Brisbane's long work in the
+_Tribune_. That work immediately preceded the rush of Young America
+into the Fourier experiments. He was beating the drum from March 1842
+till May 1843; and in the summer of '43, Phalanxes by the dozen were
+on the march for the new world of wealth and harmony.
+
+On the fifth of October 1843, Brisbane entered upon his third
+advance-movement by establishing in New York City, an independent
+paper called THE PHALANX, devoted to the doctrines of Fourier, and
+edited by himself and Osborne Macdaniel. It professed to be a monthly,
+but was published irregularly the latter part of its time. The volume
+we have consists of twenty-three numbers, the first of which is dated
+October 5, 1843, and the last May 28, 1845. In the first number
+Brisbane gives the following condensed statement of practical
+experiments then existing or contemplated, which may be considered the
+results of his previous labors, and especially of his fourteen months
+_reveille_ in the _Tribune_:
+
+    "In Massachusetts, already there are three small Associations,
+    viz., the Roxbury Community near Boston, founded by the Rev.
+    George Ripley; the Hopedale Community, founded by the Rev. Adin
+    Ballou; and the Northampton Community, founded by Prof. Adam and
+    others. These Associations, or Communities, as they are called,
+    differ in many respects from the system of Fourier, but they
+    accept some of his fundamental practical principles, such as
+    joint-stock property in real and movable estate, unity of
+    interests, and united domestic arrangements, instead of living
+    in separate houses with separate interests. None of them have
+    community of property. They have been founded within the last
+    three years, and two of them at least, under the inspiration of
+    Fourier's doctrine.
+
+    "In the state of New York, there are two established on a larger
+    scale than those in Massachusetts: the Jefferson County
+    Industrial Association, at Watertown, founded by A.M. Watson,
+    Esq.; and another in Herkimer and Hamilton Counties (on the
+    line), called the Moorhouse Union, and founded by Mr. Moorhouse.
+    A larger Association, to be called the Ontario Phalanx, is now
+    organizing at Rochester, Monroe County.
+
+    "In Pennsylvania there are several: the principal one is the
+    Sylvan in Pike County, which has been formed by warm friends of
+    the cause from the cities of New York and Albany; Thomas W.
+    Whitley, President, and Horace Greeley, Treasurer. In the same
+    county there is another small Association, called the Social
+    Unity, formed principally of mechanics from New York and
+    Brooklyn. There is a large Association of Germans in McKean
+    County, Pennsylvania, commenced by the Rev. George Ginal of
+    Philadelphia. They own a very extensive tract of land, over
+    30,000 acres we are informed, and are progressing prosperously:
+    the shares, which were originally $100, have been sold and are
+    now held at $200 or more. At Pittsburg steps are taking to
+    establish another.
+
+    "A small Association has been commenced in Bureau County,
+    Illinois, and preparations are making to establish another in
+    Lagrange County, Indiana, which will probably be done this fall,
+    upon quite an extensive scale, as many of the most influential
+    and worthy inhabitants of that section are deeply interested in
+    the cause.
+
+    "In Michigan the doctrine has spread quite widely. An excellent
+    little, paper called _The Future_, devoted exclusively to the
+    cause, published monthly, has been established at Ann Arbor,
+    where an Association is projected to be called the Washtenaw
+    Phalanx.
+
+    "In New Jersey an Association, projected upon a larger scale
+    than any yet started, has just been commenced in Monmouth
+    County: it is to be called the North American Phalanx, and has
+    been undertaken by a company of enterprising gentlemen of the
+    city of Albany.
+
+    "Quite a large number of practical trials are talked of in
+    various sections of the United States, and it is probable that
+    in the course of the next year, numbers will spring into
+    existence. These trials are upon so small a scale, and are
+    commenced with such limited means, that they exhibit but a few
+    of the features of the system. They are, however, very important
+    commencements, and are small beginnings of a reform in some of
+    the most important arrangements of the present social order;
+    particularly its system of isolated households or separate
+    families, its conflicts of interest, and its uncombined and
+    incoherent system of labor."
+
+The most important result of Brisbane's eighteen month's labor in the
+_Phalanx_ was the conversion of Brook Farm to Fourierism. William H.
+Channing's magazine, the _Present_, which commenced nearly at the same
+time with the _Phalanx_, closed its career at the end of seven months,
+and its subscription list was transferred to Brisbane. In the course
+of a year after this, Brook Farm confessed Fourierism, changed its
+constitution, assumed the title of the _Brook Farm Phalanx_, and on
+the 14th of June 1845 commenced publishing the _Harbinger_, as the
+successor of the _Phalanx_ and the heir of its subscription list. So
+that Brisbane's fourth advance was the transfer of the literary
+responsibilities of his cause to Brook Farm. This was a great move. A
+more brilliant attorney could not have been found. The concentrated
+genius of Unitarianism and Transcendentalism was at Brook Farm. It was
+the school that trained most of the writers who have created the
+newspaper and magazine literature of the present time. Their work on
+the _Harbinger_ was their first drill. Fourierism was their first case
+in court. The _Harbinger_ was published weekly, and extended to seven
+and a half semi-annual volumes, five of which were edited and printed
+at Brook Farm, and the last two and a half at New York, but by Brook
+Farm men. Its issues at Brook Farm extend from June 14, 1845 to
+October 30, 1847; and at New York from November 6, 1847 to February
+10, 1849. The _Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_ together cover a period of
+more than five years.
+
+Other periodicals of a more provincial character, and of course a
+great variety of books and pamphlets, were among the issues of the
+Fourier movement; but the main vertebrę of its literature were the
+publications of which we have given account--Brisbane's _Social
+Destiny of Man_, his daily column in the _Tribune_, the monthly
+_Phalanx_, and the weekly _Harbinger_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE PERSONNEL OF FOURIERISM.
+
+
+Albert Brisbane of course was the central man of the brilliant group
+that imported and popularized Fourierism. But the reader will be
+interested to see a full tableau of the persons who were prominent in
+this movement. We will bring them to view by presenting, first, a list
+of the contributors to the _Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_, and secondly, a
+condensed report of one of the National Conventions of the
+Fourierists.
+
+The indexes of the _Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_ (eight volumes in all),
+have at their heads the names of the principal contributors; and their
+initials, in connection with the articles in the indexes, enable us to
+give the number of articles written by each contributor. Thus the
+reader will see at a glance, not only the leading men of the movement,
+but proximately the proportion of influence, or at least of
+literature, that each contributed. Several of the names on this list
+are now of world-wide fame, and many of them have attained eminence
+as historians, essayists, poets, journalists or artists. A few of them
+have reached the van in politics, and gained public station.
+
+WRITERS FOR THE PHALANX AND HARBINGER.
+
+    Names.                           No. of articles.
+    John Allen,                             2
+    Stephen Pearl Andrews,                  1
+    Albert Brisbane,                       56
+    Geo. H. Calvert,                        1
+    Wm. E. Channing,                        1
+    Wm. F. Channing,                        1
+    Wm. H. Channing,                       39
+    Otis Clapp,                             1
+    J. Freeman Clarke,                      1
+    Joseph J. Cooke,                       10
+    Christopher P. Cranch,                  9
+    George W. Curtis,                      10
+    Charles A. Dana,                      248
+    Hugh Doherty,                          11
+    A.J.H. Duganne,                         3
+    John S. Dwight,                       324
+    George G. Foster,                       7
+    Edward Giles,                           3
+    Parke Godwin,                         152
+    E.P. Grant,                             4
+    Horace Greeley,                         2
+    Frederic H. Hedge,                      1
+    T.W. Higginson,                        10
+    E. Ives, Jr.,                           3
+    Henry James,                           32
+    Wm. H. Kimball,                         1
+    Marx E. Lazarus,                       52
+    James Russell Lowell,                   2
+    Osborne Macdaniel,                     47
+    Wm. H. Müller,                          2
+    C. Neidhardt,                           1
+    D.S. Oliphant,                          1
+    John Orvis,                            23
+    Jean M. Palisse,                       16
+    E.W. Parkman,                           1
+    Mary Spencer Pease,                     1
+    J.H. Pulte,                             1
+    George Ripley,                        315
+    Samuel D. Robbins,                      1
+    Lewis W. Ryckman,                       5
+    J.A. Saxton,                            1
+    James Sellers,                          3
+    Francis G. Shaw,                      131
+    Miss E.A. Starr,                        5
+    W.W. Story,                            14
+    Edmund Tweedy,                          7
+    John G. Whittier,                       1
+    J.J. Garth Wilkinson,                  12
+
+Most of these writers were in the prime of youth, and Socialism was
+their first love. It would be interesting to trace their several
+careers in after time, when acquaintance with "stern reality" put
+another face on their early dream, and turned them aside to other
+pursuits. Certain it is, that the socialistic revival, barren as it
+was in direct fruit, fertilized in many ways the genius of these men,
+and through them the intellect of the nation.
+
+
+NATIONAL CONVENTION.
+
+Report from _The Phalanx_ condensed.
+
+Pursuant to a call published in the _Phalanx_ and other papers, a
+Convention of Associationists assembled on Thursday morning, the 4th
+of April, 1844, at Clinton Hall, in the city of New York.
+
+The following gentlemen were appointed officers of the Convention:
+
+             _President_, George Ripley.
+
+                 _Vice Presidents_,
+
+     A.B. Smolnikar,   Parke Godwin,  Horace Greeley,
+     Charles A. Dana,  A. Brisbane,   Alonzo M. Watson.
+
+                   _Secretaries_,
+
+         Osborne Macdaniel,       D.S. Oliphant.
+
+        _Committee on the Roll and Finance._
+
+    John Allen, James P. Decker, Nathan Comstock, Jr.
+
+                _Business Committee._
+
+     L.W. Ryckman,    John Allen,      Osborne Macdaniel,
+     George Ripley,   Horace Greeley,  Albert Brisbane,
+     Parke Godwin,    James Kay,       Charles A. Dana,
+     W.H. Channing,   A.M. Watson,     Solyman Brown.
+
+Before proceeding to business, the secretary read letters addressed to
+the Convention by a number of societies and individuals in different
+parts of the United States. The style of these letters may be seen in
+a few brief extracts. E.P. Grant wrote:
+
+"The day is speedily coming when justice will be done to Fourier and
+his doctrines; when monuments will rise from ten thousand hills,
+surmounted by his statue in colossal proportions, gazing upon a happy
+people, whose God will be truly the Lord, because they will live in
+spontaneous obedience to his eternal laws."
+
+John White and others wrote:
+
+"We behold in the science of associated industry, a new social
+edifice, of matchless and indescribable beauty, and true architectural
+symmetry! Surely, it must be no other than that 'house not made with
+hands, eternal in the heavens;' for its foundation is justice, and the
+superstructure, praise; in every department of which dwell peace and
+smiling plenty, and whose walls are every where inscribed with
+manifold representations of that highest Divine attribute--love."
+
+H.H. Van Amringe wrote:
+
+"Certainly all creation is a reflex of the mind of the Deity, and we
+cannot hesitate to believe that all the works of Divine wisdom are
+connected, as Fourier teaches, by laws of groups and series of groups.
+To discover these, as observers of nature discover and combine the
+harmonies of astronomy, geology, botany and chemistry, should be our
+aim; and this noble and heavenly employment, while it banishes want
+and misery from our present life--destroying the spiritual death and
+hell which now reign--will, under the Providence of the most High,
+open to us admission into the Kingdom of the Messiah, that the will of
+our Father may be done on earth as it is done in heaven."
+
+And so on. After the reading of the letters, Wm. H. Channing, on
+behalf of the business committee, introduced a series of resolutions,
+prefacing them with a speech in the following vein:
+
+"It is but giving voice to what is working in the hearts of those now
+present, and of thousands whose sympathies are at this moment with us
+over our whole land, to say this is a religious meeting. Our end is to
+do God's will, not our own; to obey the command of Providence, not to
+follow the leadings of human fancies. We stand to-day, as we believe,
+amid the dawn of a new era of humanity; and as from a Pisgah look down
+upon a promised land."
+
+The resolutions (occupying nearly two pages of the _Phalanx_) commence
+with a long preamble of four _Whereases_ about the designs of God in
+regard to universal unity, the call of Christendom and especially of
+the United States to forward these designs, the dreadful state of the
+world, &c., &c. The third resolution proposes Association on Fourier's
+principles of Joint-stockism, Guaranteeism, Combined Industry, Series
+and Groups, &c., as the panacea of human woes. The fourth resolution
+protests against "rash and fragmentary attempts," and advises
+Associationists not to undertake practical operations till they have
+secured the right sort of men and women and plenty of capital. The
+fifth resolution recommends that Associationists concentrate their
+efforts on experiments already commenced, in preference to undertaking
+new enterprises. The sixth resolution betrays a little distrust of
+Fourier, and an inclination to keep a certain independence of him--a
+symptom that the Brook Farm and Unitarian element prevailed in the
+business committee. They say:
+
+"We do not receive all the parts of his theories which in the
+publications of the Fourier school are denominated 'conjectural,'
+because Fourier gives them as speculations, because we do not in all
+respects understand his meaning, and because there are parts which
+individually we reject; and we hold ourselves not only free, but in
+duty bound, to seek and obey truth wherever revealed, in the word of
+God, the reason of humanity, and the order of nature. For these
+reasons we do not call ourselves Fourierists; but desire to be always
+publicly designated as the Associationists of the United States of
+America."
+
+It must be borne in mind, in order to understand this _caveat_, that
+the courtship between the Massachusetts Socialists and the Brisbane
+propagandists, though very warm, had not yet proceeded to coalescence.
+Brook Farm was not yet a "Phalanx," The _Harbinger_ was yet _in
+futuro_. And Fourier's latitudinarian speculations about marriage and
+sexual matters, made a difficulty for men of Puritan blood, that was
+not yet disposed of. In fact this difficulty always made a jar in the
+family of American Fourierists, and probably helped on their disasters
+and hastened their dissolution.
+
+The seventh resolution proposes that measures be taken for forming a
+National Confederation of Associations. The eighth resolution
+expresses a wish for concert of action with the Associationists of
+Europe, and says:
+
+"For this end we hereby appoint Albert Brisbane, representative from
+this body, to confer with them as to the best modes of mutual
+coöperation. And we assure our brethren in Europe that the
+disinterestedness, ability and perseverance with which our
+representative has devoted himself to the promulgation of the doctrine
+of Association in the United States, entitle him to their most
+cordial confidence. Through him we extend to them, with joy and trust,
+the right hand of fellowship; and may heaven soon bless all nations
+with a compact of perpetual peace."
+
+The ninth and last resolution appoints the following gentlemen as an
+executive committee to edit the _Phalanx_, and to do many other things
+for carrying into effect the objects of the Convention:
+
+  Horace Greeley,   Parke Godwin,     James P. Decker,
+  Frederick Grain,  Albert Brisbane,  Wm. H Channing,
+  Edward Giles,     Chas. J. Hempel,  Osborne Macdaniel,
+  Rufus Dawes,      D.S. Oliphant,    Pierre Maroncelli,
+               of the City of New York.
+
+  Solyman Brown, Leraysville Phalanx, Bradford County,
+    Pennsylvania.
+
+  George Ripley, Brook Farm Association, West Roxbury,
+    Massachusetts.
+
+  Alonzo M. Watson, Jefferson County Industrial Association, New
+    York.
+
+  E.P. Grant, Ohio Phalanx, Belmont County, Ohio.
+
+  John White, Cincinnati Phalanx, Cincinnati, Ohio.
+
+  Nathan Starks, North American Phalanx, Monmouth County, New
+    Jersey.
+
+On the second evening of the Convention, Parke Godwin, on behalf of
+the business committee, reported a long address to the people of the
+United States. It is a powerful presentation of all the common-places
+of Fourierism: the defects of present society; organization of the
+townships into joint-stock companies; central unitary mansions and
+workshops; division of labor according to the law of groups and
+series; distribution of profit in the proportion of five-twelfths to
+labor, four-twelfths to capital, and three-twelfths to talent, &c. We
+quote the eloquent and pious conclusion, as a specimen of the whole:
+
+    "An important branch of the divine mission of our Savior Jesus
+    Christ, was to establish the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth. He
+    announced incessantly the practical reign of Divine wisdom and
+    love among all men: and it was a chief aim of all his struggles
+    and teachings to prepare the minds of men for this glorious
+    consummation. He proclaimed the universal brotherhood of
+    mankind; he insisted upon universal justice, and he predicted
+    the triumphs of universal unity. 'Thou shall love,' he said,'the
+    Lord thy God with all thy mind and all thy heart, and all thy
+    soul, and thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments
+    hang all the law and the prophets.' Again: 'If ye love not one
+    another, how can ye be my disciples?' 'I have loved you, that
+    you also may love one another.' 'Ye are all one, as I and my
+    father are one.' Again: he taught us to ask in daily prayer of
+    our Heavenly Father, 'Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on
+    earth as it is in heaven.' Aye, it must be done, actually
+    executed in all the details of life! And again, in the same
+    spirit his disciple said, 'Little children, love one another.'
+    'If you love not man, whom you have seen, how can you love God
+    whom you have not seen?' And in regard to the form which this
+    love should take, the apostle Paul says, 'As the body is one, so
+    also is Christ. For by one spirit we are all baptized into one
+    body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,' &c. 'That there should be
+    no schism (disunity) in the body, but that the members should
+    have the same care one for another; and if one member suffer,
+    all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all
+    the members rejoice with it.' 'Ye are members one of another.'
+
+    "These Divine truths must be translated into actual life. Our
+    relations to each other as men, our business relations among
+    others, must all be instituted according to this law of highest
+    wisdom and love. In Association alone can we find the
+    fulfillment of this duty; and therefore we again insist that
+    Association is the duty of every branch of the universal church.
+    Let its views of points of doctrines be what they may; let it
+    hold to any creed as to the nature of man, or the attributes of
+    God, or the offices of Christ; we say that it can not fully and
+    practically embody the spirit of Christianity out of an
+    organization like that which we have described. It may exhibit,
+    with more or less fidelity, some tenet of a creed, or even some
+    phase of virtue; but it can possess only a type and shadow of
+    that universal unity which is the destiny of the church. But let
+    the church adopt true associative organization, and the
+    blessings so long promised it will be fulfilled. Fourier, among
+    the last words that he wrote, describing the triumph of
+    universal Association, exclaims, 'These are the days of mercy
+    promised in the words of the Redeemer, Blessed are they which do
+    hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be
+    filled.' It is verily in harmony, in Associative unity, that God
+    will manifest to us the immensity of his providence, and that
+    the Savior will come according to his word, in 'all the glory of
+    his Father:' it is the Kingdom of Heaven that comes to us in
+    this terrestrial world; it is the reign of Christ; he has
+    conquered evil. _Christus regnat, vincit, imperat._ Then will
+    the Cross have accomplished its two-fold destiny, that of
+    consolation during the reign of sin, and that of universal
+    banner, when human reason shall have accomplished the task
+    imposed upon it by the Creator. 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of
+    God and his righteousness'--the harmony of the passions in
+    associative unity. Then will the banner of the Cross display
+    with glory its device, the augury of victory, _In Hoc Signo
+    Vinces_; for then it will have conquered evil, conquered the
+    gates of hell, conquered false philosophy and national indigence
+    and spurious civilization; _et portę inferi non prevalebunt_.
+
+    "To the free and Christian people of the United States, then, we
+    commend the principle of Association; we ask that it be fairly
+    sifted; we do not shrink from the most thorough investigation.
+    The peculiar history of this nation convinces us that it has
+    been prepared by Providence for the working out of glorious
+    issues. Its position, its people, its free institutions, all
+    prepare it for the manifestation of a true social order. Its
+    wealth of territory, its distance from the political influences
+    of older and corrupter nations, and above all the general
+    intelligence of its people, alike contribute to fit it for that
+    noble union of freemen which we call Association. That peculiar
+    constitution of government, which, for the first time in the
+    world's career, was established by our Fathers; that signal fact
+    of our national motto, _E Pluribus Unum_, many individuals
+    united in one whole; that beautiful arrangement for combining
+    the most perfect independence of the separate members with
+    complete harmony and strength in the federal heart--is a rude
+    outline and type of the more scientific and more beautiful
+    arrangement which we would introduce into all the relations of
+    man to man. We would give our theory of state rights an
+    application to individual rights. We would bind trade to trade,
+    neighborhood to neighborhood, man to man, by the ties of
+    interest and affection which bind our larger aggregations called
+    States; only we would make the ties holier and more
+    indissoluble. There is nothing impossible in this; there is
+    nothing unpractical! We, who are represented in this Convention
+    have pledged our sleepless energies to its accomplishment. It
+    may cost time, it may cost trouble, it may expose us to
+    misconception and even to abuse; but it must be done. We know
+    that we stand on sure and positive grounds; we know that a
+    better time must come; we know that the hope and heart of
+    humanity is with us--that justice, truth and goodness are with
+    us; we feel that God is with us, and we do not fear the anger of
+    man. _The future is ours--the future is ours._ Our practical
+    plans may seem insignificant, but our moral aim is the grandest
+    that ever elevated human thought. We want the love and wisdom of
+    the Highest to make their daily abode with us; we wish to see
+    all mankind happy and good; we desire to emancipate the human
+    body and the human soul; we long for unity between man and man
+    in true society, between man and nature by the cultivation of
+    the earth, and between man and God, in universal joy and
+    religion."
+
+After this address, Mr. Ripley of Brook Farm made a speech, and Mr.
+Solyman Brown of the Leraysville Phalanx recited "a very beautiful
+pastoral, entitled, A Vision of the Future." Here occurred a little
+episode that brought our old friends of the Owenite wing of Socialism
+on the scene; not, however, altogether harmonically. The report says:
+
+"A delegation of English Socialists, from a society in this city,
+presented itself. The gentlemen composing the delegation, demanded
+seats as members of the Convention. The call of the Convention was
+read, and they were asked if they could unite with the Convention
+according to the terms of the call, as 'friends of Association based
+on the principles of Charles Fourier.' This they said they could not
+do, as they differed with the partisans of Fourier in fundamental
+principles, and particularly in regard to religion and property. They
+held to community of property, and did not accept our views of a
+Providential and Divine social order. They were informed that the
+objects of the Convention were of a special and business character,
+and that a controversy and discussion of principles could not be
+entered into. Their claim to sit as members of the Convention was
+therefore denied: but they were allowed freely to express their
+opinions, and treated with the utmost courtesy, without reply."
+
+Many "admirable addresses" continued to be delivered; among which one
+of Mr. Channing's is mentioned, and one of Charles A. Dana's is
+reported in full. He spoke as the representative of Brook Farm. We
+cull a few broken paragraphs:
+
+"As a member of the oldest Association in the United States, I deem it
+my duty to make some remarks on the practical results of the system.
+We have an Association at Brook Farm, of which I now speak from my own
+experience. We have there abolished domestic servitude. This
+institution of domestic servitude was one of the first considerations;
+it gave one of the first impulses to the movement at Brook Farm. It
+seemed that a continuance in the relations which it established, could
+not possibly be submitted to. It was a deadly sin--a thing to be
+escaped from. Accordingly it was escaped from, and we have now for
+three years lived at Brook Farm and have carried on all the business
+of life without it. At Brook Farm they are all servants of each other;
+no man is master. We do freely, from the love of it, with joy and
+thankfulness, those duties which are usually discharged by domestics.
+The man who performs one of these duties--he who digs a ditch or
+executes any other repulsive work, is not at the foot of the social
+scale; he is at the head of it. Again we have in Association
+established a natural system of education; a system of education which
+does justice to every one; where the children of the poor receive the
+integral development of all their faculties, as far as the means of
+Association in its present condition will permit. Here we claim to
+have made an advance upon civilized society.
+
+"Again, we are able already, not only to assign to manual labor its
+just rank and dignity in the scale of human occupations, but to insure
+to it its just reward. And here also, I think, we may humbly claim
+that we have made some advance upon civilized society. In the best
+society that has ever been in this world, with very small exceptions,
+labor has never had its just reward. Every where the gain is to the
+pocket of the employer. He makes the money. The laborer toils for him
+and is his servant. The interest of the laborer is not consulted in
+the arrangements of industry; but the whole tendency of industry is
+perpetually to disgrace the laborer, to grind him down and reduce his
+wages, and to render deceit and fraud almost necessary for him. And
+all for the benefit of whom? For the benefit of our excellent
+monopolists, our excellent companies, our excellent employers. The
+stream all runs into their pockets, and not one little rill is
+suffered to run into the pockets of those who do the work. Now in
+Association already we have changed all this; we have established a
+true relation between labor and the people, whereby the labor is done,
+not entirely for the benefit of the capitalist, as it is in civilized
+society, but for the mutual benefit of the laborer and the capitalist.
+We are able to distribute the results and advantages which accrue from
+labor in a joint ratio.
+
+"These, then, very briefly and imperfectly stated, are the practical,
+actual results already attained. In the first place we have abolished
+domestic servitude; in the second place, we have secured thorough
+education for all; and in the third place, we have established justice
+to the laborer, and ennobled industry.*** Two or three years ago we
+began our movement at Brook Farm, and propounded these few simple
+propositions, which I say are here proven. All declared it to be a
+scheme of fanaticism. There was universal skepticism. No one believed
+it possible that men could live together in such relations. Society,
+it was said, had always lived in a state of competition and strife
+between man and man; and when told that it was possible to live
+otherwise, no one received the proposition except with scorn and
+ridicule. But in the experience of two or three years, we maintain
+that we have by actual facts, by practical demonstration, proven this,
+viz.: that harmonious relations, relations of love and not of
+selfishness and mutual conflict, relations of truth and not of
+falsehood, relations of justice and not of injustice, are possible
+between man and man."
+
+At noon on Saturday the last resolution was adopted, and the
+Convention was about to adjourn, when Mr. Channing rose and addressed
+the assembly, as follows:
+
+"Mr. President and brother Associationists: We began our meeting with
+calling to mind, as in the presence of God, our solemn privileges and
+responsibilities. We can not part without invoking for ourselves, each
+other, our friends everywhere, and our race, a blessing. It this cause
+in which we are engaged, is one of mere human device, the emanation of
+folly and self, may it utterly fail; it will then utterly fail. But
+if, as we believe, it is of God, and, making allowance for human
+limitations, is in harmony with the Divine will, may it go on, as thus
+it must, conquering and to conquer. Those of us who are active in this
+movement have met, and will meet with suspicion and abuse. It is well!
+well that critical eyes should probe the schemes of Association to the
+core, and if they are evil, lay bare their hidden poison; well that in
+this fiery ordeal the sap of our personal vanities and weaknesses
+should be consumed. We need be anxious but on one account; and that is
+lest we be unworthy of this sublime reform. Who are we, that we should
+have the honor of giving our lives to this grandest of all possible
+human endeavors, the establishment of universal unity, of the reign of
+heaven on earth? Truly 'out of the mouths of babes and sucklings has
+the Lord ordained strength.' Kings and holy men have desired to see
+the things we see, and have not been able. Let our desire be, that our
+imperfections, our unfaithfulness, do not hinder the progress of love
+and truth and joy."
+
+The Convention then united in prayer, and parted with the benediction,
+"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward
+men."
+
+But this was not the end. That last day of the Convention was also the
+anniversary of Fourier's birthday, and in the evening the members held
+a festival at the Apollo Saloon. "The repast was plain and simple, but
+the intellectual feast and the social communion were delightful." The
+regular toasts, announced and probably prepared by Mr. Channing, were
+to the memory of Fourier, and to each of the twelve passions which,
+according to Fourier, constitute the active forces of human nature.
+"Soul-stirring speeches" followed each toast. Mr. Dana responded to
+the toast for friendship, and at the close of his speech Mr. Macdaniel
+proposed that the toast be repeated with clasped hands. "This
+proposition was instantly accepted, and with a burst of enthusiasm
+every man rose, and locking hands all round the table, the toast was
+repeated by the whole company, producing an electric thrill of emotion
+through every nerve."
+
+Mr. Godwin compared the present prospects of Association to the tokens
+of approaching land which cheered the drooping spirits of the crew of
+Columbus. The friends from Brook Farm were the birds, and those from
+other places the flowers that floated on the waves.
+
+Mr. Ripley said, "Our friend has compared us to birds. Well, it is
+true we have a good deal of singing, though not a great deal to eat;
+and we have very small nests. (Laughter.) Our most appropriate emblem
+is the not very beautiful or magnificent, but the very useful and
+respectable barn-yard fowl! for we all have to scratch for a living!
+
+"Mr. Brisbane pronounced an enthusiastic and hearty tribute of his
+gratitude, esteem and respect for Horace Greeley, for the manly,
+independent, and generous support he had given to the cause from its
+infancy to the present day; and closed by saying--
+
+"He (Mr. Greeley), has done for us what we never could have done. He
+has created the cause on this continent. He has done the work of a
+century. Well then, I will give [as a toast], 'One Continent and One
+Man!'"
+
+Mr. Greeley returned his grateful thanks for what he said was the
+extravagant eulogium of his partial friend, and continued:
+
+"When I took up this cause, I knew that I went in the teeth of many of
+my patrons, in the teeth of prejudices of the great mass, in the teeth
+of religious prejudices; for I confess I had a great many more
+clergymen on my list before, than I have now, as I am sorry to say,
+for had they kept on, I think I could have done them a little good.
+(Laughter.) But in the face of all this, in the face of constant
+advices, 'Don't have any thing to do with that Mr. Brisbane,' I went
+on. 'Oh!' said many of my friends, 'consider your position--consider
+your influence.' 'Well,' said I, 'I shall endeavor to do so, but I
+must try to do some good in the meantime, or else what is the use of
+the influence.' (Cheers.) And thus I have gone on, pursuing a manly
+and at the same time a circumspect course, treading wantonly on no
+man's prejudice, telling on the contrary, universal man, I will defer
+to your prejudices, as far as I can consistently with duty; but when
+duty leads me, you must excuse my stepping on your corn, if it be in
+the way." (Cheers.)
+
+And so they went on with toasts and speeches and letters from
+distinguished outsiders--one, by the way, from Archbishop Hughes,
+courteously declining an invitation to attend--till the twelve
+o'clock bell warned them of the advent of holy time, and so they
+separated.
+
+A notable thing in this great demonstration was the intense
+_religious_ element that pervaded it. The Convention was opened and
+closed with prayers and Christian doxologies. The letters and
+addresses abounded in quotations from scripture, always laboring to
+identify Fourierism with Christianity. Even the jollities of the
+festival at the Apollo Saloon could not commence till a blessing had
+been asked.
+
+These manifestations of religious feeling were mainly due to the
+presence of the Massachusetts men, and especially to the zeal of
+William H. Channing. He never forgot his religion in his enthusiasm
+for Socialism.
+
+It would be easy to ridicule the fervor and assurance of the actors in
+this enthusiastic drama, by comparing their hopes and predictions with
+the results. But for our part we hold that the hopes and predictions
+were true, and the results were liars. Mistakes were made as to the
+time and manner of the blessings foreseen, as they have been made many
+times before and since: but the inspiration did not lie.
+
+We have had a long succession of such enthusiasms in this country.
+First of all and mother of all, was the series of Revivals under
+Edwards, Nettleton and Finney, in every paroxysm of which the
+Millennium seemed to be at the door. Then came Perfectionism,
+rapturously affirming that the Millennium had already begun. Then came
+Millerism, reproducing all the excitements and hopes that agitated the
+Primitive Church just before the Second Advent. Very nearly coincident
+with the crisis of this last enthusiasm in 1843, came this Fourier
+revival, with the same confident predictions of the coming of
+Christ's kingdom, and the same mistakes as to time and manner. Since
+then Spiritualism has gone through the same experience of brilliant
+prophecies and practical failures. We hold that all these enthusiasms
+are manifestations, in varied phase, of one great afflatus, that takes
+its time for fulfillment more leisurely than suits the ardor of its
+mediums, but inspires them with heart-prophecies of the good time
+coming, that are true and sure.
+
+
+HORACE GREELEY'S POSITION.
+
+The reader will observe that in the final passage of compliments
+between Messrs. Brisbane and Greeley at the Apollo festival, there is
+a clear answer to the question, Who was next in rank after Brisbane in
+the propagation of Fourierism in this country? As there is much
+confusion in the public memory on this important point in the
+_personnel_ of Fourierism, we will here make a note of the principal
+facts in the Fourieristic history of the _Tribune_:
+
+A prominent New England journal in an elaborate obituary on the late
+Henry J. Raymond, after mentioning that he was an efficient assistant
+of Mr. Greeley on the _Tribune_, from the commencement of that paper
+in 1841 till he withdrew and took service on the _Courier and
+Enquirer_, went on to say:
+
+"It was at the time of Mr. Raymond's withdrawal from it, that the
+_Tribune_, which was speedily joined by George Ripley and Charles A.
+Dana, fresh from Brook Farm, had its Fourieristic phase."
+
+The mistakes in this paragraph are remarkable, and ought not to be
+allowed any chance of getting into history.
+
+In the first place Ripley and Dana did not thus immediately succeed
+Raymond on the _Tribune_. The American Cyclopędia says that Raymond
+left the _Tribune_ and joined Webb on the _Courier and Enquirer_ in
+1843. But Ripley and Dana retained their connection with Brook Farm
+till October 30, 1847, and continued to edit the _Harbinger_ in New
+York till February 10, 1849, as we know by the files of that paper in
+our possession. They could not have joined the _Tribune_ before the
+first of these dates, and probably did not till after the last; so
+that there was an interval of from three to six years between
+Raymond's leaving and their joining the _Tribune_.
+
+But the most important error of the above quoted paragraph is its
+implication that the "Fourieristic phase" of the _Tribune_ was after
+Raymond left it, and was owing to the advent of Ripley and Dana "fresh
+from Brook Farm." The truth is, that the _Tribune_ had become the
+organ of Mr. Brisbane, the importer of Fourierism, in March 1842, less
+than a year from its commencement (which was on April 10, 1841); and
+of course had its "Fourieristic phase" while Raymond was employed on
+it, and in fact before Ripley and Dana had been converted to
+Fourierism. Brook Farm, be it ever remembered, was originally an
+independent Yankee experiment, started in 1841 by the suggestion of
+Dr. Channing, and did not accept Fourierism till the winter of 1843-4.
+During the entire period of Brisbane's promulgations in the _Tribune_,
+which lasted more than a year, and which manifestly caused the great
+Fourier excitement of 1843, Brook Farm had nothing to do with
+Fourierism, except as it was being carried away with the rest of the
+world, by Brisbane and the _Tribune_. Thus it is certain that Ripley
+and Dana did not bring Fourierism into the _Tribune_, but on the
+contrary received Fourierism from the _Tribune_, during the very
+period when Raymond was assisting Greeley. When they joined the
+_Tribune_ in 1847-9, Fourierism was in the last stages of defeat, and
+the most that they or Greeley or any body else did for it after that,
+was to help its retreat into decent oblivion.
+
+The obituary writer probably fell into these mistakes by imagining
+that the controversy between Greeley and Raymond, which occurred in
+1846, while Raymond was employed on the _Courier and Enquirer_, was
+the principal "Fourieristic phase" of the _Tribune_. But this was
+really an after-affair, in which Greeley fought on the defensive as
+the rear-guard of Fourierism in its failing fortunes; and even this
+controversy took place before Brook Farm broke up; so that Ripley and
+Dana had nothing to do with it.
+
+The credit or responsibility for the original promulgation of
+Fourierism through the _Tribune_, of course does not belong to Mr.
+Raymond; though he was at the time (1842) Mr. Greeley's assistant. But
+neither must it be put upon Messrs. Ripley and Dana. It belongs
+exclusively to Horace Greeley. He clearly was Brisbane's other and
+better half in the propagation of Fourierism. For practical devotion,
+we judge that he deserves even the _first_ place on the roll of honor.
+We doubt whether Brisbane himself ever pledged his property to
+Association, as Greeley did in the following address, published in the
+_Harbinger_, October 25, 1845:
+
+    "As one Associationist who has given his efforts and means freely
+    to the cause, I feel that I have a right to speak frankly. I know
+    that the great number of our believers are far from wealthy; yet
+    I know that there is wealth enough in our ranks, if it were but
+    devoted to it, to give an instant and resistless influence to the
+    cause. A few thousand dollars subscribed to the stock of each
+    existing Association would in most cases extinguish the mortgages
+    on its property, provide it with machinery and materials, and
+    render its industry immediately productive and profitable. Then
+    manufacturing invention and skill would fearlessly take up their
+    abode with our infant colonies; labor and thrift would flow
+    thither, and a new and brighter era would dawn upon them. Fellow
+    Associationists! _I_ shall do whatever I can for the promotion of
+    our common cause; to it whatever I have or may hereafter acquire
+    of pecuniary ability is devoted: may I not hope for a like
+    devotion from you?
+
+                                                      "H.G."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE SYLVANIA ASSOCIATION.
+
+
+This was the first of the PHALANXES. The North American was the last.
+These two had the distinction of metropolitan origin; both being
+colonies sent forth by the socialistic schools of New York and Albany.
+The North American appears to have been Mr. Brisbane's _protege_, if
+he had any. Mr. Greeley seems to have attached himself to the
+Sylvania. His name is on its list of officers, and he gives an account
+of it in his "Recollections," as one of the two Phalanxes that issued
+from New York City. In the following sketch we give the rose-color
+first, and the shady side afterward. Indeed this will be our general
+method of making up the memoirs of the Phalanxes.
+
+The first number of Brisbane's paper, the _Phalanx_, (October 5, 1843)
+gives the following account of the Sylvania:
+
+    "This Association has been formed by warm friends of the cause
+    from the cities of New York and Albany. Thomas W. Whitley is
+    President, and Horace Greeley, Treasurer. Operations were
+    commenced in May last, and have already proved incontestably the
+    great advantages of Association; having thus far more than
+    fulfilled the most sanguine hopes of success of those engaged
+    in the enterprise. Temporary buildings have been erected, and
+    the foundation laid of a large edifice; a great deal of land has
+    been cleared, and a saw- and grist-mill on the premises when
+    purchased, have been put in excellent repair; several branches
+    of industry, shoe-making particularly, have been established,
+    and the whole concern is now in full operation. Upwards of one
+    hundred and fifty persons, men, women and children, are on the
+    domain, all contented and happy, and much gratified with their
+    new mode of life, which is new to most of the members as a
+    country residence, as well as an associated household; for
+    nearly all the mechanics formerly resided in cities, New York
+    and Albany principally. In future numbers we will give more
+    detailed accounts of this enterprising little Association. The
+    following is a description of its location and soil:
+
+    "The Sylvania domain consists of 2,300 acres of arable land,
+    situated in the township of Lackawaxen, County of Pike, State of
+    Pennsylvania. It lies on the Delaware river, at the mouth of the
+    Lackawaxen creek, fourteen miles from Milford, about eighty-five
+    miles in a straight line west by north of New York City (by
+    stage route ninety-four, and by New York and Erie Railroad to
+    Middletown, one hundred and ten miles; seventy-four of which are
+    now traversed by railroad). The railroad will certainly be
+    carried to Port Jervis, on the Delaware, only fifteen miles
+    below the domain; certainly if the Legislature of the State will
+    permit. The Delaware and Hudson Canal now passes up the Delaware
+    directly across from the domain, affording an unbroken water
+    communication with New York City; and the turnpike from Milford,
+    Pennsylvania, to Owego, New York, bounds on the south the lands
+    of the Association, and crosses the Delaware by a bridge about
+    one mile from the dwellings. The domain may be said, not very
+    precisely, to be bounded by the Delaware on the north, the
+    Lackawaxen on the west, the Shoholy on the east, and the
+    turnpike on the south.
+
+    "The soil of the domain is a deep loam, well calculated for
+    tillage and grazing. About one hundred acres had been cleared
+    before the Association took possession of it; the remainder is
+    thinly covered with the primitive forest; the larger trees
+    having been cut off of a good part of it for timber. Much of it
+    can be cleared at a cost of six dollars per acre. Abundance of
+    timber remains on it for all purposes of the Association. The
+    land lies in gentle sloping ridges, with valleys between, and
+    wide, level tables at the top. The general inclination is to the
+    east and south. There are very few acres which can not be plowed
+    after clearing.
+
+    "Application for membership, to be made (by letter, post paid),
+    to Thomas W. Whitley, Esq., President, or to Horace Greeley,
+    Esq., New York."
+
+The Executive officers issued a pamphlet soon after the commencement
+of operations, from which we extract the following:
+
+    "This Association was formed early in 1843, by a few citizens of
+    New York, mainly mechanics, who, deeply impressed with the
+    present defective, vice-engendering and ruinous system of
+    society, with the wasteful complication of its isolated
+    households, its destructive competition and anarchy in industry,
+    its constraint of millions to idleness and consequent dependence
+    or famine for want of employment, and its failure to secure
+    education and development to the children growing up all around
+    and among us in ignorance and vice, were impelled to immediate
+    and energetic action in resistance to these manifold and mighty
+    evils. Having earnestly studied the system of industrial
+    organization and social reform propounded by Charles Fourier,
+    and been led to recognize in it a beneficent, expensive and
+    practical plan for the melioration of the condition of man and
+    his moral and intellectual elevation, they most heartily adopted
+    that system as the basis and guide of their operations. Holding
+    meetings from time to time, and through the press informing the
+    public of their enterprise and its objects, their numbers
+    steadily increased; their organization was perfected;
+    explorations with a view to the selection of a domain were
+    directed and made; and in the last week of April a location was
+    finally determined on and its purchase effected. During the
+    first week in May, a pioneer division of some forty persons
+    entered upon the possession and improvement of the land. Their
+    number has since been increased to nearly sixty, of whom over
+    forty are men, generally young or in the prime of life, and all
+    recognizing labor as the true and noble destiny on earth. The
+    Sylvania Association is the first attempt in North America to
+    realize in practice the vast economies, intellectual advantages
+    and such enjoyments resulting from Fourier's system.
+
+    "Any person may become a stockholder by subscribing for not less
+    than one share ($25); but the council, having as yet its
+    head-quarters in New York, is necessarily entrusted with power
+    to determine at what time and in what order subscribers and
+    their families can be admitted to resident membership on the
+    domain. Those who are judged best calculated to facilitate the
+    progress of the enterprise must be preferred; those with large
+    families unable to labor must await the construction of
+    buildings for their proper accommodation; while such as shall,
+    on critical inquiry, be found of unfit moral character or
+    debasing habits, can not be admitted at all. This, however, will
+    nowise interfere with their ownership in the domain; they will
+    be promptly paid the dividends on their stock, whenever
+    declared, the same as resident members.
+
+    "The enterprise here undertaken, however humble in its origin,
+    commends itself to the respect of the skeptical and the generous
+    coöperation of the philanthropic. Its consequences, should
+    success (as we can not doubt it will) crown our exertions, must
+    be far-reaching, beneficent, unbounded. It aims at no
+    aggrandizement of individuals, no upbuilding or overthrow of
+    sect or party, but at the founding of a new, more trustful, more
+    benignant relationship between capital and labor, removing
+    discord, jealousy and hatred, and replacing them by concord,
+    confidence and mutual advantage. The end aimed at is the
+    emancipation of the mass; of the depressed toiling millions, the
+    slaves of necessity and wretchedness, of hunger and constrained
+    idleness, of ignorance, drunkenness and vice; and their
+    elevation to independence, moral and intellectual development;
+    in short, to a true and hopeful manhood. This enterprise now
+    appeals to the lovers of the human race for aid; not for
+    praises, votes or alms, but for coöperation in rendering its
+    triumph signal and speedy. It asks of the opulent and the
+    generous, subscriptions to its stock, in order that its lands
+    may be promptly cleared and improved, its buildings erected,
+    &c.; as they must be far more slowly, if the resident members
+    must devote their energies at once and henceforth to the
+    providing, under the most unfavorable circumstances, of the
+    entire means of their own subsistence. Subscriptions are
+    solicited, at the office of the Association, 25 Pine street,
+    third story.
+
+    "THOS. W. WHITLEY, President; J.D. PIERSON, Vice President;
+    HORACE GREELEY, Treasurer; J.T.S. SMITH, Secretary."
+
+After this discourse, the pamphlet presents a constitution, by-laws,
+bill of rights, &c., which are not essentially different from scores
+of joint-stock documents which we find, not only in the records of the
+Fourier epoch, but scattered all along back through the times of
+Owenism. The truth is, the paper constitutions of nearly all the
+American experiments, show that the experimenters fell to work, only
+under the _impulse_, not under the _instructions_, of the European
+masters. Yankee tinkering is visible in all of them. They all are shy,
+on the one hand, of Owen's flat Communism (as indeed Owen himself
+was,) and on the other, of Fourier's impracticable account-keeping and
+venturesome theories of "passional equilibrium." The result is, that
+they are all very much alike, and may all be classed together as
+attempts to solve the problem, How to construct a _home_ on the
+joint-stock principle; which is much like the problem, How to eat your
+cake and keep it too.
+
+For the shady side, Macdonald gives us a Dialogue which, he says, was
+written by a gentleman who was a member of the Sylvania Association
+from beginning to end. It is not very artistic, but shrewd and
+interesting. We print it without important alteration. The curious
+reader will find entertainment in comparing its descriptions of the
+Sylvania domain with those given in the official documents above. In
+this case as in many others, views taken before and after trial, are
+as different as summer and winter landscapes.
+
+
+TALK ABOUT THE SYLVANIA ASSOCIATION.
+
+_B._--Good morning, Mr. A. I perceive you are busy among your papers.
+I hope we do not disturb you?
+
+_A._--Not in the least, sir. I am much pleased to meet you.
+
+_B._--I wish to introduce to you my friend Mr. C. He is anxious to
+learn something concerning the experiment in which you were engaged in
+Pike County, Pennsylvania, and I presumed that you would be willing to
+furnish him with the desired information.
+
+_A._--I suppose, Mr. C., like many others, you are doubtful about the
+correctness of the reports you have heard concerning these
+Associations.
+
+_C._--Yes, sir: but I am endeavoring to discover the truth, and
+particularly in relation to the causes which produce so many failures.
+I find thus far in my investigations, that the difficulties which all
+Associations have to contend with, are very similar in their
+character. Pray, sir, how and where did the Sylvania Association
+originate?
+
+_A._--It originated partly in New York City and partly in Albany, in
+the winter of 1842-3. We first held meetings in Albany, and agitated
+the subject of Socialism till we formed an Association. Our original
+object was to read and explain the doctrines of Charles Fourier, the
+French Socialist; to have lectures delivered, and arouse public
+attention to the consideration of those social questions which
+appeared to us, in our new-born zeal, to have an important bearing
+upon the present, and more especially upon the future welfare of the
+human family. In this we partly succeeded, and had arrived at the
+point where it appeared necessary for us to think of practically
+carrying out those splendid views which we had hitherto been dreaming
+and talking about. Hearing of a similar movement going on in New York
+City, we communicated with them and ascertained that they thought
+precisely as we did concerning immediate and practical operations.
+After several communications the two bodies united, with a
+determination to vent their enthusiasm upon the land. Our New York
+friends appointed a committee of three persons to select a desirable
+location, and report at the next meeting of the Society.
+
+_C._--What were the qualifications of the men who were appointed to
+select the location? I think this very important.
+
+_A._--One was a landscape painter, another an industrious cooper, and
+the third was a homoeopathic doctor!
+
+_C._--And not a farmer among them! Well, this must have been a great
+mistake. At what season did they go to examine the country?
+
+_A._--I think it was in March; I am sure it was before the snow was
+off the ground.
+
+_C._--How unhappy are the working classes in having so little
+patience. Every thing they attempt seems to fail because they will not
+wait the right time. Had you any capitalists among you?
+
+_A._--No; they were principally working people, brought up to a city
+life.
+
+_C._--But you encouraged capitalists to join your society?
+
+_A._--Our constitution provided for them as well as laborers. We
+wished to combine capital and labor, according to the theory laid down
+by Charles Fourier.
+
+_C._--Was his theory the society's practice?
+
+_A._--No; there was infinite difference between his theory and our
+practice. This is generally the case in such movements, and invariably
+produces disappointment and unhappiness.
+
+_C._--Does this not result from ignorance of the principles, or a want
+of faith in them?
+
+_A._--To some extent it does. If human beings were passive bodies, and
+we could place them just where we pleased, we might so arrange them
+that their actions would be harmonious. But they are not so. We are
+active beings; and the Sylvanians were not only very active, but were
+collected from a variety of situations least likely to produce
+harmonious beings. If we knew mathematically the laws which regulate
+the actions of human beings, it is possible we might place all men in
+true relation to each other.
+
+_C._--Working people seem to know no patience other than that of
+enduring the everlasting toil to which they are brought up. But about
+the committee which you say consisted of an artist, mechanic and a
+doctor; what report did they make concerning the land?
+
+_A._--They reported favorably of a section of land in Pike County,
+Pennsylvania, consisting of about 2,394 acres, partly wooded with
+yellow pine and small oak trees, with a soil of yellow loam without
+lime. It was well watered, had an undulating surface, and was said to
+be elevated fifteen hundred feet above the Hudson river. To reach it
+from New York and Albany, we had to take our things first to Rondout
+on the Hudson, and thence by canal to Lackawanna; then five miles up
+hill on a bad stony road. [In the description on p. 234 the canal is
+said to be "_directly across from the domain_."] There was plenty of
+stone for building purposes lying all over the land. The soil being
+covered with snow, the committee did not see it, but from the small
+size of the trees, they probably judged it would be easily cleared,
+which would be a great advantage to city-choppers. Nine thousand
+dollars was the price demanded for this place, and the society
+concluded to take it.
+
+_C._--What improvements were upon it, and what were the conditions of
+sale?
+
+_A._--There were about thirty acres planted with rye, which grain, I
+understood, had been successively planted upon it for six years
+without any manure. This was taken as a proof of the strength of the
+soil; but when we reaped, we were compelled to rake for ten yards on
+each side of the spot where we intended to make the bundle, before we
+had sufficient to tie together. There were three old houses on the
+place; a good barn and cow-shed; a grist-mill without machinery, with
+a good stream for water-power; an old saw-mill, with a very
+indifferent water-wheel. These, together with several skeletons of
+what had once been horses, constituted the stock and improvements. We
+were to pay $1,000 down in cash; the owner was to put in $1,000 as
+stock, and the balance was to be paid by annual instalments.
+
+_C._--How much stock did the members take?
+
+_A._--To state the exact amount would be somewhat difficult; for some
+who subscribed liberally at first, withdrew their subscriptions, while
+others increased them. On examining my papers, I reckon that in Albany
+there were about $4,500 subscribed in money and useful articles for
+mechanical and other purposes. In New York I should estimate that
+about $6,000 were subscribed in like proportions.
+
+_C._--When did the members proceed to the domain, and how did they
+progress there?
+
+_A._--They left New York and Albany for the domain about the beginning
+of May; and I find from a table I kept of the number of persons, with
+their ages, sex and occupations, that in the following August there
+were on the place twenty-eight married men, twenty-seven married
+women, twenty-four single young men, six single young women, and
+fifty-one children; making a total of one hundred and thirty-six
+individuals. These had to be closely packed in three very indifferent
+two-story frame houses. The upper story of the grist-mill was devoted
+to as many as could sleep there. These arrangements very soon brought
+trouble. Children with every variety of temper and habits, were
+brought in close contact, without any previous training to prepare
+them for it. Parents, each with his or her peculiar character and mode
+of educating children, long used to very different accommodations,
+were brought here and literally compelled to live like a herd of
+animals. Some thought their children would be taken and cared for by
+the society, as its own family; while others claimed and practiced the
+right to procure for their children all the little indulgences they
+had been used to. Thus jealousies and ill-feelings were created, and
+in place of that self-sacrifice and zealous support of the
+constitution and officers, to which they were all pledged (I have no
+doubt by some in ignorance), there was a total disregard of all
+discipline, and a determination in each to have the biggest share of
+all things going, except hard labor, which was very unpopular with a
+certain class. Aside from the above, had we been carefully selected
+from families in each city, and had we been found capable of giving up
+our individual preferences to accomplish the glorious object we had in
+view, what had we to experiment upon? In my opinion, a barren
+wilderness; not giving the slightest prospect that it would ever
+generously yield a return for the great sacrifices we were making upon
+it. The land was cold and sterile, apparently incapable of supporting
+the stunted pines which looked like a vast collection of barbers'
+poles upon its surface. I will give you one or two illustrations of
+the quality of the soil: We cut and cleared four and a half acres of
+what we thought might be productive soil; and after having plowed and
+cross-plowed it, we sowed it with buckwheat. When the crop was drawn
+into the barn and threshed, it yielded eleven and a-half bushels.
+Again, we toiled hard, clearing the brush and picking up the stones
+from seventeen acres of new land: we plowed it three different ways,
+and then sowed and harrowed it with great care. When the product was
+reaped and threshed, it did not yield more than the quantity of seed
+planted. Such experiences as these made me look upon the whole
+operation as a suicidal affair, blasting forever the hopes and
+aspirations of the few noble spirits who tried so hard to establish in
+practice, the vision they had seen for years.
+
+_C._--How long did the Association remain on the place?
+
+_A._--About a year and a half, and then it was abandoned as rapidly as
+it was settled.
+
+_C._--They made improvements while there. What were they, and who got
+them when the society left?
+
+_A._--We cleared over one hundred acres and fenced it in; built a
+large frame-house forty feet by forty, three stories high; also a
+two-story carpenter's-shop, and a new wagon-house. We repaired the dam
+and saw-mill, and made other improvements which I can not now
+particularize. These improvements went to the original owner, who had
+already received two thousand dollars on the purchase; and (as he
+expressed it) he generously agreed to take the land back, with the
+improvements, and release the trustees from all further obligations!
+
+_C._--It appears to me that your society, like many others, lacked a
+sufficient amount of intelligence, or they never would have sent such
+a committee to select a domain; and after the domain was selected,
+sent so many persons to live upon it so soon. Your means were totally
+inadequate to carry out the undertaking, and you had by far too many
+children upon the domain. There should have been no children sent
+there, until ample means had been secured for their care and education
+under the superintendence of competent persons.
+
+_A._--It is difficult to get any but married men and women to endure
+the hardships consequent on such an experiment. Single young men,
+unless under some military control, have not the perseverance of
+married men.
+
+_C._--But the children! What have you to say of them?
+
+_A._--I am not capable of debating that question just now; but I am
+satisfied that a very different course from the one we tried must be
+pursued. Better land and more capital must be obtained, and a greater
+degree of intelligence and subordination must pervade the people,
+before a Community can be successful.
+
+Macdonald moralizes as usual on the failure. The following is the
+substance of his funeral sermon:
+
+    "There were too many children on the place, their number being
+    fifty-one to eighty-five adults. Some persons went there very
+    poor, in fact without anything, and came away in a better
+    condition; while others took all they could with them, and came
+    back poor. Young men, it is stated, wasted the good things at
+    the commencement of the experiment; and besides victuals,
+    dry-goods supplied by the Association were unequally obtained.
+    Idle and greedy people find their way into such attempts, and
+    soon show forth their character by burdening others with too
+    much labor, and, in times of scarcity, supplying themselves with
+    more than their allowance of various articles, instead of taking
+    less.
+
+    "Where such a failure as this occurs, many persons are apt to
+    throw the blame upon particular individuals as well as on the
+    principles; but in this case, I believe, nearly all connected
+    with it agree that the inferior land and location was the
+    fundamental cause of ill success.
+
+    "It was a loss to nearly all engaged in it. Those who subscribed
+    and did not go, lost their shares; and those who subscribed and
+    did go, lost their valuable time as well as their shares. The
+    sufferers were in error, and were led into the experiment by
+    others, who were likewise in error. Working men left their
+    situations, some good and some bad, and, in their enthusiasm,
+    expected, not only to improve their own condition, but the
+    condition of mankind. They fought the fight and were defeated.
+    Some were so badly wounded that it took them many years to
+    recover; while others, more fortunate, speedily regained their
+    former positions, and now thrive well in the world again. The
+    capital expended on this experiment was estimated at $14,000."
+
+The exact date at which the Sylvania dissolved is not given in
+Macdonald's papers, but the _Phalanx_ of August 10, 1844, indicates in
+the following paragraph, that it was dying at that time:
+
+    "We are requested to state that the Sylvania Association, having
+    become satisfied of its inability to contend successfully
+    against an ungrateful soil and ungenial climate, which
+    unfortunately characterize the domain on which it settled, has
+    determined on a dissolution. Other reasons also influence this
+    step, but these, and the fact that the domain is located in a
+    thinly inhabited region, cut off almost entirely from a market
+    for its surplus productions, are the prominent reasons. A
+    grievous mistake was made by those engaged in this enterprise,
+    in the selection of a domain; but as a report on the matter is
+    forthcoming, we shall say no more at present."
+
+It is evident enough that this was not Fourierism. Indeed, Mr. A., the
+respondent in the Dialogue, frankly admits, for himself and doubtless
+for his associates, that their doings had in them no semblance of
+Fourierism. But then the same may be said, without much modification,
+of all the experiments of the Fourier epoch. Fourier himself would
+have utterly disowned every one of them. We have seen that he
+vehemently protested against an experiment in France, which had a cash
+basis of one hundred thousand dollars, and the advantage of his own
+possible presence and administration. Much more would he have refused
+responsibility for the whole brood of unscientific and starveling
+"picnics," that followed Brisbane's excitations.
+
+Here then arises a distinction between Fourierism as a theory
+propounded by Fourier, and Fourierism as a practical movement
+administered in this country by Brisbane and Greeley. The constitution
+of a country is one thing; the government is another. Fourier
+furnished constitutional principles; Brisbane was the working
+President of the administration. We must not judge Fourier's theory by
+Brisbane's execution. We can not conclude or safely imagine, from the
+actual events under Brisbane's administration, what would have been
+the course of things, if Fourier himself had been President of the
+American movement. It might have been worse; or it might have been
+better. It certainly would not have been the same; for Brisbane was a
+very different man from Fourier. For one thing, Fourier was
+practically a cautious man; while Brisbane was a young enthusiast.
+Again, Fourier was a poor man and a worker; while Brisbane was a
+capitalist. Our impression also is, that Fourier was more religious
+than Brisbane. From these differences we might conjecture, that
+Fourier would not have succeeded so well as Brisbane did, in getting
+up a vast and swift excitement; but would have conducted his
+operations to a safer end. At all events, it is unfair to judge the
+French theory by the American movement under Brisbane. The value of
+Fourier's ideas is not determined, nor the hope of good from them
+foreclosed, merely by the disasters of these local experiments.
+
+And, to deal fairly all round, it must further be said, that it is not
+right to judge Brisbane by such experiments as that of the Sylvania
+Association. Let it be remembered that, with all his enthusiasm, he
+gave warning from time to time in his publications of the
+deficiencies and possible failures of these hybrid ventures; and was
+cautious enough to keep himself and his money out of them. We have not
+found his name in connection with any of the experiments, except the
+North American Phalanx; and he appears never to have been a member
+even of that; but only was recommended for its presidency by the
+Fourier Association of New York, which was a sort of mother to it.
+
+What then shall we say of the rank-and-file that formed themselves
+into Phalanxes and marched into the wilderness to the music of
+Fourierism? Multitudes of them, like the poor Sylvanians, lost their
+all in the battle. To them it was no mere matter of theory or pleasant
+propagandism, but a miserable "Bull Run." And surely there was a great
+mistake somewhere. Who was responsible for the enormous miscalculation
+of times, and forces, and capabilities of human nature, that is
+manifest in the universal disaster of the experiments? Shall we clear
+the generals, and leave the poor soldiers to be called volunteer
+fools, without the comfort even of being in good company?
+
+After looking the whole case over again, we propose the following
+distribution of criticism:
+
+1. Fourier, though not responsible for Brisbane's administration, was
+responsible for tantalizing the world with a magnificent theory,
+without providing the means of translating it into practice. Christ
+and Paul did no such thing. They kept their theory in the back-ground,
+and laid out their strength mainly on execution. The mistake of all
+"our incomparable masters" of the French school, seems to have been in
+imagining that a supreme genius is required for developing a theory,
+but the experimenting and execution may be left to second-rate men.
+One would think that the example of their first Napoleon might have
+taught them, that the place of the supreme genius is at the head of
+the army of execution and in the front of the battle with facts.
+
+2. Brisbane, though not altogether responsible for the inadequate
+attempts of the poor Sylvanians and the rest of the rabble volunteers,
+must be blamed for spending all his energy in drumming and recruiting;
+while, to insure success, he should have given at least half his time
+to drilling the soldiers and leading them in actual battle. One
+example of Fourierism, carried through to splendid realization, would
+have done infinitely more for the cause in the long run, than all his
+translations and publications. As Fourier's fault was devotion to
+theory, Brisbane's fault was devotion to propagandism.
+
+3. The rank-and-file, as they were strictly volunteers, should have
+taken better care of themselves, and not been so ready to follow and
+even rush ahead of leaders, who were thus manifestly devoting
+themselves to theorizing and propagandism without experience.
+
+It may be a consolation to all concerned--officers, privates, and
+far-off spectators of the great "Bull Run" of Fourierism--that the
+cause of Socialism has outlived that battle, and has learned from it,
+not despair, but wisdom. We have found by it at least _what can not be
+done_. As Owenism, with all its disasters, prepared the way for
+Fourierism, so we may hope that Fourierism, with all its disasters,
+has prepared the way for a third and perhaps final socialistic
+movement. Every lesson of the past will enter into the triumph of the
+future.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+OTHER PENNSYLVANIA EXPERIMENTS.
+
+
+Our memoirs of the Phalanxes and other contemporary Associations, may
+as well be arranged according to the States in which they were
+located. We have already disposed of the Sylvania, which was the most
+interesting of the experiments in Pennsylvania during the Fourier
+epoch. Our accounts of the remaining half-dozen are not long. The
+whole of them may be dispatched at a sitting.
+
+
+THE PEACE UNION SETTLEMENT.
+
+This was a Community founded by Andreas Bernardus Smolnikar, whose
+name we saw among the Vice Presidents of the National Convention.
+Macdonald says nothing of it; but the _Phalanx_ of April 1844, has the
+following paragraph:
+
+"This colony of Germans is situated in Limestown township, Warren
+County, Pennsylvania; it is founded upon somewhat peculiar views and
+associative principles, by Andreas Bernardus Smolnikar, who was
+Professor of Biblical Study and Criticism in Austria, and perceiving
+by the signs of the times compared with prophecies of the Bible, that
+the time was at hand for the foundation of the universal peace which
+was promised to all nations, and feeling called to undertake a
+mission to aid in carrying out the great work thus disclosed to him,
+he came to America. In the years 1838 and 1842, he published at
+Philadelphia five volumes in explanation of his views; and gathering
+around him a body of his countrymen, during the last summer he
+commenced with them the Peace Union Settlement, on a tract of fertile
+wild land of 10,000 acres, which had been purchased."
+
+That is all we find. Smolnikar begun, but, we suppose, was not able to
+finish. In 1845 he was wandering about the country, professing to be
+the "Ambassador extraordinary of Christ, and Apostle of his peace." He
+called on us at Putney; but we heard nothing of his Community.
+
+
+THE MCKEAN COUNTY ASSOCIATION.
+
+The _Phalanx_, in its first number (October 1843), announced this
+experiment among many others, in the following terms:
+
+"There is a large Association of Germans in McKean County,
+Pennsylvania, commenced by the Rev. George Ginal of Philadelphia. They
+own a very extensive tract of land, over thirty thousand acres we are
+informed, and are progressing prosperously. The shares, which were
+originally $100, have been sold and are now held at $200 or more."
+
+This is the first and the last we hear of the Rev. George Ginal and
+his thirty thousand acres.
+
+
+THE ONE-MENTIAN COMMUNITY.
+
+The name of this Community, Macdonald says, was derived from
+Scripture; probably from the expression of Paul, "Be of one mind."
+_The New Moral World_ claimed it as an Owenite Association, "with a
+constitution slightly altered from Owen's outline of rational society,
+i.e., made a little more theological." It originated at Paterson, New
+Jersey, but the sect of One-Mentianists appears to have had branches
+in Newark, New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and other cities. The
+prominent men were Dr. Humbert and Messrs. Horner, Scott, and Hudson.
+
+The _Regenerator_ of February 12, 1844, published a long epistle from
+John Hooper, a member of the One-Mentian Community, giving an account
+in rather stilted style, of its origin, state and prospects. We quote
+the most important paragraphs:
+
+"In the beginning of last year a few humble but sincere persons
+resolved to raise the standard of human liberty, and though limited
+indeed in their means, yet such as they could sacrifice they
+contributed for that purpose; believing that the tree being once
+planted, other generous spirits, filled with the same sympathy,
+enlightened by the same knowledge, and kindled by the same resolve,
+would, from time to time step forward, unite in the same holy cause,
+and nurture this tree, until its redeeming unction shall shed a
+kindred halo through the length and breadth of the land. Having made
+this resolve, they looked not behind them, but freely contributed of
+their hard-earned means, and purchased eight hundred acres of fertile
+wood-land, in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Their zeal perhaps
+overpacing their judgment, they located upon their domain several
+families before organizing sufficient means for their support, which
+necessarily produced much privation and disappointment, and which
+placed men and women, good and true, in a position to which human
+nature never ought to be exposed. But their undying faith in the
+truth and grandeur of social Community, strengthened them in their
+endeavor to overcome their disasters, and they have passed the fiery
+ordeal chastened and purified. Do I censure their want of foresight?
+Do I regret this trial? Oh, no! It but the more forcibly confirms me
+in my persuasion of the practicability of our system. It but the more
+clearly shows how persons united in a good and just cause, can and
+will surmount unequaled privations, withering disappointments, and
+unimagined difficulties, if their impulse be as pure as their object
+is sacred and magnificent. It shows, too, most clearly, how the
+humblest in society can work out their redemption, when true to one
+another. And moreover, it is a security that blessings so dearly
+purchased, will be guarded by as judicious watchfulness and jealous
+care, as the labor was severe and trying in producing them.
+
+"But the land has been bought, and better still, it is paid for; and
+the Society stands at this moment free from debt. We have no interest
+nor rent to pay, no mortgage to dread; but we are free and
+unincumbered. The land is good, as can be testified by several persons
+in the city of New York, who well know it, and who are willing to bear
+witness of this fact to any who may or have questioned it. About
+sixteen acres of this land are cleared and cultivated. We have
+implements, some stock, and some machinery. But what is better than
+all, we have honest hearts, clear heads, and hardy limbs, which have
+passed the severest tests, battling with the huge forest, struggling
+with the hitherto sterile glebe, fostering the generous seed, that
+they may build suffering humanity a home. Who after this can be so
+cold as not to bid them good speed? Who so ungenerous as to speak to
+their disparagement? Who so niggardly as to withhold from them their
+mite? Having a fine water-power on their domain, they are yearning for
+the creation of a mill, which, at a small cost, can and will be soon
+accomplished," etc.
+
+Macdonald reports the progress and _finale_ of this experiment, with
+some wholesome criticisms, as follows:
+
+    "The committee appointed to select a domain, chose the location
+    when the ground was covered with snow. The land was wild and
+    well timbered, but the region is said to be cold. Some of the
+    soil is good, but generally it is very rocky and barren. The
+    society paid five hundred dollars for some six or seven hundred
+    acres, Cheap enough, one would say; but it turned out to be dear
+    enough.
+
+    "Enthusiasm drove between thirty and forty persons out to the
+    spot, and they commenced work under very unfavorable
+    circumstances. The accommodations were very inferior, there
+    being at first only one log cabin on the place; and what was
+    worse, there was an insufficiency of food, both for men and
+    animals. The members cleared forty acres of land and made other
+    improvements; and for the number of persons collected, and the
+    length of time spent on the place, the work performed is said to
+    have been immense.
+
+    "As the land was paid for and assistance was being rendered by
+    the various branches of the society, there were great
+    anticipations of success. But it appears that an individual from
+    Philadelphia visited the place, constituted himself a committee
+    of inspection, and reported unfavorably to the Philadelphia
+    branch; which quenched the Philadelphia ardor in the cause. A
+    committee was sent on from the New York branch, and they
+    likewise reported unfavorably of the domain. This speedily
+    caused the dissolution of the Community.
+
+    "The parties located on the domain reluctantly abandoned it, and
+    returned again to the cities. I am informed that one of the
+    members still lives on the place, and probably holds it as his
+    own. Who has got the deeds, it seems difficult to determine.
+
+    "This failure, like many others, is ascribed to ignorance.
+    Disagreements of course took place; and one between Mr. Hudson
+    and the New York branch, caused that gentleman to leave the
+    One-Mentian, and start another Community a few miles distant.
+    This probably broke up the One-Mentian. It lasted scarcely a
+    year."
+
+
+THE SOCIAL REFORM UNITY.
+
+"This Association," says Macdonald, "originated in Brooklyn, Long
+Island, among some mechanics and others, who were stimulated to make a
+practical attempt at social reform, through the labors of Albert
+Brisbane and Horace Greeley. Business was dull and the times were
+hard; so that working-men were mostly unemployed, and many of them
+were glad to try any apparently reasonable plan for bettering their
+condition."
+
+Mr. C.H. Little and Mr. Mackenzie were the leading men in this
+experiment. They framed and printed a very elaborate constitution; but
+as Macdonald says they never made any use of it, we omit it. One or
+two curiosities in it, however, deserve to be rescued from oblivion.
+
+The 14th article provides that "The treasury of the Unity shall
+consist of a suitable metallic safe, secured by seven different locks,
+the keys of which shall be deposited in the keeping and care of the
+following officers, to wit: one with the president of the Unity, one
+with the president of the Advisory Council, one with the secretary
+general, one with the accountant general, one with the agent general,
+one with the arbiter general, and one with the reporter general. The
+monies in said treasury to be drawn out only by authority of an order
+from the Executive Council, signed by all the members of the same in
+session at the time of the drawing of such order, and counter-signed
+by the president of the Unity. All such monies thus drawn shall be
+committed to the care and disposal of the Executive Council."
+
+The 62d Article says, "The question or subject of the dissolution of
+this Unity shall never be entertained, admitted or discussed in any of
+the meetings of the same."
+
+"Land was offered to the society by a Mr. Wood, in Pike County,
+Pennsylvania, at $1.25 per acre, and the cheapness of it appears to
+have been the chief inducement to accepting it. They agreed to take
+two thousand acres at the above rate, but only paid down $100. The
+remainder was to be paid in installments within a certain period.
+
+"A pioneer band was formed of about twenty persons, who went on to the
+property: their only capital being their subscriptions of $50 each.
+The journey thither was difficult, owing to the bad roads and the
+ruggedness of the country.
+
+"The domain was well-timbered land near the foot of a mountain range,
+and was thickly covered with stones and boulders. A half acre had been
+cleared for a garden by a previous settler. A small house with about
+four rooms, a saw-mill, a yoke of oxen, some pigs, poultry, etc.,
+were on the place; but the accommodations and provisions were
+altogether insufficient, and the circumstances very unpleasant for so
+many persons, and especially at such a season of the year; for it was
+about the middle of November when they went on the ground.
+
+"At the commencement of their labors they made no use of their
+constitution and laws to regulate their conduct, intending to use them
+when they had made some progress on their domain, and had prepared it
+for a greater number of persons. All worked as they could, and with an
+enthusiasm worthy of a great cause, and all shared in common whatever
+there was to share. They commenced clearing land, building bridges
+over the 'runs,' gathering up the boulders, and improving the
+habitation. But going on to an uncultivated place like that, without
+ample means to obtain the provisions they required, and at such a
+season, seems to me to have been a very imprudent step; and so the
+sequel proved.
+
+"None of the leading men were agriculturists; and although it may be
+quite true that the soil under the boulders was excellent, yet a band
+of poor mechanics, without capital, must have been sadly deluded, if
+they supposed that they could support themselves and prepare a home
+for others on such a spot as that; unless, indeed, mankind can live on
+wood and stone.
+
+"They depended upon external support from the Brooklyn Society, and
+expected it to continue until they were firmly established on the
+domain. In this they were totally disappointed; the promised aid never
+came; and indeed the subscriptions ceased entirely on the departure of
+the pioneers to the place of experiment.
+
+"They continued struggling manfully with the rocks, wood, climate and
+other opposing circumstances, for about ten months; and agreed pretty
+well till near the close, when the legislating and chafing increased,
+as the means decreased.
+
+"Occasionally a new member would arrive, and a little foreign
+assistance would be obtained. But this did not amount to much; and
+finally it was thought best to abandon the enterprise. Want of capital
+was the only cause assigned by the Community for its failure; but
+there was evidently also want of wisdom and general preparation."
+
+
+GOOSE-POND COMMUNITY.
+
+It was mentioned at the close of the account of the One-Mentian
+Community, that a Mr. Hudson seceded and started another Association.
+That Association took the domain left by the Social Reform Unity. The
+locality was called "Goose Pond," and hence the name of this
+Community. About sixty persons were engaged in it. After an existence
+of a few months it failed.
+
+
+THE LERAYSVILLE PHALANX.
+
+Several notices of this Association occur in The _Phalanx_, from which
+we quote as follows:
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, February 5, 1844.]
+
+    "An Industrial Association, which promises to realize
+    immediately the advantages of united interests, and ultimately
+    all the immense economies and blessings of a true, brotherly
+    social order, is now in progress of organization near the
+    village of Leraysville, town of Pike, county of Bradford, in the
+    State of Pennsylvania.
+
+    "Nearly fifty thousand dollars have been subscribed to its
+    stock, and a constitution nearly identical with that of the
+    North American Phalanx, has received the signatures of a number
+    of heads of families and others, who are preparing to commence
+    operations early in the spring. Thus the books are fairly open
+    for subscription to the capital stock, only a few thousand
+    dollars more of cash capital being needed for the first year's
+    expenditures.
+
+    "About fifteen hundred acres of land have already been secured
+    for the domain, consisting of adjacent farms in a good state of
+    cultivation, well fenced and watered, and as productive as any
+    tract of equal dimensions in its vicinity.
+
+    "As Dr. Lemuel C. Belding, the active projector of this
+    enterprise, and several other gentlemen who have united their
+    farms to form the domain, are members of the New Jerusalem
+    church, it may be fairly presumed that the Leraysville Phalanx
+    will be owned mostly by members of that religious connection;
+    although other persons desirous of living in charity with their
+    neighbors, will by no means be excluded, but on the contrary be
+    freely admitted to the common privileges of membership.
+
+    "We are very much pleased with this little Phalanx, which is
+    just starting into existence. Rev. Dr. Belding, the clergyman at
+    the head of it, is a man of sound judgment, great practical
+    energy, and clear views--not merely a theologian, talking only
+    of abstract faith and future salvation. He knows that 'work is
+    worship;' that order, economy and justice must exist on earth in
+    the practical affairs of men, as they do wherever God's laws are
+    carried out; and that if men would pray in _deed_, as they do in
+    _word_, those principles would soon be realized in this world.
+
+    "He enjoys the confidence of the people around him, and unites
+    with them practically in the enterprise, setting an example by
+    putting in his own land and other property, and doing his share
+    of the LABOR."
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_ March 1, 1844.]
+
+    "We learn that this Association is proceeding with its
+    organization under favorable auspices. The most interesting
+    practical step that has been taken is, throwing down the
+    division fences of the farms which have been united to form the
+    domain. How significant a fact is this! The barricades of
+    selfishness and isolation are overthrown!
+
+    "Buried deep in the mountains of Pennsylvania, in a secluded,
+    and as is said, beautiful valley, some honest farmers are living
+    on their separate farms. In general they are thrifty; but they
+    feel sensibly many evils and disadvantages to which they are
+    subjected. The doctrines of Association reach them, and as
+    intelligent, sincere minded men, they come together and discuss
+    their merits. They are satisfied of their truth, and that they
+    can live together as brethren with united interests, far better
+    than they can separated, under the old system of divided and
+    conflicting interests. They resolve to carry out their
+    convictions, and to form an Association. Now how is this to be
+    done? Simply by uniting their farms, and forming of them one
+    domain. They do not sacrifice any interest in their property;
+    the tenure of it only is changed. Instead of owning the acres
+    themselves, they own the shares of stock which represent the
+    acres, and the individual and collective interests are at once
+    united. They are now joint-partners in a noble domain, and the
+    interest of each is the interest of all, and the interest of all
+    the interest of each. From unity of interests at once springs
+    unity of feeling and unity of design; and the first sign is a
+    destructive one; they throw down the old land-marks of
+    division. The next will be constructive; they will build them a
+    large and comfortable edifice in which they can reside in true
+    social relations.
+
+    "Now what do we gather from this? Plainly that the social
+    transformation from isolation to Association, is a simple and
+    easy thing, a peaceful and a practical thing, which neither
+    violates any right nor disturbs any order.
+
+    "We understand that as soon as the spring opens, the Leraysville
+    Phalanx is to be joined by a number of enterprising men and
+    skillful mechanics from this city and other places."
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, April 1, 1844.]
+
+    "The cash resources of the Phalanx, in addition to its local
+    trade, will consist of sales of cattle, horses, boots, shoes,
+    saddles and harness, woolen goods, hats, books of its own
+    manufacture, paper, umbrellas, stockings, gloves, clothing,
+    cabinet-wares, piano fortes, tin-ware, nursery-trees, carriages,
+    bedsteads, chairs, oil-paintings and other productions of skill
+    and art, together with the receipts from pupils in the schools
+    and boarders from abroad, residing on the domain.
+
+    "It need not be concealed that the intention of the founders of
+    the Leraysville Association, is to keep up, if possible, a
+    prevailing New Church influence in the Phalanx, in order that
+    its schools may be conducted consistently with the views of that
+    religious connection."
+
+                                  SOLYMAN BROWN, General Agent.
+                                         13 Park Place, New York.
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, September 7, 1844.]
+
+    "We have received a paper containing an oration delivered on the
+    Fourth of July, by Dr. Solyman Brown, late of this city, at the
+    Leraysville Phalanx, which institution he has joined."
+
+So far the _Phalanx_ carries us pleasantly; but here it leaves us.
+Macdonald tells the unpleasant part of the story thus:
+
+    "There were about forty men, women and children in the
+    Association. Among them were seven farmers, two or three
+    carpenters, one cabinet maker, two or three shoemakers, one
+    cooper, one lawyer, and several doctors of physic and divinity,
+    together with some young men who made themselves generally
+    useful. The majority of the members were Swedenborgians, and Dr.
+    Belding was their preacher.
+
+    "The land (about three hundred acres) and other property
+    belonged to Dr. Belding, his sons, his brother, and other
+    relatives. It was held as stock, at a valuation made by the
+    owners.
+
+    "In addition to the families who were thus related, and who
+    owned the property, individuals from distant places were induced
+    to go there; but for these outsiders the accommodations were not
+    very good. Each of the seven persons owning the land had
+    comfortable homesteads on which they lived, the estimated value
+    of which gave them controlling power and influence. But the
+    associates from a distance (some even from the State of Maine)
+    were compelled to board with Dr. Belding and others, until the
+    associative buildings could be constructed--which in fact was
+    never done. No doubt these invidious arrangements produced
+    disagreements, which led to a speedy dissolution. The outsiders
+    very soon became discontented with the management, conceiving
+    that those who held the most stock, i.e., the original owners
+    of the soil, after receiving aid from without, endeavored so to
+    rule as to turn all to their own advantage.
+
+    "The circumstances of the property owners were improved by what
+    was done on the place; but the associates from a distance, whose
+    money and labor were expended in cultivating the land and in
+    rearing new buildings, were not so fortunate. Their money
+    speedily vanished, and their labor was not remunerated. The land
+    and the buildings remained, and the owners enjoyed the
+    improvements. The whole affair came to an end in about eight
+    months."
+
+We hope the reader will not fail to notice how powerfully the
+land-mania raged among these Associations. Let us recapitulate. The
+Pennsylvania Associations, including the Sylvania, are credited with
+real estate as follows:
+
+                                                   Acres.
+    The Sylvania Association had                    2,394
+    The Peace Union Settlement "                   10,000
+    The McKean Co. Association "                   30,000
+    The Social Reform Unity    "                    2,000
+    The Goose-Pond Community   "                    2,000
+    The Leraysville Phalanx    "                    1,500
+    The One-Mentian Community  "                      800
+                                                   ------
+    Total for the seven Associations               48,694
+
+It is to be observed that Northern Pennsylvania, where all these
+Associations were located, is a paradise of cheap lands. Three great
+chains of mountains and not less than eight high ridges run through
+the State, and spread themselves abroad in this wild region. Any one
+who has passed over the Erie railroad can judge of the situation. It
+is evident from the description of the soil of the above domains, as
+well as from the prices paid for them, that they were, almost without
+exception, mountain deserts, cold, rocky and remote from the world of
+business. The Sylvania domain in Pike County, was elevated 1,500 feet
+above the Hudson river. Its soil was "yellow loam," that would barely
+support stunted pines and scrub-oaks; price, four dollars per acre.
+Smolnikar's Peace Union Settlement was on the ridges of Warren County,
+a very wild region. The Rev. George Ginal's 30,000 acres were among
+the mountains of McKean County, which adjoins Warren, and is still
+wilder. The Social Reform Unity was located in Pike County, near the
+site of the Sylvania. Its domain was thickly covered with stones and
+boulders; price, one dollar and a quarter per acre. The Goose Pond
+Community succeeded to this domain of the Social Reform Unity, with
+its stones and boulders. The Leraysville Association appears to have
+occupied some respectable land; but the _Phalanx_ speaks of it as
+"deep buried in the mountains of Pennsylvania." The One-Mentian
+Community, like the Sylvania, selected its domain while covered with
+snow; the soil is described as wild, cold, rocky and barren; price,
+five hundred dollars for seven or eight hundred acres, or about
+sixty-five cents per acre.
+
+Such were the domains on which the Fourier enthusiasm vented itself.
+An illusion, like the _mirages_ of the desert, seems to have prevailed
+among the Socialists, cheating the hungry mechanics of the cities with
+the fancy, that, if they could combine and obtain vast tracts of land,
+no matter where or how poor, their fortunes were made. Whereas it is
+well known to the wise that the more of worthless land a man has the
+poorer he is, if he pays taxes on it, or pays any attention to it;
+and that agriculture anyhow is a long and very uncertain road to
+wealth.
+
+We can not but think that Fourier is mainly responsible for this
+_mirage_. He is always talking in grand style about vast
+domains--three miles square, we believe, was his standard--and his
+illustrations of attractive industry are generally delicious pictures
+of fruit-raising and romantic agriculture. He had no scruple in
+assigning a series of twelve groups of amateur laborers to raising
+twelve varieties of the Bergamot pear! And his staunch disciples are
+always full of these charming impracticable ruralities.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+THE VOLCANIC DISTRICT.
+
+
+Western New York was the region that responded most vigorously to the
+gospel of Fourierism, proclaimed by Brisbane, Greeley, Godwin and the
+Brook Farmers.
+
+Taking Rochester for a center, and a line of fifty miles for radius,
+we strike a circle that includes the birth-places of nearly all the
+wonderful excitements of the last forty years. At Palmyra, in Wayne
+County, twenty-five miles east of Rochester, Joseph Smith in 1823 was
+visited by the Angel Moroni, and instructed about the golden plates
+from which the book of Mormon was copied; and there he began the
+gathering which grew to be a nation and settled Utah. Batavia, about
+thirty miles west of Rochester, was the scene of Morgan's abduction in
+1820; which event started the great Anti-Masonic excitement, that
+spread through the country and changed the politics of the nation. At
+Acadia, in Wayne County, adjoining Palmyra, the Fox family first heard
+the mysterious noises which were afterward known as the "Rochester
+rappings," and were the beginning of the miracles of modern
+Spiritualism. The Rochester region has also been famous for its
+Revivals, and borders on what Hepworth Dixon has celebrated as the
+"Burnt District."
+
+In this same remarkable region around Rochester, occurred the greatest
+Fourier excitement in America. T.C. Leland, writing from that city in
+April 1844, thus described the enthusiasm: "I attended the socialistic
+Convention at Batavia. The turn-out was astonishing. Nearly every town
+in Genesee County was well represented. Many came from five to twelve
+miles on foot. Indeed all western New York is in a deep, a shaking
+agitation on this subject. Nine Associations are now contemplated
+within fifty miles of this city. From the astonishing rush of
+applications for membership in these Associations, I have no
+hesitation in saying that twenty thousand persons, west of the
+longitude of Rochester in this State, is a low estimate of those who
+are now ready and willing, nay anxious, to take their place in
+associative unity."
+
+Mr. Brisbane traveled and lectured in this excited region a few months
+before Mr. Leland wrote the above. The following is his report to the
+_Phalanx_:
+
+    "It will no doubt be gratifying to those who take an interest in
+    the great idea of a Social Reform, to learn that it is spreading
+    very generally through the State of New York. I have visited
+    lately the central and western parts of the State, and have been
+    surprised to see that the principles of a reform, based upon
+    Association and unity of interests, have found their way into
+    almost every part of the country, and the farmers are beginning
+    to see the truth and greatness of a system of dignified and
+    attractive industry, and the advantages of Association, such as
+    its economy, its superior means of education, and the guaranty
+    it offers against the indirect and legalized spoliation by those
+    intermediate classes who now live upon their labor.
+
+    "The conviction that Association will realize Christianity
+    practically upon earth, which never can be done in the present
+    system of society, with its injustice, frauds, distrust, and the
+    conflict and opposition of all interests, is taking hold of many
+    minds and attracting them strongly to it. There is a very
+    earnest desire on the part of a great number of sincere minds to
+    see that duplicity which now exists between theory and practice
+    in the religious world, done away with; and where this desire is
+    accompanied with intelligence, Association is plainly seen to be
+    the means. It is beginning to be perceived that a great social
+    reformation must take place, and a new social order be
+    established, before Christianity can descend upon earth with its
+    love, its peace, its brotherhood and charity. The noble doctrine
+    propounded by Fourier, is gaining valuable disciples among this
+    class of persons.
+
+    "I lectured at Utica, Syracuse, Seneca Falls, and Rochester, and
+    although the weather was very unfavorable, the audiences were
+    large. At Rochester I attended a convention of the friends of
+    Association, interested in the establishment of the Ontario
+    Phalanx. Men of intelligence, energy and strong convictions, are
+    at the head of this enterprise, and it will probably soon be
+    carried into operation. A very heavy subscription to the stock
+    can be obtained in Rochester and the vicinity, in productive
+    farms and city real estate, for the purpose of organizing this
+    Association; but, owing to the scarcity of money, it is
+    difficult to obtain the cash capital requisite to commence
+    operations. From the perseverance and determination of the men
+    at the head of the undertaking, it is presumed, however, that
+    this difficulty will be overcome. Those persons in the western
+    part of the State of New York, who wish to enter an
+    Association, can not be too strongly recommended to unite with
+    the Ontario Phalanx.
+
+    "It is very advisable that the friends of the cause should not
+    start small Associations. If they are commenced with inadequate
+    means, and without men who know how to organize them, they may
+    result in failures, which will cast reproach upon the
+    principles. The American people are so impelled to realize in
+    practice any idea which strikes them as true and advantageous,
+    that it will of course be useless to preach moderation in
+    organizing Associations; still I would urgently recommend to
+    individuals, for their own interest, to avoid small and
+    fragmental undertakings, and unite with the largest one in their
+    section of the country.
+
+    "Four gentlemen from Rochester and its vicinity will be engaged
+    this winter in propagating the principles of Association by
+    lectures etc., in western New York. At Rochester they have
+    commenced the publication of tracts upon Association, which we
+    trust will be extensively circulated. That city is becoming an
+    important center of propagation, and will, we believe, exercise
+    a very great influence, as it is situated in a flourishing
+    region of country, inhabited by a very intelligent population.
+
+    "It must be deeply gratifying to the friends of Association to
+    see the unexampled rapidity with which our principles are
+    spreading throughout this vast country. Would it not seem that
+    this very general response to, and acceptance of, an entirely
+    new and radically reforming doctrine by intelligent and
+    practical men, prove that there is something in it harmonizing
+    perfectly with the ideas of truth, justice, economy and order,
+    and those higher sentiments implanted in the soul of man,
+    which, although so smothered at present, are awakened when the
+    correspondences in doctrine or practice are presented to them
+    clearly and understandingly?
+
+    "The name of Fourier is now heard from the Atlantic to the
+    Mississippi; from the remotest parts of Wisconsin and Louisiana
+    responsive echoes reach us, heralding the spread of the great
+    principles of universal Association; and this important work has
+    been accomplished in a few years, and mainly within two years,
+    since Horace Greeley, Esq., the editor of the _Tribune_, with
+    unprecedented courage and liberality, opened the columns of his
+    widely-circulated journal to a fair exposition of this subject.
+    What will the next ten years bring forth?"
+
+Mr. John Greig of Rochester, a participator in this socialistic
+excitement and in the experiments that went with it, contributed the
+following sketch of its beginnings to Macdonald's collection of
+manuscripts:
+
+    "We in western New York received an account of the views and
+    discoveries of (the to-be-illustrious) Fourier, through the
+    writings of Brisbane, Greeley, Godwin and the earnest lectures
+    of T.C. Leland. Those ideas fell upon willing ears and hearts
+    then (1843), and thousands flocked from all quarters to hear,
+    believe, and participate in the first movement.
+
+    "This excitement gathered itself into a settled purpose at a
+    convention held in Rochester in August 1843, which was attended
+    by several hundred delegates from the city and neighboring towns
+    and villages. A great deal of discussion ensued as a matter of
+    course, and some little amount of business was done. The nucleus
+    of a society was formed, and committees for several purposes
+    were appointed to sit in permanence, and call together future
+    conventions for further discussions.
+
+    "I was one of the Vice Presidents of that convention, and took a
+    decided interest in the whole movement. As there existed from
+    the very beginning of the discussions some diversity of opinion
+    on several points of doctrine and expediency, there arose at
+    least four different Associations out of the constituents of
+    said convention. Those who were most determined to follow as
+    near the letter of Fourier as possible, were led off chiefly by
+    Dr. Theller (of 'Canadian Patriot' notoriety), Thomas Pond (a
+    Quaker), Samuel Porter of Holly, and several others of less
+    note, including the writer hereof. They located at Clarkson, in
+    Monroe County. The other branches established themselves at
+    Sodus Bay in Wayne County, at Hopewell near Canandaigua in
+    Ontario County, at North Bloomfield in Ontario County, and at
+    Mixville in Alleghany County."
+
+The Associations that thus radiated from Rochester, hold a place of
+peculiar interest in the history of the Fourier movement, from the
+fact that they made the first, and, we believe, the only practical
+attempt, to organize a _Confederation_ of Associations. The National
+Convention, as we have seen, recommended general Confederation; and
+its executive committee afterward, through Parke Godwin, made
+suggestions in the _Phalanx_ tending in the same direction. The
+movement, however, came to nothing, and at the subsequent National
+Convention in October, was formally abandoned. But the Rochester group
+of Associations, attracted together by their common origin, actually
+formed a league, called the "American Industrial Union," and a Council
+of their delegates held a session of two days at the domain of the
+North Bloomfield Association, commencing on the 15th of May, 1844. The
+_Phalanx_ has an interesting report of the doings of this Confederate
+Council, from which we give below a liberal extract, showing how
+heartily these western New Yorkers abandoned themselves to the spirit
+of genuine Fourierism:
+
+    FROM THE REPORT OF THE SESSION OF THE INDUSTRIAL UNION.
+
+    "_Resolved_, That it be recommended to the several institutions
+    composing this Confederacy to adopt, as far as possible, the
+    practice of mutual exchanges between each other; and that they
+    should immediately take such measures as will enable them to
+    become the commercial agents of the producing classes in the
+    sections of the country where the Associations are respectively
+    located.
+
+    _Classification of Industry._
+
+    "_Resolved_, That in the opinion of the council, the first step
+    towards organization should be an arrangement of the different
+    branches of agricultural, mechanical and domestic work, in the
+    classes of necessity, usefulness and attractiveness. The exact
+    category in which an occupation shall be placed, will be
+    influenced more or less by local circumstances, and is, at best,
+    somewhat conjectural. It will be indicated, however, with
+    certainty, by observation and experience. In the meantime, the
+    council take the liberty to express an opinion, that to the
+
+    _Class of Necessity._
+
+    belong, among others, the following, viz.: ditching, masonry,
+    work in woolen and cotton factories, quarrying stone,
+    brickmaking, burning lime and coal, getting out manure, baking,
+    washing, ironing, cooking, tanning and currier business,
+    night-sawing and other night work, blacksmithing, care of
+    children and the sick, care of dairy, flouring, hauling seine,
+    casting, chopping wood, and cutting timber.
+
+    _Class of Usefulness._
+
+    "All mechanical trades not mentioned in the class of necessity;
+    agriculture, school-teaching, book-keeping, time of directors
+    while in session, other officers acting in an official capacity,
+    engineering, surveying and mapping, store-keeping, gardening,
+    rearing silk-worms, care of stock, horticulture, teaching music,
+    housekeepers (not cooks), teaming.
+
+    _Class of Attractiveness._
+
+    "Cultivation of flowers, cultivation of fruit, portrait-and
+    landscape-painting, vine-dressing, poultry-keeping, care of
+    bees, embellishing public grounds.
+
+    _Groups and Series._
+
+    "The Council recommend to the different Associations the
+    following plan for the organization of groups and series, viz.:
+
+    "1. Ascertain, for example, the whole number of members who will
+    attach themselves to, or at any time take part in, the
+    agricultural line. From this number, organize as many groups as
+    the business of the line will admit.
+
+    "2. We recommend the numbers 30, 24, 18, as the maximum rank of
+    the classes of necessity, usefulness and attractiveness.
+
+    "The series should then be numbered in the order in which they
+    are formed, and the groups in the same manner, beginning 1, 2,
+    3, &c., for each series.
+
+    "Mechanical series can be organized, embracing all the
+    different trades employed by the Association, in the same
+    manner; and if the groups can not be filled up at once with
+    adults, we would recommend to the institutions to fill them
+    sufficiently for the purpose of organization, with apprentices.
+
+    "Each group should have a foreman, whose business it should be
+    to keep correct accounts of time, superintend and direct the
+    performance of work, and maintain an oversight of
+    working-dresses, etc.
+
+    "There should be one individual elected as superintendent of the
+    series, whose business it should be to confer with the farming
+    committee of the board, and inform the different foremen of
+    groups, of the work to be done, and inspect the same afterwards.
+
+    "The council is thoroughly satisfied that all the labor of an
+    Association should be performed by groups and series, and
+    although the combined order can not be fully established at
+    once, the adoption of this arrangement will avoid incoherence,
+    and be calculated to impress on each member a sense of his
+    personal responsibility.
+
+    _Time and Rank._
+
+    "The time, rank and occupation should be noted daily, and
+    oftener, if a change of employment is made. The sum of the
+    products of the daily time of each individual, as multiplied by
+    his daily rank, should be carried to the time-ledger, weekly or
+    monthly, to his or her credit. Each of the several amounts,
+    whether performed in the classes of necessity, usefulness, or
+    attractiveness, will thus be made to bear an equal proportion to
+    the value of the services rendered.
+
+                                          A.M. WATSON, President.
+    E.A. STILLMAN, Secretary."
+
+The reader may be curious to see how these instructions were carried
+out in actual account-keeping. Fortunately the _Phalanx_ furnishes a
+specimen of what, we suppose, may be called, unmitigated Fourierism.
+
+"The following tables," says a subsequent report, "exhibit the mode of
+keeping the account of a group at the Clarkson domain. The total
+number of hours that each individual has been employed during the
+week, is multiplied by the degree in the scale of rank, which gives an
+equation of rank and time of the whole group. At Clarkson, for every
+thousand of the quotient, each member is allowed to draw on his
+account for necessaries, to the value of seventy-five cents:
+
+SERIES OF TAILORESSES--GROUP NO. I.
+
+_Maximum Rank 25._
+
+  -----+-------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+--------
+   1844|             |    |    |    |    |    |    |Total|Hours
+   Rank|             | Mo.|Tue.| We.|Thu.|Fri.|Sat.|hours|& rank.
+  -----+-------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+--------
+   20  | M. Weed,    |  6 | 10 |  3 | -- | -- |  5 |  24 |  480
+   25  | J. Peabody, | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 |  62 | 1550
+   20  | S. Clark,   | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |  8 | -- |  48 |  960
+   25  | E. Clark,   |  2 | 10 | 10 |Sick| -- | -- |  22 |  550
+   18  | H. Lee,     |  6 |  4 | 10 |  6 |  4 |  4 |  34 |  612
+   15  | J. Folsom,  |  3 |  3 |  2 |  6 |  5 |  3 |  22 |  330
+   12  | Eliza Mann, |  4 |  4 |  2 |  2 |  6 |  4 |  22 |  264
+  -----+-------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+--------
+
+The above is a true account of the time and rank of the whole group,
+working under my direction for the past week.
+
+                                          JULIA PEABODY. Foreman.
+
+     Entered on the books of the Association, by
+                                               WM. SEAVER, Clerk.
+  _Clarkson Domain, July 6, 1844._
+
+SERIES OF WORKERS IN WOOD--GROUP NO II.
+
+_Maximum Rank 30._
+
+  -----+----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+--------
+   1844|                |    |    |    |    |    |    |Total|Hours
+   Rank|                | Mo.|Tue.| We.|Thu.|Fri.|Sat.|hours|& rank.
+  -----+----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+--------
+   24  | Chas. Odell,   | 10 |  9 | 10 | 10 |  8 |  9 |  56 | 1344
+   30  | John Allen,    | 10 | 10 |  2 |  6 | 10 |  8 |  46 | 1380
+   20  | Jas. Smith,    |Sick| -- | -- | -- | -- |  3 |   3 | 120
+   30  | Wm. Allen,     | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |  62 | 1860
+   30  | Jas. Griffith, | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |  60 | 1800
+  -----+----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+--------
+
+The above is a true account of the time and rank of the whole group,
+working under my direction for the past week.
+
+                                         JAMES GRIFFITH, Foreman.
+
+       Entered on the books of the Association, by
+                                               WM. SEAVER, Clerk.
+  _Clarkson Domain, July 6, 1844._"
+
+For the sake of keeping in view the various religious influences that
+entered into the Fourier movement, it is worth noting here that Edwin
+A. Stillman, the Secretary of the Union, was one of the early
+Perfectionists; intimately associated with the writer of this history
+at New Haven in 1835. We judge from the frequent occurrence of his
+official reports in the _Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_, that he was the
+working center of the socialist revival at Rochester, and of the
+incipient confederacy of Associations that issued therefrom. In like
+manner James Boyle, another New Haven Perfectionist, was a very busy
+writer and lecturer among the Socialists of New England in the
+excitements 1842-3, and was a member of the Northampton Community.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+THE CLARKSON PHALANX.
+
+
+This Association appears to have been the first and most important of
+the Confederated Phalanxes. Mr. John Greig (before referred to) is its
+historian, whose account we here present with few alterations:
+
+    "Our Association commenced at Clarkson on the shore of Lake
+    Ontario, in the county of Monroe, about thirty miles from
+    Rochester, in February 1844. We adopted a constitution and
+    bye-laws, but I am sorry to say that I have not a copy of them.
+    The reason why no copies have been preserved is, that after a
+    year's experience in the associative life, we all became so wise
+    (or smart, as the phrase is), that we thought we could make much
+    better constitutions, and ceased to value the old ones.
+
+    "We had no property qualifications. All male and female members
+    over eighteen years of age were voters upon all important
+    matters, excepting the investment and outlay of capital. No
+    religious or political tests were required. The chief principle
+    upon which we endeavored to found our Association, was to
+    establish justice and judgment in our little earth at Clarkson
+    domain, and as much further as possible.
+
+    "Our means were ample; but, as it proved, unavailable. The
+    beginning and ending of our troubles was this--and let all
+    readers consider it--we were without the pale and protection of
+    law, for want of incorporation. Consequently we could do no
+    business, could not buy or sell land or other property, could
+    not sue or be sued, could neither make ourselves responsible,
+    nor compel others to become so; and as a majority of us were
+    never able to adopt the dreamy abstractions of non-resistance
+    and no-law, we were unable to live and prosper in that kingdom
+    of smoke 'above the world.'
+
+    "The members, in different proportions, had placed in the hands
+    of trustees, after the manner of religious societies in this
+    State, ninety-five thousand dollars worth of choice landed
+    property, to be sold, turned into cash, and invested in Clarkson
+    domain. We purchased of a Mr. Richmond Church and others, over
+    two thousand acres of first-rate land, all on trust, excepting
+    twenty acres bought for cash. The rise in value of our large
+    purchase since our dispersion, has exceeded fifty thousand
+    dollars. We probably took on to the domain some ten thousand
+    dollars worth of goods and chattels.
+
+    "Our property was not considered common stock; we only
+    recognized a common cause. Our agreement gave capital to labor
+    for less than half of the world's present interest, and gave to
+    labor its full reward, according to merit, that is, skill,
+    strength, and time; establishing 'Do as you would be done by'
+    first; and attending to the questions of brotherhood afterward,
+    such as home for life, respect, comfort, and all needful or
+    desirable things to the old, the infant, the disabled, etc. This
+    was the extent of our Communism. Our company stock was divided
+    into twenty-five dollar shares. About one-third of the members
+    owned none at all at first, although their rights were
+    considered equal; and that point, be it said to the glory of the
+    domain, was never mooted and scarcely mentioned.
+
+    "We commenced our new life at Clarkson in March, April and May,
+    1844; building our temporary, and enlarging our established,
+    houses, and beginning to marshal our forces of toil. In April we
+    'numbered Israel,' and found we were four hundred and twenty
+    souls, as happy and joyous a family as ever thronged to an
+    Independence dinner. If, in our fiscal affairs we were not
+    Communists, in our moral and social feelings we were a house not
+    divided against itself.
+
+    "In relation to education, natural intelligence, and morality, I
+    candidly think we were a little above the average of common
+    citizens at large in the State, and no more. Trades and
+    occupations were multiform. Our doctor and minister were
+    academical scholars merely. We had one ripe merchant (a great
+    rogue, too), some first-rate mechanics of all the substantial
+    trades, and a noble lot of common farmers.
+
+    "As for religion, we had seventy-four praying Christians,
+    including all the sects in America, excepting Millerites and
+    Mormons. We had one Catholic family (Dr. Theller's), one
+    Presbyterian clergyman, and one Universalist. One of our first
+    trustees was a Quaker. We had one Atheist, several Deists, and
+    in short a general assortment; but of Nothingarians, none; for
+    being free for the first time in our lives, we spoke out, one
+    and all, and found that every body did believe something. All
+    the gospels were preached in harmony and good fellowship. We
+    early got up a committee on preaching the gospel, placing one of
+    each known denomination upon said committee, including a Deist,
+    who being a liberal soul, and no bigot in his infidelity, was
+    chosen chairman on the gospel; and allow him modestly to say, he
+    did acquit himself to the entire satisfaction of his more
+    fortunate brethren in the faith. One word about our Atheist--our
+    poor unfortunate Atheist; he was beloved by every soul on the
+    domain, and was an intimate friend of our orthodox minister. We
+    had no difficulties on the score of religion, and had we
+    remained, we should have been nearer to love to God and love to
+    man, than we are now, scattered as we are, broadcast over the
+    continent. For membership, we required a decent character--no
+    more. No oaths nor fines were required. Honorable pledges were
+    given and generally kept.
+
+    "Our domain was located at the mouth of Sandy Creek, on Lake
+    Ontario. It was a slightly rolling plain, and the best soil in
+    the world. On account of so much water (Lake, Bay and Creek), it
+    was rather unhealthy, but would improve in time by cultivation.
+    We had one good flour-mill, two saw-mills, one machine-shop,
+    some good farm buildings and barns, and about half a mile in
+    length of temporary rows of board buildings; a dry goods store
+    for a portion of the time, and over 400 acres of land, under
+    fair cultivation. At one period of our career, we had about four
+    hundred sheep, forty cows, twenty-five span of horses, twelve
+    yoke of oxen, swine, guinea fowls, barn fowls, geese, ducks,
+    bees, etc., etc., in great abundance. We cultivated several
+    acres of vegetable garden, reaped one hundred acres of wheat,
+    and had corn, potatoes, peas, etc., to a large amount--I should
+    think seventy-five acres. We had abundance of pasture, and must
+    have cut two hundred tons of hay. Of wild berries there must
+    have been gathered hundreds of bushels.
+
+    "Our regularly elected officers managed the receipts and
+    expenditures; and they were, I believe, honestly managed up to a
+    certain time.
+
+    "The four hundred and twenty members kept together until the
+    autumn of the first year, and then were forced to break up and
+    divide property, having but little to sustain themselves,
+    because our capital was wrongfully tied up, in the hands of
+    trustees: this course having been pursued by advice of certain
+    great lawyers, who, when our legal troubles commenced, appeared
+    in the courts against us. No purchasers could be found to buy
+    the lands in the hands of the trustees; so we had come to a dead
+    lock, and were obliged to break up or down, as the fact may be
+    estimated. The associates did not disagree at all save in one
+    thing, and that was, as to these bad property arrangements,
+    which compelled them to break up. They staid or went by lots
+    cast. Two hundred persons staid on the domain some four months
+    longer, and then, the hope of a legal foundation having entirely
+    died out, the whole matter was necessarily thrown into the court
+    of Chancery, and the lawyers, as usual, took the avails of the
+    hard earnings of the disappointed members.
+
+    "The regularly organized Association kept together nearly one
+    year. A remnant of the band remained after the court of chancery
+    had adjudged a transfer of the estate back into the hands of the
+    original owners. That remnant tried every little scheme and new
+    contrivance that imagination could devise (except Fourierism),
+    to stick together in a joint-stock capacity for a year longer or
+    so, and then broke and ran all over the world, proclaiming
+    Fourierism a failure. The Heavens may fall, and Fourier's
+    industrial science may fail; but it must be tried first; till
+    then it can not fail.
+
+    "In short the reason why the attempt at Clarkson failed, and the
+    only reason, was, that the founders missed the entrance door,
+    viz., a legal foundation; by which they would have made friends
+    with the old world, and begun the new in a constructive way,
+    obtaining the right men and plenty of the 'mammon of
+    unrighteousness.' They should have got incorporated under a
+    general law like our manufacturing law, and obtained a suitable
+    domain of at least 5760 acres of land or three miles square, and
+    should have built and furnished a sufficient portion of a
+    phalanstery to accommodate at least 400 persons, at the outset
+    of organization. I boldly pronounce all partial attempts, short
+    of such a beginning, a waste, and worse than a waste, of time
+    and brain, blood and muscle, soul and body.
+
+                                                     JOHN GREIG."
+
+A writer in the _Phalanx_ (July 1844), viewing things from a
+standpoint a little further off than Mr. Greig's, gave the following
+more probable account of the Clarkson failure:
+
+    "The original founders of this Association, no doubt actuated by
+    good motives, but lacking discretion, held out such a brilliant
+    prospect of comfort and pleasure in the very infancy of the
+    movement, that hundreds, without any correct appreciation of the
+    difficulties to be undergone by a pioneer band, rushed upon the
+    ground, expecting at once to realize the heaven they so ardently
+    desired, and which the eloquent words of the lecturers had
+    warranted them to hope for. Thus, ignorant of Association,
+    possessed, for the most part, of little capital, without
+    adequate shelter from the inclemency of the weather, or even a
+    sufficient store of the most common articles of food, without
+    plan, and I had almost said, without purpose, save to fly from
+    the ills they had already experienced in civilization, they
+    assembled together such elements of discord as naturally in a
+    short time led to their dissolution."
+
+One feature of Mr. Greig's entertaining sketch deserves notice in
+passing, viz., his cheerful boast of the multiplicity of religions in
+the Clarkson Association, and the wonderful harmony that prevailed
+among them. The meaning of the boast undoubtedly is, that religious
+belief was so completely a secondary and insignificant matter, that it
+did not prevent peaceful family relations, even between the atheists
+and the orthodox. This kind of harmony is often spoken of in the
+accounts of other Associations, and seems to have been a general
+characteristic, or at least a _desideratum_, of the Owen and Fourier
+schools. It is this harmonious indifference, which we refer to when we
+speak of the Associations of those schools as _non-religious_.
+
+The primary Massachusetts Communities, however, were hardly so free
+from religious limitations, though they issued from the sects commonly
+called liberal. The Brook Farmers, we have seen, covered the National
+Convention all over with the mantle of piety, insisting that they were
+at work as devout Christians, and that Fourierism, as they held it,
+was Christianity. And Hopedale was even more zealous for Christianity
+than Brook Farm. Collins's Community at Skaneateles, on the other
+hand, went clear over to exclusive anti-religion; and actually barred
+out by its original creed, all kinds of Christians, tolerating nobody
+but sound Atheists and Deists.
+
+The Northampton Association, which we have termed Nothingarian, seems
+to have invented the happy medium of the Clarkson platform, and in
+that respect may be regarded as the prototype of the whole class of
+Fourier Associations. The mixture of religions, however, at
+Northampton, was not so harmonious as at Clarkson. The historian of
+the Northampton Community says: "The carrying out of different
+religious views was perhaps the occasion of more disagreement than any
+other subject; and this disagreement, operated to general
+disadvantage, as in consequence of it several valuable members
+withdrew." We shall meet with similar disagreements and disasters in
+the Sodus Bay Phalanx and other Associations, to be reported
+hereafter. So that it does not seem altogether safe to huddle a great
+variety of contradictory religions together in close Association,
+notwithstanding the apparent results in the Clarkson case. And it
+occurs, as a natural suggestion, that possibly the Clarkson
+Association did not last long enough to fairly test the results of a
+general mixture of religions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE SODUS BAY PHALANX.
+
+
+This Association originated about the same time as the Clarkson
+Association (February 1844), and in the same place (Rochester). The
+following description of its domain is from the _Herald of Freedom_:
+
+"We have at this place about 1,400 acres of choice land, three hundred
+of which are under improvement. It borders on Sodus Bay, the best
+harbor on Lake Ontario, and for beauty of scenery, is not surpassed by
+any tract in the State. We have on the domain two streams of water,
+which can both be used for propelling machinery. We number at present
+about three hundred men, women and children. The buildings on the
+place were nearly enough to accommodate the whole, the place having
+formerly been occupied by the Shakers, who had erected good buildings
+for their own accommodation."
+
+The editor of the _Phalanx_ visited this Association in the autumn of
+1844, and wrote of it as follows:
+
+"The advantages of the location seemed to us very rare, and it was
+with great pain that we discovered that the internal condition, of the
+Phalanx was not encouraging. We did not find that unity of purpose,
+without which a small and imperfectly provided Association can not be
+held together until it has attained the necessary perfection in its
+mechanism. At the commencement, as it appeared to us, there was not
+sufficient caution in the admission of members. A large number of
+persons were received without proper qualification, either in
+character or industrial abilities. Sickness unfortunately soon arose
+in the new Phalanx, and increased the confusion which resulted from a
+want of unity of feeling and systematic organization. Religious
+differences, pressed in an intolerant manner on both sides, had at the
+time of our visit produced entire uncertainty as to future operations,
+and carried disorder to its height. We left the domain with the
+conviction, which reflection has strengthened, that without an entire
+reörganization under more efficient leaders, the Association must fall
+entirely to pieces; a fact which is greatly to be deplored on account
+of the cause in general, as well as on account of the excellence of
+the location, and the real worth of several individuals who have
+passed unshaken through such trying circumstances. We have, however,
+in the case of this Phalanx, a striking example of the folly of
+undertaking practical Association without sufficient means, and
+without men of proper character. No other advantages can compensate
+for the want of these."
+
+Nearly a year later (September 1845), a member of the Sodus Bay
+Phalanx wrote to the _Harbinger_ in the following dubious vein:
+
+"We have only about twelve or fifteen adult males, and we believe we
+may safely say (from the amount of labor performed the present
+season), not many unprofitable ones. We have learned wisdom from the
+many difficulties and privations of last year, and there is now
+evidently a settled and determined will to succeed in our enterprise.
+There is, however, a debt which is very discouraging; $7,000 principal
+(besides $2,450 interest), which will come due next spring, and an
+ability on our part of paying no more than the interest."
+
+About the beginning of 1846 John A. Collins of the Skaneateles
+Community, visited Sodus Bay, and sent to his paper, the
+_Communitist_, the following mournful report:
+
+    "Experience has taught them that but little confidence can be
+    placed on calculations which are predicated upon a
+    newly-organized, or more properly disorganized, body of
+    heterogeneous materials, during the first and second years of
+    its existence. There is not the least doubt, but that an
+    energetic and efficient individual, with sufficient capital to
+    erect with the least possible delay the saw-mill, lath, shingle,
+    broom-handle, tub and pail, fork and hoe-handle, last, and
+    general turning machinery, and employ as many first-class
+    workmen as the business would require, could in three years, pay
+    both principal and interest, and have the entire farm and
+    several thousand dollars besides. But an Association composed of
+    inexperienced, restless, indolent, feeble and selfish
+    individuals, would perish beneath the pressure of interest, ere
+    they could construct their mills, get their machinery in
+    operation, and become organized and systematized, so that all
+    things could be carried forward with that system and perfection
+    which characterize isolation and the older established
+    Communities.
+
+    "But had not capital stepped forth to crush this movement, other
+    elements equally poisonous and deadly were introduced, which
+    would have sealed its ruin. A great portion of its members were
+    brought together, not by a strong feeling or sympathy for the
+    poor, noble philanthropy, or self-denying enthusiasm, but by the
+    most narrow selfishness. Add to this, that bane of all that is
+    meek, pure, noble and peaceful, religious bigotry was carried in
+    and incorporated into the constitution of the Phalanx. Soon the
+    body was divided into the religious and liberal portions, both
+    of which carried their views, we think, to extremes.
+
+    "We were present at a business meeting, in the early part of the
+    fall of 1844. Each party, it seemed, felt bound to oppose the
+    wishes, plans and movements of the other. We advised the more
+    liberal portion of the society quietly to withdraw, and allow
+    the other party to succeed if it possibly could. But they did
+    not feel at liberty to do so; and soon after the religious body
+    left, taking with them what of their property they could find,
+    leaving those who remained (the liberal portion of the society),
+    comparatively destitute. They felt determined to succeed, and
+    nobly have they combated, to the present time, the hostile
+    elements which have warred against them with terrible force.
+    United in sympathy and feeling, they re-organized last spring;
+    but the interest was too much for them to meet, and now there is
+    no prospect of their remaining as an Association longer than the
+    approaching April. Could those now upon the domain purchase
+    three or four hundred acres of the land, we have not the least
+    doubt but that they would succeed, and ultimately come into
+    possession of the valuable wood-land adjoining. But this is
+    impossible. In the evening all the adults convened together, and
+    at their earnest request, we spoke for the space of an hour or
+    more upon the signs of the times, the evidences of social
+    progress, and the various minor difficulties that the pioneers
+    in this movement must necessarily have to experience; proving to
+    the satisfaction of most of them, we think, that Fourier's plan
+    of distributing wealth, was both arbitrary and superficial; that
+    it was a useless effort to unite two opposite and hostile
+    elements, which have no more affinity for each other than water
+    and oil, or fire and gunpowder; that inasmuch as individual and
+    separate interests are the cause or occasion of nearly all the
+    crime, poverty, and suffering in civilized society, it follows
+    that the cause and occasion must be removed, ere the effects
+    will disappear. Still the difference between Communists and
+    Associationists is not so great, that they should be opposed and
+    alienated. It should be our object to see the points of
+    agreement, rather than seek for points of disagreement. In the
+    former we have been too active and earnest. Association is a
+    great school for Communism. It will develop the false, and point
+    out the good.
+
+    "As we left this interesting spot the following morning, it was
+    painful to think that those men and women, who for nearly two
+    years had struggled against great odds, with their
+    philanthropic, manly and heroic spirit, with all their
+    enthusiasm, zeal and confidence in the beauty and practicability
+    of the principles of social co-operation, must soon be dispersed
+    and thrown back again, to act upon the selfish and beggarly
+    principles of strife and competition."
+
+Macdonald ends the story in his usual sombre style as follows:
+
+    "This experiment was a total failure. I have been unable to
+    gather many particulars concerning its last days, and those I
+    have obtained are of a very unfavorable character.
+
+    "The chief cause of failure was religious difference. Persons of
+    various religious creeds could not agree. There were some among
+    them who thought it no sin to labor on the Sabbath, and others
+    who looked upon it as an outrage, which the Phalanx should take
+    action to prevent. A committee was appointed to settle such
+    differences, but in this they failed. Sickness was another of
+    their troubles. They were severely afflicted with typhoid
+    erysipelas, and at one time forty-nine of their members were
+    upon the sick list.
+
+    "After laboring a year or two under these difficulties, there
+    was a hasty and disorderly retreat. It is said that each
+    individual helped himself to the movable property, and that some
+    decamped in the night, leaving the remains of the Phalanx to be
+    disposed of in any way which the last men might choose. The fact
+    that mankind do not like to have their faults and failings made
+    public, will probably account for the difficulty in obtaining
+    particulars of such experiments as the Sodus Bay Phalanx."
+
+Allen and Orvis, the lecturing missionaries of Brook Farm, in that
+same letter from which we quoted some time since a maledictory
+paragraph on the memory of the Skaneateles Community, mention also the
+bad odor of the defunct confederated Phalanxes of Western New York, in
+the following disrespectful terms. Their letter is dated at Rochester,
+September 1847:
+
+"The prospect for meetings in this city is less favorable than that of
+any place where we have previously visited. It is the nest wherein was
+hatched that anomalous brood of birds, called the 'Sodus Bay Phalanx,'
+'The Clarkson Phalanx,' the 'Bloomfield Phalanx,' and the 'Ontario
+Union.' The very name of Association is odious with the public, and
+the unfortunate people who went into these movements in such mad
+haste, have been ridiculed till endurance is no longer possible, and
+they have slunk away from the sight and knowledge of their neighbors."
+
+The experience of the Sodus Bay Phalanx in regard to religion,
+suggests reflections. Let us improve the opportunity to study some of
+the practical relations of religion to Association.
+
+The object and end of Association in all its forms, as we have
+frequently said, is to gather men, women and children into larger and
+more permanent HOMES than those established by marriage. The
+advantages of partnership, incorporation and coöperation have become
+so manifest in modern affairs, that an unspeakable longing has arisen
+in the very heart of civilization for the extension of those
+advantages to the dearest of all human interests--family affairs--the
+business of home. The charm that drew the western New Yorkers together
+in such rushing multitudes, was simply the prospect of home on the
+large scale, which indeed is heaven.
+
+Now if we consider the laws which govern the formation of homes on the
+small scale, we shall be likely to get some wisdom in regard to their
+formation on the large scale.
+
+And in the first place, it is evident that homes formed by the
+conjunction of pairs in the usual way, are not all harmonious--perhaps
+we might say, are not generally harmonious. Families quarrel and break
+up, as well as Associations; and if husbands and wives were as free to
+separate as the members of Association are, possibly marriage would
+not make much better show than Socialism has made. Human nature, as we
+have seen it in the Communities and Phalanxes--discordant,
+centrifugal--is the same in marriage. Now, as experience has developed
+something like a code of rules that govern prudent people in venturing
+on marriage, our true way is to study that code, and apply it as far
+as possible to the vastly greater venture of Association.
+
+Fourier's dream that two or three thousand discordant centrifugal
+individuals in one great home, would fall, by natural gravitation,
+into a balance of passions, and realize a harmony unattainable on the
+small scale of familism, has not been confirmed by experience, and
+seems to us the wildest opposite of truth. We should expect, _a
+priori_, that with discordant materials, the greater the formation,
+the worse would be the hell: and this is just what has been proved by
+all the experiments. Let us go back, then, and study the rules of
+harmony in the formation of common families.
+
+Probably there is not one among those rules so familiar and so
+universally approved by the prudent, as that which advises men and
+women not to marry without agreement in religion This rule has nothing
+to do with bigotry. It does not look at the supposed truth or
+falsehood of different religious creeds. It simply says: Let the
+Catholic marry the Catholic; the Orthodox, the Orthodox; the Deist,
+the Deist; the Nothingarian, the Nothingarian; but don't match these
+discords together, if you wish for family peace. Now this is the
+precept which the Fourier Associations, as we see, deliberately
+violated; and yet they expected peace, and complained dreadfully
+because they did not get it! There is latent quarrel enough in the
+religious opposition of a single pair, to spoil a family; and yet
+these Socialists ventured on hundred-fold complications of such
+oppositions, with a heroism that would be sublime, if it were not
+desperately unwise.
+
+It is useless to say that religion is an affair of the inner man and
+need not disturb external relations. It did disturb the external
+relations of the Socialists at Sodus Bay, and could not do otherwise.
+They quarreled about the Sabbath. It did disturb the external
+relations of the Northampton Socialists. They quarreled about
+amusements. Religion always extends from the inner man to such
+external things.
+
+It is useless to say, as Collins evidently wished to insinuate, that
+the bigoted sort of religionists, those of the orthodox order, were
+alone to blame. In the first place this is not true. All the witnesses
+say, Collins among the rest, that both parties pushed and hooked. And
+in the next place, if it were true, it would only show the importance
+of excluding the orthodox from Associations, and the value of the rule
+that forbids marrying religious discords.
+
+Even Collins, with all his liberality, had originally too much good
+sense to attempt Association in the promiscuous way of the
+Fourierists. His first idea was to make his Community a sort of
+close-communion church of infidelity; and, as it turned out, this was
+his brightest idea; for in abandoning it he succumbed to his more
+religious rival, Johnson, and admitted quarreling and weakness that
+ruined the enterprise. His advice also to the liberal party at Sodus
+Bay to withdraw, shows that his judgment was opposed to the
+heterogeneous mixtures that were popular among the Fourierists.
+
+On the whole it seems to us that it should be considered settled by
+reason and experience, that the rule we have found governing the
+prudential theory of marriage on the small scale, should be
+transferred to the theory of Association, which is really marriage on
+the large scale. Better not marry at all, than marry a religious
+quarrel. Better have no religion, than have a dozen different
+religions, as they had at Clarkson. If you mean to found a Community
+for peace and permanence, first of all find associates that agree with
+you in religion, or at least in no-religion, and if possible bar out
+all others. Remember that all the successful Communities are
+harmonious, and the basis of their harmony is unity in religion. If
+you think you can find a way to secure harmony in no-religion, try it.
+But don't be so foolish as to enter on the tremendous responsibilities
+of Community-building, with a complication of religious quarrels
+lurking in your material.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+OTHER NEW YORK EXPERIMENTS.
+
+
+The next on the list of the Confederated Associations of western New
+York, was
+
+THE BLOOMFIELD ASSOCIATION.
+
+We have but meager accounts of this experiment. Macdonald does not
+mention it. The _Phalanx_ of June 15, 1844, says that it commenced
+operations on the 15th of March in that year, on a domain of about
+five hundred acres, mostly improved land, situated one mile east of
+Honeoye Falls, in the Counties of Monroe, Livingston and Ontario; that
+it was in debt for its land about $11,000, and had $35,000 of its
+subscriptions actually paid in; that it had one hundred and
+forty-eight resident members, and a large number more expecting to
+join, as soon as employment could be found for them. Two or three
+allusions to this Association occur afterward in the _Phalanx_,
+congratulating it on its prospects, and mentioning good reports of its
+progress. Finally in the _Harbinger_, volume 1, page 247, we find a
+letter from E.D. Wight and E.A. Stillman, dated August 20, 1845,
+defending the Association against newspaper charges, and asserting its
+continued prosperity; but giving us the following peep into a
+complication of troubles, that probably brought it to its end shortly
+afterwards:
+
+    "We are not fully satisfied with the tenor by which our real
+    estate, under the existing laws, is obliged to be held.
+    Conveyances, pursuant to legal advice, were made originally by
+    the owners of each particular parcel, to the committee of
+    finance, in trust for the stockholders and members; and a power
+    was executed by the stockholders to the committee, by which,
+    under certain regulations, they were to have authority to sell
+    and convey the same. The absurdity of the Statute of Trusts
+    never having been licked into shape by judicial decisions, a
+    close and unavailing search has since been instituted for the
+    fugitive legal title.
+
+    "Some counselors, learned in the law, find it in the committee
+    of finance, as representatives of the Association; others have
+    discovered that it is vested in them as individuals; others
+    still, of equal eminence, and equally intent on arriving at a
+    true solution, find perhaps that it is in the committee and
+    stockholders jointly; while there are those who profess to find
+    it in neither of these parties, but in the persons of whom the
+    property was purchased, and to whom has been paid its full
+    valuation!
+
+    "In order to educe order out of this confusion of opinions, and
+    to enable us to acquire, if possible, a less objectionable
+    title, it has been proposed to petition the Chancellor for a
+    sale, as a title from the court would be free from doubt."
+
+If this may be considered the end (as it probably was), it shows that
+the Bloomfield Association died, as the Clarkson did, in a quarrel
+about its titles, and in the hands of the lawyers.
+
+
+THE ONTARIO UNION.
+
+"This Association" says the _Phalanx_ of June 1844, "commenced
+operations about two weeks since, in Hopewell, Ontario County, five
+miles from Canandaigua. They have purchased the mills and farm
+formerly owned by Judge Bates, consisting of one hundred and fifty
+acres of land, a flouring mill with five run of burr stones, and
+saw-mill, at $16,000. They have secured by subscription, about one
+hundred and thirty acres of land in the immediate vicinity, which they
+are now working. To meet their liabilities for the original purchase,
+I am informed they have already a subscription which they believe can
+be relied on, amounting to over $40,000. They have now upon the domain
+about seventy-five members. This institution has been able already to
+commence such branches of industry as will produce an immediate
+return, and as a consequence, will avoid the necessity of living upon
+their capital. There is danger that their enthusiasm will get the
+better of their judgment in admitting members too fast."
+
+The editor of the _Phalanx_ visited this Association among others, in
+the fall of 1844, and gave the following cheerful account of it:
+
+    "The whole number of resident members is one hundred and fifty;
+    fifty of whom are men, and upward of sixty children. We were
+    greatly pleased with the earnest spirit which seemed to pervade
+    this little Community. We thought we perceived among them a
+    really religious devotion to the great cause in which they have
+    embarked. This gave an unspeakable charm to their rude,
+    temporary dwellings, and lent a grace to their plain manners,
+    far above any superficial elegance. We have no doubt that they
+    will succeed in establishing a state of society higher even than
+    they themselves anticipate. Of their pecuniary success their
+    present condition gives good assurance. We should think that,
+    with ordinary prudence, it was entirely certain."
+
+We find nothing after this in the _Phalanx_ about this Association.
+Macdonald merely mentions a few such items as the date, place, etc.,
+and concludes with the following terse epitaph: "It effected but
+little, and was of brief duration. No further particulars."
+
+
+THE MIXVILLE ASSOCIATION
+
+was one of the group that radiated from Rochester, according to Mr.
+Greig; but we can find no account of it anywhere, except that it had
+not commenced operations at the time of the session of the
+Confederated Council; though a delegate from it was a member of that
+Council. How long it lived, or whether it lived at all, does not
+appear.
+
+
+THE JEFFERSON COUNTY PHALANX.
+
+This Association, though not properly a member of the group that
+radiated from Rochester, and somewhat remote from western New York,
+was named among the confederated Associations, and sent a delegate to
+the Bloomfield Council. Three notices of it occur in the _Phalanx_,
+which we here present.
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_ October 5, 1843.]
+
+    "This Association has been commenced through the efforts,
+    principally, of A.M. Watson, Esq., the President, who for some
+    years past has been engaged in advocating and disseminating the
+    principles of Association in Watertown and that section of the
+    State. There are over three hundred persons now on the domain,
+    which consists of twelve or fifteen hundred acres of superior
+    land, finely watered, and situated within two or three miles of
+    Watertown. It is composed of several farms, put in by farmers,
+    who have taken stock for their lands, and joined the
+    Association. Very little cash capital has been paid in; the
+    enterprise was undertaken with the subscription of property,
+    real estate, provisions, tools, implements, &c., brought in by
+    the members, who were principally farmers and mechanics in the
+    neighborhood; and the result is an interesting proof of what can
+    be done by union and combined effort among the producing
+    classes. Different branches of manufactures have been
+    established, contracts for building in Watertown have been
+    taken, and an organization of labor into groups or squads, with
+    their foremen or leaders, has been made to some extent. The
+    agricultural department is prosecuted with vigor, and when last
+    heard from, the Association was flourishing. We hope from this
+    Association that perseverance and constancy--for it of course
+    has many difficulties to contend with--which will insure
+    success, and give another proof of the truth of the great
+    principles of combined effort and united interests."
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, November 4, 1843.]
+
+    "The following statement from the _Black River Journal_ of
+    October 6th, exhibits the affairs of the Jefferson County
+    Association in a gratifying light, and shows that so far it has
+    been extremely prosperous and successful. The fact alone of a
+    profit having been made, whether much or little, affords a
+    strong proof of the advantages of associated effort, for we
+    apprehend that either farmers or mechanics working separately,
+    would generally find it difficult to show a balance in their
+    favor upon the settlement of their accounts. But a net profit of
+    nearly thirteen thousand dollars, or twenty-five per cent. upon
+    the capital invested, for the first six months that a small
+    Association has been in operation, under circumstances by no
+    means the most favorable, is striking and incontestable evidence
+    of real prosperity. Before a great while we shall have many such
+    cases to record."
+
+    ABSTRACT OF SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT.
+
+    The first Semi-Annual Report of the property, expenditures and
+    proceeds of labor of the Jefferson County Industrial
+    Association, was submitted to a meeting of the stockholders on
+    Monday the 2d inst.
+
+    Since the organization of the Association in
+    April last, the real and personal property
+    acquired by purchase and subscription, has
+    reached the amount of                         $54,832.10
+
+    This is subject to reduction by the amount
+    of subscribed property applied to the
+    purchase of real estate                         5,458.28
+                                                    --------
+    Total property on hand                                  $49,373.82
+
+    The aggregate product of the several
+    departments of business, to Sept. 23d         $20,301.67
+
+    Expense of same, including all purchases
+    of goods and supplies                           7,331.95
+                                                    --------
+    Net proceeds                                            $12,969.72
+
+    Of this has been expended in improvement of
+    buildings, making a brick-yard, and preparing
+    summer fallows                                            1,365.00
+                                                            ----------
+    Balance on hand                                         $11,604.72
+
+    This balance consists of agricultural products in store, brick
+    manufactured and now on hand, proceeds of jobbing contracts,
+    earnings of mechanics' shops, etc.
+
+    Published by order of the President and Board of Directors.
+
+    _Report of A.M. Watson to the Confederate Council, May 15,
+    1844._
+
+    "The Jefferson County Association has made its first annual
+    statement, by which it appears that capital in that institution
+    will receive a fraction over six per cent. interest. Owing to
+    inattention to the principles of Association, and a defective
+    and incomplete organization of industry into groups and series,
+    as well as to the fact that in the commencement much time is
+    lost, labor in this institution fails to obtain its fair
+    remuneration. Another circumstance which has operated to the
+    disadvantage of labor, is, that no allowance has been made in
+    its favor, in the annual settlement, for working dresses. These
+    facts are conclusive, to my mind, that the disadvantages of
+    improper or inadequate organization in all institutions, will be
+    even more injurious to labor than to capital.
+
+    "This institution commenced operations without the investment of
+    much, if any, cash capital, and they now are somewhat
+    embarrassed for want of such means. A subscription to their
+    stock of two thousand dollars in cash, or a loan of that amount
+    for a reasonable time, for which good security could be given,
+    would, in my opinion, place them in a situation to carry on a
+    very profitable business the ensuing year. If this obstacle can
+    be surmounted, I know of no institution of better promise than
+    this. This would seem to be but a small matter; but when the
+    fact is considered that they are located in the midst of a
+    community which sympathizes but little in the movement, while
+    many exert themselves to increase the embarrassment by decrying
+    their responsibility, it will readily be seen that their
+    situation is unenviable. Their responsibility, when compared
+    with that of most business concerns in the country, is more real
+    than that of a majority of business men who are considered
+    perfectly solvent. Considering the difficulties and
+    embarrassments through which they have already struggled, I have
+    strong confidence in their ultimate success. The whole number of
+    members will not vary much at this time, from one hundred and
+    fifty. They have reduced, by sale, their lands to about eight
+    hundred acres, and I refer you to the annual report for further
+    information as to their liabilities."
+
+We perceive in the depressed tone of this report, as well as in the
+reduction of numbers and land which it exhibits, that decline had
+begun and failure was impending. Nothing more is said in the _Phalanx_
+about this Association, except that it sent a delegate to a
+socialistic convention that met in New York City on the 7th of
+October, 1844. We have to fall back, as usual, on Macdonald, for the
+summing-up and final moral. He says:
+
+    "After a few months, disagreements among the members became
+    general. Their means were totally inadequate; they were too
+    ignorant of the principles of Association; were too much crowded
+    together, and had too many idlers among them. There was bad
+    management on the part of the officers, and some were suspected
+    of dishonesty. As times grew better, many of those who joined on
+    account of hard times, got employment and left; and many more
+    thought they could do better in the world again, and did the
+    same thing. The only aid they could get in their difficulties,
+    was from stock subscriptions, and that was not much. Men who
+    invested actual property sustained heavy losses. One farmer who
+    involved his farm, lost nearly all he possessed. After existing
+    about twelve months the land was sold to pay the debts, and the
+    Association disbanded."
+
+
+THE MOORHOUSE UNION
+
+is mentioned in the first number of the _Phalanx_, October 1843, as
+one among the many Associations just starting at that time. Macdonald
+gives the following account of it:
+
+    "This experiment originated in the offer of a grant of land by
+    A.K. Moorhouse, of Moorhouseville, Hamilton County, New York,
+    who owned 60,000 acres of land in the counties of Hamilton,
+    Herkimer and Saratoga. As most of this land was situated in what
+    is called the 'wilderness of New York,' he could find few
+    persons who were willing to purchase and settle the inhospitable
+    wild. Under these circumstances he offered to the Socialists as
+    much of 10,000 acres as they might clear in three years, hoping
+    that an Association would build up a village and form a nucleus
+    around which individuals and Associations might settle and
+    purchase his lands.
+
+    "The offer was accepted by an Association formed in New York
+    City, and several capitalists promised to take stock in the
+    enterprise; but none was ever paid for. In May 1843, Mr.
+    Moorhouse arrived at Piseco from New York, with a company of
+    pioneers, who were soon followed by others, and the work
+    commenced. The locality chosen at Lake Piseco was situated about
+    five miles from Lake Pleasant, the county seat, a village of
+    eight or nine houses and a court-house. On the arrival of the
+    party it was found that Mr. Moorhouse had made some
+    improvements, which he was willing to exchange for $2,000 of
+    stock in the Association. This was agreed to. He also engaged to
+    furnish provisions, tools etc., and take his pay in stock. The
+    land on which the Association commenced its labors was a gift
+    from Mr. Moorhouse; but the improvements which consisted of 120
+    acres of cleared land with a few buildings, was accepted as
+    stock at the above valuation.
+
+    "The money, property and labor were put into common stock. Labor
+    was rated at fifty cents per day, no matter of what kind. A
+    store was kept on the premises, in which articles were sold at
+    prime cost, with an allowance for transportation, &c. By the
+    constitution the members were entitled to scrip representing the
+    excess of wages over the amount of goods received from the
+    store; or, in other words, laborers became stockholders in
+    proportion to that excess. No dividends were to be declared for
+    the first five years.
+
+    "The persons thus congregated to carry out the principles of
+    Association [number not stated], belonged to a variety of
+    occupations; but it appears that but few of them were adapted to
+    the wants of the Community. Some of the members were intelligent
+    and moral people; but the majority were very inferior. No
+    property qualifications were necessary to admission. It appears
+    that members were obtained by an agent, who took
+    indiscriminately all he could get. The most common religious
+    belief among them was Methodist; but a large proportion of them
+    did not profess any religion, and some were what is commonly
+    called infidels.
+
+    "Though the persons congregated here had left but humble homes
+    and poor circumstances generally, yet the circumstances now
+    surrounding them were worse than those they had left, and as a
+    natural consequence there was a deterioration of character. Not
+    having formed any organization in the city, as is customary in
+    such experiments, they received no aid from without; and the
+    want of this aid does not appear to have insured success, as
+    some enthusiastic Socialists have imagined that it would; but on
+    the contrary a most signal failure ensued.
+
+    "The leading persons were Mr. Moorhouse and a relative of his
+    named Brown. The former furnished every thing and turned it in
+    as stock. The latter kept the store and the accounts. The
+    members do not appear to have been acquainted with the mode in
+    which either the store or books were kept.
+
+    "At the commencement, when they were sufficiently supplied from
+    the store, they agreed tolerably well; but during the latter
+    period of the experiment, when Mr. Moorhouse began to be slack
+    in buying things for the members, there was a good deal of
+    disagreement. The store was nearly always empty, and when
+    anything was brought into it, there was a general scramble to
+    see who should get the most. This, as a matter of course,
+    produced much jealousy and quarreling. All kinds of suspicions
+    were afloat, and it was generally reported that the executive,
+    including the store-keeper, fared better than the rest.
+
+    "Some work was done, and some improvements were made upon the
+    land. Rye and potatoes were planted, and probably consumed. The
+    experiment existed a few months, and then by degrees died away."
+
+The following from a person who took part in the experiment, will give
+the reader a nearer view of the causes of the failure:
+
+    "The population congregated at Piseco was composed of all
+    nations, characters and conditions; a motley group of
+    ill-assorted materials, as inexperienced as it was
+    heterogeneous. We had some specimens of the raw material of
+    human nature, and some of New York manufacture spoiled in the
+    making. There were philosophers and philanthropists, bankrupt
+    merchants and broken-down grocery-keepers; officers who had
+    retired from the Texan army on half-pay; and some who had
+    retired from situations in the New York ten-pin alleys. There
+    were all kinds of ideas, notions, theories, and whims; all kinds
+    of religions; and some persons without any. There was no
+    unanimity of purpose, or congeniality of disposition; but there
+    was plenty of discussion, and an abundance of variety, which is
+    called the spice of life. This spice however constituted the
+    greater part of the fare, as we sometimes had scarcely anything
+    else to eat.
+
+    "At first we were pretty well off for provisions; but soon the
+    supplies began to be reduced; and in November the list of
+    luxuries and necessaries commenced with rye and ended with
+    potatoes, with nothing between! As the supplies were cut off,
+    the number of members decreased. They were starved out. But of
+    course the starving process was slower in those cases where the
+    individuals had not the means of transportation back to the
+    white settlements. When I left the 'promised land' in March
+    1844, there were only six families remaining. I had determined
+    to see it out; but the state of things was so bad, and the
+    prospects ditto, that I could stand it no longer. I thought the
+    whole would soon fall into the hands of Mr. Moorhouse, and I
+    could not afford to spend any more time in a cause so hopeless.
+    I had given nine months' time, was half starved, got no pay, had
+    worn out my clothes, and had my best coat borrowed without
+    leave, by a man who went to New York some time before. This I
+    thought might suffice for one experiment. I left the place less
+    sanguine than when I went there that Associations could succeed
+    without capital and without a good selection of members. Yet my
+    belief was as firm as ever in the coming abolition of
+    conflicting interests, and the final harmonious reconstruction
+    of society."
+
+Here ends the history of the Fourier Associations in the State of New
+York. The Ohio experiments come next.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE MARLBORO ASSOCIATION.
+
+
+As in New England, so in Ohio, the general socialistic excitement of
+1841 and afterwards, gave rise to several experiments that had nothing
+to do with Fourier's peculiar philosophy. We begin with one of these
+indigenous productions.
+
+Mrs. Esther Ann Lukens, a member of the Marlboro Community, answered
+Macdonald's inquiries about its history. We copy the greater part of
+her story:
+
+    _Mrs. Lukens's Narrative._
+
+    "The Marlboro Community seems, as I think of it, to have had its
+    existence so entirely in dreams of human advancement and the
+    generous wish to promote it, and also in ignorance of all but
+    the better part of human nature, that it is hard to speak of it
+    as a _bona fide_ portion of our plodding work-a-day world.
+
+    "It was originated by a few generous and ardent spirits, who
+    were disgusted with the oppressive and antagonistic conditions
+    of ordinary labor and commerce. The only remedy they saw, was a
+    return to the apostolic manner of living--that of 'having all
+    things common.'
+
+    "The Association was first talked of and its principles
+    generally discussed in Clinton County, some years before
+    anything was done. Many in all parts of Ohio participated in
+    this discussion, and warmly urged the scheme; but only a few
+    were found who were hopeful and courageous enough to dare the
+    final experiment.
+
+    "The gathering commenced in 1841 on the farm of Mr. E. Brooke,
+    and consisted at first of his family and a few other persons.
+    Gradually the number increased, and another farm was added by
+    the free gift of Dr. A. Brooke, or rather by his resigning all
+    right and title to it as an individual, and delivering it over
+    to the joint ownership of the great family.
+
+    "As may be supposed, the majority of those who gathered around
+    this nucleus, were without property, and very slenderly gifted
+    with the talent of acquiring it, but thoroughly honest,
+    philanthropic, warmly social, and willing to perform what
+    appeared to them the right amount of labor belonging to freemen
+    in a right state of society. They forgot in a few instances,
+    that this right state did not exist, but was only dreamed about,
+    and had yet to be realized by more than common labor with the
+    hands.
+
+    "The Community had but little property of any value but land,
+    and that was in an uncultivated, half-wild state. There were a
+    few hundred dollars in hand; I can not say how many; but
+    certainly not half the amount required for purchases that seemed
+    immediately necessary. There was a good house and barn on each
+    farm, each house capable of accommodating comfortably three
+    families, besides three small tenant houses of logs, capable of
+    accommodating one family each. There were also on the premises
+    four or five horses and a few cattle and sheep.
+
+    "It became necessary, as the numbers increased, to purchase the
+    farm intervening between the one first owned by E. Brooke, and
+    the one given by Dr. A. Brooke, both for convenience in passing
+    and repassing, and for the reason that more land was needed to
+    give employment to all. The owner asked an exorbitant price,
+    knowing our necessities; but it was paid, or rather promised,
+    and so a load of debt was contracted.
+
+    "The members generally were eminently moral and intellectual. As
+    to religious belief, they were what people called, and perhaps
+    justly, Free-thinkers. In our conferences for purposes of
+    improvement and domestic counsel, which were held on Sundays,
+    religion, as a distinct obligation, was never mentioned.
+
+    "Provisions were easily procured. One of the farms had a large
+    orchard, and our living was confined to the plainest vegetable
+    diet; so that much time was left for social and mental
+    improvement. All will join with me in saying that love and good
+    fellowship reigned paramount; so that all enjoyed good care
+    during sickness, and kindly sympathy at all times.
+
+    "About a year and a-half after its foundation, the Community
+    sustained a great loss by the death of one of its most efficient
+    and ardent supporters, Joseph Lukens. It was after this period
+    that a constitution or form of Association was framed, and many
+    persons were admitted who had different views of property and
+    the basis of rights, from what were generally held at the
+    beginning.
+
+    "The existence of the Community, from first to last, was nearly
+    four years. If I should say there was perfect unanimity of
+    feeling to the last, it would not be true. Yet there were no
+    quarrels, and all discussions among us were temperate and kind.
+    As to our breaking up, there was no cause for it clear to my
+    mind, except the complicated state of the business concerns, the
+    amount of debt contracted, and the feeling that each one would
+    work with more energy, for a time at least, if thrown upon his
+    own resources, with plenty of elbow-room and nothing to distract
+    his attention."
+
+Mr. Thomas Moore, also a member of this Community, gave his opinion of
+the cause of its decease in a separate paper, as follows:
+
+    _Mr. Moore's Post Mortem._
+
+    "The failure of this experiment may be traced to the fact that
+    the minds of its originators were not homogeneous. They all
+    agreed that in a properly organized Community, there should be
+    no buying and selling between the members, but that each should
+    share the common products according to his necessity. But while
+    Dr. A. Brooke held that this principle should govern our conduct
+    in our interchange with the whole world, the others believed it
+    right for any number of individuals to separate themselves from
+    the surrounding world, and from themselves into a distinct
+    Community; and while they had every thing free among themselves,
+    continue to traffic in the common way with those outside. And
+    again, while many believed they were prepared to enter into a
+    Community of this kind, Mr. Edward Brooke had his doubts,
+    fearing that the time had not yet arrived when any considerable
+    number of individuals could live together on these principles;
+    that though some might be prompted to enter into such relations
+    through principles of humanity and pure benevolence, others
+    would come in from motives altogether selfish; and that discord
+    would be the result. Dr. A. Brooke, not being willing to be
+    confined in any Community that did not embrace the whole world,
+    stepped out at the start, but left the Community in possession
+    of his property during his life; believing that to be as long as
+    he had any right to dispose of it. But Edward Brooke yielded to
+    the views of others, and went on with the Community.
+
+    "For some time the members who came in from abroad added nothing
+    of consequence to the common stock. Some manifested by their
+    conduct that their objects were selfish, and being disappointed,
+    left again. Others, who perhaps entered from purer motives, also
+    became dissatisfied for various reasons and left; and so the
+    Community fluctuated for some time. At length three families
+    were admitted as members, who had property invested in farms,
+    and who were to sell the farms and devote the proceeds to the
+    common stock. Two of these, after having tried community life a
+    year, concluded to leave before they had sold their farms; and
+    the third, not being able to sell, there was a lack of capital
+    to profitably employ the members; and the consequence was, there
+    was not quite enough produced to support the Community.
+    Discovering this to be the case, several of the persons who
+    originally owned the property became dissatisfied; and although
+    according to the principles of the Community they had no greater
+    interest in that property than any other members, yet it was no
+    less a fact that they had donated it nearly all (excepting Dr.
+    A. Brooke's lease), and that now they would like to have it
+    back. This placed the true Socialists in delicate circumstances.
+    Being without pecuniary means of their own, they could not
+    exercise the power that had voluntarily been placed in their
+    hands, to control these dissatisfied ones, so as to cause them,
+    against their will, to leave their property in the hands of the
+    Community. The property was freely yielded up, though with the
+    utmost regret. My opinion therefore is that the experiment
+    failed at the time it did, through lack of faith in those who
+    had the funds, and lack of funds in those who had the faith."
+
+Dr. A. Brooke, who devoted his land to the Marlboro Community, but
+stepped out himself, because he would not be confined to anything less
+than Communism with the world, afterwards tried a little experiment of
+his own, which failed and left no history. Macdonald visited him in
+1844, and reports some curious things about him, which may give the
+reader an idea of what was probably the most radical type of Communism
+that was developed in the Socialistic revival of 1841-3.
+
+"Dr. Brooke" says Macdonald, "was a tall, thin man, with gray hair,
+and beard quite unshaven. His face reminded me of the ancient
+Philosophers. His only clothing was a shirt and pantaloons; nothing
+else on either body, head, or feet. He invited us into his comfortable
+parlor, which was neatly furnished and had a good supply of books and
+papers. Our breakfast consisted of cold baked apples, cold corn bread,
+and I think potatoes.
+
+"We questioned him much concerning his strange notions, and in the
+course of conversation I remarked, that such men as Robert Owen,
+Charles Fourier, Josiah Warren and others, had each a certain number
+of fundamental principles, upon which to base their theories, and I
+wished to understand definitely what fundamental principles he had,
+and how many of them. He replied that he had only one principle, and
+that was to do what he considered right. He said he attended the sick
+whenever he was called upon, for which he made no charge. When he
+wanted anything which he knew one of his neighbors could supply, he
+sent to that neighbor for it. He shewed me a brick out-building at the
+back of his cottage, which he said had been put up for him by masons
+in the vicinity. He made it known that he wanted such work done, and
+no less than five men came to do it for him."
+
+Macdonald adds the following story:
+
+    "I remember when in Cincinnati, one Sunday afternoon at a
+    Fourier meeting I heard Mr. Benjamin Urner read a letter from
+    Dr. A. Brooke to some hardware merchants in Cincinnati (the
+    Brothers Donaldson in Main street, I believe), telling them that
+    his necessities required a variety of agricultural tools, such
+    as a plow, harrow, axes, etc., and requesting that they might be
+    sent on to him. He stated that he had given up the use of money,
+    that he gave his professional services free of cost to those
+    whose necessities demanded them, and for any thing his
+    necessities required he applied to those whom he thought able to
+    give. Mr. Urner stated that this strange individual had been the
+    post-master of the place where he now lived, but that he had
+    given up the office so that he might not have to use money. He
+    also informed us that the hardware merchants very kindly sent on
+    the articles to Dr. Brooke free of cost; which announcement gave
+    great satisfaction to the meeting."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+PRAIRIE HOME COMMUNITY.
+
+
+This Association (another indigenous production) with several like
+attempts, originated with Mr. John O. Wattles, Valentine Nicholson and
+others, who, after attending a socialistic convention in New York in
+1843, lectured on Association at various places on their way back to
+the West. Orson S. Murray, the editor of the _Regenerator_, was also
+interested in this Community, and was on his way with his printing
+establishment to join it and publish his paper under its auspices,
+when he was wrecked on Lake Erie, and lost nearly every thing but his
+life.
+
+Prairie Home is a beautiful location near West Liberty in Logan
+County, Ohio. The domain consisted of over five hundred acres; half of
+which on the hills was well-timbered, and the remainder was in fine
+rich fields stretching across the prairie.
+
+The members numbered about one hundred and thirty, nearly all of whom
+were born and bred in the West. Of foreigners there were only two
+Englishmen and one German. Most of the members were agriculturists.
+Many of them had been Hicksite Quakers. A few were from other sects,
+and some from no sect at all. There were but few children.
+
+A few months before the dissolution of this Community Macdonald
+visited it, and staid several days. His gossiping report of what he
+saw and heard gives as good an inside view of the transitory species
+of Associations as any we find in his collections. We quote the most
+of it:
+
+    _Macdonald's visit at Prairie Home._
+
+    "On arriving at West Liberty I inquired eagerly for the
+    Community; but when very coldly and doubtfully told that it was
+    somewhere down the Urbana road, and seeing that folks in the
+    town did not seem to know or care much where it was, my ardor
+    sensibly abated, and I began to doubt whether it was much of an
+    affair after all; but I pushed on, anxious at once to see the
+    place.
+
+    "On reaching the spot where I was told I should find the
+    Community, I turned off from the main road up a lane, and soon
+    met a gaunt-looking individual, rough but very polite, having
+    the look of a Quaker, which I afterwards found he was. He spoke
+    kindly to me, and directed me where to go. There was a two-story
+    frame house at the entrance of the lane, which belonged to the
+    Community; also a log cabin at the other corner of the lane.
+    After walking a short distance I arrived at another two-story
+    frame house, opposite to which was a large flour-mill on a
+    little stream, and an old saw-mill, looking very rough. At the
+    door of the dwelling-house there was a group of women and girls,
+    picking wool; and as it was just noon, many men came in from
+    various parts of the farm to take their dinner. At the back of
+    the house there was a long shed, with a rough table down the
+    center, and planks for seats on each side, on which thirty or
+    forty people sat. I was kindly received by them, and invited to
+    dinner; and a good dinner it was, consisting of coarse brown
+    bread piled up in broken lumps, dishes of large potatoes
+    unpeeled, some potato-soup, and a supply of melons for a second
+    course.
+
+    "I sat beside a Dr. Hard, who noticed that I took a little salt
+    with my potatoes, and remarked to me that if I abstained from
+    it, I would have my taste much more perfect. There was but
+    little salt on the table, and I saw no person touch it. There
+    was no animal food of any kind except milk, which one or two of
+    them used. They all appeared to eat heartily. The women waited
+    upon the table, but the variety of dishes being small, each
+    person so attended to himself that waiting was rendered almost
+    unnecessary. All displayed a rude politeness.
+
+    "After dinner I fell in with a cabinet-maker, a young man from
+    Bond street, London, and had quite a chat with him; also an
+    elderly man from England, John Wood by name, who was acquainted
+    with the socialistic movement in that country. I then went to
+    see the man work the saw-mill, and was much pleased with his
+    apparent interest and industry.
+
+    "Not finding the acquaintance I was in search of at this place,
+    and hearing that he was at another Community or branch of
+    Prairie Home, about nine miles distant in a northerly direction
+    (which they called the Upper Domain or Highland Home or
+    Zanesfield), I determined to see him that night, and after
+    obtaining necessary information I started on my journey.
+
+    "The walk was long, and it was dark before I reached the
+    Community farm. At length the friendly bow-wow of a dog told of
+    the habitable dwelling, and soon I was in the comfortable and
+    pretty looking farm house at Highland Home. This Community
+    consisted of only ten or twelve persons. Here I found my friend,
+    and after a wholesome Grahamite supper of corn-bread, apple-pie
+    and milk, I had a long conversation with him and others on
+    Community matters. I put many questions to them, all of which
+    were answered satisfactorily. Here is a specimen of our
+    dialogue:
+
+    "Do you make laws? No. Does the majority govern the minority?
+    No. Have you any delegated power? No. Any kind of government?
+    No. Do you express opinions and principles as a body? No. Have
+    you any form of society or test for admission of members? No. Do
+    you assist runaway slaves? Yes. Must you be Grahamites? No. Do
+    you object to religionists? No. What are the terms of admission?
+    The land is free to all; let those who want, come and use it.
+    Any particular trades? No. Can persons take their earnings away
+    with them when they leave? Yes.
+
+    "Their leading principle, they repeatedly told me, was to
+    endeavor to practice the golden rule, 'Do as you would be done
+    by.'
+
+    "The next morning I took a walk round the farm. It was a nice
+    place, and appeared to have been well kept formerly, but now
+    there was some disorder. The workmen appeared to be without
+    clear ideas of the duties they were to perform. It seemed as if
+    they had not made up their minds what they could do, or what
+    they intended to do. Some of them were feeble-looking men, and
+    in conversation with them I ascertained that several, both here
+    and at Prairie Home, had adopted the present mode of Grahamite
+    living to improve their health.
+
+    "Phrenology seemed to be pretty generally understood, and I was
+    surprised to hear rude-looking men, almost ragged, ploughing,
+    fence-making, and in like employments, converse so freely upon
+    Phrenology, Physiology, Magnetism, Hydropathy, &c. The
+    _Phrenological Journal_ was taken by several of them.
+
+    "I visited a neighboring farm, said to belong to the Community,
+    the residence, I believe, of Horton Brown, with whom I had an
+    interesting conversation on religion and Community matters. He
+    said they took the golden rule as their guide, 'Do unto others
+    as ye would have others do unto you.' I reminded him that even
+    the golden rule was subject to individual interpretation, and
+    might be misinterpreted.
+
+    "_Saturday, August 25, 1844._--I noticed several persons here
+    were sick with various complaints, and those who were not sick
+    labored very leisurely. During the day four men arrived from
+    Indiana to see the place and 'join the Community;' but there
+    were no accommodations for them. They reported quite a stir in
+    Indiana in regard to the Community.
+
+    "In the afternoon my friend was ready to return to Cincinnati,
+    whither he was going to try and induce his family to come to
+    Zanesfield. We walked to Prairie Home that evening. At night we
+    were directed to sleep at the two-story frame house at the
+    entrance of the lane. At that place there seemed to be much
+    confusion; too many people and too many idlers among them. The
+    young women were most industrious, attending to the supper table
+    and the provisions in a very steady, business-like manner; but
+    the young men were mostly lounging about doing nothing. At
+    bed-time there were too many persons for each to be accommodated
+    with a bed; so the females all went up stairs and slept as they
+    could; and the males slept below, all spread out in rows upon
+    the floor. This was unpleasant, and as the sequel proved, could
+    not long be endured.
+
+    "_Prairie Home, Sunday, August 26._--In the morning, there was a
+    social meeting of all the members. The weather was too wet and
+    cold for them to meet on the hills, as was intended; so they
+    adjourned to the flour-mill, and seated themselves as best they
+    could, on chairs and planks, men and women all together. Such a
+    meeting as this was quite a novel sight for me. There was no
+    chairman, no secretary and no constitution or by-laws to
+    preserve order. Yet I never saw a more orderly meeting. The
+    discussions seemed chiefly relating to agricultural matters. One
+    man rose and stated that there was certain plowing to be done on
+    the following day, and if it was thought best by the brothers
+    and sisters, he would do it. Another rose and said he would
+    volunteer to do the plowing if the first one pleased, and he
+    might do something else. There appeared to be some competition
+    in respect to what each should do, and yet a strong
+    non-resistant principle was manifest, which seemed to smooth
+    over any difficulty. There was some talk about money and the
+    lease of the property, and several persons spoke, both male and
+    female, apparently just as the spirit moved them. At the close
+    of the meeting some singing was attempted, but it was very poor
+    indeed. The folks scattered to the houses for dinner, and as
+    usual took a pretty good supply of the potatoes, potato-soup,
+    brown bread, apples and apple butter, together with large
+    quantities of melons of various kinds.
+
+    "Owing to the cold weather the people were all huddled together
+    inside the houses. The rooms were too small, and many of the
+    young men were compelled to sleep in the mill. Altogether there
+    were too many persons brought together for the scanty
+    accommodations of the place.
+
+    "_Monday, August 27._--The wind blew hard, and threw down a
+    large stack of hay. It was interesting to see the rapidity with
+    which a group of volunteers put it in order again. The party
+    seemed to act with perfect union.
+
+    "Several persons arrived to join the Community; among the rest a
+    farmer and his family in a large wagon, with a lot of household
+    stuff.
+
+    "I watched several men at work in different places, and to one
+    party I could not help expressing myself thus: 'If you fail, I
+    will give it up; for never did I see men work so well or so
+    brotherly with each other.' But all were not thus industrious;
+    for I saw some who merely crawled about (probably sick), just
+    looking on like myself, at any thing which fell in their way.
+    There was evident disorder, showing a transition state toward
+    either harmony or anarchy. I am sorry to say, it too soon proved
+    to be the latter.
+
+    "After dinner some one suggested having a meeting to talk about
+    a plow. With some little exertion they managed to get ten or
+    twelve men together. Then they sat down and reasoned with each
+    other at great length. But it was very uneconomical, I thought,
+    to bring so many persons together from their work, to talk so
+    much about so small a matter. A plow had to be repaired; some
+    one must and did volunteer to go to the town with it; he wanted
+    money to pay for it; there was no money; he must take a bag of
+    corn or wheat, and trade that off to pay for the repairs; a
+    wagon had to be got out; two horses put to it, and a journey of
+    some miles made, and nearly a day of time expended about such a
+    trifling job.
+
+    "I went to see the saw-mill at work; found one or two men
+    engaged at it. They were working for customers, and got a
+    certain portion of the lumber for what they sawed. I then went
+    into an old log cabin and found my acquaintance, the
+    cabinet-maker. On my inquiring how he liked Community, he told
+    me the following story: He came from London to find friends in
+    Indiana, and brought with him a fine chest of tools. On his
+    arrival, he found his friends about to start for Community; so
+    he came with them. He brought his tools with him, but left them
+    at Zanesfield, and came down here. The folks at Zanesfield,
+    wanting a plane, a saw and chisels, and knowing that his box was
+    there, having no key, actually broke open the box, and under the
+    influence of the common-property idea, helped themselves to the
+    tools, and spoiled them by using them on rough work. He had got
+    his chest away from there. He said he had no objection to their
+    using the tools, if they knew how and did not spoil them. I saw
+    one or two large chisels with pieces chipped out of them and
+    planes nicked by nails, all innocently and ignorantly done by
+    the brothers, who scarcely saw any wrong in it.
+
+    "It was interesting to see the groups of unshaven men. There
+    were men between forty and fifty years of age, who had shaved
+    all their lives before, but now they let their beards grow, and
+    looked ferocious. The young men looked well, and some of them
+    rather handsome, with their soft beards and hair uncut; but the
+    elderly ones did certainly look ugly. There was a German of a
+    thin, gaunt figure, about fifty years of age, with a large,
+    stubby, gray beard, and an ill-tempered countenance.
+
+    "John Wood, the Englishman, a pretty good specimen, blunt,
+    open-hearted and independent, had got three pigs in a pen, which
+    he fed and took care of. They were the only animals on the
+    place, except the horses. But exercising his rights, he said,
+    'If the rest of them did not want meat, he _did_--for he liked a
+    bit o'meat.'
+
+    "I was informed that all the animals on the place, when the
+    Community took possession of the domain, were allowed to go
+    where they pleased; or those who wanted them were free to take
+    them.
+
+    "Before the meeting on Sunday, groups of men stood round the
+    house talking; some two or three of them, including John Wood
+    and the Dutchman (as he was called) were cleaning themselves up
+    a bit; and John had blackened and polished his boots; after
+    which he carefully put the blacking and brushes away. Out came
+    the Dutchman and looked round for the same utensils. Not seeing
+    them, he asked the Englishman for the 'prushes.' So John brings
+    them out and hands them to him. Whereupon the Dutchman marches
+    to the front of the porch, and in wrathful style, with the
+    brushes uplifted in his hand, he addresses the assembled crowd:
+    'He-ar! lookee he-ar! Do you call dis Community? Is dis common
+    property? See he-ar! I ask him for de prushes to placken mine
+    poots, and he give me de prushes, and _not give me de
+    placking_!' This was said with great excitement. 'He never saw
+    such community as dat; he could not understand; he tought every
+    ting was to be common to all!' But John Wood good-humoredly
+    explained that he had bought a box of blacking for himself, and
+    if he gave it to every one who wanted to black boots, he would
+    very soon be without any; so he shut it up for his own use, and
+    those who wanted blacking must buy it for themselves.
+
+    "I noticed there was some carelessness with the farm tools.
+    There was a small shed in which all the scythes, hoes, axes,
+    &c., were supposed to be deposited when not in use. But they
+    were not always returned there. It appeared that these tools
+    were used indiscriminately by any one and every one, so that one
+    day a man would have one ax or scythe, and the next day another.
+    This was evidently not agreeable in practice; for every
+    working-man well knows that he forms attachments for certain
+    tools, as much as he does for friends, and his hand and heart
+    get used to them, as it were, so that he can use them better
+    than he can strange ones.
+
+    "With these few notices of failings, I must say I never saw a
+    better-hearted or more industrious set of fellows. They appeared
+    to struggle hard to effect something, yet it seemed evident that
+    something was lacking among them to make things work well. It
+    might have been organized laws, or government of some kind; it
+    might have been a definite bond of union, or a prominent leader.
+    It is certain there was some power or influence needed, to
+    direct the force mustered there, and make it work economically
+    and harmoniously.
+
+    "People kept coming and going, and were ready to do something;
+    but there was nobody to tell them what to do, and they did not
+    know what to do themselves. They had to eat, drink and sleep;
+    and they expected to obtain the means of doing so; but they
+    seemed not to reflect who was going to supply these means, or
+    where they were to come from. Some seemed greedy and reckless,
+    eating all the time, cutting melons out of the garden and from
+    among the corn, eating them and throwing the peels and seeds
+    about the foot-paths and door-ways.
+
+    "There was an abundance of fine corn on the domain, abundance of
+    melons of all kinds, and, I believe, plenty of apples at the
+    upper Community. Much provision had been brought and sent there
+    by farmers who had entered into the spirit of the cause. For
+    instance there were some wagon-loads of potatoes and apples
+    sent, as well as quantities of unbolted wheat meal, of which the
+    bread was made.
+
+    "On my asking about the idlers, the reply was, 'Oh! they will
+    not stop here long; it is uncongenial to lazy people to be among
+    industrious ones; and for their living, it don't cost much more
+    than fifty cents per week, and they can surely earn that.'
+
+    "At the Sunday meeting before mentioned, the enthusiasm of some
+    was great. One man said he left his home in Indiana; he had a
+    house there, which he thought at first to reserve in case of
+    accident; but he finally concluded that if he had any thing to
+    fall back upon, he could not give his heart and soul to the
+    cause as he wanted to; so he gave up every thing he possessed,
+    and put it into Community. Others did the same, while some had
+    reserved property to fall back upon. Some said they had lands
+    which they would put into the Community, if they could get rid
+    of them; but the times were so hard that there was much scarcity
+    of money, and the lands would not sell.
+
+    "From all I saw I judged that the Community was too loosely put
+    together, and that they had not entire confidence in each other;
+    and I left them with forebodings.
+
+    "The experiment lasted scarcely a year. On the 25th of October,
+    about two months after my visit, they had a meeting to talk over
+    their affairs. More than three thousand dollars had been paid on
+    the property; but the land owner was pressed with a mortgage,
+    and so pressed them. One man sold his farm and got part of the
+    required sum ready to pay. Others who owned farms could not sell
+    them; and the consequence was, that according to agreement they
+    were obliged to give up the papers; so they surrendered the
+    domain and all upon it, into the hands of the original
+    proprietor.
+
+    "The members then scattered in various directions. Several were
+    considerable losers by the attempt, while many had nothing to
+    lose. At the present time I learn that there are men and women
+    of that Community who are still ready with hands and means to
+    try the good work again. The cause of failure assigned by the
+    Communists was their not owning the land they settled upon; but
+    I think it very doubtful whether they could have kept together
+    if the land had been free; for as I have before said, there was
+    something else wanted to make harmony in labor."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+THE TRUMBULL PHALANX.
+
+
+This experiment originated among the Socialist enthusiasts of
+Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Its domain at Braceville, Trumbull County,
+Ohio, was selected and a commencement was made in the spring of 1844.
+From this date till its failure in the latter part of 1847, we find in
+the _Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_ some sixteen notices of it, long and
+short, from which we are to gather its history. We will quote the
+salient parts of these notices; and so let the friends of the
+experiment speak for themselves. The rose-color of their
+representations will be corrected by the ultimate facts. This was one
+of the three most notable experiments in the Fourier epoch--the North
+American and the Wisconsin Phalanxes being the other two.
+
+    [From a letter of Mr. Jehu Brainerd, June 29, 1844.]
+
+    "The location which this society has chosen, is a very beautiful
+    one and is situated in the north-west quarter of Braceville
+    township, eight miles west of Warren, and five miles north of
+    Newton Falls.
+
+    "The domain was purchased of Mr. Eli Barnum, at twelve dollars
+    per acre, and consists of two hundred and eighty acres of the
+    choicest land, about half of which is under good cultivation.
+    There is a valuable and durable mill privilege on the domain,
+    valued at three thousand six hundred dollars; and at the time
+    the purchase was made, there were in successful operation, a
+    grist-mill with two run of stones, an oil-mill, saw-mill, double
+    carding-machine, and cloth-dressing works.
+
+    "The principal buildings on the domain are a large two story
+    brick house, grist-mill and oil-mill, very large, substantial,
+    and entirely new, framed and well painted, and a large barn; the
+    other buildings, though sufficient for present accommodation,
+    are old and somewhat decayed.
+
+    "There has been already subscribed in real estate stock, most of
+    which is within two miles and less of the domain, nine hundred
+    and fifty-seven acres of land, mostly improved farms, which were
+    valued (including neat stock, grain, &c.) at sixteen thousand
+    one hundred and fifty dollars. Five hundred dollars cash capital
+    has also been subscribed and paid in; and about six hundred
+    dollars in lathes, tools, machinery, &c., including one hundred
+    thousand feet of lumber, have been received.
+
+    "There are thirty-five families now belonging to the
+    Association, in all one hundred and forty persons; of this
+    number forty-three are males over twenty-one years of age. Until
+    accommodations can be prepared on the domain, some of the
+    families will reside on the farms subscribed as stock. It is the
+    intention to commence an edifice of brick this present summer,
+    and extend it from time to time, as the increase of members may
+    require, or the funds of the society admit. For present
+    necessity, temporary buildings are erected."
+
+    [From a letter of N.C. Meeker, August 10, 1844.]
+
+    "The number of persons belonging to the Phalanx is about two
+    hundred; some reside on the domain proper; others on more
+    distant farms belonging to the Phalanx. Indeed as regards room,
+    they are much crowded, residing in loose sheds. Nevertheless, on
+    no consideration would they exchange present conditions for
+    former ones. More convenient residences are to be erected
+    forthwith, but it is not contemplated to erect the Phalanstery
+    or final edifice for a year or so, or until they are possessed
+    of sufficient means. Then the magnificent palace of the Combined
+    Order will equally shame the temples of antiquity and the
+    card-houses of modern days.
+
+    "For the present year hard work and few of the attractions of
+    Association are expected. Almost everything is unfitted for the
+    use of Associations, being too insignificant, or characteristic
+    of present society; made to sell rather than to use. The members
+    of the Trumbull Phalanx, knowing how to work truly, and fully
+    understanding that it is a gigantic labor to overturn the
+    despair which has been accumulating so long in men's bosoms,
+    have nerved themselves manfully, showing the true dignity of
+    human nature.
+
+    "Labor is partially organized by the instituting of groups, and
+    to much advantage. Boys who were idle and unproductive, have
+    become producers, and a very fine garden is the work of their
+    hands. They are under the charge of a proper person, who permits
+    them to choose their foreman from among themselves, and at
+    certain hours, in grounds laid out for the purpose, to engage in
+    sports. Even the men themselves, at the close of the work, find
+    agreeable and salutary exercise in a game of ball. Some going to
+    school, earn six or seven shillings a week, and where they work
+    in the brick-yard, from three to four shillings a day. These
+    sums are not final wages, but _permits_; for when a dividend is
+    declared there will be an additional remuneration.
+
+    "On the Sabbath I attended their social meeting, in which those
+    of all persuasions participated. The liberal views and kindly
+    feelings manifested by the various speakers were such as I had
+    never heard before. They spoke of the near relations they
+    sustained to each other, and of the many blessings they look to
+    receive in the future; meanwhile the present unity gave them an
+    idea of heaven. One spirit of joy and gladness seemed to animate
+    them, viz; that they had escaped from the wants, cares, and
+    temptations of civilization, and instead were placed where
+    public good is the same as individual good; hence nothing save
+    pre-conceived prejudices, fast giving away, prevent their loving
+    their neighbors as themselves. This is the spirit of
+    Christianity. Their position calls for union. No good can arise
+    from divers sects; no good ever did arise. They will all unite,
+    Presbyterians, Disciples, Baptists, Methodists, and all; and if
+    any name be needed, under that of Unionism. After meeting the
+    sacrament was administered; then followed a Bible-class, and
+    singing exercises closed the day. [It would seem from this
+    description, that the religion of the Trumbull was more orthodox
+    than any we have found in other Phalanxes.]
+
+    "Those not accustomed to view the progress of combined labor
+    will be astonished to see aggregates. A vast brick-kiln is
+    raised in a short time; a touch plants a field of corn, and a
+    few weeks turns a forest into a farm. Only a few of such results
+    can be seen now; but enough has been done at this Phalanx since
+    last spring, to give one an idea of the vast results which will
+    arise in the days of the new industrial world. Seating myself
+    in the venerable orchard, with the temporary dwellings on the
+    opposite side, the joiners at their benches in their open shops
+    under the green boughs, and hearing on every side the sound of
+    industry, the roll of wheels in the mills, and merry voices, I
+    could not help exclaiming mentally: Indeed my eyes see men
+    making haste to free the slave of all names, nations and
+    tongues, and my ears hear them driving, thick and fast, nails
+    into the coffin of despotism. I can but look on the
+    establishment of this Phalanx as a step of as much importance as
+    any which secured our political independence; and much greater
+    than that which gained the Magna Charta, the foundation of
+    English liberty.
+
+    "But as yet there is nothing clearly demonstrated save by faith.
+    That which remains to be seen is, whether families can be made
+    to associate in peace, enjoying the profits as well as pleasures
+    arising from public tables, granaries, store-houses, libraries,
+    schools, gardens, walks and fountains; or, briefer, whether a
+    man will be willing that he and his neighbor should be happy
+    together. Are men forever to be such consummate fools as to
+    neglect even the colossal profits of Association? Am I to be
+    astonished by hearing sensible men declare, because mankind have
+    been the victims of false relations, that these things are
+    impracticable? No, no! We have been shown by the Columbus of the
+    new industrial world how to solve the problem of the egg, and a
+    few caravels have adventured across the unknown ocean, and are
+    now, at the dawn of a new day, drawing nigh unto strange shores,
+    covered with green, and loading the breeze with the fragrance of
+    unseen flowers.
+
+                                              "NATHAN C. MEEKER."
+
+    [From an official letter to a Convention of Associations in New
+    York, signed by B. Robins and H.N. Jones, President and
+    Secretary of the Trumbull Phalanx, dated October 1, 1844.]
+
+    "We should have sent a delegate to your Convention or written
+    sooner, were not the assistance of all of our members daily
+    demanded, as also all our time, in the building up of Humanity's
+    Home. In common with the inhabitants of the region round about
+    (it is supposed on account of the dry season), we have had many
+    cases of fever and ague, a disease which has not been known here
+    for many years. This has prevented our executing various plans
+    for organization, etc., which we are now entering upon. And now,
+    with each day, we have abundant cause to hope for a joyous
+    future. We have harmony within and sympathy without; and being
+    persuaded that these are sure indications of success, we toil
+    on, 'heart within and God o'erhead.'
+
+    "Further, our pecuniary prospects brighten. Late arrangements
+    add to our means of paying our debt, which is light; and
+    accumulations of landed estate make us quite secure.
+    Nevertheless we feel that we are in the transition period, using
+    varied and noble elements not the most skillfully, and that we
+    need more than man's wisdom to guide us.
+
+    "The union of the Associations we look upon as a great and noble
+    idea, without which the chain of universal unity were
+    incomplete. When we shall have emerged from the sea of
+    civilization, so that we can do our own breathing, we shall be
+    able to coöperate with our friends throughout the world, as
+    members of the grand Phalanx. Meanwhile our hearts will be with
+    you, urging you not to falter in the work in which all the noble
+    and healthy spirit of the age is engaged.
+
+    "Accompanying is a copy of our constitution. Our number is over
+    two hundred. We have 1,500 acres of land, half under
+    cultivation, and a capital stock of $100,000. The branches of
+    industry are sufficiently varied, but mostly agricultural."
+
+    [Letter to the Pittsburg _Spirit of the Age_, July 1845.]
+
+    "I have just returned from a visit to the Trumbull Phalanx, and
+    I can but express my astonishment at the condition in which I
+    found the Association. I had never heard much of this Phalanx,
+    and what little had been said, gave me no very favorable opinion
+    of either location or people, and in consequence I went there
+    somewhat prejudiced against them. I was pleased, however, to
+    find that they have a beautiful and romantic domain, a rich
+    soil, with all the natural and artificial advantages they can
+    desire. The domain consists of eleven hundred acres in all. The
+    total cost of the real estate of the Phalanx is $18,428; on
+    which they have paid $8,239, leaving a debt of $10,189. The
+    payments are remarkably easy; on the principal, $1,000 are to be
+    paid in September next, and the same sum in April 1846, and
+    $1,133 in April 1847, and the same sum annually thereafter. They
+    apprehend no difficulty in meeting their engagements. Should
+    they even fail in making the first payments, they will be
+    indulged by their creditor. From this it will be seen that the
+    pecuniary condition of the Trumbull Phalanx is encouraging.
+
+    "The Phalanx has fee simple titles to many tracts of land, and a
+    house in Warren, with which they will secure capitalists who
+    choose to invest money, for the purpose of establishing some
+    branches of manufacturing.
+
+    "There are about two hundred and fifty people on the domain at
+    present, and weekly arrivals of new members. The greater
+    portion of them are able-bodied men, who are industrious and
+    devoted to the cause in which they are engaged. The ladies
+    perform their duties in this pioneer movement in a manner
+    deserving great praise. The educational department of the
+    Phalanx is well organized. The children from eight to fourteen
+    attend a manual-labor school, which is now in successful
+    operation. The advantages of Association are realized in the
+    boarding department. The cost per week for men, women and
+    children, is not more than forty cents.
+
+    "They soon expect to manufacture their own clothing. Carders,
+    cloth-dressers, weavers etc., are now at work. These branches
+    will be a source of profit to the Association. A good
+    flouring-mill with two run of stone is now in operation, which
+    more than supplies the bread-stuffs. They expect shortly to have
+    four run of stone, when this branch will be of immense profit to
+    the Association. The mill draws the custom of the neighborhood
+    for a number of miles around. Two saw-mills are now in
+    operation, which cut six hundred thousand feet per year, worth
+    at least $3,000. The lumber is principally sent to Akron. A
+    shingle-machine now in operation, will yield a revenue of $3,000
+    or $4,000 per annum. Machinery for making wooden bowls has been
+    erected, which will also yield a revenue of about $3,000. An
+    ashery will yield the present season about $500. The
+    blacksmiths, shoemakers, and other branches are doing well. A
+    wagon-shop is in progress of erection, and a tan-yard will be
+    sunk and a house built, the second story of which is intended
+    for a shoe-shop.
+
+    "_Crops_: thirty acres of wheat, fifty acres of oats, seventy
+    acres of corn, twelve acres of potatoes, five acres of English
+    turnips, ten acres of buckwheat, five acres of garden truck,
+    one and a half acres of broom corn. There are five hundred young
+    peach trees in the nursery; two hundred apple trees in the old
+    orchard; (fruit killed this year). _Live Stock_: forty-five
+    cows, twelve horses, five yoke of oxen, twenty-five head of
+    cattle.
+
+    "From the above hasty sketch (for I can not find time to speak
+    of this flourishing Association as I should), it will be seen
+    that it stands firm. Under all the disadvantages of a new
+    movement, the members live together, in perfect harmony; and
+    what is gratifying, Mr. Van Amringe is there, cheering them on
+    in the great cause by his eloquence, and setting them an example
+    of devotion to the good of humanity.
+
+                                                          J.D.T."
+
+
+    [Editorial in the _Harbinger_ August 23 1845.]
+
+    "TRUMBULL PHALANX.--We rejoice to learn by a letter just
+    received from a member of this promising Association, that they
+    are going forward with strength and hope, determined to make a
+    full experiment of the great principles which they have
+    espoused. Have patience, brothers, for a short season; shrink
+    not under the toils of the pioneer; let nothing daunt your
+    courage, nor cloud your cheerfulness; and soon you will joy with
+    the 'joy of harvest.' A few years will present the beautiful
+    spectacle of prosperous, harmonic, happy Phalanxes, dotting the
+    broad prairies of the West, spreading over its luxuriant
+    valleys, and radiating light to the whole land that is now in
+    'darkness and the shadow of death.' The whole American people
+    will yet see that the organization of industry is the great
+    problem of the age; that the spirit of democracy must expand in
+    universal unity; that coöperation in labor and union of
+    interest alone can realize the freedom and equality which have
+    been made the basis of our national institutions.
+
+    "We trust that our friends at the Trumbull Phalanx will let us
+    hear from them again at an early date. We shall always be glad
+    to circulate any intelligence with which they may favor us. Here
+    is what they say of their present condition: 'Our crops are now
+    coming in; oats are excellent, wheat and rye are about average,
+    while our corn will be superior. We are thankful that we shall
+    raise enough to carry us through the year; for we know what it
+    is to buy every thing. We are certain of success, certain that
+    the great principles of Association are to be carried out by us;
+    if not on one piece of ground, then on another. Literally we
+    constitute a Phalanx, a Phalanx which can not be broken, let
+    what will oppose. And this you are authorized to say in any
+    place or manner.'"
+
+    [Letter of N.C. Meeker to the _Pittsburg Journal_.]
+
+                         "_Trumbull Phalanx, September 13, 1845._
+
+    "R.M. RIDDLE--Sir: I have the pleasure of informing the public,
+    through the columns of the _Commercial Journal_, that we
+    consider the success of our Association as entirely certain. We
+    have made our fall payment of five hundred dollars, and, what is
+    perhaps more encouraging, we are at this moment engaged in
+    industrial operations which yield us thirty dollars cash, each
+    week. The waters are now rising, and in a few days, in addition
+    to these works which are now in operation, we shall add as much
+    more to the above revenue. The Trumbull Phalanx may now be
+    considered as an entirely successful enterprise.
+
+    "Our crops will be enough to carry us through. Last year we
+    paid over a thousand dollars for provisions. We have sixty-five
+    acres of corn, fifty-five of oats, twenty-four of buckwheat,
+    thirty of wheat, twenty of rye, twelve of potatoes, and two of
+    broom-corn. Our corn, owing to the excellent soil and superior
+    skill of the foreman of the farming department, is the best in
+    all this region of country. Thus we have already one of the
+    great advantages of Association, in securing the services of the
+    most able and scientific, not for individual, selfish good, but
+    for public good. We are fortunate, also, that we shall be able
+    to keep all our stock of fifty cows, etc., and not be obliged to
+    drive them off or kill them, as the farmers do around us, for we
+    have nearly fodder enough from our grains alone. Thus we are
+    placed in a situation for building up an Association, for
+    establishing a perfect organization of industry by means of the
+    groups and series, and in education by the monitorial
+    manual-labor system, and shall demonstrate that order, and not
+    civilization, is heaven's first law.
+
+    "Some eight or ten families have lately left us, one-fourth
+    because they had been in the habit of living on better food (so
+    they said), but the remainder because they were averse to our
+    carrying out the principles of Association as far as we thought
+    they ought to be carried. On leaving, they received in return
+    whatever they asked of us. They who enter Association ought
+    first to study themselves, and learn which stage of Association
+    they are fitted for, the transitional or the perfect. If they
+    are willing to endure privations, to eat coarse food, sometimes
+    with no meat, but with milk for a substitute (this is a glorious
+    resort for the Grahamites), to live on friendly terms with an
+    old hat or coat, rather than have the society run in debt, and
+    to have patience when many things go wrong, and are willing to
+    work long and late to make them go right, they may consider
+    themselves fitted for the transition-period. But if they sigh
+    for the flesh-pots and leeks and onions of civilization, feel
+    melancholy with a patch on their back, and growl because they
+    can not have eggs and honey and warm biscuit and butter for
+    breakfast, they had better stay where they are, and wait for the
+    advent of perfect industrial Association. I am thus trifling in
+    contrast; for there is nothing so serious, hearty, and I might
+    add, sublime, as the building up of a Phalanx, making and seeing
+    it grow day by day, and anticipating what fruits we shall enjoy
+    when a few years are past. Why, the heart of man has never yet
+    conceived what are the to-be results of the equilibrial
+    development of all the powers and faculties of man. It is like
+    endeavoring to comprehend the nature and pursuits of a spiritual
+    and superior race of beings.
+
+    "We are prepared to receive members who are desirous of uniting
+    their interests with us, and of becoming truly devoted to the
+    cause of industrial Association.
+
+                                 "Yours truly,     N.C. MEEKER."
+
+    [From a letter to the _Tribune_, September 29, 1846.]
+
+    "The progress made by the Trumbull Phalanx is doing great good.
+    People begin to say, 'If they could hang together under such bad
+    circumstances for so long a time, and no difficulties occur,
+    what must we hope for, now that they are pecuniarily
+    independent?' You have heard, I presume, that the Pittsburghers
+    have furnished money enough to place that Association out of
+    debt. I may be over-sanguine, but I feel confident of their
+    complete success. I fear our Eastern friends have not sufficient
+    faith in our efforts. Well, I trust we may disappoint them. The
+    Trumbull, so far as means amount to any thing, stands first of
+    any Phalanx in the United States; and as to harmony among the
+    members, I can only say that there has been no difficulty yet.
+
+                                      "Yours truly,       J.D.S."
+
+    [From the _Harbinger_, January 2, 1847.]
+
+    "We have received the following gratifying account of the
+    Trumbull Phalanx. Every attempt of the kind here described,
+    though not to be regarded as an experiment of a model Phalanx,
+    is in the highest degree interesting, as showing the advantages
+    of combined industry and social union. Go forward,
+    strong-hearted brothers, assured that every step you take is
+    bringing us nearer the wished-for goal, when the redemption of
+    humanity shall be fully realized. This is what they say:
+
+    "'We are getting along well. Our Pittsburg friends have lately
+    sent us two thousand dollars, and are to send more during the
+    winter. We are also adding to our numbers. We have an abundance
+    to eat of our own raising; but aside from this, our mill brings
+    sufficient for our support. We have put up a power-loom at our
+    upper works, and are about prepared to produce thereby
+    sufficient to clothe us. Hence, by uniting capital, labor and
+    skill in two mechanical branches, we secure, with ordinary
+    industry, what no equal number of families in civilization can
+    be said to possess entirely, a sufficient amount of food and
+    clothing. And these are items which practical men know how to
+    value; and we know how to value them too, because they are the
+    results of our own efforts.
+
+    "'We have two schools, one belonging to the district, that is, a
+    State or public school, and the other to the Phalanx, both
+    taught by persons who are members. In the latter school, among
+    other improvements, there are classes in Phonography and
+    Phonotopy, learning the new systems embraced by the writing and
+    printing reformation, the progress of which is highly
+    satisfactory.
+
+    "'On the whole, we feel that our success is ensured beyond an
+    earthly doubt. Not but that we have yet to pass through trying
+    scenes. But we have encountered so many difficulties that we are
+    not apprehensive but that we are prepared to meet others equally
+    as great. Indeed we feel that if we had known at the
+    commencement what fiery trials were to surround us, we should
+    have hesitated to enter upon the enterprise. Now, being fairly
+    in, we will brave it through, and we think you may look to see
+    us grow with each year, adding knowledge to wealth, and
+    industrious habits to religious precepts and elevated
+    sentiments, till we shall be prepared to enter upon the combined
+    order, and, with our co-partners, who are now breast and heart
+    with us, lead the kingdoms of the earth into the regions of
+    light, liberty and love.'"
+
+    [From the _Pittsburg Post_, January 1847.]
+
+    "TRUMBULL PHALANX.--Several Pittsburgers have joined the
+    above-named Association: and a sufficient amount of money has
+    been contributed to place it upon a solid foundation. It is
+    pecuniarily independent, as we are informed; and the members are
+    full of faith in complete success. Several letters have been
+    received by persons in this city from resident members of the
+    Phalanx. We should like to have one of them for publication, to
+    show the feelings which pervade those who are working out the
+    problem of social unity. They write in substance, 'The
+    Association is prosperous, and we are all happy.'
+
+    "The Trumbull Phalanx is now in its third or fourth year, and so
+    far has met with but few of the difficulties anticipated by the
+    friends or enemies of the cause. The progress has been slow, it
+    is true, owing to a variety of causes, the principal one of
+    which has been removed, viz.: debt. Much sickness existed on the
+    domain during the last season, but no fears are felt for the
+    future, as to the general health of the neighborhood."
+
+    [From a letter of C. Woodhouse, July 3, 1847.]
+
+    "This Phalanx has been in existence nearly four years, and has
+    encountered many difficulties and submitted to many privations.
+    Difficulties still exist and privations are not now few or
+    small; but so great is the change for the better in less than
+    four years, that they are fully impressed with the promise of
+    success. At no time, indeed, have they met with as many
+    difficulties as the lonely settler in a new country meets with;
+    for in all their poverty they have been in pleasant company and
+    have aided one another. They are now surrounded by all the
+    necessaries and some of the comforts of life. Each family has a
+    convenient dwelling, and so far as I can judge from a short
+    visit, they enjoy the good of their labor, with no one to molest
+    or make them afraid. Several branches of mechanical industry are
+    carried on there, but agriculture is the staff on which they
+    principally lean. Their land is very good, and of their thousand
+    acres, over three hundred are improved. Their stock--horses,
+    cattle and cows--look very well, as the farmers say. The
+    improvements and condition of the domain bespeak thrift,
+    industry and practical skill. The Trumbullites are workers. I
+    saw no dainty-fingered theorists there. When such do come, I am
+    informed, they do not stay long. Work is the order of the day.
+    They would be glad of more leisure; but at this stage of the
+    enterprise they put forth all their powers to redeem themselves
+    from debt, and make such improvements as will conduce to this
+    end and at the same time add to their comforts. Not a cent is
+    expended in display or for knicknacks. The President lives in a
+    log house and drives team on the business of the Association.
+    Whatever politicians may say to the contrary, I think he is the
+    only veritable 'log-cabin President' the whole land can show."
+
+    [From a letter of the Women of the Trumbull Phalanx to the Women
+    of the Boston Union of Associationists, July 15, 1847.]
+
+    "It is plain that our efforts must be different from yours.
+    Yours is the part to arouse the idle and indifferent by your
+    conversation, and by contributing funds to sustain and aid
+    publications. Ours is the part to organize ourselves in all the
+    affairs of life, in the best manner that our imperfect
+    institution will permit; and, not least, to have faith in our
+    own efforts. In this last particular we are sometimes deficient,
+    for it is impossible for us with our imperfect and limited
+    capacities, clearly and fully to foresee what faith and
+    confidence in God's providence can accomplish. We have been
+    brought hither through doubts and dangers, and through the
+    shadows of the future we have no guide save where duty points
+    the way.
+
+    "Our trials lie in the commonest walks. To forego conveniences,
+    to live poorly, dress homely, to listen calmly, reply mildly,
+    and wait patiently, are what we must become familiar with. True,
+    these are requirements by no means uncommon; but imperfect
+    beings like ourselves are apt to imagine that they alone are
+    called upon to endure. Yet, perhaps, we enjoy no less than the
+    most of our sex; nay, we are in truth, sisters the world round;
+    if one suffers, all suffer, no matter whether she tends her
+    husband's dogs amidst the Polar snows, or mounts her consort's
+    funeral pile upon the banks of the Ganges. Together we weep,
+    together we rejoice. We rise, we fall together.
+
+    "It would afford us much pleasure could we be associated
+    together. Could all the women fitted to engage in Social Reform
+    be located on one domain, one can not imagine the immense
+    changes that would ensue. We pray that we, or at least our
+    children, may live to see the day when kindred souls shall be
+    permitted to coöperate in a sphere sufficiently extensive to
+    call forth all our powers."
+
+    (From a letter of N.C. Meeker, August 11, 1847.)
+
+    "Our progress and prosperity are still continued. By this we
+    only mean that whatever we secure is by overcoming many
+    difficulties. Our triumphs, humble though they be, are achieved
+    in the same manner that the poet or the sculptor or the chemist
+    achieves his, by labor, by application; and we believe that to
+    produce the most useful and beautiful things, the most labor and
+    pains are necessary.
+
+    "Our present difficulties are, first, want of a sufficient
+    number to enable us to establish independent groups, as Fourier
+    has laid down. The present arrangement is as though we were all
+    in one group; what is earned by the body is divided among
+    individuals according to the amount of labor expended by each.
+    Were our branches of business fewer (for we carry on almost
+    every branch of industry necessary to support us) we could
+    organize with less danger of interruption, which at present
+    must be incessant; yet, at the same time there would be less
+    choice of employment. Our number is about two hundred and fifty,
+    and that of laboring men not far from fifty. This want of a
+    greater number is by no means a serious difficulty; still, one
+    we wish were corrected by an addition of scientific and
+    industrious men, with some capital.
+
+    "Again, when the season is wet, we have the fever and ague among
+    us to some extent, though previous to our locating here the
+    place was healthy. Whether it will be healthy in future we of
+    course can not determine, but see no reason why it may not. The
+    ague is by no means dangerous, but it is quite disagreeable, and
+    during its continuance, is quite discouraging. Upon the approach
+    of cold weather it disappears, and we recover, feeling as strong
+    and hopeful as ever. Other diseases do not visit us, and the
+    mortality of the place is low, averaging thus far, almost four
+    years, less than two annually, and these were children. We are
+    convinced, however, that all cause of the ague may be removed by
+    a little outlay, which of course we shall make.
+
+    "These are our chief incumbrances at present; others have
+    existed equally discouraging, and have been surmounted. The time
+    was when our very existence for a period longer than a few
+    months, was exceedingly doubtful. Two or three heavy payments
+    remained due, and our creditor was pressing. Now we shall not
+    owe him a cent till next April. By the assistance of our
+    Pittsburg friends and Mr. Van Amringe, we have been put in this
+    situation. About half of our debt of about $7,000 is paid. All
+    honor to Englishmen (William Bayle in particular), who have
+    thus set an example to the 'sons of '76.'"
+
+    [From a report of a Socialist Convention at Boston, October
+    1847.]
+
+    "The condition and prospects of the experiments now in progress
+    in this country, especially the North American, Trumbull and
+    Wisconsin Phalanxes, were discussed. Mr. Cooke has lately
+    visited all these Associations, and brings back a large amount
+    of interesting information. The situation of the North American
+    is decidedly hopeful; as to the other two, his impressions were
+    of a less sanguine tone than letters which have been recently
+    published in the _Harbinger_ and _Tribune_. Yet it is not time
+    to despair."
+
+The reader will hardly be prepared for the next news we have about the
+Trumbull; but we have seen before that Associations are apt to take
+sudden turns.
+
+    [Letter to the _Harbinger_ announcing failure.]
+
+                           "_Braceville, Ohio, December 3, 1847._
+
+    _To the Editors of the Harbinger_,
+
+    "GENTLEMEN: You and your readers have no doubt heard before this
+    of the dissolution of this Association, and the report is but
+    too true; we have fallen. But we wish civilization to know that
+    in our fall we have not broken our necks. We have indeed caught
+    a few pretty bad scratches; but all our limbs are yet sound, and
+    we mean to pick ourselves up again. We will try and try again.
+    The infant has to fall several times before he can walk; but
+    that does not discourage him, and he succeeds; nor shall we be
+    so easily discouraged.
+
+    "Some errors, not intentional though fatal, have been committed
+    here; we see them now, and will endeavor to avoid them. I
+    believe that it may be said of us with truth, that our failure
+    is a triumph. Our fervent love for Association is not quenched;
+    we are not dispersed; we are not discouraged; we are not even
+    scared. We know our own position. What we have done we have done
+    deliberately and intentionally, and we think we know also what
+    we have to do. There are, however, difficulties in our way: we
+    are aware of them. We may not succeed in reörganizing here as we
+    wish to do; but if we fail, we will try elsewhere. There is yet
+    room in this western world. We will first offer ourselves, our
+    experience, our energies, and whatever means are left us, to our
+    sister Associations. We think we are worth accepting; but if
+    they have the inhumanity to refuse, we will try to build a new
+    hive somewhere else, in the woods or on the prairies. God will
+    not drive us from his own earth. He has lent it to all men; and
+    we are men, and men of good intentions, of no sinister motives.
+    Our rights are as good in his eyes as those of our brothers.
+
+    "We do not deem it necessary here to give a detailed account of
+    our affairs and circumstances. It will be sufficient to say
+    that, however unfavorable they may be at present, we do not
+    consider our position as desperate. We think we know the remedy;
+    and we intend to use our best exertions to effect a cure. It may
+    be proper also to state that we have not in any manner infringed
+    our charter.
+
+    "I do not write in an official capacity, but I am authorized to
+    say, gentlemen, that if you can conveniently, and will, as soon
+    as practicable, give this communication an insertion in the
+    _Harbinger_, you will serve the cause, and oblige your brothers
+    of the late Trumbull Phalanx.
+
+                                                          G.M.M."
+
+After this decease, an attempt was made to resuscitate the
+Association; as will be seen in the following paragraphs:
+
+    [From a letter in the _Harbinger_, May 27, 1848.]
+
+    "With improvident philanthropy, the Phalanx had admitted too
+    indiscriminately; so that the society was rather an asylum for
+    the needy, sick and disabled, than a nucleus of efficient
+    members, carrying out with all their powers and energies, a
+    system on which they honestly rely for restoring their race to
+    elevation and happiness. They also had accepted unprofitable
+    capital, producing absolutely nothing, upon which they were
+    paying interest upon interest. All this weighed most heavily on
+    the efficient members. They made up their minds to break up
+    altogether.
+
+    "A new society has been organized, which has bought at auction,
+    and very low, the domain with all its improvements. We, the new
+    society, purpose to work on the following foundation: Our object
+    is to try the system of Fourier, so far as it is in our power,
+    with our limited means, etc."
+
+    [From a letter in the _Harbinger_, July 15, 1848.]
+
+    "With respect to our little society here, we wish at present to
+    say only that it is going on with alacrity and great hopes of
+    success. We are prepared for a few additional members with the
+    requisite qualifications; but we do not think it expedient to do
+    or say much to induce any body to come on until we see how we
+    shall fare through what is called the sickly season. To the
+    present date, however, we may sum up our condition in these
+    three words: We are healthy, busy and happy."
+
+    This is the last we find about the new organization. So we
+    conclude it soon passed away. As it is best to hear all sides,
+    we will conclude this account with some extracts from a
+    grumbling letter, which we find among Macdonald's manuscripts.
+
+    [Account by a Malcontent.]
+
+    "A great portion of the land was swampy, so much so that it
+    could not be cultivated. It laid low, and had a creek running
+    through it, which at times overflowed, and caused a great deal
+    of sickness to the inhabitants of the place. The disease was
+    mostly fever and ague; and this was so bad, that three-fourths
+    of the people, both old and young, were shaking with it for
+    months together. Through the public prints, persons favorable to
+    the Association were invited to join, which had the effect of
+    drawing many of the usual mixed characters from various parts of
+    the country. Some came with the idea that they could live in
+    idleness at the expense of the purchasers of the estate, and
+    these ideas they practically carried out; whilst others came
+    with good hearts for the cause. There were one or two designing
+    persons, who came with no other intent than to push themselves
+    into situations in which they could impose upon their fellow
+    members; and this, to a certain extent, they succeeded in doing.
+
+    "When the people first assembled, there was not sufficient house
+    room to accommodate them, and they were huddled together like
+    brutes; but they built some log cabins, and then tried to
+    establish some kind of order, by rules and regulations. One of
+    their laws was, that all persons before becoming members must
+    pay twenty-five dollars each. Some did pay this, but the
+    majority had not the money to pay. I think most persons came
+    there for a mere shift. Their poverty and their quarrelling
+    about what they called religion (for there were many notions
+    about which was the right way to heaven), were great drawbacks
+    to success. Nearly all the business was carried on by barter,
+    there was so little money. Labor was counted by the hour, and
+    was booked to each individual. Booking was about all the pay
+    they ever got. At the breaking up, some of the members had due
+    to them for labor and stock, five or six hundred dollars; and
+    some of them did not receive as many cents.
+
+    "To give an idea of the state of things, I may mention that
+    there was a shrewd Yankee there, who established a
+    boarding-house and pretended to accommodate boarders at very
+    reasonable charges. He was poor, but he made many shifts to get
+    something for his boarders to eat, though it was but very
+    little. There was seldom any butter, cheese, or animal food upon
+    the table, and what he called coffee was made of burnt bread. He
+    had no bedding for the boarders; they had to provide it for
+    themselves if they could; if not, they had to sleep on the
+    floor. For this board he charged $1.62 per week, while it was
+    proved that the cost per week for each individual was not more
+    than twenty cents. This man professed to be a doctor, (though I
+    believe he really knew no more of medicine than any other person
+    there); and as there were so many persons sick with the ague, he
+    got plenty of work. Previous to the breaking up, he brought in
+    his bills to the patients (whom he had never benefited),
+    charging them from ten to thirty dollars each, and some even
+    higher. But the people being very poor, he did not succeed in
+    recovering much of what he called his 'just dues;' though by
+    threats of the law he scared some of them out of a trifle. There
+    was another keen fellow, a preacher and lawyer, who got into
+    office as secretary and treasurer, and kept the accounts. When
+    there was any money he had the management of it; and I believe
+    he knew perfectly well how to use it for his own advantage,
+    which many of the members felt to their sorrow. The property was
+    supposed to have been held by stockholders. Those who had the
+    management of things know best how it was finally disposed of.
+    For my part I think this was the most unsatisfactory experiment
+    attempted in the West.
+
+                          "J.M., member of the Trumbull Phalanx."
+
+What a story of passion and suffering can be traced in this broken
+material! Study it. Think of the great hope at the beginning; the
+heroism of the long struggle; the bitterness of the end. This human
+group was made up of husbands and wives, parents and children,
+brothers and sisters, friends and lovers, and had two hundred hearts,
+longing for blessedness. Plodding on their weary march of life,
+Association rises before them like the _mirage_ of the desert. They
+see in the vague distance, magnificent palaces, green fields, golden
+harvests, sparkling fountains, abundance of rest and romance; in one
+word, HOME--which also is HEAVEN. They rush like the thirsty caravan
+to realize their vision. And now the scene changes. Instead of
+reaching palaces, they find themselves huddled together in loose
+sheds--thirty-five families trying to live in dwellings built for one.
+They left the world to escape from want and care and temptation; and
+behold, these hungry wolves follow them in fiercer packs than ever.
+The gloom of debt is over them from the beginning. Again and again
+they are on the brink of bankruptcy. It is a constant question and
+doubt whether they will "SUCCEED," which means, whether they will
+barely keep soul and body together, and pacify their creditors. But
+they cheer one another on. "They _must_ succeed; they _will_ succeed;
+they _are_ already succeeding!" These words they say over and over to
+themselves, and shout them to the public. Still debt hangs over them.
+They get a subsidy from outside friends. But the deficit increases.
+Meanwhile disease persecutes them. All through the sultry months which
+should have been their working time, they lie idle in their loose
+sheds, or where they can find a place, sweating and shivering in
+misery and despair. Human parasites gather about them, like vultures
+scenting prey from afar. Their own passions torment them. They are
+cursed with suspicion and the evil eye. They quarrel about religion.
+They quarrel about their food. They dispute about carrying out their
+principles. Eight or ten families desert. The rest worry on through
+the long years. Foes watch them with cruel exultation. Friends shout
+to them, "Hold on a little longer!" They hold on just as long as they
+can, insisting that they are successful, or are just going to be, till
+the last. Then comes the "break up;" and who can tell the agonies of
+that great corporate death!
+
+If the reader is willing to peer into the darkest depths of this
+suffering, let him read again and consider well that suppressed wail
+of the women where they speak of the "polar snows" and the "funeral
+pile;" and let him think of all that is meant when the men say, "If we
+had known at the commencement what fiery trials were to surround us,
+we should have hesitated to enter on the enterprise. _But now being
+fairly in, we will brave it_ _through!_" See how pathetically these
+soldiers of despair, with defeat in full view, offer themselves to
+other Associations, and take comfort in the assurance that God will
+not drive them from the earth! See how the heroes of the "forlorn
+hope," after defeat has come, turn again and reörganize, refusing to
+surrender! The end came at last, but left no record.
+
+This is not comedy, but direst tragedy. God forbid that we should
+ridicule it, or think of it with any feeling but saddest sympathy. We
+ourselves are thoroughly acquainted with these heights and depths.
+These men and women seem to us like brothers and sisters. We could
+easily weep with them and for them, if it would do any good. But the
+better way is to learn what such sufferings teach, and hasten to find
+and show the true path, which these pilgrims missed; that so their
+illusions may not be repeated forever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+THE OHIO PHALANX.
+
+
+This Association, originally called the American Phalanx, commenced
+with a very ambitious programme and flattering prospects; but it did
+not last so long as many of its contemporaries. It belonged to the
+Pittsburg group of experiments. The founder of it was E.P. Grant. Mr.
+Van Amringe was one of its leaders, whom we saw busy at the Trumbull.
+The first announcement of it we find in the third number of the
+_Phalanx_, as follows:
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, December 5, 1843.]
+
+    "GRAND MOVEMENT IN THE WEST.--The friends of Association in Ohio
+    and other portions of the West, have undertaken the organization
+    of a Phalanx upon quite an extended scale. They have secured a
+    magnificent tract of land on the Ohio, have framed a
+    constitution, and taken preliminary steps to make an early
+    commencement.
+
+    The projectors say: "We feel pleasure in announcing that the
+    American Phalanx has contracted for about two thousand acres of
+    land in Belmont County, Ohio, known as the Pultney farm, lying
+    along the Ohio river, seven or eight miles below Wheeling; and
+    that sufficient means are already pledged to remove all doubts
+    as to the formation of an Association, as soon as the domain
+    can be prepared for the reception of the members. The land has
+    been purchased of Col. J.S. Shriver, of Wheeling, Virginia, at
+    thirty dollars per acre, payable at the pleasure of the
+    Association, in sums not less than $5,000. The payment of six
+    per cent. interest semi-annually, is secured by a lien on the
+    land.
+
+    "The tract selected is two and a-half miles in length from north
+    to south, and of somewhat irregular breadth, by reason of the
+    curvatures of the Ohio river, which forms its eastern boundary.
+    It contains six hundred acres of bottom land, all cleared and
+    under cultivation; the residue is hill land of a fertility truly
+    surprising and indeed incredible to persons unacquainted with
+    the hills of that particular neighborhood. Of the hill lands,
+    about two hundred and fifty acres are cleared, and about three
+    hundred acres more have been partially cleared, so as to answer
+    imperfectly for sheep pasture. The residue is for the most part
+    well-timbered.
+
+    "There are upon the premises two frame dwelling-houses, and ten
+    log houses, mostly with shingle roofs; none of them, however,
+    are of much value, except for temporary purposes.
+
+    "The domain is singularly beautiful, as well as fertile; and
+    when it is considered, in connection with the advantages already
+    enumerated, that it is situated on one of the greatest
+    thoroughfares in the world, the charming Ohio, along which from
+    six to ten steamboats pass every day for eight or nine months in
+    the year; that it is immediately accessible to several large
+    markets, and a multitude of small ones; and that it is within
+    seven miles of that great public improvement, the National Road,
+    leading through the heart of the Western States, we think we
+    are authorized to affirm that the broad territory of our country
+    furnishes but few localities more favorable for an experiment in
+    Association, than that which has been secured by the American
+    Phalanx.
+
+    "From eighty to one hundred laborers are expected to be upon the
+    ground early in the spring, and it is hoped that in the fall a
+    magnificent edifice or Phalanstery, on Fourier's plan, will be
+    commenced, and will progress rapidly, until it shall be of
+    sufficient extent to accommodate one hundred families.
+
+    "Our object can not be more intelligibly explained than by
+    stating that it is proposed to organize an industrial army,
+    which, instead of ravaging and desolating the earth, like the
+    armies of civilization, shall clothe it luxuriantly and
+    beautifully with supplies for human wants; to distribute this
+    army into platoons, companies, battalions, regiments, in which
+    promotion and rewards shall depend, not upon success in
+    spreading ruin and woe, but upon energy and efficiency in
+    diffusing comfort and happiness; in short, to invest labor the
+    creator, with the dignity which has so long impiously crowned
+    labor the destroyer and the murderer, so that men shall vie with
+    each other, not in devastation and carnage, but in usefulness to
+    the race."
+
+Applicants for admission or stock were referred to E.P. Grant, A.
+Brisbane, H. Greeley and others.
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, February 5, 1844.]
+
+    "E.P. Grant, Esq., of Canton, Ohio, a gentleman of high
+    standing, superior talents, and indefatigable energy, who is at
+    the head of the movement to establish the American Phalanx,
+    which is to be located on the banks of the beautiful Ohio,
+    informs us by letter, that 'the prospect is truly cheering;
+    even that greatest of wants, capital, is likely to be abundantly
+    supplied. There will indeed be some deficiency during the
+    ensuing spring and summer; but the amount already pledged to be
+    paid by the end of the first year, is not, I think, less than
+    $40,000, and by the end of the second year, probably not less
+    than $100,000; and these amounts, from present appearances, can
+    be almost indefinitely increased. Besides, the proposed
+    associates are devoted and determined, resenting the intimation
+    of possible failure, as a reflection unworthy of their zeal.'"
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, March 1, 1844.]
+
+    "The Ohio Phalanx (heretofore called the American), is now
+    definitely constituted, and the first pioneers are already upon
+    the domain. More will follow in a few days to assist in making
+    preliminary preparations. A larger company will be added in
+    March, and by the end of May the Phalanx is expected to consist
+    of 120 resident members, of whom the greater part will be adult
+    males. They will be received from time to time as rapidly as
+    temporary accommodations can be provided. The prospects of the
+    Phalanx are cheering beyond the most sanguine anticipations of
+    its friends.
+
+                                                     E.P. GRANT."
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, July 13, 1844.]
+
+    "Our friends of the Ohio Phalanx appear to have celebrated the
+    Fourth of July with much hilarity and enthusiasm. About ten
+    o'clock the members of the Association with their guests, were
+    seated beneath the shade of spreading trees, near the dwelling;
+    when Mr. Grant, the President, announced briefly the object of
+    the assemblage and the order to be observed, which was, first,
+    prayer by Dr. Rawson, then an address by Mr. Van Amringe, in
+    which the present condition of society, its inevitable
+    tendencies and results, were contrasted with the social system
+    as delineated by Fourier. It is not doing full justice to the
+    orator to say merely that his address was interesting and able.
+    It was lucid, cogent, religious and highly impressive. This
+    portion of the festival was closed by prayer and benediction by
+    Rev. J.P. Stewart, and adjournment for dinner. After a good and
+    plentiful repast, the social party resumed their seats for the
+    purpose of hearing (rather than drinking) toasts and whatsoever
+    might be said thereupon."
+
+The topics of the regular toasts were, _The day we celebrate_; _The
+memory of Fourier_; _The Associationists of Pittsburg_; and so on
+through a long string. The volunteer toasters liberally complimented
+each other and the socialistic leaders generally, not forgetting
+Horace Greeley. Somebody in the name of the Phalanx gave the
+following:
+
+"_The Bible_, the book of languages, the book of ideas, the book of
+life. May its pages be the delight of Associationists, and its
+precepts practiced by the whole world."
+
+Our next quotation hints that something like a dissolution and
+reörganization had taken place.
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, May 3, 1845.]
+
+    "We notice in a recent number of the _Pittsburg Chronicle_, an
+    article from the pen of James D. Thornburg, on the present
+    condition of the Ohio Phalanx, from which it appears that the
+    report of its failure which has gone the rounds of the papers,
+    is premature; and that although it has suffered embarrassment
+    and difficulties from various causes, it is still in operation
+    under new arrangements that authorize the hope of its ultimate
+    success. We know nothing of the internal obstacles of which Mr.
+    Thornburg speaks, and have no means of forming an opinion on the
+    merits of the questions which, it would seem, have given rise to
+    divided counsels and inefficient action. For the founder of the
+    Ohio Phalanx, E.P. Grant, we cherish the most unqualified
+    respect, believing him to be fitted as few men are, by his
+    talents, energy and scientific knowledge, for the station of
+    leader of the great enterprise, which demands no less courage
+    and practical vigor, than wisdom and magnanimity.
+
+    "We learn from Mr. Thornburg's statement that to those who chose
+    to leave the Phalanx, it was proposed to give thirty-three per
+    cent. on their investments, which is all they could be entitled
+    to, in case of a forfeiture of the title to the domain, in which
+    case all the improvements, buildings, crops in ground, etc.,
+    would be a total loss to the members. But there is no
+    depreciation in the stock, when these improvements are
+    estimated. The rent has been reduced to one-half the former
+    amount. The proprietor is expected to furnish a large number of
+    sheep, the profits of which, it is believed, will be nearly or
+    quite sufficient to pay the rent. At the end of two years,
+    $30,000 in bonds, mortgages, etc., is to be raised, for which
+    the Phalanx will receive a fee-simple title to the domain. A
+    large share of the balance will be invested in stock, and
+    whatever may remain will be apportioned in payments at two and
+    a-half per cent. interest, and fixed at a date so remote that no
+    difficulty will result. There are buildings on the domain
+    sufficient for the accommodation of forty families, in addition
+    to a number of rooms suitable for single persons. The movable
+    property on the domain is at present worth three thousand
+    dollars.
+
+    "In view of all the facts in the case, as set forth by Mr.
+    Thornburg, we see no reason to dissent from the conclusion which
+    he unhesitatingly expresses, that the future success of the
+    Phalanx is certain. We trust that we have not been inspired with
+    too flattering hopes by the earnestness of our wishes. For we
+    acknowledge that we have always regarded the magnificent
+    material resources of this Phalanx with the brightest
+    anticipations; we have looked to it with confiding trust, for
+    the commencement of a model Association; and we can not now
+    permit ourselves to believe that any disastrous circumstance
+    will prevent the realization of the high hopes which prompted
+    its founders to engage in their glorious enterprise.
+
+    "The causes of difficulty in the Ohio Phalanx, as stated in the
+    article before us, are as follows: Want of experience; too much
+    enthusiasm; unproductive members; want of means. These causes
+    must always produce difficulty and discouragement; and at the
+    same time, can scarcely be avoided in the commencement of every
+    attempt at Association.
+
+    "The harmonies of the combined order are not to be arrived at in
+    a day or a year. Even with the noblest intentions, great
+    mistakes in the beginning are inevitable, and many obstacles of
+    a formidable character are incident to the very nature of the
+    undertaking. A want of sufficient means must cripple the most
+    strenuous industry. Ample capital is essential for a complete
+    organization, for the necessary machinery and fixtures, for the
+    ordinary conveniences, to say nothing of the elegancies of the
+    household order; and this in the commencement can scarcely ever
+    be obtained. Restriction, retrenchment, more or less confusion,
+    are the necessary consequences; and these in their turn beget a
+    spirit of impatience and discontent in all but the heroic; and
+    few men are heroes. The transition from the compulsory industry
+    of civilization to the voluntary, but not yet attractive,
+    industry of Association, is not favorable to the highest
+    industrial effects. Men who have been accustomed to shirk labor
+    under the feeling that they had poor pay for hard work, will not
+    be transformed suddenly into kings of industry by the atmosphere
+    of a Phalanx. There will be more or less loafing, a good deal of
+    exertion unwisely applied, a certain waste of strength in random
+    and unsystematic efforts, and a want of the business-like
+    precision and force which makes every blow tell, and tell in the
+    right place. Under these circumstances many will grow uneasy, at
+    length become discouraged, and perhaps prove false to their
+    early love. But all these, we are fully persuaded, are merely
+    temporary evils. They will soon pass away. They are like the
+    thin mists of the valley, which precede, but do not prevent, the
+    rising of the sun. The principles of Association are founded on
+    the eternal laws of justice and truth; they present the only
+    remedy for the appalling confusion and discord of the present
+    social state; they are capable of being carried into practice by
+    just such men and women as we daily meet in the usual walks of
+    life; and as firmly as we believe in a Universal Providence, so
+    sure we are that their practical accomplishment is destined to
+    bless humanity with ages of abundance, harmony, and joy,
+    surpassing the most enthusiastic dream."
+
+    [Editorial in the _Harbinger_, June, 14, 1845.]
+
+    "We learn from a personal interview with Mr. Thornburg, whose
+    letter on the Ohio Phalanx was alluded to in a recent number of
+    the _Phalanx_, that the affairs of that Association wear a very
+    promising aspect, and that there can be no reasonable doubt of
+    its success. He gives a very favorable description of the soil
+    and general resources of the domain, and from all that we have
+    learned of its character, we believe there are few localities at
+    the West better adapted for the purposes of an experimental
+    Association on a large scale. We sincerely hope that our friends
+    in that vicinity will concentrate their efforts on the Ohio
+    Phalanx, and not attempt to multiply Associations, which,
+    without abundant capital and devoted and experienced men, will,
+    almost to a certainty, prove unsuccessful. The true policy for
+    all friends of Associative movements, is to combine their
+    resources, and give an example of a well-organized Phalanx, in
+    complete and harmonic operation. This will do more for the cause
+    than any announcement of theories, however sound and eloquent,
+    or ten thousand abortive attempts begun in enthusiasm and
+    forsaken in despair."
+
+    [From the correspondence of the _Harbinger_, July 19, 1845,
+    announcing the final dissolution.]
+
+    "On the 24th of June last, the Ohio Phalanx again dissolved. The
+    reason is the want of funds. Since the former dissolution they
+    have obtained no accession of numbers or capital worth
+    considering. The members, I presume, will now disperse. They all
+    retain, I believe, their sentiments in favor of Association; but
+    they have not the means to go on."
+
+Macdonald contributes the following summary, to close the account:
+
+    [From the Journal of a Resident Member of the Ohio Phalanx.]
+
+    "At the commencement of the experiment there was general
+    good-humor among the members. There seemed to be plenty of
+    means, and there was much profusion and waste. There was no
+    visible organization according to Fourier, most of the members
+    being inexperienced in Association. They were too much crowded
+    together, had no school nor reading-room, and the younger
+    members, as might be expected, were at first somewhat unruly.
+    The character of the Association had more of a sedate and
+    religious tone, than a lively or social one. There was too much
+    discussion about Christian union, etc., and too little practical
+    industry and business talent. No weekly or monthly accounts were
+    rendered.
+
+    "About ten months after the commencement of the Association, a
+    partial scarcity of provisions took place, and other
+    difficulties occurred, which may in part be attributed to
+    neglect in keeping the accounts. At this juncture Mr. Van
+    Amringe started on a lecturing tour in aid of the Association;
+    and the Phalanx had a meeting at which Mr. Grant, who was then
+    regent, stated that between $7,000 and $8,000 had been expended
+    since they came together; but no accounts were shown giving the
+    particulars of this expenditure. From the difficult position in
+    which the Phalanx was placed, Mr. Grant advised the breaking-up
+    of the concern, which was agreed to, with two or three
+    dissentients. [This was probably the first dissolution, referred
+    to in a previous extract from the _Harbinger_.]
+
+    "On December 26 a new constitution was proposed which caused
+    much discontent and confusion; and with the commencement of 1845
+    more disagreements took place, some in relation to the social
+    amusements of the people, and some regarding the debts of the
+    Phalanx, the empty treasury, the depreciation of stock, Mr. Van
+    Amringe's possession of the lease of the property, and the bad
+    prospect there was for raising the interest upon the cost of the
+    domain, which was about $4,140, or six per cent. on $69,000, the
+    price of twenty-two hundred acres.
+
+    "On January 20th, 1845, another attempt at re-organization was
+    made by persons who had full confidence in the management of Mr.
+    Grant, and on February 28th still another re-organization was
+    considered. On March 10th a general meeting of the Phalanx took
+    place. Three constitutions were read, and the third (attributed,
+    I believe, to Mr. Van Amringe), was adopted by a majority of
+    one. After this there was a meeting of the minority, and the
+    constitution of Mr. Grant was adopted with some slight
+    alterations. Difficulties now took place between the two
+    parties, which led to a suit at law by one of the members
+    against the Ohio Phalanx. [These fluctuations remind us of the
+    experience of New Harmony in its last days.]
+
+    "In such manner did the Association progress until August 27,
+    1845, when it was whispered about, that the Phalanx was defunct,
+    although no notification to that effect was given to the
+    members. Colonel Shriver, who held the mortgage on the property,
+    took alarm at the state of affairs, and placed an agent on the
+    premises to look after his interests. This agent employed
+    persons to work the farm, and the members had to shift for
+    themselves as best they could. Col. S. proposed an assignment of
+    the whole property over to him, requiring entire possession by
+    the 1st of October. This was assented to, though the value of
+    the property was more than enough to cover every claim.
+
+    "On September 9th advertisements were issued for the public sale
+    of the whole property, and on the 17th of that month the sale
+    took place before two or three hundred persons. After this the
+    members dispersed, and the Ohio Phalanx was at an end. The lease
+    of the property had been made out in the name of Mr. Grant for
+    the Phalanx. It was afterward given up to him by Mr. Van
+    Amringe, who had possession of it, and by Mr. Grant was returned
+    to Colonel Shriver.
+
+    "Much space might be occupied in endeavoring to show the right
+    and the wrong of these parties and proceedings, which to the
+    reader would be quite unprofitable. The broad results we have
+    before us, viz., that certain supposed-to-be great and important
+    principles were tried in practice, and through a variety of
+    causes failed. The most important causes of failure were said to
+    be the deficiency of wealth, wisdom, and goodness; or if not
+    these, the fallacy of the principles."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+THE CLERMONT PHALANX.
+
+
+This Association originated in Cincinnati. An enthusiastic convention
+of Socialists was held in that city on the 22d of February, 1844, at
+which interesting letters were read from Horace Greeley, Albert
+Brisbane, and Wm. H. Channing, and much discussion of various
+practical projects ensued. A committee was appointed to find a
+suitable domain; and at a second meeting on the 14th of March, the
+society adopted a constitution, elected officers, and opened books for
+subscription of stock. Mr. Wade Loofbourrow, a gentleman of capital
+and enterprise, took the lead in these proceedings, and was chosen
+president of the future Phalanx. A domain of nine hundred acres was
+soon selected and purchased on the banks of the Ohio, in Clermont
+County, about thirty miles above Cincinnati. On the 9th of May a large
+party of the members proceeded from Cincinnati on a steamer chartered
+for the occasion, to take possession of the domain with appropriate
+ceremonies, and leave a pioneer band to commence operations. Macdonald
+accompanied this party, and gives the following account of the
+excursion:
+
+    "There were about one hundred and thirty of us. The weather was
+    beautiful, but cool, and the scenery on the river was splendid
+    in its spring dress. The various parties brought their
+    provisions with them, and toward noon the whole of it was
+    collected and spread upon the table by the waiters, for all to
+    have an equal chance. But alas for equality! On the meal being
+    ready, a rush was made into the cabin, and in a few minutes all
+    the seats were filled. In a few minutes more the provisions had
+    all disappeared, and many persons who were not in the first
+    rush, had to go hungry. I lost my dinner that day; but improved
+    the opportunity to observe and criticise the ferocity of the
+    Fourieristic appetite. We reached the domain about two o'clock
+    P.M., and marched on shore in procession, with a band of music
+    in front, leading the way up a road cut in the high clay bank;
+    and then formed a mass meeting, at which we had praying, music
+    and speech-making. I strolled out with a friend and examined the
+    purchase, and we came to the conclusion that it was a splendid
+    domain. A strip of rich bottom-land, about a quarter of a mile
+    wide, was backed by gently rolling hills, well timbered all
+    over. Nine or ten acres were cleared, sufficient for present
+    use. Here then was all that could be desired, hill and plain,
+    rich soil, fine scenery, plenty of first-rate timber, a
+    maple-sugar camp, a good commercial situation, convenient to the
+    best market in the West, with a river running past that would
+    float any kind of boat or raft; and with steamboats passing and
+    repassing at all hours of the day and night, to convey
+    passengers or goods to any point between New Orleans and
+    Pittsburg. Here was wood for fuel, clay and stone to make
+    habitations, and a rich soil to grow food. What more could be
+    asked from nature? Yet, how soon all this was found
+    insufficient!
+
+    "The land was obtained on credit; the price was $20,000. One
+    thousand was to be paid down, and the rest in installments at
+    stated periods. The first installment was paid; enthusiasm
+    triumphed; and now for the beginning! On my return to the
+    landing, I found a band of sturdy men commencing operations as
+    pioneers. They were clearing a portion of the wood away with
+    their axes, and preparing for building temporary houses, the
+    materials for which they brought with them. A temporary tent was
+    put up, and it would surprise any one to hear how many things
+    were going to be done.
+
+    "We left the domain on our return at about five P.M., and I
+    noticed that the president, Mr. Loofbourrow, and the secretary,
+    Mr. Green, remained with the workmen. There were about a dozen
+    persons left, consisting, I believe, of carpenters, choppers and
+    shoemakers. They all seemed in good spirits, and cheered merrily
+    on our departure."
+
+A second similar excursion of Socialists from Cincinnati came off on
+the 4th of July following, which also Macdonald attended, and reports
+as follows:
+
+    "We left Cincinnati triumphantly to the sound of martial music,
+    and took our journey up the river in fine spirits, the young
+    people dancing in the cabin as we proceeded. We arrived at the
+    Clermont Phalanx about one o'clock. On landing, we formed a
+    procession and marched to a new frame building, which was being
+    erected for a mill. Here an oration was delivered by a Mr.
+    Whitly, who, I noticed, had the Bible open before him. After
+    this we formed a procession again and marched to a lot of rough
+    tables enclosed within a line of ropes, where we stood and took
+    a cold collation. After this the folks enjoyed themselves with
+    music and dancing, and I took a walk about the place to see what
+    progress had been made since my last visit. The frame building
+    before mentioned was the only one in actual progress. A
+    steam-boiler had been obtained, and preparations had been made
+    to build other houses. A temporary house had been erected to
+    accommodate the families then on the domain, amounting as I was
+    informed, to about one hundred and twenty persons. This building
+    was made exactly in the manner of the cabin of a Western
+    steamboat; i.e., there was one long narrow room the length of
+    the house, and little rooms like state-rooms arranged on either
+    side. Each little room had one little window, like a port-hole;
+    and was intended to accommodate a man and his wife, or two
+    single men temporarily. It was at once apparent that the persons
+    living there were in circumstances inferior to what they had
+    been used to; and were enduring it well, while the enthusiastic
+    spirit held out. But it seldom lasts long. It is said that
+    people will endure these deprivations for the sake of what is
+    soon to come. But experience shows that the endurance is
+    generally brief, and that if they are able, they soon return to
+    the circumstances to which they have been accustomed. They
+    either find that their patience is insufficient for the task, or
+    that being in inferior circumstances, _they_ are becoming
+    inferior. Be the cause what it may, the result is nearly always
+    the same. This Association had been on the ground only a few
+    months; but I was told that disagreements had already commenced.
+    The persons brought together were strangers to each other, of
+    many different trades and habits, and discord was the result, as
+    might have been anticipated. From one of the shoemakers I
+    gained considerable information as to their state and
+    prospects. In the afternoon we returned to the city."
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, May 3, 1845.]
+
+    "We are glad to learn by the following notice, taken from a
+    Cincinnati paper, that the _Clermont Phalanx_ still lives, and
+    is in a fair way of going on successfully. We have received no
+    account of it lately, and as the last that we had was not very
+    flattering in respect to its pecuniary condition, we should not
+    have been surprised to hear of its dissolution. The indiscretion
+    of starting Associations without sufficient means and a proper
+    selection of persons, has been shown to be disastrous in some
+    other cases, and that we should fear for the fate of this one
+    was quite natural. But if our Clermont friends can, by their
+    devotion, energy and self-sacrificing spirit, overcome the
+    trying difficulties of a pioneer state, rude and imperfect as it
+    must be, they will deserve and will receive an abundant reward.
+    We bid them God speed! They say:
+
+    "'The pioneer band, with their friends, took possession of the
+    domain on the 9th day of May last year, since which time we have
+    been engaged in cultivating our land, clearing away the forest,
+    and erecting buildings of various kinds for the use of the
+    Phalanx.
+
+    "'The amount of capital stock paid in is about $10,000; $3,000
+    of which has been paid for the domain. We have a stock of
+    cattle, hogs and sheep, and sufficient teams and agricultural
+    utensils of various kinds; also a steam saw- and grist-mill.
+    Shoe, brush, tin and tailor's shops are in active operation.
+    There are on the ground thirty-five able-bodied men, with a
+    sufficient number of women and children.
+
+    "'When we first entered on our domain, there were no buildings
+    of any description, except three log-cabins, which were occupied
+    by tenants. We have since erected a building for a saw- and
+    grist-mill, a frame building forty by thirty feet, two stories
+    high, and another, one story high, eighty by thirty-six feet,
+    and one thirty-six by thirty feet, together with a kitchen,
+    wash-house, etc. These buildings are of course slightly built,
+    being temporary. We have also commenced a brick building eighty
+    by thirty feet, three stories high, which is ready for the roof;
+    all the timbers are sawed for that purpose; and we expect soon
+    to put them on.
+
+    "'There are about two thousand cords of wood chopped, part of
+    which is on the bank of the river. There are thirty acres of
+    wheat in the ground, in excellent condition, and it is intended
+    to put in good spring crops. We are also preparing to plant
+    large orchards this spring, Mr. A.H. Ernst having made us the
+    noble donation of one thousand selected fruit-trees.'"
+
+    [From the _Harbinger_, June 14, 1845.]
+
+    "George Sampson, Secretary of the Phalanx, says, in an address
+    soliciting funds: 'The members of the Association have the
+    satisfaction of announcing that they have just paid off this
+    year's installment due for their domain, amounting to $4,505,
+    and have also advanced nearly $1,000 on their next year's
+    payment. With increased zeal and confidence we now look forward
+    to certain success.'"
+
+    [Letter from a member, in the _Harbinger_, October 4, 1845.]
+
+                        "_Clermont Phalanx, September 13, 1845._"
+
+    "I am pleased to have to inform you, that we are improving since
+    you were among us. We have had an accession of members, three
+    single men, and two with families. One of them attends the
+    saw-mill, which he understands, and the others are carpenters
+    and joiners, whom we much needed.
+
+    "We are now hard at work on our large brick edifice. We are
+    fitting up a large dining-hall in the rear of it, with kitchen,
+    wash-house, bakery, etc. We think we shall get into it in about
+    five weeks from this time. We now all sit down to the Phalanx
+    table, and have done so for about six weeks, and all goes on
+    harmoniously. How much better is this system than for each
+    family to have their own table, their own dining-room, kitchen,
+    etc. We have admitted several other members, who have not yet
+    arrived. We have applications before us from several members of
+    the Ohio Phalanx. How much I regret that these people were
+    compelled to abandon so beautiful a location as Pultney Bottom,
+    merely for want of money to carry on their operations. Their
+    experience is the same as ours. Though their movement failed,
+    they have become confirmed Associationists; they know that
+    living together is practicable; that the Phalanstery is man's
+    true home; and the only one in which he can enjoy all the
+    blessings of earthly existence, without those evils which flesh
+    is heir to in false civilization."
+
+Macdonald concludes his account with the following observations:
+
+    "The Phalanx continued to progress, or to exist, till the fall
+    of 1846, when it was finally abandoned. During its existence
+    various circumstances concurred to hasten its termination; among
+    them the following: Stock to the amount of $17,000 was
+    subscribed, but scarcely $6,000 of it was ever paid;
+    consequently the Association could not meet its liabilities. An
+    installment of $3,000 had been paid at the purchase of the
+    property, but as the after installments could not be met, a
+    portion of the land had to be sold to pay for the rest. A little
+    jealousy, originating among the female portion of the Community,
+    eventually led to a law-suit on the part of one of the male
+    members against the Association, and caused them some trouble. I
+    have it also on good authority, that an important difficulty
+    took place between Mr. Loofbourrow and the Phalanx, relative to
+    the deed of the property which he held for the Phalanx.
+
+    "At one time there were about eighty persons on the domain,
+    exclusive of children. They were of various trades and
+    professions, and of various religious beliefs. There was no
+    common religious standard among them.
+
+    "Some of the friends of this experiment say it failed from two
+    causes, viz., the want of means and the want of men; while
+    others attribute the failure to jealousy and the law-suit, and
+    also to losses they sustained by flood."
+
+The fifth volume of the _Harbinger_ has a letter from one who had been
+a member of the Clermont Phalanx, giving a curious account of certain
+ghosts of Associations that flitted about the Clermont domain, after
+the decease of the original Phalanx. Here is what it says:
+
+    [Letter in the _Harbinger_, October 2, 1847.]
+
+    "It was well known that our frail bark would strand about a year
+    ago. I need not say from what cause, as the history of one such
+    institution is the history of all; but it is commonly said and
+    believed that it was owing to our large indebtedness on our
+    landed property. Persons of large discriminating powers need not
+    inquire how and why such debt was contracted; suffice it to
+    say, it was done, and under such burden the Clermont Phalanx
+    went down about the first of November, 1856. The property of the
+    concern was delivered up to our esteemed friends, B. Urner and
+    C. Donaldson of Cincinnati, who disposed of the land in such a
+    way as to let it fall into the hands of our friends of the
+    Community school, of which John O. Wattles, John P. Cornell and
+    Hiram S. Gilmore are conspicuous members, and who seem to have
+    all the pecuniary means and talents for carrying on a grand and
+    notable plan of reform. They are now putting up a small
+    Community building, spaciously suited for six families, which
+    for beauty, convenience and durability, probably is not
+    surpassed in the western country.
+
+    "Of the old members of the Clermont, many returned again to the
+    city where the institution was first started, but a goodly
+    number still remain about the old domain, making various
+    movements for a re-organization. After the break-up, a deep
+    impression seemed to pervade the whole of us that something had
+    been wrong at the outset, in not securing individually a
+    permanent place _to be_, and then procuring the things _to be
+    with_. Had that been the case, a permanent and happy home would
+    have been here for us ere this time. But I will add with
+    gratitude that such is the case now. We have a home! We have a
+    place to be! After various plans for uniting our energies in the
+    purchase of a small tract of land, we were visited during the
+    past summer by Mr. Josiah Warren of New Harmony, Indiana, who
+    laid before us his plan for the use of property, in the
+    rudimental re-organization of society. Mr. Warren is a man of no
+    ordinary talents. In his investigations of human character his
+    experience has been of the most rigorous kind, having begun with
+    Mr. Owen in 1825, and been actively engaged ever since; and
+    being an ingenious mechanic and artist, an inventor of several
+    kinds of printing-presses and a new method of stereotyping and
+    engraving, and an excellent musician, and combining withal a
+    character to do instead of say, gives us confidence in him as a
+    man. His plan was taken up by one of our former members, who has
+    an excellent tract of land lying on the bank of the Ohio river,
+    within less than a mile of the old domain. He has had it
+    surveyed into lots, and sells to such of us as wish to join in
+    the cause. An extensive brick-yard is in operation, stone is
+    being quarried and lumber hauled on the ground, and buildings
+    are about to go up 'with a perfect rush.' Mr. Warren will have a
+    press upon the ground in a few weeks that will tell something.
+    So you see we have a home, we have a place. But by no means is
+    the cause at rest. We call upon philanthropists and all men who
+    have means to invest for the cause of Association, to come and
+    see us, and understand our situation, our means and our
+    intentions. We are ready to receive capital in many forms, but
+    not to hold it as our own. The donor only becomes the lender,
+    and must maintain a strict control over every thing he
+    possesses. [Here Warren's Individual Sovereignty protrudes.]
+    Farms and farming utensils, mechanical tools, etc., can be
+    received only to be used and not abused; and in the language of
+    the 'Poughkeepsie seer,' of whose work we have lately received a
+    number of copies, this all may be done without seriously
+    depreciating the capital or riches of one person in society. On
+    the contrary, it will enrich and advance all to honor and
+    happiness."
+
+Here we come upon the trail of two old acquaintances. John O. Wattles
+was one of the founders of the Prairie Home Community. It seems from
+the above, that after the failure of that experiment, he set up his
+tent among the _debris_ of the Clermont Phalanx. And Josiah Warren
+came from the failure of his New Harmony Time-store to the same
+favored or haunted spot, and there started his Utopia. These
+intersections of the wandering Socialists are intricate and
+interesting. Note also that the ideas of the "Poughkeepsie seer," A.J.
+Davis, whose star was then only just above the horizon, had found
+their way to this queer mixture of all sorts of Socialists.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+THE INTEGRAL PHALANX.
+
+
+This Association was founded in the early part of 1845 by John S.
+Williams of Cincinnati, who is spoken of by the _Phalanx_, as one of
+the most active adherents of Fourierism in the West. It settled first
+in Ohio, and afterwards in Illinois.
+
+    [From the _Ohio State Journal_, June 14, 1845.]
+
+    "An Association of citizens of Ohio, calling themselves the
+    'Integral Phalanx,' have recently purchased the valuable
+    property of Mr. Abner Enoch, near Middletown, Butler County, in
+    this State, known by the name of Manchester Mills, twenty-three
+    miles north of Cincinnati, on the Miami Canal. This property
+    embraces about nine hundred acres of the most fertile land in
+    Ohio, or perhaps in the world; six hundred acres of which lie in
+    one body, and are now in the highest state of cultivation,
+    according to the usual mode of farming; three hundred acres in
+    wood and timber land. There are now in operation on the place a
+    large flouring-mill, saw-mill, lath-factory and shingle-cutter,
+    with water-power which is abundantly sufficient to propel all
+    necessary machinery that the company may choose to put in
+    operation. The property is estimated to be worth $75,000, but
+    was sold to the Phalanx for $45,000. As Mr. Enoch is himself an
+    Associationist and a devoted friend of the cause, the terms of
+    sale were made still more favorable, by the subscription, on the
+    part of Mr. Enoch, of $25,000 of purchase money, as capital
+    stock of the Phalanx. Entire possession of the domain is to be
+    given as soon as existing contracts of the proprietor are
+    completed.
+
+    "Arrangements are already made for the vigorous prosecution of
+    the plans of the Phalanx. A press is to be established on the
+    domain, devoted to the science of industrial Association
+    generally, and the interests of the Integral Phalanx
+    particularly. Competent agents are appointed to lecture on the
+    science, and receive subscriptions of stock and membership; and
+    it is contemplated to erect, as soon as possible, one wing of a
+    unitary edifice, large enough to accommodate sixty-four
+    families, more than one-half of which number are already in the
+    Association."
+
+    [From the _Harbinger_, July 19, 1845.]
+
+    "We have received the first number of a new paper, entitled, the
+    '_Plowshare and Pruning-Hook_,' which the Integral Phalanx
+    proposes to publish semi-monthly at the rate of one dollar per
+    year.
+
+    "The reasons presented for the establishment of the Integral
+    Phalanx are to our minds quite conclusive, and we feel great
+    confidence that its affairs will be managed with the wisdom and
+    fidelity which will insure success. We earnestly desire to
+    witness a fair and full experiment of Association in the West.
+    The physical advantages which are there enjoyed, are far too
+    great to be lost. With the fertility of the soil, the ease with
+    which it is cultivated, the abundance of water-power, and the
+    comparative mildness of the climate, a very few years of
+    judicious and energetic industry would place an Association in
+    the West in possession of immense material resources. They could
+    not fail to accumulate wealth rapidly. They could live in great
+    measure within themselves, without being compelled to sustain
+    embarrassing relations with civilization; and with the requisite
+    moral qualities and scientific knowledge, the great problem of
+    social harmony would approximate, at least, toward a solution.
+    We trust this will be done by the Integral Phalanx. And to
+    insure this, our friends in Ohio should not be eager to
+    encourage new experiments, but to concentrate their capital and
+    talent, as far as possible, on that Association which bids fair
+    to accomplish the work proposed. The advantages possessed by the
+    Integral Phalanx will be seen from the following statement in
+    their paper:
+
+    "'To say that our prospects are not good, would be to say what
+    we do not believe; or to say that the Phalanx, so far, is not
+    composed of the right kind of materials, would be to affect a
+    false modesty we desire not to possess. One reason why our
+    materials are superior is, that young Phalanxes generally are
+    known to be in doubtful, difficult circumstances, and therefore
+    the inducement to rush into such movements merely from the
+    pressure of the evils of civilization, without a full
+    convincement of the good of Association, is not so great as it
+    was. We are composed of men whose reflective organs,
+    particularly that of caution, seem to be largely developed. We
+    believe in moving slowly, cautiously, safely; giving our Phalanx
+    time to grow well, that permanence may be the result. The
+    members already enrolled on the books of the _Phalanx_, are, in
+    their individual capacities, the owners of property to an amount
+    exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, clear of all
+    incumbrances; and they are all persons of industrial energy and
+    skill, fully capable of compelling the elements of earth, air
+    and water, to yield them abundant contributions for that
+    harmonic unity with which their souls are deeply inspired. In
+    view of all these advantages we can, with full confidence,
+    invite the accession of numbers and capital, and assure them of
+    a safe investment in the Integral Phalanx.'"
+
+    [From the _Harbinger_, August 16, 1845.]
+
+    "We have received the second number of the _Plowshare and
+    Pruning-Hook_. Besides a variety of interesting articles on the
+    subject of Association, this number contains the pledges and
+    rules of the Integral Phalanx, together with an explanation of
+    some parts of the instrument, which have been supposed to be
+    rather obscure. It is an elaborate document, exhibiting the
+    fruits of deep reflection, and aiming at the application of
+    scientific principles to the present condition of Association.
+    We do not feel ourselves called on to criticise it; as every
+    written code for the government of a Phalanx must necessarily be
+    imperfect, of the nature of a compromise, adapted to special
+    exigences, and taking its character, in a great measure, from
+    the local or personal circumstances of the Association for which
+    it is intended. In a complete and orderly arrangement of groups
+    and series, with attractive industry fully organized, with a
+    sufficient variety of character for the harmonious development
+    of the primary inherent passions of our nature, and a
+    corresponding abundance of material resources, we conceive that
+    few written laws would be necessary; everything would be
+    regulated with spontaneous precision by the pervading common
+    sense of the Phalanx; and the law written on the heart, the
+    great and holy law of attraction, would supersede all others.
+    But for this blessed condition the time is not yet. Years may be
+    required, before we shall see the first red streaks of its
+    dawning. Meanwhile, we must make the wisest provisional
+    arrangements in our power. And no constitution recognizing the
+    principles of distributive justice and the laws of universal
+    unity, will be altogether defective; while time and experience
+    will suggest the necessary improvements.
+
+    "Three attorneys-at-law have left that profession and joined the
+    Integral Phalanx, not, as they say, that they could not make a
+    living, if they would stick to it and do their share of the
+    dirty work, but because by doing so they must sacrifice their
+    consciences, as the practice of the law, in many instances, is
+    but stealing under another name. They are elevating themselves
+    by learning honest and useful trades, so as to become producers
+    in Association. A wise resolution."
+
+Here comes a sudden turn in the story of this Phalanx, for which the
+previous assurances of caution and prosperity had not prepared us, and
+of which we can find no detailed account. We skip from Ohio to
+Illinois, with no explanation except the dark hints of trouble,
+defeat, and partial dissolution, contained in the following document.
+The Sangamon Phalanx, which seems to have taken in the Integral (or
+was taken in by it), is one of the Associations of which we have no
+account either from Macdonald or the Fourier Journals.
+
+    [From the New York _Tribune_.]
+
+                                "_Home of the Integral Phalanx, }
+                       Sangamon Co., Illinois, Oct. 20, 1845._" }
+
+    "_To the Editor of the New York Tribune_:
+
+    "We wish to apprise the friends of Association that the Integral
+    Phalanx, having for the space of one year wandered like Noah's
+    dove, finding no resting place for the sole of its foot, has at
+    length found a habitation. A union was formed on the 16th of
+    October inst., between it and the Sangamon Association; or
+    rather the Sangamon Association was merged in the Integral
+    Phalanx; its members having abandoned its name and constitution,
+    and become members of the Integral Phalanx, by placing their
+    signatures to its pledges and rules: the Phalanx adopting their
+    domain as its home. We were defeated, and we now believe, very
+    fortunately for us, in securing a location in Ohio. We have,
+    during the time of our wanderings, gained some experience which
+    we could not otherwise have gained, and without which we were
+    not prepared to settle down upon a location. Our members have
+    been tried. We now know what kind of stuff they are made of.
+    Those who have abandoned us in consequence of our difficulties,
+    were 'with us, but not of us,' and would have been a hindrance
+    to our efforts. They who are continually hankering after the
+    'flesh-pots of Egypt,' and are ready to abandon the cause upon
+    the first appearance of difficulties, had better stay out of
+    Association. If they will embark in the cause, every Association
+    should pray for difficulties sufficient to drive them out. We
+    need not only clear heads, but also true hearts. We are by no
+    means sorry for the difficulties which we have encountered, and
+    all we fear is that we have not yet had sufficient difficulties
+    to try our souls, and show the principles by which we are
+    actuated.
+
+    "We have now a domain embracing five hundred and eight acres of
+    as good land as can be found within the limits of Uncle Sam's
+    dominions, fourteen miles southwest from Springfield, the
+    capital of the State, and in what is considered the best county
+    and wealthiest portion of the State. This domain can be extended
+    to any desired limit by purchase of adjoining lands at cheap
+    rates. We have, however, at present, sufficient land for our
+    purposes. It consists of high rolling prairie and woodlands
+    adjoining, which can not be excelled in the State, for beauty of
+    scenery and richness of soil, covered with a luxuriant growth of
+    timber, of almost every description, oak, hickory, sugar-maple,
+    walnut, etc. The land is well watered, lying upon Lick Creek,
+    with springs in abundance, and excellent well-water at the depth
+    of twenty feet. The land, under proper cultivation, will produce
+    one hundred bushels of corn to the acre, and every thing else in
+    proportion. There are five or six comfortable buildings upon the
+    property; and a temporary frame-building, commenced by the
+    Sangamon Association (intended, when finished, to be three
+    hundred and sixty feet by twenty-four), is now being erected for
+    the accommodation of families.
+
+    "The whole domain is in every particular admirably adapted to
+    the industrial development of the Phalanx. The railroad
+    connecting Springfield with the Illinois river, runs within two
+    miles of the domain. There is a steam saw- and flouring-mill
+    within a few yards of our present eastern boundary, which we can
+    secure on fair terms, and shall purchase, as we shall need it
+    immediately.
+
+    "But we will not occupy more time with description, as those who
+    feel sufficiently interested, will visit us and examine for
+    themselves. We 'owe no man,' and although we are called infidels
+    by those who know not what constitutes either infidelity or
+    religion, we intend to obey at least this injunction of Holy
+    Writ. The Sangamon Association had been progressing slowly,
+    prudently and cautiously, determined not to involve themselves
+    in pecuniary difficulties; and this was one great inducement to
+    our union with them. We want those whose 'bump of caution' is
+    fully developed. Our knowledge of the progressive movement of
+    other Associations has taught us a lesson which we will try not
+    to forget. We are convinced that we can never succeed with an
+    onerous debt upon us. We trust those who attempt it may be more
+    successful than we could hope to be.
+
+    "We are also convinced that we can not advance one step toward
+    associative unity, while in a state of anarchy and confusion,
+    and that such a state of things must be avoided. We will
+    therefore not attempt even a unitary subsistence, until we have
+    the number necessary to enable us to organize upon scientific
+    principles, and in accordance with Fourier's admirable plan of
+    industrial organization. The Phalanx will have a store-house,
+    from which all the families can be supplied at wholesale prices,
+    and have it charged to their account. It is better that the
+    different families should remain separate for five years, than
+    to bring them together under circumstances worse than
+    civilization. Such a course will unavoidably create confusion
+    and dissatisfaction, and we venture the assertion that it has
+    done so in every instance where it has been attempted. Under our
+    rules of progress, it will be seen that until we are prepared to
+    organize, we shall go upon the system of hired labor. We pay to
+    each individual a full compensation for all assistance rendered
+    in labor or other services, and charge him a fair price for what
+    he receives from the Phalanx; the balance of earnings, after
+    deducting the amount of what he receives, to be credited to him
+    as stock, to draw interest as capital. To capital, whether it be
+    money or property put in at a fair price, we allow ten per cent.
+    compound interest. This plan will be pursued until our edifice
+    is finished and we have about four hundred persons, ready to
+    form a temporary organization. Fourier teaches us that this
+    number is necessary, and if he has taught the truth of the
+    science, it is worse than folly to pursue a course contrary to
+    his instructions. If there is any one who understands the
+    science better than Fourier did himself, we hope he will make
+    the necessary corrections and send us word. We intend to follow
+    Fourier's instructions until we find they are wrong; then we
+    will abandon them.
+
+    "As to an attempt to organize groups and series until we have
+    the requisite number, have gone through a proper system of
+    training, and erected an edifice sufficient for the
+    accommodation of about four hundred persons, every feature of
+    our Rules of Progress forbids it. We believe that the effort
+    will place every Phalanx that attempts it, in a situation worse
+    than civilization itself. The distance between civilization and
+    Association can not be passed at one leap. There must
+    necessarily be a transition period; and any set of rules or
+    constitution (hampered and destroyed by a set of by-laws),
+    intended for the government of a Phalanx, during the transition
+    period, and which have no analogical reference to the human
+    form, will be worse than useless. They will be an impediment
+    instead of an assistance to the progressive movement of a
+    Phalanx. The child can not leap to manhood in a day nor a month,
+    and unless there is a system of training suited to the different
+    states through which he must pass in his progress to manhood,
+    his energies can never be developed. If Associations will
+    violate every scientific principle taught by Fourier, pay no
+    regard to analogy, and attempt organisms of groups and series
+    before any preparation is made for it, and then run into anarchy
+    and confusion, and become disgusted with their efforts, we hope
+    they will have the honesty to take the blame upon themselves,
+    and not charge it to the science of Association.
+
+    "We are ready at all times to give information of our situation
+    and progress, and we pledge ourselves to give a true and correct
+    statement of the actual situation of the Phalanx. We pledge
+    ourselves that there shall not be found a variance between our
+    written or published statements, and the statements appearing
+    upon our records. Those of our members now upon the ground are
+    composed principally of the former members of the Sangamon
+    Association. We expect a number of our members from Ohio this
+    fall, and many more of them in the spring. We have applications
+    for information and membership from different directions, and
+    expect large accession in numbers and capital during the coming
+    year. We can extend our domain to suit our own convenience, as,
+    in this land of prairies and pure atmosphere, we are not hemmed
+    in by civilization to the same extent as Socialists in other
+    States. We have elbow-room, and there is no danger of treading
+    on each other's toes and then fighting about it.
+
+    "The _Plowshare and Pruning-Hook_ will be continued from its
+    second number, and published from the home of the Integral
+    Phalanx in a few weeks, as soon as a press can be procured.
+
+                                 "SECRETARY OF INTEGRAL PHALANX."
+
+Here all information in the _Harbinger_ about the Integral comes to an
+end, and Macdonald breaks off short with, "No further particulars."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+THE ALPHADELPHIA PHALANX.
+
+
+This Association was commenced in the winter of 1843-4, principally by
+the exertions of Dr. H.R. Schetterly of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a
+disciple of Brisbane and the _Tribune_. The _Phalanx_ of February 5,
+1844, publishes its prospectus, from which we take the following
+paragraph:
+
+"Notice is hereby given, that a Fourier industrial Association, called
+the Alphadelphia Phalanx, has been formed in this State, under the
+most flattering prospects. A constitution has been adopted and signed,
+and a domain selected on the Kalamazoo river, which seems to possess
+all the advantages that could be desired. It is extremely probable
+(judging from the information possessed), that only half the
+applicants can be received into one Association, because the number
+will be too great: and if such should be the case, two Associations
+will doubtless be formed; for such is the enthusiasm in the West that
+people will not suffer themselves to be disappointed."
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, March 1, 1844.]
+
+    "THE ALPHADELPHIA ASSOCIATION.--We have received the
+    constitution of this Association, a notice of the formation of
+    which was contained in our last. In most respects the
+    constitution is similar to that of the North American Phalanx.
+    It will be seen by the description of the domain selected, which
+    we publish below, that the location is extremely favorable. The
+    establishment of this Association in Michigan is but a pioneer
+    movement, which we have no doubt will soon be followed by the
+    formation of many others. Our friends are already numerous in
+    that State, and the interest in Association is rapidly growing
+    there, as it is throughout the West generally. The West, we
+    think, will soon become the grand theater of action, and ere
+    long Associations will spring up so rapidly that we shall
+    scarcely be able to chronicle them. The people, the farmers and
+    mechanics particularly, have only to understand the leading
+    principles of our doctrines, to admire and approve of them; and
+    it would therefore be no matter of surprise to see in a short
+    time their general and simultaneous adoption. Indeed, the social
+    transformation from a state of isolation with all its poverty
+    and miseries, to a state of Association with its immense
+    advantages and prosperity, may be much nearer and proceed more
+    rapidly than we now imagine. The signs are many and cheering."
+
+
+    _History and Description of the Alphadelphia Association._
+
+    "In consequence of a call of a convention published in the
+    _Primitive Expounder_, fifty-six persons assembled in the
+    school-house at the head of Clark's lake, on the fourteenth day
+    of December last, from the Counties of Oakland, Wayne,
+    Washtenaw, Genesee, Jackson, Eaton, Calhoun and Kalamazoo, in
+    the State of Michigan; and after a laborious session of three
+    days, from morning to midnight, adopted the skeleton of a
+    constitution, which was referred to a committee of three,
+    composed of Dr. H.R. Schetterly, Rev. James Billings and
+    Franklin Pierce, Esq., for revision and amendment. A committee
+    consisting of Dr. Schetterly, John Curtis and William Grant, was
+    also elected to view three places, designated by the convention
+    as possessing the requisite qualifications for a domain. The
+    convention then adjourned to meet again at Bellevue, Eaton
+    County, on the third day of January, to receive the reports of
+    said committees, to choose a domain from those reported on by
+    the committee on location, and to revise, perfect and adopt said
+    constitution. This adjourned convention met on the day
+    appointed, and selected a location in the town of Comstock,
+    Kalamazoo County, whose advantages are described by the
+    committee on location, in the following terms:
+
+    "The Kalamazoo river, a large and beautiful stream, nine rods
+    wide, and five feet deep in the middle, flows through the
+    domain. The mansion and manufactories will stand on a beautiful
+    plain, descending gradually toward the bank of the river, which
+    is about twelve feet high. There is a spring, pouring out about
+    a barrel of pure water per minute, half a mile from the place
+    where the mansion and manufactories will stand. Cobble-stone
+    more than sufficient for foundations and building a dam, and
+    easily accessible, are found on the domain; and sand and clay,
+    of which excellent brick have been made, are also abundant. The
+    soil of the domain is exceedingly fertile, and of great variety,
+    consisting of prairie, oak openings, and timbered and
+    bottom-land along the river. About three thousand acres of it
+    have been tendered to our Association, as stock to be appraised
+    at the cash value, nine hundred of which are under cultivation,
+    fit for the plow; and nearly all the remainder has been offered
+    in exchange for other improved lands belonging to members at a
+    distance, who wish to invest their property in our Association."
+
+    [Letter from H.R. Schetterly.]
+
+                                     "_Ann Arbor, May 20, 1844._"
+
+    "GENTLEMEN:--Your readers will no doubt be pleased to learn
+    every important movement in industrial Association; and
+    therefore I send you an account of the present condition of the
+    Alphadelphia Association, to the organization of which all my
+    time has been devoted since the beginning of last December.
+
+    "The Association held its first annual meeting on the second
+    Wednesday in March, and at the close of a session of four days,
+    during which its constitution and by-laws were perfected, and
+    about eleven hundred persons, including children and adults,
+    admitted to membership, adjourned to meet on the domain on the
+    first of May. Its officers repaired immediately to the place
+    selected last winter for the domain, and after overcoming great
+    difficulties, secured the deeds of 2,814 acres of land, (927 of
+    which is under cultivation), at a cost of $32,000. This gives us
+    perfect control over an immense water-power; and our land-debt
+    is only $5,776 (the greater portion of the land having been
+    invested as stock), to be paid out of a proposed capital of
+    $240,000, $14,000 of which is to be paid in cash during the
+    summer and autumn. More land adjoining the domain has since been
+    tendered as stock; but we have as much as we can use at present,
+    and do not wish to increase our taxes and diminish our first
+    annual dividend too much. It will all come in as soon as wanted.
+    At our last meeting the number of members was increased to
+    upwards of 1,300, and more than one hundred applicants were
+    rejected, because there seemed to be no end, and we became
+    almost frightened at the number. Among our members are five
+    mill-wrights, six machinists, furnacemen, printers,
+    manufacturers of cloth, paper, etc., and almost every other kind
+    of mechanics you can mention, besides farmers in abundance.
+
+    "Farming and gardening were commenced on the domain about the
+    middle of April, and two weeks since, when I came away, there
+    were seventy-one adult male and more than half that number of
+    adult female laborers on the ground, and more constantly
+    arriving. We shall not however be able to accommodate more than
+    about 200 resident members this season.
+
+    "There is much talk about the formation of other Associations in
+    this State (Michigan), and I am well convinced that others will
+    be formed next winter. The fact is, men have lost all confidence
+    in each other, and those who have studied the theory of
+    Association, are desirous of escaping from the present
+    hollow-hearted state of civilized society, in which fraud and
+    heartless competition grind the more noble-minded of our
+    citizens to the dust.
+
+    "The Alphadelphia Association will not commence building its
+    mansion this season; but several groups have been organized to
+    erect a two-story wooden building, five hundred and twenty-three
+    feet long, including the wings, which will be finished the
+    coming Fall, so as to answer for dwellings till we can build a
+    mansion, and afterwards may be converted into a silk
+    establishment or shops. The principal pursuit this year, besides
+    putting up this building, will be farming and preparing for
+    erecting a furnace, saw-mill, machine-shop, etc. We have more
+    than one hundred thousand feet of lumber on hand; and a
+    saw-mill, which we took as stock, is running day and night.
+
+    "I do not see any obstacle to our future prosperity. Our farmers
+    have plenty of wheat on the ground. We have teams, provisions,
+    all we ought to desire on the domain; and best of all, since the
+    location of the buildings has been decided, we are perfectly
+    united, and have never yet had an angry discussion on any
+    subject. We have religious meetings twice a week, and preaching
+    at least once, and shall have schools very soon. If God be for
+    us, of which we have sufficient evidence, who can prevail
+    against us?
+
+    "Our domain is certainly unrivaled in its advantages in
+    Michigan, possessing every kind of soil that can be found in the
+    State. Our people are moral, religious, and industrious, having
+    been actually engaged in manual labor, with few exceptions, all
+    their days. The place where the mansion and out-houses will
+    stand, is a most beautiful level plain, of nearly two miles in
+    extent, that wants no grading, and can be irrigated by a
+    constant stream of water flowing from a lake. Between it and the
+    river is another plain, twelve feet lower, on which our
+    manufactories may be set in any desirable position. Our
+    mill-race is half dug by nature, and can be finished, according
+    to the estimate of the State engineer, for eighteen hundred
+    dollars, giving five and a-half feet fall without a dam, which
+    may be raised by a grant from the Legislature, adding three feet
+    more, and affording water-power sufficient to drive fifty pair
+    of mill-stones. A very large spring, brought nearly a mile in
+    pipes, will rise nearly fifty feet at our mansion. The Central
+    railroad runs across our domain. We have a great abundance of
+    first-rate timber, and land as rich as any in the State.
+
+    "Our constitution is liberal, and secures the fullest individual
+    freedom and independence. While capital is fully protected in
+    its rights and guaranteed in its interests, it is not allowed to
+    exercise an undue control, or in the least degree encroach on
+    personal liberty, even if this too common tendency could
+    possibly manifest itself in Association. As we proceed I will
+    inform you of our progress.
+
+                                               H.R. SCHETTERLY."
+
+The _Harbinger_ of January 17, 1846, mentions the Alphadelphia as
+still existing and in hopeful condition; but we find no further notice
+of it in that quarter. Macdonald tells the following story of its
+fortunes and failure, the substance of which he obtained from Dr.
+Schetterly:
+
+    "At the commencement a disagreement took place between a Mr.
+    Tubbs and the rest of the members. Mr. Tubbs wanted to have the
+    buildings located on the land he had owned; but the Association
+    would not agree to that, because the digging of a mill-race on
+    the side of the river proposed by Mr. Tubbs would have cost
+    nearly $18,000; whereas on the railroad side of the river, which
+    was supposed to be a much better building-place, the race would
+    have cost only $1,800. The consequence was that all but Mr.
+    Tubbs voted for the railroad side, and Mr. Tubbs left, no doubt
+    in disgust, at the same time cautioning every person against
+    investing property in the Phalanx. This disagreement at the
+    commencement of the experiment threw a damper on it, from which
+    it never entirely recovered.
+
+    "There were a number of ordinary farm-houses on the domain, and
+    a beginning of a Phalanstery seventy feet long was erected to
+    accommodate those who resided there the first winter. The rooms
+    were comfortable but small. A large frame-house was also begun.
+    During the warm weather a number of persons lived in a large
+    board shanty.
+
+    "The members of the Association were mostly farmers, though
+    there were builders, shoemakers, tailors, blacksmiths and
+    printers, and one editor; all tolerably skillful and generally
+    well informed; though but few could write for the paper called
+    the _Tocsin_, which was published there. The morality of the
+    members is said to have been good, with one exception. A school
+    was carried on part of the time, and they had an exchange of
+    some seventy periodicals and newspapers. No religious tests were
+    required in the admission of members. They had preaching by one
+    of the printers, or by any person who came along, without asking
+    about his creed.
+
+    "All lived in clover so long as a ton of sugar or any other such
+    luxury lasted; but before provisions could be raised, these
+    luxuries were all consumed, and most of the members had to
+    subsist afterward on coarser fare than they were accustomed to.
+    No money was paid in, and the members who owned property abroad
+    could not sell it. The officers made bad bargains in selling
+    some farms that lay outside the domain. Laborers became
+    discouraged and some left; but many held on longer than they
+    otherwise would have done, because a hundred acres of beautiful
+    wheat greeted them in the fields. In the winter some of the
+    influential members went away temporarily, and thus left the
+    real friends of the Association in the minority; and when they
+    returned after two or three months absence, every thing was
+    turned up-side-down. There was a manifest lack of good
+    management and foresight. The old settlers accused the majority
+    of this, and were themselves elected officers; but it appears
+    that they managed no better, and finally broke up the concern."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+LA GRANGE PHALANX.
+
+
+The first notice of this Association is the following announcement in
+the _Phalanx_, October 5, 1843:
+
+"Preparations are making to establish an Association in La Grange
+County, Indiana, which will probably be done this fall, upon quite an
+extensive scale, as many of the most influential and worthy
+inhabitants of that section are deeply interested in the cause."
+
+    [From a letter of W.S. Prentise, Secretary of the La Grange
+    Phalanx, published in the Phalanx, February 5, 1844.]
+
+    "We have now about thirty families, and I believe might have
+    fifty, if we had room for them. We have in preparation and
+    nearly completed, a building large enough to accommodate our
+    present members. They will all be settled and ready to commence
+    business in the spring. They leave their former homes and take
+    possession of their rooms as fast as they are completed. The
+    building, including a house erected before we began by the owner
+    of a part of our estate, is one hundred and ninety-two feet
+    long, two stories high, divided so as to give each family from
+    twelve to sixteen feet front and twenty-six feet depth, making a
+    front room and one or two bed-rooms. One hundred and twenty feet
+    of this building is entirely new. We commenced it in September,
+    and have had lumber, brick and lime to haul from five to twelve
+    miles. All these materials can be hereafter furnished on our
+    domain. Notwithstanding the disadvantages and waste attendant on
+    hasty action without previous plan, we shall have our tenements
+    at least as cheap again as they would cost separately. Our farm
+    consists of about fifteen hundred acres of excellent land, four
+    hundred of which is improved, about three hundred of rich
+    meadow, with a stream running through it, falling twelve feet,
+    and making a good water-power. We are about forty miles from
+    Fort Wayne, on the Wabash and Erie canal. Our land, including
+    one large new house and three large new barns, and a saw-mill in
+    operation, cost us about $8.00 per acre. It was put in as stock,
+    at $10.31 for improved, and $2.68 for unimproved. We have about
+    one hundred head of cattle, two hundred sheep, and horse and ox
+    teams enough for all purposes: also farming tools in abundance;
+    and in fact every thing necessary to carry on such branches of
+    business as we intend to undertake at present, except money.
+    This property was put in as stock, at its cash value; cows at
+    $10.00, sheep $1.50, horses $50.00, wheat fifty cents, corn
+    twenty-five cents.
+
+    "We shall have about one hundred and fifty persons when all are
+    assembled; probably about half of this number will be children.
+    Our school will commence in a few days. We have a charter from
+    the Legislature, one provision of which, inserted by ourselves,
+    is, that we shall never, as a society, contract a debt. We are
+    located in Springfield, La Grange County, Indiana. The nearest
+    post-office is Mongoquinong. We think our location a good one.
+    Our members are seventy-three of them practical farmers, and
+    the rest mechanics, teachers, etc. We shall not commence
+    building our main edifice at present. When our dwelling rooms,
+    now in progress, are completed, and such work-shops as are
+    necessary to accommodate our mechanics, we shall stop building
+    until more capital flows in, either from abroad or from our own
+    labors. It is a pity that the mechanics of the city and farmers
+    of the country could not be united. They would do far better
+    together than separate. We have two of the best physicians in
+    the country in our number."
+
+    [From the _Harbinger_, July 4, 1846.]
+
+    "LA GRANGE PHALANX.--This Association has been in operation some
+    two years, and has been incorporated since the first of June,
+    1845. It commenced on the sure principle of incurring no debts,
+    which it has adhered to, with the exception of some fifteen
+    hundred dollars yet due on its domain. We find in the _True
+    Tocsin_ a statement of the operations of this Association for
+    the last fifteen months, and of its present condition, by Mr.
+    Anderson, its Secretary, from which we make the following
+    extracts:
+
+    "_Annual Statement of the condition of La Grange Phalanx, on the
+    1st day of April, 1846._
+
+    "Total valuation of the real and personal estate
+    of the Phalanx, including book accounts, due from
+    members and others                                   $19,861.61
+    Deduct capital stock.                     $14,668.39
+      "    debts                                1,128.82  15,797.21
+                                                         ----------
+    Total product for fifteen months previous to
+      the above date                                      $4,064.40
+
+    Being a net increase of property on hand (since our settlement
+    on the 1st of January, 1845), of $1,535.63, the balance of the
+    total product above having been consumed (namely, $2,531.72) in
+    the shape of rent, tuition, fuel, food and clothing. The above
+    product forms a dividend to labor of sixty-one cents eight mills
+    per day of ten hours, and to the capital stock four and
+    eleven-twelfths per cent. per annum.
+
+    "Our domain at present consists of ten hundred and forty-five
+    acres of good land, watered by living springs. The land is about
+    one-half prairie, the balance openings, well timbered. We have
+    four hundred and ninety-two acres improved, and two hundred and
+    fifty acres of meadow. The improvements in buildings are three
+    barns, some out-houses, blacksmith's-shop, and a dwelling house
+    large enough to accommodate sixteen families; besides a
+    school-room twenty-six by thirty-six feet, and a dining-room of
+    the same size. All our land is within fences. We consider our
+    condition bids fair for the realization of at least a share of
+    happiness, even upon the earth.
+
+    "The rule by which this Association makes dividends to capital
+    is as follows: When labor shall receive seventy-five cents per
+    day of ten hours at average or common farming labor, then
+    capital shall receive six per cent. per annum, and in that
+    ratio, be the dividend what it may; in other words, an
+    investment of one hundred dollars for one year will receive the
+    same amount which might be paid to eight days average labor.
+
+    "There are now ten families of us at this place, busily engaged
+    in agriculture. We are rather destitute of mechanics, and would
+    be very much pleased to have a good blacksmith and shoemaker, of
+    good moral character and steady habits, and withal
+    Associationists, join our number.
+
+    "Since our commencement in the fall of 1843, our school has been
+    in active operation up to the present time, with the exception
+    of some few vacations. It is our most sincere desire to have the
+    very best instruction in school, which our means will enable us
+    to procure."
+
+The _Harbinger_ adds: "The preamble to the constitution of this little
+band of pioneers in the cause of human elevation, shows that their
+enterprise is animated by the highest purposes. We trust that they
+will not be disheartened by any discouragements or obstacles. These
+must of necessity be many; but it should be borne in mind that they
+can not be equal to the burdens which the selfishness and antagonism
+of the existing order of things lay upon every one who toils through
+its routine. The poorest Association affords a sphere of purer, more
+honest, and heartier life than the best society that we know of in the
+civilized world. Let our friends persevere; they are on the right
+track, and whatever mistakes they may make, we do not doubt that they
+will succeed in establishing for themselves and their children a
+society of united interests."
+
+    [Communication in the _Harbinger_.]
+
+                                   _Springfield, June, 14, 1846._
+
+    "We hope our humble effort here to establish a Phalanx, will in
+    due time be crowned with success. Our prospects since we got our
+    charter have been very cheering, notwithstanding the
+    difficulties attendant upon so weak an attempt to form a
+    nucleus, around which we expect to see truth and happiness
+    assembled in perpetual union, and that too at no very distant
+    period. Our numbers have lately been increased by some members
+    from the Alphadelphia Association, whose faith has outlived that
+    of others in the attempt to establish an Association at that
+    place.
+
+    "Agriculture has been our main and almost only employment since
+    we came together. We have ten hundred and forty-five acres of
+    excellent land, four hundred and ninety-two acres of which are
+    improved, and two hundred and fifty acres of it are natural
+    meadow. We are preparing this fall to sow three hundred acres of
+    wheat. Our domain is as yet destitute of water-power except on a
+    very limited scale. Our location in other respects is all that
+    could be wished. We have a very fine orchard of peach-and
+    apple-trees, set out mostly a year ago last spring, and many of
+    the trees will soon bear, they having been moved from orchards
+    which were set out for the use of families on different points
+    of what we now call our domain. We shall have this season a
+    considerable quantity of apples and peaches from old trees which
+    have not been moved. The wheat crop promises to be very abundant
+    in this part of the country. Oats and corn are rather backward
+    on account of the late dry weather. We have at present on the
+    ground one hundred and forty acres of wheat, fifty-two acres of
+    oats, thirty-eight acres of corn, besides buckwheat, potatoes,
+    beans, squashes, pumpkins, melons and what not.
+
+                                   "WILLIAM ANDERSON, Secretary."
+
+Macdonald gives the following meager account of the decease of this
+Phalanx:
+
+    "A person named Jones owned nearly one-half of the stock, and it
+    appears that his influence was such that he managed trading and
+    money matters all in his own way, whether he was an officer or
+    not. This gave great dissatisfaction to the members, and has
+    been assigned as the chief cause of their failure. They
+    possessed about one thousand acres of land, with plenty of
+    buildings of all kinds. The members were mostly farmers,
+    tolerably moral, but lacking in enterprise and science. They
+    maintained schools and preaching in abundance, and lived as well
+    as western farmers commonly do. But they fully proved that,
+    though hard labor is important in such experiments, yet without
+    the right kind of genius to guide, mere labor is vain."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+OTHER WESTERN EXPERIMENTS.
+
+
+A half dozen obscure Associations, begun or contemplated in the
+Western States, will be disposed of together in this chapter; and then
+all that will remain of the experiments on our list, will be the
+famous trio with which we propose to conclude our history of American
+Fourierism--the Wisconsin, the North American and the Brook Farm
+Phalanxes.
+
+One of the experiments mentioned by Macdonald, but about which he
+gives very little information, was
+
+
+THE COLUMBIAN PHALANX.
+
+This Association turns up twice in the pages of the _Harbinger_; but
+we can not ascertain when it started, how long it lasted, nor even
+where it was located, except that it was in Franklin County, Ohio.
+Nevertheless it crowed cheerily in its time, as the following
+paragraphs testify:
+
+    [Letter to the _Harbinger_, August 15, 1845.]
+
+    "It is reported all through the country, and currently within
+    thirty miles of the location, that the Columbian Phalanx have
+    disbanded and broken up; and that those who remain are in a
+    constant state of discontent and bickering, owing to want of
+    food and comforts of life. Now, sir, having visited this spot,
+    and viewed for myself, I can safely say, that in no one thing is
+    this true. In fact only one family has left, and it is supposed
+    that they can't stay away; while five families are now entering
+    or about to enter, from Beverly, Morgan County, all of good,
+    substantial character. As good a state of harmony exists in the
+    Phalanx as could possibly be expected in so incipient a state.
+    On Saturday last, having the required number of families
+    (thirty-two), they went into an inceptive organization; and all
+    feel that at no time have the prospects been as fair as at this
+    moment. In proof of this, it need only be stated, that they are
+    about four thousand dollars ahead of their payments, and no
+    interest due till spring, with no other debts that they are not
+    able to meet. They have one hundred and thirty-seven acres of
+    wheat, and thirteen of rye, all of a most excellent quality,
+    decidedly the best that I have seen this year; not more than ten
+    or fifteen acres at all injured. On a part of it they calculate
+    to get twenty-five bushels to the acre. They have one hundred
+    and fifty acres of corn, much better than the corn generally in
+    Franklin County; one hundred acres of oats, all of the largest
+    kind; fifteen acres of potatoes, in the most flourishing
+    condition; four acres of beans; five acres of vines; besides
+    forty acres of pumpkins! (won't they have pies!) one acre of
+    sweet potatoes; ten thousand cabbage plants; and are preparing
+    ground for five acres of turnips; six acres of buckwheat; five
+    acres of flax, and ten acres of garden. I had the pleasure of
+    taking dinner with them to-day at the public table, furnished as
+    comfortably as we generally find. They have provisions enough
+    growing to supply three times their number, and they are
+    calculating on a large increase this season. They are fully
+    satisfied of the validity of their deed, which they are soon to
+    secure."
+
+    [A letter from a Member, in the _Harbinger_.]
+
+                           "_Columbian Phalanx, October 4, 1845._
+
+    "If I have said aught in high-toned language of our future
+    prospects, preserve it as truth, sacred as Holy Writ. We are in
+    a prosperous condition. The little difficulties which beset us
+    for a time, arising from lack of means, and which the world
+    magnified into destruction and death, have been dissipated.
+
+    "Our crops of grain are the very best in the State of Ohio, a
+    very severe drought having prevailed in the north of the State.
+    We could, if we wished, sell all our corn on the ground. We have
+    one hundred and fifty acres, every acre of which will yield one
+    hundred bushels. We have cut one hundred acres of good oats.
+    Potatoes, pumpkins, melons, etc., are also good. We are now
+    getting out stuff to build a flouring-mill in Zanesville, for a
+    Mr. Beaumont; two small groups of seven persons each, make
+    twenty-five dollars per day at the job. We have the best hewed
+    timber that ever came to Zanesville; and it is used in all the
+    mills and bridges in this region. We have purchased fixtures for
+    a new steam saw-mill, with two saws and a circulator, and
+    various other small machinery, all entirely new, which we shall
+    get into operation soon. Plenty to eat, drink, and wear, with
+    three hundred dollars per week coming in, all from our own
+    industry, imparts to us a tone of feeling of a quite different
+    zest, to an abundance obtained in any other way. The world has
+    watched with anxious solicitude our capacity to survive alone.
+    Now that we have gained shore, we find extended to us the right
+    hand of the capitalist and the laboring man; they beg
+    permission to join our band.
+
+    "You are already aware, no doubt, that the Beverly Association
+    has joined us. The Integral having failed to obtain the location
+    they had selected, some of the members have united their efforts
+    with us. Tell Mr. W., of Alleghany, to come here; tell him for
+    me that all danger is out of the question. Please by all means
+    tell Mr. M. to come here; tell him what I have written. Tell H.,
+    of Beaver, to come and see us, and say to him that you have
+    always failed in depicting the comforts and pleasures of
+    Association. And in fine, say to all the Associationists in
+    Pittsburg, that we are doing well, even better than we ourselves
+    ever expected; and if they wish to know more and judge for
+    themselves, let them come and see us.
+
+                                                   Yours, J.R.W."
+
+These are all the memorials that remain of the Columbian Phalanx.
+Another experiment of some note and enterprise, but with scanty
+history, was
+
+
+THE SPRING FARM ASSOCIATION, WISCONSIN.
+
+"In the year 1845," says Macdonald, "there was quite an excitement in
+the quiet little village of Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, on the subject
+of Fourier Association, stimulated by the energetic mind of Dr. P.
+Cady of Ohio. Meetings were held and Socialism was discussed, until
+ten families agreed to attempt an Association somewhere in the wilds
+of Sheboygan County. In making a selection of a suitable place, they
+divided into two parties, the one wishing to settle on the shore of
+Lake Michigan, and the other about twenty miles from the lake and six
+miles from any habitation. So strong were the opinions and prejudices
+of each, that the tents were pitched in both places. The following
+brief account relates to the one which was commenced in February,
+1846, on Government land about twenty miles from the lake shore, and
+was named 'Spring Farm' from the lovely springs of water which were
+found there. (The other company was less successful.) The objects
+proposed to be carried out by this little band, were 'Union, Equal
+Rights, and Social Guaranties.'
+
+"The pecuniary means, to begin with, amounted to only $1,000, put in
+as joint stock. The members consisted of six families, including ten
+children. Among them were farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters and
+joiners. They were tolerably intelligent, and with religious opinions
+various and free. They possessed an unfinished two-story frame
+building, twenty feet by thirty. They cultivated thirty acres of the
+prairie, and a small opening in the timber; but they appear to have
+made very little progress; though they worked in company for three
+years."
+
+One of the members thus answered Macdonald's questions concerning the
+general course and results of the experiment:
+
+    "Mr. B.C. Trowbridge was generally looked up to as leader of the
+    society. The land was bought of Government by individual
+    resident members. We had nothing to boast of in improvements;
+    they were only anticipated. We obtained no aid from without;
+    what we did not provide for ourselves, we went without. The
+    frost cut off our crops the second year, and left us short of
+    provisions. We were not troubled with dishonest management, and
+    generally agreed in all our affairs. We dissolved by mutual
+    agreement. The reasons of failure were poverty, diversity of
+    habits and dispositions, and disappointments through failure of
+    harvest. Though we failed in this attempt, yet it has left an
+    indelible impression on the minds of one-half the members at
+    least, that a harmonious Association in some form is the way,
+    and the only way, that the human mind can be fully and properly
+    developed; and the general belief is, that community of property
+    is the most practicable form."
+
+
+THE BUREAU COUNTY PHALANX.
+
+In the first number of the _Phalanx_, October 5, 1843, it is mentioned
+that a small Association had been commenced in Bureau County,
+Illinois. Macdonald repeats the mention, and adds, "No further
+particulars."
+
+
+THE WASHTENAW PHALANX
+
+was projected at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a monthly paper called the
+_Future_, was started in connection with it; but it appears to have
+failed before it got fairly into operation; as the _Phalanx_ barely
+refers to it once, and Macdonald dismisses it as a mere abortive
+excitement.
+
+
+GARDEN GROVE COMMUNITY, IOWA,
+
+was projected by D. Roberts, W. Davis, and others. The plan was to
+settle a colony of the "right sort" on contiguous lots, each family
+with its separate farm and dwelling, but all having a common
+pleasure-ground, dancing-hall, lecture-room and seminary. What came of
+it is not known.
+
+
+THE IOWA PIONEER PHALANX
+
+is mentioned twice in the _Phalanx_, as a Fourierist colony about to
+emigrate from Jefferson County, New York, to Iowa. It issued a paper;
+but whether it ever emigrated or what became of it, does not appear.
+
+If there were any more of these feeble experiments--as there may have
+been many--they escaped the sharp eyes of Macdonald and the
+_Harbinger_, and left no memorials.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+THE WISCONSIN PHALANX.
+
+
+This was one of the most conspicuous experiments of the Fourier epoch.
+The notices of it in the _Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_ are quite
+voluminous. We shall have to curtail them as much as possible, and
+still our patchwork will be a long one. The Wisconsin had the
+advantage of most other Phalanxes in the skill of its spokesman. Mr.
+Warren Chase, a gentleman at present well known among Spiritualists,
+was its founder and principal manager. Most of the important
+communications relating to it in the socialistic Journals and other
+papers, were from his ready pen. We will do our best to save all that
+is most valuable in them, while we omit what seems to be irrelevant or
+repetitious. It may be understood that we are indebted to the
+_Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_ for nearly all our quotations from other
+papers.
+
+    [From the _Green Bay Republican_, April 30, 1844.]
+
+    "WISCONSIN PHALANX.--We have just been informed by the agent of
+    the above Association, that the _locale_ has been chosen, and
+    ten sections of the finest land in the Territory entered at the
+    Green Bay Land Office. The location is on a small stream near
+    Green Lake, Marquette county. The teams conveying the requisite
+    implements, will start in a week, and the improvements will be
+    commenced immediately. We are in favor of Fourier's plan of
+    Association, although we very much fear that it will be
+    unsuccessful on account of the selfishness of mankind, this
+    being the principal obstacle to be overcome: yet we are pleased
+    to see the commendable zeal manifested by the members of the
+    Wisconsin Phalanx, who are mostly leading and influential
+    citizens of Racine County. The feasibility of Association will
+    now be tested in such a manner that the question will be
+    decided, at least so far as Wisconsin is concerned."
+
+    [From a letter in the _Southport Telegraph_,]
+
+                               _Wisconsin Phalanx, May 27, 1844._
+
+    "We left Southport on Monday, the 20th inst., and arrived on the
+    proposed domain, without accident, on Saturday last at five
+    o'clock P.M. This morning (Monday) the first business was to
+    divide into two companies, one for finding the survey stakes,
+    and the other for setting up the tent on the ground designed for
+    building and gardening purposes. Eight men, with ox-teams and
+    cattle, arrived between nine and ten A.M. After dinner the
+    members all met in the tent and proceeded to a regular
+    organization, Mr. Chase being in the chair and Mr. Rounds
+    Secretary.
+
+    "A prayer was offered, expressing thanks for our safe protection
+    and arrival, and invoking the Divine blessing for our future
+    peace and prosperity. The list of resident members was called
+    (nineteen in number), and they divided themselves into two
+    series, viz., agricultural and mechanical (each appointing a
+    foreman), with a miscellaneous group of laborers, under the
+    supervision of the resident directors.
+
+    "A letter was read by request of the members, from Peter
+    Johnson, a member of the board of directors, relating to the
+    proper conduct of the members in their general deportment, and
+    reminding them of their obligations to their Creator.
+
+    "The agricultural series are to commence plowing and planting
+    to-morrow, and the mechanical to excavate a cellar and prepare
+    for the erection of a frame building, twenty-two feet by twenty,
+    which is designed as a central wing for a building twenty-two
+    feet by one hundred and twenty. There are nineteen men and one
+    boy now on the domain. The stock consists of fifty-four head of
+    cattle, large and small, including eight yoke of oxen and three
+    span of horses. More men are expected during the week, and
+    others are preparing to come this summer. Families will be here
+    as the building can be sufficiently advanced to accommodate
+    them.
+
+    "A few words in regard to the domain: There is a stream which,
+    from its clearness, we have denominated Crystal Creek; it has
+    sufficient fall and water supplied by springs, for one or two
+    mill-seats. It runs over a bed of lime-stone, which abounds
+    here, and can be had convenient for fences and building. There
+    is a good supply of prairie and timber. Every member is well
+    pleased with the location, and also the arrangements for
+    business. Up to this time no discordant note has sounded in our
+    company.
+
+    "We have begun without a debt, which is a source of great
+    satisfaction to each member; and we are certain of success,
+    provided that the same union prevails which has hitherto, and
+    the company incur no debt by loan or otherwise, in the
+    transaction of business. We expect to be prepared this summer or
+    fall to issue the prospectus of a paper to be published on the
+    ground.
+
+                                              "GEO. H. STEBBINS."
+
+    [From a letter of Warren Chase.]
+
+                       "_Wisconsin Phalanx, September, 12, 1844._
+
+    "Our first company, consisting of about twenty men, arrived here
+    and commenced improvements on the 27th of May last. We put in
+    about twenty acres of spring crops, mostly potatoes, buckwheat,
+    turnips, etc., and have now one hundred acres of winter wheat in
+    the ground. We have erected three buildings (designed for wings
+    to a large one to be erected this fall), in which there are
+    about twenty families snugly stored, yet comfortable and happy
+    and busy, comprising in all about eighty persons, men, women,
+    and children. We have also erected a saw-mill, which will be
+    ready to run in a few days, after which we shall proceed to
+    erect better dwellings. We do all our cooking in one kitchen,
+    and all eat at one table. All our labor (excepting a part of
+    female labor, on which there is a reduction), is for the present
+    deemed in the class of usefulness, and every member works as
+    well as possible where he or she is most needed, under the
+    general superintendence of the directors. We adhere strictly to
+    our constitution and by-laws, and adopt as fast as possible the
+    system of Fourier. We have organized our groups and series in a
+    simple manner, and thus far every thing goes admirably, and much
+    better than we could have expected in our embryo state. We have
+    regular meetings for business and social purposes, by which
+    means we keep a harmony of feeling and concert of action. We
+    have a Sunday-school, Bible-class, and Divine service every
+    Sabbath by different denominations, who occupy the Hall (as we
+    have but one) alternately; and all is harmony in that
+    department, although we have many members of different religious
+    societies. They all seem determined to lay aside metaphysical
+    differences, and make a united social effort, founded on the
+    fundamental principles of religion.
+
+                                                  "WARREN CHASE."
+
+    [From a letter in the _Ohio American_, August, 1845.]
+
+    "I wish, through the medium of your columns, to correct a
+    statement which has been going the rounds of the newspapers in
+    this vicinity and in other parts, that the Wisconsin Phalanx has
+    failed and dispersed. I am prepared to state, upon the authority
+    of a letter from their Secretary, dated July 31, 1845, that the
+    report is entirely without foundation. They have never been in a
+    more prosperous condition, and the utmost harmony prevails. They
+    are moving forward under a charter; own two thousand acres of
+    fine land, with water-power; twenty-nine yoke of oxen,
+    thirty-seven cows, and a corresponding amount of other stock,
+    such as horses, hogs, sheep, etc.; are putting in four hundred
+    acres of wheat this fall; have just harvested one hundred acres
+    of the best of wheat, fifty-seven acres of oats, and other
+    grains in proportion. They have been organized a little more
+    than a year, and embrace in their number about thirty families.
+
+    "One very favorable feature in this institution is, that they
+    are entirely out of debt, and intend to remain so; they do not
+    owe, and are determined never to owe, a single dollar. An
+    excellent free school is provided for all the members; and as
+    they have no idle gentlemen or ladies to support, all have time
+    to receive a good education."
+
+    [From a letter of Warren Chase.]
+
+                          "_Wisconsin Phalanx, August, 13, 1845._
+
+    "We are Associationists of the Fourier school, and intend to
+    reduce his system to practice as fast as possible, consistently
+    with our situation. We number at this time about one hundred and
+    eighty souls, being the entire population of the congressional
+    township. We are under the township government, organized
+    similar to the system in New York. Our town was set off and
+    organized last winter by the Legislature, at which time the
+    Association was also incorporated as a joint-stock company by a
+    charter, which is our constitution. We had a post-office and
+    weekly mail within forty days after our commencement. Thus far
+    we have obtained all we have asked for.
+
+    "We have religious meetings and Sabbath-schools, conducted by
+    members of some half-a-dozen different denominations of
+    Christians, with whom creeds and modes of faith are of minor
+    importance compared with religion. All are protected, and all is
+    harmony in that department. We have had no deaths and very
+    little sickness. No physician, no lawyer or preacher, yet
+    resides among us; but we expect a physician soon, whose interest
+    will not conflict with ours, and whose presence will
+    consequently not increase disease. In politics we are about
+    equally divided, and vote accordingly; but generally believe
+    both parties culpable for many of the political evils of the
+    day.
+
+    "The Phalanx has a title from Government to fourteen hundred and
+    forty acres of land, on which there is one of the best of
+    water-powers, a saw-mill in operation and a grist-mill
+    building; six hundred and forty acres under improvement, four
+    hundred of which is now seeding to winter wheat. We raised about
+    fifteen hundred bushels the past season, which is sufficient for
+    our next year's bread; have about seventy acres of corn on the
+    ground, which looks well, and other crops in proportion. We have
+    an abundance of cattle, horses, crops and provisions for the
+    wants of our present numbers, and physical energy enough to
+    obtain more. Thus, you see, we are tolerably independent; and we
+    intend to remain so, as we admit none as members who have not
+    sufficient funds to invest in stock, or sufficient physical
+    strength, to warrant their not being a burden to the society. We
+    have one dwelling-house nearly finished, in which reside twenty
+    families, with a long hall conducting to the dining-room, where
+    all who are able, dine together. We intend next summer to erect
+    another for twenty families more, with a hall conducting to
+    another dining-room, supplied from the same cook-room. We have
+    one school constantly, but have as yet been unable to do much
+    toward improving that department, and had hoped to see something
+    in the _Harbinger_ which would be a guide in this branch of our
+    organization. We look to the Brook Farm Phalanx for instruction
+    in this branch, and hope to see it in the _Harbinger_ for the
+    benefit of ourselves and other Associations.
+
+    "We have a well-regulated system of grouping our laborers, but
+    have not yet organized the series. We have no difficulty in any
+    department of our business, and thus far more than our most
+    sanguine expectations have been realized. We commenced with a
+    determination to avoid all debts, and have thus far adhered to
+    our resolution; for we believed debts would disband more
+    Associations than any other one cause; and thus far, I believe
+    it has, more than all other causes put together.
+
+                                                  "WARREN CHASE."
+
+    From the Annual Statement of the Condition and Progress of the
+    Wisconsin Phalanx, for the fiscal year ending December 1, 1845.
+
+    "The four great evils with which the world is afflicted,
+    intoxication, lawsuits, quarreling, and profane swearing, never
+    have, and with the present character and prevailing habits of
+    our members, never can, find admittance into our society. There
+    is but a very small proportion of the tattling, backbiting and
+    criticisms on character, usually found in neighborhoods of as
+    many families. Perfect harmony and concert of action prevail
+    among the members of the various churches, and each individual
+    seems to lay aside creeds, and strive for the fundamental
+    principles of religion. Many have cultivated the social feeling
+    by the study and practice of vocal and instrumental music. In
+    this there is a constant progress visible. Our young gentlemen
+    and ladies have occasionally engaged in cotillions, especially
+    on wedding occasions, of which we have had three the past
+    summer.
+
+    "Our convenience for schools, their diminished expense, &c., is
+    known only to those acquainted with Association. We have done
+    but little in perfecting this branch of our new organization;
+    but having erected a school-house, we are prepared to commence
+    our course of moral, physical and intellectual education. For
+    want of a convenient place, we have not yet opened our
+    reading-room or library, but intend to do so during the present
+    month.
+
+    "The family circle and secret domestic relations are not
+    intruded on by Association; each family may gather around its
+    family altar, secluded and alone, or mingle with neighbors
+    without exposure to wet or cold. In our social and domestic
+    arrangements we have approximated as far toward the plan of
+    Fourier, as the difficulties incident to a new organization in
+    an uncultivated country would permit. Owing to our infant
+    condition and wish to live within our means, our public table
+    has not been furnished as elegantly as might be desirable to an
+    epicurean taste. From the somewhat detached nature of our
+    dwellings, and the consequent inconveniencies attendant on all
+    dining at one table, permission was given to such families as
+    chose, to be furnished with provisions and cook their own board.
+    But one family has availed itself of this privilege.
+
+    "In the various departments of physical labor, we have
+    accomplished much more than could have been done by the same
+    persons in the isolated condition. We have broken and brought
+    under cultivation, three hundred and twenty-five acres of land;
+    have sown four hundred acres to winter wheat; harvested the
+    hundred acres which we had on the ground last fall; plowed one
+    hundred and seventy acres for crops the ensuing spring; raised
+    sixty acres of corn, twenty of potatoes, twenty of buckwheat,
+    and thirty of peas, beans, roots, etc.; built five miles of
+    fence; cut four hundred tons of hay; and expended a large amount
+    of labor in teaming, building sheds, taking care of stock, etc.
+
+    "We have nearly finished the long building commenced last year
+    (two hundred and eight feet by thirty-two), making comfortable
+    residences for twenty families; built a stone school-house,
+    twenty by thirty; a dining-room eighteen by thirty; finished one
+    of the twenty-by-thirty dwellings built last year; expended
+    about two hundred days' labor digging a race and foundation for
+    a grist-mill thirty by forty, three stories high, and for a
+    shop twenty by twenty-five, one story, with stone basements to
+    both, and erected frames for the same; built a wash-house sixty
+    by twenty-two; a hen house eleven by thirty, of sun-dried brick;
+    an ash-house ten by twenty, of the same material; kept one man
+    employed in the saw-mill, one drawing logs, one in the
+    blacksmith shop, one shoe-making, and most of the time two about
+    the kitchen.
+
+    "The estimated value of our property on hand is $27,725.22,
+    wholly unincumbered; and we are free from debt, except about
+    $600 due to members, who have advanced cash for the purchase of
+    provisions and land. But to balance this, we have over $1,000
+    coming from members, on stock subscriptions not yet due.
+
+    "The whole number of hours' labor performed by the members
+    during the past year, reduced to the class of usefulness, is
+    102,760; number expended in cooking, etc., and deducted for the
+    board of members, 21,170; number remaining after deducting for
+    board, 81,590, to which the amount due to labor is divided. In
+    this statement the washing is not taken into account, families
+    having done their own.
+
+    "Whole number of weeks board charged members (including children
+    graduated to adults) forty-two hundred and thirty-four. Cost of
+    board per week for each person, forty-four cents for provisions,
+    and five hours labor.
+
+    "Whole amount of property on hand, as per invoice, $27,725.22.
+    Cost of property and stock issued up to December 1, $19,589.18.
+    Increase the past year, being the product of labor, etc.,
+    $8,136.04; one-fourth of which, or $2,034.01, is credited to
+    capital, being twelve per cent. per annum on stock, for the
+    average time invested; and three-fourths, or $6,102.03 to labor,
+    being seven and one-half cents per hour.
+
+    "The property on hand consists of the following items:
+
+    1,553 acres of land, at $3.00            $4,659.00
+    Agricultural improvements                 1,522.47
+    Mechanical improvements                   8,405.00
+    Personal property                        10,314.01
+    Advanced members in board, etc.           2,824.74
+                                             ---------
+        Amount                              $27,725.22
+
+                                         "W. CHASE, _President_."
+
+    [From a letter of Warren Chase,]
+
+                              _Wisconsin Phalanx, March 3, 1846._
+
+    "Since our December statement, our course and progress has been
+    undeviatingly onward toward the goal. We have added eighty acres
+    to our land, making one thousand six hundred and thirty-three
+    acres free of incumbrance. We are preparing to raise eight
+    hundred acres of crops the coming season, finish our grist-mill,
+    and build some temporary residences, etc. We have admitted but
+    one family since the 1st of December, although we have had many
+    applications. In this department of our organization, as well as
+    in that of contracting debts, we are profiting by the experience
+    of many Associations who preceded or started with us.
+
+    "We pretend to have considerable knowledge of the serial law,
+    but we are not yet prepared, mentally or physically, to adopt it
+    in our industrial operations. We have something in operation
+    which approaches about as near to it as the rude hut does to the
+    palace. Even this is better than none, and saves us from the
+    merciless peltings of the storm.
+
+    "Success with us is no longer a matter of doubt. Our questions
+    to be settled are, How far and how fast can we adopt and put in
+    practice the system and principle which we believe to be true,
+    without endangering or retarding our ultimate object. We feel
+    and know that our condition and prospects are truly cheering,
+    and to the friends of the cause we can say, Come on, not to join
+    us, but to form other Associations; for we can not receive
+    one-tenth of those who apply for admission. Nothing but the
+    general principles of Association are lawful tender with us.
+    Money will not buy admission for those who have no faith in the
+    principles, but who merely believe, as most of our neighbors do,
+    that we shall get rich; this is not a ruling principle here.
+    With our material, our means, and the principles of eternal
+    truth on our side, success is neither doubtful nor surprising.
+
+    "We expect at our next annual statement, to be able to represent
+    ourselves as a minimum Association of forty families, not fully
+    organized on Fourier's plan, but approaching to, and preparing
+    for it.
+
+                                                       W. CHASE."
+
+    From the Annual Statement of the Condition and Progress of the
+    Wisconsin Phalanx, for the fiscal year ending December 7, 1846.
+
+    "The study and adoption of the principles of industrial
+    Association, have here, as elsewhere, led all reflecting minds
+    to acknowledge the principles of Christianity, and to seek
+    through those principles the elevation of man to his true
+    condition, a state of harmony with himself, with nature and with
+    God. The Society have religious preaching of some kind almost
+    every Sabbath, but not uniformly of that high order of talent
+    which they are prepared to appreciate.
+
+    "The educational department is not yet regulated as it is
+    designed to be; the Society have been too busily engaged in
+    making such improvements as were required to supply the
+    necessaries of life, to devote the means and labor necessary to
+    prepare such buildings as are required. We have not yet
+    established our reading-room and library, more for the want of
+    room, than for a lack of materials.
+
+    "The social intercourse between the members has ever been
+    conducted with a high-toned moral feeling, which repudiates the
+    slanderous suspicions of those enemies of the system, who
+    pretend that the constant social intercourse will corrupt the
+    morals of the members; the tendency is directly the reverse.
+
+    "We have now one hundred and eighty resident members; one
+    hundred and one males, seventy-nine females; fifty-six males and
+    thirty-seven females over the age of twenty-one years. About
+    eighty have boarded at a public table during the past year, at a
+    cost of fifty cents per week and two and a half hours' labor;
+    whole cost sixty-three cents. The others, most of the time, have
+    had their provisions charged to them, and done their own cooking
+    in their respective families, although their apartments are very
+    inconvenient for that purpose. Most of the families choose this
+    mode of living, more from previous habits of domestic
+    arrangement and convenience, than from economy. We have resident
+    on the domain, thirty-six families and thirty single persons;
+    fifteen families and thirty single persons board at the public
+    table: twenty-one families board by themselves, and the
+    remaining five single persons board with them.
+
+    "Four families have left during the past year, and one returned
+    that had previously left. One left to commence a new
+    Association: one, after a few weeks' residence, because the
+    children did not like; and two to seek other business more
+    congenial with their feelings than hard work. The Society has
+    increased its numbers the past year about twenty, which is not
+    one-fourth of the applicants. The want of room has prevented us
+    from admitting more.
+
+    "There has been 96,297 hours' medium class labor performed
+    during the past year (mostly by males), which, owing to the
+    extremely low appraisal of property, and the disadvantage of
+    having a new farm to work on, has paid but five cents per hour,
+    and six per cent. per annum on capital.
+
+    "The amount of property in joint-stock, as per valuation, is
+    $30,609.04; whole amount of liabilities, $1,095.33. The net
+    product or income for the past year is $6,341.84, one-fourth of
+    which being credited to capital, makes the six per cent.; and
+    three-fourths to labor, makes the five cents per hour. We have,
+    as yet, no machinery in operation except a saw-mill, but have a
+    grist-mill nearly ready to commence grinding. Our wheat crop
+    came in very light, which, together with the large amount of
+    labor necessarily expended in temporary sheds and fences, which
+    are not estimated of any value, makes our dividend much less
+    than it will be when we can construct more permanent works. We
+    have also many unfinished works, which do not yet afford us
+    either income or convenience, but which will tell favorably on
+    our future balance-sheets.
+
+    "The Society has advanced to the members during the past year
+    $3,293, mostly in provisions and such necessary clothing as
+    could be procured.
+
+    "The following schedule shows in what the property of the
+    Society consists, and its valuation:
+
+    1,713 acres of land, at $3.00              $5,139.00
+    Agricultural improvements                   3,206.00
+    Agricultural products                       4,806.76
+    Shops, dwellings, and out-houses            6,963.61
+    Mills, mill-race and dam                    5,112.90
+    Cattle, horses, sheep, hogs, &c.            3,098.45
+    Farming tools, &c.                          1,199.36
+    Mechanical tools, &c.                         367.26
+    Other personal property                       715.70
+                                              ----------
+        Amount                                $30,609.04
+
+                                           "W. CHASE, President."
+
+In the _Harbinger_ of March 27, 1847, there is a letter from Warren
+Chase giving eighteen elaborate reasons why the Fourierists throughout
+the country should concentrate on the Wisconsin, and make it a great
+model Phalanx; which we omit.
+
+    [From a letter of Warren Chase.]
+
+                             "_Wisconsin Phalanx, June 28, 1847._
+
+    "We have now been a little more than three years in operation,
+    and my most sanguine expectations have been more than realized.
+    We have about one hundred and seventy persons, who, with the
+    exception of three or four families, are contented and happy,
+    and more attached to this home than to any they ever had before.
+    Those three or four belong to the restless, discontented
+    spirits, who are not satisfied with any condition of life, but
+    are always seeking something new. The Phalanx will soon be in a
+    condition to adopt the policy of purchasing the amount of stock
+    which any member may have invested, whenever he shall wish to
+    leave. As soon as this can be done without embarrassing our
+    business, we shall have surmounted the last obstacle to our
+    onward progress. We have applications for admission constantly
+    before us, but seldom admit one. We require larger amounts to be
+    invested now when there is no risk, than we did at first when
+    the risk was great. We have borne the heat and burden of the
+    day, and now begin to reap the fruits of our labor. We also must
+    know that an applicant is devoted to the cause, ready to endure
+    for it hardships, privations and persecution, if necessary, and
+    that he is not induced to apply because he sees our physical or
+    pecuniary prosperity. We shall admit such as, in our view, are
+    in all respects prepared for Association and can be useful to
+    themselves and us; but none but practical workingmen need apply,
+    for idlers can not live here. They seem to be out of their
+    element, and look sick and lean. If no accident befalls us, we
+    shall declare a cash dividend at our next annual settlement.
+
+                                                      "W. CHASE."
+
+    [From a letter in the New York _Tribune_.]
+
+                             "_Wisconsin Phalanx, July 20, 1847._
+
+    "I have been visiting this Association several days, looking
+    into its resources, both physical and moral. Its physical
+    resources are abundant. In a moral aspect there is much here to
+    encourage. The people, ninety of whom are adults, are generally
+    quite intelligent, and possess a good development of the moral
+    and social faculties. They are earnest inquirers after truth,
+    and seem aware of the harmony of thought and feeling that must
+    prevail to insure prosperity. They receive thirty or forty
+    different publications, which are thoroughly perused. The
+    females are excellent women, and the children, about eighty,
+    are most promising in every respect. They are not yet well
+    situated for carrying into effect all the indispensable agencies
+    of true mental development, but they are not idle on this
+    momentous subject. They have an excellent school for the
+    children, and the young men and women are cultivating music. Two
+    or three among them are adepts in this beautiful art. While
+    writing, I hear good music by well-trained voices, with the
+    Harmonist accompaniment.
+
+    "I do believe something in human improvement and enjoyment will
+    soon be presented at Ceresco, that will charm all visitors, and
+    prove a conclusive argument against the skepticism of the world
+    as to the capability of the race to rise above the social evils
+    that afflict mankind, and to attain a mental elevation which few
+    have yet hoped for. I expect to see here a garden in which shall
+    be represented all that is most beautiful in the vegetable
+    kingdom. I expect to see here a library and reading-room, neatly
+    and plentifully furnished, to which rejoicing hundreds will
+    resort for instruction and amusement. I expect to see here a
+    laboratory, where the chemist will unfold the operations of
+    nature, and teach the most profitable mode of applying
+    agricultural labor. I expect to see here interesting cabinets,
+    where the mineral and animal kingdoms will be presented in
+    miniature. And I expect to see all the arts cultivated, and
+    every thing beautiful and grand generally appreciated.
+
+                                                           HINE."
+
+On which the editor of the _Tribune_ observes: "We trust the remark
+will be taken in good part, that the writers of letters from these
+Associative experiments are too apt to blend what they desire or hope
+to see, with what they actually do see."
+
+    [From a letter of J.J. Cooke in the _Tribune_.]
+
+                           "_Wisconsin Phalanx, August 28, 1847._
+
+    "_Editor of the New York Tribune_:
+
+    "DEAR SIR: I have just perused in your paper, a letter from Mr.
+    Hine, dated at this place. Believing that the letter is
+    calculated to leave an erroneous impression on the mind of the
+    reader, as to the true condition of this Association, I deem it
+    to be my duty to notice it, for the reason of the importance of
+    the subject, and the necessity of true knowledge in reference to
+    correct action.
+
+    "It is now twelve days since I arrived here, with the intention
+    of making a visit sufficiently long to arrive at something like
+    a critical knowledge of the experiment now in progress in this
+    place. As you justly remark in your comments on Mr. Hine's
+    letter, 'the writers of letters from these associative
+    experiments are too apt to blend what they desire or hope to
+    see, with what they actually do see.' So far as such a course
+    might tend to induce premature and ill-advised attempts at
+    practical Association, it should be regarded as a serious evil,
+    and as such, should, if possible, be remedied. I presume no one
+    here would advise the commencement of any Association, to pass
+    through the same trials which they themselves have experienced.
+    I have asked many of the members this question, 'Do you think
+    that the reports and letters which have been published
+    respecting your Association, have been so written as to leave a
+    correct impression of your real existing condition on the mind
+    of the reader?' The answer has invariably been, 'No.'"
+
+    The writer then criticises the water-power, climate, etc., and
+    proceeds to say:
+
+    "The probability now is, that corn will be almost a total
+    failure. 'Their present tenements,' says Mr. Hine, 'are such as
+    haste and limited means forced them to erect.' This is
+    undoubtedly true, and I will also add, that they are such as few
+    at the East would be contented to live in. With the exception of
+    the flouring-mill, blacksmith's-shop and carpenter's-shop, there
+    are no arrangements for mechanical industry. This is not
+    surprising, in view of the small means in their possession. 'In
+    a moral aspect,' Mr. Hine says, 'there is much to encourage.' It
+    would not be incorrect to say, that there is also something to
+    fear. The most unpleasant feelings which I have experienced
+    since I have been here, have been caused by the want of neatness
+    around the dwellings, which seems to be inconsistent with the
+    individual character of the members with whom I have become
+    acquainted. This they state to be owing to their struggles for
+    the necessaries of life; but I have freely told them that I
+    considered it inexcusable, and calculated to have an injurious
+    influence upon themselves and upon their children. 'They are
+    earnest inquirers after truth,' says Mr. Hine, 'and seem aware
+    of the harmony of thought and feeling that must prevail, in
+    order to insure prosperity.' This I only object to so far as it
+    is calculated to produce the impression that such harmony really
+    exists. That there is a difference of feeling upon, at least,
+    one important point, I know. This is in reference to the course
+    to be pursued in relation to the erection of dwellings. I
+    believe that a large majority are in favor of building only in
+    reference to a combined dwelling; but there are some who think
+    that this generation are not prepared for it, and who wish to
+    erect comfortable dwellings for isolated households. A portion
+    of the members go out to labor for hire; some, in order to
+    procure those necessaries which the means of the Association
+    have been inadequate to provide; and others, for want of
+    occupation in their peculiar branches of industry. Mr. Hine
+    says, 'They have an excellent school for the children.' I had
+    thought that the proper education of the children was a want
+    here, and members have spoken of it as such. They have no public
+    library or reading-room for social re-union, excepting the
+    school-room; and no room which is convenient for such purposes.
+    There are no Associational guarantees in reference to sickness
+    or disability in the charter (which is the constitution) of this
+    Phalanx.
+
+    "From the above statement, you can judge somewhat of the present
+    foundation of Mr. Hine's hopes of 'soon' seeing the realization
+    of the beautiful picture which he has drawn.
+
+                                                JOSEPH J. COOKE."
+
+In the _Harbinger_ of January 8, 1848, Warren Chase replied to Mr.
+Cooke's criticisms, admitting the general truth of them, but insisting
+that it is unfair to judge the Association by eastern standards. In
+conclusion he says:
+
+    "There is a difference of opinion in regard to board, which,
+    under the law of freedom and attraction, works no harm. Most of
+    our families cook their board in their rooms from choice under
+    present circumstances; some because they use no meat and do not
+    choose to sit at a table plentifully supplied with beef, pork
+    and mutton: others because they choose to have their children
+    sit at the table with them, to regulate their diet, etc., which
+    our circumstances will not yet permit at our public table;
+    others because they want to ask a blessing, etc.; and others
+    because their manner of cooking and habits of living have become
+    so fixed as to have sufficient influence to require their
+    continuance. Some of our members think all these difficulties
+    can not be speedily removed, and that cheap and comfortable
+    dwellings, should be built, adapted to our circumstances, with a
+    unitary work-house, bakery and dairy, by which the burdens
+    should be removed as fast as possible, and the minds prepared by
+    combined effort, co-operative labor, and equitable distribution,
+    for the combined dwelling and unitary living, with its variety
+    of tables to satisfy all tastes. Others think our devotion to
+    the cause ought to induce us to forego all these attachments and
+    prejudices, and board at one table and improve it, building none
+    but unitary dwellings adapted to a unitary table. We pursue both
+    ways in our living with perfect freedom, and probably shall in
+    our building; for attraction is the only law whose force we
+    acknowledge in these matters. We have passed one more important
+    point in our progress since I last wrote you. We have adopted
+    the policy to refund all investments to any member when he
+    chooses to leave.
+
+                                                       W. CHASE."
+
+    [From a letter of Warren Chase.]
+
+                           "_Wisconsin Phalanx, August 21, 1847._
+
+    "We are in the enjoyment of an excellent state of health, owing
+    in part to our healthy location, and in part to the diet and
+    regimen of our members. There is a prevailing tendency here to
+    abandon the use of animal food; it has been slowly, but steadily
+    increasing for some time, and has been aided some by those
+    excellent and interesting articles from the pen of Dr. Lazarus
+    on 'Cannibalism.' When we have to resort to any medical
+    treatment, hydropathy is the system, and the _Water-cure
+    Journal_ very good authority. Our society will soon evince
+    symptoms of two conditions of Associative life, viz.: physical
+    health and material wealth. By wealth I do not mean burdensome
+    property, but an ample supply of the necessaries of life, which
+    is real wealth.
+
+    "I fully believe that nine out of ten organizations and attempts
+    at Association would finally succeed, even with small means and
+    few members, if they would adhere strictly to the following
+    conditions:
+
+    "First, keep free from debt, and live within their means;
+    Second, not attempt too much in the commencement.
+
+    "Great changes require a slow movement. All pioneers should
+    remember to be constructive, and not merely destructive; not to
+    tear down faster than they can substitute something better.
+    Every failure of Association which has come to my knowledge, has
+    been in consequence of disregarding these conditions; they have
+    all been in debt, and depended on stock subscriptions to relieve
+    them; and they have attempted too much. Having, in most cases,
+    torn down the isolated household and family altar (or table),
+    before they had even science enough to draft a plan of a
+    Phalanstery or describe a unitary household, they seemed in some
+    cases to imagine that the true social science, when once
+    discovered, would furnish them, like the lamp of Aladdin, with
+    all things wished for. They have awakened from their dreams; and
+    now is the time for practical attempts, to start with, first,
+    the joint-stock property, the large farm or township, the common
+    home and joint property of all the members; second, coöperative
+    labor and the equitable distribution of products, the large
+    fields, large pastures, large gardens, large dairies, large
+    fruit orchards, etc., with their mills, mechanic shops, stores,
+    common wash-houses, bake-houses, baths, libraries, lectures,
+    cabinets, etc.; third, educational organization, including all,
+    both children and adults, and through that the adoption of the
+    serial law, organization of groups and series; (at this point
+    labor, without reference to the pay, will begin to be
+    attractive;) fourth, the Phalansterian order, unitary living. As
+    this is the greatest step, it requires the most time, most
+    capital, and most mental preparation, especially for persons
+    accustomed to country life. In most cases many years will be
+    required for the adoption of the second of these conditions, and
+    more for the third, and still more for the fourth. Hence the
+    necessity of commencing, if the present generation is to realize
+    much from the discovery of the science.
+
+    "Let no person construe these remarks to indicate an advanced
+    state of Association for the Wisconsin Phalanx. We have taken
+    the first step, which required but little time, and are now
+    barely commencing the second. We have spent three years, and
+    judging from our progress thus far, it will doubtless take us
+    from five to ten more to get far enough in the second to
+    commence the third. We have made many blunders for the want of
+    precedents, and in consequence of having more zeal than
+    knowledge. Among the most serious blunders was an attempt at
+    unitary living, without any of the surrounding circumstances
+    being adapted to it. With this view we built, at a cost of more
+    than $3,000, a long double front building, which can not be
+    ventilated, and is very uncomfortable and extremely
+    inconvenient for families to live in and do their cooking. But
+    in this, bad as it is, some twenty of our families are still
+    compelled to live, and will be for some time to come. This, with
+    some other mistakes, will be to us a total loss, for the want of
+    more knowledge to commence with. But these are trifling in
+    comparison with the importance of our object and the result for
+    a series of years. No true Associationist has been discouraged
+    by these trials and losses; but we have a few among us who never
+    were Associationists, and who are waiting a favorable
+    opportunity to return to civilization; and we are waiting a
+    favorable opportunity to admit such as we want to fill their
+    places.
+
+                                                       W. CHASE."
+
+    From the Annual Statement of the Condition and Progress of the
+    Wisconsin Phalanx, for the fiscal year ending December 6, 1847.
+
+    "The number of resident members is one hundred and fifty-seven;
+    eighty-four males and seventy-three females. Thirty-two males
+    and thirty-nine females are under twenty-one years, fifty-two
+    males and thirty-four females over twenty-one years, and
+    eighteen persons above the age of twenty-one unmarried. The
+    whole number of resident families is thirty-two. We have
+    resident with us who are not members, one family and four single
+    persons. Four families and two single persons have left during
+    the year, the stock of all of whom has been purchased, except of
+    one family, and a single person; the former intends returning,
+    and the latter owns but $25.00.
+
+    "The number of hours' labor performed during the year, reduced
+    to the medium class, is 93,446. The whole amount of property at
+    the appraisal is $32,564.18. The net profits of the year are
+    $9,029.73; which gives a dividend to stock of nearly 7-3/4 per
+    cent., and 7-3/10 cents per hour to labor.
+
+    "The Phalanx has purchased and cancelled during the year $2,000
+    of stock; we have also, by the assistance of our mill (which has
+    been in operation since June), and from our available products,
+    paid off the incumbrance of $1,095.33 with which we commenced
+    the year; made our mechanical and agricultural improvements, and
+    advanced to members, in rent, provisions, clothing, cash, etc.,
+    $5,237.07. The annexed schedule specifies the kinds and
+    valuation of the property on hand:
+
+    1,713 acres of land at $3.00             $5,139.00
+    Agricultural improvements                 3,509.77
+    Agricultural products                     5,244.16
+    Mechanical improvements                  12,520.00
+    Live stock                                2,983.50
+    Farm and garden tools                     1,219.77
+    Mechanical tools                            380.56
+    Personal property, miscellaneous          1,567.42
+                                            ----------
+        Amount                              $32,564.18
+
+                                       "BENJ. WRIGHT, President."
+
+In June, 1848, Warren Chase sent a letter to the _Boston
+Investigator_, complaining of the _Harbinger's_ indifference to the
+interests of the Wisconsin Phalanx; and another writer in the
+_Investigator_ suggested that this indifference was on account of the
+irreligious character of the Phalanx; all of which the _Harbinger_
+denied. To the charge of irreligion, a member of the Phalanx
+indignantly replied in the _Harbinger_, as follows:
+
+    "Some of us are and have been Methodists, Baptists,
+    Presbyterians, Congregationalists, etc. Others have never been
+    members of any church, but (with a very few exceptions) very
+    readily admit the authenticity and moral value of the
+    Scriptures. The ten commandments are the sum, substance and
+    foundation of all true law. Add to this the gospel law of love,
+    and you have a code of laws worthy of the adoption and practice
+    of any man or set of men, and upon which Associationists must
+    base themselves, or they can never succeed. There are many
+    rules, doctrines and interpretations of Scripture among the (so
+    denominated) Orthodox churches, that any man of common sense can
+    not assent to. Even they can not agree among themselves; for
+    instance the Old and New School Presbyterians, the Baptists,
+    Methodists, etc. If this difference of faith and opinion is
+    infidelity or irreligion, we to a man are infidels and
+    irreligious; but if faith in the principles and morality of the
+    Bible is the test, I deny the charge. I can scarcely name an
+    individual here that dissents from them.
+
+    "I have been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for
+    about twenty years, and a Methodist local preacher for over
+    three years, and am now Secretary of the Association. I
+    therefore should know somewhat about this matter."
+
+    [From the New York _Tribune_, July, 1848.]
+
+    "WISCONSIN PHALANX.--Having lately seen running around the
+    papers a statement that the last remaining 'Fourier
+    Association,' somewhere in Illinois, had just given up the
+    ghost, we gladly give place to the following extracts from a
+    private letter we have just received from a former fellow
+    citizen, who participated in two of the earlier attempts
+    (Sylvania and Leraysville) to establish something that
+    ultimately would or might become an Association after the idea
+    of Fourier. After the second failure he attached himself to the
+    communistic undertaking near Skaneateles, New York, and when
+    this too ran aground, he went back perforce to the cut-throat
+    system of civilized competition. But this had become unendurably
+    hateful to him, and he soon struck off for Ceresco, and became a
+    member of the Wisconsin Phalanx at that place, whereof he has
+    now for some months been a resident. Of this Association he
+    writes:
+
+    "I have worked in the various groups side by side with the
+    members, and I have never seen a more persevering, practical,
+    matter-of-fact body of people in any such movement. Since I came
+    here last fall, I see a great improvement, both externally and
+    internally. Mr. Van Amringe, the energetic herald of national
+    and social reform, did a good work by his lectures here last
+    winter; and the meetings statedly held for intellectual and
+    social improvement, have an excellent effect. All now indicates
+    unity and fraternity. The Phalanx has erected and enclosed a new
+    unitary dwelling, one hundred feet long, two stories high, with
+    a spacious kitchen, belfry, etc. They have burnt a lime-kiln,
+    and are burning a brick-kiln of one hundred thousand bricks as
+    an experiment, and they bid fair to be first-rate. All this has
+    been accomplished this spring in addition to their agricultural
+    and horticultural operations. Their water-power is small, being
+    supplied from springs, which the drought of the last three
+    seasons has sensibly affected. In adding to their machinery,
+    they will have to resort to steam.
+
+    "The location is healthy and pleasant. The atmosphere is
+    uniformly pure, and a good breeze is generally blowing. I doubt
+    whether another site could be found combining so many natural
+    advantages. I have visited nearly all the associative
+    experiments in the country, and I like this the best. I think
+    it already beyond the possibility of failure.
+
+                                                            D.S."
+
+Mr. Van Amringe spent considerable time at Ceresco, and sent several
+elaborate articles in favor of the Phalanx to the _Harbinger_. One of
+the members wrote to him as follows:
+
+    "Since you left here a great change has taken place in the
+    feelings and tastes of the members, and that too for the better.
+    You will recollect the black and dirty appearance of the
+    buildings, and the wood-work inside scrubbed until it had the
+    appearance of a dirty white. About the first of May they made a
+    grand rally to alter the appearance of things. The long building
+    was white-washed inside and out, and the wood-work of nearly all
+    the houses has been painted. The school-house has been
+    white-washed and painted, the windows white, the panels of the
+    wood-work a light yellow, carvings around a light blue, the
+    seats and desks a light blue; this has made a great change in
+    its appearance. You will recollect the frame of a new building
+    that stood looking so distressed; about as much more was added
+    to it, and all covered and neatly painted. The corridor is now
+    finished; a handsome good kitchen has been put up in the rear of
+    the old one, with a bakery underneath; a beautiful cupola is on
+    the top, in which is placed a small bell, weighing one hundred
+    and two pounds, about the size of a steamboat bell; it can be
+    heard on the prairie. The blinds in the cupola windows are
+    painted green. Were you to see the place now you would be
+    surprised, and agreeably so, too. Some four or five have left
+    since spring; new members have been taken in their stead, and a
+    good exchange, I think, has been made. Two or three tailors,
+    and the same number of shoemakers, are expected shortly."
+
+    From the Annual Statement of the Condition and progress of the
+    Wisconsin Phalanx, for the fiscal year ending December 4, 1848.
+
+    "Religious meetings are sustained by us every Sabbath, in which
+    the largest liberty is extended to all in the search for truth.
+    In the educational department we do no more than sustain a
+    common school; but are waiting, anxiously waiting, for the time
+    when our condition will justify a more extended operation. In
+    the absence of a reading-room and library, one of our greatest
+    facilities for knowledge and general information is afforded by
+    a great number and variety of newspapers and periodical
+    publications, an interchange of which gives advantages in
+    advance of the isolated family. The number of resident members
+    is one hundred and twenty, viz.: sixty-three males and
+    fifty-seven females. The number of resident families is
+    twenty-nine. We have resident with us, who are not members, one
+    family and twelve single persons. Six families and three single
+    persons have left during the year, a part of whose stock we have
+    purchased. We have lost by death the past year seven persons,
+    viz.: one married lady (by consumption), one child two years of
+    age, and five infants. The health of the members has been good,
+    with the exception of a few cases of remittent and billious
+    fevers. The Phalanx has sustained a public boarding-house the
+    past year, at which the majority of the members have boarded at
+    a cost not exceeding seventy-five cents per week. The remaining
+    families board at their own apartments.
+
+    "The number of hours' labor performed during the year, reduced
+    to the medium class, is 97,036. The whole amount of property at
+    the appraisal, is $33,527.77. The net profits of the year are,
+    $8,077.02; which gives a dividend to stock of 6-1/4 per cent.,
+    and 6-1/4 cents per hour to labor. The annexed schedule
+    specifies the kinds and valuation of property on hand:
+
+    Real estate 1,793 acres at $3.00            $5,379.00
+    Live Stock                                   3,117.00
+    Mechanical tools                             1,866.34
+    Farming tools                                1,250.75
+    Mechanical improvements                     14,655.00
+    Agricultural improvements                    2,298.90
+         "       products                        3,161.56
+    Garden products                              1,006.13
+    Miscellaneous property                         793.09
+                                              -----------
+    Total amount                               $33,527.77
+
+                                           "S. BATES, President."
+
+The following anonymous summary, well written and evidently authentic,
+is taken from Macdonald's collection:
+
+    [History of the Wisconsin Phalanx, by a member.]
+
+    "In the winter of 1843-4 there was considerable excitement in
+    the village of Southport, Wisconsin (now Kenosha City), on the
+    subject of Association. The subject was taken up with much
+    feeling and interest at the village lyceum and in various public
+    meetings. Among the advocates of Association were a few persons
+    who determined in the spring of 1844 to make a practical
+    experiment. For that purpose a constitution was drawn up, and a
+    voluntary Association formed, which styled itself 'The Wisconsin
+    Phalanx.' As the movement began to ripen into action, the
+    friends fell off, and the circle narrowed down from about
+    seventy to twenty persons. This little band was composed mostly
+    of men with small means, sturdy constitutions, below the middle
+    age, and full of energy; men who had been poor, and had learned
+    early to buffet with the antagonisms of civilization; not highly
+    cultivated in the social and intellectual faculties, but more so
+    in the moral and industrial.
+
+    "They raised about $1,000 in money, which they sent to the
+    land-office at Green Bay, and entered a tract of land selected
+    by their committee, in a congressional township in the
+    north-west corner of Fond du Lac County, a township six miles
+    square, without a single inhabitant, and with no settlement
+    within twenty miles, except a few scattered families about Green
+    Lake.
+
+    "With teams, stock, tents, and implements of husbandry and
+    mechanism, they repaired to this spot in the latter part of May
+    1844, a distance of about one hundred and twenty-five miles from
+    their homes, and commenced building and breaking up land, etc.
+    They did not erect a log house, but split out of the tough burr
+    and white oak of the 'openings,' shingles, clapboards, floors,
+    frames and all the materials of a house, and soon prepared a
+    shelter. Their families were then moved on. Late in the fall a
+    saw-mill was built, and every thing prepared as well as could be
+    for the winter. Their dwellings would have been unendurable at
+    other times and under other circumstances; but at this time
+    zeal, energy, excitement and hope kept them from complaining.
+    Their land, which was subsequently increased to 1,800 acres,
+    mostly at $1.25 per acre, consisted of 'openings,' prairie and
+    timber, well watered, and with several small water-powers on the
+    tract; a fertile soil, with as healthy a climate as could be
+    found in the Western States.
+
+    "It was agreed to name the new town Ceresco, and a post-office
+    was applied for under that name, and obtained. One of the
+    members always held the office of post-master, until the
+    administration of General Taylor, when the office was removed
+    about three-quarters of a mile to a rival village. In the winter
+    of 1844-5, the Association asked the Legislature to organize
+    their town, which was readily done under the adopted name. A few
+    settlers had by this time moved into the town (which, owing to
+    the large proportion of prairie, was not rapidly settled), and
+    in the spring they held their election. Every officer chosen was
+    a member of the society, and as they were required to elect
+    Justices and had no need of any, they chose the three oldest
+    men. From that time until the dissolution of the society nearly
+    every town-office of importance was filled by its members. They
+    had also one of their members in both Constitutional Conventions
+    of the State, and three in the State Senate for one term of two
+    sessions. Subsequently one of their members was a candidate for
+    Governor, receiving more votes in his town than both of the
+    other candidates together; but only a small vote in the State,
+    as he was the free-soil candidate.
+
+    "The Association drew up and prepared a charter or act of
+    incorporation upon which they agreed, and applied to the
+    Legislature for its passage; which was granted; and thus they
+    became a body corporate and politic, known in the land as the
+    'Wisconsin Phalanx.' All the business was done in accordance
+    with and under this charter, until the property was divided and
+    the whole affair closed up. One clause in the charter prohibited
+    the sale of the land. This was subsequently altered at the
+    society's request, in an amendatory act in the session of
+    1849-50, for the purpose of allowing them to divide their
+    property.
+
+    "In the spring of 1845, after their organization under the
+    charter, they had considerable accession to their numbers, and
+    might have had greater; but were very careful about admitting
+    new members, and erred very much in making a property
+    qualification. About this time (1845) a question of policy arose
+    among the members, the decision of which is supposed by many
+    good judges to have been the principal cause of the ultimate
+    division and dissolution; it was, whether the dwellings should
+    be built in unitary blocks adapted to a common boarding-house,
+    or in isolated style, adapted to the separate family and single
+    living. It was decided by a small majority to pursue the unitary
+    plan, and this policy was persisted in until there was a
+    division of property. Whether this was the cause of failure or
+    not, it induced many of the best members to leave; and although
+    it might have been the true policy under other circumstances and
+    for other persons, in this case it was evidently wrong, for the
+    members were not socially developed sufficiently to maintain
+    such close relations. Notwithstanding this, they continued to
+    increase slowly, rejecting many more applicants than they
+    admitted; and often rejecting the better and admitting the
+    worse, because the worse had the property qualifications. In
+    this way they increased to the maximum of thirty-three families.
+    They had no pecuniary difficulties, for they kept mostly out of
+    debt.
+
+    "It was a great reading Community; often averaging as many as
+    five or six regular newspapers to a family, and these constantly
+    exchanging with each other. They were not religious, but mostly
+    rather skeptical, except a few elderly orthodox persons. [This
+    hardly agrees with the statement and protest on the 436th page.]
+
+    "They were very industrious, and had many discussions and warm
+    arguments about work, manners, progress, etc.; but still they
+    continued to work and scold, and scold and work, with much
+    energy, and to much effect. They raised one season ten thousand
+    bushels of wheat, and much other grain; had about seven hundred
+    acres under cultivation; but committed a great error in
+    cultivating four hundred acres on the school lands adjoining
+    their own, because it lay a little better for a large field.
+    They had subsequently to remove their fences and leave that
+    land, for they did not wish to buy it.
+
+    "Their charter elections were annual, and were often warmly
+    contested, and turned mainly on the question of unitary or
+    isolated households; but they never went beyond words in their
+    contentions.
+
+    "They were all temperance men and women: no ardent spirits were
+    kept or sold for the first four years in the township, and never
+    on the domain, while it was held as joint-stock.
+
+    "Their system of labor and pay was somewhat complicated, and
+    never could be satisfactorily arranged. The farmers and
+    mechanics were always jealous of each other, and could not be
+    brought to feel near enough to work on and divide the profits at
+    the end of the year; but as they ever hoped to get over this
+    difficulty, they said but very little about it. In their system
+    of labor they formed groups for each kind of work; each group,
+    when consisting of three or more, choosing its own foreman, who
+    kept the account of the time worked by each member, and reported
+    weekly to a meeting of all the members, which regulated the
+    average; and then the Secretary copied it; and at the end of the
+    fiscal year each person drew, on his labor account, his
+    proportion of the three-fourths of the increase and products
+    which was allotted to labor, and on his stock shares, his
+    proportion of the one-fourth that was divided to stock. The
+    amount so divided was ascertained by an annual appraisal of all
+    the property, thus ascertaining the rise or increase in value,
+    as well as the product of labor. The dividend to capital was,
+    however, usually considered too large and disproportionate.
+
+    "The books and accounts were accurately kept by the Secretary,
+    and most of the individual transactions passed through this
+    form, thus leaving all accounts in the hands of a disinterested
+    person, open to inspection at all times, and bringing about an
+    annual settlement which avoided many difficulties incident to
+    civilization.
+
+    "The table of the Community, when kept as a public
+    boarding-house, where the families and visitors or travelers
+    were mostly seated, was set with plain but substantial food,
+    much like the tables of farmers in newly settled agricultural
+    States; but it often incurred the ridicule of loafers and
+    epicures, who travel much and fare better with strangers than at
+    home.
+
+    "They had among their number a few men of leading intellect who
+    always doubted the success of the experiment, and hence
+    determined to accumulate property individually by any and every
+    means called fair in competitive society. These would
+    occasionally gain some important positions in the society, and
+    representing it in part at home and abroad, caused much trouble.
+    By some they were accounted the principal cause of the final
+    failure.
+
+    "In the summer and fall of 1849 it became evident that a
+    dissolution and division was inevitable, and plans for doing it
+    within themselves, without recourse to courts of law, were
+    finally got up, and they determined to have it done by their
+    legal advisers as other business was done. At the annual
+    election in December 1849, the officers were elected with a view
+    to that particular business. They had already sold much of the
+    personal property and cancelled much of the stock. The highest
+    amount of stock ever issued was about $33,000, and this was
+    reduced by the sale of personal property up to January 1850, to
+    about $23,000; soon after which the charter was amended,
+    allowing the sale of real estate and the discontinuance of
+    annual settlement, schools, etc.
+
+    "In April 1850 they fixed on an appraisal of their lands in
+    small lots (having some of them cut into village and farm lots),
+    and commenced selling at public sale for stock, making the
+    appraisal the minimum, and leaving any lands open to entry,
+    after they had been offered publicly. During the summer of 1850
+    most of the lands were sold and most of the stock cancelled in
+    this way, under an arrangement by which each stockholder should
+    receive his proportional share of any surplus, or make up any
+    deficiency. Most of the members bought either farming lands or
+    village lots and became permanent inhabitants, thus continuing
+    the society and its influences to a considerable extent. They
+    divided about eight per cent. above par on the stock.
+
+    "Thus commenced, flourished and decayed this attempt at
+    industrial Association. It never attempted to follow Fourier or
+    any other teacher, but rather to strike out a path for itself.
+    It failed because its leading minds became satisfied that under
+    existing circumstances no important progress could be made,
+    rather than from a want of faith in the ultimate practicability
+    of Association.
+
+    "Many of the members regretted the dissolution, while others who
+    had gained property and become established in business through
+    the reputation of the Phalanx for credit and punctuality, seemed
+    to care very little about it. Being absorbed in the world-wide
+    spirit of speculation, and having their minds thus occupied,
+    they forgot the necessity for a social change, which once
+    appeared to them so important."
+
+The writer of the foregoing was probably one of the leading members.
+In a paragraph preceding the account he says that the Wisconsin
+Phalanx had these three peculiarities, viz:
+
+"1. The same individual who was the principal originator and organizer
+of it, was also the one, who, throughout the experiment, had the
+entire confidence of the members and stockholders; and finally did
+nearly all the business in the closing up of its affairs.
+
+"2. At the division of its property, it paid a premium on its stock,
+instead of sustaining a loss.
+
+"3. Neither the Association nor any of its members ever had a lawsuit
+of any kind during its existence, or at its close.
+
+"The truth is," he adds, "this attempt was pecuniarily successful; but
+socially, a failure."
+
+Macdonald concludes with the following note: "Mr. Daniels, a gentleman
+who saw the whole progress of the Wisconsin Phalanx, says that the
+cause of its breaking up was speculation; the love of money and the
+want of love for Association. Their property becoming valuable, they
+sold it for the purpose of making money out of it."
+
+This explanation of the mystery of the failure agrees with the hints
+at the conclusion of the previous account.
+
+On the whole, the coroner's verdict in this case must be--'DIED, not
+by any of the common diseases of Associations, such as poverty,
+dissension, lack of wisdom, morality or religion, but by deliberate
+suicide, for reasons not fully disclosed.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+THE NORTH AMERICAN PHALANX.
+
+
+This was the test-experiment on which Fourierism practically staked
+its all in this country. Brisbane was busy in its beginnings; Greeley
+was Vice-President and stockholder. Its ambitious name and its
+location near New York City helped to set it apart as the model
+Phalanx. It was managed with great ability, and on the whole was more
+successful both in business and duration, than any other Fourier
+Association. It not only saw all the Phalanxes die around it, but it
+outlasted the _Harbinger_ that blew the trumpet for them; and fought
+on, after the battle was given up. Indeed it outlived our friend
+Macdonald, the 'Old Mortality' of Socialism. Three times he visited
+it; and the record of his last visit, which was written in the year of
+his death, 1854, and was probably the last of his literary labors,
+closes with an acknowledgement of the continuance and prosperity of
+the North American. We shall have to give several chapters to this
+important experiment. We will begin with a semi-official expose of its
+foundations.
+
+    A History of the first nine years of the North American Phalanx,
+    written by its practical chief, Mr. Charles Sears, at the
+    request of Macdonald; dated December, 1852.
+
+
+    "Prior to the spring of 1843, Mr. Albert Brisbane had been
+    publishing, principally in the New York _Tribune_, a series of
+    articles on the subject of social science. He had also published
+    his larger work on Association, which was followed by his
+    pamphlet containing a summary of the doctrines of a new form of
+    society, and the outline of a project to found a practical
+    Association, to be called the North American Phalanx.
+
+    "There was nominally a central organization in the city of New
+    York, and affiliated societies were invited to co-operate by
+    subscribing the means of endowing the proposed Phalanx, and
+    furnishing the persons to engage personally in the enterprise.
+    It was proposed to raise about four hundred thousand dollars,
+    thus making the attempt with adequate means to establish the
+    conditions of attractive industry.
+
+    "The essays and books above mentioned had a wide circulation,
+    and many were captivated with the glowing pictures of a new life
+    thus presented; others were attracted by the economies of the
+    combined order which were demonstrated; still others were
+    inspired by the hopes of personal distinction in the brilliant
+    career thus opened to their ambition; others again, were
+    profoundly impressed by Fourier's sublime annunciation of the
+    general destinies of globes and humanities; that progressive
+    development through careers, characterized all movement and all
+    forms; that in all departments of creation, the law of the
+    series was the method observed in distributing harmonies;
+    consequently, that human society and human activity, to be in
+    harmony with the universe of relations, can not be an exception
+    to the great law of the series; consequently, that the existing
+    order of civilization and the societies that preceded it are but
+    phases in the growth of the race, and having subserved their
+    more active uses, become bases of further development.
+
+    "Among those who became interested in the idea of social
+    progress, were a few persons in Albany, New York, who from
+    reading and interchange of views, were induced to unite in an
+    organization for the purpose of deliberately and methodically
+    investigating the doctrines of a new social order as announced
+    by Fourier, deeming these doctrines worthy of the most profound
+    and serious consideration.
+
+    "This body, after several preliminary meetings, formally adopted
+    rules of organization on the 6th of April, 1843, and the
+    declaration of their objects is in the following words: 'We, the
+    undersigned, for the purpose of investigating Fourier's theory
+    of social reform as expounded by Albert Brisbane, and if deemed
+    expedient, of co-operating with like organizations elsewhere, do
+    associate, with the ulterior view of organizing and founding an
+    industrial and commercial Phalanx.'
+
+    "Proceeding in this direction, the body assumed the name of 'The
+    Albany Branch of the North American Phalanx;' opened a
+    correspondence with Messrs. Brisbane, Greeley, Godwin, Channing,
+    Ripley and others; had lectures of criticism on existing
+    institutions and in exposition of the doctrines of the proposed
+    new order.
+
+    "During the summer practical measures were so matured, that a
+    commission was appointed to explore the country, more
+    particularly in the vicinity of New York and of Philadelphia,
+    for a suitable domain upon which to commence the foundation of
+    new social institutions. Mr. Brisbane was the delegate on the
+    part of the New York friends, and Mr. Allen Worden on the part
+    of the Albany Branch. A site was selected in Monmouth County,
+    New Jersey, about forty miles south of New York; and on the 12th
+    day of August, 1843, pursuant to public notice, a convention was
+    held in the Albany Exchange, at which the North American Phalanx
+    was organized by adopting a constitution, and subscribing to a
+    covenant to invest in the capital stock.
+
+    "At this convention were delegates from New York, Catskill,
+    Troy, Brook Farm Association, and the Albany Branch; and when
+    the real work of paying money and elevating life to the effort
+    of social organization was to be done, about a dozen subscribers
+    were found equal to the work, ten of whom finally co-operated
+    personally in the new life, with an aggregate subscription of
+    eight thousand dollars. This by common consent was the absolute
+    minimum of men and means; and, contrasted with the large
+    expectations and claims originally stated, was indeed a great
+    falling-off; but the few who had committed themselves with
+    entire faith to the movement, went forward, determined to do
+    what they could to make a worthy commencement, hoping that with
+    their own families and such others as would from time to time be
+    induced to co-operate, the germs of new institutions might
+    fairly be planted.
+
+    "Accordingly in the month of September, 1843, a few families
+    took possession of the domain, occupying to over-fullness the
+    two farm-houses on the place, and commenced building a temporary
+    house, forty feet by eighty, of two stories, for the
+    accommodation of those who were to come the following spring.
+
+    "During the year 1844 the population numbered about ninety
+    persons, including at one period nearly forty children under the
+    age of sixteen years. Crops were planted, teams and implements
+    purchased, the building of shops and mills was commenced,
+    measures of business and organization were discussed, the
+    construction of social doctrines debated, personal claims
+    canvassed, and thus the business of life was going on at full
+    tide; and now also commenced the real development of character.
+
+    "Hitherto there had been no settled science of society. Fourier,
+    the man of profound insight, announced the law of progress and
+    indicated the new forms that society would take. People accepted
+    the new ideas gladly, and would as gladly institute new forms;
+    but there was a lack of well-defined views on the precise work
+    to be done. Besides, education tended strongly to confirm in
+    most minds the force of existing institutions, and after
+    attaining to middle age, and even before this period, the
+    character usually becomes quite fixed; so that to break up
+    habitudes, relinquish prejudices, sunder ties, and to adopt new
+    modes of action, accept of modified results, and re-adjust
+    themselves to new relations, was a difficult, and to the many,
+    almost impossible work, as is proved by the fact that, of the
+    thirty or forty similar attempts at associated life within the
+    past ten years in this country, only the North American Phalanx
+    now [1852] remains. Nor did this Association escape the
+    inevitable consequences of bringing together a body of grown-up
+    people with their families, many of whom came reluctantly, and
+    whose characters were formed under other influences.
+
+    "Personal difficulties occurred as a matter of course, but
+    these were commonly overruled by a healthy sentiment of
+    self-respect. Parties also began to form, but they were not
+    fully developed until the first annual settlement and
+    distribution of profits was attempted. Then, however, they took
+    a variety of forms according to the interest or ambition of the
+    partisans; though two principal views characterized the more
+    permanent and clearly defined party divisions; one party
+    contending for authority, enforced with stringent rules and
+    final appeal to the dictation of the chief officer; the other
+    party standing out for organization and distribution of
+    authority. The former would centralize power and make
+    administration despotic, claiming that thus only could order be
+    maintained; the latter claimed that to do this, would be merely
+    to repeat the institutions of civilization; that Association
+    thus controlled would be devoid of corporate life, would be
+    dependent upon individuals, and quite artificial; whereas what
+    we wanted was a wholly different order, viz., the
+    enfranchisement of the individual; order through the natural
+    method of the series; institutions that would be instinct with
+    the life that is organic, from the sum of the series, down to
+    the last subdivision of the group. The strife to maintain these
+    several views was long and vigorous; and it would scarcely be an
+    exaggeration to say that our days were spent in labor and our
+    nights in legislation, for the first five years of our
+    associative life. The question at issue was vital. It was
+    whether the infant Association should or should not have new
+    institutions; whether it should be Civilizee or Phalansterian;
+    whether it should be a mere joint-stock corporation such as had
+    been before, or whether the new form of industrial organization
+    indicated by Fourier should be initiated. In the contest
+    between the two principles of civilized joint-stock Association,
+    and of the Phalansterian or Serial organization, the latter
+    ultimately prevailed; and in this triumph of the idea of the
+    natural organic forms of society through the method of the
+    series, we see distinctly the development of the germ of the
+    Phalanx. For when we have a true principle evolved, however
+    insignificant the development may be, the results, although
+    limited by the smallness of the development, will nevertheless
+    be right in kind. It is perhaps important, to the end that the
+    results of our experience be rightly comprehended, to indicate
+    the essential features of the order of society that is to
+    succeed present disorder, and wherein it differs from other
+    social forms.
+
+    "A fundamental feature is, that we deny the bald atheism that
+    asserts human nature to be a melancholy failure and unworthy of
+    respect or trust, and therefore to be treated as an alien and
+    convict. On the contrary, we hold that, instead of chains, man
+    requires freedom; instead of checks, he requires development;
+    instead of artificial order through coercion, he requires the
+    Divine harmony that comes through counterpoise. Hence society is
+    bound by its own highest interests, by the obligation it owes to
+    its every member, to make organic provision for the entire
+    circle of human wants, for the entire range of human activity;
+    so that the individual shall be emancipated from the servitude
+    of nature, from personal domination, from social tyrannies; and
+    that thus fully enfranchised and guaranteed by the whole force
+    of society, into all freedoms and the endowment of all rights
+    pertaining to manhood, he may fulfill his own destiny, in
+    accordance with the laws written in his own organization.
+
+    "In the Phalanx, then, we have, in the sphere of production, the
+    relation of employer and employed stricken out of the category
+    of relations, not merely as in the simple joint-stock
+    corporations, by substituting for the individual employer the
+    still more despotic and irresistible corporate employer; but by
+    every one becoming his own employer, doing that which he is best
+    qualified by endowment to do, receiving for his labor precisely
+    his share of the product, as nearly as it can be determined
+    while there is no scientific unit of value.
+
+    "In the sphere of circulation or currency, we have a
+    representative of all the wealth produced, so that every one
+    shall have issued to him for all his production, the abstract or
+    protean form of value, which is convertible into every other
+    form of value; in commerce or exchanges, reducing this from a
+    speculation as now, to a function; employing only the necessary
+    force to make distributions; and exchanging products or values
+    on the basis of cost.
+
+    "In the sphere of social relations, we have freedom to form ties
+    according to affinities of character.
+
+    "In the sphere of education, we establish the natural method,
+    not through the exaltation into professorships of this, that or
+    other notable persons, but through a body of institutions
+    reposing upon industry, and having organic vitality. Commencing
+    with the nursery, we make, through the living corporation,
+    through adequately endowed institutions that fail not, provision
+    for the entire life of the child, from the cradle upward;
+    initiating him step by step, not into nominal, ostensible
+    education apart from his life, but into the real business of
+    life, the actual production and distribution of wealth, the
+    science of accounts and the administration of affairs; and
+    providing that, through uses, the science that lies back of uses
+    shall be acquired; so theory and practice, the application of
+    science to the pursuits of life shall, through daily use, become
+    as familiar as the mother tongue; and thus place our children at
+    maturity in the ranks of manhood and womanhood, competent to all
+    the duties and activities of life, that they may be qualified by
+    endowment to perform.
+
+    "In the sphere of administration, we have a graduated hierarchy
+    of orders, from the simple chief of a group, or supervisor of a
+    single function, up to the unitary administration of the globe.
+
+    "In the sphere of religion, we have religious life as contrasted
+    with the profession of a religious faith. The intellect requires
+    to be satisfied as well as the affections, and is so with the
+    scientific and therefore universal formula, that the religious
+    element in man is the passion of unity; that is, that all the
+    powers of the soul shall attain to true equilibrium, and act
+    normally in accordance with Divine law, so that human life in
+    all its powers and activities shall be in harmonious relations
+    with nature, with itself, and with the supreme center of life.
+
+    "Of course we speak of the success of an idea, and only expect
+    realization through gradual development. It is obvious also that
+    such realization can be attained only through organization;
+    because, unaided, the individual makes but scanty conquests over
+    nature, and but feeble opposition to social usurpations.
+
+    "The principle, then, of the Serial Organization being
+    established, the whole future course of the Association, in
+    respect to its merely industrial institutions, was plain, viz.:
+    to develop and mature the serial form.
+
+    "Not that the old questions did not arise subsequently; on the
+    contrary on the admission of new members from time to time, they
+    did arise and have discussion anew; but the contest had been
+    virtually decided. The Association had pronounced with such
+    emphasis in favor of the organization of labor upon the basis of
+    co-operative efforts, joint-stock property, and unity of
+    interests, that those holding adverse views gradually withdrew;
+    and the harmony of the Association was never afterward in
+    serious jeopardy.
+
+    "During the later as well as earlier years of our associated
+    life, the question of preference of modes of realization came
+    under discussion in the Phalansterian school, one party
+    advocating the measure of obtaining large means, and so fully
+    endowing the Phalanx with all the external conditions of
+    attractive industry, and then introducing gradually a body of
+    select associates. The North American Phalanx, as represented in
+    the conventions of the school, held to the view that new social
+    institutions, new forms into which the life of a people shall
+    flow, can not be determined by merely external conditions and
+    the elaboration of a theory of life and organization, but are
+    matters of growth.
+
+    "Our view is that the true Divine growth of the social, as of
+    the individual man, is the progressive development of a germ;
+    and while we would not in the slightest degree oppose a
+    scientific organization upon a large scale, it is our preference
+    to pursue a more progressive mode, to make a more immediately
+    practical and controllable attempt.
+
+    "The call of to-day we understand to be for evidence, First: Of
+    the possibility of harmony in Association; Second: That by
+    associated effort, and the control of machinery, the laborer
+    may command the means, not only of comfort and the necessaries
+    of life, but also of education and refinement; Third: that the
+    nature of the relations we would establish are essentially those
+    of religious justice.
+
+    "The possibility of establishing true social relations,
+    increased production, and the embodiment of the religious
+    sentiment, are, if we read the signs aright, the points upon
+    which the question of Association now hinges in the public mind.
+
+    "Because, First: Man's capacity for these relations is doubted;
+    Because, Second: Production is an essential and permanent
+    condition of life, and means of progress; Because, Third: It is
+    apprehended that the religious element is not sufficiently
+    regarded and provided for in Association.
+
+    "Demonstrate that capacity, prove that men by their own efforts
+    may command all the means of life, show in institutions the
+    truly religious nature of the movement and the relations that
+    are to obtain, and the public will be gained to the idea of
+    Association.
+
+    "Another question still has been pressed upon us offensively by
+    the advocates of existing institutions, as though their life
+    were pure and their institutions perfect, while no terms of
+    opprobrium could sufficiently characterize the depravity of the
+    Socialists; and this question is that of the marriage relation.
+    Upon this question a form of society that is so notoriously
+    rotten as existing civilization is, a society that has marriage
+    and prostitution as complementary facts of its relations of the
+    sexes, a society which establishes professorships of abortion,
+    which methodizes infanticide, which outlaws woman, might at
+    least assume the show of modesty, might treat with common
+    candor any and all who are seeking the Divine law of marriage.
+    Instead, therefore, of recognizing its right to defame us, we
+    put that society upon its defense, and say to it, Come out of
+    your infidelities, and your crimes, and your pretenses; seek out
+    the law of righteousness, and deal justly with woman.
+    Nevertheless this is a question in which we, in common with
+    others, have a profound interest; it is a question which has by
+    no means escaped consideration among us, and we perhaps owe it
+    to ourselves to state our position.
+
+    "What the true law of relationship of the sexes is, we as a body
+    do not pretend to determine. Here, as elsewhere, individual
+    opinion is free; but there are certain conditions, as we think,
+    clearly indicated, which are necessary to the proper
+    consideration of the question; and our view is that it is one
+    that must be determined mainly by woman herself. When she shall
+    be fully enfranchised, fully endowed with her rights, so that
+    she shall no longer be dependent on marriage for position, no
+    longer be regarded as a pensioner, but as a constituent of the
+    State; in a single phrase, when society shall, independently of
+    other considerations than that of inherent right, assure to
+    woman social position and pecuniary independence, so that she
+    can legislate on a footing of equality, then she may announce
+    the law of the sexual relations. But this can only occur in
+    organized society; society in which there is a complete circle
+    of fraternal institutions that have public acceptance; can only
+    occur when science enters the domain of human society, and
+    determines relations, as it now does in astronomy or physic.
+
+    "We therefore say to civilization, You have no adequate solution
+    of this problem that is convulsing you, and in which every form
+    of private and public protest against the actual condition is
+    expressing itself. Besides this we claim what can not be claimed
+    for any similar number of people in civilization, viz., that we
+    have been here over nine years, with an average population of
+    nearly one hundred persons of both sexes and all ages, and,
+    judged by the existing standard of morals, we are above reproach
+    on this question.
+
+    "Thus we have proceeded, disposing of our primary legislation,
+    demonstrating to general acceptance the rectitude of our awards
+    and distributions of profit, determining questions of social
+    doctrine, perfecting methods of order, and developing our
+    industry, with a fair measure of success. In this latter respect
+    the following statistics will indicate partially the progress we
+    have made.
+
+    "We commenced in 1843, as before mentioned, with a dozen
+    subscribers, and an aggregate subscription of $8,000. On the
+    30th of November, 1844, upon our first settlement, our property
+    amounted in round numbers to $28,000; of which we owed in
+    capital stock and balances due members, say, $18,000. The
+    remainder was debt incurred in purchasing the land, $9,000;
+    implements, etc., $1,000; total, $10,000.
+
+    "Our population at this period, including members and
+    applicants, was nearly as follows: Men, thirty-two; women,
+    nineteen; children of both sexes under sixteen years,
+    twenty-six; making an aggregate of seventy-seven. At one period
+    thereafter our numbers were reduced to about sixty-five persons.
+
+    "On the 30th of November, 1852, our property was estimated at
+    $80,000, held as follows: capital stock and balances of account
+    due members, say, $62,800; permanent debt, $12,103; floating
+    debt, $5,097; total, $80,000. Dividing this sum by 673, the
+    number of acres, the entire cost of our property is $119 per
+    acre.
+
+    "At this period our population of members and applicants is as
+    follows: men, forty-eight; women, thirty-seven; adults,
+    eighty-five; children under sixteen years, twenty-seven; making
+    an aggregate of one hundred and twelve.
+
+    "Dividing the sum of property by this number, we have an average
+    investment for each man, woman and child, of over $700, or for
+    each family of five persons, say, $3,600. Dividing the sum of
+    our permanent debt by the number of our population, the average
+    to each person is, say, $107.
+
+    "For the purpose of comparing the pecuniary results of our
+    industry to the individual, with like pursuits elsewhere, we
+    make the following exhibition: In the year 1844 the average
+    earnings of adults, besides their board, was three dollars and
+    eighty cents a month, and the dividend for the use of capital
+    was 4.7 per cent.
+
+    1845. Earnings of labor was          $8.21 per month.
+                   of capital              05.1 per cent.
+
+    1846. Earnings of labor               2.73 per month.
+                   of capital              04.4 per cent.
+
+    1847. Earnings of labor              12.02 per month.
+                   of capital              05.6 per cent.
+
+    1848. Earnings of labor              14.10 per month.
+                   of capital              05.7 per cent.
+
+    1849. Earnings of labor              13.58 per month.
+                   of capital              05.6 per cent.
+
+    1850. Earnings of labor              13.58 per month.
+                   of capital             05.52 per cent.
+
+    1851. Earnings of labor              14.59 per month.
+                   of capital             04.84 per cent.
+
+    "It is to be noted that when we took possession of our domain,
+    the land was in a reduced condition; and upon our improvements
+    we have made no profit excepting subsequent increased revenue,
+    they having been valued at cost. Also that our labors were
+    mainly agricultural until within the last three years, when
+    milling was successfully introduced. We have, it is true,
+    carried on various mechanical branches for our own purposes,
+    such as building, smith-work, tin-work, shoe-making, etc.; but
+    for purposes of revenue, we have not to much extent succeeded in
+    introducing mechanical branches of industry.
+
+    "Furthermore, we divide our profits upon the following general
+    principles: For labors that are necessary, but repulsive or
+    exhausting, we award the highest rates; for such as are useful,
+    but less repugnant or taxing, a relatively smaller award is
+    made; and for the more agreeable pursuits, a still smaller rate
+    is allowed.
+
+    "Thus observing this general formula in our classification of
+    labor, viz.: the necessary, the useful, and the agreeable; and
+    also awarding to the individual, first, for his labor, secondly,
+    for the talent displayed in the use of means, or in adaptation
+    of means to ends, wise administration, etc., and thirdly, for
+    the use of his capital; it will be perceived that we make our
+    award upon a widely different basis from the current method. We
+    have a theory of awards, a scientific reason for our
+    classification of labor and our awards to individuals; and one
+    of the consequences is that women earn more, relatively, among
+    us than in existing society.
+
+    "In matters of education we have hitherto done little else than
+    keep, as we might, the common district school, introducing,
+    however, improved methods of instruction. Other interests have
+    pressed upon us; other questions clamored for solution. We were
+    to determine whether or not we could associate in all the labors
+    of life; and if yea, then whether we could sufficiently command
+    the material means of life, until we should have established
+    institutions that would supersede the necessity of strenuous
+    personal effort. It will be understood that this work has been
+    sufficiently arduous, and consequently that our children, being
+    too feeble in point of numbers to assert their rights, have been
+    pushed aside."
+
+Here follows a labored disquisition on the possibilities of serial
+education, which we omit, as the substance of it can be found in the
+standard expositions of Fourierism.
+
+    "If now we are asked, what questions we have determined, what
+    results we may fairly claim to have accomplished through our
+    nine years of associated life and efforts at organization, we
+    may answer in brief, that so far as the members of this body are
+    concerned, we meet the universal demand of this day with
+    institutions which guarantee the rights of labor and the
+    products thereof, of education, and a home, and social culture.
+    This is not a mere declaration of abstract rights that we claim
+    to make, but we establish our members in the possession and
+    enjoyment of these rights; and we venture to claim that, so far
+    as the comforts of home, private rights and social privileges
+    are concerned, our actual life is greatly in advance of that of
+    any mixed population under the institutions of existing
+    civilization, either in town or country. We claim, so far as
+    with our small number we could do, to have organized labor
+    through voluntary Association, upon the principle of unity of
+    interests; so reconciling the hitherto hostile parties of
+    laborer and capitalist; so settling the world-old, world-wide
+    quarrel, growing out of antagonistic interests among men; that
+    is, we have organized the production and distribution of wealth
+    in agricultural and domestic labor, and in some branches of
+    mechanics and manufactures, and thus have abolished the servile
+    character of labor, and the servile relation of employer and
+    employed. And it is precisely in the point where failure was
+    most confidently predicted, viz., in domestic labor, that we
+    have most fully succeeded, because mainly, as we suppose, in the
+    larger numbers attached to this industry we had the conditions
+    of carrying out more fully the serial method of organization.
+
+    "In distributing the profits of industry we have adopted a law
+    of equitable proportion, so that when the facts are presented,
+    we have initiated the measure of attaining to practical justice,
+    or in the formula of Fourier, 'equitable distribution of
+    profits.' We claim also that we guarantee the sale of the
+    products of industry; that is, we secure the means of converting
+    any and every form of product or fruit of labor at the cost
+    thereof, into any other form also at cost. For all our labor is
+    paid for in a domestic currency. In other words, when value is
+    produced, a representative of that value is issued to the
+    producer; and only so far as there is the production of value,
+    is there any issue of the representative of value; so that
+    property and currency are always equal, and thus we solve the
+    problem of banking and currency; thus we have in practical
+    operation, what Proudhon vainly attempted to introduce into
+    France; what Kellogg proposed to introduce under governmental
+    sanction in this country; what Warren proposes to accomplish by
+    his labor notes and exchanges at cost.
+
+    "We might state other facts, but let this suffice for the
+    present; and we will only say in conclusion, that when the
+    organization of our educational series shall be completed, as we
+    hope to see it, we shall thus have established as a body a
+    measurably complete circle of fraternal institutions, in which
+    social and private rights are guaranteed; we shall then fairly
+    have closed the first cycle of our societary life and efforts,
+    fairly have laid the germs of living institutions, of the
+    corporations which have perpetual life, which gather all
+    knowledges, which husband all experiences, and into the keeping
+    of which we commit all material interests, and which only need a
+    healthy development to change without injustice, to absorb
+    without violence, the discords of existing society, and to
+    unfold, as naturally as the chrysalis unfolds into a form of
+    beauty, a new and higher order of human society.
+
+    "To carry on this work we need additional means to endow our
+    agricultural, our educational, our milling and other interests,
+    and to build additional tenements; and above all we need
+    additional numbers of people who are willing to work for an
+    idea; men and women who are competent to establish or conduct
+    successfully some branch of profitable industry; who understand
+    the social movement; who will come among us with worthy motives,
+    and with settled purpose of fraternal co-operation; who can
+    appreciate the labor, the conditions of life, the worth of the
+    institutions we have and propose to have, in contrast with the
+    chances of private gain accompanied by the prevailing disorder,
+    the denial of right, and the ever-increasing oppressions of
+    existing civilization.
+
+    "The views of members and applicants upon the foregoing
+    statement are expressed by the position of their signatures
+    affixed below:
+
+    _Aye._
+
+    H.T. Stone,           Eugenia Thomson,           E.L. Holmes,
+    Lucius Eaton,         Leemon Stockwell,          Gertrude Sears,
+    Alcander Longley,     R.N. Stockwell,            E.A. Angell,
+    Herman Schetter,      A.P. French,               J. Bucklin,
+    W.A. French,          Nathaniel H. Colson,       L.E. Bucklin,
+    John Ash, Jr.,        John French,               Edwin D. Sayre,
+    John H. Steel,        Mary E.F. Grey,            O.S. Holmes,
+    Phebe T. Drew,        Althea Sears,              John V. Sears,
+    John Gray,            H. Bell Munday,            P. French,
+    Robert J. Smith,      Caroline M. Hathaway,      M.A. Martin,
+    J.R. Vanderburgh,     Anna E. Hathaway,          L. French,
+    James Renshaw,        Anne Guillauden,           Z. King, Jr.,
+    J.G. Drew,            L. Munday,                 D.H. King,
+    S. Martin,            Chloe Sears,               A.J. Lanotte,
+    Joseph T. French,     James Renshaw, Jr.,        W.K. Prentice,
+    N.H. Stockwell,       Emile Guillauden, Jr.,     Julia Bucklin,
+    Chas. G. French,      Ellen M. Stockwell,        ---- Maynet.
+
+    _Nay._
+
+    "Geo. Perry believes that difficulty arises from the
+      selfishness, class-interest and personal ambition, of Class
+      No. 1 and 2; also, last and not least, absence of uniformity
+      of attractions.
+
+    "J.R. Coleman endorses the above sentiments. James Warren, do.
+      H.N. Coleman, do.
+
+    "M. Hammond has very reluctantly concluded that the difficulty
+      is in the Institution and not in the members."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+LIFE AT THE NORTH AMERICAN PHALANX.
+
+
+The following pictures from the files of the _Harbinger_, with the
+subsequent reports of Macdonald's three visits, give a tolerable view
+of life at the North American in its early and its latter days.
+
+    [Fourth of July (1845) at the Phalanx.]
+
+    "As soon as the moisture was off the grass, a group went down to
+    the beautiful meadows to spread the hay; and the right good
+    will, quickness, and thoroughness with which they completed
+    their task, certainly illustrated the attractiveness of combined
+    industry. Others meanwhile were gathering for dinner the
+    vegetables, of which, by the consent of the whole neighborhood,
+    they have a supply unsurpassed in early maturity and excellence;
+    and still others were busy in the various branches of domestic
+    labor.
+
+    "And now, the guests from New York and the country around having
+    come in, and the hour for the meeting being at hand, the bell
+    sounded, and men, women and children assembled in a walnut grove
+    near the house, where a semicircle of seats had been arranged in
+    the cool shade. Here addresses were given by William H. Channing
+    and Horace Greeley, illustrating the position that Association
+    is the truly consistent embodiment in practice of the professed
+    principles of our nation.
+
+    "After some hour and a half thus spent, the company adjourned to
+    the house, where a table had been spread the whole length of the
+    hall, and partook of a most abundant and excellent dinner, in
+    which the hospitable sisters of the Phalanx had most
+    satisfactorily proved their faith by their works. Good cold
+    water was the only beverage, thanks to the temperance of the
+    members. A few toasts and short speeches seasoned the feast.
+
+    "And now once again, the afternoon being somewhat advanced, the
+    demand for variety was gratified by a summons to the hay-field.
+    Every rake and fork were in requisition; a merrier group never
+    raked and pitched; never was a meadow more dexterously cleared;
+    and it was not long before there was a demand that the right to
+    labor should be honored by fresh work, which the chief of the
+    group lamented he could not at the moment gratify. To close the
+    festivities the young people formed in a dance, which was
+    prolonged till midnight. And so ended this truly cheerful and
+    friendly holiday."
+
+    [George Ripley's visit to the Phalanx.]
+
+                                                 _May, 14, 1846._
+
+    "Arriving about dinner time at the Mansion, we received a
+    cordial welcome from our friends, and were soon seated at their
+    hospitable table, and were made to feel at once that we were at
+    home, and in the midst of those to whom we were bound by strong
+    ties. How could it be otherwise? It was a meeting of those whose
+    lives were devoted to one interest, who had chosen the lot of
+    pioneers in a great social reform, and who had been content to
+    endure sacrifices for the realization of ideas that were more
+    sacred than life itself. Then, too, the similarity of pursuits,
+    of the whole mode of life in our infant Associations, produces a
+    similarity of feeling, of manners, and I could almost fancy,
+    even of expression of countenance. I have often heard strangers
+    remark upon the cheerfulness and elasticity of spirit which
+    struck them on visiting our little Association at Brook Farm;
+    and here I found the same thing so strongly displayed, that in
+    conversing with our new friends, it seemed as if they were the
+    same that I had left at home, or rather that I had been side by
+    side with them for months or years, instead of meeting them
+    to-day for the first time. I did not need any formal
+    introduction to make me feel acquainted, and I flatter myself
+    that there was as little reserve cherished on their part.
+
+    "After dinner we were kindly attended by our friend Mr. Sears
+    over this beautiful, I may truly say, enchanting domain. I had
+    often heard it spoken of in terms of high commendation; but I
+    must confess, I was not prepared to find an estate combining so
+    many picturesque attractions with such rare agricultural
+    capabilities.
+
+    "Our friends here have no doubt been singularly fortunate in
+    procuring so valuable a domain as the scene of their experiment,
+    and I see nothing which, with industry and perseverance, can
+    create a doubt of their triumphant success, and that at no very
+    distant day.
+
+    "I was highly gratified with the appearance of the children, and
+    the provision that is made for their education, physical as well
+    as intellectual. I found them in a very neat school-room, under
+    the intelligent care of Mrs. B., who is devoting herself to
+    this department with a noble zeal and the most pleasing results.
+    It is seldom that young people in common society have such ample
+    arrangements for their culture, or give evidence of such a
+    healthy desire for improvement.
+
+    "This Association has not been free from difficulties. It has
+    had to contend with the want of sufficient capital, and has
+    experienced some embarrassment on that account. It has also
+    suffered from the discouragement of some of its members--a
+    result always to be expected in every new enterprise, and by no
+    means formidable in the long run--and discontent has produced
+    depression. Happily, the disaffected have retired from the
+    premises, and with few, if any, exceptions, the present members
+    are heartily devoted to the movement, with strong faith in the
+    cause and in each other, and determined to deserve success, even
+    if they do not gain it. Their prospects, however, are now
+    bright, and with patient industry and internal harmony they must
+    soon transform their magnificent domain into a most attractive
+    home for the associative household. May God prosper them!"
+
+    [N.C. Neidhart's visit to the Phalanx.]
+
+                                                  _July 4, 1847._
+
+    "It is impossible for me to describe the deep impression which
+    the life and genial countenances of our brethren have made upon
+    us. Although not belonging to what are very unjustly called the
+    higher classes, I discovered more true refinement, that which is
+    based upon humanitary feeling, than is generally found among
+    those of greater pretensions. There is a serene, earnest love
+    about them all, indicating a determination on their part to
+    abide the issue of the great experiment in which they are
+    engaged.
+
+    "After a fatiguing walk over the domain, I found their simple
+    but refreshing supper very inviting. Here we saw for the first
+    time the women assembled, of whom we had only caught occasional
+    glimpses before. They appeared to be a genial band, with happy,
+    smiling countenances, full of health and spirits. Such deep and
+    earnest eyes, it seemed to me, I had never seen before. Most of
+    the younger girls had wreaths of evergreen and flowers wound
+    around their hair, and some also around their persons in the
+    form of scarfs, which became them admirably.
+
+    "After tea we resorted to the reading-room, where are to be
+    found on files all the progressive and reformatory, as well as
+    the best agricultural, papers of the Union, such as the _New
+    York Tribune_, _Practical Christian_, _Young America_,
+    _Harbinger_, etc. There is also the commencement of a small
+    library.
+
+    "Only one thing was wanting to enliven the evening, and that was
+    music. They possess, I believe, a guitar, flutes, and other
+    instruments, but the time necessary for their cultivation seems
+    to be wanting. The want of this so necessary accompaniment of
+    universal harmony, was made up to us by some delightful hours
+    which we spent in the parlor of Mrs. B., who showed us some of
+    her beautiful drawings, and in whose intelligent society we
+    spent the evening. This lady was formerly a member of the
+    Clermont Phalanx, Ohio. I was sorry there was not time enough to
+    receive from her an account of the causes of the disbandment of
+    this society. She must certainly have been satisfied of the
+    superiority of associated life, to encourage her to join
+    immediately another.
+
+    "It was my good fortune (notwithstanding the large number of
+    visitors), to obtain a nice sleeping-room, from which I was
+    sorry to see I had driven some obliging member of the Phalanx.
+    The orderly simplicity of this room was quite pleasing. It
+    enabled us to form some judgment of the order which pervaded the
+    Community.
+
+    "Next morning we took an early breakfast, and accompanied by Mr.
+    Wheeler, a member of the society, we wandered over the whole
+    domain. On our way home we struck across Brisbane Hill, where
+    they intend to erect the future Phalansterian house on a more
+    improved and extensive plan.
+
+    "There is religious worship here every Sunday, in which all
+    those who feel disposed may join. The members of the society
+    adhere to different religious persuasions, but do not seem to
+    care much for the outward forms of religion.
+
+    "As far as I could learn, the health of the Phalanx has been
+    generally very good. They have lost, however, several children
+    by different diseases. During the prevalence of the small-pox in
+    the Community, the superiority of the combined order over the
+    isolated household was most clearly manifested. Quite lately
+    they have constructed a bathing-house. The water is good, but
+    must contain more or less iron, as the whole country is full of
+    it."
+
+    _Macdonald's first visit to the Phalanx._
+
+                                                 _October, 1851._
+
+    "It was dark when I arrived at the Phalanstery. Lights shone
+    through the trees from the windows of several large buildings,
+    the sight of which sent a cheering glow through me, and as I
+    approached, I inwardly fancied that what I saw was part of an
+    early dream. The glancing lights, the sounds of voices, and the
+    notes of music, while all nature around was dark and still, had
+    a strange effect, and I almost believed that this was a
+    Community where people were really happy.
+
+    "I entered and inquired for Mr. Bucklin, whose name had been
+    given me. At the end of a long hall I found a small
+    reading-room, with four or five strange-looking beings sitting
+    around a table reading newspapers. They all appeared eccentric,
+    not alone because they were unshaven and unshorn, but from the
+    peculiar look of their eyes and form of their faces. Mr.
+    Bucklin, a kind man, came to me, glancing as if he anticipated
+    something important. I explained my business, and he sat down
+    beside me; but though I attempted conversation, he had very
+    little to say. He inquired if I wished for supper, and on my
+    assenting, he left me for a few minutes and then returned, and
+    very soon after he led me out to another building. We passed
+    through a passage and up a short flight of steps into a very
+    handsome room, capable, I understood, of accommodating two
+    hundred persons at dinner. It had a small gallery or balcony at
+    one end of it, and six windows on either side. It was furnished
+    with two rows of tables and chairs, each table large enough for
+    ten or twelve persons to dine at. There were three bright lamps
+    suspended from the ceiling. At one end of the room the chairs
+    and tables had been removed, and several ladies and gentlemen
+    were dancing cotillions to the music of a violin, played by an
+    amateur in the gallery. At the other end of the room there was a
+    doorway leading to the kitchen, and near this my supper was
+    laid, very nice and tidy. Mr. Bucklin introduced me to Mr.
+    Holmes, a gentleman who had lived in the Skaneateles and
+    Trumbull experiments; and Mr. Holmes introduced me to Mr.
+    Williston, who gave me some of the details of the early days of
+    the North American Phalanx, during which he sometimes lived in
+    high style, and sometimes was almost starved. He told of the
+    tricks which the young members played upon the old members, many
+    of whom had left.
+
+    "On looking at the dancers I perceived that several of the
+    females were dressed in the new costume, which is no more than
+    shortening the frock and wearing trowsers the same as men. There
+    were three or four young women, and three or four children so
+    dressed. I had not thought much of this dress before, but was
+    now favorably impressed by it, when I contrasted it with the
+    long dresses of some of the dancers. This style is decidedly
+    superior, I think, for any kind of active employment. The dress
+    seems exceedingly simple. The frocks were worn about the same
+    length as the Highland _kilt_, ending a little above the knee;
+    the trowsers were straight, and both were made of plain
+    material. Afterward I saw some of the ladies in superior suits
+    of this fashion, looking very elegant.
+
+    "Mr. Holmes shewed me to my bed, which was in the top of another
+    building. It was a spacious garret with four cots in it, one in
+    each corner. There were two windows, one of which appeared to be
+    always open, and at that window a young man was sleeping,
+    although the weather was very wet. The mattress I had was
+    excellent, and I slept well; but the accommodations were rather
+    rude, there being no chairs or pegs to hang the clothes upon.
+    The young men threw their clothes upon the floor. There was no
+    carpet, but the floor seemed very clean.
+
+    "It rained hard all night, and the morning continued wet and
+    unpleasant. I rose about seven, and washed in a passage-way
+    leading from the sleeping-rooms, where I found water well
+    supplied; passed rows of small sleeping-rooms, and went out for
+    a stroll. The morning was too unpleasant for walking much, but I
+    examined the houses, and found them to be large framed
+    buildings, the largest of the two having been but recently
+    built. It formed two sides of a square, and had a porch in front
+    and on part of the back. It appeared as if the portion of it
+    which was complete was but a wing of a more extensive design,
+    intended to be carried out at some future time. The oldest
+    building reminded me of one of the Rappite buildings in New
+    Harmony, excepting that it was built of wood and theirs of
+    brick. It formed a parallelogram, two stories high, with large
+    garrets at the top. A hall ran nearly the whole length of the
+    building, and terminated in a small room which is used as a
+    library, and to which is joined the office. Apartments were
+    ranged on either side of the hall up stairs. All the rooms
+    appeared to be bed-rooms, and were in use. The new building was
+    more commodious. There were well furnished sitting-rooms on
+    either side of the principal entrance. The dining-hall, which I
+    have before mentioned, was in the rear of this. Up stairs the
+    rooms were ranged in a similar manner to the old building, and
+    appeared to be very comfortable. I was informed that they were
+    soon to be heated by steam. All these apartments were rented to
+    the members at various prices, according to the relative
+    superiority of each room.
+
+    "As the bell at the end of the building rang a second time for
+    breakfast, I followed some of the members into the room, and on
+    entering took my seat at the table nearest the door. I afterward
+    learned that this was the vegetarian table, and also that it was
+    customary for each person always to occupy the same seat at his
+    meals. The tables were well supplied with excellent, wholesome
+    food, and I think the majority of the members took tea and
+    coffee and ate meat. Young men and women waited upon the tables,
+    and seemed active and agreeable. An easy freedom and a
+    harmonious feeling seemed to prevail.
+
+    "On leaving the room I was introduced to Mr. Sears, who, I
+    ascertained, was what they called the 'leading mind.' He was
+    rather tall, of a nervous temperament, the sensitive
+    predominating, and was easy and affable. On my informing him of
+    the object of my visit, he very kindly led me to his office and
+    showed me several papers, which gave me every information I
+    required. He introduced me to Mr. Renshaw, a gentleman who had
+    been in the Ohio Phalanx. Mr. Renshaw was engaged in the
+    blacksmith-shop; looked quite a philosopher, so far as form of
+    head and length of beard and hair was concerned; but he had a
+    little too much of the sanguine in his temperament to be cool at
+    all times. He very rapidly asked me the object of my book: what
+    good would it do? what was it for? and seemed disposed to knock
+    down some imaginary wrong, before he had any clear idea of what
+    it was. I explained, and together with Mr. Sears, had a short
+    controversy with him, which had a softening tendency, though it
+    did not lead to perfect agreement. Mr. Sears contended that
+    Community experiments failed because the accounts were not
+    clearly and faithfully kept; but Mr. Renshaw maintained that
+    they all failed for want of means, and that the public
+    impression that the members always disagreed was quite
+    erroneous. At dinner I found a much larger crowd of persons in
+    the room than at breakfast. I was introduced to several members,
+    and among them to Mr. French, a gentleman who had once been a
+    Universalist preacher. He was very kind, and gave me some
+    information relative to the Jefferson County Industrial
+    Association.
+
+    "I also made the acquaintance of Mr. John Gray, a gentleman who
+    had lived five years among the Shakers, and who was still a
+    Shaker in appearance. Mr. Gray is an Englishman, as would
+    readily be perceived by his peculiar speech; but with his
+    English he had gotten a little mixture of the 'down east,' where
+    he had lately been living. Mr. Gray was very fluent of speech,
+    and what he said to me would almost fill a volume. He spoke
+    chiefly of his Shaker experience, and of the time he had spent
+    among the Socialists of England. He said it was his intention to
+    visit other Communities in the United States, and gain all the
+    experience he could among them, and then return to England and
+    make it known. He was a dyer by trade (on which account he was
+    much valued by the Shakers), and was very useful in taking care
+    of swine. He spoke forcibly of the evils of celibacy among the
+    Shakers, and of their strict regulations. He preferred living in
+    the North American Phalanx, feeling more freedom, and knowing
+    that he could go away when he pleased without difficulty. He
+    thought the wages too low. Reckoning, for instance, that he
+    earned about 90 cts. per day for ten hours labor, he got in cash
+    every two weeks three-fourths of it, the remaining fourth going
+    to the Phalanx as capital. Out of these wages he had to pay
+    $1.50 per week for board, and $12 a year rent, besides extras;
+    but he had a very snug little room, and lived well. He thought
+    single men and women could do better there than married ones;
+    but either could do better, so far as making money was the
+    object, in the outer world. He decidedly preferred the single
+    family and isolated cottage arrangement. I made allowances for
+    Mr. Gray's opinions, when I remembered that he had been living
+    five years among the Shakers, and but four months at the North
+    American, whose regulations about capital and interest he was
+    not very clear upon.
+
+    "I had a conversation with a lady who had lived two years at
+    Hopedale. She was intelligent, but very sanguine; well-spoken
+    and agreeable, but had too much enthusiasm. She described to me
+    the early days of Hopedale and its present condition. She did
+    not like it, but preferred the North American and its more
+    unitary arrangements. She thought that the single-cottage system
+    was wrong, and that woman would never attain her true position
+    in such circumstances. She had a great opinion of woman's
+    abilities and capacities for improvement; was sorry that the
+    Phalanx had such a bombastic name; had once been very sanguine,
+    but was now chastened down; believed that the North American
+    could not be called an experiment on Fourier's plan; the
+    necessary elements were not there, and never had been, and no
+    experiment had ever been attempted with such material as Fourier
+    proposed; until that is done, we can not say the system is
+    false, etc.
+
+    "After supper I had conversation with several persons on Mr.
+    Warren's plan of 'Equitable Commerce.' Most of them were well
+    disposed toward his views of 'individuality,' but not toward his
+    'cost principle,' many believing the difficulties of estimating
+    the cost of many things not to be overcome; the details in
+    carrying out the system would be too trifling and fine-drawn.
+    Conversation turned upon the Sabbath. Some thought it would be
+    good to have periodical meetings for reading or lecturing, and
+    others thought it best to have nothing periodical, but leave
+    every thing and every body to act in a natural manner, such as
+    eating when you are hungry, drinking when you are thirsty, and
+    resting when you are tired; let the child play when it is so
+    inclined, and teach it when it demands to be taught. There were
+    all kinds of opinions among them regarding society and its
+    progress. My Shaker friend thought that society was progressing
+    'first-rate' by means of Odd-Fellowship, Freemasonry, benevolent
+    associations, railroads, steamboats, and especially all kinds of
+    large manufactories, without such little attempts as these of
+    the North American to regenerate mankind.
+
+    "I might speculate on this strange mixture of minds, but prefer
+    that the reader should take the facts and philosophize for
+    himself. Here were persons who, for many years, had tried many
+    schemes of social re-organization in various parts of the
+    country, brought together not from a personal knowledge and
+    attraction for each other, but through a common love of the
+    social principles, which like a pleasant dream attracted them to
+    this, the last surviving of that extensive series of experiments
+    which commenced in this country about the year 1843.
+
+    "I retired to my cot about ten o'clock, and passed a restless
+    night. The weather was warm and wet, and continued so in the
+    morning. Rose at five o'clock and took breakfast with Dr.
+    Lazarus and the stage-driver, and at a quarter to six we left
+    the Phalanx in their neat little stage.
+
+    "During the journey to Keyport the Doctor seemed to be full of
+    Association, and made frequent allusions to that state in which
+    all things would be right, and man would hold his true position;
+    thought it wrong to cut down trees, to clear land, to raise
+    corn, to fatten pigs to eat, when, if the forest was left alone,
+    we could live on the native deer, which would be much better
+    food for man; he would have fruit-trees remain where they are
+    found naturally; and he would have many other things done which
+    the world would deem crazy nonsense."
+
+    _Macdonald's second visit to the Phalanx._
+
+    "I visited the North American Phalanx again in July, 1852. The
+    visit was an interesting one to me; but I will only refer to the
+    changes which have taken place since my last visit.
+
+    "They have altered their eating and drinking arrangements, and
+    adopted the eating-house system. At the table there is a bill of
+    fare, and each individual calls for what he wants; on obtaining
+    it the waiter gives him a check, with the price of the article
+    marked thereon. After the meal is over, the waiters go round and
+    enter the sum marked upon the check which each person has
+    received, in a book belonging to that person; the total is added
+    up at the end of each month and the payments are made. Each
+    person finds his own sugar, which is kept upon the table. Coffee
+    is half-a-cent per cup, including milk; bread one cent per
+    plate; butter, I think, half-a-cent; meat two cents; pie two
+    cents; and other things in like proportion. On Mr. Holmes's
+    book, the cost of living ran thus: breakfast from one and a-half
+    cents to three and a-half cents; dinner four and a-half cents to
+    nine cents; supper four and a-half cents to eight cents. In
+    addition to this, as all persons use the room alike, each pays
+    the same rent, which is thirty-six and a-half cents per week;
+    each person also pays a certain portion for the waiting labor,
+    and for lighting the room. The young ladies and gentlemen who
+    waited on table, as well as the Phalanx Doctor (a gentleman of
+    talent and politeness), who from attraction performed the same
+    duty, got six and a-quarter cents per hour for their labor.
+
+    "The wages of various occupations, agricultural, mechanical and
+    professional, vary from six cents to ten cents per hour; the
+    latter sum is the maximum. The wages are paid to each individual
+    in full every month, and the profits are divided at the end of
+    the year. Persons wishing to become members are invited to
+    become visitors for thirty days. At the end of that time it is
+    sometimes necessary for them to continue another thirty days;
+    then they may be admitted as probationers for one year, and if
+    they are liked by the members at the end of that time, it is
+    decided whether they shall become full members or not.
+
+    "They had commenced brick-making, intending to build a mill;
+    thought of building at Keyport or Red Bank. Some anticipated a
+    loan from Horace Greeley. Their stock was good; some said it was
+    at par; one said, at seventy-five per cent. premium. (?) The
+    profits were invested in things which they thought would bring
+    them the largest interest; they had shares in two steamboats
+    running to New York from Keyport and Red Bank.
+
+    "Their crops looked well, superior to any in the vicinity. There
+    were large fields of corn and potatoes and a fine one of
+    tomatoes. The first bushel of the latter article had just been
+    sent to the New York market, and was worth eight dollars. There
+    was a field of good melons, quite a picture to look upon. Since
+    my last visit, there had been an addition made to the large
+    building. A man had built the addition at a cost of $800, and
+    had put $200 into the Phalanx, making $1,000 worth of stock. He
+    lived in the house as his own. There is a neat cottage near the
+    large building, which I suppose is also Association property,
+    put in by the gentleman who built it and uses it--a Mr. Manning,
+    I believe.
+
+    "The wages were all increased a little since my last visit, and
+    there seemed to be more satisfaction prevailing, especially with
+    the eating-house plan, which I understood had effected a saving
+    of about two-thirds in the expenditure; this was especially the
+    case in the article of sugar.
+
+    "The stage group was abolished; and the stage sold. It called
+    there, however, regularly with the mails and passengers as
+    before.
+
+    "I gleaned the following: The Phalanx property could support one
+    thousand people, yet they can not get them, and they have not
+    accommodations for such a number. Some doubt the advantage of
+    taking more members until they are richer. All say they are
+    doing well; yet some admit that individually they could do
+    better, or that an individual with that property could have done
+    better than they have done. They hire about sixteen Dutch
+    laborers, and say they are better treated than they would be
+    elsewhere. These board in a room beneath the Phalanx
+    dining-room, and lodge in various out-places around. They had an
+    addition of six Frenchmen to their numbers, said to be exiles;
+    these persons were industrious and well liked.
+
+    "In a conversation with one of the discontented members, who had
+    been there five years, he said that after an existence of nine
+    years, there were fewer members than at the commencement; there
+    was something wrong in the system they were practicing; and if
+    that was Association, then Association was wrong; thinks there
+    are some persons who try to crush and oust those who differ from
+    them in opinion, or who wish to change the system so as to
+    increase their number.
+
+    "There was more than enough work for all to do, mechanics
+    especially. Carpenters were in demand. They had to hire the
+    latter at $1.50 per day. They don't get any to join them. Some
+    thought the wages too low; yet the cost of living was not much
+    over $2. per week, including washing and all else but clothing
+    and luxuries.
+
+    "My acquaintance, John Gray, had been away from the Phalanx for
+    some months, but had returned, having found that he could not
+    live in 'old society' again; sooner than that, he would return
+    to the Shakers. He spoke much more favorably of the North
+    American than before, and was particularly pleased with the
+    eating arrangement; he wanted to see the individual system
+    carried out still further among them; for in proportion as they
+    adopted that, they were made free and happy; but in proportion
+    as they progressed toward Communism, the result was the reverse.
+    After alluding to their many little difficulties, he pointed
+    out so many advantages, that they seemed to counter-balance all
+    the evils spoken of by himself and others. Criticism, he said,
+    was the most potent regulator and governor.
+
+    "The charges were increased at the Phalanx. For five meals and
+    very inferior sleeping accommodations twice, I paid $1.75. The
+    Phalanx had paid five per cent. dividend on stock, for the past
+    year."
+
+    _Macdonald's third visit to the Phalanx._
+
+    "In the fall of 1853 I made another pilgrimage to the North
+    American. On my journey from Red Bank I had for my
+    fellow-passengers, the well-known Albert Brisbane and a young
+    man named Davidson. The ride was diversified by interesting
+    debates upon Spiritualism and Association.
+
+    "At the Phalanx I was pleased with the appearance of things
+    during this visit. I saw the same faces, and felt assured they
+    were 'sticking to it.' I also fell in with some strangers who
+    had lately been attracted there. I was informed by one or two of
+    the members that the articles which had been published about the
+    Phalanx in the New York _Herald_, had done them good. It made
+    the place known, and caused many strangers to visit them; among
+    whom were some capitalists who offered to lend their aid; a Dr.
+    Parmelee was named as one of these. The articles also did good
+    in criticising their peculiarities, letting them know what the
+    'world' thought of them, and shaking them up, like wind upon a
+    stagnant pond.
+
+    "Mr. Sears informed me that they had had a freshet in August,
+    which destroyed a large quantity of their forage; and the dams
+    were broken down, causing a loss of two or three hundred
+    dollars. Their peach-orchard had failed, causing a deficiency of
+    nearly two-thirds the usual amount of peaches. He was of the
+    opinion that in five years they would be able to show something
+    more tangible to the world. He thought that in about that time
+    the experiment would have completed a marked phase in its
+    history, and become more worthy of notice.
+
+    "In a conversation with Mr. French I learned that he had been
+    away from the Phalanx for three weeks, seeing his friends in the
+    country; but it made him happy to return; he felt he could not
+    live elsewhere. He said their grand object was to provide a
+    fitting education for their children. They had been neglected,
+    though often thought of; and ere long something important would
+    be done for them, if things turned out as he hoped. Last year,
+    for the first time since their commencement, they declared a
+    dividend to labor; this year they anticipated more, but the
+    accidents would probably reduce it. Their total debts were
+    $18,000, but the value of the place was $55,000. They bought the
+    land at $20 per acre, and it had increased in value, not so much
+    by their improvements as by the rise of land all through that
+    country. They were not troubled about their debts; it was an
+    advantage to them to let them remain; they could pay them at any
+    time if necessary."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+END OF THE NORTH AMERICAN PHALANX.
+
+
+The _Harbinger_ and Macdonald both fail us in our search for the
+history of the last days of the North American; and having asked in
+vain for an authentic account of its failure from one at least of its
+leaders, we must content ourselves with such scraps of information on
+this interesting catastrophe, as we have picked up here and there in
+various publications. And first we will bring to view one or two facts
+which preceded the failure, and apparently led to it.
+
+In the spring of 1853--the tenth year of the Phalanx--there was a
+split and secession, resulting in the formation of another
+Association, called the Raritan Bay Union, at Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
+A correspondent of the New York _Herald_, who visited this new Union
+in June, 1853, speaks of its founders and foundations as follows:
+
+    "The subscriptions already amount to over forty thousand
+    dollars. Among the names of the stockholders I notice that of
+    Mrs. Tyndale, formerly an extensive crockery dealer in Chestnut
+    street, Philadelphia, who carried on the business in her own
+    name until she accumulated a handsome fortune, and then
+    relinquished it to her son and son-in-law; also Marcus Spring,
+    commission merchant of New York; Rev. William Henry Channing of
+    Rochester, and Clement O. Read, late superintendent of the large
+    wash-house in Mott street, New York.
+
+    "The President of the corporation, George B. Arnold Esq., was
+    last year President of the North American Phalanx. Many years
+    ago he was a minister at large in the city of New York. He
+    afterward removed to Illinois, where he established an extensive
+    nursery, working with his own hands at the business, which he
+    carried on successfully. He is an original thinker, a practical
+    man, of clear, strong common sense.
+
+    "The founders of the Union believe that many branches of
+    business may be carried on most advantageously here, and that
+    the best class of mechanics will soon find their interest and
+    happiness promoted by joining them. Extensive shops will be
+    erected, and either carried on directly by the corporation, or
+    leased, with sufficient steam-power, to companies of its own
+    members. The different kinds of business will be kept separate,
+    and every tub left to stand upon its own bottom. They aim at
+    combination, not confusion. Every man will have pay for what he
+    does, and no man is to be paid for doing nothing. Whether they
+    will drag the drones out, if they find any, and kill them as the
+    bees do in autumn, or whether their ferryman will be directed to
+    take them out in his boat and tip them into the bay, or what
+    will be done with them, I can not say. But the creed of this new
+    Community seems to be, that 'Labor is praise.' In religious
+    matters the utmost freedom exists, and every man is left to
+    follow the dictates of his own conscience."
+
+Macdonald briefly mentions this Raritan Bay Association, and
+characterizes it as "a joint-stock concern, that undertook to hold an
+intermediate position between the North American and ordinary
+society;" meaning, we suppose, that it was less communistic than the
+Phalanx. He furnishes also a copy of its constitution, the preamble of
+which declares that its object is to establish "various branches of
+agriculture and mechanics, whereby industry, education and social life
+may, in principle and practice, be arranged in conformity to the
+Christian religion, and where all ties, conjugal, parental, filial,
+fraternal and communal, which are sanctioned by the will of God, the
+laws of nature, and the highest experience of mankind, may be purified
+and perfected; and where the advantages of co-operation may be
+secured, and the evils of competition avoided, by such methods of
+joint-stock Association as shall commend themselves to enlightened
+conscience and common sense."
+
+The board of officers whose names are attached to this constitution
+were,
+
+_President_, George B. Arnold; _Directors_, Clement O. Read, Marcus
+Spring, George B. Arnold, Joseph L. Pennock, Sarah Tyndale;
+_Treasurer_, Clement O. Read; _Secretary_, Angelina G. Weld.
+
+It is evident that this offshoot drew away a portion of the members
+and stockholders of the North American. It amounted to little as an
+Association, and disappeared with the rest of its kindred; but its
+secession certainly weakened the parent Phalanx.
+
+During the summer after this secession, the North American appears to
+have had an acrimonious controversy about religion with somebody,
+inside or outside, the nature of which we can only guess from the
+following mysterious hints in a long article written by Mr. Sears in
+the fall of 1853, on behalf of the Association, and published in the
+New York _Tribune_ under the caption, "_Religion in the North American
+Phalanx_." Mr. Sears said:
+
+    "I am incited to these remarks by the recent imposition of a
+    missionary effort among us, and by a letter respecting it,
+    indicating the failure of a cherished scheme, in a spirit which
+    shows that the old sanctions only are wanting, to kindle the old
+    fires. And, lest our silence be further misconstrued, and we
+    subjected to further discourtesy, I am induced to say a few
+    words in defense.
+
+    "Neither our quiet nor our good character have quite sufficed to
+    protect us from the customary officiousness of busy sectaries,
+    who professed not to understand how a people could associate,
+    how a commonwealth could exist, without adopting some sectarian
+    profession of religious faith, some partisan form of religious
+    observance.
+
+    "In vain we urged that our institutions were religious; that
+    here, before their eyes, was made real and practical in daily
+    life and established as a real societary feature, that
+    fraternity which the church in every form has held as its ideal;
+    that here the Christian rule of life is made possible in the
+    only way that it can be made possible, viz., through social
+    guarantees which confirm the just claims of every member. In
+    vain we showed that in the matter of private faith we did not
+    propose to interfere, but in this respect held the same relation
+    of a body to its constituent members, that the State of New
+    Jersey or any other commonwealth does to its citizens; that
+    tolerance was our only proper course, and must continue to be;
+    that the professors of any name could organize a society and
+    have a fellowship of the same religious communion, if they
+    chose; but that our effort was to seek out the divine
+    mathematics of societary relations, and to determine a formula
+    that would be of universal application; and that to allow our
+    organization to be taken possession of as an agency for pushing
+    private constructions of doctrine, would be an impossible
+    descent for us; that any who choose could make such profession
+    and have such observances as they liked, and by arrangement have
+    equal use of our public rooms. Still from time to time various
+    parties have urged their private views upon us, and whenever
+    they wished, have had, by arrangement, the use of room and such
+    audience as they could attract. But never until the past summer
+    has there been such a persistent effort to press upon us private
+    observance as to excite much attention; and for the first time
+    in our history there arose, through a reprehensible effort, a
+    public discussion of religious dogmas; and, to our regret and
+    annoyance, the usual sectarian uncharitableness was exhibited
+    and has since been expressed to us."
+
+A further glimpse at the difficulty alluded to, is afforded by the
+following paragraph, which appeared in print about the same time,
+written by Eleazer Parmlee, a partizan of the other side:
+
+    "I received the inclosed letter from Marcus Spring, who
+    requested me to co-operate with himself and others (at the two
+    Phalanxes) in sustaining a preacher; as he insists 'that the
+    religious and moral elements in man should be cultivated for
+    the true success of Association.' I shall write to Mr. Spring
+    that it is not my opinion that religious cultivation or teaching
+    will be allowed, certainly at one of the Associations; and I
+    would advise all persons who have any respect or regard for the
+    religion of the Bible, and who do not wish to have their
+    feelings outraged by a total want of common courtesy, to keep
+    entirely away, at least from the North American."
+
+It seems probable that this controversy, whatever it may have been,
+was complicated with the secession movement in the spring before. We
+notice that Marcus Spring, who was originally a prominent stockholder
+in the North American, and who went over, as we have seen, to the
+rival Phalanx at Perth Amboy, was mixed up with this controversy, and
+apparently instigated the "missionary imposition" of which Mr. Sears
+complains. It may be reasonably conjectured that this theological
+quarrel led to the ultimate withdrawal of stock which brought the
+Association to its end.
+
+In September 1853, after the secession and after the quarrel about
+religion, the following gloomy picture of the Phalanx was sent abroad
+in the columns of the New York _Tribune_, the old champion of
+Socialism in general and of the North American in particular. Whether
+its representations were true or not, it must have had a very
+depressing effect on the Association, and doubtless helped to realize
+its own forebodings:
+
+    [Correspondence of the New York _Tribune_.]
+
+    "I remained nine days at the North American Phalanx. They appear
+    to be on a safe material basis. Good wages are paid the
+    laborers, and both sexes are on an equality in every respect;
+    the younger females wear bloomers; are beautiful and apparently
+    refined; but both sexes grow up in ignorance, and seem to have
+    but little desire for mental progression. Their mode of life,
+    however, is a decided improvement on the old one: the land
+    appears to be well cultivated and very productive; the majority
+    of the men, and some of the women, are hard workers; the wages
+    of labor and profits on capital are constantly increasing and
+    likely to increase; probably in a few years more the stock will
+    be as good an investment as any other stock, and the wages of
+    labor much better than elsewhere. The standard of agricultural
+    and mechanical labor is now nine cents per hour; kitchen-work,
+    waiting, etc., about the same. Their arrangements for
+    economizing domestic labor seem very efficient; but they have no
+    sewing-machine and no store that amounts to any thing. If a hat
+    of any kind is wanted, they have to go to Red Bank for it. They
+    appear to make no effort to redeem their stock, which is now
+    mostly in the hands of non-residents. The few who do save any
+    thing, I understand, usually prefer something that 'pays'
+    better. Most of them are decent sort of people, have few bad
+    qualities and not many good ones, but they are evidently not
+    working for an idea. They make no effort to extend their
+    principles, and do not build, as a general thing, unless a
+    person wanting to join builds for himself. Under such
+    circumstances the progress of the movement must be necessarily
+    slow, if even it progress at all. Latterly the number of members
+    and probationers has decreased. They find it necessary to employ
+    hired laborers to develop the resources of the land.
+
+    "So far as regards the material aspect, however, they get along
+    tolerably well. But I regard the mechanism merely as a means
+    for general progress--a basis for a superstructure of unlimited
+    mental and spiritual development. They seem to regard it as the
+    end. This absence of facilities for education and mental
+    improvement is astonishing, in a Community enjoying so many of
+    the advantages of co-operation. Those engaged in nurseries
+    should have some acquaintance with physiology and hygiene; but
+    such things are scarcely dreamed of as yet among any of the
+    members, except two or three; or if so, they keep very quiet
+    about it. A considerable portion of their hard earnings ends in
+    smoke and spittoons, or some other form of mere animal
+    gratification, to which they are in a measure compelled to
+    resort, in the absence of any rational mode of applying their
+    small amount of leisure. Their reading-room is supplied by two
+    _New York Tribunes_, a _Nauvoo Tribune_, and two or three
+    worthless local papers. The library consists of between three
+    and four hundred volumes, not many of them progressive or the
+    reverse. I believe there is a sort of a school, but should think
+    they don't teach much there worth knowing, if results are to be
+    the criterion. Cigar smoking is bad enough in men, but
+    particularly objectionable in twelve-year olds. A number of
+    papers are taken by individuals, but those that most need them
+    don't have much chance at them; besides, it is the end of
+    associate life to economise by co-operation in this as in other
+    matters. Some of them make miserable apologies for neglect of
+    these matters, on the score of want of leisure, means, etc., but
+    all amounts to nothing.
+
+    "The Phalanx people, having deferred improving the higher
+    faculties of themselves and children until their lower wants are
+    supplied, which can never be, are heavily in debt; and so far as
+    any effect on the outer world is concerned, the North American
+    Phalanx is a total failure. No movement based on a mere
+    gratification of the animal appetites can succeed in extending
+    itself. There must be intellectual and spiritual life and
+    progress; matter can not move itself."
+
+A year later the Phalanx suffered a heavy loss by fire, which was
+reported in the _Tribune_, September 13, 1854, as follows:
+
+    Destruction of the Mills of the North American Phalanx.
+
+    "About six and a-half o'clock Sunday morning, a fire broke out
+    in the extensive mills of the North American Phalanx, located in
+    Monmouth County, New Jersey. The fire was first discovered near
+    the center of the main edifice, and had at that time gained
+    great headway. It is supposed to have originated in the eastern
+    portion of the building, and a strong easterly wind prevailing
+    at the time, the flames were carried toward the center and
+    western part of the edifice. This was a wooden building about
+    one hundred feet square, three stories high, with a thirty
+    horse-power steam-engine in the basement, and two run of
+    burr-stones and superior machinery for the manufacture of flour,
+    meal, hominy and samp, on the floors above. Adjoining the mill
+    on the north was the general business office, containing the
+    account books of the Association, the most valuable of which
+    were saved by Mr. Sears at the risk of his life. Adjoining the
+    office was the saw-mill, blacksmith-shop, tin-shop, etc., with
+    valuable machinery, driven by the engine, all of which was
+    destroyed. About two thousand bushels of wheat and corn were
+    stored in the mill directly over the engine, which, in falling,
+    covered it so as to preserve the machinery from the fire. There
+    was a large quantity of hominy and flour and feed destroyed
+    with the mill. The carpenters' shop, a little south of the grain
+    mill, was saved by great exertion of all the members, men and
+    women. All else in that vicinity is a smouldering mass. Nothing
+    was insured but the stock, valued at $3,000, for two-thirds that
+    amount. The loss is from $7,000 to $10,000."
+
+Alcander Longley, at present the editor of a Communist paper, was a
+member of the North American, and should be good authority on its
+history. He connects this fire very closely with the breaking-up of
+the Phalanx. In a criticism of one of Brisbane's late socialistic
+schemes, he says:
+
+    "A little reminiscence just here. We were a member of the North
+    American Phalanx. A fire burned our mills and shops one unlucky
+    night. We had plenty of land left and plenty else to do. But we
+    called the 'money bags' [stockholders] together for more stock
+    to rebuild with. Instead of subscribing more, they dissolved the
+    concern, because it didn't pay enough dividend! And the honest
+    resident working members were scattered and driven from the home
+    they had labored so hard and long for years to make. Would Mr.
+    Brisbane repeat such a farce?"
+
+Yet it appears that the crippled Phalanx lingered another year; for we
+find the following in the editorial correspondence of _Life
+Illustrated_ for August 1855:
+
+    Last Picture of the North American.
+
+    "After supper (the hour set apart for which is from five to six
+    o'clock) the lawn, gravel walks and little lake in front of the
+    Phalanstery, present an animated and charming scene. We look out
+    upon it from our window. Nearly the whole population of the
+    place is out of doors. Happy papas and mammas draw their baby
+    wagons, with their precious freight of smiling innocence, along
+    the wide walks; groups of little girls and boys frolic in the
+    clover under the big walnut-trees by the side of the pond; some
+    older children and young ladies are out on the water in their
+    light canoes, which they row with the dexterity of sailors; men
+    and women are standing here and there in groups engaged in
+    conversation, while others are reclining on the soft grass; and
+    several young ladies in their picturesque working and walking
+    costume--a short dress or tunic coming to the knees, and loose
+    pantaloons--are strolling down the road toward the shaded avenue
+    which leads to the highway.
+
+    "There seems to be a large measure of quiet happiness here; but
+    the place is now by no means a gay one. If we observe closely we
+    see a shadow of anxiety on most countenances. The future is no
+    longer assured. Henceforth it must be 'each for himself,' in
+    isolation and antagonism. Some of these people have been
+    clamorous for a dissolution of the Association, which they
+    assert has, so far as they are concerned at least, proved a
+    failure; but some of them, we have fancied, now look forward
+    with more fear than hope to the day which shall sunder the last
+    material ties which bind them to their associates in this
+    movement."
+
+The following from the _Social Revolutionist_, January, 1856, was
+written apparently in the last moments of the Phalanx.
+
+    [Alfred Cridge's Diagnosis in Articulo Mortis.]
+
+    "The North American Phalanx has decided to dissolve. When I
+    visited it two years since it seemed to be managed by practical
+    men, and was in many respects thriving. The domain was well
+    cultivated, labor well paid, and the domestic department well
+    organized. With the exception of the single men's apartments
+    being overcrowded, comfort reigned supreme. The following were
+    some of the defects:
+
+    "1. The capital was nearly all owned by non-residents, who
+    invested it, however, without expectation of profit, as the
+    stock was always below par, yielding at that time but 4-1/2 per
+    cent. of interest, which was a higher rate than that formerly
+    allowed. Probably the majority of the Community were hard
+    workers, many of them to the extent of neglecting mental
+    culture. I was informed that they generally lived from hand to
+    mouth, saving nothing, though living was cheap, rent not high,
+    and the par rate of wages ninety cents for ten hours, but
+    varying from sixty cents to $1.20, according to skill,
+    efficiency, unpleasantness, etc. Nearly all those who did save,
+    invested in more profitable stock, leaving absentees to keep up
+    an Association in which they had no particular interest. As the
+    generality of those on the ground gave no tangible indications
+    of any particular interest in the movement, it is no matter of
+    surprise that, notwithstanding the zeal of a few disinterested
+    philanthropists engaged in it, the institution failed to meet
+    the sanguine expectations of its projectors.
+
+    "2. They neglected the intellectual and ęsthetic element. Some
+    residents there attributed the failure of the Brook Farm
+    Association to an undue predominance of these, and so ran into
+    the opposite error. A well-known engraver in Philadelphia wished
+    to reside at the Phalanx and practice his profession; but no; he
+    must work on the farm; if allowed to join, he would not be
+    permitted to follow his attractions. So he did not come.
+
+    "3. The immediate causes of the dissolution of both Associations
+    were disastrous fires, and no way attributable to the principles
+    on which they were based.
+
+    "4. The formation of Victor Considerant's colony in Texas
+    probably hastened the dissolution of the Phalanx, as many of the
+    members preferred establishing themselves in a more genial
+    latitude, to working hard one year or two for nothing, which
+    they must have done, to regain the loss of $20,000 by fire, to
+    say nothing of the indirect loss occasioned by the want of the
+    buildings.
+
+    "Thus endeth the North American Phalanx! _Requiescat in pace!_
+    Where is the Phoenix Association that is to arise from its ashes?
+
+    "P.S. Since the above was written, the domain of the North
+    American Phalanx has been sold."
+
+N.C. Meeker, who wrote those enthusiastic letters from the Trumbull
+Phalanx (now one of the editors of the _Tribune_), is the author of
+the following picturesque account of the North American, which we will
+call its
+
+_Post Mortem and Requiem, by an old Fourierist._
+
+    [From the New York _Tribune_ of November 3, 1866.]
+
+    "Once in about every generation, attention is called to our
+    social system. Many evils seem to grow from it. A class of men
+    peculiarly organized, unite to condemn the whole structure. If
+    public affairs are tranquil, they attempt to found a new system.
+    So repeatedly and for so many ages has this been done, that it
+    must be said that the effort arises from an aspiration. The
+    object is not destructive, but beneficent. Twenty-five years ago
+    an attempt was made in most of the Northern States. There are
+    signs that another is about to be made. To those who are
+    interested, a history of life in a Phalanx will be instructive.
+    It is singular that none of the many thousand Fourierists have
+    related their experience. (!) Recently I visited the old grounds
+    of the North American Phalanx. Additional information is brought
+    from a similar institution [the Trumbull] in a Western State.
+    Light will be thrown on the problem; it will not solve it.
+
+    "Four miles from Red Bank, Monmouth County, New Jersey, six
+    hundred acres of land were selected about twenty years ago, for
+    a Phalanx on the plan of Fourier. The founders lived in New
+    York, Albany and other places. The location was fortunate, the
+    soil naturally good, the scenery pleasing and the air healthful.
+    It would have been better to have been near a shipping-port. The
+    road from Red Bank was heavy sand.
+
+    "First, a large building was erected for families; afterward, at
+    a short distance, a spacious mansion was built, three stories
+    high, with a front of one hundred and fifty feet, and a wing of
+    one hundred and fifty feet. It is still standing in good repair,
+    and is about to be used for a school. The rooms are of large
+    size and well finished, the main hall spacious, airy, light and
+    elegant. Grape-vines were trained by the side of the building,
+    flowers were cultivated, and the adjoining ground was planted
+    with shade-trees. Two orchards of every variety of choice fruit
+    (one of forty acres) were planted, and small fruits and all
+    kinds of vegetables were raised on a large scale. The Society
+    were the first to grow okra or gumbo for the New York market,
+    and those still living there continue its cultivation and
+    control supplies. A durable stream ran near by; on its banks
+    were pleasant walks, which are unchanged, shaded by chestnut
+    and walnut trees. On this stream they built a first-class
+    grist-mill. Not only did it do good work, but they established
+    the manufacture of hominy and other products which gave them a
+    valued reputation, and the profits of this mill nearly earned
+    their bread.
+
+    "It was necessary to make the soil highly productive, and many
+    German and other laborers were employed. The number of members
+    was about one hundred, and visitors were constant. Of all the
+    Associations, this was the best, and on it were fixed the hopes
+    of the reformers. The chief pursuit was agriculture. Education
+    was considered important, and they had good teachers and
+    schools. Many young persons owed to the Phalanx an education
+    which secured them honorable and profitable situations.
+
+    "The society was select, and it was highly enjoyed. To this day
+    do members, and particularly women, look back to that period as
+    the happiest in their lives. Young people have few proper wishes
+    which were not gratified. They seemed enclosed within walls
+    which beat back the storms of life. They were surrounded by
+    whatever was useful, innocent and beautiful. Neighborhood
+    quarrels were unknown, nor was there trouble among children.
+    There were a few white-eyed women who liked to repeat stories,
+    but they soon sunk to their true value.
+
+    "After they had lived this life fourteen years,[A] their mill
+    burned down. Mr. Greeley offered to lend them $12,000 to
+    rebuild it. They were divided on the subject of location. Some
+    wanted to build at Red Bank, to save hauling. They could not
+    agree. But there was another subject on which they did agree.
+    Some suggested that they had better not build at all! that they
+    had better dissolve! The question was put, and to every one's
+    surprise, decided that they would dissolve. Accordingly the
+    property was sold, and it brought sixty-six cents on a dollar.
+    In a manner the sale was forced. Previously the stockholders had
+    been receiving yearly dividends, and they lost little.
+
+    "While the young had been so happy, and while the women, with
+    some exceptions, enjoyed society, with scarcely a cause for
+    disquiet, fathers had been considering the future prospects of
+    those they loved. The pay for their work was out of the profits,
+    and on a joint-stock principle. Work was credited in hours, and
+    on striking a dividend, one hour had produced a certain sum. A
+    foreman, a skillful man, had an additional reward. It was five
+    cents a day. One of the chief foremen told me that after working
+    all day with the Germans, and working hard, so that there would
+    be no delay he had to arrange what each was to do in the
+    morning. Often he would be awakened by falling rain. He would
+    long be sleepless in re-arranging his plans. A skillful teacher
+    got an additional five cents. All this was in accordance with
+    democratic principles. I was told that the average wages did not
+    exceed twenty cents a day. You see capital drew a certain share
+    which labor had to pay. But this was of no consequence,
+    providing the institution was perpetual. There they could live
+    and die. Some, however, ran in debt each year. With large
+    families and small wages, they could not hold their own. These
+    men had long been uneasy.
+
+    "There was a public table where all meals were eaten. At first
+    there was a lack of conveniences, and there was much hard work.
+    Mothers sent their children to school, and became cooks and
+    chamber-maids. The most energetic lady took charge of the
+    washing group. This meant she had to work hardest. Some of the
+    best women, though filled with enthusiasm for the cause, broke
+    down with hard work. Afterward there were proper conveniences;
+    but they did not prevent the purchase of hair-dye. The idea that
+    woman in Association was to be relieved of many cares, was not
+    realized.
+
+    "On some occasions, perhaps for reasons known at the time, there
+    was a scarcity of victuals. One morning all they had to eat was
+    buckwheat cakes and water. I think they must have had salt. In
+    another Phalanx, one breakfast was mush. Every member felt
+    ashamed.
+
+    "The combined order had been strongly recommended for its
+    economies. All articles were to be purchased at wholesale; food
+    would be cheaper; and cooking when done for many by a few, would
+    cost little. In practice there were developments not looked for.
+    The men were not at all alike. Some so contrived their work as
+    not to be distant at meal-time. They always heard the first
+    ringing of the bell. In the preparation of food, naturally,
+    there will be small quantities which are choice. In families
+    these are thought much of, and are dealt out by a mother's good
+    hands. They come last. But here, in the New Jerusalem, those who
+    were ready to eat, seized upon such the first thing. If they
+    could get enough of it, they would eat nothing else.
+
+    "You know that in all kinds of business there must be men to
+    see that nothing is neglected. On a farm teams must be fed and
+    watered, cattle driven up or out, and bars or gates closed. They
+    who did these things were likely to come to their meals late.
+    They were sweaty and dirty, their feet dragged heavy. First they
+    must wash. On sitting down they had to rest a little. Naturally
+    they would look around. At such times one's wife watches him. At
+    a glance she can see a cloud pass across his face. He need not
+    speak to tell her his thoughts. She can read him better than a
+    Bible in large type. In one Phalanx where I was acquainted, the
+    public table was thrown up in disgust, like a pack of unlucky
+    cards.
+
+    "But our North Americans were determined. To give to all as good
+    food as the early birds were getting, it was necessary to
+    provide large quantities. When this was done, living became very
+    expensive and the economies of Association disappeared.
+
+    "They had to take another step. They established an eating-house
+    on what is called the European plan. The plainest and the
+    choicest food was provided. Whatever one might desire he could
+    have. His meal might cost him ten cents or five dollars. When he
+    finished eating he received a counter or ticket, and went to the
+    office and settled. He handed over his ticket, and the amount
+    printed on it was charged to him. For instance, a man has the
+    following family: first, wifey, and then, George, Emily, Mary,
+    Ralph and Rosa. They sit at a table by themselves, unless wifey
+    is in the kitchen, with a red face, baking buckwheat cakes with
+    all her might. They select their breakfast--a bill of fare is
+    printed every day--and they have ham and eggs, fifteen cents;
+    sausage, ten cents; cakes, fifteen cents; fish, ten cents; and
+    a cup of coffee and six glasses of water, five cents; total,
+    fifty-five cents, which is charged, and they go about their
+    business. If wifey had been to work, she would eat afterward,
+    and though she too would have to pay, she was credited with
+    cake-baking. One should be so charitable as to suppose that she
+    earned enough to pay for the meal that she ate sitting sideways.
+    To keep these accounts, a book-keeper was required all day. One
+    would think this a curious way; but it was the only one by which
+    they could choke off the birds of prey. One would think, too,
+    that Rosa, Mary and Co., might have helped get breakfast; but
+    the plan was to get rid of drudgery.
+
+    "Again, there was another class. They were sociable and amiable
+    men. Everybody liked to hear them talk, and chiefly they secured
+    admission for these qualities. Unfortunately they did not bring
+    much with them. All through life they had been unlucky. There
+    was what was called the Council of Industry, which discussed and
+    decided all plans and varieties of work. With them originated
+    every new enterprise. If a man wanted an order for goods at a
+    store, they granted or refused it. Some of these amiable men
+    would be elected members; it was easy for them to get office,
+    and they greatly directed in all industrial operations. At the
+    same time those really practical would attempt to counteract
+    these men; but they could not talk well, though they tried hard.
+    I have never seen men desire more to be eloquent than they;
+    their most powerful appeals were when they blushed with silent
+    indignation. But there was one thing they could do well, and
+    that was to grumble while at work. They could make an impression
+    then. Fancy the result.
+
+    "Lastly: the rooms where families lived adjoined each other, or
+    were divided by long halls. Young men do not always go to bed
+    early. Perhaps they would be out late sparking, and they
+    returned to their rooms before morning. A man was apt to call to
+    mind the words of the country mouse lamenting that he had left
+    his hollow tree. Sometimes one had a few words to say to his
+    wife when he was not in good humor on account of bad digestion.
+    When some one overheard him, they would think of her delicate
+    blooming face, and her ear-rings and finger-rings, and wonder,
+    but keep silent; while others thought that they had a good thing
+    to tell of. But let no one be troubled. These two will cling to
+    each other, and nothing but death can separate them. He will
+    bear these things a long time, winking with both eyes; but at
+    last he thinks that they should have a little more room, and she
+    heartily agrees.
+
+    "Fourteen years make a long period. At last they learned that it
+    was easy enough to get lazy men, but practical and thorough
+    business men were scarce. Five cents a day extra was not
+    sufficient to secure them. A promising, ambitious young man
+    growing up among them, did not see great inducements. He heard
+    of the world; men made money there. His curiosity was great. One
+    can see that the Association was likely to be childless.
+
+    "Learning these things which Fourier had not set down, their
+    mill took fire. Still they were out of debt. They were doing
+    well. The soil had been brought to a high state of cultivation.
+    Of the fifteen or twenty Associations through the country, their
+    situation and advantages were decidedly superior. I inquired of
+    the old members remaining on the ground, and who bought the
+    property and are doing well, the reason for their failure. They
+    admit there was no good reason to prevent their going on, except
+    the disposition. But Fourier did not recommend starting with
+    less than eighteen hundred. When I asked them what would have
+    been the result if they had had this number, they said they
+    would have broken up in less than two years. Generally men are
+    not prepared. Association is for the future.
+
+    "I found one still sanguine. He believes there are now men
+    enough afloat, successfully to establish an Association. They
+    should quietly commence in a town. There should be means for
+    doing work cheaply by machinery. A few hands can wash and iron
+    for several hundred in the same manner as it is done in our
+    public institutions. Baking, cooking and sewing can be done in
+    the same way. There is no disputing the fact that these means
+    did not exist twenty years ago. Gradually family after family
+    could be brought together. In time a whole town would be
+    captured.
+
+    "The plausible and the easy again arise in this age. Let no one
+    mistake a mirage for a real image. Disaster will attend any
+    attempt at social reform, if the marriage relation is even
+    suspected to be rendered less happy. The family is a rock
+    against which all objects not only will dash in vain, but they
+    will fall shivered at its base.
+
+                                                         "N.C.M."
+
+But even marriage and family, rocks though they are, have to yield to
+earthquakes: and Fourierism, in which Meeker delighted, was one of the
+upheavals that have unsettled them. They will have to be
+reconstructed.
+
+The latest visitor to the remains of the North American whose
+observations have fallen under our notice, is Mr. E.H. Hamilton, a
+leading member of the Oneida Community. His letter in the _Circular_
+of April 13, 1868, will be a fitting conclusion to this account; as
+well for the new peep it gives us into the causes of failure, as for
+its appropriate reflections.
+
+
+Why the North American Phalanx failed.
+
+
+                                     "_New York, March 31, 1868._
+
+    "Business called me a short time ago to visit the domain once
+    occupied by the North American Phalanx. The gentleman whom I
+    wished to see, resided in a part of the old mansion, once warm
+    and lively with the daily activities and bright anticipations of
+    enthusiastic Associationists. The closed windows and silent
+    halls told of failure and disappointment. When individuals or a
+    Community push out of the common channel, and with great
+    self-sacrifice seek after a better life, their failure is as
+    disheartening as their success would have been cheering. Why did
+    they fail?
+
+    "The following story from an old member and eye-witness whom I
+    chanced to meet in the neighboring village, impressed me, and
+    was so suggestive that I entered it in my note-book. After
+    inquiring about the Oneida Community, he told his tale almost
+    word for word, as follows:
+
+    _C._--My interest in Association turns entirely on its relations
+    to industry. In our attempt, a number of persons came together
+    possessed of small means and limited ideas. After such a company
+    has struggled on a few years as we did, resolutely contending
+    with difficulties, a vista will open, light will break in upon
+    them, and they will see a pathway opening. So it was with us. We
+    prospered in finances. Our main business grew better; but the
+    mill with which it was connected grew poorer, till the need of
+    a new building was fairly before us. One of our members offered
+    to advance the money to erect a new mill. A stream was surveyed,
+    a site selected. One of our neighbors whose land we wanted to
+    flow, held off for a bonus. This provoked us and we dropped the
+    project for the time. At this juncture it occurred to some of us
+    to put up a steam-mill at Red Bank. This was the vista that
+    opened to us. Here we would be in water-communication with New
+    York city. Some $2,000 a year would be saved in teaming. This
+    steam-mill would furnish power for other industries. Our
+    mechanics would follow, and the mansion at Red Bank become the
+    center of the Association, and finally the center of the town.
+    Our secretary was absent during this discussion. I was fearful
+    he would not approve of the project, and told some of our
+    members so. On his return we laid the plan before him, and he
+    said no. This killed the Phalanx. A number of us were
+    dissatisfied with this decision, and thirty left in a body to
+    start another movement, which broke the back of the Association.
+    The secretary was one of our most enthusiastic members and a man
+    of good judgment; but he let his fears govern him in this
+    matter. I believe he sees his mistake now. The organization
+    lingered along two years, when the old mill took fire and burned
+    down; and it became necessary to close up affairs.
+
+    _E.H.H._--Would it not have been better if your company of
+    thirty had been patient, and gone on quietly till the others
+    were converted to your views? If truth were on your side, it
+    would in time have prevailed over their objections.
+
+    _C._--I would not give a cent for a person's conversion. When a
+    truth is submitted to a body of persons, a few only will accept
+    it. The great body can not, because their minds are unprepared.
+
+    _E.H.H._--How did your company succeed in their new movement?
+
+    _C._--We failed because we made a mistake. The great mistake
+    Associationists every where made, all through these movements,
+    was to locate in obscure places which were unsuitable for
+    becoming business centers. Fourier's system is based on a
+    township. An Association to be successful must embrace a
+    township.
+
+    _E.H.H._--Well, suppose you get together a number sufficient to
+    form a township, and become satisfactorily organized, will there
+    not still remain this liability to be broken up by diversity of
+    judgments arising, as in the instance you have just related to
+    me?
+
+    _C._--No; let the movement be organized aright and it might
+    break up every day and not fail.
+
+    "Here ended the conversation. The story interested me
+    especially, because it taught so clearly that the success of
+    Communism depends upon something else besides money-making. When
+    Hepworth Dixon visited this country and inquired about the
+    Oneida Community, Horace Greeley told him he would 'find the
+    O.C. a trade success.' Now according to C.'s story the North
+    American Phalanx entered the stage of 'trade success,' and then
+    failed because it lacked the _faculty of agreement_. It is
+    patent to every person of good sense, that 'a house divided
+    against itself can not stand.' Divisions in a household, in an
+    army, in a nation, are disastrous, and unless healed, are
+    finally fatal. The great lesson that the Oneida Community has
+    been learning, is, that agreement is possible. In cases where
+    diversity of judgment has arisen, we have always secured
+    unanimity by being patient with each other, waiting, and
+    submitting all minds to the Spirit of Truth. We have experienced
+    this result over and over again, until it has become a settled
+    conviction through the Community, that when a project is brought
+    forward for discussion, the best thing will be done, and we
+    shall all be of one mind about it. How many times questions have
+    arisen that would have destroyed us like the North American
+    Phalanx, were it not for this ability to come to an agreement!
+    Prosperity puts this power of harmony to a greater test than
+    adversity. When we built our new house, how many were the
+    different minds about material, location, plan! How were our
+    feelings wrought up! Party-spirit ran high. There was the stone
+    party, the brick party, and the concrete-wall party. Yet by
+    patience, forbearing one with another and submitting one to
+    another, the final result satisfied every one. Unity is the
+    essential thing. Secure that, and financial success and all
+    other good things will follow."
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[A] To be exact, this should be eleven years instead of fourteen. The
+Phalanx commenced operations in September, 1843, and the fire occurred
+in September, 1854. The whole duration of the experiment was only a
+little over twelve years, as the domain was sold, according to Alfred
+Cridge, in the winter of 1855-6.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+CONVERSION OF BROOK FARM TO FOURIERISM.
+
+
+At the beginning of our history of the Fourier epoch, we gave an
+account of the origin of the Brook Farm Association in 1841, and
+traced its career till the latter part of 1843. So far we found it to
+be an original American experiment, not affiliated to Fourier, but to
+Dr. Channing; and we classed it with the Hopedale, Northampton and
+Skaneateles Communities, as one of the preparations for Fourierism.
+Now, at the close of our history, we must return to Brook Farm and
+follow it through its transformation into a Fourierist Phalanx, and
+its career as a public teacher and propagandist.
+
+In the final number of the _Dial_, dated April 1844, Miss E.P. Peabody
+published an article on Fourierism, which commences as follows:
+
+    "In the last week of December, 1843, and first week of January,
+    1844, a convention was held in Boston, which may be considered
+    as the first publication of Fourierism in this region.
+
+    "The works of Fourier do not seem to have reached us, and this
+    want of text has been ill supplied by various conjectures
+    respecting them; some of which are more remarkable for the
+    morbid imagination they display than for their sagacity. For
+    ourselves we confess to some remembrances of vague horror
+    connected with this name, as if it were some enormous parasitic
+    plant, sucking the life principles of society, while it spread
+    apparently an equal shade, inviting man to repose under its
+    beautiful but poison-dropping branches. We still have a certain
+    question about Fourierism, considered as a catholicon for evil;
+    but our absurd horrors were dissipated, and a feeling of genuine
+    respect for the friends of the movement ensured, as we heard the
+    exposition of the doctrine of Association, by Mr. Channing and
+    others. That name [Channing] already consecrated to humanity,
+    seemed to us to have worthily fallen, with the mantle of the
+    philanthropic spirit, upon this eloquent expounder of Socialism;
+    in whose voice and countenance, as well as in his pleadings for
+    humanity, the spirit of his great kinsman still seemed to speak.
+    We can not sufficiently lament that there was no reporter of the
+    speech of Mr. Channing."
+
+At the close of this article Miss Peabody says:
+
+    "We understand that Brook Farm has become a Fourierist
+    establishment. We rejoice in this, because such persons as form
+    that Association, will give it a fair experiment. We wish it
+    Godspeed. May it become a University, where the young American
+    shall learn his duties, and become worthy of this broad land of
+    his inheritance."
+
+William H. Channing, in the _Present_, January 15, 1844, gives an
+account of this same Boston convention, from which we extract as
+follows:
+
+    "This convention marked an era in the history of New England.
+    It was the commencement of a public movement upon the subject of
+    social reform, which will flow on, wider, deeper, stronger,
+    until it has proved in deeds the practicability of societies
+    organized, from their central principle of faith to the minutest
+    detail of industry and pleasure, according to the order of love.
+    This movement has been long gathering. A hundred rills and
+    rivers of humanity have fed it.
+
+    "The number of attendants and their interest increased to the
+    end, as was manifested by the continuance of the meetings from
+    Wednesday, December 27th, when the convention had expected to
+    adjourn, through Thursday and Friday. The convention was
+    organized by the choice of William Bassett, of Lynn, as
+    President; of Adin Ballou, of Hopedale, G.W. Benson, of
+    Northampton, George Ripley, of Brook Farm, and James N. Buffum,
+    of Lynn, as Vice-Presidents; and of Eliza J. Kenney, of Salem,
+    and Charles A. Dana, of Brook Farm, as Secretaries. The
+    Associations of Northampton, Hopedale and Brook Farm, were each
+    well represented.
+
+    "It was instructive to observe that practical and scientific men
+    constantly confirmed, and often apparently without being aware
+    of it, the doctrines of social science as announced by Fourier.
+    Indeed, in proportion to the degree of one's intimacy with this
+    profound student of harmony, does respect increase for his
+    admirable intellectual power, his foresight, sagacity,
+    completeness. And for one, I am desirous to state, that the
+    chief reason which prevents my most public confession of
+    confidence in him as the one teacher now most needed, is, that
+    honor for such a patient and conscientious investigator demands,
+    of all who would justify his views, a simplicity of affection,
+    an extent and accuracy of knowledge, an intensity of thought, to
+    which very few can now lay claim. Quite far am I from saying,
+    that as now enlightened, I adopt all his opinions; on the
+    contrary, there are some I reject; but it is a pleasure to
+    express gratitude to Charles Fourier, for having opened a whole
+    new world of study, hope and action. It does seem to me, that he
+    has given us the clue out of our scientific labyrinth, and
+    revealed the means of living the law of love."
+
+The _Phalanx_ of February 5, 1844, refers to the revolution going on
+at Brook Farm, as follows:
+
+    "The Brook Farm Association, near Boston, is now in process of
+    transformation and extension from its former condition of an
+    educational establishment mainly, to a regularly organized
+    Association, embracing the various departments of industry, art
+    and science. At the head of this movement, are George Ripley,
+    Minot Pratt and Charles A. Dana. We can not speak in too high
+    terms of these men and their enterprise. They are gentlemen of
+    high standing in the community, and unite in an eminent degree,
+    talent, scientific attainments and refinement, with great
+    practical energy and experience. This Association has a fine
+    spiritual basis in those already connected with it, and we hope
+    that it will be able to rally to its aid the industrial skill
+    and capital necessary to organize an Association, in which
+    productive labor, art, science, and the social and the religious
+    affections, will be so wisely and beautifully blended and
+    combined, that they will lend reciprocal strength, support,
+    elevation and refinement to each other, and secure abundance,
+    give health to the body, development and expansion to the mind,
+    and exaltation to the soul. We are convinced that there are
+    abundant means and material in New England now ready to form a
+    fine Association; they have only to be sought out and brought
+    together."
+
+From these hints it is evident that the Brook Farmers were fully
+converted to Fourierism in the winter of 1843-4, and that William H.
+Channing led the way in this conversion. He had been publishing the
+_Present_ since September 1843, side by side with the _Phalanx_ (which
+commenced in October of that year); and though he, like the rest of
+the Massachusetts Socialists, began with some shyness of Fourierism,
+he had gradually fallen into the Brisbane and Greeley movement, till
+at last the _Present_ was hardly distinguishable in its general drift
+from the _Phalanx_. Accordingly in April, 1844, just at the time when
+the _Dial_ ended its career, as we have seen, with a confession of
+quasi-conversion to Fourierism, the _Present_ also concluded its
+labors with a twenty-five-page exposition of Fourier's system, and the
+_Phalanx_ assumed its subscription list.
+
+The connection of the Channings with Fourierism, then, stands thus:
+Dr. Channing, the first medium of the Unitarian afflatus, was the
+father (by suggestion) of the Brook Farm Association, which was
+originally called the West Roxbury Community. William H. Channing, the
+second medium according to Miss Peabody, converted this Community to
+Fourierism and changed it into a Phalanx. The _Dial_, which Emerson
+says was also a suggestion of Dr. Channing, and the _Present_, which
+was edited by William H. Channing, ended their careers in the same
+month, both hailing the advent of Fourierism, and the _Phalanx_ and
+_Harbinger_ became their successors.
+
+The _Dial_ and _Present_, in thus surrendering their Roxbury daughter
+as a bride to Fourierism, did not neglect to give her with their dying
+breath some good counsel and warning. We will grace our pages with a
+specimen from each. Miss Peabody in the _Dial_ moralizes thus:
+
+    "The social passions, set free to act, do not carry within them
+    their own rule, nor the pledge of conferring happiness. They can
+    only get this from the free action upon them of the intellectual
+    passions which constitute human reason.
+
+    "But these functions of reason, do they carry within themselves
+    the pledge of their own continued health and harmonious action?
+
+    "Here Fourierism stops short, and, in so doing, proves itself to
+    be, not a life, a soul, but only a body. It may be a magnificent
+    body for humanity to dwell in for a season; and one for which it
+    may be wise to quit old diseased carcases, which now go by the
+    proud name of civilization. But if its friends pretend for it
+    any higher character than that of a body, thus turning men from
+    seeking for principles of life essentially above organization,
+    it will prove but another, perhaps a greater curse.
+
+    "The question is, whether the Phalanx acknowledges its own
+    limitations of nature, in being an organization, or opens up any
+    avenue into the source of life that shall keep it sweet,
+    enabling it to assimilate to itself contrary elements, and
+    consume its own waste; so that, phoenix-like, it may renew
+    itself forever in greater and finer forms.
+
+    "This question, the Fourierists in the convention, from whom
+    alone we have learned any thing of Fourierism, did not seem to
+    have considered. But this is a vital point.
+
+    "The life of the world is now the Christian life. For eighteen
+    centuries, art, literature, philosophy, poetry, have followed
+    the fortunes of the Christian idea. Ancient history is the
+    history of the apotheosis of nature, or natural religion; modern
+    history is the history of an idea, or revealed religion. In vain
+    will any thing try to be, which is not supported thereby.
+    Fourier does homage to Christianity with many words. But this
+    may be cant, though it thinks itself sincere. Besides, there are
+    many things which go by the name of Christianity, that are not
+    it.
+
+    "Let the Fourierists see to it, that there be freedom in their
+    Phalanxes for churches, unsupported by their material
+    organization, and lending them no support on their material
+    side. Independently existing, within them but not of them,
+    feeding on ideas, forgetting that which is behind petrified into
+    performance, and pressing on to the stature of the perfect man,
+    they will finally spread themselves in spirit over the whole
+    body.
+
+    "In fine, it is our belief, that unless the Fourierist bodies
+    are made alive by Christ, 'their constitution will not march;'
+    and the galvanic force of reäction, by which they move for a
+    season, will not preserve them from corruption. As the
+    corruption of the best is the worst, the warmer the friends of
+    Fourierism are, the more awake should they be to this danger,
+    and the more energetic to avert it."
+
+Charles Lane in the _Present_ discoursed still more profoundly, as
+follows:
+
+    "Some questions, of a nice importance, may be considered by the
+    Phalanx before they set out, or at least on the journey, for
+    they will have weighty, nay, decisive influences on the final
+    result. One of these, perhaps the one most deserving attention,
+    nay, perhaps that upon which all others hinge, is the adjustment
+    of those human affections, out of which the present family
+    arrangements spring. In a country like the United States of
+    North America, where food is very cheap, and all the needs of
+    life lie close to the industrious hand, it is very rare to find
+    a family of old parents with their sons and daughters married
+    and residing under the same roof. The universal bond is so weak,
+    or the individual bond is so strong, that one married pair is
+    deemed a sufficient swarm of human bees to hive off and form a
+    new colony. How, then, can it be hoped that there is universal
+    affection sufficient to unite many such families in one body for
+    the common good? If, with the natural affections to aid the
+    attempt to meliorate the hardships and difficulties in natural
+    life, it is rare, nay, almost impossible, to unite three
+    families in one bond of fellowship, how shall a greater number
+    be brought together? If, in cases where the individual
+    characters are known, can be relied on, are trusted with each
+    other's affections, property and person, such union can not be
+    formed, how shall it be constructed among strangers, or
+    doubtful, or untried characters? The pressing necessities in
+    isolated families, the great advantages in even the smallest
+    union, are obvious to all, not least to the country families in
+    this land; yet they unite not, but out of every pair of
+    affectionate hearts they construct a new roof-tree, a new
+    hearth-stone, at which they worship as at their exclusive altar.
+
+    "Is there some secret leaven in this conjugal mixture, which
+    declares all other union to be out of the possible affinities?
+    Is this mixture of male and female so very potent, as to hinder
+    universal or even general union? Surely it can not happen, in
+    all those numerous instances wherein re-unions of families would
+    obviously work so advantageously for all parties, that there are
+    qualities of mind so foreign and opposed, that no one could
+    beneficially be consummated. Or is it certain, that in these
+    natural affections and their consequences in living offspring,
+    there is an element so subversive of general Association that
+    the two can not co-exist? The facts seem to maintain such a
+    hypothesis. History has not yet furnished one instance of
+    combined individual and universal life. Prophecy holds not very
+    strong or clear language on the point. Plato scarcely fancied
+    the possible union of the two affections; the religious
+    Associations of past or present times have not attempted it; and
+    Fourier, the most sanguine of all futurists, does not deliver
+    very succinct or decisive oracles on the subject.
+
+    "Can we make any approximation to axiomatical truth for
+    ourselves? May we not say that it is no more possible for the
+    human affections to flow at once in two opposite directions,
+    than it is for a stream of water to do so? A divided heart is an
+    impossibility. We must either serve the universal (God), or the
+    individual (Mammon). Both we can not serve. Now, marriage, as at
+    present constituted, is most decidedly an individual, and not a
+    universal act. It is an individual act, too, of a depreciated
+    and selfish kind. The spouse is an expansion and enlargement of
+    one's self, and the children participate of the same nature. The
+    all-absorbent influence of this union is too obvious to be dwelt
+    upon. It is used to justify every glaring and cruel act of
+    selfish acquisition. It is made the ground-work of the
+    institution of property, which is itself the foundation of so
+    many evils. This institution of property and its numerous
+    auxiliaries must be abrogated in associative life, or it will be
+    little better than isolated life. But it can not, it will not be
+    repealed, so long as marital unions are indulged in; for, up to
+    this very hour, we are celebrating the act as the most sacred on
+    earth, and what is called providing for the family, as the most
+    onerous and holy duty.
+
+    "The lips of the purest living advocates of human improvement,
+    Pestalozzi, J.P. Greaves and others, are scarcely silent from
+    the most strenuous appeals to mothers, to develop in their
+    offspring the germs of all truth, as the highest resource for
+    the regeneration of our race; and we are now turning round upon
+    them and declaring, that naught but a deeper development of
+    mortal selfishness can result from such a course. At least such
+    seems to be a consequence of the present argument. Yet, if it be
+    true, we must face it. This is at least an inquiry which must be
+    answered. It is certain, indeed, that if there be a source of
+    truth in the human soul, deeper than all selfishness, it may be
+    consciously opened by appeals which shall enforce their way
+    beneath the human selfishness which is superincumbent on the
+    divine origin. Then we may possibly be at work on that ground
+    whereon universal Association can be based. But must not,
+    therefore, individual (or dual) union cease? Here is our
+    predicament. It haunts us at every turn; as the poets represent
+    the disturbed wanderings of a departed spirit. And
+    reconciliation of the two is not yet so clearly revealed to the
+    faithful soul, as the headlong indulgence is practiced by the
+    selfish. It is an axiom that new results can only be arrived at
+    by action on new principles, or in new modes. The old principle
+    and mode of isolated families has not led to happy results. This
+    is a fact admitted on all hands. Let us then try what the
+    consociate, or universal family will produce. But, then, let us
+    not seduce ourselves by vain hopes. Let us not fail to see, that
+    to this end the individual selfishness, or, if so they must be
+    called, the holy gratifications of human nature, must be
+    sacrificed and subdued. As has been affirmed above, the two can
+    not be maintained together. We must either cling to heaven, or
+    abide on earth; we must adhere to the divine, or indulge in the
+    human attractions. We must either be wedded to God or to our
+    fellow humanity. To speak in academical language, the
+    conjunction in this case is the disjunctive 'or,' not the
+    copulative 'and.' Both these marriages, that is, of the soul
+    with God, and of soul with soul, can not exist together. It
+    remains, therefore, for us, for the youthful spirit of the
+    present, for the faithfully intelligent and determinedly true,
+    to say which of the two marriages they will entertain."
+
+In consummation of their union with Fourierism, the Brook Farmers
+formed and published a new constitution, confessing in its preamble
+their conversion, and offering themselves to Socialists at large as a
+nucleus for a model Phalanx. They say:
+
+    "The Association at Brook Farm has now been in existence upwards
+    of two years. Originating in the thought and experience of a
+    few individuals, it has hitherto worn, for the most part, the
+    character of a private experiment, and has avoided rather than
+    sought the notice of the public. It has, until the present time,
+    seemed fittest to those engaged in this enterprise to publish no
+    statements of their purposes or methods, to make no promises or
+    declarations, but quietly and sincerely to realize as far as
+    might be possible, the great ideas which gave the central
+    impulse to their movement. It has been thought that a steady
+    endeavor to embody these ideas more and more perfectly in life,
+    would give the best answer, both to the hopes of the friendly
+    and the cavils of the skeptical, and furnish in its results the
+    surest grounds for any larger efforts.
+
+    "Meanwhile every step has strengthened the faith with which we
+    set out; our belief in a divine order of human society, has in
+    our own minds become an absolute certainty; and considering the
+    present state of humanity and of social science, we do not
+    hesitate to affirm that the world is much nearer the attainment
+    of such a condition than is generally supposed. The deep
+    interest in the doctrine of Association which now fills the
+    minds of intelligent persons every where, indicates plainly that
+    the time has passed when even initiative movements ought to be
+    prosecuted in silence, and makes it imperative on all who have
+    either a theoretical or practical knowledge of the subject, to
+    give their share to the stock of public information.
+
+    "Accordingly we have taken occasion at several public meetings
+    recently held in Boston, to state some of the results of our
+    studies and experience, and we desire here to say emphatically,
+    that while on the one hand we yield an unqualified assent to
+    that doctrine of universal unity which Fourier teaches, so on
+    the other, our whole observation has shown us the truth of the
+    practical arrangements which he deduces therefrom. The law of
+    groups and series is, as we are convinced, the law of human
+    nature, and when men are in true social relations their
+    industrial organization will necessarily assume those forms.
+
+    "But beside the demand for information respecting the principles
+    of Association, there is a deeper call for action in the matter.
+    We wish, therefore, to bring Brook Farm before the public, as a
+    location offering at least as great advantages for a thorough
+    experiment as can be found in the vicinity of Boston. It is
+    situated in West Roxbury, three miles from the depot of the
+    Dedham Branch Railroad, and about eight miles from Boston, and
+    combines a convenient nearness to the city, with a degree of
+    retirement and freedom from unfavorable influences, unusual even
+    in the country. The place is one of great natural beauty, and
+    indeed the whole landscape is so rich and various as to attract
+    the notice even of casual visitors. The farm now owned by the
+    Association contains two hundred and eight acres, of as good
+    quality as any land in the neighborhood of Boston, and can be
+    enlarged by the purchase of land adjoining, to any necessary
+    extent. The property now in the hands of the Association is
+    worth nearly or quite thirty thousand dollars, of which about
+    twenty-two thousand dollars is invested either in the stock of
+    the company, or in permanent loans at six per cent., which can
+    remain as long as the Association may wish.
+
+    "The fact that so large an amount of capital is already invested
+    and at our service, as the basis of more extensive operations,
+    furnishes a reason why Brook Farm should be chosen as the scene
+    of that practical trial of Association which the public feeling
+    calls for in this immediate vicinity, instead of forming an
+    entirely new organization for that purpose. The completeness of
+    our educational department is also not to be overlooked. This
+    has hitherto received our greatest care, and in forming it we
+    have been particularly successful. In any new Association it
+    must be many years before so many accomplished and skillful
+    teachers in the various branches of intellectual culture could
+    be enlisted. Another strong reason is to be found in the degree
+    of order our organization has already attained, by the help of
+    which a large Association might be formed without the losses and
+    inconveniences which would otherwise necessarily occur. The
+    experience of nearly three years in all the misfortunes and
+    mistakes incident to an undertaking so new and so little
+    understood, carried on throughout by persons not entirely fitted
+    for the duties they have been compelled to perform, has, we
+    think, prepared us to assist in the safe conduct of an extensive
+    and complete Association.
+
+    "Such an institution, as will be plain to all, can not by any
+    sure means be brought at once and full-grown into existence. It
+    must, at least in the present state of society, begin with a
+    comparatively small number of select and devoted persons, and
+    increase by natural and gradual aggregations. With a view to an
+    ultimate expansion into a perfect Phalanx, we desire to organize
+    immediately the three primary departments of labor, agriculture,
+    domestic industry and the mechanic arts. For this purpose
+    additional capital will be needed, etc.
+
+                     GEORGE RIPLEY, MINOT PRATT, CHARLES A. DANA.
+    "_Brook Farm, January 18, 1844._"
+
+Here follows the usual appeal for co-operation and investments. In
+October following a second edition of this constitution was issued, in
+the preamble of which the officers say:
+
+    "The friends of the cause will be gratified to learn, that the
+    appeal in behalf of Brook Farm, contained in the introductory
+    statement of our constitution, has been generously answered, and
+    that the situation of the Association is highly encouraging. In
+    the half-year that has elapsed, our numbers have been increased
+    by the addition of many skillful and enthusiastic laborers in
+    various departments, and our capital has been enlarged by the
+    subscription of about ten thousand dollars. Our organization has
+    acquired a more systematic form, though with our comparatively
+    small numbers we can only approximate to truly scientific
+    arrangements. Still with the unavoidable deficiencies of our
+    groups and series, their action is remarkable, and fully
+    justifies our anticipations of great results from applying the
+    principles of universal order to industry.
+
+    "We have made considerable agricultural improvements; we have
+    erected a work-shop sixty feet by twenty-eight for mechanics of
+    several trades, some of which are already in operation; and we
+    are now engaged in building a section one hundred and
+    seventy-five feet by forty, of a Phalanstery or unitary
+    dwelling. Our first object is to collect those who, from their
+    character and convictions, are qualified to aid in the
+    experiment we are engaged in, and to furnish them with
+    convenient and comfortable habitations, at the smallest possible
+    outlay. For this purpose the most careful economy is used,
+    though we are yet able to attain many of the peculiar
+    advantages of the Associated household. Still for transitional
+    society, and for comparatively temporary use, a social edifice
+    can not be made free from the defects of civilized architecture.
+    When our Phalanx has become sufficiently large, and has in some
+    measure accomplished its great purposes, the serial organization
+    of labor and unitary education, we shall have it in our power to
+    build a Phalanstery with the magnificence and permanence proper
+    to such a structure."
+
+Whereupon the appeal for help is repeated. Finally, in May 1845 this
+new constitution was published in the _Phalanx_, with a new preamble.
+In the previous editions the society had been styled the "Brook Farm
+Association for Education and Industry;" but in this issue, Article 1
+Section 1 declares that "the name of this Association shall be The
+Brook Farm Phalanx." We quote a few paragraphs from the preamble:
+
+    "At the last session of the legislature of Massachusetts, our
+    Association was incorporated under the name which it now
+    assumes, with the right to hold real estate to the amount of one
+    hundred thousand dollars. This confers upon us all the usual
+    powers and privileges of chartered companies.
+
+    "Nothing is now necessary to the greatest possible measure of
+    success, but capital to furnish sufficient means to enable us to
+    develop every department to advantage. This capital we can now
+    apply profitably and without danger of loss. We are well aware
+    that there must be risk in investing money in an infant
+    Association, as well as in any other untried business; but with
+    the labors of nearly four years we have arrived at a point where
+    this risk hardly exists.
+
+    "By that increasing number whose most ardent desire is to see
+    the experiment of Association fairly tried, we are confident
+    that the appeal we now make will not be received without the
+    most generous response in their power. As far as their means and
+    their utmost exertions can go, they will not suffer so favorable
+    an opportunity for the realization of their fondest hopes to
+    pass unimproved. Nor do we call upon Americans alone, but upon
+    all persons of whatever nation, to whom the doctrines of
+    universal unity have revealed the destiny of man. Especially to
+    those noble men who in Europe have so long and so faithfully
+    labored for the diffusion and propagation of these doctrines, we
+    address what to them will be an occasion of the highest joy, an
+    appeal for fraternal co-operation in behalf of their
+    realization. We announce to them the dawning of that day for
+    which they have so hopefully and so bravely waited, the
+    upspringing of those seeds that they and their compeers have
+    sown. To them it will seem no exaggeration to say that we, their
+    younger brethren, invite their assistance in a movement which,
+    however humble it may superficially appear, is the grandest both
+    in its essential character and its consequences, that can now be
+    proposed to man; a movement whose purpose is the elevation of
+    humanity to its integral rights, and whose results will be the
+    establishment of happiness and peace among the nations of the
+    earth.
+
+                      "By order of the Central Council,
+                                     "GEORGE RIPLEY, _President_.
+
+    "_West Roxbury, May 20, 1845._"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+BROOK FARM PROPAGATING FOURIERISM.
+
+
+Brook Farm having attained the dignity of incorporation and assumed
+the title of Phalanx, was ready to undertake the enterprise of
+propagating Fourierism. Accordingly, in the same number of the
+_Phalanx_ that published the appeal recited at the close of our last
+chapter, appeared the prospectus of a new paper to be called the
+_Harbinger_, with the following editorial notice:
+
+    "Our subscribers will see by the prospectus that the name of the
+    _Phalanx_ is to be changed for that of the _Harbinger_, and that
+    the paper is to be printed in future by the Brook Farm Phalanx."
+
+From this time the main function of Brook Farm was propagandism. It
+published the _Harbinger_ weekly, with a zeal and ability of which our
+readers have seen plenty of specimens. It also instituted a missionary
+society and a lecturing system, of which we will now give some
+account.
+
+New York had hitherto been the head-quarters of Fourierism. Brisbane,
+Greeley and Godwin, the primary men of the cause, lived and published
+there; the _Phalanx_ was issued there; the National Conventions had
+been held there; and there was the seat of the Executive Committee
+that made several abortive attempts to institute a confederation of
+Associations and a national organization of Socialists. But after the
+conversion of Brook Farm, the center of operations was removed from
+New York to Massachusetts. As the _Harbinger_ succeeded to the
+subscription-list and propagandism of the _Phalanx_, so a new National
+Union of Socialists, having its head-quarters nominally at Boston, but
+really at Brook Farm, took the place of the old New York Conventions.
+Of this organization, William H. Channing was the chief-engineer; and
+his zeal and eloquence in that capacity for a short time, well
+entitled him to the honors of the chief Apostle of Fourierism. In fact
+he succeeded to the post of Brisbane. This will be seen in the
+following selections from the _Harbinger_:
+
+    [From William H. Channing's Appeal to Associationists.]
+
+    "BRETHREN:
+
+    "Your prompt and earnest co-operation is requested in fulfilling
+    the design of a society organized May 27, 1846, at Boston,
+    Massachusetts, by a general convention of the friends of
+    Association. This design may be learned from the following
+    extracts from its constitution:
+
+    "'I. The name of this society shall be the American Union of
+    Associationists.
+
+    "'II. Its purpose shall be the establishment of an order of
+    society based on a system of joint-stock property; co-operative
+    labor; association of families; equitable distribution of
+    profits; mutual guarantees; honors according to usefulness;
+    integral education; unity of interests: which system we believe
+    to be in accord with the laws of divine providence and the
+    destiny of man.
+
+    "'III. Its method of operation shall be the appointment of
+    agents, the sending out of lecturers, the issuing of
+    publications, and the formation of a series of affiliated
+    societies which shall be auxiliary to the parent society; in
+    holding meetings, collecting funds, and in every way diffusing
+    the principles of Association: and preparing for their practical
+    application, etc.'
+
+    "We have a solemn and glorious work before us: 1, To
+    indoctrinate the whole people of the United States with the
+    principles of associative unity; 2, To prepare for the time when
+    the nation, like one man, shall re-organize its townships upon
+    the basis of perfect justice.
+
+    "A nobler opportunity was certainly never opened to men, than
+    that which here and now welcomes Associationists. To us has been
+    given the very word which this people needs as a guide in its
+    onward destiny. This is a Christian Nation; and Association
+    shows how human societies may be so organized in devout
+    obedience to the will of God, as to become true brotherhoods,
+    where the command of universal love may be fulfilled indeed.
+    Thus it meets the present wants of Christians; who, sick of
+    sectarian feuds and theological controversies, shocked at the
+    inconsistencies which disgrace the religious world, at the
+    selfishness, ostentation, and caste which pervade even our
+    worshiping assemblies, at the indifference of man to the claims
+    of his fellow-man throughout our communities in country and
+    city, at the tolerance of monstrous inhumanities by professed
+    ministers and disciples of him whose life was love, are longing
+    for churches which may be really houses of God, glorified with
+    an indwelling spirit of holiness, and filled to overflowing with
+    heavenly charity.
+
+    "Brethren! Can men engaged in so holy and humane a cause as
+    this, which fulfills the good and destroys the evil in existing
+    society throughout our age and nation, which teaches unlimited
+    trust in Divine love, and commands perfect obedience to the laws
+    of Divine order among all people, which heralds the near advent
+    of the reign of heaven on earth--be timid, indifferent,
+    sluggish? Abiding shame will rest upon us, if we put not forth
+    our highest energies in fulfillment of the present command of
+    Providence. Let us be up and doing with all our might.
+
+    "The measures which you are now requested at once and
+    energetically to carry out, are the three following: 1, Organize
+    affiliated societies to act in concert with the American Union
+    of Associationists; 2, Circulate the _Harbinger_ and other
+    papers devoted to Association; 3, Collect funds for the purpose
+    of defraying the expenses of lectures and tracts. It is proposed
+    in the autumn and winter to send out lecturers, in bands and
+    singly, as widely as possible.
+
+    "Our white flag is given to the breeze. Our threefold motto,
+
+    "Unity of man with man in true society,
+
+    "Unity of man with God in true religion,
+
+    "Unity of man with nature in creative art and industry,
+
+    "Is blazoned on its folds. Let hearts, strong in the might of
+    faith and hope and charity, rally to bear it on in triumph. We
+    are sure to conquer. God will work with us; humanity will
+    welcome our word of glad tidings. The future is ours. On! in the
+    name of the Lord.
+
+                                     WILLIAM HENRY CHANNING,
+                  "_Cor. Sec. of the Am. Un. of Associationists._
+
+    "_Brook Farm, June 6, 1846._"
+
+In connection with this appeal, an editorial announced
+
+    _The Mission of Charles A. Dana._
+
+    "The operations of the 'American Union,' will be commenced
+    without delay. Mr. Dana will shortly make a tour through the
+    State of New York as its agent. He will lecture in the principal
+    towns, and take every means to diffuse a knowledge of the
+    principles of Association. Our friends are requested to use
+    their best exertions to prepare for his labors, and give
+    efficiency to them."
+
+A meeting of the American Union of Associationists is reported in the
+_Harbinger_ of June 27, at which all the speakers except Mr. Brisbane,
+were Brook Farmers. The session continued two days, and William H.
+Channing made the closing and electric speeches for both days. The
+editor says:
+
+    "Mr. Channing closed the first day in a speech of the loftiest
+    and purest eloquence, in which he declared the great problem and
+    movement of this day to be that of realizing a unitary church;
+    showed how utterly unchristian is every thing now calling itself
+    a church, and how impossible the solution of this problem, so
+    long as industry tends only to isolate those who would be
+    Christians, and to make them selfish; and ended with announcing
+    the life-long pledge into which the believers in associative
+    unity in this country have entered, that they will not rest nor
+    turn back until the mind of this whole nation is made to see and
+    own the truth which there is in their doctrines. The effect upon
+    all present was electric, and the resolution to adjourn to the
+    next evening, was a resolution to commence then in earnest a
+    great work."
+
+After mentioning many good things said and done on the second day, the
+editor says:
+
+    "It was understood that the whole would be brought to a head and
+    the main and practical business of the meeting set forth by Mr.
+    Channing. His appeal, alike to friends and to opposers of the
+    cause, will dwell like a remembered inspiration in all our
+    minds. It spoke directly to the deepest religious sentiment in
+    every one, and awakened in each a consciousness of a new energy.
+    All the poetic wealth and imagery of the speaker's mind seemed
+    melted over into the speech, as if he would pour out all his
+    life to carry conviction into the hearts of others. He seemed an
+    illustration of a splendid figure which he used, to show the
+    present crisis in this cause. 'It was,' said he, 'nobly,
+    powerfully begun in this country; but, there has been a pause in
+    our movement. When Benvenuto Cellini was casting his great
+    statue, wearied and exhausted he fell asleep. He was roused by
+    the cries of the workmen; Master, come quick, the fires have
+    gone down, and the metal has caked in the running! He hesitated
+    not a moment, but rushed into the palace, seized all the gold
+    and silver vessels, money, ornaments, which he could find, and
+    poured them into the furnace; and whatever he could lay hands on
+    that was combustible, he took to renew the fire. We must begin
+    anew, said he. And the flames roared, and the metal began to
+    run, and the Jupiter came out in complete majesty. Just so our
+    greater work has caked in the running. We have been luke-warm;
+    we have slept. But shall not we throw in all our gold and
+    silver, and throw in ourselves too, since our work is to produce
+    not a mere statue, but a harmonious life of man made perfect in
+    the image of God? Who ever had such motive for action? The
+    Crusaders, on their knees and upon the hilts of their swords,
+    which formed a cross, daily dedicated their lives and their all
+    to the pious resolution of re-conquering the sepulcher in which
+    the dead Lord was laid. But ours is the calling, not to conquer
+    the sepulcher of the dead Lord, but to conquer the world, and
+    bring it in subjection to truth, love and beauty, that the
+    living Christ may at length return and enter upon his Kingdom of
+    Heaven on the earth.'
+
+    "We by no means intend this as a report of Mr. Channing's
+    speech. To reproduce it at all would be impossible. We only tell
+    such few things as we easily remember. He closed with requesting
+    all who had signed the constitution, or who were ready to
+    co-operate with the American Union, to remain at a business
+    meeting.
+
+    "The hour was late and the business was made short. The plans of
+    the executive committee were stated and approved. These were, 1,
+    to send out lecturers; a beginning having been already made in
+    the appointment of Mr. Charles A. Dana as an agent of the
+    society, to proceed this summer upon a lecturing tour through
+    New York, Western Pennsylvania and Ohio; 2, to support the
+    _Harbinger_; and 3, to publish tracts."
+
+This report is followed by another stirring appeal from the Secretary,
+of which the following is the substance:
+
+    "ACTION!--Fellow Associationists, Brethren, Sisters, each and
+    all! You are hereby once again earnestly entreated, in the name
+    of our cause of universal unity, at once to co-operate
+    energetically in carrying out the proposed plans of the American
+    Union:
+
+    "1. Form societies. 2. Circulate the _Harbinger_. 3. Raise
+    funds. We wish to find one hundred persons in the United States,
+    who will subscribe $100 a year for three years, in permanently
+    establishing the work of propagation; or two hundred persons who
+    will subscribe $50. Do you know any persons in your neighborhood
+    who will for one year, three years, five years, contribute for
+    this end? Be instant, friends, in season and out of season, in
+    raising a permanent fund, and an immediate fund. This whole
+    nation must hear our gospel of glad tidings. Will you not aid?
+
+                                            "WILLIAM H. CHANNING.
+                 "_Cor. Sec. of the Am. Un. of Associationists._"
+
+How far Mr. Dana fulfilled the missionary programme assigned to him,
+we have not been able to discover. But we find that the two most
+conspicuous lecturers sent abroad by the American Union were Messrs
+John Allen and John Orvis. These gentlemen made two or three tours
+through the northern part of New England; and in the fall of 1847 they
+were lecturing or trying to lecture in Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, and
+other parts of the state of New York, as we mentioned in our account
+of the Skaneateles and Sodus Bay Associations. But the harvest of
+Fourierism was past, and they complained sorely of the neglect they
+met with, in consequence of the bad odor of the defunct Associations.
+This is the last we hear of them. The American Union continued to
+advertise itself in the _Harbinger_ till that paper disappeared in
+February 1849; but its doings after 1846 seem to have been limited to
+anniversary meetings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+BROOK FARM PROPAGATING SWEDENBORGIANISM.
+
+
+Our history of the career of Brook Farm in its final function of
+public teacher and propagandist, would not be complete without some
+account of its agency in the great Swedenborgian revival of modern
+times.
+
+In a series of articles published in the Oneida _Circular_ a year or
+two ago, under the title of _Swedenborgiana_, the author of this
+history said:
+
+    "The foremost and brightest of the Associations that rose in the
+    Fourier excitement, was that at Brook Farm. The leaders were men
+    whose names are now high in literature and politics. Ripley,
+    Dana, Channing, Dwight and Hawthorne, are specimens of the list.
+    Most of them were from the Unitarian school, whose head-quarters
+    are at Boston and Cambridge. The movement really issued as much
+    from transcendental Unitarianism as from Fourierism. It was
+    religious, literary and artistic, as well as social. It had a
+    press, and at one time undertook propagandism by missionaries
+    and lectures. Its periodical, the _Harbinger_, was ably
+    conducted, and very charming to all enthusiasts of progress. Our
+    Putney school, which had not then reached Communism, was among
+    the admirers of this periodical, and undoubtedly took an impulse
+    from its teachings. The Brook Farm Association, as the leader
+    and speaker of the hundred others that rose with it, certainly
+    contributed most largely to the effect of the general movement
+    begun by Brisbane and Greeley. But the remarkable fact, for the
+    sake of which I am calling special attention to it, is, that in
+    its didactic function, it brought upon the public mind, not only
+    a new socialism but a new religion, and that religion was
+    _Swedenborgianism_.
+
+    "The proof of this can be found by any one who has access to the
+    files of the _Harbinger_. I could give many pages of extracts in
+    point. The simple truth is that Brook Farm and the _Harbinger_
+    meant to propagate Fourierism, but succeeded only in propagating
+    Swedenborgianism. The Associations that arose with them and
+    under their influence, passed away within a few years, without
+    exception; but the surge of Swedenborgianism which they started,
+    swept on among their constituents, and, under the form of
+    Spiritualism, is sweeping on to this day.
+
+    "Swedenborgianism went deeper into the hearts of the people than
+    the Socialism that introduced it, because it was a _religion_.
+    The Bible and revivals had made men hungry for something more
+    than social reconstruction. Swedenborg's offer of a new heaven
+    as well as a new earth, met the demand magnificently. He suited
+    all sorts. The scientific were charmed, because he was primarily
+    a son of science, and seemed to reduce the universe to
+    scientific order. The mystics were charmed, because he led them
+    boldly into all the mysteries of intuition and invisible worlds.
+    The Unitarians liked him, because, while he declared Christ to
+    be Jehovah himself, he displaced the orthodox ideas of Sonship
+    and tri-personality, and evidently meant only that Christ was
+    an illusive representation of the Father. Even the infidels
+    liked him, because he discarded about half the Bible, including
+    all Paul's writings, as 'not belonging to the Word,' and made
+    the rest a mere 'nose of wax' by means of his doctrine of the
+    'internal sense.' His vast imaginations and magnificent promises
+    chimed in exactly with the spirit of the accompanying
+    Socialisms. Fourierism was too bald a materialism to suit the
+    higher classes of its disciples, without a religion
+    corresponding. Swedenborgianism was a godsend to the enthusiasts
+    of Brook Farm; and they made it the complement of Fourierism.
+
+    "Swedenborg's writings had long been circulating feebly in this
+    country, and he had sporadic disciples and even churches in our
+    cities, before the new era of Socialism. But any thing like a
+    general interest in his writings had never been known, till
+    about the period when Brook Farm and the _Harbinger_ were in the
+    ascendant. Here began a movement of the public mind toward
+    Swedenborg, as palpable and portentous as that of Millerism or
+    the old revivals.
+
+    "But Young America could not receive an old and foreign
+    philosophy like Swedenborg's, without reacting upon it and
+    adapting it to its new surroundings. The old afflatus must have
+    a new medium. In 1845 the movement which commenced at Brook Farm
+    was in full tide. In 1847 the great American Swedenborg, Andrew
+    Jackson Davis, appeared, and Professor Bush gave him the right
+    hand of fellowship, and introduced him into office as the medium
+    and representative of the 'illustrious Swede,' while the
+    _Harbinger_ rejoiced over them both.
+
+    "Here I might show by chapter and verse from Davis's and Bush's
+    writings, exactly how the conjunction between them took place;
+    how Davis met Swedenborg's ghost in a graveyard near
+    Poughkeepsie in 1844, and from him received a commission to help
+    the 'inefficient' efforts of Christ to regulate mankind; how he
+    had another interview with the same ghost in 1846, and was
+    directed by him to open correspondence with Bush; how Bush took
+    him under his patronage, watched and studied him for months, and
+    finally published his conclusion that Davis was a true medium of
+    Swedenborg, providentially raised up to confirm his divine
+    mission and teachings; and finally, how Bush and Davis quarreled
+    within a year, and mutually repudiated each other's doctrines;
+    but I must leave details and hurry on to the end.
+
+    "After 1847 Swedenborgianism proper subsided, and 'Modern
+    Spiritualism' took its place. But the character of the two
+    systems, as well as the history of their relations to each
+    other, proves them to be identical in essence. Spiritualism is
+    Swedenborgianism Americanized. Andrew Jackson Davis began as a
+    medium of Swedenborg, receiving from him his commission and
+    inspiration, and became an independent seer and revelator, only
+    because, as a son, he outgrew his father. The omniscient
+    philosophies which the two have issued are identical in their
+    main ideas about intuition, love and wisdom, familiarity of the
+    living with the dead, classification of ghostly spheres,
+    astronomical theology, etc. Andrew Jackson Davis is more
+    flippant and superficial than Swedenborg, and less respectful
+    toward the Bible and the past, and in these respects he suits
+    his customers."
+
+We understand that some of the Brook Farmers think this view of the
+Swedenborgian influence of Brook Farm and the _Harbinger_ is
+exaggerated. It will be appropriate therefore now to set forth some of
+the facts and teachings which led to this view.
+
+The first notable statement of the essential dualism between
+Swedenborg and Fourier that we find in the writings of the Socialists,
+is in the last chapter of Parke Godwin's "_Popular View_," published
+in the beginning of 1844, a standard work on Fourierism, second in
+time and importance only to Brisbane's "_Concise Exposition_." Godwin
+says:
+
+    "Thus far we have given Fourier's doctrine of Universal Analogy;
+    but it is important to observe that he was not the first man of
+    modern times who communicated this view. Emanuel Swedenborg,
+    between whose revelations in the sphere of spiritual knowledge,
+    and Fourier's discoveries in the sphere of science, there has
+    been remarked the most exact and wonderful coļncidence, preceded
+    him in the annunciation of the doctrine in many of its aspects,
+    in what is termed the doctrine of correspondence. These two
+    great minds, the greatest beyond all comparison in our later
+    days, were the instruments of Providence in bringing to light
+    the mysteries of His Word and Works, as they are comprehended
+    and followed in the higher states of existence. It is no
+    exaggeration, we think, to say, that they are the two
+    commissioned by the Great Leader of the Christian Israel, to spy
+    out the promised land of peace and blessedness.
+
+    "But in the discovery and statement of the doctrine of Analogy,
+    these authorities have not proceeded according to precisely the
+    same methods. Fourier has arrived at it by strictly scientific
+    synthesis, and Swedenborg by the study of the Scriptures aided
+    by Divine illumination. What is the aspect in which Fourier
+    views it we have shown; we shall next attempt to elucidate the
+    peculiar development of Swedenborg."
+
+From this Mr. Godwin goes on to show at length the parallelism between
+the teachings of these "incomparable masters." It will be seen that he
+intimates that thinkers and writers before him had taken the same
+view. One of these, doubtless, was Hugh Doherty, an English
+Fourierist, whose writings frequently occur in the _Phalanx_ and
+_Harbinger_. A very long article from him, maintaining the identity of
+Fourierism and Swedenborgianism, appeared in the _Phalanx_ of
+September 7, 1844. The article itself is dated London, January 30,
+1844. Among other things Mr. Doherty says:
+
+    "I am a believer in the truths of the New Church, and have read
+    nearly all the writings of Swedenborg, and I have no hesitation
+    in saying that without Fourier's explanation of the laws of
+    order in Scriptural interpretation, I should probably have
+    doubted the truth of Swedenborg's illumination, from want of a
+    ground to understand the nature of spiritual sight in
+    contradistinction from natural sight; or if I had been able to
+    conceive the opening of the spiritual sight, and credit
+    Swedenborg's doctrines and affirmations, I should probably have
+    understood them only in the same degree as most of the members
+    of the New Church whom I have met in England, and that would
+    seem to me, in my present state, a partial calamity of cecity. I
+    say this in all humility and sincerity of conscience, with a
+    view to future reference to Swedenborg himself in the spiritual
+    world, and as a means of inducing the members of the New Church
+    generally not to be content with a superficial or limited
+    knowledge of their own doctrines."
+
+In another passage Mr. Doherty claims to have been "a student of
+Fourier fourteen years, and of Swedenborg two years."
+
+In consequence partly of the new appreciation of Swedenborg that was
+rising among the Fourierists, a movement commenced in England in 1845
+for republishing the scientific works of "the illustrious Swede." An
+Association for that purpose was formed, and several of Swedenborg's
+bulkiest works were printed under the auspices of Wilkinson, Clissold
+and others. This Wilkinson was also a considerable contributor to the
+_Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_, as the reader will see by recurring to a
+list in our chapter on the Personnel of Fourierism.
+
+Following this movement, came the famous lecture of Ralph Waldo
+Emerson on "_Swedenborg, the Mystic_," claiming for him a lofty
+position as a scientific discoverer. That lecture was first published
+in this country in a volume entitled, "_Representative Men_," in 1849;
+but according to Mr. White (the biographer of Swedenborg), it was
+delivered in England several times in 1847; and we judge from an
+expression which we italicize in the following extract from it, that
+it was written and perhaps delivered in this country in 1845 or 1846,
+i.e. very soon after the republication movement in England:
+
+    "The scientific works [of Swedenborg] have _just now_ been
+    translated into English, in an excellent edition. Swedenborg
+    printed these scientific books in the ten years from 1734 to
+    1744, and they remained from that time neglected; and now, after
+    their century is complete, he has at last found a pupil in Mr.
+    Wilkinson, in London, a philosophic critic, with a coequal vigor
+    of understanding and imagination comparable only to Lord
+    Bacon's, who has produced his master's buried books to the day,
+    and transferred them, with every advantage, from their forgotten
+    Latin into English, to go round the world in our commercial and
+    conquering tongue. This startling reäppearance of Swedenborg,
+    after a hundred years, in his pupil, is not the least remarkable
+    fact in his history. Aided, it is said, by the munificence of
+    Mr. Clissold, and also by his literary skill, this piece of
+    poetic justice is done. The admirable preliminary discourses
+    with which Mr. Wilkinson has enriched these volumes, throw all
+    the cotemporary philosophy of England into shade."
+
+Emerson, it is true, was not a Brook Farmer; but he was the spiritual
+fertilizer of all the Transcendentalists, including the Brook Farmers.
+It is true also that in his lecture he severely criticised Swedenborg;
+but this was his vocation: to judge and disparage all religious
+teachers, especially seers and thaumaturgists. On the whole he gave
+Swedenborg a lift, just as he helped the reputation of all "ethnic
+Scriptures." His criticism of Swedenborg amounts to about this: "He
+was a very great thinker and discoverer; but his visions and
+theological teachings are humbugs; still they are as good as any
+other, and rather better."
+
+William H. Channing, another fertilizer of Brook Farm, was busy at the
+same time with Emerson, in the work of calling attention to
+Swedenborg. His conversions to Fourierism and Swedenborgianism seem to
+have proceeded together. The last three numbers of the _Present_ are
+loaded with articles extolling Swedenborg, and the editor only
+complains of them that they "by no means do justice to the great
+Swedish philosopher and seer." The very last article in the volume is
+an item headed, "Fourier and Swedenborg," in which Mr. Charming says:
+
+    "I have great pleasure in announcing another work upon Fourier
+    and his system, from the pen of C.J. Hempel. This book is a very
+    curious and interesting one, from the attempt of the author to
+    show the identity or at least the extraordinary resemblance
+    between the views of Fourier and Swedenborg. How far Mr. Hempel
+    has been successful I cannot pretend to judge. But this may be
+    safely said, no one can examine with any care the writings of
+    these two wonderful students of Providence, man and the
+    universe, without having most sublime visions of divine order
+    opened upon him. Their doctrine of Correspondence and Universal
+    Unity accords with all the profoundest thought of the age."
+
+Such were the influences under which Brook Farm assumed its final task
+of propagandism. Let us now see how far the coupling of Fourier and
+Swedenborg was kept up in the _Harbinger_.
+
+The motto of the paper, displayed under its title from first to last,
+was selected from the writings of the Swedish seer. In the editors'
+inaugural address they say:
+
+    "In the words of the illustrious Swedenborg, which we have
+    selected for the motto of the _Harbinger_, 'All things, at the
+    present day, stand provided and prepared, and await the light.
+    The ship is in the harbor; the sails are swelling; the east wind
+    blows; let us weigh anchor, and put forth to sea.'"
+
+In a glancing run through the five semi-annual volumes of the
+_Harbinger_ we find between thirty and forty articles on Swedenborg
+and Swedenborgian subjects, chiefly editorial reviews of books,
+pamphlets, etc., with a considerable amount of correspondence from
+Wilkinson, Doherty and other Swedenborgian Fourierists in England. The
+burden of all these articles is the same, viz., the unity of
+Swedenborgianism and Fourierism. On the one hand the Fourierists
+insist that Swedenborg revealed the religion that Fourier anticipated;
+and on the other the Swedenborgians insist that Fourier discovered the
+divine arrangement of society that Swedenborg foreshadowed. The
+reviews referred to were written chiefly by John S. Dwight and Charles
+A. Dana.[B] We will give a few specimens of their utterances:
+
+    [From Editorials by John S. Dwight.]
+
+    *** "In religion we have Swedenborg; in social economy Fourier;
+    in music Beethoven.
+
+    *** "Swedenborg we reverence for the greatness and profundity of
+    his thought. We study him continually for the light he sheds on
+    so many problems of human destiny, and more especially for the
+    remarkable correspondence, as of inner with outer, which his
+    revelations present with the discoveries of Fourier concerning
+    social organization, or the outward forms of life. The one is
+    the great poet and high-priest, the other the great economist,
+    as it were, of the harmonic order, which all things are
+    preparing.
+
+    *** "Call not our praises of Swedenborg 'hollow;' if he offered
+    us ten times as much which we could not assent to, it would not
+    detract in the least from our reverence for the man, or our
+    great indebtedness to his profoundly spiritual insight.
+
+    *** "Deeper foundations for science have not been touched by any
+    sounding-line as yet, than these same philosophical principles
+    of Swedenborg. Fourier has not gone deeper; but he has shed more
+    light on these deep foundations, taken their measurement with a
+    more bold precision, and reared a no insignificant portion of
+    the everlasting superstructure. But in their ground they are
+    both one. Taken together they are the highest expression of the
+    tendency of human thought to universal unity."
+
+    [From Editorials by Charles A. Dana.]
+
+    *** "We recommend the writings of Swedenborg to our readers of
+    all denominations, as we should recommend those of any other
+    providential teacher. We believe that his mission is of the
+    highest importance to the human family, and shall take every fit
+    occasion to call the attention of the public to it.
+
+    *** "No man of unsophisticated mind can read Swedenborg without
+    feeling his life elevated into a higher plane, and his intellect
+    excited into new and more reverent action on some of the
+    sublimest questions which the human mind can approach. Whatever
+    may be thought of the doctrines of Swedenborg or of his visions,
+    the spirit which breathes from his works is pure and heavenly.
+
+    *** "We do not hesitate to say that the publication and study of
+    Swedenborg's scientific writings must produce a new era in human
+    knowledge, and thus in society.
+
+    *** "Though Swedenborg and Fourier differ in the character of
+    their minds, and the immediate end of their studies, the method
+    they adopted was fundamentally the same; their success is thus
+    due, not to the vastness of their genius alone, but in a measure
+    also to the instruments they employed. The logic of Fourier is
+    imperfectly stated in his doctrine of the Series, of Universal
+    Analogy, and of Attractions proportional to Destinies; that of
+    Swedenborg in the incomplete and often very obscure and
+    difficult expositions which appear here and there in his works,
+    of the doctrine of Forms; of Order and Degrees; of Series and
+    Society; of Influx; of Correspondence and Representation; and of
+    Modification. This logic appears to have existed complete in the
+    minds of neither of these great men; but even so much of it as
+    they have communicated, puts into the hands of the student the
+    most invaluable assistance, and attracts him to a path of
+    thought in which the successful explorers will receive immortal
+    honors from a grateful race.
+
+    *** "The chief characteristic of this epoch is, its tendency,
+    everywhere apparent, to unity in universality; and the men in
+    whom this tendency is most fully expressed are Swedenborg,
+    Fourier and Goethe. In these three eminent persons is summed up
+    the great movement toward unity in universality, in religion,
+    science and art, which comprise the whole domain of human
+    activity. In speaking of Swedenborg as the teacher of this
+    century in religion, some of the most obvious considerations
+    are his northern origin, his peculiar education, etc.
+
+    *** "We say without hesitation, that, excepting the writings of
+    Fourier, no scientific publications of the last fifty years are
+    to be compared with [the Wilkinson edition of Swedenborg] in
+    importance. To the student of philosophy, to the savan, and to
+    the votary of social science, they are alike invaluable, almost
+    indispensable. Whether we are inquiring for truth in the
+    abstract, or looking beyond the aimlessness and contradictions
+    of modern experimentalism in search of the guiding light of
+    universal principles, or giving our constant thought to the laws
+    of Divine Social Order, and the re-integration of the Collective
+    Man, we can not spare the aid of this loving and beloved sage.
+    His was a grand genius, nobly disciplined. In him, a devotion to
+    truth almost awful, was tempered by an equal love of humanity
+    and a supreme reverence for God. To his mind, the order of the
+    universe and the play of its powers were never the objects of
+    idle curiosity or of cold speculation. He entered into the
+    retreats of nature and the occult abode of the soul, as the
+    minister of humanity, and not as a curious explorer eager to add
+    to his own store of wonders or to exercise his faculties in
+    those difficult regions. No man had ever such sincerity, such
+    absolute freedom from intellectual selfishness as he."
+
+The reader, we trust, will take our word for it, that there is a very
+large amount of this sort of teaching in the volumes of the
+_Harbinger_. Even Mr. Ripley himself wielded a vigorous cudgel on
+behalf of Swedenborg against certain orthodox critics, and held the
+usual language of his socialistic brethren about the "sublime visions
+of the illustrious Swedish seer," his "bold poetic revelations," his
+"profound, living, electric principles," the "piercing truth of his
+productions," etc. Vide _Harbinger_, Vol. 3, p. 317.
+
+On these and such evidences we came to the conclusion that the Brook
+Farmers, while they disclaimed for Fourierism all sectarian
+connections, did actually couple it with Swedenborgianism in their
+propagative labors; and as Fourierism soon failed and passed away, it
+turned out that their lasting work was the promulgation of
+Swedenborgianism; which certainly has had a great run in this country
+ever since. It would not perhaps be fair to call Fourierism, as taught
+by the _Harbinger_ writers, the stalking-horse of Swedenborgianism;
+but it is not too much to say that their Fourierism, if it had lived,
+would have had Swedenborgianism for its state-religion. This view
+agrees with the fact that the only sectarian Association, avowed and
+tolerated in the Fourier epoch, was the Swedenborgian Phalanx at
+Leraysville.
+
+The entire historical sequence which seems to be established by the
+facts now before us, may be stated thus: Unitarianism produced
+Transcendentalism; Transcendentalism produced Brook Farm; Brook Farm
+married and propagated Fourierism; Fourierism had Swedenborgianism for
+its religion; and Swedenborgianism led the way to Modern Spiritualism.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[B] Henry James also wrote many articles for the _Harbinger_ in the
+interest of Swedenborg. His subsequent career as a promulgator of the
+Swedenborgian philosophy, in which he has even scaled the heights of the
+_North American Review_, is well known; but perhaps it is not so well
+known that he commenced that career in the _Harbinger_. He has continued
+faithful to both Swedenborg and Fourier, to the present time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+
+THE END OF BROOK FARM.
+
+
+It only remains to tell what we know of the causes that brought the
+Brook Farm Phalanx to its end.
+
+Within a year from the time when it assumed the task of propagating
+Fourierism, i.e. on the 3d of March, 1846, a disastrous fire
+prostrated the energies and hopes of the Association. We copy from the
+_Harbinger_ (March 14) the entire article reporting it:
+
+    "FIRE AT BROOK FARM.--Our readers have no doubt been informed
+    before this, of the severe calamity with which the Brook Farm
+    Association has been visited, by the destruction of the large
+    unitary edifice which it has been for some time erecting on its
+    domain. Just as our last paper was going through the press, on
+    Tuesday evening the 3d inst., the alarm of fire was given at
+    about a quarter before nine, and it was found to proceed from
+    the 'Phalanstery;' in a few minutes the flames were bursting
+    through the doors and windows of the second story; the fire
+    spread with almost incredible rapidity throughout the building;
+    and in about an hour and a-half the whole edifice was burned to
+    the ground. The members of the Association were on the spot in a
+    few moments, and made some attempts to save a quantity of lumber
+    that was in the basement story; but so rapid was the progress
+    of the fire, that this was found to be impossible, and they
+    succeeded only in rescuing a couple of tool-chests that had been
+    in use by the carpenters.
+
+    "The neighboring dwelling-house called the 'Eyry,' was in
+    imminent danger while the fire was at its height, and nothing
+    but the stillness of the night, and the vigilance and activity
+    of those who were stationed on its roof, preserved it from
+    destruction. The vigorous efforts of our nearest neighbors, Mr.
+    T.J. Orange, and Messrs. Thomas and George Palmer, were of great
+    service in protecting this building, as a part of our force were
+    engaged in another direction, watching the work-shop, barn, and
+    principal dwelling-house.
+
+    "In a short time our neighbors from the village of West Roxbury,
+    a mile and a-half distant, arrived in great numbers with their
+    engine, which together with the engines from Jamaica Plain,
+    Newton, and Brookline, rendered valuable assistance in subduing
+    the flaming ruins, although it was impossible to check the
+    progress of the fire, until the building was completely
+    destroyed. We are under the deepest obligations to the fire
+    companies which came, some of them five or six miles, through
+    deep snow on cross roads, and did every thing in the power of
+    skill or energy, to preserve our other buildings from ruin. Many
+    of the engines from Boston came four or five miles from the
+    city, but finding the fire going down, returned without reaching
+    the spot. The engines from Dedham, we understand, made an
+    unsuccessful attempt to come to our aid, but were obliged to
+    turn back on account of the condition of the roads. No efforts,
+    however, would have probably been successful in arresting the
+    progress of the flames. The building was divided into nearly a
+    hundred rooms in the upper stories, most of which had been
+    lathed for several months, without plaster, and being almost as
+    dry as tinder, the fire flashed through them with terrific
+    rapidity.
+
+    "There had been no work performed on this building during the
+    winter months, and arrangements had just been made to complete
+    four out of the fourteen distinct suites of apartments into
+    which it was divided, by the first of May. It was hoped that the
+    remainder would be finished during the summer, and that by the
+    first of October, the edifice would be prepared for the
+    reception of a hundred and fifty persons, with ample
+    accommodations for families, and spacious and convenient public
+    halls and saloons. A portion of the second story had been set
+    apart for a church or chapel, which was to be finished, in a
+    style of simplicity and elegance, by private subscription, and
+    in which it was expected that religious services would be
+    performed by our friend William H. Channing, whose presence with
+    us, until obliged to retire on account of ill health, has been a
+    source of unmingled satisfaction and benefit.
+
+    "On the Saturday previous to the fire, a stove was put in the
+    basement story for the accommodation of the carpenters, who were
+    to work on the inside; a fire was kindled in it on Tuesday
+    morning which burned till four o'clock in the afternoon; at half
+    past eight in the evening, the building was visited by the
+    night-watch, who found every thing apparently safe; and at a
+    quarter before nine, a faint light was discovered in the second
+    story, which was supposed at first to have proceeded from the
+    lamp, but, on entering to ascertain the fact, the smoke at once
+    showed that the interior was on fire. The alarm was immediately
+    given, but almost before the people had time to assemble, the
+    whole edifice was wrapped in flames. From a defect in the
+    construction of the chimney, a spark from the stove-pipe had
+    probably communicated with the surrounding wood-work; and from
+    the combustible nature of the materials, the flames spread with
+    a celerity that made every effort to arrest their violence
+    without effect.
+
+    "This edifice was commenced in the summer of 1844, and has been
+    in progress from that time until November last, when the work
+    was suspended for the winter, and resumed, as before stated, on
+    the day in which it was consumed. It was built of wood, one
+    hundred and seventy-five feet long, three stories high, with
+    attics divided into pleasant and convenient rooms for single
+    persons. The second and third stories were divided into fourteen
+    houses independent of each other, with a parlor and three
+    sleeping-rooms in each, connected by piazzas which ran the whole
+    length of the building on both stories. The basement contained a
+    large and commodious kitchen, a dining-hall capable of seating
+    from three to four hundred persons, two public saloons, and a
+    spacious hall or lecture-room. Although by no means a model for
+    the Phalanstery or unitary edifice of a Phalanx, it was well
+    adapted for our purposes at present, situated on a delightful
+    eminence, which commanded a most extensive and picturesque view,
+    and affording accommodations and conveniences in the combined
+    order, which in many respects would gratify even a fastidious
+    taste. The actual expenditure upon the building, including the
+    labor performed by the Association, amounted to about $7,000;
+    and $3,000 more, it was estimated, would be sufficient for its
+    completion. As it was not yet in use by the Association, and
+    until the day of its destruction, not exposed to fire, no
+    insurance had been effected. It was built by investments in our
+    loan-stock, and the loss falls upon the holders of
+    partnership-stock and the members of the Association.
+
+    "It is some alleviation of the great calamity which we have
+    sustained, that it came upon us at this time rather than at a
+    later period. The house was not endeared to us by any grateful
+    recollections; the tender and hallowed associations of home had
+    not yet begun to cluster around it; and although we looked upon
+    it with joy and hope, as destined to occupy an important sphere
+    in the social movement to which it was consecrated, its
+    destruction does not rend asunder those sacred ties which bind
+    us to the dwellings that have thus far been the scene of our
+    toils and of our satisfactions. We could not part with either of
+    the houses in which we have lived at Brook Farm, without a
+    sadness like that which we should feel at the departure of a
+    bosom friend. The destruction of our edifice makes no essential
+    change in our pursuits. It leaves no family destitute of a home;
+    it disturbs no domestic arrangements; it puts us to no immediate
+    inconvenience. The morning after the disaster, if a stranger had
+    not seen the smoking pile of ruins, he would not have suspected
+    that any thing extraordinary had taken place. Our schools were
+    attended as usual; our industry in full operation; and not a
+    look or expression of despondency could have been perceived. The
+    calamity is felt to be great; we do not attempt to conceal from
+    ourselves its consequences: but it has been met with a calmness
+    and high trust, which gives us a new proof of the power of
+    associated life to quicken the best elements of character, and
+    to prepare men for every emergency.
+
+    "We shall be pardoned for entering into these almost personal
+    details, for we know that the numerous friends of Association in
+    every part of our land, will feel our misfortune as if it were a
+    private grief of their own. We have received nothing but
+    expressions of the most generous sympathy from every quarter,
+    even from those who might be supposed to take the least interest
+    in our purposes; and we are sure that our friends in the cause
+    of social unity will share with us the affliction that has
+    visited a branch of their own fraternity.
+
+    "We have no wish to keep out of sight the magnitude of our loss.
+    In our present infant state, it is a severe trial of our
+    strength. We can not now calculate its ultimate effect. It may
+    prove more than we are able to bear; or like other previous
+    calamities, it may serve to bind us more closely to each other,
+    and to the holy cause to which we are devoted. We await the
+    result with calm hope, sustained by our faith in the universal
+    Providence, whose social laws we have endeavored to ascertain
+    and embody in our daily lives.
+
+    "It may not be improper to state, as we are speaking of our own
+    affairs more fully than we have felt at liberty to do before in
+    the columns of our paper, that, whatever be our trials of an
+    external character, we have every reason to rejoice in the
+    internal condition of our Association. For the last few months
+    it has more nearly than ever approached the idea of a true
+    social order. The greatest harmony prevails among us; not a
+    discordant note is heard; a spirit of friendship, of brotherly
+    kindness, of charity, dwells with us and blesses us; our social
+    resources have been greatly multiplied; and our devotion to the
+    cause which has brought us together, receives new strength every
+    day. Whatever may be in reserve for us, we have an infinite
+    satisfaction in the true relations which have united us, and
+    the assurance that our enterprise has sprung from a desire to
+    obey the Divine law. We feel assured that no outward
+    disappointment or calamity can chill our zeal for the
+    realization of a Divine order of society, or abate our effort in
+    the sphere which may be pointed out by our best judgment as most
+    favorable to the cause which we have at heart."
+
+In the next number of the _Harbinger_ (March 21), an editorial
+addressed to the friends of Brook Farm, indicated some depression and
+uncertainty. The following are extracts from it:
+
+    "We do not altogether agree with our friends, in the importance
+    which they attach to the special movement at Brook Farm; we have
+    never professed to be able to represent the idea of Association
+    with the scanty resources at our command; nor would the
+    discontinuance of our establishment or of any of the partial
+    attempts which are now in progress, in the slightest degree
+    weaken our faith in the associative system, or our conviction
+    that it will sooner or later be adopted as the only form of
+    society suited to the nature of man and in accordance with the
+    Divine will. We have never attempted any thing more than to
+    prepare the way for Association, by demonstrating some of the
+    leading ideas on which the theory is founded; in this we have
+    had the most gratifying success; but we have always regarded
+    ourselves only as the humble pioneers in the work, which would
+    be carried on by others to its magnificent consummation, and
+    have been content to wait and toil for the development of the
+    cause and the completion of our hope.
+
+    "Still we have established a center of influence here for the
+    associative movement, which we shall spare no effort to sustain.
+    We are fully aware of the importance of this; and nothing but
+    the most inexorable necessity, will withdraw the congenial
+    spirits that are gathered in social union here, from the work
+    which has always called forth their most earnest devotedness and
+    enthusiasm. Since our disaster occurred, there has not been an
+    expression or symptom of despondency among our number; all are
+    resolute and calm; determined to stand by each other and by the
+    cause; ready to encounter still greater sacrifices than have as
+    yet been demanded of them; and desirous only to adopt the course
+    which may be presented by the clearest dictates of duty. The
+    loss which we have sustained occasions us no immediate
+    inconvenience, does not interfere with any of our present
+    operations; although it is a total destruction of resources on
+    which we had confidently relied, and must inevitably derange our
+    plans for the enlargement of the Association and the extension
+    of our industry. We have a firm and cheerful hope, however, of
+    being able to do much for the illustration of the cause with the
+    materials that remain. They are far too valuable to be
+    dispersed, or applied to any other object; and with favorable
+    circumstances will be able to accomplish much for the
+    realization of social unity."
+
+This fire was a disaster from which Brook Farm never recovered. The
+organization lingered, and the _Harbinger_ continued to be published
+there, till October 1847; but the hope of becoming a model Phalanx
+died out long before that time. The _Harbinger_ is very reticent in
+relation to the details of the dissolution. We can only give the
+reader the following scraps hinting at the end:
+
+    [From the New York _Tribune_ (August, 1847), in answer to an
+    allegation in the New York _Observer_ that "the Brook Farm
+    Association, which was near Boston, had wound up its affairs
+    some time since."]
+
+    "The Brook Farm Association not only was, but is near Boston,
+    and the _Harbinger_ is still published from its press. But,
+    having been started without capital, experience or industrial
+    capacity, without reference to or knowledge of Fourier's or any
+    other systematic plan of Association, on a most unfavorable
+    locality, bought at a high price, and constantly under mortgage,
+    this Association is about to dissolve, when the paper will be
+    removed to this city, with the master-spirits of Brook Farm as
+    editors. The Observer will have ample opportunity to judge how
+    far experience has modified their convictions or impaired their
+    energies."
+
+    [From a report of a Boston Convention of Associationists, in the
+    _Harbinger_, October 23, 1847.]
+
+
+    "The breaking up of the life at Brook Farm was frequently
+    alluded to, especially by Mr. Ripley, who, on the eve of
+    entering a new sphere of labor for the same great cause,
+    appeared in all his indomitable strength and cheerfulness,
+    triumphant amid outward failure. The owls and bats and other
+    birds of ill omen which utter their oracles in leading political
+    and sectarian religious journals, and which are busily croaking
+    and screeching of the downfall of Association, had they been
+    present at this meeting, could their weak eyes have borne so
+    much light, would never again have coupled failure with the
+    thought of such men, nor entertained a feeling other than of
+    envy of experience like theirs."
+
+The next number of the _Harbinger_ (October 30, 1847) announced that
+that paper would in future be published in New York under the
+editorial charge of Parke Godwin, assisted by George Ripley and
+Charles A. Dana in New York, and William H. Channing and John S.
+Dwight in Boston. This of course implied the dispersion of the Brook
+Farmers, and the dissolution of the Association; and this is all we
+know about it.
+
+The years 1846 and 1847 were fatal to most of the Fourier experiments.
+Horace Greeley, under date of July 1847, wrote to the _People's
+Journal_ the following account of what may be called,
+
+    _Fourierism reduced to a Forlorn Hope._
+
+    "As to the Associationists (by their adversaries termed
+    'Fourierites'), with whom I am proud to be numbered, their
+    beginnings are yet too recent to justify me in asking for their
+    history any considerable space in your columns. Briefly,
+    however, the first that was heard in this country of Fourier and
+    his views (beyond a little circle of perhaps a hundred persons
+    in two or three of our large cities, who had picked up some
+    notion of them in France or from French writings), was in 1840,
+    when Albert Brisbane published his first synopsis of Fourier's
+    theory of industrial and household Association. Since then, the
+    subject has been considerably discussed, and several attempts of
+    some sort have been made to actualize Fourier's ideas, generally
+    by men destitute alike of capacity, public confidence, energy
+    and means. In only one instance that I have heard of was the
+    land paid for on which the enterprise commenced; not one of
+    these vaunted 'Fourier Associations' ever had the means of
+    erecting a proper dwelling for so many as three hundred people,
+    even if the land had been given them. Of course, the time for
+    paying the first installment on the mortgage covering their land
+    has generally witnessed the dissipation of their sanguine
+    dreams. Yet there are at least three of these embryo
+    Associations still in existence; and, as each of these is in its
+    third or fourth year, they may be supposed to give some promise
+    of vitality. They are the North American Phalanx, near
+    Leedsville, New Jersey; the Trumbull Phalanx, near Braceville,
+    Ohio; and the Wisconsin Phalanx, Ceresco, Wisconsin. Each of
+    these has a considerable domain nearly or wholly paid for, is
+    improving the soil, increasing its annual products, and
+    establishing some branches of manufactures. Each, though far
+    enough from being a perfect Association, is animated with the
+    hope of becoming one, as rapidly as experience, time and means
+    will allow."
+
+Of the three Phalanxes thus mentioned as the rear-guard of Fourierism,
+one--the Trumbull--disappeared about four months afterward (very
+nearly at the time of the dispersion of Brook Farm), and another--the
+Wisconsin--lasted only a year longer, leaving the North American alone
+for the last four years of its existence.
+
+Brook Farm in its function of propagandist (which is always expensive
+and exhausting at the best), must have been sadly depressed by the
+failures that crowded upon it in its last days; and it is not to be
+wondered that it died with its children and kindred.
+
+If we might suggest a transcendental reason for the failure of Brook
+Farm, we should say that it had naturally a _delicate constitution_,
+that was liable to be shattered by disasters and sympathies; and the
+causes of this weakness must be sought for in the character of the
+afflatus that organized it. The transcendental afflatus, like that of
+Pentecost, had in it two elements, viz., Communism, and "the gift of
+tongues;" or in other words, the tendency to religious and social
+unity, represented by Channing and Ripley; and the tendency to
+literature, represented by Emerson and Margaret Fuller. But the
+proportion of these elements was different from that of Pentecost.
+_The tendency to utterance was the strongest._ Emerson prevailed over
+Channing even in Brook Farm; nay, in Channing himself, and in Ripley,
+Dana and all the rest of the Brook Farm leaders. In fact they went
+over from practical Communism to literary utterance when they assumed
+the propagandism of Fourierism; and utterance has been their vocation
+ever since. A similar phenomenon occurred in the history of the great
+literary trio of England, Coleridge, Wordsworth and Southey. Their
+original afflatus carried them to the verge of Communism; but "their
+gift of tongues" prevailed and spoiled them. And the tendency to
+literature, as represented by Emerson, is the farthest opposite of
+Communism, finding its _summum bonum_ in individualism and incoherent
+instead of organic inspiration.
+
+The end of Brook Farm was virtually the end of Fourierism. One or two
+Phalanxes lingered afterward, and the _Harbinger_, was continued a
+year or two in New York; but the enthusiasm of victory and hope was
+gone; and the Brook Farm leaders, as soon as a proper transition could
+be effected, passed into the service of the _Tribune_.
+
+During the fatal year following the fire at Brook Farm, the famous
+controversy between Greeley and Raymond took place, which we have
+mentioned as Greeley's last battle in defense of retreating
+Fourierism. It commenced on the 20th of November, 1846, and ended on
+the 20th of May, 1847, each of the combatants delivering twelve
+well-shotted articles in their respective papers, the _Tribune_ and
+the _Courier and Enquirer_, which were afterward published together in
+pamphlet-form by the Harpers. Parton, in his biography of Greeley,
+says at the beginning of his report of that discussion, "It _finished_
+Fourierism in the United States;" and again at the close--"Thus ended
+Fourierism. Thenceforth the _Tribune_ alluded to the subject
+occasionally, but only in reply to those who sought to make political
+or personal capital by reviving it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+
+THE SPIRITUALIST COMMUNITIES.
+
+
+We proposed at the beginning to trace the history of the Owen and
+Fourier movements, as comprising the substance of American Socialisms.
+After reaching the terminus of this course, it is still proper to
+avail ourselves of the station we have reached, to take a birds-eye
+view of things beyond.
+
+We must not, however, wander from our subject. CO-OPERATION is the
+present theme of enthusiasm in the _Tribune_, and among many of the
+old representatives of Fourierism. But Co-operation is not Socialism.
+It is a very interesting subject, and doubtless will have its history;
+but it does not belong to our programme. Its place is among the
+_preparations_ of Socialism. It is not to be classed with Owenism,
+Fourierism and Shakerism; but with Insurance, Saving's Banks and
+Protective Unions. It is not even the offspring of the theoretical
+Socialisms, but rather a product of general common sense and
+experiment among the working classes. It is the application of the
+principle of combination to the business of buying and distributing
+goods; whereas Socialism proper is the application of that principle
+to domestic arrangements, and requires at the lowest, local gatherings
+and combinations of homes. If the old Socialists have turned aside or
+gone back to Co-operation, it is because they have lost their original
+faith, and like the Israelites that came out of Egypt, are wandering
+their forty years in the wilderness, instead of entering the promised
+land in three days, as they expected.
+
+We do not believe that the American people have lost sight of the
+great hope which Owen and Fourier set before them, or will be
+contented with any thing less than unity of interests carried into all
+the affairs of life. Co-operation as one of the preparations for this
+unity, is interesting them at the present time, in the absence of any
+promising scheme of real Socialism. But they are interested in it
+rather as a movement among the oppressed operatives of Europe, where
+nothing higher can be attempted, than as a consummation worthy of the
+progress that has commenced in Young America.
+
+Our present business as historians of American Socialisms, is not with
+Co-operation, but with experiments in actual Association which have
+occurred since the downfall of Fourierism.
+
+The terminus we have reached is 1847, the year of Brook Farm's
+decease. Since then "Modern Spiritualism" has been the great American
+excitation. And it is interesting to observe that all the Socialisms
+that we have surveyed, sent streams (if they did not altogether
+debouch) into this gulf. It is well known that Robert Owen in his last
+days was converted to Spiritualism, and transferred all he could of
+his socialistic stock to that interest. His successor, Robert Dale
+Owen, has not carried forward the communistic schemes of his father,
+but has been the busy patron of Spiritualism. Several other indirect
+but important _anastomoses_ of Owenism with Spiritualism may be
+traced; one, through Josiah Warren and his school of Individual
+Sovereignty at Modern Times, where Nichols and Andrews developed the
+germ of spiritualistic free-love; another (curiously enough), through
+Elder Evans of New Lebanon, who was originally an Owen man, and now
+may be said to be a common center of Shakerism, Owenism and
+Spiritualism. In his auto-biographical articles in the _Atlantic
+Monthly_ he maintained that Shakerism was the actual mother of
+Spiritualism, and had the first run of the "manifestations," that
+afterwards were called the "Rochester rappings." And lastly,
+Fourierism, by its marriage with Swedenborgianism at Brook Farm, and
+in many other ways, gave its strength to Spiritualism.
+
+It is a point of history worth noting here, that Mr. Brisbane is
+mentioned in the introduction to Andrew Jackson Davis's Revelations,
+as one of the witnesses of the _seances_ in which that work was
+uttered. C.W. Webber, a spiritualistic expert, in the introduction to
+his story of "Spiritual Vampirism," refers to this conjunction of
+Fourierism with Spiritualism, as follows:
+
+    "No man, who has kept himself informed of the psychological
+    history and progress of his race, can by any means fail to
+    recognize at once, in the pretended 'revelations' of Davis, the
+    mere _disjecta membra_ of the systems so extensively promulgated
+    by Fourier and Swedenborg. Davis, during the whole period of his
+    'utterings,' was surrounded by groups, consisting of the
+    disciples of Fourier and Swedenborg; as, for instance, the
+    leading Fourierite of America [Mr. Brisbane] was, for a time, a
+    constant attendant upon those mysterious meetings, at which the
+    myths of innocent Davis were formally announced from the
+    condition of clairvoyance, and transcribed by his keeper, for
+    the press; while the chief exponent and minister of
+    Swedenborgianism in New York [George Bush] was often seated side
+    by side with him. Can it be possible that these men failed to
+    comprehend, as thought after thought, principle after principle,
+    was enunciated in their presence, which they had previously
+    supposed to belong exclusively to their own schools, that the
+    'revelation' was merely a sympathetic reflex of their own
+    derived systems? It was no accident; for, as often as Fourierism
+    predominated in 'the evening lecture,' it was sure that the
+    prime representative of Fourier was present; and when the
+    peculiar views of Swedenborg prevailed, it was equally certain
+    that he was forcibly represented in the conclave. Sometimes both
+    schools were present; and on those identical occasions we have a
+    composite system of metaphysics promulgated, which exhibited,
+    most consistently, the doctrines of Swedenborg and Fourier,
+    jumbled in liberal and extraordinary confusion."
+
+As might be expected, Spiritualism has taken something from each of
+the Socialisms which have emptied into it. It is obvious enough that
+it has the omnivorous marvelousness of the Shakers, combined with the
+infidelity of the Owenites. But probably the world knows little of the
+tendency to socialistic speculation and experiment which it has
+inherited from all three of its confluents. It has had very little
+success in its local attempts at Association; and this has been owing
+chiefly to the superior tenacity of its devotion to the great
+antagonist of Association, Individual Sovereignty, which devotion also
+it inherited specially from Owen through Warren, and generally from
+both the Owen and Fourier schools. In consequence of its never having
+been able to produce more than very short-lived abortions of
+Communities, its Socialisms have not attracted much attention; but it
+has been continually speculating and scheming about Association, and
+its attempts on all sorts of plans ranging between Owenism and
+Fourierism, with inspiration superadded, have been almost numberless.
+
+One of the first of these spiritualistic attempts, and probably a
+favorable specimen of the whole, was the Mountain Cove Community.
+Having applied in vain for information, to several persons who had the
+best opportunity to know about this Community, we must content
+ourselves with a very imperfect sketch, obtained chiefly from
+statements and references furnished by Macdonald, and from documents
+in the files of the Oneida _Circular_.
+
+All the witnesses we have found, testify that this Community was set
+on foot by the rapping spirits in a large circle of Spiritualists at
+Auburn, New York, sometime between the years 1851 and 1853. It appears
+to have had active constituents at Oneida, Verona, and other places in
+Oneida and Madison Counties. Several of the leading "New York
+Perfectionists" in those places were conspicuous in the preliminary
+proceedings, and some of them actually joined the emigration to
+Virginia. The first reference to the movement that we have found, is
+in a letter from Mr. H.N. Leet, published in the _Circular_, November
+16, 1851. He says:
+
+    "The 'rappings' have attracted my attention. I have scarcely
+    known whether I should have to consider them as wholly of earth,
+    or regard them as from Hades; or even be 'sucked in' with the
+    other old Perfectionists. The reports I hear from abroad are
+    wonderful, and some of them well calculated to make men exclaim,
+    'This is the great power of God!' But what I see and hear
+    partakes largely of the ridiculous, if not the contemptible.
+    They have had frequent meetings at the houses of Messrs. Warren,
+    Foot, Gould, Stone, Mrs. Hitchcock, etc.; and 'a chiel's amang
+    them them taking notes;' but whether he will 'prent 'em' or not,
+    is uncertain. I have from time to time been writing out what
+    facts have come under my observation, and do so yet.
+
+    "Yesterday in their meeting, I heard extracts of letters from
+    Mr. Hitchcock written from Virginia; in which he states that
+    they have found the garden of Eden, the identical spot where our
+    first parents sinned, and on which no human foot has trod since
+    Adam and Eve were driven out; that himself, Ira S. Hitchcock,
+    was the first who has been permitted to set his foot upon it;
+    and further, that in all the convulsions of nature, the
+    upheavings and depressions, this spot has remained undisturbed
+    as it originally appeared. This is the spot that is to form the
+    center in the redemption now at hand; and parts adjacent are, by
+    convulsions and a reverse process, to be restored to their
+    primeval state. This is the substance of what I heard read. The
+    revelation was said to have been spelled out to them by raps
+    from Paul."
+
+In a subsequent letter published in the _Circular_ December 14, 1851,
+Mr. Leete sent us the spiritual document which summoned the saints to
+Mountain Cove, introducing it as follows:
+
+    "I send inclosed an authentic copy of a printed circular, said
+    to have been received by Mr. Scott, the spiritual leader of the
+    Virginia movement, in this manner, viz.: the words were seen in
+    a vision, printed in space, one at a time, declared off by him,
+    and written down by some one else."
+
+    _Mountain Cove Circular._
+
+    "Go! Scarcely let time intervene. Escape the vales of death.
+    Pass from beneath the cloud of magnetic human glory. Flee to the
+    mountains whither I direct. Rest in their embrace, and in a
+    place fashioned and appointed of old. There the dark cloud of
+    magnetic death has never rested. For I, the Lord, have thus
+    decreed, and in my purpose have I sworn, and it shall come to
+    pass. Time waiteth for no man.
+
+    "For above the power of sin a storm is gathering that shall
+    sweep away the refuge of lies. Come out of her, O, my people!
+    for their sun shall be darkened, and their moon turned into
+    blood, and their stars shall fall from their heaven. The Samson
+    of strength feeleth for the pillars of the temple. Her
+    foundation already moveth. Her ruin stayeth for the rescue of my
+    people.
+
+    "The city of refuge is builded as a hiding place and a shelter;
+    as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land; as an asylum for
+    the afflicted; a safety for those fleeing from the power of sin
+    which pursueth to destroy. In that mountain my people shall rest
+    secure. Above it the cloud of glory descendeth. Thence it
+    encompasseth the saints. There angels shall ascend and descend.
+    There the soul shall feast and be satisfied. There is the bread
+    and the water of life. 'And in this mountain shall the Lord of
+    hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of
+    wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the
+    lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face
+    of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is
+    spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory;
+    and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and
+    the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the
+    earth; for the Lord hath spoken it.' And I will defend Zion, for
+    she is my chosen. There shall the redeemed descend. There shall
+    my people be made one. There shall the glory of the Lord appear,
+    descending from the tabernacle of the Most High.
+
+    "The end is not yet.
+
+    "You are the chosen. Go, bear the reproaches of my people. Go
+    without the camp. Lead in the conquest. Vanquish the foe. As ye
+    have been bidden, meekly obey. Paradise hath no need of the
+    things that ye love so dearly. For earthly apparel, if obedient,
+    ye shall have garments of righteousness and salvation. For
+    earthly treasures, ye shall gather grapage from your Maker's
+    throne. For tears, ye shall have jewels, as dewdrops from
+    heaven. For sighs, notes of celestial melody. For death, ye
+    shall have life. For sorrow, ye shall have fulness of joy.
+    Cease, then, your earthly struggle. All ye love or value, ye
+    shall still possess. Earth is departing. The powers and
+    imaginations of men are rolling together like a scroll. Escape
+    the wreck ere it leaps into the abyss of woe. Forget not each
+    other. Bear with each other. Love each other. Go forth as lambs
+    to the slaughter. For lo, thy King cometh, and ere thou art
+    slain he shall defend. Kiss the rod that smites thee, and bow
+    chastened at thy Maker's throne."
+
+Here occurs a long break in our information, extending from December
+1851, to July 1853. How the Community was established and what
+progress it made in that interval, the reader must imagine for
+himself. Our leap is from the beginning to near the end. The
+_Spiritual Telegraph_ of July 2, 1853, contained the following:
+
+    "MOUNTAIN COVE COMMUNITY.--We copy below an article from the
+    _Journal of Progress_, published in New York. It is from the pen
+    of Mr. Hyatt, who was for a time a member of the Community at
+    Mountain Cove. Mr. Hyatt is a conscientious man, and is still a
+    firm believer in a rational Spiritualism. We have never regarded
+    the claims of Messrs. Scott and Harris with favor, though we
+    have thought and still think, that the motives and life of the
+    latter were always honorable and pure. There are other persons
+    at the Mountain who are justly esteemed for their virtues; but
+    we most sincerely believe they are deluded by the absurd
+    pretensions of Mr. Scott."
+
+    [_From the Journal of Progress._]
+
+    "Most of our readers are undoubtedly aware that there is a
+    company of Spiritualists now residing at Mountain Cove,
+    Virginia, whose claims of spiritual intercourse are of a
+    somewhat different nature from those usually put forth by
+    believers in other parts of the country.
+
+    "This movement grew out of a large circle of Spiritualists at
+    Auburn, New York, nearly two years since; but the pretensions on
+    the part of the prime movers became of a far more imposing
+    nature than they were in Auburn, soon after their location at
+    Mountain Cove. It is claimed that they were directed to the
+    place which they now occupy, by God, in fulfillment of certain
+    prophecies in Isaiah, for the purpose of redeeming all who would
+    co-operate with them and be dictated by their counsel; and the
+    place which they occupy is denominated 'the Holy Mountain, which
+    was sanctified and set apart for the redemption of his people.'
+
+    "The principal mediums, James L. Scott and Thomas L. Harris,
+    profess absolute Divine inspiration, and entire infallibility;
+    that the infinite God communicates with them directly, without
+    intermediate agency; and that by him they are preserved from the
+    possibility of error in any of their dictations which claim a
+    spiritual origin.
+
+    "By virtue of these assumptions, and claiming to be the words of
+    God, all the principles and rules of practice, whether of a
+    spiritual or temporal nature, which govern the believers in that
+    place, are dictated by the individuals above mentioned. Among
+    the communications thus received, which are usually in the form
+    of arbitrary decrees, are requirements which positively forbid
+    those who have once formed a belief in the divinity of the
+    movement, the privilege of criticising, or in any degree
+    reasoning upon, the orders and communications uttered; or in
+    other words, the disciples are forbidden the privilege of having
+    any reason or conscience at all, except that which is prescribed
+    to them by this oracle. The most unlimited demands of the
+    controlling intelligence must be acceded to by its followers, or
+    they will be thrust without the pale of the claimed Divine
+    influence, and utter and irretrievable ruin is announced as the
+    penalty.
+
+    "In keeping with such pretensions, these 'Matthiases' have
+    claimed for God his own property; and hence men are required to
+    yield up their stewardships: that is, relinquish their temporal
+    possessions to the Almighty. And, in pursuance of this, there
+    has been a large quantity of land in that vicinity deeded
+    without reserve by conscientious believers, to the human
+    vicegerents of God above mentioned, with the understanding that
+    such conveyance is virtually made to the Deity!
+
+    "As would inevitably be the case, this mode of operations has
+    awakened in the minds of the more reasoning and reflective
+    members, distrust and unbelief, which has caused some, with
+    great pecuniary loss, to withdraw from the Community, and with
+    others who remain, has ripened into disaffection and violent
+    opposition; and the present condition of the 'Holy Mountain' is
+    anything but that of divine harmony. Discord, slander and
+    vindictiveness is the order of proceedings, in which one or both
+    of the professed inspired mediators take an active part; and the
+    prospect now is, that the claims of divine authority in the
+    temporal matters of 'the Mountain,' will soon be tested, and the
+    ruling power conceded to be absolute, or else completely
+    dethroned."
+
+After the above, came the following counter-statement in the
+_Spiritual Telegraph_, August 6, 1853:
+
+
+                                     _Cincinnati, July 14, 1853._
+
+    "MR. S.B. BRITTAN--Sir: A friend has handed me the _Telegraph_
+    of July 2, and directed my attention to an article appearing in
+    that number, headed 'Mountain Cove Community,' which, although
+    purporting to be from the pen of one familiar with our
+    circumstances at the Cove, differs widely from the facts in our
+    case.
+
+    "Suffice it for the present to say, that Messrs. Scott and
+    Harris, either jointly or individually, for themselves, or as
+    the 'human vicegerents of God,' have and hold no deed (as the
+    article quoted from the _Journal of Progress_ represents) of
+    lands at the Cove. Neither have they pecuniary supporters
+    there. Nor are men residing there required or expected to deal
+    with them upon terms aside from the ordinary rules of business
+    transactions. They have no claims upon men there for temporal
+    benefits. They exact no tithes, or even any degree of
+    compensation for public services; and, although they have
+    preached and lectured to the people there during their sojourn
+    in that country, they have never received for such services a
+    penny; and, except what they have received from a few liberal
+    friends who reside in other portions of the country, they secure
+    their temporal means by their own industry. Moreover, for land
+    and dwellings occupied by them, they are obligated to pay rent
+    or lease-money; and should they at any time obtain a deed,
+    according to present written agreement, they are to pay the full
+    value to those who are the owners of the soil and by virtue
+    thereof still retain their steward-ship.
+
+    "I have thus briefly stated facts; facts of which I should have
+    an unbiased knowledge, and of which I ought to be a competent
+    judge. These facts I have ample means to authenticate, and
+    together with a full and explicit statement of the nature of the
+    lease, when due the public, if ever, I shall not hesitate to
+    give. And from these the reader may determine the character of
+    the entire expose, so liberally indorsed, as also other
+    statements so freely trumpeted, relative to us at Mountain Cove.
+
+    "From some years of the most intimate intercourse with the Rev.
+    T.L. Harris, surrounded by circumstances calculated to try men's
+    souls, I am prepared to bear testimony to your statements
+    relative to his goodness and purity; and will add, that were all
+    men of like character, earth would enjoy a saving change, and
+    that right speedily.
+
+    "Assured that your sense of right will secure for this brief
+    statement, equal notoriety with the charges preferred against
+    us--hence a place in the columns of the _Telegraph_;
+
+                                        I am, &c.,   J.L. SCOTT."
+
+This counter-statement has the air of special pleading, and all the
+information that we have obtained by communication with various
+ex-members of the Mountain Cove Community, goes to confirm the
+substance of the preceding charges. The following extracts from a
+letter in reply to some of our questions, is a specimen:
+
+    "There were indications in the acts of one or more individuals
+    at Mountain Cove, that plainly showed their desire to get
+    control of the possessions which other individuals had saved as
+    the fruits of their industry and economy. Those evil designs
+    were frustrated by those who were the intended victims of the
+    crafty, though not without some pecuniary sacrifice to the
+    innocent."
+
+From all this we infer that the Mountain Cove Community came to its
+end in the latter part of 1853, by a quarrel about property; which is
+all we know about it.
+
+This was the most noted of the Spiritualist Communities. The rest are
+not noticed by Macdonald, and, so far as we know, hardly deserve
+mention.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+
+THE BROCTON COMMUNITY.
+
+
+We are forbidden to class this Association with the Spiritualist
+Communities, by a positive disclaimer on the part of its founders: as
+the reader will see further on. Otherwise we should have said that the
+Brocton Community is the last of the series which commenced at
+Mountain Cove. Thomas L. Harris, the leader at Brocton, was also one
+of the two leaders at Mountain Cove, and as Swedenborgianism, his
+present faith, is certainly a species of Spiritualism, not altogether
+unrelated to the more popular kind which he held in the times of
+Mountain Cove, we can not be far wrong in counting the Brocton
+Community as one of the _sequelę_ of Fourierism, and in the true line
+of succession from Brook Farm.
+
+After the bad failure of non-religious Socialism in the Owen
+experiments, and the worse failure of semi-religious Socialism in the
+Fourier experiments, a lesson seems to have been learned, and a
+tendency has come on, to lay the foundations of socialistic
+architecture in some kind of Spiritualism, equivalent to religion.
+This tendency commenced, as we have seen, among the Brook Farmers, who
+promulgated Swedenborgianism almost as zealously as they did
+Fourierism. The same tendency is seen in the history of the Owens,
+father and son. Thus, it is evident that the entire Spiritualistic
+platform has been pushed forward by a large part of its constituency,
+as a hopeful basis of future Socialisms. And the Brocton Community
+seems to be the final product and representative of this tendency to
+union between Spiritualism and Socialism.
+
+As Mr. Harris and Mr. Oliphant, the two conspicuous men at Brocton,
+are both Englishmen, we might almost class that Community with the
+exotics, which do not properly come into our history. But the close
+connection of Brocton with the Spiritualistic movement, and the
+general interest it has excited in this country, on the whole entitle
+it to a place in the records of American Socialisms. The following
+account is compiled from a brilliant report in the _New York Sun_ of
+April 30, 1869, written by Oliver Dyer:
+
+    _History and Description of the Brocton Community._
+
+    "Nine miles beyond Dunkirk, on the southerly shore of Lake Erie,
+    in the village of Brocton, New York, is a Community which, in
+    some respects, and especially as to the central idea around
+    which the members gather, is probably without a parallel in the
+    annals of mankind.
+
+    "The founder of this Community is the Rev. Thomas Lake Harris,
+    an Englishman by birth, but whose parents came to this country
+    when he was three years old. He was for several years a noted
+    preacher of the Universalist denomination in New York.
+    Subsequently he went to England, where he had a noticeable
+    career as a preacher of strange doctrines. Between five and six
+    years ago he returned to this country, and settled in Amenia,
+    Duchess County, where he prospered as a banker and
+    agriculturist, until in October, 1867, he (as he claims), in
+    obedience to the direct leadings of God's spirit, took up his
+    abode at his present residence in Chautauqua County, on the
+    southerly shore of Lake Erie, and founded the Brocton Community.
+
+    "The tract of land owned and occupied by the Community,
+    comprises a little over sixteen hundred acres, and is about two
+    and a-half miles long, by one mile in breadth. One-half of this
+    tract was purchased by Mr. Harris with his own money; the
+    residue was purchased with the money of his associates and at
+    their request is held by him in trust for the Community. The
+    main building on the premises (for there are several residences)
+    is a low, two-story edifice straggling over much ground.
+
+    "A deep valley runs through the estate, and along the bed of the
+    valley winds a copious creek, on the northerly bank of which, at
+    a well-selected site, stands a saw-mill, [the inevitable!] which
+    seems to have constant use for all its teeth.
+
+    "The land for the most part lies warm to the sun, and its
+    quality and position are such that it does not require
+    under-draining, which is a great advantage. It is bountifully
+    supplied with wood and water and is variegated in surface and in
+    soil.
+
+    "About eighty acres are in grapes, of several varieties, among
+    which are the Concord, Isabella, Salem, Iona, Rogers's Hybrid
+    and others. They expect much from their grapes. The intention is
+    to strive for quality rather than quantity, and to run
+    principally to table fruit of an excellence which will command
+    the highest prices.
+
+    "It is the intention of the Community to go extensively into the
+    dairy business, and considerable progress has already been made
+    in that direction. Other industrial matters are also being
+    driven ahead with skill and vigor; but a large portion of the
+    estate has yet to be brought under cultivation, and there is a
+    deal of hard work to be done to make the 1,600 acres
+    presentable, and to secure comfortable homes for the workers.
+
+    "There are about sixty adult members of the Community, besides a
+    number of children. Among the rest are five orthodox clergymen;
+    several representatives from Japan; several American ladies of
+    high social position and exquisite culture, etc.
+
+    "But the members who attract the most attention, at least of the
+    newspaper world, are Lady Oliphant and her son, Lawrence
+    Oliphant, who are understood to be exiles from high places in
+    the aristocracy of England.
+
+    "All these work together on terms of entire equality, and all
+    are very harmonious in religion, notwithstanding their previous
+    diversity of position and faith.
+
+    "This is a very religious Community. Swedenborg furnishes the
+    original doctrinal and philosophical basis of its faith, to
+    which Mr. Harris, as he conceives, has been led by Providence to
+    add other and vital matters, which were unknown until they were
+    revealed through him. They reverence the Scriptures as the very
+    word of God.
+
+    "The fundamental religious belief of the Community may be summed
+    up in the dogma, that there is one God and only one, and that he
+    is the Lord Jesus Christ. The religion of the Community is
+    intensely practical, and may be stated as, faith in Christ, and
+    a life in accordance with his commandments.
+
+    "And here comes in the question, What is a life in accordance
+    with Christ's commandments? Mr. Harris and his fellow believers
+    hold that when a man is 'born of the Spirit,' he is inevitably
+    drawn into communal relations with his brethren, in accordance
+    with the declaration that 'the disciples were of one heart and
+    one mind, and had all things in common.'
+
+    "This doctrine of Communism has been held by myriads, and
+    repeated attempts have been made, but made in vain, to embody it
+    in actual life. It is natural, therefore, to distrust any new
+    attempt in the same direction. Mr. Harris is aware of this
+    general distrust, and of the reasons for it; but he claims that
+    he has something which places his attempt beyond the
+    vicissitudes of chance, and bases it upon immutable certainty;
+    that hitherto there has been no palpable criterion whereby the
+    existence of God could be tested, no tangible test whereby the
+    indication of his will could be determined; but that such
+    criterion and test have now been vouchsafed, and that on such
+    criterion and test to him communicated, his Community is
+    founded.
+
+    "The pivot on which this movement turns, the foundation on which
+    it rests, the grand secret of the whole matter, is known in the
+    Community as 'open respiration,' also as 'divine respiration;'
+    and the starting point of the theory is, that God created man in
+    his own image and likeness, and breathed into him the breath of
+    life. That the breathing into man of the breath of life was the
+    sensible point of contact between the divine and human, between
+    God and man. That man in his holy state was, so to speak,
+    directly connected with God, by means of what might be likened
+    to a spiritual respiratory umbilical chord, which ran from God
+    to man's inmost or celestial nature, and constantly suffused
+    him with airs from heaven, whereby his spiritual respiration or
+    life was supported, and his entire nature, physical as well as
+    spiritual, kept in a state of godlike purity and innocence,
+    without, however, any infringement of man's freedom.
+
+    "That after the fall of man this spiritual respiratory
+    connection between God and man was severed, and the spiritual
+    intercourse between the Creator and the creature brought to an
+    end, and hence spiritual death. That the great point is to have
+    this respiratory connection with God restored. That Mr. Harris
+    and those who are co-operating with him have had it restored,
+    and are in the constant enjoyment thereof. That it is by this
+    divine respiration, and by no other means, that a human being
+    can get irrefragable, tangible, satisfactory evidence that God
+    is God, and that man has or can have conjunction with God. This
+    divine respiration retains all that is of the natural
+    respiration as its base and fulcrum, and builds upon and employs
+    it for its service.
+
+    "In the new respiration, God gives an atmosphere that is as
+    sensitive to moral quality as the physical respiration is to
+    natural quality; and this higher breath, whose essence is
+    virtue, builds up the bodies of the virtuous, wars against
+    disease, expels the virus of hereditary maladies, renews health
+    from its foundations, and stands in the body as a sentinel
+    against every plague. When this spiritual respiration descends
+    and takes possession of the frame, there is thenceforth a
+    guiding power, a positive inspiration, which selects the
+    recipient's calling, which trains him for it, which leads him to
+    favorable localities, and which co-ordinates affairs on a large
+    scale. It will deal with groups as with individuals; it will
+    re-distribute mankind; it will re-organize the village, the
+    town, the workshop, the manufactory, the agricultural district,
+    the pastoral region, gathering human atoms from their
+    degradation, and crystallizing them in resplendent unities.
+
+    "This primary doctrine has for its accompaniment a special
+    theory of love and marriage, which is this: In heaven the basis
+    of social order is marital order, and so it must be in this
+    world. There, all the senses are completed and included in the
+    sense of chastity; that sense of chastity is there the body for
+    the soul of conjugal desire; there, the corporeal element of
+    passion is excluded from the nuptial senses: there, the utterly
+    pure alone are permitted to enter into the divine state involved
+    in nuptial union; and so it must be here below. The 'sense of
+    chastity' is the touchstone of conjugal fitness, and is bestowed
+    in this wise:
+
+    "When the Divine breaths have so pervaded the nervous structures
+    that the higher attributes of sensation begin to waken from
+    their immemorial torpor, and to react against disease, a sixth
+    sense is as evident as hearing is to the ear, or sight to
+    vision. It is distributed through the entire frame. So
+    exquisitely does it pervade the hands that the slightest touch
+    declares who are chaste and who are unchaste. And this sixth
+    sense is the sense of chastity. It comes from God, who is the
+    infinite chastity.
+
+    "Within this sense of chastity nuptial love has its
+    dwelling-place. So utterly hostile is it by nature to what the
+    world understands by desire and passion, that the waftings of an
+    atmosphere bearing these elements in its bosom affect it with
+    loathing. This sense of chastity literally clothes every nerve.
+    A living, sensitive garment, without spot or seam, it invests
+    the frame of the universal sensations, and gives instant warning
+    of the approach of impurity even in thought.
+
+    "In true nuptial love, which is born of love to God, the nuptial
+    pair, from the inmost oneness of the divine being, are embosomed
+    each in each, as loveliness in loveliness, innocence in
+    innocence, blessedness in blessedness. In possessing each other
+    they possess the Lord, who prepares the two to become one heart,
+    one mind, one soul, one love, one wisdom, one felicity. There
+    are ladies and gentlemen in the Community who claim to have
+    attained this sense of chastity to such a degree that they
+    instantly detect the presence of an impure person.
+
+    "It may surprise the reader to hear that what is called
+    'Spiritualism' finds no favor in this Community. All phases of
+    the spirit-rapping business are abhorred.
+
+    "A cardinal principle of government, as to their own affairs in
+    the Community, is unity of conviction. The Council of Direction
+    consists of nineteen members; and if any one of them fails to
+    perceive the propriety of a course or plan agreed upon by the
+    other eighteen, it is accepted as an indication of Providence
+    that the time for carrying out the course or plan has not yet
+    come; and they patiently wait until the entire Council becomes
+    'of one heart and one mind' as to the matter proposed.
+
+    "They do not hunger for proselytes, nor seek public recognition.
+    They know that the spirit is the great matter; and that an
+    enterprise, as well as a human being, or a tree, must grow from
+    the internal, vital principle, and not from external
+    agglomerations. Whosoever, therefore, applies for admission to
+    their circle is subject to crucial spiritual tests and a
+    revealing probation. Unconditional surrender to God's will,
+    absolute chastity not only in act but in spirit, complete
+    self-abnegation, a full acceptance of Christ as the only and
+    true God, are fundamental conditions even to a probationship.
+
+    "Painting, sculpture, music and all the accomplishments are to
+    have fitting development. There is no Quakerism or Puritanism in
+    them. Man (including woman) is to be developed liberally,
+    thoroughly, grandly, but all in the name of the Lord, and with
+    an eye single to God's glory. Science, art, literature,
+    languages, mechanics, philosophy, whatever will help to give
+    back to man his lost mastership of the universe, is to be
+    subordinated for that purpose.
+
+    "Their domestic affairs, including cooking and washing, are
+    carried on much as in the outside world. They live in many
+    mansions, and have no unitary household. But they are alive to
+    all the teachings of science and sociology on these topics, and
+    intend to make machinery and organization do as much of the
+    drudgery of the Community as possible.
+
+    "They have no peculiar costume or customs. They eat, drink,
+    dress, converse and worship God just like cultivated Christians
+    elsewhere. They have no regular preaching at present, nor
+    literary entertainments, but all these are to come in due
+    season. They intend, as their numbers increase, and as the
+    organization solidifies, to inaugurate whatever institutions may
+    be necessary to promote their intellectual and spiritual
+    welfare, and also to establish such industries and manufactures
+    on the domain, as sound, economical discretion, vivified and
+    guided by the new respiration, shall dictate.
+
+    "By means of the new respiration they think that, in the lapse
+    of time, mankind will become regenerate, and society be
+    reconstructed, and physical disease banished from the earth, and
+    a millennial reign inaugurated under the domination of Divine
+    order. They especially expect great things in the East; that the
+    doctrine of the Lord, as set forth by Swedenborg and Mr. Harris,
+    and re-inforced by the new respiration, will by and by sweep
+    over Asia, where the people are already beginning to be tossed
+    on the waves of spiritual unrest, and are longing for a higher
+    religious development."
+
+After this luminous introduction, Mr. Dana, the editor of the _Sun_,
+followed with the article ensuing:
+
+    "WILL IT SUCCEED?
+
+    "The account which we published yesterday, from the accomplished
+    pen of Mr. Oliver Dyer, of the new Community in Chautauqua
+    County, which Mr. Harris, Mr. Oliphant and their associates are
+    engaged in founding, will, we think, excite attention
+    everywhere. Considered as a religious movement alone, the
+    enterprise merits a candid and even sympathetic attention. Its
+    fundamental ideas are such as must promote thought and inquiry
+    wherever they are promulgated. That they are all true, as a
+    matter of theological doctrine, we certainly are not prepared to
+    affirm; but that they challenge a respectful interest in the
+    minds of all sincere inquirers after spiritual truth, can not be
+    disputed. But it is not as a new form of Christianity, with new
+    dogmas and new pretensions, that we have to deal with the system
+    proclaimed at Brocton. What especially engages our observation
+    is the social aspect of the undertaking. Is it founded upon
+    notions that promise any considerable advance upon the present
+    form of society? Does it contain within itself the elements of
+    success?
+
+    "As respects the first question, we are free to answer that the
+    scheme of the Brocton philosophers is too little developed, too
+    immature in their own minds, to allow of any dogmatic judgment
+    respecting it. The religious phase of the Community, and the
+    enthusiasm which belongs to it, have not yet crystallized in
+    relations of industry, art, education and external life,
+    sufficiently to show the precise end at which it will aim.
+    Indeed it would seem that its founders have avoided rather than
+    cultivated those speculations on the organization of society to
+    which most social innovators give the first place in their
+    thoughts. Starting from man's highest spiritual nature alone,
+    they prefer to leave every practical problem to be solved as it
+    rises, not by scientific theory or business shrewdness, but by
+    the help of that supernatural inspiration which forms a vital
+    point in their theology. But on the other hand, they are pledged
+    to democratic equality, to perfect respect for the dignity of
+    labor, and to brotherly justice in the distribution alike of the
+    advantages of life and the earnings of the common toil. We may
+    conclude, then, that despite the Communism which seems to lie at
+    the foundation of their design, with its annihilation of
+    individual property, and its tendency to annihilate individual
+    character also, all persons who can adopt the religion of this
+    Community will find a happier life within its precincts than
+    they can look for elsewhere. But that it will initiate a new
+    stage in the world's social progress, or exercise any
+    perceptible influence upon the general condition of mankind, is
+    not to be expected.
+
+    "As to the probability of its lasting, that seems to us to be
+    strong. Communities based upon peculiar religious views, have
+    generally succeeded. The Shakers and the Oneida Community are
+    conspicuous illustrations of this fact; while the failure of the
+    various attempts made by the disciples of Fourier, Owen and
+    others, who have not had the support of religious fanaticism,
+    proves that without this great force the most brilliant social
+    theories are of little avail. Have the Brocton people enough of
+    it to carry them safely through? Or is their religion of too
+    transcendental a character to form a sure and tenacious cement
+    for their social structure? These questions only time can
+    positively answer; but we incline to the belief that they are
+    likely to live and prosper, to become numerous and wealthy, and
+    to play a much more influential part in the world than either of
+    the bodies of religious Socialists that have preceded them."
+
+The reader will perhaps expect us to say something from our
+stand-point, in answer to Mr. Dana's question, "Will it succeed?" and
+as the name of the Oneida Community is called in connection with the
+Shakers and the Broctonians, it seems proper that we should do what we
+can to help on a fair comparison of these competing Socialisms.
+
+In the first place, many of the cardinal principles reported in Mr.
+Dyer's account, command our highest respect and sympathy. Religion as
+the basis, inspiration as the guide, Providence as the insurer,
+reverence for the Bible, Communism of property, unanimity in action,
+abstinence from proselytism, self-improvement instead of preaching and
+publicity, liberality of culture in science, art, literature,
+language, mechanics, philosophy, and whatever will help to give back
+man his lost mastership of the universe, these and many other of the
+fundamentals at Brocton we recognize as old acquaintances and very
+dear friends. With this acknowledgment premised, we will be free to
+point out some things which we regard as unpromising weaknesses in the
+constitution of the new Socialism.
+
+The Brocton Community is evidently very religious, and so far may be
+regarded as strong in the first element of success. Its religion,
+however, is Swedenborgianism, revised and adapted to the age, but not
+essentially changed; and we have seen that the experiments in
+Socialism which Swedenborgians have heretofore made, have not been
+successful. The Yellow Spring Community in Owen's time, and the
+Leraysville Phalanx in the Fourier epoch, were avowedly Swedenborgian
+Associations; but they failed as speedily and utterly as their
+contemporaries. Notwithstanding the claim of a wonderful affinity
+between Swedenborgianism and Fourierism which the _Harbinger_ used to
+make, it seems probable that the afflatus of pure Swedenborgianism is
+not favorable to Communism or to close Association of any kind.
+Swedenborg in his personal character was not a Socialist or an
+organizer in any way, but a very solitary speculator; and the heavens
+he set before the world were only sublimated embodiments of the
+ordinary principle of private property, in wives and in every thing
+else.
+
+When we say that the Brocton Community is Swedenborgian, we do not
+forget that Mr. Harris professes to have made important additions to
+the Teutonic revelations. But we see that the fundamental doctrines
+reported by Mr. Dyer are essentially the same as those we have found
+in Swedenborg's works. Even the pivotal discovery of "internal
+respiration" is not original with Mr. Harris. Swedenborg had it in
+theory and in personal experience. He ascribes the purity of the
+Adamic church to this condition, and its degeneracy and destruction,
+to the loss of it. Thus he says:
+
+    "It was shown me, that [at the time of the degeneracy of the
+    Adamites] the internal respiration, which proceeded from the
+    navel toward the interior region of the breast, retired toward
+    the region of the back and toward the abdomen, thus outward and
+    downward. Immediately before the flood scarce any internal
+    respiration existed. At last it was annihilated in the breast,
+    and its subjects were choked or suffocated. In those who
+    survived, external respiration was opened. With the cessation of
+    internal respiration, immediate intercourse with angels and the
+    instant and instinctive perception of truth and falsehood, were
+    lost."
+
+And Mr. White, the latest biographer of Swedenborg, says of him:
+
+    "The possession by him of the power of easy transition of sense
+    and consciousness from the lower to the upper world, arose, it
+    would appear, from some peculiarities in his physical
+    organization. The suspension of respiration under deep thought,
+    common to all men, was preternaturally developed in him; and in
+    his diary he makes a variety of observations on his case; as for
+    instance he says:
+
+    "'My respiration has been so formed by the Lord, as to enable me
+    to breathe inwardly for a long time without the aid of the
+    external air, my respiration being directed within, and my
+    outward senses, as well as actions, still continuing in their
+    vigor, which is only possible with persons who have been so
+    formed by the Lord. I have also been instructed that my
+    breathing was so directed, without my being aware of it, in
+    order to enable me to be with spirits, and to speak with them.'
+
+    "Again, he tells us that there are many species of respirations
+    inducing divers introductions to the spirits and angels with
+    whom the lungs conspire; and goes on to say, that he was at
+    first habituated to insensible breathing in his infancy, when at
+    morning and evening prayers, and occasionally afterward when
+    exploring the concordance between the heart, lungs and brain,
+    and particularly when writing his physiological works; that for
+    a number of years, beginning with his childhood, he was
+    introduced to internal respiration mainly by intense
+    speculations in which breathing stops, for otherwise intense
+    thought is impossible. When heaven was open to him, and he spoke
+    with spirits, sometimes for nearly an hour he scarcely breathed
+    at all. The same phenomena occurred when he was going to sleep,
+    and he thinks that his preparation went forward during repose.
+    So various was his breathing, so obedient did it become, that he
+    thereby obtained the range of the higher world, and access to
+    all its spheres."
+
+Thus it would seem that what Mr. Harris is attempting at Brocton is,
+to realize on a large scale the experience of Swedenborg, and
+reproduce the Adamic church. This "open respiration," however, must be
+an oracular influx not essentially different from that which guides
+the Shakers, the Ebenezers, and all the religious Communities. We have
+called it afflatus. It does not appear to be strong enough in the
+Brocton Community to dissolve old-fashioned familism; which we
+consider a bad sign, as our readers know. There is an inevitable
+competition between the family-spirit and the Community-spirit, which
+all the "internal respiration" that we have enjoyed, has never been
+able to harmonize in any other way than by thoroughly subordinating
+family interests, and making the Community the prime organization. And
+it is quite certain that this has been the experience of the Shakers
+and all the other successful Communities. Indeed this is the very
+revolution that is involved in real Christianity. The private family
+has been and is the unit of society in naturalism, i.e. in the
+pre-Christian, pagan state. But the Church, which is equivalent to the
+Association, or Community, or Phalanx, is clearly the unit of society
+in the Christian scheme.
+
+The Brocton philosophy of love and marriage is manifestly
+Swedenborgian. In some passages it seems like actual Shakerism, but
+the prevailing sense is that of intensified conjugality, _a la_
+Swedenborg. Here again the Swedenborgian afflatus will be very
+unfavorable to success. Swedenborg wrote in the same vein as Mr.
+Harris talks, about chastity; but withal he kept mistresses at several
+times in his life; and he recommends mistress-keeping to those who
+"can not contain." Moreover he gives married men thirty-four reasons,
+many of them very trivial, for keeping concubines. Above all, his
+theory of marriage in heaven, involving the sentimentalism of
+predestined mating (which doubtless is retained entire in the Brocton
+philosophy), not only leads directly to contempt of ordinary marriage,
+as being an artificial system of blunders, but necessarily authorizes
+the "right of search" to find the true mate. The practical result of
+this theory is seen in the system of "free love," or experimenting
+for "affinities," which has prevailed among Spiritualists. It will
+require a very high power of "internal respiration" to steer the
+Brocton Community through these dangers, resulting from its
+affiliation with the Swedenborgian principality. Close Association is
+a worse place than ordinary society for working out the delicate
+problems of the negative theory of chastity.
+
+The Broctonians are reported as reverencing the Bible, but this can
+only mean that they reverence it in Swedenborg's fashion. He rejected
+about half of it (including all of Paul's writings) as uninspired; and
+worshiped the rest as full of divinity, stuffed in every letter and
+dot with double and triple significance, of which significance he
+alone had the key.
+
+Probably Mr. Harris's principal deviation from the Swedenborgian
+theology, is the introduction of his original faith of Universalism.
+Swedenborg lived and wrote before modern benevolence was developed so
+far as to require the elimination of future punishment; and with all
+his laxity on other points, he was more orthodox and uncompromising in
+regard to the eternity of hell-torments, and even as to their
+sulphuric nature, than any writer the world has ever seen before or
+since. Hence the Spiritualists, who generally belong to the
+Universalist school, either have to quarrel with Swedenborg openly, as
+Andrew Jackson Davis did, or modify his system on this point, as T.L.
+Harris has done.
+
+We were surprised, as Mr. Dyer supposes his readers might be, to learn
+that the Brocton Communists abhor "all phases of the rapping
+business;" for we remember that Mr. Harris was counted among
+Spiritualists in old times, and we see that he is still in pursuit of
+the Adamic status and other attainments that were the objective
+points of the Mountain Cove Community.
+
+As to externals, the Brocton Community, we fear, has got the
+land-mania, which ruined so many of the Owen and Fourier Associations.
+Sixteen hundred acres must be a dreary investment for a young and
+small Community. If our experience is worth any thing, and if we might
+offer our advice, we should say, Sell two-thirds of that domain and
+put the proceeds into a machine-shop. Agriculture, after all, is not a
+primary business. Machinery goes before it; always did and always will
+more and more. Plows and harrows, rakes and hoes, were the dynamics
+even of ancient farming; and the men that invented and made them were
+greater than farmers. The Oneida Community made its fortune by first
+sinking forty thousand dollars in training a set of young men as
+machinists. The business thus started has proved to be literally a
+high school in comparison with farming or almost any other business,
+not excepting that of academies and colleges. With that school always
+growing in strength and enthusiasm, we can make the tools for all
+other businesses, and the whole range of modern enterprise is open to
+us.
+
+If the Brocton leaders have plenty of money at interest, we see no
+reason why they may not live pleasantly and do well in some form of
+loose co-operation. But with the weaknesses we have noticed, we doubt
+whether their "internal respiration" will harmonize them in close
+Association, or enable them to get their living by amateur farming.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+
+THE SHAKERS.
+
+
+We should hardly do justice to the Shakers if we should leave them
+undistinguished among the obscure exotics. Their influence on American
+Socialisms has been so great as to set them entirely apart from the
+other antique religious Communities. Macdonald makes more of them than
+of any other single Community, devoting nearly a hundred pages to
+their history and peculiarities. Most of his material relating to
+them, however, may be found in their own current publications; and
+need not be reproduced here. But there is one document in his
+collection giving an "inside view" of their social and religious life,
+which we are inclined to publish for special reasons. It is, in the
+first place, a picture of their daily routine, as faithful as could be
+expected from one who appears to have been neither a friend nor an
+enemy to them; and its representations in this respect are verified
+substantially by various Shaker publications. But it is specially
+interesting to us as a disclosure of the historical secret which
+connects Shakerism with "modern Spiritualism." Elder Evans, the
+conspicuous man of the Shakers, in his late autobiography alludes to
+this secret in the following terms:
+
+    "In 1837 to 1844, there was an influx from the spirit world,
+    confirming the faith of many disciples, who had lived among
+    believers for years, and extending throughout all the eighteen
+    [Shaker] societies, making media by the dozen, whose various
+    exercises, not to be suppressed even in their public meetings,
+    rendered it imperatively necessary to close them all to the
+    world during a period of seven years, in consequence of the then
+    unprepared state of the world, to which the whole of the
+    manifestations, and the meetings too, would have been as
+    unadulterated foolishness, or as inexplicable mysteries.
+
+    "The spirits then declared, again and again, that, when they had
+    done their work among the inhabitants of Zion, they would do a
+    work in the world, of such magnitude, that not a place nor a
+    hamlet upon earth should remain unvisited by them.
+
+    "After their mission among us was finished, we supposed that the
+    manifestations would immediately begin in the outside world; but
+    we were much disappointed; for we had to wait four years before
+    the work began, as it finally did, at Rochester, New York. But
+    the rapidity of its course throughout the nations of the earth
+    (as also the social standing and intellectual importance of the
+    converts), has far exceeded the predictions."
+
+                                 --_Atlantic Monthly_, May, 1869.
+
+The narrative we are about to present relates to the period of closed
+doors here mentioned, and to some of the "manifestations" which had to
+be withdrawn from public view, lest they should be regarded as
+"unadulterated foolishness." It is perhaps the only testimony the
+world has in regard to the events which, according to Evans, were the
+real beginnings of modern Spiritualism.
+
+Macdonald does not give the name of the writer, but says that he was
+an "intimate and esteemed friend, who went among the Shakers partly to
+escape worldly troubles, and partly through curiosity; and that his
+story is evidently clear-headed and sincere."
+
+    _Four Months Among the Shakers._
+
+    "Circumstances that need not be rehearsed, induced me to visit
+    the Shaker Society at Watervliet, in the winter of 1842-3. Soon
+    after my arrival, I was conducted to the Elder whose business it
+    was to deal with inquirers. He was a good-looking old man, with
+    a fine open countenance, and a well-formed head, as I could see
+    from its being bald. I found him very intelligent, and soon made
+    known to him my business, which was to learn something about the
+    Shakers and their conditions of receiving members. On my
+    observing that I had seen favorable accounts of their society in
+    the writings of Mr. Owen, Miss Martineau, and other travelers in
+    the United States, he replied, that 'those who wished to know
+    the Shakers, must live with them;' and this remark proved to be
+    true. He propounded to me at considerable length their faith,
+    'the daily cross' they were obliged to take up against the devil
+    and the flesh, and the supreme virtue of a life of celibacy.
+    When he had concluded I asked if those who wished to join the
+    society were expected to acknowledge a belief in all the
+    articles of their faith? To which he replied, 'that they were
+    not, for many persons came there to join them, who had never
+    heard their gospel preached; but they were always received, and
+    an opportunity given them of accepting or rejecting it.' He
+    then informed me of the conditions under which they received
+    candidates: 'All new comers have one week's trial, to see how
+    they like; and after that, if they wish to continue they must
+    take up the daily cross, and commence the work of regeneration
+    and salvation, following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and
+    Mother Ann.' My first cross, he informed me, would be to confess
+    all the wicked acts I had ever committed. I asked him if he gave
+    absolution like a Catholic priest. He replied, 'that God forgave
+    sins and not they; but it was necessary in beginning the work of
+    salvation, to unburden the mind of all its past sins.' I thought
+    this confession (demanded of strangers) was a piece of good
+    policy on their part; for it enabled the Elder who received the
+    confession, to form a tolerable opinion of the individual to be
+    admitted. I agreed however before confession to make a week's
+    trial of the place, and was accordingly invited to supper; after
+    which I was shown to the sleeping room specially set apart for
+    new members. I was not left here more than an hour when a small
+    bell rang, and one of the brothers entered the room and invited
+    me to go to the family meeting; where I saw for the first time
+    their mode of worshiping God in the dance. I thought it was an
+    exciting exercise, and I should have been more pleased if they
+    had had instrumental, instead of vocal music.
+
+    "At first my meals were brought to me in my room, but after a
+    few days I was invited to commence the work of regeneration and
+    prepare for confession, that I might associate with the rest of
+    the brothers. On making known my readiness to confess, I was
+    taken to the private confession-room, and there recounted a
+    brief history of my past life. This appeared rather to please
+    the Elder, and he observed that I 'had not been very wicked.' I
+    replied, 'No, I had not abounded in acts of crime and
+    debauchery.' But the old man, to make sure I was not deceiving
+    him, tried to frighten me, by telling me of individuals who had
+    not made a full confession of their wickedness, and who could
+    find no peace or pleasure until they came back and revealed all.
+    He assured me moreover that no wicked person could continue
+    there long without being found out. I was curious to know how
+    such persons would be detected; so he took me to the window and
+    pointed out the places where 'Mother Ann' had stationed four
+    angels to watch over her children; and 'these angels,' he said,
+    'always communicated any wickedness done there, or the presence
+    of any wicked person among them.' 'But,' he continued, 'you can
+    not understand these things; neither can you believe them, for
+    you have not yet got faith enough.' I replied: 'I can not see
+    the angels!' 'No,' said he, 'I can not see them with the eye of
+    sense; but I can see them with the eye of faith. You must labor
+    for faith: and when any thing troubles you that you can not
+    understand or believe, come to me, and do not express doubts to
+    any of the brethren.' The Elder then put on my eyes a pair of
+    spiritual golden spectacles, to make me see spiritual things. I
+    instinctively put up my hands to feel them, which made the old
+    gentleman half laugh, and he said, 'Oh, you can not feel them;
+    they will not incommode you, but will help you to see spiritual
+    things.'
+
+    "After this I was permitted to eat with the family and invited
+    to attend their love-meetings. I was informed that I had perfect
+    liberty to leave the village whenever I chose to do so; but that
+    I was to receive no pay for my services if I were to leave; I
+    should be provided for, the same as if I were one of the oldest
+    members, with food, clothing and lodgings, according to their
+    rules.
+
+
+    DAILY ROUTINE.
+
+    "The hours of rising were five o'clock in the summer, and
+    half-past five in the winter. The family all rose at the toll of
+    the bell, and in less than ten minutes vacated the bed-rooms.
+    The sisters then distributed themselves throughout the rooms,
+    and made up all the beds, putting every thing in the most
+    perfect order before breakfast. The brothers proceeded to their
+    various employments, and made a commencement for the day. The
+    cows were milked, and the horses were fed. At seven o'clock the
+    bell rang for breakfast, but it was ten minutes after when we
+    went to the tables. The brothers and sisters assembled each by
+    themselves, in rooms appointed for the purpose; and at the sound
+    of a small bell the doors of these rooms opened, and a
+    procession of the family was formed in the hall, each individual
+    being in his or her proper place, as they would be at table. The
+    brothers came first, followed by the sisters, and the whole
+    marched in solemn silence to the dining-room. The brothers and
+    sisters took separate tables, on opposite sides of the room. All
+    stood up until each one had arrived at his or her proper place,
+    and then at a signal from the Elder at the head of the table,
+    they all knelt down for about two minutes, and at another signal
+    they all arose and commenced eating their breakfast. Each
+    individual helped himself; which was easily done, as the tables
+    were so arranged that between every four persons there was a
+    supply of every article intended for the meal. At the conclusion
+    they all arose and marched away from the tables in the same
+    manner as they marched to them; and during the time of marching,
+    eating, and re-marching, not one word was spoken, but the most
+    perfect silence was preserved.
+
+    "After breakfast all proceeded immediately to their respective
+    employments, and continued industriously occupied until ten
+    minutes to twelve o'clock, when the bell announced dinner.
+    Farmers then left the field and mechanics their shops, all
+    washed their hands, and formed procession again, and marched to
+    dinner in the same way as to breakfast. Immediately after dinner
+    they went to work again, (having no hour for resting), and
+    continued steady at it until the bell announced supper. At
+    supper the same routine was gone through as at the other meals,
+    and all except the farmers went to work again. The farmers were
+    supposed to be doing what were called 'chores,' which appeared
+    to mean any little odd jobs in and about the stables and barns.
+    At eight o'clock all work was ended for the day, and the family
+    went to what they called a 'union meeting.' This meeting
+    generally continued one hour, and then, at about nine o'clock,
+    all retired to bed."
+
+
+    UNION MEETINGS.
+
+    "The two Elders and the two Eldresses held their meetings in the
+    Elders' room. The three Deacons and the three Deaconesses met in
+    one of their rooms. The rest of the family, in groups of from
+    six to eight brothers and sisters, met in other rooms. At these
+    meetings it was customary for the seats to be arranged in two
+    rows about four feet apart. The sisters sat in one row, and the
+    brothers in the other, facing each other. The meetings were
+    rather dull, as the members had nothing to converse about save
+    the family affairs; for those who troubled themselves about the
+    things of the world, were not considered good Shakers. It was
+    expected that in coming there we should leave the 'world' behind
+    us. The principal subject of conversation was eating and
+    drinking. One brother sometimes eulogized a sister whom he
+    thought to be the best cook, and who could make the best
+    'Johnny-cake.' At one meeting that I attended, there was a
+    lively conversation about what we had for dinner; and by this
+    means, it might be said, we enjoyed our dinner twice over.
+
+    "I have thus given the routine for one day; and each week-day
+    throughout the year was the same. The only variation was in the
+    evening. Besides these union meetings, every alternate evening
+    was devoted to dancing. Sundays also had a routine of their own,
+    which I will not detail.
+
+    "During the time I was with the Shakers, I never heard one of
+    them read the Bible or pray in public. Each one was permitted to
+    pray or let it alone as he pleased, and I believe there was very
+    little praying among them. Believing as they did that all
+    'worldly things' should be left in the 'world' behind them, they
+    did not even read the ordinary literature of the day. Newspapers
+    were only for the use of the Elders and Deacons. The routine I
+    have described was continually going on; and it was their boast
+    that they were then the same in their habits and manners as they
+    were sixty years before. The furniture of the dwellings was of
+    the same old-fashioned kind that the early Dutch settlers used;
+    and every thing about them and their dwellings, I was taught,
+    was originally designed in heaven, and the designs transmitted
+    to them by angels. The plan of their buildings, the style of
+    their furniture, the pattern of their coats and pants, and the
+    cut of their hair, is all regulated according to communications
+    received from heaven by Mother Ann. I was gravely told by the
+    first Elder, that the inhabitants of the other world were
+    Shakers, and that they lived in Community the same as we did,
+    but that they were more perfect.
+
+
+    THE DANCING MEETINGS.
+
+    "At half-past seven P.M. on the dancing days, all the members
+    retired to their separate rooms, where they sat in solemn
+    silence, just gazing at the stove, until the silver tones of a
+    small tea-bell gave the signal for them to assemble in the large
+    hall. Thither they proceeded in perfect order and solemn
+    silence. Each had on thin dancing-shoes; and on entering the
+    door of the hall they walked on tip-toe, and took up their
+    positions as follows: the brothers formed a rank on the right,
+    and the sisters on the left, facing each other, about five feet
+    apart. After all were in their proper places the chief Elder
+    stepped into the center of the space, and gave an exhortation
+    for about five minutes, concluding with an invitation to them
+    all to 'go forth, old men, young men and maidens, and worship
+    God with all their might in the dance.' Accordingly they 'went
+    forth,' the men stripping off their coats and remaining in their
+    shirt-sleeves. First they formed a procession and marched around
+    the room at double-quick time, while four brothers and four
+    sisters stood in the center singing for them. After marching in
+    this manner until they got a little warm, they commenced
+    dancing, and continued it until they were all pretty well tired.
+    During the dance the sisters kept on one side, and the brothers
+    on the other, and not a word was spoken by any of them. After
+    they appeared to have had enough of this exercise, the Elder
+    gave the signal to stop, when immediately each one took his or
+    her place in an oblong circle formed around the room, and all
+    waited to see if any one had received a 'gift,' that is, an
+    inspiration to do something odd. Then two of the sisters would
+    commence whirling round like a top, with their eyes shut; and
+    continued this motion for about fifteen minutes; when they
+    suddenly stopped and resumed their places, as steady as if they
+    had never stirred. During the 'whirl' the members stood round
+    like statues, looking on in solemn silence.
+
+
+    A MESSAGE FROM MOTHER ANN.
+
+    "On some occasions when a sister had stopped her whirling, she
+    would say, 'I have a communication to make;' when the head
+    Eldress would step to her side and receive the communication,
+    and then make known the nature of it to the company. The first
+    message I heard was as follows: 'Mother Ann has sent two angels
+    to inform us that a tribe of Indians has been round here two
+    days, and want the brothers and sisters to take them in. They
+    are outside the building there, looking in at the windows.' I
+    shall never forget how I looked round at the windows, expecting
+    to see the yellow faces, when this announcement was made; but I
+    believe some of the old folks who eyed me, bit their lips and
+    smiled. It caused no alarm to the rest, but the first Elder
+    exhorted the brothers 'to take in the poor spirits and assist
+    them to get salvation.' He afterward repeated more of what the
+    angels had said, viz., 'that the Indians were a savage tribe who
+    had all died before Columbus discovered America, and had been
+    wandering about ever since. Mother Ann wanted them to be
+    received into the meeting to-morrow night.' After this we
+    dispersed to our separate bed-rooms, with the hope of having a
+    future entertainment from the Indians.
+
+
+    INDIAN ORGIES.
+
+    "The next dancing night we again assembled in the same manner as
+    before, and went through the marching and dancing as usual;
+    after which the hall doors were opened, and the Elder invited
+    the Indians to come in. The doors were soon shut again, and one
+    of the sisters (the same who received the original
+    communication) informed us that she saw Indians all around and
+    among the brothers and sisters. The Elder then urged upon the
+    members the duty of 'taking them in.' Whereupon eight or nine
+    sisters became possessed of the spirits of Indian squaws, and
+    about six of the brethren became Indians. Then ensued a regular
+    pow-wow, with whooping and yelling and strange antics, such as
+    would require a Dickens to describe. The sisters and brothers
+    squatted down on the floor together, Indian fashion, and the
+    Elders and Eldresses endeavored to keep them asunder, telling
+    the men they must be separated from the squaws, and otherwise
+    instructing them in the rules of Shakerism. Some of the Indians
+    then wanted some 'succotash,' which was soon brought them from
+    the kitchen in two wooden dishes, and placed on the floor; when
+    they commenced eating it with their fingers. These performances
+    continued till about ten o'clock; then the chief Elder requested
+    the Indians to go away, telling them they would find some one
+    waiting to conduct them to the Shakers in the heavenly world. At
+    this announcement the possessed men and women became themselves
+    again, and all retired to rest.
+
+    "The above was the first exhibition of the kind that I
+    witnessed, but it was a very trifling affair to what I afterward
+    saw. To enable you to understand these scenes, I must give you
+    as near as I can, the ideas the Shakers have of the other world.
+    As I gathered from conversations with the Elder, and from his
+    teaching and preaching at the meetings, it is as follows: Heaven
+    is a Shaker Community on a very large scale. Every thing in it
+    is spiritual. Jesus Christ is the head Elder, and Mother Ann the
+    head Eldress. The buildings are large and splendid, being all of
+    white marble. There are large orchards with all kinds of fruit.
+    There are also very large gardens laid out in splendid style,
+    with beautiful rivers flowing through them; but all is
+    spiritual. Outside of this heaven the spirits of the departed
+    wander about on the surface of the earth (which is the Shaker
+    hell), till they are converted to Shakerism. Spirits are sent
+    out from the aforesaid heaven on missionary tours, to preach to
+    the wandering ones until they profess the faith, and then they
+    are admitted into the heavenly Community.
+
+
+    SPIRITUAL PRESENTS.
+
+    "At one of the meetings, after a due amount of marching and
+    dancing, by which all the members had got pretty well excited,
+    two or three sisters commenced whirling, which they continued to
+    do for some time, and then stopped suddenly and revealed to us
+    that Mother Ann was present at the meeting, and that she had
+    brought a dozen baskets of spiritual fruit for her children;
+    upon which the Elder invited all to go forth to the baskets in
+    the center of the floor, and help themselves. Accordingly they
+    all stepped forth and went through the various motions of taking
+    fruit and eating it. You will wonder if I helped myself to the
+    fruit, like the rest. No; I had not faith enough to see the
+    baskets or the fruit; and you may think, perhaps, that I laughed
+    at the scene; but in truth, I was so affected by the general
+    gravity and the solemn faces I saw around me, that it was
+    impossible for me to laugh.
+
+    "Other things as well as fruit were sometimes sent as presents,
+    such as spiritual golden spectacles. These heavenly ornaments
+    came in the same way as the fruit, and just as much could be
+    seen of them. The first presents of this kind that were received
+    during my residence there, came as follows: A sister whirled for
+    some time; then stopped and informed the Eldress as usual that
+    Mother Ann had sent a messenger with presents for some of her
+    most faithful children. She then went through the action of
+    handing the articles to the Eldress, at the same time mentioning
+    what they were, and for whom. As near as I can remember, there
+    was a pair of golden spectacles, a large eye-glass with a chain,
+    and a casket of love for the Elder to distribute. The Eldress
+    went through the act of putting the spectacles and chain upon
+    the individuals they were intended for; and the Elder in like
+    manner opened the casket and threw out the love by handsful,
+    while all the members stretched out their hands to receive, and
+    then pressed them to their bosoms. All this appeared to me very
+    childish, and I could not help so expressing myself to the
+    Elder, at the first opportunity that offered. He replied, 'that
+    this was what he labored for, viz., to be a simple Shaker; that
+    the proud and worldly, the so-called great men of this world,
+    must become as simple as they, as simple as little children,
+    before they can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. They must suffer
+    themselves to be called fools for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake.
+    These were the crosses they had to bear.'
+
+    "The Elder would sometimes kindly invite me to his room and ask
+    me what I thought of the meeting last night. This was generally
+    after those meetings at which there had been some great
+    revelation from heaven, or some pow-wow with the spirits. I
+    could only reply that I was much astonished, and that these
+    things were altogether new to me. He would then tell me that I
+    would see greater things than these. But I replied that it
+    required more faith to believe them than I possessed. Then he
+    would exhort me to 'labor for faith, and I would get it. He did
+    not expect young believers to get faith all at once; although
+    some got it faster than others.'
+
+
+    SPIRITUAL MUSIC AND BATHING.
+
+    "On the second Sunday I spent with the Shakers, there was a
+    curious exhibition, which I saw only once. After dinner all the
+    members assembled in the hall and sang two songs; when the Elder
+    informed them that it was a 'gift for them to march in
+    procession, with their golden instruments playing as they
+    marched, to the holy fountain, and wash away all the stains that
+    they had contracted by sinful thoughts or feelings; for Mother
+    was pleased to see her children pure and holy.' I looked around
+    for the musical instruments, but as they were spiritual I could
+    not see them. The procession marched two and two, into the yard
+    and round the square, and came to a halt in the center. During
+    the march each one made a sound with the mouth, to please him
+    or herself, and at the same time went through the motions of
+    playing on some particular instrument, such as the Clarionet,
+    French-horn, Trombone, Bass-drum, etc.; and such a noise was
+    made, that I felt as if I had got among a band of lunatics. It
+    appeared to me much more of a burlesque overture than any I ever
+    heard performed by Christy's Minstrels. The yard was covered
+    with grass, and a stick marked the center of the fountain.
+    Another song was sung, and the Elder pointed to the spiritual
+    fountain, at the same time observing, 'it could only be seen by
+    those who had sufficient faith.' Most of the brethren then
+    commenced going through the motions of washing the face and
+    hands; but finally some of them tumbled themselves in all over;
+    that is, they rolled on the grass, and went through many comical
+    and fantastic capers. My room-mate, Mr. B., informed me that he
+    had seen several such exhibitions during the time he had been
+    living there.
+
+
+    A SHAKER FUNERAL.
+
+    "One of the sisters of a neighboring family died, and our family
+    were notified to attend the funeral. On arriving at the place,
+    we were shown into a room, and at a signal from a small bell, we
+    were formed into a procession and marched to the large
+    dancing-hall, at the entrance to which the corpse was laid out
+    in a coffin, so as to be seen by all as they passed in. The
+    company then formed in two grand divisions, the brothers on one
+    side, and the sisters on the other, one division facing the
+    other. The service commenced by singing; after which the funeral
+    sermon was preached by the Elder. He set forth in as forcible a
+    manner as he seemed capable of, the uncertainty of life, the
+    character of the deceased sister, what a true and faithful
+    child of Mother's she was, and how many excellent qualities she
+    possessed. The head Eldress also gave her testimony of praise to
+    the deceased, alluding to her patience and resignation while
+    sick, and her desire to die and go to Mother. After a little
+    more singing one of the sisters announced that the spirit of the
+    deceased was present, and that she desired to return her thanks
+    to the various sisters who waited upon her while she was sick;
+    and named the different individuals who had been kindest to her.
+    She had seen Mother Ann in heaven, and had been introduced to
+    the brothers and sisters, and she gave a flattering account of
+    the happiness enjoyed in the other world. Another sister joined
+    in and corroborated these statements, and gave about the same
+    version of the message. After another song the coffin was
+    closed, put into a sleigh, and conveyed to the grave, and buried
+    without further ceremony.
+
+
+    A DAY OF SWEEPING AND SCRUBBING.
+
+    "An order was received from Mother Ann that a day should be set
+    apart for purification. I had no information of this great
+    solemnity until the previous evening, when the Elder announced
+    that to-morrow would be observed as a day for general
+    purification. 'The brothers must clean their respective
+    work-shops, by sweeping the walls, and removing every cobweb
+    from the corners and under their work-benches, and wash the
+    floors clean by scrubbing them with sand. By doing this they
+    would remove all the devils and wicked spirits that might be
+    lodging in the different buildings; for where cobwebs and dust
+    were permitted to accumulate, there the evil spirits hide
+    themselves. Mother had sent a message that there were evil
+    spirits lodging about; and she wished them to be removed; and
+    also that those members who had committed any wickedness, should
+    confess it, and thus make both outside and inside clean.'
+
+    "At early dawn next morning, the work commenced, and clean work
+    was made in every building and room, from the grand hall down to
+    the cow-house. At ten o'clock eight of the brothers, with the
+    Elders at their head, commenced their journey of inspection
+    through every field, garden, house, work-shop and pig-pen,
+    chanting the following rhyme as they passed along:
+
+    'Awake from your slumbers, for the Lord of Hosts is going through
+      the land!
+    He will sweep, He will clean his Holy Sanctuary!
+    Search ye your lamps! read and understand!
+    For the Lord of Hosts holds the lamp in his hand!'
+
+
+    A REVIVAL IN HADES.
+
+    "During my whole stay with the Shakers a revival was going on
+    among the spirits in the invisible world. Information of it was
+    first received by one of the families in Ohio, through a
+    heavenly messenger. The news of the revival soon spread from
+    Ohio to the families in New York and New England. It was caused
+    as follows: George Washington and most of the Revolutionary
+    fathers had, by some means, got converted, and were sent out on
+    a mission to preach the gospel to the spirits who were wandering
+    in darkness. Many of the wild Indian tribes were sent by them to
+    the different Shaker Communities, to receive instruction in the
+    gospel. One of the tribes came to Watervliet and was 'taken in,'
+    as I have described.
+
+    "At one of the Sunday meetings, when the several families were
+    met for worship, one of the brothers declared himself possessed
+    of the spirit of George Washington; and made a speech informing
+    us that Napoleon and all his Generals were present at our
+    meeting, together with many of his own officers, who fought with
+    him in the Revolution. These, as well as many more distinguished
+    personages, were all Shakers in the other world, and had been
+    sent to give information relative to the revival now going on.
+    In a few minutes each of the persons present at the meeting,
+    fell to representing some one of the great personages alluded
+    to.
+
+    "This revival commenced when I first went there; and during the
+    four months I remained, much of the members' time was spent in
+    such performances. It appeared to me, that whenever any of the
+    brethren or sisters wanted to have some fun, they got possessed
+    of spirits, and would go to cutting up capers; all of which were
+    tolerated even during the hours of labor, because whatever they
+    chose to do, was attributed to the spirits. When they became
+    affected they were conveyed to the Elder's room; and sometimes
+    he would have six or seven of them at once. The sisters who gave
+    vent to their frolicsome feelings, were of course attended to by
+    the Eldress. I might occupy great space if I were to go into the
+    details of these spiritual performances; but there was so much
+    similarity in them, that I must ask the reader to let the above
+    suffice."
+
+We have omitted many paragraphs of this narrative, relating to matters
+generally known through Shaker publications and others, and many
+personal details; our principal object being to give a view of some of
+the Shaker manifestations which seem to have been the first stage of
+Modern Spiritualism.
+
+The reader will notice that the date of these manifestations--the
+winter of 1842-3--coļncides with the focal period of the Fourier
+excitement (which, as we have seen, lapsed into Swedenborgianism, as
+that did into Spiritualism); also that, on the larger scale, the seven
+years of manifestations and closed doors designated by Evans, from
+1837 to 1844, coļncide with the epoch of Transcendentalism. In the
+times of the _Dial_ there was a noticeable liking for Shakerism among
+the Transcendentalists; and some of their leaders have lately shown
+signs of preferring Shakerism to Fourierism. We mention these
+coļncidences only as affording glimpses of connections and mysterious
+affinities, that we do not pretend to understand. Only we see that
+both forms of Socialism favored by the Transcendentalists--Shakerism
+and Fourierism--have contributed their whole volume to swell the flood
+of Spiritualism.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+
+THE ONEIDA COMMUNITY.
+
+
+Last of all, we must venture a sketch of the Association in the bosom
+of which, this history has been written and printed.
+
+The Oneida Community belongs to the class of religious Socialisms,
+and, so far as we know, is the only religious Community of American
+origin. Its founder and most of its members are descendants of New
+England Puritans, and were in early life converts and laborers in the
+Revivals of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches. As
+Unitarianism ripened into Transcendentalism at Boston, and
+Transcendentalism produced Brook Farm, so Orthodoxy ripened into
+Perfectionism at New Haven, and Perfectionism produced the Oneida
+Community.
+
+The story of the founder and foundations of the Oneida Community, told
+in the fewest possible words, is this:
+
+John Humphrey Noyes was born at Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1811. The
+great Finney Revival found him at twenty years of age, a college
+graduate, studying law, and sent him to study divinity, first at
+Andover and afterward at New Haven. Much study of the Bible, under
+the instructions of Moses Stuart, Edward Robinson and Nathaniel
+Taylor, and under the continued and increasing influence of the
+Revival afflatus, soon landed him in a new experience and new views of
+the way of salvation, which took the name of Perfectionism. This was
+in February, 1834. The next twelve years he spent in studying and
+teaching salvation from sin; chiefly at Putney, the residence of his
+father and family. Gradually a little school of believers gathered
+around him. His first permanent associates were his mother, two
+sisters, and a brother. Then came the wives of himself and his
+brother, and the husbands of his two sisters. Then came George Cragin
+and his family from New York, and from time to time other families and
+individuals from various places. They built a chapel, and devoted much
+of their time to study, and much of their means to printing. So far,
+however, they were not in form or theory Socialists, but only
+Revivalists. In fact, during the whole period of the Fourier
+excitement, though they read the _Harbinger_ and the _Present_ and
+watched the movement with great interest, they kept their position as
+simple believers in Christianity, and steadfastly criticised
+Fourierism. Nevertheless during these same years they were gradually
+and almost unconsciously evolving their own social theory, and
+preparing for the trial of it. Though they rejected Fourierism, they
+drank copiously of the spirit of the _Harbinger_ and of the
+Socialists; and have always acknowledged that they received a great
+impulse from Brook Farm. Thus the Oneida Community really issued from
+a conjunction between the Revivalism of Orthodoxy and the Socialism of
+Unitarianism. In 1846, after the fire at Brook Farm, and when
+Fourierism was manifestly passing away, the little church at Putney
+began cautiously to experiment in Communism. In the fall of 1847, when
+Brook Farm was breaking up, the Putney Community was also breaking up,
+but in the agonies, not of death, but of birth. Putney conservatism
+expelled it, and a Perfectionist Community, just begun at Oneida under
+the influence of the Putney school, received it.
+
+The story of the Community since it thus assumed its present name and
+form, has been told in various Annual Reports, Hand-books, and even in
+the newspapers and Encyclopędias, till it is in some sense public
+property. In the place of repeating it here, we will endeavor to give
+definite information on three points that are likely to be most
+interesting to the intelligent reader; viz: 1, the religious theory of
+the Community; 2, its social theory; and 3, its material results.
+
+As the early experiences of the Community were of two kinds, religious
+and social, so each of these experiences produced a book. The
+religious book, called _The Berean_, was printed at Putney in 1847,
+and consisted mainly of articles published in the periodicals of the
+Putney school during the previous twelve years. The socialistic book,
+called _Bible Communism_, was published in 1848, a few months after
+the settlement at Oneida, and was the frankest possible disclosure of
+the theory of entire Communism, for which the Community was then under
+persecution. Both of these books have long been out of print. Our best
+way to give a faithful representation of the religious and social
+theories of the Community in the shortest form, will be, to rehearse
+the contents of these books.
+
+
+_Religious Theory._
+
+[Table of Contents of _The Berean_ slightly expanded.]
+
+CHAPTER I. The Bible: showing that it is the accredited organ of the
+Kingdom of Heaven, and justifying faith in it by demonstrating, 1,
+that Christ endorsed the Old Testament; and 2, that the writers of the
+New Testament were the official representatives of Christ, so that his
+credit is identified with theirs.
+
+II. Infidelity among Reformers: tracing the history of the recent
+quarrel with the Bible in this country.
+
+III. The Moral Character of Unbelief: showing that it is voluntary and
+criminal.
+
+IV. The Harmony of Moses and Christ.
+
+V. The Ultimate Ground of Faith: showing that while we are at first
+led into believing by the teachings of men and books, we attain final
+solid faith only by direct spiritual insight.
+
+VI. The Guide of Interpretation: showing that the ultimate interpreter
+of the Bible is not the church, as the Papists hold, or the
+philologists, as the Protestants hold, but the Spirit of Truth
+promised in John 14: 26.
+
+VII. Objections of Anti-Spiritualists: a criticism of Coleridge's
+assertion that all pretensions to sensible experience of the Spirit
+are absurd.
+
+VIII. The Faith once Delivered to the Saints: showing that Bible faith
+is always and everywhere faith in supernatural facts and sensible
+communications from God.
+
+IX. The Age of Spiritualism: showing that the world is full of
+symptoms of the coming of a new era of spiritual discovery.
+
+X. The Spiritual Nature of Man: showing that man has an invisible
+organization that is as substantial as his body.
+
+XI. Animal Magnetism: showing that the phenomena of Mesmerism are as
+incredible as the Bible miracles.
+
+XII. The Divine Nature: showing that God is dual, and that man, as
+male and female, is made in the image of God.
+
+XIII. Creation: an act of God's faith.
+
+XIV. The Origin of Evil: showing that Christ's theory was that evil
+comes from the Devil as good comes from God.
+
+XV. The Parable of the Sower: illustrating the preceding doctrine.
+
+XVI. Parentage of Sin and Holiness: illustrating the same doctrine.
+
+XVII. The Cause and the Cure: showing that all diseases of body and
+soul are traceable to diabolical influence; and that all rational
+medication and salvation must overcome this cause.
+
+XVIII. The Atonement: showing that Christ, in the sacrifice of
+himself, destroyed the power of the Devil.
+
+XIX. The Cross of Christ: Continuation of the preceding.
+
+XX. Bread of Life: showing that the eucharist symbolizes actual
+participation in that flesh and blood of Christ "which came down from
+heaven."
+
+XXI. The New Covenant: showing that a dispensation of grace commenced
+at the manifestation of Christ, entirely different from the preceding
+Jewish dispensation.
+
+XXII. Salvation from Sin: showing that this was the special promise
+and gift of the new dispensation.
+
+XXIII. Perfectionism: defining the term as referring to God's
+righteousness, and not self-righteousness.
+
+XXIV. "He that Committeth Sin is of the Devil:" showing that this
+means what it says.
+
+XXV. Paul not Carnal: showing that he was an actual example of
+salvation from sin.
+
+XXVI. A Hint to Temperance Men: showing that the common interpretation
+of the seventh chapter of Romans, which refers the confession "When I
+would do good evil is present with me," etc., to Christian experience,
+exactly suits the drunkard, and is the greatest obstacle to all
+reform.
+
+XXVII. Paul's Views of Law: showing that while he was a champion of
+the law as a standard of righteousness, he had no faith in its power
+to secure its own fulfillment, but believed in the grace of Christ as
+the end of the law, saving men from sin, which the law could not do.
+
+XXVIII. Anti-Legality not Antinomianism: showing that the effectual
+government of God rules by grace and truth, and in displacing the law,
+fulfils the law.
+
+XXIX. Two Kinds of Antinomianism: showing that the worst kind is that
+which cleaves to the law of commandments, and neglects the law of the
+Spirit of life.
+
+XXX. The Second Birth: showing that this attainment includes salvation
+from sin, and was never experienced till the manifestation of Christ.
+
+XXXI. The Two-Fold Nature of the Second Birth: showing that the "water
+and spirit" which are the elements of it, are not material water and
+air, but truth and grace, or intellectual and spiritual influences.
+
+XXXII. Two Classes of Believers: showing that there were in the
+Primitive Church two distinct grades of experience: one that of the
+carnal believers, called nepioi; the other that of the regenerate,
+called _teleioi_.
+
+XXXIII. The Spiritual Man: showing that a stable mind, a loving heart
+and an unquenchable desire of progress, are the characteristics of the
+_teleioi_.
+
+XXXIV. Spiritual Puberty: illustrating regeneration by the change of
+life which takes place at natural puberty.
+
+XXXV. The Power of Christ's Resurrection: showing that regeneration,
+i.e. salvation from sin, comes by faith in the resurrection of Christ,
+communicating to the believer the same power that raised Christ from
+the dead.
+
+XXXVI. An Outline of all Experience: describing four grades, viz., 1,
+the natural state; 2, the legal state; 3, the spiritual state; 4, the
+glorified state.
+
+XXXVII. The Way into the Holiest: showing that the life given by
+Christ has opened new access to God.
+
+XXXVIII. Christian Faith: showing how it differs from Jewish faith;
+and how it is to be experienced.
+
+XXXIX. Settlement with the Past: showing the Judaistic character of
+the experiences of popular modern saints, and appealing from them to
+the standards and examples of the Primitive Church.
+
+XL. The Second Coming of Christ: showing that Christ predicted, and
+that the Primitive Church expected, this event to take place within
+one generation from his first coming; that all the signs of its
+approach which Christ foretold, actually came to pass before the close
+of the apostolic age; consequently that simple faith is compelled to
+affirm that he did come at the time appointed, and the mistake about
+the matter has not been in his predictions or the expectations of his
+disciples, but in the imaginations of the world as to the physical and
+public nature of the event.
+
+XLI. A Criticism of Stuart's Commentary on Romans 13: 11, and 2
+Thessalonians 2: 1-8: showing that the premature excitement of the
+Thessalonians, instead of disproving the theory that the Second Advent
+was near at that time, confirms it.
+
+XLII. "The Man of Sin:" showing that the diabolical power designated
+by this title, was already at work when the epistle to the
+Thessalonians was written; that Paul himself was withstanding it; and
+that on his departure it was fully manifested.
+
+XLIII. A Criticism of Robinson's Commentary on the 24th and 25th
+chapters of Matthew: showing that the Second Coming is the theme of
+discourse from the 29th verse of the 24th chapter to the 31st of the
+25th; and that then the prophecy passes to the subsequent reign of
+Christ and the general judgment.
+
+XLIV. A Criticism of the Rev. Messrs. Bush and Barnes's allegation
+that the Apostles were mistaken in their expectations of the Second
+Coming within their own lifetime.
+
+XLV. Date of the Apocalypse: showing that it was written before the
+destruction of Jerusalem.
+
+XLVI. Scope of the Apocalypse: showing that it relates to the same
+course of events as those predicted in the 24th and 25th of Matthew.
+
+XLVII. The Dispensation of the Fullness of Times: showing that, as the
+Second Advent with the first resurrection and judgment took place at
+the end of the times of the Jews, so there is to be a second
+resurrection and final judgment at the end of the "times of the
+Gentiles," or in the "dispensation of the fullness of times."
+
+XLVIII. The Millennium: showing that the period designated by this
+term is past.
+
+XLIX. The Two Witnesses.
+
+L. The First Resurrection.
+
+LI. A Criticism of Bush's Theory of the Resurrection.
+
+LII. The Keys of Death and Hell.
+
+LIII. Objections Answered. The two last chapters are a continuation of
+the controversy with Bush.
+
+LIV. Criticism of Ballou's Theory of the Resurrection.
+
+LV. Connection of Regeneration with the Resurrection: showing that
+regeneration or salvation from sin is the incipient stage of the
+resurrection.
+
+LVI. The Second Advent to the Soul: showing that there was an
+intermediate coming of Christ in the Holy Spirit, between his first
+personal coming and his second.
+
+LVII. The Throne of David: showing that Christ became king of heaven
+and earth _de jure_ and _de facto_ at the end of the Jewish
+dispensation.
+
+LVIII. The Birthright of Israel: showing that the Jews are, by God's
+perpetual covenant, the royal nation.
+
+LIX. The Sabbath.
+
+LX. Baptism.
+
+LXI. Marriage.
+
+LXII. Apostolical Succession: a criticism of the Oxford tracts.
+
+LXIII. Puritan Puseyism.
+
+LXIV. Unity of the kingdom of God.
+
+LXV. Peace Principles.
+
+LXVI. The Primary Reform: showing that salvation from sin is the
+foundation needed by all other reforms.
+
+LXVII. Leadings of the Spirit: showing that true inspiration does not
+make a man a fanatic or a puppet.
+
+LXVIII. The Doctrine of Disunity: aimed against a theory that
+prevailed among Perfectionists, similar to Warren's Individual
+Sovereignty.
+
+LXIX. Fiery Darts Quenched: showing that the failings and apostasies
+of Perfectionists are no argument against the doctrine of salvation
+from sin.
+
+LXX. The Love of Life: showing that the anxiety about the body that is
+encouraged by doctors and hygienists, is the central lust of the
+flesh.
+
+LXXI. Abolition of Death: to come in this world, as the last result of
+Christ's victory over sin and the Devil.
+
+LXXII. Condensation of Life: showing that the unity for which Christ
+prayed in John 17: 21-23, is to be the element of the good time
+coming, reconstructing all things and abolishing Death.
+
+LXXIII. Principalities and Powers: referring all our experience to the
+invisible hosts that are contending over us.
+
+LXXIV. Our Relations to the Primitive Church: showing that the
+original organization instituted by Christ and the apostles, is
+accessible to us, and that our main business as reformers is, to open
+communication with that heavenly body.
+
+
+_Social Theory._
+
+[Leading propositions of _Bible Communism_ slightly condensed.]
+
+CHAPTER I.--_Showing what is properly to be anticipated concerning the
+coming of the Kingdom of Heaven and its institutions on earth._
+
+PROPOSITION 1.--The Bible predicts the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven
+on earth. Dan. 2: 44. Isa. 25: 6-9.
+
+2.--The administration of the will of God in his kingdom on earth,
+will be the same as the administration of his will in heaven. Matt. 6:
+10. Eph. 1: 10.
+
+3.--In heaven God reigns over body, soul, and estate, without
+interference from human governments. Dan. 2: 44. 1 Cor. 15: 24, 25.
+Isa. 26: 13, 14, and 33: 22.
+
+4.--The institutions of the Kingdom of Heaven are of such a nature,
+that the general disclosure of them in the apostolic age would have
+been inconsistent with the continuance of the institutions of the
+world through the times of the Gentiles. They were not, therefore,
+brought out in detail on the surface of the Bible, but were disclosed
+verbally by Paul and others, to the interior part of the church. 1
+Cor. 2: 6. 2 Cor. 12: 4. John 16: 12, 13. Heb. 9: 5.
+
+
+CHAPTER II.--_Showing that Marriage is not an institution of the
+Kingdom of Heaven, and must give place to Communism._
+
+PROPOSITION 5.--In the Kingdom of Heaven, the institution of marriage,
+which assigns the exclusive possession of one woman to one man, does
+not exist. Matt. 22: 23-30.
+
+6.--In the Kingdom of Heaven the intimate union of life and interest,
+which in the world is limited to pairs, extends through the whole body
+of believers; i.e. complex marriage takes the place of simple. John
+17: 21. Christ prayed that all believers might be one, even as he and
+the Father are one. His unity with the Father is defined in the words,
+"All mine are thine, and all thine are mine." Ver. 10. This perfect
+community of interests, then, will be the condition of all, when his
+prayer is answered. The universal unity of the members of Christ, is
+described in the same terms that are used to describe marriage unity.
+Compare 1 Cor. 12: 12-27, with Gen. 2: 24. See also 1 Cor. 6: 15-17,
+and Eph. 5: 30-32.
+
+7.--The effects of the effusion of the Holy Spirit on the day of
+Pentecost, present a practical commentary on Christ's prayer for the
+unity of believers, and a sample of the tendency of heavenly
+influences, which fully confirm the foregoing proposition. "All that
+believed were together and had all things common; and sold their
+possessions and goods, and parted them to all, as every man had need."
+"The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one
+soul; neither said any of them that aught of the things which he
+possessed was his own; but they had all things common." Acts 2: 44,
+45, and 4: 32. Here is unity like that of the Father and the Son: "All
+mine thine, and all thine mine."
+
+8.--Admitting that the Community principle of the day of Pentecost, in
+its actual operation at that time, extended only to material goods,
+yet we affirm that there is no intrinsic difference between property
+in persons and property in things; and that the same spirit which
+abolished exclusiveness in regard to money, would abolish, if
+circumstances allowed full scope to it, exclusiveness in regard to
+women and children. Paul expressly places property in women and
+property in goods in the same category, and speaks of them together,
+as ready to be abolished by the advent of the Kingdom of Heaven. "The
+time," says he, "is short; it remaineth that they that have wives be
+as though they had none; and they that buy as though they possessed
+not; for the fashion of this world passeth away." 1 Cor. 7: 29-31.
+
+9.--The abolishment of appropriation is involved in the very nature
+of a true relation to Christ in the gospel. This we prove thus: The
+possessive feeling which expresses itself by the possessive pronoun
+_mine_, is the same in essence when it relates to persons, as when it
+relates to money or any other property. Amativeness and
+acquisitiveness are only different channels of one stream. They
+converge as we trace them to their source. Grammar will help us to
+ascertain their common center; for the possessive pronoun _mine_, is
+derived from the personal pronoun _I_; and so the possessive feeling,
+whether amative or acquisitive, flows from the personal feeling, that
+is, it is a branch of egotism. Now egotism is abolished by the gospel
+relation to Christ. The grand mystery of the gospel is vital union
+with Christ; the merging of self in his life; the extinguishment of
+the pronoun _I_ at the spiritual center. Thus Paul says, "I live, yet
+not I, but Christ liveth in me." The grand distinction between the
+Christian and the unbeliever, between heaven and the world, is, that
+in one reigns the We-spirit, and in the other the I-spirit. From _I_
+comes _mine_, and from the I-spirit comes exclusive appropriation of
+money, women, etc. From _we_ comes _ours_, and from the We-spirit
+comes universal community of interests.
+
+10.--The abolishment of exclusiveness is involved in the love-relation
+required between all believers by the express injunction of Christ and
+the apostles, and by the whole tenor of the New Testament. "The new
+commandment is, that we love one another," and that, not by pairs, as
+in the world, but _en masse_. We are required to love one another
+fervently. The fashion of the world forbids a man and woman who are
+otherwise appropriated, to love one another fervently. But if they
+obey Christ they must do this; and whoever would allow them to do
+this, and yet would forbid them (on any other ground than that of
+present expediency), to express their unity, would "strain at a gnat
+and swallow a camel;" for unity of hearts is as much more important
+than any external expression of it, as a camel is larger than a gnat.
+
+11.--The abolishment of social restrictions is involved in the
+anti-legality of the gospel. It is incompatible with the state of
+perfected freedom toward which Paul's gospel of "grace without law"
+leads, that man should be allowed and required to love in all
+directions, and yet be forbidden to express love except in one
+direction. In fact Paul says, with direct reference to sexual
+intercourse--"All things are lawful for me, but all things are not
+expedient; all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought
+under the power of any;" (1 Cor. 6: 12;) thus placing the restrictions
+which were necessary in the transition period on the basis, not of
+law, but of expediency and the demands of spiritual freedom, and
+leaving it fairly to be inferred that in the final state, when hostile
+surroundings and powers of bondage cease, all restrictions also will
+cease.
+
+12.--The abolishment of the marriage system is involved in Paul's
+doctrine of the end of ordinances. Marriage is one of the "ordinances
+of the worldly sanctuary." This is proved by the fact that it has no
+place in the resurrection. Paul expressly limits it to life in the
+flesh. Rom. 7: 2, 3. The assumption, therefore, that believers are
+dead to the world by the death of Christ (which authorized the
+abolishment of Jewish ordinances), legitimately makes an end of
+marriage. Col. 2: 20.
+
+13.--The law of marriage is the same in kind with the Jewish law
+concerning meats and drinks and holy days, of which Paul said that
+they were "contrary to us, and were taken out of the way, being nailed
+to the cross." Col. 2: 14. The plea in favor of the worldly social
+system, that it is not arbitrary, but founded in nature, will not bear
+investigation. All experience testifies (the theory of the novels to
+the contrary notwithstanding), that sexual love is not naturally
+restricted to pairs. Second marriages are contrary to the one-love
+theory, and yet are often the happiest marriages. Men and women find
+universally (however the fact may be concealed), that their
+susceptibility to love is not burnt out by one honey-moon, or
+satisfied by one lover. On the contrary, the secret history of the
+human heart will bear out the assertion that it is capable of loving
+any number of times and any number of persons, and that the more it
+loves the more it can love. This is the law of nature, thrust out of
+sight and condemned by common consent, and yet secretly known to all.
+
+14.--The law of marriage "worketh wrath." 1. It provokes to secret
+adultery, actual or of the heart. 2. It ties together unmatched
+natures. 3. It sunders matched natures. 4. It gives to sexual appetite
+only a scanty and monotonous allowance, and so produces the natural
+vices of poverty, contraction of taste and stinginess or jealousy. 5.
+It makes no provision for the sexual appetite at the very time when
+that appetite is the strongest. By the custom of the world, marriage,
+in the average of cases, takes place at about the age of twenty-four;
+whereas puberty commences at the age of fourteen. For ten years,
+therefore, and that in the very flush of life, the sexual appetite is
+starved. This law of society bears hardest on females, because they
+have less opportunity of choosing their time of marriage than men.
+This discrepancy between the marriage system and nature, is one of the
+principal sources of the peculiar diseases of women, of prostitution,
+masturbation, and licentiousness in general.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.--_Showing that death is to be abolished, and that, to
+this end, there must be a restoration of true relations between the
+Sexes._
+
+PROPOSITION 15.--The Kingdom of Heaven is destined to abolish death in
+this world. Rom. 8: 19-25. 1. Cor. 15: 24-26. Isa. 25: 8.
+
+16.--The abolition of death is to be the last triumph of the Kingdom
+of Heaven; and the subjection of all other powers to Christ must go
+before it. 1 Cor. 15: 24-26. Isa. 33: 22-24.
+
+17.--The restoration of true relations between the sexes is a matter
+second in importance only to the reconciliation of man to God. The
+distinction of male and female is that which makes man the image of
+God, i.e. the image of the Father and the Son. Gen. 1: 27. The
+relation of male and female was the first social relation. Gen. 2: 22.
+It is therefore the root of all other social relations. The
+derangement of this relation was the first result of the original
+breach with God. Gen. 3: 7; comp. 2: 25. Adam and Eve were, at the
+beginning, in open, fearless, spiritual fellowship, first with God,
+and secondly, with each other. Their transgression produced two
+corresponding alienations, viz., first, an alienation from God,
+indicated by their fear of meeting him and their hiding themselves
+among the trees of the garden; and secondly, an alienation from each
+other, indicated by their shame at their nakedness and their hiding
+themselves from each other by clothing. These were the two great
+manifestations of original sin--the only manifestations presented to
+notice in the record of the apostacy. The first thing then to be done,
+in an attempt to redeem man and reörganize society, is to bring about
+reconciliation with God; and the second thing is to bring about a true
+union of the sexes. In other words, religion is the first subject of
+interest, and sexual morality the second, in the great enterprise of
+establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
+
+18.--We may criticise the system of the Fourierists, thus: The chain
+of evils which holds humanity in ruin, has four links, viz., 1st, a
+breach with God; (Gen. 3: 8;) 2d, a disruption of the sexes, involving
+a special curse on woman; (Gen. 3: 16;) 3d, the curse of oppressive
+labor, bearing specially on man; (Gen. 3: 17-19;) 4th, the reign of
+disease and death. (Gen. 3: 22-24.) These are all inextricably
+complicated with each other. The true scheme of redemption begins with
+reconciliation with God, proceeds first to a restoration of true
+relations between the sexes, then to a reform of the industrial
+system, and ends with victory over death. Fourierism has no eye to the
+final victory over death, defers attention to the religious question
+and the sexual question till some centuries hence, and confines itself
+to the rectifying of the industrial system. In other words, Fourierism
+neither begins at the beginning nor looks to the end of the chain, but
+fastens its whole interest on the third link, neglecting two that
+precede it, and ignoring that which follows it. The sin-system, the
+marriage-system, the work-system, and the death-system, are all one,
+and must be abolished together. Holiness, free-love, association in
+labor, and immortality, constitute the chain of redemption, and must
+come together in their true order.
+
+19.--From what precedes, it is evident that any attempt to
+revolutionize sexual morality before settlement with God, is out of
+order. Holiness must go before free love. Bible Communists are not
+responsible for the proceedings of those who meddle with the sexual
+question, before they have laid the foundation of true faith and union
+with God.
+
+20.--Dividing the sexual relation into two branches, the amative and
+propagative, the amative or love-relation is first in importance, as
+it is in the order of nature. God made woman because "he saw it was
+not good for man to be alone;" (Gen. 2: 18); i.e., for social, not
+primarily for propagative, purposes. Eve was called Adam's
+"help-meet." In the whole of the specific account of the creation of
+woman, she is regarded as his companion, and her maternal office is
+not brought into view. Gen. 2: 18-25. Amativeness was necessarily the
+first social affection developed in the garden of Eden. The second
+commandment of the eternal law of love, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor
+as thyself," had amativeness for its first channel; for Eve was at
+first Adam's only neighbor. Propagation and the affections connected
+with it, did not commence their operation during the period of
+innocence. After the fall God said to the woman, "I will greatly
+multiply thy sorrow and thy conception;" from which it is to be
+inferred that in the original state, conception would have been
+comparatively infrequent.
+
+21.--The amative part of the sexual relation, separate from the
+propagative, is eminently favorable to life. It is not a source of
+life (as some would make it), but it is the first and best
+distributive of life. Adam and Eve, in their original state, derived
+their life from God. Gen. 2: 7. As God is a dual being, the Father and
+the Son, and man was made in his image, a dual life passed from God to
+man. Adam was the channel specially of the life of the Father, and Eve
+of the life of the Son. Amativeness was the natural agency of the
+distribution and mutual action of these two forms of life. In this
+primitive position of the sexes (which is their normal position in
+Christ), each reflects upon the other the love of God; each excites
+and develops the divine action in the other.
+
+22.--The propagative part of the sexual relation is in its nature the
+expensive department. 1. While amativeness keeps the capital stock of
+life circulating between two, propagation introduces a third partner.
+
+2. The propagative act is a drain on the life of man, and when
+habitual, produces disease. 3. The infirmities and vital expenses of
+woman during the long period of pregnancy, waste her constitution. 4.
+The awful agonies of child-birth heavily tax the life of woman. 5. The
+cares of the nursing period bear heavily on woman. 6. The cares of
+both parents, through the period of the childhood of their offspring,
+are many and burdensome. 7. The labor of man is greatly increased by
+the necessity of providing for children. A portion of these expenses
+would undoubtedly have been curtailed, if human nature had remained in
+its original integrity, and will be, when it is restored. But it is
+still self-evident that the birth of children, viewed either as a
+vital or a mechanical operation, is in its nature expensive; and the
+fact that multiplied conception was imposed as a curse, indicates
+that it was so regarded by the Creator.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.--_Showing how the Sexual Function is to be redeemed, and
+true relations between the sexes restored._
+
+PROPOSITION 23.--The amative and propagative functions are distinct
+from each other, and may be separated practically. They are confounded
+in the world, both in the theories of physiologists and in universal
+practice. The amative function is regarded merely as a bait to the
+propagative, and is merged in it. But if amativeness is, as we have
+seen, the first and noblest of the social affections, and if the
+propagative part of the sexual relation was originally secondary, and
+became paramount by the subversion of order in the fall, we are bound
+to raise the amative office of the sexual organs into a distinct and
+paramount function. [Here follows a full exposition of the doctrine of
+self-control or Male Continence, which is an essential part of the
+Oneida theory, but may properly be omitted in this history.]
+
+
+CHAPTER V.--_Showing that Shame, instead of being one of the prime
+virtues, is a part of original Sin and belongs to the Apostasy._
+
+PROPOSITION 24.--Sexual shame was the consequence of the fall, and is
+factitious and irrational. Gen. 2: 25; compare 3: 7. Adam and Eve,
+while innocent, had no shame; little children have none; other animals
+have none.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.--_Showing the bearings of the preceding views on
+Socialism, Political Economy, Manners and Customs, etc._
+
+PROPOSITION 25.--The foregoing principles concerning the sexual
+relation, open the way for Association. 1. They furnish motives. They
+apply to larger partnerships the same attractions that draw and bind
+together pairs in the worldly partnership of marriage. A Community
+home in which each is married to all, and where love is honored and
+cultivated, will be as much more attractive than an ordinary home, as
+the Community out-numbers a pair. 2. These principles remove the
+principal obstructions in the way of Association. There is plenty of
+tendency to crossing love and adultery, even in the system of isolated
+households. Association increases this tendency. Amalgamation of
+interests, frequency of interview, and companionship in labor,
+inevitably give activity and intensity to the social attractions in
+which amativeness is the strongest element. The tendency to
+extra-matrimonial love will be proportioned to the condensation of
+interests produced by any given form of Association; that is, if the
+ordinary principles of exclusiveness are preserved, Association will
+be a worse school of temptation to unlawful love than the world is, in
+proportion to its social advantages. Love, in the exclusive form, has
+jealousy for its complement; and jealousy brings on strife and
+division. Association, therefore, if it retains one-love
+exclusiveness, contains the seeds of dissolution; and those seeds will
+be hastened to their harvest by the warmth of associate life. An
+Association of States with custom-house lines around each, is sure to
+be quarrelsome. The further States in that situation are apart, and
+the more their interests are isolated, the better. The only way to
+prevent smuggling and strife in a confederation of contiguous States,
+is to abolish custom-house lines from the interior, and declare
+free-trade and free transit, collecting revenues and fostering home
+products by one custom-house line around the whole. This is the policy
+of the heavenly system--'that they _all_ [not two and two] may be
+one.'
+
+26.--In vital society, strength will be increased and the necessity of
+labor diminished, till work will become sport, as it would have been
+in the original Eden state. Gen. 2: 15; compare 3: 17-19. Here we come
+to the field of the Fourierists--the third link of the chain of evil.
+And here we shall doubtless ultimately avail ourselves of many of the
+economical and industrial discoveries of Fourier. But as the
+fundamental principle of our system differs entirely from that of
+Fourier, (our foundation being his superstructure, and _vice versa_,)
+and as every system necessarily has its own complement of external
+arrangements, conformed to its own genius, we will pursue our
+investigations for the present independently, and with special
+reference to our peculiar principles.--Labor is sport or drudgery
+according to the proportion between strength and the work to be done.
+Work that overtasks a child, is easy to a man. The amount of work
+remaining the same, if man's strength were doubled, the result would
+be the same as if the amount of work were diminished one-half. To make
+labor sport, therefore, we must seek, first, increase of strength, and
+secondly, diminution of work: or, (as in the former problem relating
+to the curse on woman), first, enlargement of income, and secondly,
+diminution of expenses. Vital society secures both of these objects.
+It increases strength, by placing the individual in a vital
+organization, which is in communication with the source of life, and
+which distributes and circulates life with the highest activity; and
+at the same time, by its compound economies, it reduces the work to
+be done to a minimum.
+
+27.--In vital society labor will become attractive. Loving
+companionship in labor, and especially the mingling of the sexes,
+makes labor attractive. The present division of labor between the
+sexes separates them entirely. The woman keeps house, and the man
+labors abroad. Instead of this, in vital society men and women will
+mingle in both of their peculiar departments of work. It will be
+economically as well as spiritually profitable, to marry them in-doors
+and out, by day as well as by night. When the partition between the
+sexes is taken away, and man ceases to make woman a propagative
+drudge, when love takes the place of shame, and fashion follows nature
+in dress and business, men and women will be able to mingle in all
+their employments, as boys and girls mingle in their sports; and then
+labor will be attractive.
+
+28.--We can now see our way to victory over death. Reconciliation with
+God opens the way for the reconciliation of the sexes. Reconciliation
+of the sexes emancipates woman, and opens the way for vital society.
+Vital society increases strength, diminishes work, and makes labor
+attractive, thus removing the antecedents of death. First we abolish
+sin; then shame; then the curse on woman of exhausting child-bearing;
+then the curse on man of exhausting labor; and so we arrive regularly
+at the tree of life.
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.--_A concluding Caveat, that ought to be noted by every
+Reader of the foregoing Argument._
+
+PROPOSITION 29.--The will of God is done in heaven, and of course will
+be done in his kingdom on earth, not merely by general obedience to
+constitutional principles, but by specific obedience to the
+administration of his Spirit. The constitution of a nation is one
+thing, and the living administration of government is another.
+Ordinary theology directs attention chiefly, and almost exclusively,
+to the constitutional principles of God's government; and the same may
+be said of Fourierism, and all schemes of reform based on the
+development of "natural laws." But as loyal subjects of God, we must
+give and call attention to his actual administration; i.e., to his
+will directly manifested by his Spirit and the agents of his Spirit,
+viz., his officers and representatives. We must look to God, not only
+for a Constitution, but for Presidential outlook and counsel; for a
+cabinet and corps of officers; for national aims and plans; for
+direction, not only in regard to principles to be carried out, but in
+regard to time and circumstance in carrying them out. In other words,
+the men who are called to usher in the Kingdom of God, will be guided,
+not merely by theoretical truth, but by the Spirit of God and specific
+manifestations of his will and policy, as were Abraham, Moses, David,
+Jesus Christ, Paul, &c. This will be called a fanatical principle,
+because it requires _bona fide_ communication with the heavens, and
+displaces the sanctified maxim that the "age of miracles and
+inspiration is past." But it is clearly a Bible principle; and we must
+place it on high, above all others, as the palladium of conservatism
+in the introduction of the new social order.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Two expressions occur in the foregoing summaries which need some
+explanation; viz., in the first, the word _Spiritualist_; and in the
+second, the term _Free Love_. Without explanation, the modern reader
+might suppose these expressions to be used in the sense commonly
+attached to them at the present time. But if he will consider that the
+articles in _The Berean_ were first published long before the birth of
+Modern Spiritualism, and that _Bible Communism_ was published long
+before the birth of Free Love among Spiritualists, he will see that
+these expressions do not mean in the above documents, what they mean
+in popular usage, and do not in any way connect the Oneida Community
+with Modern Spiritualists, or with their system of Free Love. The
+simple truth is, that the Putney school invented the term
+_Spiritualist_ to designate all believers in immediate communication
+with the spiritual world, referring at the time specially to
+Perfectionists and Revivalists, and marking the distinction between
+them and the legalists of the churches; and they invented the term
+_Free Love_ to designate the social state of the Kingdom of Heaven as
+defined in _Bible Communism_. Afterward these terms were appropriated
+and specialized by the followers of Andrew Jackson Davis and Thomas L.
+Nichols. The Oneida Communists have for many years printed and
+re-printed in their various publications the following protest, which
+may fitly close this account of their religious and social theories:
+
+    FREE LOVE.
+
+    [From the _Hand-Book_ of the Oneida Community.]
+
+    "This terrible combination of two very good ideas--freedom and
+    love--was first used by the writers of the Oneida Community
+    about twenty-one years ago, and probably originated with them.
+    It was however soon taken up by a very different class of
+    speculators scattered about the country, and has come to be the
+    name of a form of socialism with which we have but little
+    affinity. Still it is sometimes applied to our Communities; and
+    as we are certainly responsible for starting it into
+    circulation, it seems to be our duty to tell what meaning we
+    attach to it, and in what sense we are willing to accept it as a
+    designation of our social system.
+
+    "The obvious and essential difference between marriage and
+    licentious connections may be stated thus:
+
+    "Marriage is permanent union. Licentiousness deals in temporary
+    flirtations.
+
+    "In marriage, Communism of property goes with Communism of
+    persons. In licentiousness, love is paid for as hired labor.
+
+    "Marriage makes a man responsible for the consequences of his
+    acts of love to a woman. In licentiousness, a man imposes on a
+    woman the heavy burdens of maternity, ruining perhaps her
+    reputation and her health, and then goes his way without
+    responsibility.
+
+    "Marriage provides for the maintenance and education of
+    children. Licentiousness ignores children as nuisances, and
+    leaves them to chance.
+
+    "Now in respect to every one of these points of difference
+    between marriage and licentiousness, _we stand with marriage_.
+    Free Love with us does _not_ mean freedom to love to-day and
+    leave to-morrow; nor freedom to take a woman's person and keep
+    our property to ourselves; nor freedom to freight a woman with
+    our offspring and send her down stream without care or help; nor
+    freedom to beget children and leave them to the street and the
+    poor-house. Our Communities are _families_, as distinctly
+    bounded and separated from promiscuous society as ordinary
+    households. The tie that binds us together is as permanent and
+    sacred, to say the least, as that of marriage, for it is our
+    religion. We receive no members (except by deception or
+    mistake), who do not give heart and hand to the family interest
+    for life and forever. Community of property extends just as far
+    as freedom of love. Every man's care and every dollar of the
+    common property is pledged for the maintenance and protection of
+    the women, and the education of the children of the Community.
+    Bastardy, in any disastrous sense of the word, is simply
+    impossible in such a social state. Whoever will take the trouble
+    to follow our track from the beginning, will find no forsaken
+    women or children by the way. In this respect we claim to be in
+    advance of marriage and common civilization.
+
+    "We are not sure how far the class of socialists called 'Free
+    Lovers' would claim for themselves any thing like the above
+    defense from the charge of reckless and cruel freedom; but our
+    impression is that their position, scattered as they are,
+    without organization or definite separation from surrounding
+    society, makes it impossible for them to follow and care for the
+    consequences of their freedom, and thus exposes them to the just
+    charge of licentiousness. At all events their platform is
+    entirely different from ours, and they must answer for
+    themselves. _We_ are not 'Free Lovers' in any sense that makes
+    love less binding or responsible than it is in marriage."[C]
+
+_Material Results._
+
+The concrete results of Communism at Oneida, have been made public
+from time to time in the _Circular_, the weekly paper of the
+Community. The "journal" columns of this sheet, in which are given the
+ups and downs of Community progress, with much of the gossip of its
+home life, would fill several volumes. Referring the inquisitive
+reader to these for details, we shall limit our present sketch to the
+main outlines:
+
+    The Oneida Community has two hundred and two members, and two
+    affiliated societies, one of forty members at Wallingford,
+    Connecticut, and one of thirty-five members at Willow Place, on
+    a detached part of the Oneida domain. This domain consists of
+    six hundred and sixty-four acres of choice land, and three
+    excellent water-powers. The manufacturing interest here created
+    is valued at over $200,000. The Wallingford domain consists of
+    two hundred and twenty-eight acres, with a water-power, a
+    printing-office and a silk-factory. The three Community families
+    (in all two hundred and seventy-seven persons) are financially
+    and socially a unit.
+
+The main dwelling of the Community is a brick structure consisting of
+a center and two wings, the whole one hundred and eighty-seven feet in
+length, by seventy in breadth. It has towers at either end and
+irregular extensions reaching one hundred feet in the rear. This is
+the Community Home. It contains the chapel, library, reception-room,
+museum, principal drawing-rooms, and many private apartments. The
+other buildings of the group are the "old mansion," containing the
+kitchen and dining-room, the Tontine, which is a work-building, the
+fruit-house, the store, etc. The manufacturing buildings in
+connection with the water-powers are large, and mostly of brick. The
+organic principle of Communism in industry and domestic life, is seen
+in the common roof, the common table, and the daily meetings of all
+the members.
+
+The extent and variety of industrial operations at the Oneida
+Community may be seen in part by the following statistics from the
+report of last year, (1868.)
+
+    No. of steel traps manufactured during the year,       278,000.
+     "  "  packages of preserved fruits,                   104,458.
+    Amount of raw silk manufactured,                     4,664 lbs.
+    Iron cast at the foundry,                           227,000 do.
+    Lumber manufactured at saw-mill,                  305,000 feet.
+    Product of milk from the dairy,                 31,143 gallons.
+      "     "  hay on the domain,                         300 tons.
+      "     "  potatoes,                               800 bushels.
+      "     "  strawberries,                                740 do.
+      "     "  apples,                                    1,450 do.
+      "     "  grapes,                                   9,631 lbs.
+
+Stock on the farm, 93 cattle and 25 horses. Amount of teaming done,
+valued at $6,260.
+
+In addition to these, many branches of industry necessary for the
+convenience of the family are pursued, such as shoemaking, tailoring,
+dentistry, etc. The cash business of the Community during the year, as
+represented by its receipts and disbursements, was about $575,000.
+Amount paid for hired labor $34,000. Family expenses (exclusive of
+domestic labor by the members, teaching, and work in the printing
+office), $41,533.43.
+
+The amount of labor performed by the Community members during the
+year, was found to be approximately as follows:
+
+                           Number.  Amount of labor per day.
+    Able-bodied men.         80        7 hours
+        "       women.       84        6   "    40 min.
+    Invalid and aged men      6        3   "    40 "
+    Boys                      4        3   "    40 "
+    Invalid and aged women    9        1   "    20 "
+    Girls                     2        1   "    20 "
+
+This is exclusive of care of children, school-teaching, printing and
+editing the _Circular_, and much head-work in all departments.
+
+Taking 304 days for the working year, we have, as a product of the
+above figures, a total of 35,568 days' work at ten hours each.
+Supposing this labor to be paid at the rate of $1.50 per day, the
+aggregate sum for the year would be $53,352.00. By comparing this with
+the amount of family expenses, $41,533.43, we find, at the given rate
+of wages, a surplus of profit amounting to $11,818.57, or 33 cents
+profit for each person per day. This represents the saving which
+ordinary unskilled labor would make by means of the mere economy of
+Association. Were it possible for a skillful mechanic to live in
+co-operation with others, so that his wife and elder children could
+spend some time at productive labor, and his family could secure the
+economies of combined households, their wages at present rates would
+be more than double the cost of living. Labor in the Community being
+principally of the higher class, is proportionately rewarded, and in
+fact earns much more than $1.50 per day.
+
+The entire financial history of the Community in brief is the
+following: It commenced business at its present location in 1848, but
+did not adopt the practice of taking annual inventories till 1857. Of
+the period between these dates we can give but a general account. The
+Community in the course of that period had five or six branches with
+common interests, scattered in several States. The "Property
+Register," kept from the beginning, shows that the amount of property
+brought in by the members of all the Communities, up to January 1,
+1857, was $107,706.45. The amount held at Oneida at that date, as
+stated in the first regular inventory, was only $41,740. The branch
+Communities at Putney, Wallingford and elsewhere, at the same time had
+property valued at $25,532.22. So that the total assets of the
+associated Communities were $67,272.22, or $40,434.23 less than the
+amount brought in by the members. In other words between the years
+1848 and 1857, the associated Communities sunk (in round numbers)
+$40,000. Various causes may be assigned for this, such as
+inexperience, lack of established business, persecutions and
+extortions, the burning of the Community store, the sinking of the
+sloop Rebecca Ford in the Hudson River, the maintenance of an
+expensive printing family at Brooklyn, the publication of a free
+paper, etc.
+
+In the course of several years previous to 1857, the Community
+abandoned the policy of working in scattered detachments, and
+concentrated its forces at Oneida and Wallingford. From the first of
+January 1857, when its capital was $41,740, to the present time, the
+progress of its money-matters is recorded in the following statistics,
+drawn from its annual inventories:
+
+    In 1857, net earnings,  $5,470.11
+     " 1858,  "     "        1,763.60
+     " 1859,  "     "       10,278.38
+     " 1860,  "     "       15,611.03
+     " 1861,  "     "        5,877.89
+     " 1862,  "     "        9,859.78
+     " 1863,  "     "       44.755.30
+     " 1864,  "     "       61,382.62
+     " 1865,  "     "       12,382.81
+     " 1866,  "     "       13,198.74
+
+Total net earnings in ten years, $180,580.26; being a yearly average
+income of $18,058.02, above all expenses. The succeeding inventories
+show the following result:
+
+  Net earnings in 1867, $21,416.02.
+  Net earnings in 1868, $55,100.83.
+
+being an average for the last two years of over $38,000 per annum.
+
+During the year 1869 the following steps forward have been taken: 1,
+an entire wing has been added to the brick Mansion House, for the use
+of the children; 2, apparatus for heating the whole by steam has been
+introduced; 3, a building has been erected for an Academy, and
+systematic home-education has commenced; 4, silk-weaving has been
+introduced at Willow Place; 5, the manufacture of silk-twist has been
+established at Wallingford; 6, the Communities at Oneida and
+Wallingford have been more thoroughly consolidated than heretofore; 7,
+this book on _American Socialisms_ has been prepared at Oneida and
+printed at Wallingford.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[C] We observe that the account of the Oneida Community given in the
+Supplement to Chambers' Encyclopędia, begins thus: "_Perfectionists_ or
+_Bible Communists_; popularly known as Free Lovers or preachers of Free
+Love." The whole article, covering several pages, is very careless in
+its geographical and other details, and not altogether reliable in its
+statements of the doctrines and morals of the Communists. As materials
+that get into Encyclopędias may be presumed to be crystallizing for
+final history, it is to be hoped that the Messrs. Chambers will at least
+get this article corrected by some intelligent American, for future
+editions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+REVIEW AND RESULTS.
+
+
+Looking back now over the entire course of this history, we discover a
+remarkable similarity in the symptoms that manifested themselves in
+the transitory Communities, and almost entire unanimity in the
+witnesses who testify as to the causes of their failure. GENERAL
+DEPRAVITY, all say, is the villain of the whole story.
+
+In the first place Macdonald himself, after "seeing stern reality,"
+confesses that in his previous hopes of Socialism he "had imagined
+mankind better than they are."
+
+Then Owen, accounting for the failure at New Harmony, says, "he wanted
+honesty, and he got dishonesty; he wanted temperance, and instead he
+was continually troubled with the intemperate; he wanted cleanliness,
+and he found dirt," and so on.
+
+The Yellow Spring Community, though composed of "a very superior
+class," found in the short space of three months, that "self-love was
+a spirit that would not be exorcised. Individual happiness was the law
+of nature, and it could not be obliterated; and before a single year
+had passed, this law had scattered the members of that society which
+had come together so earnestly and under such favorable circumstances,
+back into the selfish world from which they came."
+
+The trustees of the Nashoba Community, in abandoning Frances Wright's
+original plan of common property, acknowledge their conviction that
+such a system can not succeed "without the members composing it are
+superior beings. That which produces in the world only common-place
+jealousies and every-day squabbles, is sufficient to destroy a
+Community."
+
+The spokesman of the Haverstraw Community at first attributes their
+failure to the "dishonesty of the managers;" but afterward settles
+down into the more general complaint that they lacked "men and women
+of skillful industry, sober and honest, with a knowledge of themselves
+and a disposition to command and be commanded," and intimates that
+"the sole occupation of the men and women they had, was parade and
+talk."
+
+The historian of the Coxsackie Community says "they had many persons
+engaged in talking and law-making, who did not work at any useful
+employment. The consequences were, that after struggling on for
+between one and two years, the experiment came to an end. There were
+few good men to steer things right."
+
+Warren found that the friction that spoiled his experiments was "the
+want of common honesty."
+
+Ballou complained that "the timber he got together was not suitable
+for building a Community. The men and women that joined him were very
+enthusiastic and commenced with great zeal; their devotion to the
+cause seemed to be sincere; but they did not know themselves."
+
+At the meetings that dissolved the Northampton Community, "some spoke
+of the want of that harmony and brotherly feeling, which were
+indispensable to success; others spoke of the unwillingness to make
+sacrifices on the part of some of the members; also of the lack of
+industry and the right appropriation of time."
+
+Collins lived in a quarrel with a rival during nearly the whole life
+of his Community, and finally gave up the experiment from "a
+conviction that the theory of Communism could not be carried out in
+practice; that the attempt was premature, the time had not yet
+arrived, and the necessary conditions did not yet exist." His
+experience led him to the conclusion that "there is floating upon the
+surface of society, a body of restless, disappointed, jealous,
+indolent spirits, disgusted with our present social system, not
+because it enchains the masses to poverty, ignorance, vice, and
+endless servitude; but because they can not render it subservient to
+their private ends. Experience shows that this class stands ready to
+mount every new movement that promises ease, abundance, and individual
+freedom; and that when such an enterprise refuses to interpret license
+for freedom, and insists that every member shall make their strength,
+skill and talent, subservient to the movement, then the cry of tyranny
+and oppression is raised against those who advocate such industry and
+self-denial; then the enterprise must become a scape-goat, to bear the
+fickleness, indolence, selfishness, and envy of this class."
+
+The testimony in regard to the Sylvania Association is, that "young
+men wasted the good things at the commencement of the experiment; and
+besides victuals, dry-goods supplied by the Association were unequally
+obtained. Idle and greedy people find their way into such attempts,
+and soon show forth their character by burdening others with too much
+labor, and, in times of scarcity, supplying themselves with more than
+their allowance of various necessaries, instead of taking less."
+
+The failure of the One Mentian Community is attributed to "ignorance
+and disagreements," and that of the Social Reform Unity to "lack of
+wisdom and general preparation."
+
+The Leraysville Phalanx went to pieces in a grumble about the
+management.
+
+Of the Clarkson Association a writer in the _Phalanx_ says that they
+were "ignorant of Fourier's principles, and without plan or purpose,
+save to fly from the ills they had already experienced in
+civilization. Thus they assembled together such elements of discord,
+as naturally in a short time led to their dissolution."
+
+The Sodus Bay Socialists quarreled about religion, and when they broke
+up, some decamped in the night, with as much of the common property as
+they could lay hands on. Whereupon Macdonald sententiously
+remarks--"The fact that mankind do not like to have their faults and
+failings made public, will probably account for the difficulty in
+obtaining particulars of such experiments."
+
+The Bloomfield Association went to wreck in a quarrel about
+land-titles.
+
+Of the Jefferson County Association, Macdonald says, "After a few
+months, disagreements became general. Their means were totally
+inadequate; they were too ignorant of the principles of Association;
+were too much crowded together, and had too many idlers among them.
+There was bad management on the part of the officers, and some were
+suspected of dishonesty."
+
+The Moorhouse Union appears to have been almost wholly a gathering of
+worthless adventurers.
+
+Mr. Moore, in his _Post Mortem_ on the Marlboro Association, very
+delicately observes that "the failure of the experiment may be traced
+to the fact that the minds of its originators were not homogeneous."
+
+Macdonald, after studying the Prairie Home Community, says, "From all
+I saw I judged that it was too loosely put together, and that the
+members had not entire confidence in each other."
+
+The malcontent who gives an account of the Trumbull Phalanx says:
+"Some came with the idea that they could live in idleness at the
+expense of the purchasers of the estate, and these ideas they
+practically carried out; while others came with good hearts for the
+cause. There were one or two designing persons, who came with no other
+intent than to push themselves into situations in which they could
+impose upon their fellow members; and this, to a certain extent, they
+succeeded in doing." And again: "I think most persons came there for a
+mere shift. Their poverty and their quarreling about what they called
+religion (for there were many notions as to which was the right way to
+heaven), were great drawbacks to success."
+
+There were rival leaders in the Ohio Phalanx, and their respective
+parties quarreled about constitutions till they got into a lawsuit
+which broke them up. The member who gave the account of this
+Association says: "The most important causes of failure were said to
+be the deficiency of wealth, wisdom and goodness."
+
+The Clermont Phalanx had jealousies among its women that led to a
+lawsuit; and a difficulty with one of its leading members about
+land-titles.
+
+The story of the Alphadelphia Phalanx is briefly told thus: "The
+disagreement with Mr. Tubbs about a mill-race at the commencement of
+the experiment, threw a damper on it, from which it never recovered.
+All lived in clover so long as a ton of sugar or any other such luxury
+lasted. The officers made bad bargains. Laborers became discouraged.
+In the winter some of the influential members went away temporarily,
+and thus left the real friends of the Association in the minority; and
+when they returned after two or three months absence, every thing was
+turned up-side-down. There was a manifest lack of good management and
+foresight. The old settlers accused the majority of this, and were
+themselves elected officers; but they managed no better, and finally
+broke up the concern."
+
+The Wisconsin Phalanx kept its quarrels below lawsuit point, but the
+leading member who gives account of it, says that the habit of the
+members was to "scold and work, and work and scold;" and that "they
+had among their number a few men of leading intellect who always
+doubted the success of the experiment, and hence determined to
+accumulate property individually by any and every means called fair in
+competitive society. These would occasionally gain some important
+positions in the society, and representing it in part at home and
+abroad, caused much trouble. By some they were accounted the principal
+cause of the final failure."
+
+Mr. Daniels, a gentleman who saw the whole progress of the Wisconsin
+Phalanx, says that "the cause of its breaking up was speculation, the
+love of money and the want of love for Association. Their property
+becoming valuable, they sold it for the purpose of making money out of
+it."
+
+The North American was evidently shattered by secessions, resulting
+partly from religious dissensions and partly from differences about
+business.
+
+Brook Farm alone is reported as harmonious to the end.
+
+It should be observed that the foregoing disclosures of disintegrating
+infirmities were generally made reluctantly, and are necessarily very
+imperfect. Large departments of dangerous passion are entirely
+ignored. For instance, in all the memoirs of the Owen and Fourier
+Associations, not a word is said on the "Woman Question!" Among all
+the disagreements and complaints, not a hint occurs of any jealousies
+and quarrels about love matters. In fact women are rarely mentioned;
+and the terrible passions connected with distinction of sex, which the
+Shakers, Rappites, Oneidians, and all the rest of the religious
+Communities have had so much trouble with, and have taken so much
+pains to provide for or against, are absolutely left out of sight.
+Owen, it is true, named marriage as one of the trinity of man's
+oppressors: and it is generally understood that Owenism and Fourierism
+both gave considerable latitude to affinities and divorces; but this
+makes it all the more strange that there was no trouble worth
+mentioning, in any of these Communities, about crossing love-claims.
+Can it be, we ask ourselves, that Owen had such conflicts with
+whiskey-tippling, but never a fight with the love-mania? that all
+through the Fourier experiments, men and women, young men and maidens,
+by scores and hundreds were tumbled together into unitary homes, and
+sometimes into log-cabins seventeen feet by twenty-five, and yet no
+sexual jostlings of any account disturbed the domestic circle? The
+only conclusion we can come to is, that some of the most important
+experiences of the transitory Communities have not been surrendered to
+history.
+
+Nevertheless the troubles that do come to the surface show, as we have
+said, that human depravity is the dread "Dweller of the Threshold,"
+that lies in wait at every entrance to the mysteries of Socialism.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Shall we then turn back in despair, and give it up that Association on
+the large scale is impossible? This seems to have been the reaction of
+all the leading Fourierists. Greeley sums up the wisdom he gained from
+his socialistic experience in the following invective:
+
+    "A serious obstacle to the success of any socialistic experiment
+    must always be confronted. I allude to the kind of persons who
+    are naturally attracted to it. Along with many noble and lofty
+    souls, whose impulses are purely philanthropic, and who are
+    willing to labor and suffer reproach for any cause that promises
+    to benefit mankind, there throng scores of whom the world is
+    quite worthy--the conceited, the crotchety, the selfish, the
+    headstrong, the pugnacious, the unappreciated, the played-out,
+    the idle, and the good-for-nothing generally; who, finding
+    themselves utterly out of place and at a discount in the world
+    as it is, rashly conclude that they are exactly fitted for the
+    world as it ought to be. These may have failed again and again,
+    and been protested at every bank to which they have been
+    presented; yet they are sure to jump into any new movement as if
+    they had been born expressly to superintend and direct it,
+    though they are morally certain to ruin whatever they lay their
+    hands on. Destitute of means, of practical ability, of prudence,
+    tact and common sense, they have such a wealth of assurance and
+    self-confidence, that they clutch the responsible positions
+    which the capable and worthy modestly shrink from; so
+    responsibilities that would tax the ablest, are mistakenly
+    devolved on the blindest and least fit. Many an experiment is
+    thus wrecked, when, engineered by its best members, it might
+    have succeeded."
+
+Meeker gloomily concludes that "generally men are not prepared;
+Association is for the future."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And yet, to contradict these disheartening persuasions and forbid our
+settling into despair, we have a respectable series of successes that
+can not be ignored. Mr. Greeley recognizes them, though he hardly
+knows how to dispose of them. "The fact," he says, "stares us in the
+face that, while hundreds of banks and factories, and thousands of
+mercantile concerns managed by shrewd, strong men, have gone into
+bankruptcy and perished, Shaker Communities, established more than
+sixty years ago, upon a basis of little property and less worldly
+wisdom, are living and prosperous to-day. And their experience has
+been imitated by the German Communities at Economy, Zoar, the Society
+of Ebenezer, etc. Theory, however plausible, must respect the facts."
+
+Let us look again at these exceptional Associations that have not
+succumbed to the disorganizing power of general depravity. Jacobi's
+record of their duration and fortunes is worth recapitulating.
+Assuming that they are all still in existence, their stories may be
+epitomized as follows:
+
+Beizel's Community has lasted one hundred and fifty-six years; was at
+one time very rich; has money at interest yet; some of its grand old
+buildings are still standing.
+
+The Shaker Community, as a whole, is ninety-five years old; consists
+of eighteen large societies; many of them very wealthy.
+
+Rapp's Community is sixty-five years old, and very wealthy.
+
+The Zoar Community is fifty-three years old, and wealthy.
+
+The Snowberger Community is forty-nine years old and "well off."
+
+The Ebenezer Community is twenty-three years old; and said to be the
+largest and richest Community in the United States.
+
+The Janson Community is twenty-three years old and wealthy.
+
+The Oneida Community (frequently quoted as belonging to this class) is
+twenty-one years old, and prosperous.
+
+The one feature which distinguishes these Communities from the
+transitory sort, is their religion; which in every case is of the
+earnest kind which comes by recognized afflatus, and controls all
+external arrangements.
+
+It seems then to be a fair induction from the facts before us that
+earnest religion does in some way modify human depravity so as to make
+continuous Association possible, and insure to it great material
+success. Or if it is doubted whether it does essentially change human
+nature, it certainly improves in some way the _conditions_ of human
+nature in socialistic experiments. It is to be noted that Mr. Greeley
+and other experts in socialism claim that there _is_ a class of "noble
+and lofty souls" who are prepared for close Association; but their
+attempts have constantly been frustrated by the throng of crotchety
+and selfish interlopers that jump on to their movements. Now it may be
+that the tests of earnest religion are just what are needed to keep a
+discrimination between the "noble and lofty souls" and the scamps of
+whom the Socialists complain. On the whole it seems probable that
+earnest religion does favorably modify both human depravity and its
+conditions, preparing some for Association by making them better, and
+shutting off others that would defeat the attempts of the best.
+Earnest men of one religious faith are more likely to be respectful to
+organized authority and to one another, than men of no religion or men
+of many religions held in indifference and mutual counteraction. And
+this quality of respect, predisposing to peace and subordination,
+however base it may be in the estimation of "Individual Sovereigns,"
+and however worthless it may be in ordinary circumstances, is
+certainly the indispensable element of success in close Association.
+
+The logic of our facts may be summed up thus: The non-religious party
+has tried Association under the lead of Owen, and failed; the
+semi-religious party has tried it under the lead of Fourier, and
+failed; the thoroughly religious party has not yet tried it; but
+sporadic experiments have been made by various religious sects, and so
+far as they have gone, they have indicated by their success, that
+earnest religion may be relied upon to carry Association through to
+the attainment of all its hopes. The world then must wait for this
+final trial; and the hope of the triumph of Association can not
+rationally be given up, till this trial has been made.
+
+The question for the future is, Will the Revivalists go forward into
+Socialism; or will the Socialists go forward into Revivalism? We do
+not expect any further advance, till one or the other of these things
+shall come to pass; and we do not expect overwhelming victory and
+peace till both shall come to pass.
+
+The best outlook for Socialism is in the direction of the local
+churches. These are scattered every where, and under a powerful
+afflatus might easily be converted into Communities. In that case
+Communism would have the advantage of previous religion, previous
+acquaintance, and previous rudimental organizations, all assisting in
+the tremendous transition from the old world of selfishness, to the
+new world of common interest. We believe that a church that is capable
+of a genuine revival, could modulate into daily meetings, criticism,
+and all the self-denials of Communism, far more easily than any
+gathering by general proclamation for the sole purpose of founding a
+Community.
+
+If the churches can not be put into this work, we do not see how
+Socialism on a large scale is going to be propagated. Exceptional
+Associations may be formed here and there by careful selection and
+special good fortune; but how general society is to be resolved into
+Communities, without some such transformation of existing
+organizations, we do not pretend to foresee. Our hope is that churches
+of all denominations will by and by be quickened by the Pentecostal
+Spirit, and begin to grow and change, and finally, by a process as
+natural as the transformation of the chrysalis, burst forth into
+Communism.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+
+DEDUCTIVE AND INDUCTIVE SOCIALISMS.
+
+
+It is well for a theory to be subjected to the test of adverse
+criticism. Particularly in matters of contemporaneous history the
+public are interested to hear all sides. We have presented in this
+book our estimate of the French and English schools of Socialism; but
+as the reader may deem a Communist's judgment of the Phalansterian
+school necessarily defective, we are happy to insert here a
+communication from Mr. Brisbane himself, presenting a partizan's
+defence of Fourier. It was received and printed in the _Circular_,
+just as the last chapters of our history of Fourierism were preparing,
+
+    "FOURIER AND THE ATTEMPTS TO REALIZE HIS THEORY.
+
+    "_To the Editor of the Circular_:
+
+    "Will you allow me space in your journal to say that no
+    practical trial, and no approach to one, has as yet been made of
+    Fourier's theory of Social Organization. A trial of a theory
+    supposes that the practical test is made in conformity with its
+    principles; otherwise there is no trial. Let generous minds who
+    are working for the social redemption of their race, be just to
+    those who have labored conscientiously for this great end. Let
+    them be just to Fourier, who, in silence during a long life
+    strove to solve the great problem of the organization of
+    society on a scientific basis, neglecting every thing else--the
+    pursuit of fortune, the avenue to which was more than once open
+    to him--and position and reputation in society.
+
+    "Fourier says: There are certain _Laws of Organisation_ in
+    nature, which are the source of order and harmony in creation.
+    These laws human reason must discover and apply in the
+    organization of society, if a true social order is to be
+    established on the earth. The moral forces in man, called
+    sentiments, faculties, passions, etc., are framed or fashioned,
+    and their action determined, in accordance with these laws. They
+    tend naturally to act in conformity with them, and would do so,
+    if not thwarted. If the Social Organization, which is the
+    external medium in which these forces operate, is based on those
+    laws, it will, it is evident, be adapted to the forces--to the
+    nature of man. This will secure their true, natural and
+    harmonious development, and with it the solution of the
+    fundamental problem of social order and harmony. In organizing
+    society on its true basis, begin, says Fourier, with Industry,
+    which is the primary and material branch of the Social
+    Organization. By the natural organization of Industry the
+    productive labors of mankind will be _dignified and rendered
+    attractive_; wealth will be increased ten-fold, so that
+    abundance will be secured to all, and with abundance, the means
+    of education and refinement, and of social equality and unity.
+    When refinement and intelligence are rendered general, the
+    superstructure of society will be built under the favorable
+    circumstances which such a work requires.
+
+    "Briefly stated, such is Fourier's view. In his works he
+    describes in detail the plan of Industrial Organization. He
+    explains the laws of organization in Nature (as he understands
+    them), on which Industry is to be based. He takes special pains
+    to give minute directions in relation to the subject, and warns
+    those who may undertake the work of organization, to avoid
+    mistakes--some of which he points out--that may easily be made,
+    and would vitiate the undertaking.
+
+    "The little Associations started in this country, of which you
+    have given an account, had for their object the realization of
+    Fourier's industrial system. Now, instead of avoiding the
+    mistakes which he warned his followers against making, not one
+    of those Associations realized _a single one of the conditions_
+    which he laid down. Not one of them had the tenth, nor the
+    twentieth part of the means and resources--pecuniary and
+    scientific--necessary to carry out the organization he proposed.
+    In a word, no trial, and no approach to a trial of Fourier's
+    theory has been made. I do not say that his theory is true, or
+    would succeed, if fairly tried. I simply affirm that _no trial_
+    of it has been made; so that it is unjust to speak of it, as if
+    it had been tested. With ample, that is, vast resources, and
+    some years to prepare the domain, erect buildings, and make all
+    necessary arrangements, so as to thoroughly prepare the field of
+    operations before the members or operators entered, then with
+    men of organizing capacity to test fairly the principles which
+    he has laid down, a fair trial could be made.
+
+    "I repeat, let us be just to those who have labored patiently
+    and conscientiously for the social elevation of humanity.
+    Fourier's was a great soul. To a powerful intellect he added
+    nobility and goodness of heart. Clear, exact, strict and
+    scientific in thought, he was at the same time kind and
+    philanthropic in feeling. Impelled by noble motives, he devoted
+    his intellect to the most important of works, to the discovery
+    of the natural principles of social organization. Such a man
+    deserves to be treated with profound respect. Infantile attempts
+    to realize his ideas should not, in their failure, be charged
+    upon him, covering him with the ridicule or folly attached to
+    them. Let him stand on his Theory. That is his intellectual
+    pedestal. Let those who undertake to judge him, study his
+    Theory. When they overthrow that they will overthrow him.
+
+    "I will close by stating my estimate of Fourier, which is the
+    result of some reflection.
+
+    "Social Science is a creation of the nineteenth century. It has
+    been developed in a regular form in the present century, as was
+    Astronomy, for example, in the sixteenth. Men have arisen almost
+    simultaneously in different countries, who have conceived the
+    possibility of such a science, and set themselves to work at it.
+    Fourier took the lead. He began in 1798, and published his first
+    work in 1806. Krause, in Germany, began to write in 1808. St.
+    Simon, in France, in 1811. Owen, in England, at a later period
+    still. Comte, a disciple of St Simon, began in 1824, I think.
+    Fourier and Comte were the only minds that undertook to base
+    Social Science on, and to deduce it from, universal laws, having
+    their source in the infallible wisdom of the universe. Comte,
+    after laying a broad foundation with the aid of all the known
+    sciences; after seeking to determine the theory of each special
+    science, and to construct a _Science of the Sciences_ by which
+    to guide himself, abandons his scientific construction (reared
+    in his first work--"Positive Philosophy"), when he comes to
+    elaborate his plan of practical organization. He deduces his
+    plan of the Social Order of the future from the historical
+    past, and especially from the Middle Age _regime_, guided in so
+    doing by his own personal feelings and views. His Social system
+    is consequently a compound of historical deduction and personal
+    sentiment. It is, I think, without practical value. His
+    scientific demonstration of the possibility and the necessity of
+    Social Science is of _great value_, and will secure to him
+    unbounded respect in the future. Fourier, at the outset of his
+    labors, conceived the necessity of discovering the laws of order
+    and harmony in the universe--Nature's plan and theory of
+    organization--and of deducing from them _the Science of Social
+    Organization_. Leaving aside all secondary considerations, he
+    set about this great work. The discovery of the laws of order
+    and organization in creation was his great end. The deduction of
+    a Social Order from them was an accessory work. He claims to
+    have succeeded; and claims for his plan of social organization
+    no value outside of its conformity to Nature's laws. "I give no
+    theory of my own," he says in a hundred places; "I DEDUCE. If I
+    have deduced erroneously, let others establish the true
+    deduction."
+
+    "Social Science is a vast and complex science; it can not be
+    discovered and constituted by the aid of empirical observation
+    and reasoning: the _Inductive method_ can not do its work here.
+    The laws of order and organization in nature must be discovered,
+    and from them the science must be deduced. In astronomy, in
+    order to solve its higher and more abstruse problems, it is
+    necessary to deduce from one of the great laws of Nature;
+    namely, that of gravitation. It is more necessary still in the
+    case of the involved problems of Social Science.
+
+    "Now the merit of Fourier consists in having seen clearly this
+    great truth; in having sought carefully to discover Nature's
+    laws of organization; and in having deduced from them with the
+    greatest patience and fidelity the organization of the Social
+    System which he has elaborated. His organization of Industry and
+    of Education are master-pieces of deductive thought.
+
+    "If Fourier has failed, if he has not discovered the laws of
+    natural organization, or has not deduced rightly from them, he
+    has opened the way and pointed out the true path; he has shown
+    _what must be done_, and furnished invaluable examples of the
+    mode in which deduction must take place in Social organization.
+    He has shown how the human mind is to create a Social Science,
+    and effect the Social Reconstruction to which this science is to
+    lead. If he went astray, and could not follow the difficult path
+    he indicated, he has at least clearly described the ways and
+    modes of proceeding. Others can now easily follow in his
+    footsteps.
+
+    "If we would compare the pioneers in Social Science to those in
+    astronomy, I would say that Fourier is the Kepler of the new
+    science. Possessing, like Kepler, a vast and bold genius, he
+    has, by far-reaching intuition and close analytic thought,
+    discovered some of the fundamental principles of Social Science,
+    enough to place it on a scientific foundation, and to constitute
+    it regularly, as did Kepler in astronomy. Auguste Comte appears
+    to me to be the Tycho Brahe of Social Science: learned and
+    patient, but not original, not a discoverer of new laws and
+    principles. Other great minds will be required to complete the
+    science. It will have its Galileo, its Newton, its Laplace, and
+    even still more all-sided minds; for the science is far more
+    complex and abstruse than that of astronomy; it is the crowning
+    intellectual evolution, which human genius is to effect in its
+    scientific career.
+
+                               Very truly yours,    A. BRISBANE."
+
+This endeavor by a leading Phalansterian to set us right in regard to
+the merits of Fourier, is generous to him, and doubtless well meant
+for us, but not altogether necessary. The foregoing history bears
+witness that we have not held Fourier responsible for the American
+experiments made in his name, and have not treated him with ridicule
+or disrespect on account of their failures. In our comments on the
+Sylvania Association we said:
+
+    "It is evident enough that this was not Fourierism. Indeed the
+    Sylvanian who wrote the account of his Phalanx, frankly admits
+    for himself and doubtless for his associates, that their doings
+    had in them no semblance of Fourierism. But then the same may be
+    said, without much modification, of all the experiments of the
+    Fourier epoch. Fourier himself, would have utterly disowned
+    every one of them. *** Here then arises a distinction between
+    Fourierism as a theory propounded by Fourier, and Fourierism as
+    a practical movement administered in this country by
+    Brisbane.*** The value of Fourier's ideas is not determined, nor
+    the hope of good from them foreclosed, merely by the disasters
+    of these local experiments. And, to deal fairly all around, it
+    must further be said, that it is not right to judge Brisbane by
+    such experiments as that of the Sylvania Association. Let it be
+    remembered that, with all his enthusiasm, he gave warning from
+    time to time, in his publications, of the deficiencies and
+    possible failures of these hybrid ventures; and was cautious
+    enough to keep himself and his money out of them."
+
+We then proposed a distribution of criticism as follows: "1. Fourier,
+though not responsible for Brisbane's administration, _was_
+responsible for tantalizing the world with a magnificent theory,
+without providing the means of translating it into practice. 2.
+Brisbane, though not altogether responsible for the inadequate
+attempts of the poor Sylvanians and the rest of the rabble volunteers,
+must be blamed for spending all his energy in drumming and recruiting;
+while, to insure success, he should have given at least half his time
+to drilling the soldiers and leading them in actual battle. 3. The
+rank and file as they were strictly volunteers, should have taken
+better care of themselves, and not been so ready to follow and even
+rush ahead of leaders, who were thus manifestly devoting themselves to
+theorizing and propagandism, without experience."
+
+These citations show, and a full reading of the text at page 247 and
+afterward, will show still more clearly, that we have not been
+inconsiderate in our treatment of the socialistic leaders.
+
+Mr. Brisbane concludes his letter with an analysis of Fourier's claims
+as a Philosopher. He does not affirm that Fourier's theory is right,
+but only that he has pointed out the right way to discover a right
+theory. This, if true, is certainly a valuable service. Fourier's way,
+according to Mr. Brisbane, was to work by deduction, instead of
+induction. He first discovered certain fundamental laws of the
+universe; how he discovered them we are not told; but probably by
+intuitive assumption, as nothing is said of induction or proof in
+connection with them; then from these laws he deduced his social
+theory, without recurrence to observation or experiment. This,
+according to Brisbane and Fourier, is the way that all future
+discoverers in Social Science must pursue. Is this the right way?
+
+The leaders of modern science say that sound theories in Astronomy and
+in every thing else are discovered by induction, and that deduction
+follows after, to apply and extend the principles established by
+induction. Let us hear one of them:
+
+    [From the Introduction to Youmans' New Chemistry.]
+
+    "The master minds of our race, by a course of toilsome research
+    through thousands of years, gradually established the principles
+    of mechanical force and motion. Facts were raised into
+    generalities, and these into still higher generalizations, until
+    at length the genius of NEWTON seized the great principle of
+    attraction, which controls all bodies on the earth and in the
+    heavens. He explained the mechanism and motions of the universe
+    by the grandest induction of the human mind.
+
+    "The mighty principle thus established, now became the first
+    step of the deductive method. Leverrier, in the solitude of his
+    study, reasoning downward from the universal law through
+    planetary perturbation, proclaimed the existence, place and
+    dimensions of a new and hitherto unknown planet in our solar
+    system. He then called upon the astronomer to verify his
+    deduction by the telescope. The observation was immediately
+    made, the planet was discovered, and the immortal prediction of
+    science was literally fulfilled. Thus induction discovers
+    principles, while deduction applies them.
+
+    "It is not by skillful conjecture that knowledge grows, or it
+    would have ripened thousands of years ago. It was not till men
+    had learned to submit their cherished speculations to the
+    merciless and consuming ordeal of verification, that the great
+    truths of nature began to be revealed. Kepler tells us that he
+    made and rejected nineteen hypotheses of the motion of Mars
+    before he established the true doctrine that it moves in an
+    ellipse.
+
+    "The ancient philosophers, disdaining nature, retired into the
+    ideal world of pure meditation, and holding that the mind is the
+    measure of the universe, they believed they could reason out all
+    truths from the depths of the soul. They would not experiment:
+    consequently they lacked the first conditions of science,
+    observation, experiment and induction. Their mistake was perhaps
+    natural, but it was an error that paralyzed the world. The first
+    step of progress was impossible."
+
+If Youmans points the right way, Fourier, instead of being the Kepler
+of Social Science, was evidently one of the "ancient philosophers."
+
+We frankly avow that we are at issue with Mr. Brisbane on the main
+point that he makes for his master. We do not believe that cogitation
+without experiment is the right way to a true social theory. With us
+induction is first; deduction second; and verification by facts or the
+logic of events, always and everywhere the supreme check on both. For
+the sake of this principle we have been studying and bringing to light
+the lessons of American Socialisms. If Fourier and Brisbane are on the
+right track, we are on the wrong. Let science judge between us.
+
+But Mr. Brisbane thinks that social science is exceptional in its
+nature, too "vast and complex" to get help from observation and
+experiment. All science is vast and complex, reaching out into the
+unfathomable; but social science seems to us exceptional, if at all,
+as the field that lies nearest home and most open to observation and
+experiment. It is not like astronomy, looking away into the
+inaccessible regions of the universe, but like navigation or war,
+commanding us at our peril to study it in the immediate presence of
+its facts.
+
+Mr. Brisbane insists that Fourier's theory has not had a practical
+trial: and we have said the same thing before him. Yet we must now say
+that in another sense it has had its trial. It was brought before the
+world with all the advantages that the most brilliant school of modern
+genius could give it; and it did not win the confidence of scientific
+men or of capitalists, because they saw, what Mr. Brisbane now
+confesses for it, that it came from the closet, and not from the world
+of facts. This nineteenth century, which has had thrift and faith
+enough to lay the Atlantic cable, would have accepted and realized
+Fourierism, if it had been a genuine product of induction. So that the
+reason why it never reached the stage of practical trial was, that it
+failed on the previous question of its scientific legitimacy. Mr.
+Brisbane himself, as a capitalist, never had confidence enough in it
+to risk his fortune on it. And poor as the actual experiments were,
+_human nature_ had a trial in them, which convinced all rational
+observers, that if the numbers and means had been as great as Fourier
+required, the failures would have been swifter and worse.
+
+We insist that God's appointed way for man to seek the truth in all
+departments, and above all in Social Science, which is really the
+science of righteousness, is to combine and alternate thinking with
+experiment and practice, and constantly submit all theories, whether
+obtained by scientific investigation or by intuition and inspiration,
+to the consuming ordeal of practical verification. This is the law
+established by all the experience of modern science, and the law that
+every loyal disciple of inspiration will affirm and submit to. And
+according to this law, the Shakers and Rappites, whom Mr. Brisbane
+does not condescend to mention, are really the pioneers of modern
+Socialism, whose experiments deserve a great deal more study than all
+the speculations of the French schools. By way of offset to Mr.
+Brisbane's account of the development of sociology in the nineteenth
+century, we here repeat our historical theory. The great facts of
+modern Socialism are these: From 1776, the era of our national
+Revolution, the Shakers have been established in this country; first
+at two places in New York; then at four places in Massachusetts; at
+two in New Hampshire; two in Maine; one in Connecticut; and finally at
+two in Kentucky, and two in Ohio. In all these places prosperous
+religious Communism has been modestly and yet loudly preaching to the
+nation and to the world. New England and New York and the Great West
+have had actual Phalanxes before their eyes for nearly a century. And
+in all this time what has been acted on our American stage, has had
+England, France and Germany for its audience. The example of the
+Shakers has demonstrated, not merely that successful Communism is
+subjectively possible, but that this nation is free enough to let it
+grow. Who can doubt that this demonstration was known and watched in
+Germany from the beginning; and that it helped the successive
+experiments and emigrations of the Rappites, the Zoarites and the
+Ebenezers? These experiments, we have seen, were echoes of Shakerism,
+growing fainter and fainter, as the time-distance increased. Then the
+Shaker movement with its echoes was sounding also in England, when
+Robert Owen undertook to convert the world to Communism, and it is
+evident enough that he was really a far-off follower of the Rappites.
+France also had heard of Shakerism, before St. Simon or Fourier began
+to meditate and write Socialism. These men were nearly contemporaneous
+with Owen, and all three evidently obeyed a common impulse. That
+impulse was the sequel and certainly in part the effect of Shakerism.
+Thus it is no more than bare justice to say, that we are indebted to
+the Shakers more than to any or all other social architects of modern
+times. Their success has been the 'specie basis' that has upheld all
+the paper theories, and counteracted the failures, of the French and
+English schools. It is very doubtful whether Owenism or Fourierism
+would have ever existed, or if they had, whether they would have ever
+moved the practical American nation, if the facts of Shakerism had not
+existed before them and gone along with them. But to do complete
+justice we must go a step further. While we say that the Rappites, the
+Zoarites, the Ebenezers, the Owenites, and even the Fourierists are
+all echoes of the Shakers, we must also say that the Shakers are the
+far-off echoes of the PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
+
+What then has been Fourier's function? Surely his vast labors and
+their results have not been useless.
+
+His main achievement has been destruction. He was a merciless critic
+and scolder of the old civilization. His magnificent imaginations of
+good things to come have also served the purpose, in the general
+development of sociology, of what rhetoricians call _excitation_. But
+his theory of positive construction is, in our opinion, as worthless
+as the theories of St. Simon and Compte. And so many socialist
+thinkers have been fuddled by it, that it is at this moment the
+greatest obstruction to the healthy progress of Social Science.
+Practically it says to the world--"The experiments of the Shakers and
+other religious Communities, though successful, are unscientific and
+worthless; the experiments of the Fourierists that failed so
+miserably, were illegitimate and prove nothing; inductions from these
+or any other facts are useless; the only thing that can be done to
+realize true Association, is to put together eighteen hundred human
+beings on a domain three miles square, with a palace and outfit to
+match. Then you will see the equilibrium of the passions and
+spontaneous order and industry, insuring infinite success." As these
+conditions are well known to be impossible, because nobody believes in
+the promised equilibrium and success, the upshot of this teaching is
+despair. But the nineteenth century is not sitting at the feet of
+despair; and it will clear Fourierism out of its way.
+
+THE INDUCTIVE SCHOOL OF SOCIALISM, instead of thus shutting the gates
+of mercy on mankind, says to all: The enormous economies and
+advantages of combination, which you see in ten thousand joint-stock
+companies around you, and in the wealth of the Shakers and other
+successful Associations, and even the blessings of magnificent and
+permanent HOMES, which you do _not_ see in those combinations, are
+prizes offered to AGREEMENT. They require no special number. If two or
+three of you shall agree, you can take those prizes; for by agreement
+and consequent success, two or three will soon become many. They
+require no special amount of capital. If you are poor, by combination
+you can become rich. Agreement can make its own fortune, and need not
+wait to be endowed. The blessing of heaven is upon it, and it can work
+its way from the lowest poverty to all the wealth that Fourier taught
+his disciples to beg from capitalists.
+
+Thus demanding equilibrium of the passions and harmony at the outset,
+instead of looking for them as the miraculous result of getting
+together vast assemblages, we throw to the winds the limitations and
+impossible conditions of Fourierism. And the harmony we ask for as
+condition precedent, is not chimerical, but already exists. All the
+facts we have, indicate that it comes by religion; and the idea is
+evidently growing in the public mind that religion is the _only_ bond
+of agreement sufficient for family Association. If any dislike this
+condition, we say: Seek agreement in some other way, till all doubt on
+this point shall be removed by abundant experiment. The lists are
+open. We promise nothing to non-religious attempts; but we promise all
+things to agreement, let it come as it may. If Paganism or infidelity
+or nothingarianism can produce the required agreement, they will win
+the prize. But on the other hand if it shall turn out in this great
+Olympic of the nineteenth century, that Christianity alone has the
+harmonizing power necessary to successful Association, then
+Christianity will at last get its crown.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+Allen, John, 179, 212, 291, 536.
+
+Alphadelphia Phalanx, 388.
+
+Andrews, Stephen Pearl, 94, 212, 566.
+
+Association, essential requisites of, 57;
+  its objects defined, 292.
+
+
+Baker, Rapp's successor, 135.
+
+Ballou, Adin, his sketch of Owen, 88;
+  founder of Hopedale, 119;
+  book on Socialism, 127;
+  Vice President at Boston Convention, 514;
+  complains of his timber, 647.
+
+Beecher, Dr., revivalist, 103.
+
+Beizel, Conrad, founder of the Ephrata Community, 133.
+
+Belding, Dr. L.C., founder of Leraysville Phalanx, 263.
+
+Bimeler, Joseph, founder of the Zoar Community, 135.
+
+Bloomfield Association, 296.
+
+Blue Springs Community, 73.
+
+Boyle, James, 277.
+
+Brisbane, Albert, introduces Fourierism, 14, 23, 161;
+  publications, 113, 200, 450, 560;
+  edits column in _Tribune_, 201, 230;
+  specimen exposition, 202;
+  establishes the monthly _Phalanx_, 206;
+  converts Brook Farm, 209;
+  lectures, 269;
+  represents American Association in Europe, 216;
+  toasts Greeley, 226;
+  contrasted with Fourier, 249;
+  relation to Ohio Phalanx, 356;
+  letter to a Cincinnati Convention, 366;
+  selects site of North American Phalanx, 452;
+  inspires A.J. Davis, 566;
+  responsibility, 248, 250, 665;
+  his letter on Fourierism, 665.
+
+Brocton Community, 577;
+  history and description of, by Oliver Dyer, 578;
+  members of, 580;
+  religious belief, 580;
+  Communism, 581;
+  Internal Respiration, 581;
+  doctrine of Love and Marriage, 583;
+  Sense of Chastity, 583;
+  domestic affairs, 585;
+  "Will it Succeed?" 586;
+  Swedenborgianism, its religion, 589;
+  views of Bible, 593;
+  land-mania, 594.
+
+Brook Farm, suggested by Dr. Channing, 104;
+  Emerson's reminiscences of, 104;
+  its Transcendental origin, 108;
+  its afflatus, 109;
+  first notice of in the _Dial_, 109;
+  original constitution, 113;
+  conversion to Fourierism, 512;
+  new constitution, 522;
+  incorporation as a Phalanx, 527;
+  propagating Fourierism, 529;
+  under the lead of W.H. Channing, 530;
+  propagating Swedenborgianism, 537;
+  under the lead of John S. Dwight and Charles A. Dana, 546;
+  its Phalanstery destroyed by fire, 551;
+  dissolution, 559;
+  its end virtually the end of Fourierism, 563.
+
+Brooke, Dr. A., 310, 314.
+
+Brooke, Edward, 310.
+
+Buchanan, Dr., 84.
+
+Bureau Co. Phalanx, 409.
+
+Bush, Prof., 539.
+
+
+Campbell, Dr. Alexander, debates with Owen, 60, 86.
+
+Channings, their connection with Socialism, 103, 516.
+
+Charming, Dr., suggests Brook Farm, 104.
+
+Channing, Wm. H., publishes the _Present_, 118;
+  at Brook Farm, 106;
+  speeches, 215, 225, 533;
+  address at N.A. Phalanx, 468;
+  letter to Cincinnati Convention, 366;
+  expounds Fourierism in Boston, 513;
+  opinion of Fourier, 514;
+  succeeds Brisbane, 530;
+  leads Brook Farm in its conversion to Fourierism, 516;
+  religion of, 228, 562;
+  subscribes to the Raritan Bay Union, 488;
+  extols Swedenborg, 544.
+
+Chase, Warren, founder of Wisconsin Phalanx, 411;
+  letters from, 414, 416, 430;
+  on associative success, 432.
+
+Clarkson Phalanx, 278.
+
+Clermont Phalanx, 366.
+
+Columbian Phalanx, 404.
+
+Collins, John A., founder of the Skaneateles Community, 162;
+  his report of the Sodus Bay Phalanx, 288.
+
+Confederation of Associations, 272.
+
+Co-operative Society, 73.
+
+Co-operation not Socialism, 564.
+
+Coxsackie Community, 77.
+
+Curtis, Geo. Wm., at Brook Farm, 106;
+  writer for the _Harbinger_, 212;
+  what he says of Brook Farm's lack of history, 108.
+
+
+Dana, Chas. A., agent of Am. Un. of Associationists, 535;
+  mission of, 533;
+  address by, 222;
+  on Swedenborg, 547;
+  on Brocton Community, 586.
+
+Davis, A.J., his Harmonial Brotherhood, 11;
+  rival of Swedenborg, 94, 539;
+  inspired by Brisbane and Bush, 566.
+
+Deductive and Inductive Socialisms, 658.
+
+_Dial_, The, history of, 105;
+  extracts from, 109, 113, 512, 513, 517.
+
+Doherty, Hugh, writer for the _Harbinger_, 212;
+  Swedenborgian Fourierite, 542.
+
+Draper, E.D., extinguishes Hopedale, 132.
+
+Dwight, John S., writer for the _Harbinger_, 212;
+  on Swedenborg, 546.
+
+
+Ebenezer Community, 136.
+
+Edger, Henry, 94.
+
+Edwards, Jonathan, father of revivals, 29.
+
+Emerson, R.W., his reminiscences of Brook Farm, 104;
+  attitude toward Brook Farm, 108;
+  lecture on Swedenborg, 543;
+  prevails over W.H. Channing, 562.
+
+Ephrata, 133.
+
+Evans, Elder, 566.
+
+
+Finney, C.G., revivalist, 25.
+
+Flower, Richard, sells Harmony to Owen, 33.
+
+Forrestville Community, 74.
+
+Fourier, Charles, theoretical, 185;
+  had before him the example of the Shakers, 192;
+  birthday celebration, 226;
+  would disown the Phalanxes, 247;
+  contrasted with Brisbane, 248;
+  coupled with Swedenborg, 545;
+  criticism of, 249, 266, 665, 670.
+
+Fourierism, introduced by Brisbane and Greeley, 14, 23;
+  preparation for, 102;
+  compared with Owenism, 193, 199;
+  account keeping, 276;
+  its dreams not confirmed by experience, 293;
+  based on a township, 510;
+  must be made alive by Christ, 518;
+  co-incident with Swedenborgianism 541, 546;
+  gave its strength to Spiritualism, 566, 613.
+
+Franks, J.J., 92.
+
+Franklin Community, 73.
+
+Fuller, Margaret, 105, 106;
+  edits the _Dial_, 109.
+
+Fundamentals of Socialism, 193.
+
+
+Garden Grove Community, 409.
+
+Ginal, Rev. George, 252.
+
+Godwin, Parke, expositor of Fourierism, 181;
+  social architects, 181;
+  address by, 217, 226;
+  couples Fourier and Swedenborg, 541.
+
+Goose Pond Community, 259.
+
+Grant, E.P., letter from, 214;
+  founder and regent of Ohio Phalanx, 354, 356, 363.
+
+Gray, John, at N.A. Phalanx, 478, 484.
+
+Greeley, Horace, introduces Fourierism, 14, 201;
+  acknowledges the success of the religious Communities, 138;
+  treasurer of Sylvania Association, 208, 233;
+  toasted by Brisbane, 226;
+  his position, 229;
+  pledges his property to the cause, 232;
+  relation to Ohio Phalanx, 356, 358;
+  letter to Cincinnati Convention, 366;
+  address at N.A. Phalanx, 468;
+  offers a loan to N.A. Phalanx, 501;
+  controversy with Raymond, 562;
+  pronounces the Oneida Community a trade-success, 510;
+  summary of his socialistic experience, 653, 655.
+
+Greig, John, 271;
+  historian of Clarkson Phalanx, 278.
+
+
+Harmonists, 32.
+
+Harris, T.L., leader at Mountain Cove Community, 573;
+  Scott's estimate of, 575;
+  career, 578;
+  Universalist, 593;
+  Spiritualist, 593;
+  Swedenborgian, 577;
+  doctrine of respiration, 590;
+  leader at Brocton Community, 577.
+
+Haverstraw Community, 74.
+
+Hawthorne, Nathaniel, jilts Brook Farm, 107.
+
+Hempel, J.C., book on Fourier and Swedenborg, 545.
+
+Hopedale, Ballou's exposition of, 120, 127;
+  causes of failure.
+
+
+Individual Sovereignty, a reaction from Owenism, 42.
+
+Integral Phalanx, 377.
+
+Iowa Pioneer Phalanx, 409.
+
+
+Jacobi's Synopsis, 133.
+
+James, Henry, writer for the _Harbinger_, 212;
+  Swedenborgian, 546.
+
+Janson, Erick, founder of Bishop Hill Colony, 137.
+
+Jansonists, 137.
+
+Jefferson Co. Phalanx, 299.
+
+Johnson, Q.A., 166; opposes Collins, 168.
+
+Joint-Stockism, 195; basis of, 197.
+
+
+Kendal Community, 78.
+
+
+La Grange Phalanx, 397.
+
+Lane, Charles, on marriage, 519.
+
+Lazarus, M.E., writes for the _Harbinger_, 212;
+  at N.A. Phalanx, 481.
+
+Lee, Ann, 134, 598, 599;
+  communications from, 603, 604, 606, 610.
+
+Leet, H.N., his letters about the Mountain Cove Community, 568, 569.
+
+Leland, T.C., his letter on the volcanic region, 268;
+  lectures, 271.
+
+Leraysville Phalanx, 259.
+
+Literature of Fourierism, 200.
+
+Longley, Alcander, his perseverance, 91;
+  criticises Brisbane, 496.
+
+Loofbourrow, Wade, president of Clermont Phalanx, 366, 368.
+
+
+Macdonald, A.J., account of him and his collections 1-9;
+  visits New Harmony, 31, 84;
+  Prairie Home, 317;
+  N.A. Phalanx, 473, 481, 485;
+  meets Owen, 88, 90.
+
+Marlboro Association, 309.
+
+McKean Co. Association, 252.
+
+Meacham, Joseph, Shaker Elder, 152.
+
+Meeker, N.C., his letters from Trumbull Phalanx, 329, 337, 344;
+  _post mortem_ on the N.A. Phalanx, 499.
+
+Metz, Christian, founder of the Ebenezers, 136.
+
+Miller's end of the world, 161.
+
+Mixville Association, 299.
+
+Modern Times, 99.
+
+Moorhouse Union, 304.
+
+Mormonism, origin of, 267;
+  afflatus, 152.
+
+Mountain Cove Community, 568.
+
+
+Nashoba, 66.
+
+National experience, theory of, 21.
+
+Nettleton, revivalist, 25.
+
+New Harmony, 30.
+
+New Lanark, factories owned by Owen, 60.
+
+Nichols, Dr. T.L., inaugurates Free Love, 93;
+  connects Owenism with Spiritualism, 566.
+
+North American Phalanx, 449;
+  Sears's history of first nine years, 450;
+  life at, 468;
+  Ripley's visit to, 469;
+  Neidharts' visit, 471;
+  Macdonald's first visit, 473;
+  second visit, 481;
+  third visit, 485;
+  Raritan Bay secession, 487;
+  religious controversy, 489;
+  burning of the mill, 495;
+  end, 499;
+  Meeker's _post mortem_, 499;
+  Hamilton's visit to the remains, 508;
+
+Northampton Association, 154.
+
+Noyes, John H., founder of Oneida Community, 614
+
+
+Ohio Phalanx, 354.
+
+Oneida Community, 614;
+  religious theory, 617;
+  social theory, 623;
+  material results 641.
+
+One Mentian Community, 252.
+
+Ontario Union, 298.
+
+Orvis, John, 179, 212, 291, 536.
+
+Owen, Robert, his American movement, 13;
+  extent of his labors, 22;
+  founds New Harmony, 34;
+  declaration of mental independence, 39;
+  debate with Alexander Campbell, 60;
+  a spiritualist, 57, 565;
+  founder of Yellow Springs Community, 59;
+  trustee of Nashoba, 69;
+  father of American Socialism, 81, 91;
+  success at New Lanark, 81;
+  Texas Scheme, 87;
+  in Washington, 87;
+  before Albany State Convention, 89;
+  family, 84;
+  his scheme compared with Fourier's, 194.
+
+Owen, Robert Dale, successor to Robert Owen, 85;
+  compares New Lanark with New Harmony, 48;
+  trustee of Nashoba, 69;
+  edits the _Free Enquirer_, 72;
+  publishes "Moral Physiology," 85;
+  career, 85;
+  a patron of Spiritualism, 84, 86, 565.
+
+
+Peabody, Elizabeth P., essays in the _Dial_, 109, 113;
+  article on Fourierism, 512, 517.
+
+Peace Union Settlement, 251.
+
+Personnel of Fourierism, 211.
+
+_Phalanx_, the, 102, 210;
+  writers for, 212;
+  editors, 217;
+  succeeds the _Dial_ and _Present_, 517.
+
+Plato, as practical as Fourier, 187
+
+Prairie Home Community, 316.
+
+Pratt, Minot, active at Brook Farm, 515.
+
+Pratt, John, his observations on Owen, 50.
+
+_Present_, the, 102, 209, 516.
+
+
+Rapp, George, founder of Harmony, 32.
+
+Rappites, 32, 135.
+
+Raymond, H.J., associated with Greeley, 229;
+  controversy with Greeley, 562.
+
+Revivalism compared with Socialism, 26;
+ an American production, 28.
+
+Ripley, George, the soul of Brook Farm, 108;
+  at Fourier festival, 226;
+  his description of the N.A. Phalanx, 469;
+  active in transforming Brook Farm, 515;
+  defends Swedenborg, 549.
+
+Roe, Daniel, Swedenborgian minister, 61;
+  fascinated by Owen, 62.
+
+
+Sargant, Owen's biographer, 50, 58, 87.
+
+Schetterly, H.R., founder of Alphadelphia Phalanx, 388, 391.
+
+Sears, Charles, 477;
+  his history of the N.A. Phalanx, 450.
+
+Shakers, their principles, 139, 141;
+  afflatus, 151;
+  societies, 152;
+  close their doors, 596;
+  precursors of Modern Spiritualism, 597, 612;
+  their conditions of receiving members, 597;
+  sights of spiritual things, 599;
+  daily routine, 600;
+  union meetings, 601;
+  dancing, 603;
+  whirling, 604;
+  taking in Indian spirits, 604;
+  Shaker hell, 606;
+  spiritual presents, 606;
+  spiritual music and bathing, 608;
+  funeral 609;
+  purification, 610;
+  Shaker revival in Hades, 611.
+
+Skaneateles Community, 161.
+
+Smolnikar, A.B., 251.
+
+Snowbergers, 136.
+
+Social Architects, 181.
+
+Social Reform Unity, 256.
+
+Sodus Bay Phalanx, 286.
+
+Spiritualism, derived from Swedenborgianism, 538;
+  and from various Socialisms, 565, 567, 613.
+
+Spring Farm Association, 407.
+
+Stillman, E.A., 275, 277, 296.
+
+St. Simon, 182, 192.
+
+Swedenborg, his doctrine of internal respiration, 590.
+
+Swedenborgianism, in the Owen movement, 59, 61;
+  in the Fourier movement, 260, 262;
+  at Brook Farm, 538;
+  the complement of Fourierism, 539, 542;
+  not favorable to Communism, 589, 592.
+
+Sylvania Association, 233.
+
+
+Time Store, 95.
+
+Transcendentalists, 105, 118.
+
+_Tribune_, New York, Fourieristic phase of, 229.
+
+Trumbull Phalanx, 328.
+
+Tubbs, his quarrel, 394.
+
+
+Utopia, 98.
+
+
+Van Amringe, H.H., his letter 214;
+  at Trumbull Phalanx, 336, 345;
+  at Ohio Phalanx, 358, 364;
+  works for Wisconsin Phalanx, 437, 438.
+
+
+Warren, Josiah, 42, 94;
+  on New Harmony, 49;
+  founder of Modern Times, 93, 97, 556;
+  time store, 95;
+  at Clermont Phalanx, 374.
+
+Washtenaw Phalanx, 409.
+
+Watson, A.M., 275.
+
+Wattles, John O., at Prairie Home, 316;
+  at Clermont Phalanx, 376.
+
+White, John, his letter, 214.
+
+Williams, John S., founder of Integral Phalanx, 377.
+
+Williams, Rev. Aaron, D.D., historian of Rappites, 33, 35.
+
+Wisconsin Phalanx, 411;
+  first fiscal statement 418;
+  second fiscal statement, 422;
+  third fiscal statement, 434;
+  fourth fiscal statement, 439;
+  history by a member 440.
+
+Wright, Frances, helpmate of the Owens, 66;
+  visits Rappites and Shakers, 67;
+  founds Nashoba, 68;
+  assists on _New Harmony Gazette_ and _Free Enquirer_, 71, 72;
+  lectures, 72.
+
+
+Yellow Springs Community, 59.
+
+
+Zoarites, 135.
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+    +-----------------------------------------------------------+
+    | Typographical errors corrected in text:                   |
+    |                                                           |
+    | Page  26: successfuly replaced with successfully          |
+    | Page  27: famlies replaced with families                  |
+    | Page  44: accomodated replaced with accommodated          |
+    | Page  53: employes replaced with employees                |
+    | Page  59: probbly replaced with probably                  |
+    | Page  69: aboved-named replaced with above-named          |
+    | Page  84: enthuiasm replaced with enthusiasm              |
+    | Page  88: excusionist replaced with exclusionist          |
+    | Page  91: 'the sweets af Communism' replaced with         |
+    |           'the sweets of Communism'                       |
+    | Page 101: intrests replaced with interests                |
+    | Page 118: supfiercial replaced with superficial           |
+    | Page 138: Communites replaced with Communities            |
+    | Page 173: embarassment replaced with embarrassment        |
+    | Page 191: divison replaced with division                  |
+    | Page 201: peristence replaced with persistence            |
+    | Page 203: constucting replaced with constructing          |
+    | Page 221: occured replaced with occurred                  |
+    | Page 235: devolopment replaced with development           |
+    | Page 253: Pensylvania replaced with Pennsylvania          |
+    | Page 274: begining replaced with beginning                |
+    | Page 283: boldy replaced with boldly                      |
+    | Page 305: 'Some of the members were intelligent and moral |
+    |           people; put the majority were very inferior.'   |
+    |           replaced with 'Some of the members were         |
+    |           intelligent and moral people; but the majority  |
+    |           were very inferior.'                            |
+    | Page 326: do'nt replaced with don't                       |
+    | Page 362: Madconald replaced with Macdonald               |
+    | Page 364: asssignment replaced with assignment            |
+    | Page 366: Februrary replaced with February                |
+    | Page 418: 'have alway failed' replaced with               |
+    |           'have always failed'                            |
+    | Page 460: determned replaced with determined              |
+    | Page 531: affiiliated replaced with affiliated            |
+    | Page 541: proceded replaced with proceeded                |
+    | Page 554: probbly replaced with probably                  |
+    | Page 564: 'We must must not, however' replaced with       |
+    |           'We must not, however,'                         |
+    | Page 569: 'he will 'prent 'em' or or not' replaced with   |
+    |           'he will 'prent 'em' or not'                    |
+    | Page 575: unbiassed replaced with unbiased                |
+    | Page 604: 'and not a a word was spoken' replaced with     |
+    |           'and not a word was spoken'                     |
+    | Page 605: 'such as would require a Dickens a describe'    |
+    |           replaced with                                   |
+    |           'such as would require a Dickens to describe'   |
+    | Page 627: sytem replaced with system                      |
+    | Page 636: divison replaced with division                  |
+    | Page 639: consequnces replaced with consequences          |
+    | Page 645: per annnm. replaced with per annum.             |
+    |                                                           |
+    | Note that 'neat stock' (found on page 329) is a New       |
+    | England reference to dairy cattle that was commonly used  |
+    | in the 19th century.                                      |
+    |                                                           |
+    +-----------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF AMERICAN SOCIALISMS***
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+<body>
+<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, History of American Socialisms, by John
+Humphrey Noyes</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: History of American Socialisms</p>
+<p>Author: John Humphrey Noyes</p>
+<p>Release Date: March 26, 2011  [eBook #35687]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF AMERICAN SOCIALISMS***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3 class="pg">E-text prepared by Fritz Ohrenschall<br />
+    and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="tr">
+<p class="cen" style="font-weight: bold;">Transcriber's Note:</p>
+<br />
+<p class="noin">Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved.</p>
+<p class="noin" style="text-align: left;">Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+For a complete list, please see the <span style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="#TN">end of this document</a>.</span></p>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3>HISTORY</h3>
+
+<h4>OF</h4>
+
+<h2>AMERICAN SOCIALISMS.</h2>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h3>HISTORY</h3>
+
+<h4>OF</h4>
+
+<h2>AMERICAN SOCIALISMS.</h2>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h5>BY</h5>
+
+<h3>JOHN HUMPHREY NOYES.</h3>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h5>This is an exact reprint<br />
+of the scarce 1870 edition<br />
+
+<br />
+<br />
+
+This edition<br />
+Limited to 500 Copies</h5>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>PREFACE.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The object of this book is to help the study of Socialism by the
+inductive method. It is, first and chiefly, a collection of facts; and
+the attempts at interpretation and generalization which are
+interspersed, are secondary and not intentionally dogmatic.</p>
+
+<p>It is certainly high time that Socialists should begin to take lessons
+from experience; and for this purpose, that they should chasten their
+confidence in flattering theories, and turn their attention to actual
+events.</p>
+
+<p>This country has been from the beginning, and especially for the last
+forty years, a laboratory in which Socialisms of all kinds have been
+experimenting. It may safely be assumed that Providence has presided
+over the operations, and has taken care to make them instructive. The
+disasters of Owenism and Fourierism have not been in vain; the
+successes of the Shakers and Rappites have not been set before us for
+nothing. We may hope to learn something from every experiment.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span>The author, having had unusual advantages for observing the
+Socialistic movements, and especial good fortune in obtaining
+collections of observations made by others, has deemed it his duty to
+devote a year to the preparation of this history.</p>
+
+<p>As no other systematic account of American Socialisms exists, the
+facts here collected, aside from any interpretation of them, may be
+valuable to the student of history, and entertaining to the general
+reader.</p>
+
+<p>The present issue may be considered a proof-sheet, as carefully
+corrected as it can be by individual, vigilance. It is hoped that it
+will call out from experts in Socialism and others, corrections and
+additions that will improve it for future editions.</p>
+
+<p><i>Wallingford, Conn., December, 1869.</i></p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="toc" id="toc"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CONTENTS.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="70%" summary="Table of Contents">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr" width="15%" style="font-size: 80%;">CHAPTER</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="70%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="15%" style="font-size: 80%;">PAGE</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">I.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">Introduction</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">II.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">Birds-eye View</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">10</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">III.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">Theory of National Experience</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">21</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">IV.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">New Harmony</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">30</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">V.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">Inquest on New Harmony</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">44</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">VI.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">Yellow Springs Community</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">59</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">VII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Nashoba</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">66</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">VIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Seven Epitaphs</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">73</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">IX.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Owen's General Career</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">81</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">X.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">Connecting Links</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">93</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XI.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">Channing's Brook Farm</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">102</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Hopedale</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">119</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">The Religious Communities</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">133</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XIV.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">The Northampton Association</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">154</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XV.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">The Skaneateles Community</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">161</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XVI.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">Social Architects</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">181</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XVII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">Fundamentals of Socialism</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">193</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XVIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">Literature of Fourierism</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">200</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XIX.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">The Personnel of Fourierism</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">211</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XX.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">The Sylvania Association</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">233</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXI.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">Other Pennsylvania Experiments</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">251<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">The Volcanic District</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">267</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">The Clarkson Phalanx</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">278</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXIV.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">The Sodus Bay Phalanx</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">286</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXV.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">Other New York Experiments</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">296</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXVI.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">The Marlboro Association</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">309</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXVII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">Prairie Home Community</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">316</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXVIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">The Trumbull Phalanx</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">328</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXIX.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">The Ohio Phalanx</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">354</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXX.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">The Clermont Phalanx</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">366</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXXI.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">The Integral Phalanx</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">377</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXXII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">The Alphadelphia Phalanx</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">388</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXXIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">La Grange Phalanx</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">397</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXXIV.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">Other Western Experiments</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">404</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXXV.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">The Wisconsin Phalanx</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">411</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXXVI.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">The North American Phalanx</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">449</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXXVII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">Life at The North American</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">468</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXXVIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">End of the North American</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">487</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXXIX.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX">Conversion of Brook Farm</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">512</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XL.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XL">Brook Farm and Fourierism</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">529</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XLI.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLI">Brook Farm and Swedenborgianism</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">537</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XLII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLII">The End of Brook Farm</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">551</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XLIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIII">The Spiritualist Communities</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">564</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XLIV.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIV">The Brocton Community</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">577</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XLV.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLV">The Shakers</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">595</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XLVI.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVI">The Oneida Community</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">614</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XLVII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVII">Review and Results</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">646</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XLVIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdlsc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLVIII">Two Schools of Socialism</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">658</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span><br />
+
+<h1>AMERICAN SOCIALISMS.</h1>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3>
+
+<h4>INTRODUCTORY.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>Many years ago, when a branch of the Oneida Community lived at Willow
+Place in Brooklyn, near New York, a sombre pilgrim called there one
+day, asking for rest and conversation. His business proved to be the
+collecting of memoirs of socialistic experiments. We treated him
+hospitably, and gave him the information he sought about our
+Community. He repeated his visit several times in the course of some
+following years, and finally seemed to take a very friendly interest
+in our experiment. Thus we became acquainted with him, and also in a
+measure with the work he had undertaken, which was nothing less than a
+history of all the Associations and Communities that have lived and
+died in this country, within the last thirty or forty years.</p>
+
+<p>This man's name was A.J. Macdonald. We remember that he was a person
+of small stature, with black hair and sharp eyes. He had a benevolent
+air, but seemed a little sad. We imagined that the sad <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>scenes he had
+encountered while looking after the stories of so many short-lived
+Communities, had given him a tinge of melancholy. He was indeed the
+"Old Mortality" of Socialism, wandering from grave to grave, patiently
+deciphering the epitaphs of defunct "Phalanxes." We learned from him
+that he was a Scotchman by birth, and a printer by trade; that he was
+an admirer and disciple of Owen, and came from the "old country" some
+ten years before, partly to see and follow the fortunes of his
+master's experiments in Socialism: but finding Owenism in ruins and
+Fourierism going to ruin, he took upon himself the task of making a
+book, that should give future generations the benefit of the lessons
+taught by these attempts and failures.</p>
+
+<p>His own attempt was a failure. He gathered a huge mass of materials,
+wrote his preface, and then died in New York of the cholera. Our
+record of his last visit is dated February, 1854.</p>
+
+<p>Ten years later our attention was turned to the project of writing a
+history of American Socialisms. Such a book seemed to be a want of the
+times. We remembered Macdonald, and wished that by some chance we
+could obtain his collections. But we had lost all traces of them, and
+the hope of recovering them from the chaos of the great city where he
+died, seemed chimerical. Nevertheless some of our associates, then in
+business on Broadway, commenced inquiring at the printing offices, and
+soon found acquaintances of Macdonald, who directed them to the
+residence of his brother-in-law in the city. There, to our joyful
+surprise, we found the collections we were in search of, lying useless
+except as mementos, and a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>gentleman in charge of them who was willing
+we should take them and use them as we pleased.</p>
+
+<p>On examining our treasure, we found it to be a pile of manuscripts, of
+letter-paper size and three inches thick, with printed scraps from
+newspapers and pamphlets interspersed. All was in the loosest state of
+disorder; but we strung the leaves together, paged them, and made an
+index of their contents. The book thus extemporized has been our
+companion, as the reader will see, in the ensuing history. The number
+of its pages is seven hundred and forty-seven. The index has the names
+of sixty-nine Associative experiments, beginning with Brook Farm and
+ending with the Shakers. The memoirs are of various lengths, from a
+mere mention to a narrative of nearly a hundred pages. Among them are
+notices of leading Socialists, such as Owen, Fourier, Frances Wright,
+&amp;c. The collection was in no fit condition for publication; but it
+marked out a path for us, and gave us a mass of material that has been
+very serviceable, and probably could not elsewhere be found.</p>
+
+<p>The breadth and thoroughness of Macdonald's intention will be seen in
+the following circular which, in the prosecution of his enterprise, he
+sent to many leading Socialists.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<div class="block"><h4>PRINTED LETTER OF INQUIRY.</h4>
+
+<p class="right">"<i>New York, March, 1851.</i></p>
+
+<p>"I have been for some time engaged in collecting the necessary
+materials for a book, to be entitled '<i>The Communities of the
+United States</i>,' in which I propose giving a brief account of
+all the social and co-operative experiments that have been made
+in this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>country&mdash;their origin, principles, and progress; and,
+particularly, the causes of their success or failure.</p>
+
+<p>"I have reason to believe, from long experience among social
+reformers, that such a work is needed, and will be both useful
+and interesting. It will serve as a guide to all future
+experiments, showing what has already been done; like a
+light-house, pointing to the rocks on which so many have been
+wrecked, or to the haven in which the few have found rest. It
+will give facts and statistics to be depended upon, gathered
+from the most authentic sources, and forming a collection of
+interesting narratives. It will show the errors of enthusiasts,
+and the triumphs of the cool-thinking; the disappointments of
+the sanguine, and the dear-bought experience of many social
+adventurers. It will give mankind an idea of the labor of body
+and mind that has been expended to realize a better state of
+society; to substitute a social and co-operative state for a
+competitive one; a system of harmony, for one of discord.</p>
+
+<p>"To insure the truthfulness of the work, I propose to gather
+most of my information from individuals who have actually been
+engaged in the experiments of which I treat. With this object in
+view, I take the liberty to address you, asking your aid in
+carrying out my plan. I request you to give me an account of the
+experiment in which you were engaged at &mdash;&mdash;. For instance, I
+require such information as the following questions would call
+forth, viz:</p>
+
+<p>"1. Who originated it, or how was it originated?</p>
+
+<p>"2. What were its principles and objects?</p>
+
+<p>"3. What were its means in land and money?</p>
+
+<p>"4. Was all the property put into common stock?</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>"5. What was the number of persons in the Association?</p>
+
+<p>"6. What were their trades, occupations and amount of skill?</p>
+
+<p>"7. Their education, natural intelligence and morality?</p>
+
+<p>"8. What religious belief, and if any, how preached and
+practised?</p>
+
+<p>"9. How were members admitted? was there any standard by which
+to judge them, or any property qualification necessary?</p>
+
+<p>"10. Was there a written or printed constitution or laws? if so
+can you send me a copy?</p>
+
+<p>"11. Were pledges, fines, oaths, or any coercive means used?</p>
+
+<p>"12. When and where did the Association commence its experiment?
+Please describe the locality; what dwellings and other
+conveniences were upon it; how many persons it could
+accommodate; how many persons lived on the spot; how much land
+was cultivated; whether there were plenty of provisions; &amp;c.,
+&amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>"13. How was the land obtained? Was it free or mortgaged? Who
+owned it?</p>
+
+<p>"14. Were the new circumstances of the associates superior or
+inferior to the circumstances they enjoyed previous to their
+associating?</p>
+
+<p>"15. Did they obtain aid from without?</p>
+
+<p>"16. What particular person or persons took the lead?</p>
+
+<p>"17. Who managed the receipts and expenditures, and were they
+honestly managed?</p>
+
+<p>"18. Did the associates agree or disagree, and in what?</p>
+
+<p>"19. How long did they keep together?</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>"20. When and why did they break up? State the causes, direct
+and indirect.</p>
+
+<p>"21. If successful, what were the causes of success?</p>
+
+<p>"Any other information relating to the experiment, that you may
+consider useful and interesting, will be acceptable. By such
+information you will confer a great favor, and materially assist
+me in what I consider a good undertaking.</p>
+
+<p>"The work I contemplate will form a neat 12mo. volume, of from
+200 to 280 pages, such as Lyell's 'Tour in the United States,'
+or Gorrie's 'Churches and Sects of the United States.' It will
+be published in New York and London at the lowest possible
+price, say, within one dollar; and it is my intention, if
+possible, to illustrate the work with views of Communities now
+in progress, or of localities rendered interesting by having
+once been the battle grounds of the new system against the old.</p>
+
+<p>"Please make known the above, and favor me with the names and
+addresses of persons who would be willing to assist me with such
+information as I require.</p>
+
+<p>"Trusting that I shall receive the same kind aid from you that I
+have already received from so many of my friends,</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span style="padding-right: 2%;">"I remain, very respectfully, yours,</span><br />
+"<span class="sc">A.J. Macdonald</span>."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Among the manuscripts in Macdonald's collection are many that were
+evidently written in response to this circular. Many others were
+written by himself as journals or reports of his own visits to various
+Associations. We have reason to believe that he spent most of his time
+from his arrival in this country in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>1842 till his death in 1854, in
+pilgrimages to every Community, and even to every grave of a
+Community, that he could hear of, far and near.</p>
+
+<p>He had done his work when he died. His collection is nearly exhaustive
+in the extent of its survey. Very few Associations of any note are
+overlooked. And he evidently considered it ready for the press; for
+most of his memoirs are endorsed with the word "<i>Complete</i>," and with
+some methodical directions to the printer. He had even provided the
+illustrations promised in his circular. Among his manuscripts are the
+following pictures:</p>
+
+<p>A pencil sketch and also a small wood engraving of the buildings of
+the North American Phalanx;</p>
+
+<p>A wood engraving of the first mansion house of the Oneida Community;</p>
+
+<p>A pencil sketch of the village of Modern Times;</p>
+
+<p>A view in water-colors of the domain and cabin of the Clermont
+Phalanx;</p>
+
+<p>A pencil sketch of the Zoar settlement;</p>
+
+<p>Four wood engravings of Shaker scenes; two of them representing
+dances; one, a kneeling scene; and one, a "Mountain meeting;" also a
+pencil sketch of Shaker dwellings at Watervliet;</p>
+
+<p>A portrait of Robert Owen in wood;</p>
+
+<p>A very pretty view of New Harmony in India ink;</p>
+
+<p>A wood-cut of one of Owen's imaginary palaces;</p>
+
+<p>Two portraits of Frances Wright in wood; one representing her as she
+was in her prime of beauty, and the other, as she was in old age;</p>
+
+<p>A fine steel engraving of Fourier.</p>
+
+<p>In the following preface, which was found among Macdonald's
+manuscripts, and which is dated a few <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>months before his death, we
+have a last and sure signal that he considered his collection
+finished:</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<div class="block"><h4>PREFACE TO THE BOOK THAT WAS NEVER PUBLISHED.</h4>
+
+<p>"I performed the task of collecting the materials which form
+this volume, because I thought I was doing good. At one time,
+sanguine in anticipating brilliant results from Communism, I
+imagined mankind better than they are, and that they would
+speedily practise those principles which I considered so true.
+But the experience of years is now upon me; I have mingled with
+'the world,' seen <i>stern reality</i>, and now am anxious to do as
+much as in me lies, to make known to the many thousands who look
+for a 'better state' than this on earth as well as in heaven,
+the amount (as it were at a glance) of the labors which have
+been and are now being performed in this country to realize that
+'better state'. It may help to waken dreamers, to guide lost
+wanderers, to convince skeptics, to re-assure the hopeful; it
+may serve the uses of Statesmen and Philosophers, and interest
+the general reader; but it is most desirable that it should
+increase the charity of all those who may please to examine it,
+when they see that it was for Humanity, in nearly all instances,
+that these things were done.</p>
+
+<p>"Of necessity the work is imperfect, because of the difficulty
+in obtaining information on such subjects; but the attempt,
+whatever may be its result, should not be put off, since there
+is reason to believe that if not now collected, many particulars
+of the various movements would be forever lost.</p>
+
+<p>"It remains for a future historian to continue the labor which I
+have thus superficially commenced; for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>the day has not yet
+arrived when it can be said that Communism or Association has
+ceased to exist; and it is possible yet, in the progress of
+things, that man will endeavor to cure his social diseases by
+some such means; and a future history may contain the results of
+more important experiments than have ever yet been attempted.</p>
+
+<p>"I here return my thanks to the fearless, confiding, and
+disinterested friends, who so freely shared with me what little
+they possessed, to assist in the completion of this work. I name
+them not, but rejoice in their assistance.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">A.J. Macdonald.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>New York City, 1854.</i>"</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The tone of this preface indicates that Macdonald was discouraged. The
+effect of his book, if he had lived to publish it, would have been to
+aggravate the re-action against Socialism which followed the collapse
+of Fourierism. We hope to make a better use of his materials.</p>
+
+<p>It should not be imagined that we are about to edit his work. A large
+part of his collections we shall omit, as irrelevant to our purpose.
+That part which we use will often be reconstructed and generally
+condensed. Much of our material will be obtained from other sources.
+The plan and theory of this history are our own, and widely different
+from any that Macdonald would have been willing to indorse. With these
+qualifications, we still acknowledge a large debt of gratitude to him
+and to the Providence that gave us his collections.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3>
+
+<h4>BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF THE EXPERIMENTS.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>A general survey of the Socialistic field will be useful, before
+entering on the memoirs of particular Associations; and for this
+purpose we will now spread before us the entire Index of Macdonald's
+collections, adding to it a schedule of the number of pages which he
+gave to the several Associations, and the dates of their beginning and
+ending, so far as we have been able to find them. Many of the
+transitory Associations, it will be seen, "made no sign" when they
+died. The continuous Communities, such as the Shakers, of course have
+no terminal date.</p>
+
+<h4>INDEX OF MACDONALD'S COLLECTION.</h4>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="60%" summary="Macdonald's Collection">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp" width="70%"><b>Associations, &amp;c.</b></td>
+  <td class="tdc" width="15%"><b>No. of Pages.</b></td>
+  <td class="tdlp" width="15%"><b>Dates.</b></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Alphadelphia Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">7</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1843-6.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Auxiliary Branch of the Association of All Classes of All Nations</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1836.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Blue Spring Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1826-7.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Brazilian Experiment</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1841.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Brook Farm</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">20</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1842-7.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Brooke's Experiment</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">5</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1844.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Brotherhood of the Union</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1850-1.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Bureau Co. Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1843.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Cincinnati Brotherhood</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">5</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1845-8.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Clarkson Industrial Association</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">11</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1844.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Clermont Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">13</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1844-7.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Colony of Bethel</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">11</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1852.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Columbian Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1845.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Commonwealth Society</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1819.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Communia Working Men's League</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1850.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Convention at Boston of the Friends of Association</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1843.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Convention in New York for organizing an Industrial Congress</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1845.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Co-operating Society of Alleghany Co.</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1825.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Coxsackie Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1826-7.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Davis' Harmonial Brotherhood</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1851.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Dunkers</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">4</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1724.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Ebenezer Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">5</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1843.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Emigration Society, 2d Section</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">4</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1843.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Forrestville Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1825.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Fourier, Life of</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> &nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Franklin Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1826.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Garden Grove</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1848.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Goose Pond Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1843.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Grand Prairie Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1847.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Grand Prairie Harmonial Institute</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">8</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1853.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Guatemala Experiment</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1843.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Haverstraw Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1826.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Hopedale Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">13</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1842.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Hunt's Experiment of Equality</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">12</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1843-7.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Icaria</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">82</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1849</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Integral Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">5</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1845.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Jefferson County Industrial Association</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1843.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Kendal Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">4</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1826.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Lagrange Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1843.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Leraysville Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">5</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1844.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Macluria</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">7</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1826.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Marlboro Association</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">10</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1841.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">McKean County Association</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1843.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Modern Times</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  <td class="tdlp"> 1851.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Moorhouse Union</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">6</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1843.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Moravians, or United Brethren</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">9</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1745.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Murray, Orson S.</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Nashoba</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">14</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1825-8.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">New Lanark</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">10</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1799.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">New Harmony</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">60</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1825-7.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">North American Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">38</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1843-55.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Northampton Association</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">7</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1842.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Ohio Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">11</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1844-5.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Oneida Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">27</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1847.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">One-mentian Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">6</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1843.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Ontario Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1844.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Owen, Robert</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">25</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Prairie Home Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">23</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1844.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Raritan Bay Union</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">5</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1853.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Sangamon Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1845.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Shakers</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">93</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1776.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Skaneateles Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">18</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1843-6.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Social Reform Unity</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">23</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1842.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Sodus Bay Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1844.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Spiritual Community at Mountain Cove</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1853.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Spring Farm Association</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1846-9.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">St. Louis Reform Association</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1851.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Sylvania Association</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">25</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1843-5.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Trumbull Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">13</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1844-7.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">United Germans</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1827.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Venezuelan Experiment</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">25</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1844-6.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Warren, Josiah, Time Store &amp;c.</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">11</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1842.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Washtenaw Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1843.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Wisconsin Phalanx</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">21</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1844-50.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Wright, Frances</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">9</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Wilkinson, Jemima, and her Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">5</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1780.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Yellow Springs Community</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1825.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Zoar</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">8</td>
+  <td class="tdlp">1819.</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>On general survey of the matter contained in this index, we may begin
+to sort it in the following manner:</p>
+
+<p>First we will lay aside the antique <i>religious</i> Associations, such as
+the Dunkers, Moravians, Zoarites, &amp;c. We count at least seven of
+these, which do not properly belong to the modern socialistic
+movement, or even to American life. Having their origin in the old
+world, and most of them in the last century, and remaining without
+change, they exist only on the outskirts of general society.</p>
+
+<p>Next we put out of account the <i>foreign</i> Associations, such as the
+Brazilian and Venezuelan experiments. With these may be classed those
+of the Icarians and some others, which, though within the United
+States, are, or were, really colonies of foreigners. We see six of
+this sort in the index.</p>
+
+<p>Thirdly, we dismiss two or three Spiritualistic attempts that are
+named in the list; first, because they never attained to the dignity
+of Associations; and secondly, because they belonged to a later
+movement than that which Macdonald undertook to record. The social
+experiments of the Spiritualists should be treated by themselves, as
+the <i>sequel&aelig;</i> of the Fourier excitement of Macdonald's time.</p>
+
+<p>The Associations that are left after these exclusions, naturally fall
+into two groups, viz.; those of the <span class="sc">Owen movement</span>, and those
+of the <span class="sc">Fourier movement</span>.</p>
+
+<p>Robert Owen came to this country and commenced his experiments in
+Communism in 1824. This was the beginning of a national excitement,
+which had a course somewhat like that of a religious revival or a
+political campaign. This movement seems to have culminated in 1826;
+and, grouped around or near that year, we find <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>in Macdonald's list,
+the names of eleven Communities. These were not all strictly Owenite
+Communities, but probably all owed their birth to the general
+excitement that followed Owen's labors, and may therefore, properly be
+classified as belonging to the Owen movement.</p>
+
+<p>Fourierism was introduced into this country by Albert Brisbane and
+Horace Greeley in 1842, and then commenced another great national
+movement similar to that of Owenism, but far more universal and
+enthusiastic. We consider the year 1843 the focal period of this
+social revival; and around that year or following it within the
+forties, we find the main group of Macdonald's Associations.
+Thirty-four of the list may clearly be referred to this epoch. Many,
+and perhaps most of them, never undertook to carry into practice
+Fourier's theories in full; and some of them would disclaim all
+affiliation with Fourierism; but they all originated in a common
+excitement, and that excitement took its rise from the publications of
+Brisbane and Greeley.</p>
+
+<p>Confining ourselves, for the present, to these two groups of
+Associations, belonging respectively to the Owen movement of 1826 and
+the Fourier movement of 1843, we will now give a brief statistical
+account of each Association; i.e., all we can find in Macdonald's
+collection, on the following points: 1, Locality; 2, Number of
+members; 3, Amount of land; 4, Amount of debt; 5, Duration. We give
+the amount of land instead of any other measurement of capital,
+because all and more than all the capital of the Associations was
+generally invested in land, and because it is difficult to
+distinguish, in most cases, between the cash capital that was actually
+paid in, and that which was only subscribed or talked about.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>As to the reliability of these statistics, we can only say that we
+have patiently picked them out, one by one, like scattered bones, from
+Macdonald's heap. Though they may be faulty in some details, we are
+confident that the general idea they give of the attempts and
+experiences of American Socialists, will not be far from the truth.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Experiments of the Owen Epoch.</i></p>
+
+<p>Blue Spring Community; Indiana; no particulars, except that it lasted
+"but a short time."</p>
+
+<p>Co-operative Society; Pennsylvania; no particulars.</p>
+
+<p>Coxsackie Community; New York; capital "small;" "very much in debt;"
+duration between 1 and 2 years.</p>
+
+<p>Forrestville Community; Indiana; "over 60 members;" 325 acres of land;
+duration more than a year.</p>
+
+<p>Franklin Community; New York; no particulars.</p>
+
+<p>Haverstraw Community; New York; about 80 members; 120 acres; debt
+$12,000; duration 5 months.</p>
+
+<p>Kendal Community; Ohio; 200 members; 200 acres; duration about 2
+years.</p>
+
+<p>Macluria; Indiana; 1200 acres; duration about 2 years.</p>
+
+<p>New Harmony; Indiana; 900 members; 30,000 acres, worth $150,000;
+duration nearly 3 years.</p>
+
+<p>Nashoba; Tennessee; 15 members; 2,000 acres; duration about 3 years.</p>
+
+<p>Yellow Spring Community; Ohio; 75 to 100 families; duration 3 months.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Experiments of the Fourier Epoch.</i></p>
+
+<p>Alphadelphia Phalanx; Michigan; 400 or 500 members; 2814 acres;
+duration 2 years and 9 months.</p>
+
+<p>Brook Farm; Massachusetts; 115 members; 200 acres; duration 5 years.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>Brooke's experiment; Ohio; few members; no further particulars.</p>
+
+<p>Bureau Co. Phalanx; Illinois; small; no particulars.</p>
+
+<p>Clarkson Industrial Association; New York; 420 members; 2000 acres;
+duration from 6 to 9 months.</p>
+
+<p>Clermont Phalanx; Ohio; 120 members; 900 acres; debt $19,000; duration
+2 years or more.</p>
+
+<p>Columbian Phalanx; Ohio; no particulars.</p>
+
+<p>Garden Grove; Iowa; no particulars.</p>
+
+<p>Goose Pond Community; Pennsylvania; 60 members; duration a few months.</p>
+
+<p>Grand Prairie Community; Ohio; no particulars.</p>
+
+<p>Hopedale; Massachusetts; 200 members; 500 acres; duration not stated,
+but commonly reported to be 17 or 18 years.</p>
+
+<p>Integral Phalanx; Illinois; 30 families; 508 acres; duration 17
+months.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson Co. Industrial Association; New York; 400 members; 1200
+acres of land; duration a few months.</p>
+
+<p>Lagrange Phalanx; Indiana; 1000 acres; no further particulars.</p>
+
+<p>Leraysville Phalanx; Pennsylvania; 40 members; 300 acres; duration 8
+months.</p>
+
+<p>Marlboro Association; Ohio; 24 members; had "a load of debt;" duration
+nearly 4 years.</p>
+
+<p>McKean Co. Association; Pennsylvania; 30,000 acres; no further
+particulars.</p>
+
+<p>Moorhouse Union; New York; 120 acres; duration "a few months."</p>
+
+<p>North American Phalanx; New Jersey; 112 members; 673 acres; debt
+$17,000; duration 12 years.</p>
+
+<p>Northampton Association; Massachusetts; 130 <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>members; 500 acres of
+land; debt $40,000; duration 4 years.</p>
+
+<p>Ohio Phalanx; 100 members; 2,200 acres; deeply in debt; duration 10
+months.</p>
+
+<p>One-mentian (meaning probably one-mind) Community; Pennsylvania; 800
+acres; duration one year.</p>
+
+<p>Ontario Phalanx; New York; brief duration.</p>
+
+<p>Prairie Home Community; Ohio; 500 acres; debt broke it up; duration
+one year.</p>
+
+<p>Raritan Bay Union; New Jersey; few members; 268 acres.</p>
+
+<p>Sangamon Phalanx; Illinois; no particulars.</p>
+
+<p>Skaneateles Community; New York; 150 members; 354 acres; debt $10,000;
+duration 2-1/2 years.</p>
+
+<p>Social Reform Unity; Pennsylvania; 20 members; 2,000 acres; debt
+$2,400; duration about 10 months.</p>
+
+<p>Sodus Bay Phalanx; New York; 300 members; 1,400 acres; duration a
+"short time."</p>
+
+<p>Spring Farm Association; Wisconsin; 10 families; duration 3 years.</p>
+
+<p>Sylvania Association; Pennsylvania; 145 members; 2394 acres; debt
+$7,900; duration nearly 2 years.</p>
+
+<p>Trumbull Phalanx; Ohio; 1500 acres; duration 2-1/2 years.</p>
+
+<p>Washtenaw Phalanx; Michigan; no particulars.</p>
+
+<p>Wisconsin Phalanx; 32 families; 1,800 acres; duration 6 years.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Recapitulation and Comments.</i></p>
+
+<p>1. <i>Localities.</i> The Owen group were distributed among the States as
+follows: in Indiana, 4; in New York, 3; in Ohio, 2; in Pennsylvania,
+1; in Tennessee, 1.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>The Fourier group were located as follows: in Ohio, 8; in New York, 6;
+in Pennsylvania, 6; in Massachusetts, 3; in Illinois, 3; in New
+Jersey, 2; in Michigan, 2; in Wisconsin, 2; in Indiana, 1; in Iowa, 1.</p>
+
+<p>Indiana had the greatest number in the first group, and the least in
+the second.</p>
+
+<p>New England was not represented in the Owen group; and only by three
+Associations in the Fourier group; and those three were all in
+Massachusetts.</p>
+
+<p>The southern states were represented by only one Association&mdash;that of
+Nashoba, in the Owen group&mdash;and that was little more than an
+eleemosynary attempt of Frances Wright to civilize the negroes.</p>
+
+<p>The two groups combined were distributed as follows: in Ohio, 10; in
+New York, 9; in Pennsylvania, 7; in Indiana, 5; in Massachusetts, 3;
+in Illinois, 3; in New Jersey, 2; in Michigan, 2; in Wisconsin, 2; in
+Tennessee, 1; in Iowa, 1.</p>
+
+<p>2. <i>Number of members.</i> The figures in our epitome (reckoning five
+persons to a family when families are mentioned), give an aggregate of
+4,801 members: but these belong to only twenty-five Associations. The
+numbers of the remaining twenty are not definitely reported. The
+average of those reported is about 192 to an Association. Extending
+this average to the rest, we have a total of 8,641.</p>
+
+<p>The numbers belonging to single Associations vary from 15 to 900; but
+in a majority of cases they were between 100 and 200.</p>
+
+<p>3. <i>The amount of land</i> reported is enormous. Averaging it as we did
+in the case of the number of members, we make a grand total of 136,586
+acres, or about <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>3,000 acres to each Association! This is too much for
+any probable average. We will leave out as exceptional, the 60,000
+acres reported as belonging to New Harmony and the McKean Co.
+Association. Then averaging as before, we have a grand total of 44,624
+acres, or about 1,000 acres to each Association.</p>
+
+<p>Judging by our own experience we incline to think that this fondness
+for land, which has been the habit of Socialists, had much to do with
+their failures. Farming is about the hardest and longest of all roads
+to fortune: and it is the kind of labor in which there is the most
+uncertainty as to modes and theories, and of course the largest chance
+for disputes and discords in such complex bodies as Associations.
+Moreover the lust for land leads off into the wilderness, "out west,"
+or into by-places, far away from railroads and markets; whereas
+Socialism, if it is really ahead of civilization, ought to keep near
+the centers of business, and at the front of the general march of
+improvement. We should have advised the Phalanxes to limit their
+land-investments to a minimum, and put their strength as soon as
+possible into some form of manufacture. Almost any kind of a factory
+would be better than a farm for a Community nursery. We find hardly a
+vestige of this policy in Macdonald's collections. The saw-mill is the
+only form of mechanism that figures much in his reports. It is really
+ludicrous to see how uniformly an old saw-mill turns up in connection
+with each Association, and how zealously the brethren made much of it;
+but that is about all they attempted in the line of manufacturing.
+Land, land, land, was evidently regarded by them as the mother of all
+gain and comfort. Considering how much they must have run in debt for
+land, and how little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>profit they got from it, we may say of them
+almost literally, that they were "wrecked by running aground."</p>
+
+<p>4. <i>Amount of debt.</i> Macdonald's reports on this point are few and
+indefinite. The sums owed are stated for only seven of the
+Associations. They vary from $1,000 to $40,000. Five other
+Associations are reported as "very much in debt," "deeply in debt,"
+&amp;c. The exact indebtedness of these and of the remaining thirty-three,
+is probably beyond the reach of history. But we have reason to think
+that nearly all of them bought, to begin with, a great deal more land
+than they paid for. This was the fashion of the socialistic schools
+and of the times.</p>
+
+<p>5. <i>The duration</i> of fourteen Associations is not reported; twelve
+lasted less than 1 year; two 1 year; four between 1 and 2 years; three
+2 years; four between 2 and 3 years; one between 3 and 4 years; one 4
+years; one 5 years; one 6 years; one 12 years, and one (it is said) 17
+years. All died young, and most of them before they were two years
+old.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3>
+
+<h4>THEORY OF NATIONAL EXPERIENCE.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>Now that our phenomena are fairly before us, a little speculation may
+be appropriate. One wants to know what position these experiments,
+which started so gaily and failed so soon, occupy in the history of
+this country and of the world; what relation they have to
+Christianity; what their meaning is in the great scheme of Providence.
+Students of Socialism and history must have some theory about their
+place and significance in the great whole of things. We have studied
+them somewhat in the circumspective way, and will devote a few pages
+to our theory about them. It will at least correct any impression that
+we intend to treat them disrespectfully.</p>
+
+<p>And first we keep in mind a clear and wide distinction between the
+Associations and the movements from which they sprung. The word
+<i>movement</i> is very convenient, though very indefinite. We use it to
+designate the wide-spread excitements and discussions about Socialism
+which led to the experiments we have epitomized. In our last chapter
+we incidentally compared the socialistic movements of the Owen and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>Fourier epochs to religious revivals. We might now complete the idea,
+by comparing the Associations that issued from those movements, to
+churches that were organized in consequence of the revivals. A vast
+spiritual and intellectual excitement is one thing; and the
+<i>institutions</i> that rise out of it are another. We must not judge the
+excitement by the institutions.</p>
+
+<p>We get but a very imperfect idea of the Owen and Fourier movements
+from the short-lived experiments whose remains are before us in
+Macdonald's collections. In the first place Macdonald, faithful as he
+was, did not discover all the experiments that were made during those
+movements. We remember some that are not named in his manuscripts. And
+in the next place the numbers engaged in the practical attempts were
+very small, in comparison with the masses that entered into the
+enthusiasm of the general movements and abandoned themselves to the
+idea of an impending social revolution. The eight thousand and six
+hundred that we found by averaging Macdonald's list, might probably be
+doubled to represent the census of the obscure unknown attempts, and
+then multiplied by ten to cover the outside multitudes that were
+converted to Socialism in the course of the Owen and Fourier revivals.</p>
+
+<p>Owen in 1824 stirred the very life of the nation with his appeals to
+Kings and Congresses, and his vast experiments at New Harmony. Think
+of his family of nine hundred members on a farm of thirty thousand
+acres! A magnificent beginning, that thrilled the world! The general
+movement was proportionate to this beginning; and though this great
+Community and all the little ones that followed it failed and
+disappeared in a few years, the movement did not cease. Owen and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>his
+followers&mdash;especially his son Robert Dale Owen and Frances
+Wright&mdash;continued to agitate the country with newspapers, public
+lectures, and "Fanny Wright societies," till their ideas actually got
+foot-hold and influence in the great Democratic party. The special
+enthusiasm for practical attempts at Association culminated in 1826,
+and afterwards subsided; but the excitement about Owen's ideas, which
+was really the Owen movement, reached its height after 1830; and the
+embers of it are in the heart of the nation to this day.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, Fourier (by proxy) started another national
+excitement in 1842. With young Brisbane for its cosmopolitan apostle,
+and a national newspaper, such as the <i>New York Tribune</i> was, for its
+organ, this movement, like Owen's, could not be otherwise than
+national in its dimensions. We shall have occasion hereafter to show
+how vast and deep it was, and how poorly it is represented by the
+Phalanxes that figure in Macdonald's memoirs. Meanwhile let the reader
+consider that several of the men who were leaders in this excitement,
+were also leaders then and afterwards in the old Whig party; and he
+will have reason to conclude that Socialism, in its duplex form of
+Owenism and Fourierism, has touched and modified both of the
+party-sections and all departments of the national life.</p>
+
+<p>We must not think of the two great socialistic revivals as altogether
+heterogeneous and separate. Their partizans maintained theoretical
+opposition to each other; but after all the main idea of both was <i>the
+enlargement of home&mdash;the extension of family union beyond the little
+man-and-wife circle to large corporations</i>. In this idea the two
+movements were one; and this was the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>charming idea that caught the
+attention and stirred the enthusiasm of the American people. Owenism
+prepared the way for Fourierism. The same men, or at least the same
+sort of men that took part in the Owen movement, were afterward
+carried away by the Fourier enthusiasm. The two movements may,
+therefore, be regarded as one; and in that view, the period of the
+great American socialistic revival extends from 1824, through the
+final and overwhelming excitement of 1843, to the collapse of
+Fourierism after 1846.</p>
+
+<p>As a man who has passed through a series of passional excitements, is
+never the same being afterward, so we insist that these socialistic
+paroxysms have changed the heart of the nation; and that a yearning
+toward social reconstruction has become a part of the continuous,
+permanent, inner experience of the American people. The Communities
+and Phalanxes died almost as soon as they were born, and are now
+almost forgotten. But the spirit of Socialism remains in the life of
+the nation. It was discouraged and cast down by the failures of 1828
+and 1846, and thus it learned salutary caution and self-control. But
+it lives still, as a hope watching for the morning, in thousands and
+perhaps millions who never took part in any of the experiments, and
+who are neither Owenites nor Fourierites, but simply Socialists
+without theory&mdash;believers in the possibility of a scientific and
+heavenly reconstruction of society.</p>
+
+<p>Thus our theory harmonizes Owenism with Fourierism, and regards them
+both as working toward the same end in American history. Now we will
+go a step further and attempt the reconciling of still greater
+repugnances.</p>
+
+<p>Since the war of 1812-15, the line of socialistic <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>excitements lies
+parallel with the line of religious Revivals. Each had its two great
+leaders, and its two epochs of enthusiasm. Nettleton and Finney were
+to Revivals, what Owen and Fourier were to Socialism. Nettleton
+prepared the way for Finney, though he was opposed to him, as Owen
+prepared the way for Fourier. The enthusiasm in both movements had the
+same progression. Nettleton's agitation, like Owen's, was moderate and
+somewhat local. Finney, like Fourier, swept the nation as with a
+tempest. The Revival periods were a little in advance of those of
+Socialism. Nettleton commenced his labors in 1817, while Owen entered
+the field in 1824. Finney was at the height of his power in 1831-3,
+while Fourier was carrying all before him in 1842-3. Thus the
+movements were to a certain extent alternate. Opposed as they were to
+each other theologically&mdash;one being a movement of Bible men, and the
+other of infidels and liberals&mdash;they could not be expected to hold
+public attention simultaneously. But looking at the whole period from
+the end of the war in 1815 to the end of Fourierism after 1846, and
+allowing Revivals a little precedence over Socialism, we find the two
+lines of excitement parallel, and their phenomena wonderfully similar.</p>
+
+<p>As we have shown that the socialistic movement was national, so, if it
+were necessary, we might here show that the Revival movement was
+national. There was a time between 1831 and 1834 when the American
+people came as near to a surrender of all to the Kingdom of Heaven, as
+they came in 1843 to a socialistic revolution. The Millennium seemed
+as near in 1831, as Fourier's Age of Harmony seemed in 1843. And the
+final effect of Revivals was a hope watching for the morning, which
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>remains in the life of the nation, side by side, nay identical with,
+the great hope of Socialism.</p>
+
+<p>And these movements&mdash;Revivalism and Socialism&mdash;opposed to each other
+as they may seem, and as they have been in the creeds of their
+partizans, are closely related in their essential nature and objects,
+and manifestly belong together in the scheme of Providence, as they do
+in the history of this nation. They are to each other as inner to
+outer&mdash;as soul to body&mdash;as life to its surroundings. The Revivalists
+had for their great idea the regeneration of the soul. The great idea
+of the Socialists was the regeneration of society, which is the soul's
+environment. These ideas belong together, and are the complements of
+each other. Neither can be successfully embodied by men whose minds
+are not wide enough to accept them both.</p>
+
+<p>In fact these two ideas, which in modern times are so wide apart, were
+present together in original Christianity. When the Spirit of truth
+pricked three thousand men to the heart and converted them on the day
+of Pentecost, its next effect was to resolve them into one family and
+introduce Communism of property. Thus the greatest of all Revivals was
+also the great inauguration of Socialism.</p>
+
+<p>Undoubtedly the Socialists will think we make too much of the Revival
+movement; and the Revivalists will think we make too much of the
+Socialistic movement; and the politicians will think we make too much
+of both, in assigning them important places in American history. But
+we hold that a man's deepest experiences are those of religion and
+love; and these are just the experiences in respect to which he is
+most apt to be ashamed, and most inclined to be silent. So the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>nation
+says but little, and tries to think that it thinks but little, about
+its Revivals and its Socialisms; but they are nevertheless the deepest
+and most interesting passages of its history, and worth more study as
+determinatives of character and destiny, than all its politics and
+diplomacies, its money matters and its wars.</p>
+
+<p>Doubtless the Revivalists and Socialists despise each other, and
+perhaps both will despise us for imagining that they can be
+reconciled. But we will say what we believe; and that is, that they
+have both failed in their attempts to bring heaven on earth, <i>because</i>
+they despised each other, and would not put their two great ideas
+together. The Revivalists failed for want of regeneration of society,
+and the Socialists failed for want of regeneration of the heart.</p>
+
+<p>On the one hand the Revivalists needed daily meetings and continuous
+criticism to save and perfect their converts; and these things they
+could not have without a thorough reconstruction of domestic life.
+They tried the expedient of "protracted meetings," which was really a
+half-way attack on the fashion of the world; but society was too
+strong for them, and their half-measures broke down, as all
+half-measures must. What they needed was to convert their churches
+into unitary families, and put them into unitary homes, where daily
+meetings and continuous criticism are possible;&mdash;and behold, this is
+Socialism!</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand the Socialists, as often as they came together in
+actual attempts to realize their ideals, found that they were too
+selfish for close organization. The moan of Macdonald was, that after
+seeing the stern reality of the experiments, he lost hope, and was
+obliged to confess that he had "imagined mankind better than <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>they
+are." This was the final confession of the leaders in the Associative
+experiments generally, from Owen to the last of the Fourierites; and
+this confession means, that Socialism needed for its complement,
+regeneration of the heart;&mdash;and behold, this is Revivalism!</p>
+
+<p>These discords and failures of the past surely have not been in vain.
+Perhaps Providence has carried forward its regenerative designs in two
+lines thus far, for the sake of the advantage of a "division of
+labor." While the Bible men have worked for the regeneration of the
+soul, the infidels and liberals have been busy on the problem of the
+reconstruction of society. Working apart and in enmity, perhaps they
+have accomplished more for final harmony than they could have done
+together. Even their failures when rightly interpreted, may turn to
+good account. They have both helped to plant in the heart of the
+nation an unfailing hope of the "good time coming." Their lines of
+labor, though we have called them parallel, must really be convergent;
+and we may hope that the next phase of national history will be that
+of Revivalism and Socialism harmonized, and working together for the
+Kingdom of Heaven.</p>
+
+<p>To complete our historical theory, we must mention in conclusion, one
+point of contrast between the Socialisms and the Revivals.</p>
+
+<p><i>The Socialisms were imported from Europe; while the Revivals were
+American productions.</i></p>
+
+<p>Owen was an Englishman, and Fourier was a Frenchman; but Nettleton and
+Finney were both Americans&mdash;both natives of Connecticut.</p>
+
+<p>In the comparison we confine ourselves to the period since the war of
+1812, because the history of the general socialistic excitements in
+this country is limited <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>to that period. But the Revivals have an
+anterior history, extending back into the earliest times of New
+England. The great American <i>system</i> of Revivals, of which the
+Nettleton and Finney excitements were the continuation, was born in
+the first half of the last century, in central Massachusetts. Jonathan
+Edwards, whose life extended from 1703 to 1758, was the father of it.
+So that not only since the war of 1812, but before the Revolution of
+1776, we find Revivalism, <i>as a system</i>, strictly an American
+production.</p>
+
+<p>We call the Owen and Fourier movements, <i>American</i> Socialisms, because
+they were national in their dimensions, and American life chiefly was
+the subject of them. But looking at what may be called the <i>male</i>
+element in the production of them, they were really European
+movements, propagated in this country. Nevertheless, if we take the
+view that Socialism and Revivalism are a unit in the design of
+Providence, one looking to the regeneration of externals and the other
+to the regeneration of internals, we may still call the entire
+movement American, as having Revivalism, which is American, for its
+inner life, though Socialism, the outer element, was imported from
+England and France.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3>
+
+<h4>NEW HARMONY.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>American Socialisms, as we have defined them and grouped their
+experiments, may be called <i>non-religious</i> Socialisms. Several
+religious Communities flourished in this country before Owen's
+attempts, and have continued to flourish here since the collapse of
+Fourierism. But they were originally colonies of foreigners, and never
+were directly connected with movements that could be called national.
+Owen was the first Socialist that stirred the enthusiasm of the whole
+American people; and he was the first, so far as we know, who tried
+the experiment of a non-religious Community. And the whole series of
+experiments belonging to the two great groups of the Owen and Fourier
+epochs, followed in his footsteps. The exclusion of theology was their
+distinction and their boast.</p>
+
+<p>Our programme, limited as it is by its title to these national
+Socialisms, does not strictly include the religious Communities. Yet
+those Communities have played indirectly a very important part in the
+drama of American Socialisms, and will require considerable incidental
+attention as we proceed.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>In attempting to make out from Macdonald's collection an outline of
+Owen's great experiment at New Harmony (which was the prototype of all
+the Owen and Fourier experiments), we find ourselves at the outset
+quite unexpectedly dealing with a striking example of the relation
+between the religious and non-religious Communities.</p>
+
+<p>Owen did not build the village of New Harmony, nor create the
+improvements which prepared his 30,000 acres for his family of nine
+hundred. He bought them outright from a previous religious Community;
+and it is doubtful whether he would have ever gathered his nine
+hundred and made his experiment, if he had not found a place prepared
+for him by a sect of Christian Communists.</p>
+
+<p>Macdonald was an admirer, we might almost say a worshiper, of Owen. He
+gloats over New Harmony as the very Mecca of his devotion. There he
+spent his first eighteen months in this country. The finest picture in
+his collection is an elaborate India-ink drawing of the village. But
+he scarcely mentions the Rappites who built it. No separate account of
+them, such as he gives of the Shakers and Moravians, can be found in
+his manuscripts. This is an unaccountable neglect; for their
+pre-occupation of New Harmony and their transactions with Owen, must
+have thrust them upon his notice; and their history is intrinsically
+as interesting, to say the least, as that of any of the religious
+Communities.</p>
+
+<p>A glance at the history of the Rappites is in many ways indispensable,
+as an introduction to an account of Owen's New Harmony. We must
+therefore address ourselves to the task which Macdonald neglected.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>THE HARMONISTS.</p>
+
+<p>In the first years of the present century, old W&uuml;rtemburg, a province
+always famous for its religious enthusiasms, was fermenting with
+excitement about the Millennium; and many of its enthusiasts were
+expecting the speedy personal advent of Christ. Among these George
+Rapp became a prominent preacher, and led forth a considerable sect
+into doctrines and ways that brought upon him and them severe
+persecutions. In 1803 he came to America to find a refuge for his
+flock. After due exploration he purchased 5000 acres of land in Butler
+Co., Pennsylvania, and commenced a settlement which he called Harmony.
+In the summer of 1804 two ship-loads of his disciples with their
+families&mdash;six hundred in all&mdash;came over the ocean and joined him. In
+1805 the Society was formally organized as a Christian Community, on
+the model of the Pentecostal church. For a time their fare was poor
+and their work was hard. An evil eye from their neighbors was upon
+them. But they lived down calumny and suspicion by well-doing, and
+soon made the wilderness blossom around them like the rose. In 1807
+they adopted the principle of celibacy; but in other respects they
+were far from being ascetics. Music, painting, sculpture, and other
+liberal arts flourished among them. Their museums and gardens were the
+wonder and delight of the region around them. In 1814, desiring warmer
+land and a better location for business, they sold all in Pennsylvania
+and removed to Indiana. On the banks of the Wabash they built a new
+village and again called it Harmony. Here they prospered more than
+ever, and their number increased to nearly a thousand. In 1824 they
+again became discontented with their location, on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>account of bad
+neighbors and malaria. Again they sold all, and returned to
+Pennsylvania; but not to their old home. They built their third and
+final village in Beaver Co, near Pittsburgh, and called it Economy.
+There they are to this day. They own railroads and oil wells and are
+reported to be millionaires of the unknown grade. In all their
+migrations from the old world to the new, from Pennsylvania to
+Indiana, and from Indiana back to Pennsylvania; in all their perils by
+persecutions, by false brethren, by pestilence, by poverty and wealth,
+their religion held them together, and their union gave them the
+strength that conquers prosperity. A notable example of what a hundred
+families can do when they have the wisdom of harmony, and fight the
+battle of life in a solid phalanx! A nobler "six hundred" than the
+famous dragoons of Balaklava!</p>
+
+<p>Such were the people who gave Robert Owen his first lessons in
+Communism, and sold him their home in Indiana. Ten of their best years
+they spent in building a village on the Wabash, not for themselves (as
+it turned out), but for a theater of the great infidel experiment.
+Rev. Aaron Williams, D.D., the historian to whom we are indebted for
+the facts of the above sketch, thus describes the negotiations and the
+transfer:</p>
+
+<p>"The Harmonists, when they began to think of returning to
+Pennsylvania, employed a certain Richard Flower, an Englishman, and a
+prominent member of an English settlement in their vicinity, to
+negotiate for a sale of their real estate, offering him five thousand
+dollars to find a purchaser. Flower went to England for this purpose,
+and hearing of Robert Owen's Community at New Lanark, he sought him
+out and succeeded in selling to him the town of Harmony, with all its
+houses, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>mills, factories and thirty thousand acres of land, for one
+hundred and fifty thousand dollars. This was an immense sacrifice; but
+they were determined to leave the country, and they submitted to the
+loss. Having in the meantime made a purchase of their present lands in
+Pennsylvania, on the Ohio river, they built a steamboat and removed in
+detachments to their new and final place of settlement."</p>
+
+<p>Thus Owen, the first experimenter in non-religious Association, had
+substantially the ready-made material conditions which Fourier and his
+followers considered indispensable to success.</p>
+
+<p>We proceed now to give a sketch of the Owen experiment chiefly in
+Macdonald's words. When our own language occurs it is generally a
+condensation of his.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">OWEN'S NEW HARMONY.</p>
+
+<p>"Robert Owen came to the United States in December 1824, to
+complete the purchase of the settlement at Harmony. Mr. Rapp had
+sent an agent to England to dispose of the property, and Mr.
+Owen fell in with him there. In the spring of 1825 Mr. Owen
+closed the bargain. The property consisted of about 30,000 acres
+of land; nearly 3,000 acres under cultivation by the society; 19
+detached farms; 600 acres of improved land occupied by tenants;
+some fine orchards; eighteen acres of full-bearing vines; and
+the village, which was a regularly laid out town, with streets
+running at right angles to each other, and a public square,
+around which were large brick edifices, built by the Rappites
+for churches, schools, and other public purposes."</p>
+
+<p>We can form some idea of the size of the village from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>the fact which
+we learn from Mr. Williams, that the Rappites, while at Harmony,
+numbered one thousand souls. It does not appear from Macdonald's
+account that Owen and his Community made any important additions to
+the village.</p>
+
+<p>"On the departure of the Rappites, persons favorable to Mr. Owen's
+views came flocking to New Harmony (as it was thenceforth called) from
+all parts of the country. Tidings of the new social experiment spread
+far and wide; and, although it has been denied, yet it is undoubtedly
+true, that Mr. Owen in his public lectures invited the 'industrious
+and well disposed of all nations' to emigrate to New Harmony. The
+consequence was, that in the short space of six weeks from the
+commencement of the experiment, a population of eight hundred persons
+was drawn together, and in October 1825, the number had increased to
+nine hundred."</p>
+
+<p>As to the character of this population, Macdonald insists that it was
+"as good as it could be under the circumstances," and he gives the
+names of "many intelligent and benevolent individuals who were at
+various times residents at New Harmony." But he admits that there were
+some "black sheep" in the flock. "It is certain," he says, "that there
+was a proportion of needy and idle persons, who crowded in to avail
+themselves of Mr. Owen's liberal offer; and that they did their share
+of work more in the line of <i>destruction</i> than <i>construction</i>."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Constitution No. 1.</i></p>
+
+<p>On the 27th of April 1825, Mr. Owen instituted a sort of provisional
+government. In an address to the people in New Harmony Hall, he
+informed them, "that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>he had bought that property, and had come there
+to introduce the practice of the new views; but he showed them the
+impossibility that persons educated as they were, should change at
+once from an irrational to a rational system of society, and the
+necessity for a 'half-way house,' in which to be prepared for the new
+system." Whereupon he tendered them a <i>Constitution</i>, of which we find
+no definite account, except that it was not fully Communistic, and was
+to hold the people in probationary training three years, under the
+title of the <i>Preliminary Society of New Harmony</i>. "After these
+proceedings Mr. Owen left New Harmony for Europe, and the Society was
+managed by the <i>Preliminary Committee</i>.(!)" We may imagine, each one
+for himself, what the nine hundred did while Mr. Owen was away.
+Macdonald compiled from the <i>New Harmony Gazette</i> a very rapid but
+evidently defective account of the state of things in this important
+interval. He says nothing about the work on the 30,000 acres, but
+speaks of various minor businesses as "doing well." The only
+manufactures that appear to have "exceeded consumption" were those of
+soap and glue. A respectable apothecary "dispensed medicines without
+charge," and "the store supplied the inhabitants with all
+necessaries"&mdash;probably at Mr. Owen's expense. Education was considered
+"public property," and one hundred and thirty children were schooled,
+boarded and clothed from the public funds&mdash;probably at Mr. Owen's
+expense. Amusements flourished. The Society had a band of music;
+Tuesday evenings were appropriated to balls; Friday evenings to
+concerts&mdash;both in the old Rappite church. There was no provision for
+religious worship. Five military companies, "consisting of infantry,
+artillery, riflemen, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>veterans and fusileers," did duty from time to
+time on the public square.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Constitution No. 2.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Owen returned to New Harmony on the 12th of January, 1826, and
+soon after the members of the Preliminary Society held a convention,
+and adopted a constitution of a Community, entitled <i>The New Harmony
+Community of Equality</i>. Thus in less than a year, instead of three
+years as Mr. Owen had proposed, the 'half-way house' came to an end,
+and actual Communism commenced. A few of the members, who, on account
+of a difference of opinions, did not sign the new constitution, formed
+a second Community on the New Harmony estate about two miles from the
+town, in friendly connection with the first."</p>
+
+<p>The new government instituted by Mr. Owen, was to be in the hands of
+an <i>Executive Council</i>, subject at all times to the direction of the
+Community; and six gentlemen were appointed to this function. But
+Macdonald says: "Difficulties ensued in organizing the new Community.
+It appears that the plan of government by executive council would not
+work, and that the members were unanimous in calling upon Mr. Owen to
+take the sole management, judging from his experience that he was the
+only man who could do so. This call Mr. Owen accepted, and we learn
+that soon after general satisfaction and individual contentment took
+the place of suspense and uncertainty."</p>
+
+<p>This was in fact the inauguration of</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Constitution No. 3.</i></p>
+
+<p>"In March the <i>Gazette</i> says that under the indefatigable attention of
+Mr. Owen, order had been introduced <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>into every department of
+business, and the farm presented a scene of active and steady
+industry. The Society was rapidly becoming a Community of Equality.
+The streets no longer exhibited groups of idle talkers, but each one
+was busily engaged in the occupation he had chosen. The public
+meetings, instead of being the arenas for contending orators, were
+changed into meetings of business, where consultations were held and
+measures adopted for the comfort of all the members of the Community.</p>
+
+<p>"In April there was a disturbance in the village on account of
+negotiations that were going on for securing the estate as private
+property. Some persons attempted to divide the town into several
+societies. Mr. Owen would not agree to this, and as he had the power,
+he made a selection, and by solemn examination constituted a <i>nucleus</i>
+of twenty-five men, which <i>nucleus</i> was to admit members, Mr. Owen
+reserving the power to <i>veto</i> every one admitted. There were to be
+three grades of members, viz., conditional members, probationary
+members, and persons on trial. (?) The Community was to be under the
+direction of Mr. Owen, until two-thirds of the members should think
+fit to govern themselves, provided the time was not less than twelve
+months."</p>
+
+<p>This may be called,</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Constitution No. 4.</i></p>
+
+<p>In May a third Community had been formed; and the population was
+divided between No. 1, which was Mr. Owen's Community, No. 2, which
+was called Macluria, and No. 3, which was called <i>Feiba Peven</i>&mdash;a name
+designating in some mysterious way the latitude and longitude of New
+Harmony.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>"May 27. The immigration continued so steadily, that it became
+necessary for the Community to inform the friends of the new views
+that the accommodations were inadequate, and call upon them by
+advertisement not to come until further notice."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Constitution No. 5.</i></p>
+
+<p>"May 30. In consequence of a variety of troubles and disagreements,
+chiefly relating to the disposal of the property, a great meeting of
+the whole population was held, and it was decided to form four
+separate societies, each signing its own contract for such part of the
+property as it should purchase, and each managing its own affairs; but
+to trade with each other by paper money."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Owen was now beginning to make sharp bargains with the independent
+Communities. Macdonald says, "He had lost money, and no doubt he tried
+to regain some of it, and used such means as he thought would prevent
+further loss."</p>
+
+<p>On the 4th of July Mr. Owen delivered his celebrated <i>Declaration of
+Mental Independence</i>, from which we give the following specimen:</p>
+
+<p>"I now declare to you and to the world, that Man, up to this hour, has
+been in all parts of the earth a slave to a Trinity of the most
+monstrous evils that could be combined to inflict mental and physical
+evil upon his whole race. I refer to Private or Individual Property,
+Absurd and Irrational systems of Religion, and Marriage founded on
+Individual Property, combined with some of these Irrational systems of
+Religion."</p>
+
+<p>"August 20. After Mr. Owen had given his usual address, it was
+unanimously agreed by the meeting that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>the entire population of New
+Harmony should meet three times a week in the Hall, for the purpose of
+being educated together. This practice was continued about six weeks,
+when Mr. Owen became sick and it was discontinued."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Constitution No. 6.</i></p>
+
+<p>"August 25. The people held a meeting at which they <i>abolished all
+officers</i> then existing, and appointed three men as <i>dictators</i>."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Constitution No. 7.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Sept. 17. A large meeting of all the Societies and the whole
+population of the town took place at the Hall, for the purpose of
+considering a plan for the '<i>amelioration of the Society</i>, to improve
+the condition of the people, and make them more contented.' A message
+was received from Mr. Owen proposing to form a Community with as many
+as would join him, and put in all their property, save what might be
+thought necessary to reserve to help their friends; the government to
+consist of Robert Owen and four others of his choice, to be appointed
+by him every year; and not to be altered for five years. This movement
+of course nullified all previous organizations. Disagreements and
+jealousies ensued, and, as was the case on a former change being made,
+many persons left New Harmony.</p>
+
+<p>"Nov. 1. The <i>Gazette</i> says: 'Eighteen months experience has proved to
+us, that the requisite qualifications for a permanent member of the
+Community of Common Property are, 1, Honesty of purpose; 2,
+Temperance; 3, Industry; 4, Carefulness; 5, Cleanliness; 6, Desire for
+knowledge; 7, A conviction of the fact that the character of man is
+formed for, and not by, himself.'</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>"Nov. 8. Many persons leaving. The <i>Gazette</i> shows how impossible it
+is for a Community of common property to exist, unless the members
+comprising it have acquired the genuine Community character.</p>
+
+<p>"Nov. 11. Mr. Owen reviewed the last six months' progress of the
+Community in a favorable light.</p>
+
+<p>"In December the use of ardent spirits was abolished.</p>
+
+<p>"Jan. 1827. Although there was an appearance of increased order and
+happiness, yet matters were drawing to a close. Owen was selling
+property to individuals; the greater part of the town was now resolved
+into individual lots; a grocery was established opposite the tavern;
+painted sign-boards began to be stuck up on the buildings, pointing out
+places of manufacture and trade; a sort of wax-figure-and-puppet-show
+was opened at one end of the boarding-house; and every thing was getting
+into the old style."</p>
+
+<p>It is useless to follow this wreck further. Everybody sees it must go
+down, and <i>why</i> it must go down. It is like a great ship, wallowing
+helpless in the trough of a tempestuous sea, with nine hundred
+<i>passengers</i>, and no captain or organized crew! We skip to Macdonald's
+picture of the end.</p>
+
+<p>"June 18, 1827. The <i>Gazette</i> advertised that Mr. Owen would meet the
+inhabitants of New Harmony and the neighborhood on the following
+Sunday, to bid them farewell. I find no account of this meeting, nor
+indeed of any further movements of Mr. Owen in the <i>Gazette</i>. After
+his departure the majority of the population also removed and
+scattered about the country. Those who remained returned to
+individualism, and settled as farmers and mechanics in the ordinary
+way. One portion of the estate was owned by Mr. Owen, and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>other
+by Mr. Maclure. They sold, rented, or gave away the houses and lands,
+and their heirs and assigns have continued to do so to the present
+day."</p>
+
+<p>Fifteen years after the catastrophe Macdonald was at New Harmony,
+among the remains of the old Community population, and he says: "I was
+cautioned not to speak of Socialism, as the subject was unpopular. The
+advice was good; Socialism was unpopular, and with good reason. The
+people had been wearied and disappointed by it; had been filled full
+with theories, until they were nauseated, and had made such miserable
+attempts at practice, that they seemed ashamed of what they had been
+doing. An enthusiastic socialist would soon be cooled down at New
+Harmony."</p>
+
+<p>The strength of the reaction against Communism caused by Owen's
+failure, may be seen to this day in the sect devoted to "Individual
+Sovereignty." Josiah Warren, the leader of that sect, was a member of
+Owen's Community, and a witness of its confusions and downfall; from
+which he swung off into the extreme of anti-Communism. The village of
+"Modern Times," where all forms of social organization were scouted as
+unscientific, was the electric negative of New Harmony.</p>
+
+<p>Macdonald thus moralizes over his master's failure:</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Owen said he wanted honesty of purpose, and he got dishonesty. He
+wanted temperance, and instead, he was continually troubled with the
+intemperate. He wanted industry, and he found idleness. He wanted
+cleanliness, and found dirt. He wanted carefulness, and found waste.
+He wanted to find desire for knowledge, but he found apathy. He wanted
+the principles of the formation of character understood, and he found
+them misunderstood. He wanted these good qualities <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>combined in one
+and all the individuals of the Community, but he could not find them;
+neither could he find those who were self-sacrificing and enduring
+enough, to prepare and educate their children to possess these
+qualities. Thus it was proved that his principles were either entirely
+erroneous, or much in advance of the age in which he promulgated them.
+He seems to have forgotten, that if one and all the thousand persons
+assembled there, had possessed the qualities which he wished them to
+possess, there would have been no necessity for his vain exertions to
+form a Community; because there would of necessity be brotherly love,
+charity, industry and plenty. We want no more than these; and if this
+is the material to form Communities of, and we can not find it, we can
+not form Communities; and if we can not find parents who are ready and
+willing to educate their children, to give them these qualities for a
+Community life, then what hope is there of Communism in the future?"</p>
+
+<p>Almost the only redeeming feature in or near this whole scene of
+confusion&mdash;which might well be called New Discord instead of New
+Harmony&mdash;was the silent retreat of the Rappite thousand, which was so
+orderly that it almost escaped mention. Remembering their obscure
+achievements and their persistent success, we can still be sure that
+the <i>idea</i> of Owen and his thousand was not a delusion, but an
+inspiration, that only needed wiser hearts, to become a happy
+reality.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3>
+
+<h4>INQUEST ON NEW HARMONY.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>The only laudable object any one can have in rehearsing and studying
+the histories of the socialistic failures, is that of learning from
+them practical lessons for guidance in present and future experiments.
+With this in view, the great experiment at New Harmony is well worth
+faithful consideration. It was, as we have said, the first and most
+notable of the entire series of non-religious Communities. It had for
+its antecedent the vast reputation that Owen had gained by his success
+at New Lanark. He came to this country with the prestige of a reformer
+who had the confidence and patronage of Lords, Dukes and Sovereigns in
+the old world. His lectures were received with attention by large
+assemblies in our principal cities. At Washington he was accommodated
+by the Speaker and President with the Hall of Representatives, in
+which he delivered several lectures before the President, the
+President elect, all the judges of the Supreme Court, and a great
+number of members of Congress. He afterwards presented to the
+Government an expensive and elaborate model, with interior and working
+drawings, elevations, &amp;c., of one of the magnificent communal edifices
+which he had projected. He had a large private fortune, and drew into
+his schemes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>other capitalists, so that his experiment had the
+advantage of unlimited wealth. That wealth, as we have seen, placed at
+his command unlimited land and a ready-made village. These attractions
+brought him men in unlimited numbers.</p>
+
+<p>How stupendous the revolution was that he contemplated as the result
+of his great gathering, is best seen in the famous words which he
+uttered in the public hall at New Harmony on the 4th of July, 1826. We
+have already quoted from this speech a paragraph (underscored and
+double-scored by Macdonald) about the awful Trinity of man's
+oppressors&mdash;"Private property, Irrational Religion, and Marriage." In
+the same vein he went on to say:</p>
+
+<p>"For nearly forty years have I been employed, heart and soul, day by
+day, almost without ceasing, in preparing the means and arranging the
+circumstances, to enable me to give the death-blow to the tyranny
+which, for unnumbered ages, has held the human mind spellbound in
+chains of such mysterious forms that no mortal has dared approach to
+set the suffering prisoner free! Nor has the fullness of time for the
+accomplishment of this great event, been completed until within this
+hour! Such has been the extraordinary course of events, that the
+Declaration of Political Independence in 1776, has produced its
+counterpart, the <i>Declaration of Mental Independence</i> in 1826; the
+latter just half a century from the former.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"In furtherance of our great object we are preparing the means to
+bring up our children with industrious and useful habits, with
+national and of course rational ideas and views, with sincerity in all
+their proceedings; and to give them kind and affectionate feelings for
+each <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>other, and charity, in the most extensive sense of the term, for
+all their fellow creatures.</p>
+
+<p>"By doing this, uniting our separate interests into one, by doing away
+with divided money transactions, by exchanging with each other our
+articles of produce on the basis of labor for equal labor, by looking
+forward to apply our surplus wealth to assist others to attain similar
+advantages, and by the abandonment of the use of spiritous liquors, we
+shall in a peculiar manner promote the object of every wise government
+and all really enlightened men.</p>
+
+<p>"And here we now are, as near perhaps as we can be in the center of
+the United States, even, as it were, like the little grain of mustard
+seed! But with these <i>Great Truths</i> before us, with the practice of
+the social system, as soon as it shall be well understood among us,
+our principles will, I trust, spread from Community to Community, from
+State to State, from Continent to Continent, until this system and
+these <i>truths</i> shall overshadow the whole earth, shedding fragrance
+and abundance, intelligence and happiness, upon all the sons of men!"</p>
+
+<p>Such were the antecedents and promises of the New Harmony experiment.
+The Professor appeared on the stage with a splendid reputation for
+previous thaumaturgy, with all the crucibles and chemicals around him
+that money could buy, with an audience before him that was gaping to
+see the last wonder of science: but on applying the flame that was to
+set all ablaze with happiness and glory, behold! the material prepared
+would not burn, but only sputtered and smoked; and the curtain had to
+come down upon a scene of confusion and disappointment!</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>What was the difficulty? Where was the mistake? These are the
+questions that ought to be studied till they are fully answered; for
+scores and hundreds of just such experiments have been tried since,
+with the same disastrous results; and scores and hundreds will be
+tried hereafter, till we go back and hold a faithful inquest, and find
+a sure verdict, on this original failure.</p>
+
+<p>Let us hear, then, what has been, or can be said, by all sorts of
+judges, on the causes of Owen's failure, and learn what we can.</p>
+
+<p>Macdonald has an important chapter on this subject, from which we
+extract the following:</p>
+
+<p>"There is no doubt in my mind, that the absence of Robert Owen in the
+first year of the Community was one of the great causes of its
+failure; for he was naturally looked up to as the head, and his
+influence might have kept people together, at least so as to effect
+something similar to what had been effected at New Lanark. But with a
+people free as these were from a set religious creed, and consisting,
+as they did, of all nations and opinions, it is doubtful if even Mr.
+Owen, had he continued there all the time, could have kept them
+permanently together. No comparison can be made between that
+population and the Shakers, Rappites, or Zoarites, who are each of one
+religious faith, and, save the Shakers, of one nation.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Samson, of Cincinnati, was at New Harmony from the beginning to
+the end of the Community; he went there on the boat that took the last
+of the Rappites away. He says the cause of failure was a rogue, named
+Taylor, who insinuated himself into Mr. Owen's favor, and afterward
+swindled and deceived him in a variety of ways, among other things
+establishing a distillery, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>contrary to Mr. Owen's wishes and
+principles, and injurious to the Community.</p>
+
+<p>"Owen always held the property. He thought it would be ten or twelve
+years before the Community would fill up; but no sooner had the
+Rappites left, than the place was taken possession of by strangers
+from all parts, while Owen was absent in England and the place under
+the management of a committee. When Owen returned and found how things
+were going, he deemed it necessary to mike a change, and notices were
+published in all parts, telling people not to come there, as there
+were no accommodations for them; yet still they came, till at last
+Owen was compelled to have all the log-cabins that harbored them
+pulled down.</p>
+
+<p>"Taylor and Fauntleroy were Owen's associates. When Owen found out
+Taylor's rascality he resolved to abandon the partnership with him,
+which Taylor would only agree to upon Owen's giving him a large tract
+of land, upon which he proposed to form a Community of his own. The
+agreement was that he should have the land and <i>all upon it</i>. So on
+the night previous to the execution of the bargain, he had a large
+quantity of cattle and farm implements put upon the land, and he
+thereby came into possession of them! Instead of forming a Community,
+he built a distillery, and also set up a tan-yard in opposition to Mr.
+Owen!"</p>
+
+<p>In the <i>Free Enquirer</i> of June 10th, 1829, there is an article by
+Robert Dale Owen on New Lanark and New Harmony, in which, after
+comparing the two places and showing the difference between them, he
+makes the following remark relative to the experiment at New Harmony:
+"There was not disinterested industry, there was not mutual
+confidence, there was not practical <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>experience, there was not unison
+of action, because there was not unanimity of counsel: and these were
+the points of difference and dissension&mdash;the rocks on which the social
+bark struck and was wrecked."</p>
+
+<p>A letter in the <i>New Harmony Gazette</i>, of January 31, 1827, complains
+of the "slow progress of education in the Community&mdash;the heavy labor,
+and no recompense but <i>cold water</i> and <i>inferior provisions</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Paul Brown, who wrote a book entitled "Twelve months at New Harmony,"
+among his many complaints says, "There was no such thing as real
+general <i>common stock</i> brought into being in this place." He
+attributes all the troubles, to the anxiety about "<i>exclusive
+property</i>," principally on the part of Owen and his associates.
+Speaking of one of the secondary Societies, he says there were "class
+distinctions" in it; and Macluria or the School Society he condemns as
+being most aristocratical, "its few projectors being extremely
+wealthy."</p>
+
+<p>In the <i>New Moral World</i> of October 12, 1839, there is an article on
+New Harmony, in which it is asserted that Mr. Owen was induced to
+purchase that place on the understanding that the Rappite population
+then residing there would remain, until he had gradually introduced
+other persons to acquire from them the systematic and orderly habits,
+as well as practical knowledge, which they had gained by many years of
+practice. But by the removal of Rapp and his followers, Mr. Owen was
+left with all the property on his hands, and he was thus compelled to
+get persons to come there to prevent things from going to ruin.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Josiah Warren, in his "Practical Details of Equitable Commerce,"
+says: "Let us bear in mind that during the great experiments in New
+Harmony in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>1825 and 1826, every thing went delightfully on, except
+pecuniary affairs! We should, no doubt, have succeeded but for
+property considerations. But then the experiments never would have
+been commenced but for property considerations. It was to annihilate
+social antagonism by a system of <i>common property</i>, that we undertook
+the experiments at all."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Sargant, the English biographer of Owen, intimates several times
+that <i>religion</i> was the first subject of discord at New Harmony. His
+own opinion of the cause of the catastrophe, he gives in the following
+words:</p>
+
+<p>"What were the causes of these failures? People will give different
+answers, according to the general sentiments they entertain. For
+myself I should say, that such experiments must fail, because it is
+impossible to mould to Communism the characters of men and women,
+formed by the present doctrines and practices of the world to intense
+individualism. I should indeed go further by stating my convictions,
+that even with persons brought up from childhood to act in common and
+live in common, it would be impossible to carry out a Communistic
+system, unless in a place utterly removed from contact with the world,
+or with the help of some powerful religious conviction. Mere
+benevolence, mere sentiments of universal philanthropy, are far too
+weak to bind the self-seeking affections of men."</p>
+
+<p>John Pratt, a Positivist, in a communication to <i>The Oneida Circular</i>,
+contributes the following philosophical observations:</p>
+
+<p>"Owen was a Scotch metaphysician of the old school. As such, he was a
+most excellent fault-finder and <i>disorganizer</i>. He could perceive and
+depict the existing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>discord, but knew not better than his
+contemporaries Shelley and Godwin, where to find the New Harmony. Like
+most men of the last generation he looked upon society as a
+manufactured product, and not as an organism endued with imperishable
+vitality and growth. Like them he attributed all the evils it endured
+to priests and politicians, whose immediate annihilation would be
+followed by immediate, everlasting and universal happiness. It would
+be astonishing if an experiment initiated by such a class of thinkers
+should succeed under the most favorable auspices. One word as to mere
+externals. Owen was a skeptic by training, and a cautious man of
+business by nature and nationality. He was professedly an entire
+convert to his own principles; yet set an example of distrust by
+holding on to his thirty thousand acres himself. This would do when
+dealing with starving Scotch peasantry, glad of the privilege of
+moderately remunerated labor, good food and clothing. Had he been a
+benevolent Southern planter he would have succeeded admirably with
+negro slaves, who would have been only too happy to accept any
+'Principles.' He had to do with people who had individual hopes and
+aspirations. The internal affinities of Owen's Commune were too weak
+to resist the attractions of the outer world. Had he brought his New
+Lanark disciples to New Harmony, the result would not have been
+different. Removed from the mechanical pressure of despair and want,
+his weakly cohered elements would quickly have crumbled away."</p>
+
+<p>Our chapter on New Harmony was submitted, soon after it was written,
+to an evening gathering of the Oneida Community, for the purpose of
+eliciting discussions that might throw light on the failure; and we
+take <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>the liberty here to report some of the observations made on that
+occasion. They have the advantage of coming from persons who have had
+long experience in Community life.</p>
+
+<p><i>E.H. Hamilton</i> said&mdash;"My admiration is excited, to see a man who was
+prospering in business as Mr. Owen was, turn aside from the general
+drift of the world, toward social improvement. I have the impression
+that he was sincere. He risked his money on his theories to a certain
+extent. His attempt was a noble manifestation of humanity, so far as
+it goes. But he required other people to be what he was not himself.
+He complains of his followers, that they were not teachable. I do not
+think he was a teachable man. He got a glimpse of the truth, and of
+the possibilities of Communism; but he adopted certain ideas as to the
+way in which these results are to be obtained, and it seems to me, in
+regard to those ideas, he was not docile. It must be manifest to all
+candid minds, that all the improvement and civilization of the present
+time, go along with the development of Christianity; and I am led to
+wonder why a man with the discernment and honesty of Mr. Owen, was not
+more impressible to the truth in this direction. It seems to me he was
+as unreceptive to the truths of Christianity, as the people he got
+together at New Harmony were to his principles. His favorite dogma was
+that a man's character is formed for him, and not by himself. I
+suppose we might admit, in a certain sense, that a man's character is
+formed for him by the grace of God, or by evil spirits. But the notion
+that man is wholly the creature of external circumstances,
+irrespective of these influences, seems foolish and pig-headed."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span><i>H.J. Seymour.</i>&mdash;"I should not object to Owen's doctrine of
+circumstances, if he would admit that the one great circumstance of a
+man's life is the possibility of finding out and doing the will of
+God, and getting into vital connection with him."</p>
+
+<p><i>S.R. Leonard.</i>&mdash;"The people Mr. Owen had to deal with in Scotland
+were of the servile class, employees in his cotton-factories, and were
+easily managed, compared with those he collected here in the United
+States. When he went to Indiana, and undertook to manage a family of a
+thousand democrats, he began to realize that he did not understand
+human nature, or the principles of Association."</p>
+
+<p><i>T.R. Noyes.</i>&mdash;"The novelty of Owen's ideas and his rejection of all
+religion, prevented him from drawing into his scheme the best class in
+this country. Probably for every honest man who went to New Harmony,
+there were several parasites ready to prey on him and his enterprise,
+because he offered them an easy life without religion. Even if he
+might have got on with simple-minded men and women like his Lanark
+operatives, it was out of the question with these greedy adventurers."</p>
+
+<p><i>G.W. Hamilton.</i>&mdash;"At the west I met some persons who claimed to be
+disciples of Owen. From what I saw of them, I should judge it would be
+very difficult to form a Community of such material. They were very
+strong in the doctrine that every man has a right to his own opinion;
+and declaimed loudly against the effect of religion upon people. They
+said the common ideas of God and duty operated a great deal worse upon
+the characters of men, than southern slavery. There is enough in such
+notions of independence, to break up any attempt at Communism."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span><i>F.W. Smith.</i>&mdash;"I understand that Owen did not educate and appoint men
+as leaders and fathers, to take care of the society while he was
+crossing the ocean back and forth. He undertook to manage his own
+affairs, and at the same time to run this Community. Our experience
+has shown that it is necessary to have a father in a great family for
+daily and almost hourly advice. I should think it would be doubly
+necessary in such a Community as Owen collected, to have the wisest
+man always at his post."</p>
+
+<p><i>C.A. Burt.</i>&mdash;"There are only two ways of governing such an
+institution as a Community; it must be done either by law or by grace.
+Owen got a company together and abolished law, but did not establish
+grace; and so, necessarily failed."</p>
+
+<p><i>L. Bolles.</i>&mdash;"The popular idea is that Owen and his class of
+reformers had an ideal that was very beautiful and very perfect; that
+they had too much faith for their time&mdash;too much faith in humanity;
+that they were several hundred years in advance of their age; and that
+the world was not good enough to understand them and their beautiful
+ideas. That is the superficial view of these men. I think the truth
+is, they were not up to the times; that mankind, in point of real
+faith, were ahead of them. Their view that the evil in human nature is
+owing to outward surroundings, is an impeachment of the providence of
+God. It is the worst kind of unbelief. But they have taught us one
+great lesson; and that is, that good circumstances do <i>not</i> make good
+men. I believe the circumstances of mankind are as good as Providence
+can make them, consistently with their own state of development and
+the well-being of their souls. Instead of seeking to sweep away
+existing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>governments and forms of outward things, we should thank God
+that he has given men institutions as good as they can bear. We know
+that he will give them better, as fast as they improve beyond those
+they have."</p>
+
+<p><i>J.B. Herrick.</i>&mdash;"Although the apparent effect of the failure of
+Owen's movement was to produce discouragement, still below all that
+discouragement there is, in the whole nation, generated in part by
+that movement, a hope watching for the morning. We have to thank Owen
+for so much, or rather to thank God, for using Owen to stimulate the
+public mind and bring it to that state in which it is able to receive
+and keep this hope for the future."</p>
+
+<p><i>C.W. Underwood.</i>&mdash;"Owen's experiment helped to demonstrate that there
+is no such thing as organization or unity without Christ and religion.
+But on the other hand we can see that Owen did much good. The churches
+were compelled to adopt many of his ideas. He certainly was the father
+of the infant-school system; and it is my impression that he started
+the reform-schools, houses of refuge, etc. He gave impulse, at any
+rate, to the present reformatory movements."</p>
+
+<br />
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+<br />
+
+<p>It is noticeable, as a co&iuml;ncidence with our observations on the lust
+for land in a preceding chapter, that Owen succeeded admirably in a
+factory, and failed miserably on a farm. Whether his 30,000 acres had
+anything to do with his actual failure or not, they would probably
+have been the ruin of his Community, if it had not failed from other
+causes.</p>
+
+<p>We have reason to believe from many hints, that <i>whisky</i> had
+considerable agency in the demoralization and destruction of New
+Harmony. The affair of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>Taylor's distillery is one significant fact.
+Here is another from Macdonald:</p>
+
+<p>"I was one day at the tan-yard, where Squire B. and some others were
+standing, talking around the stove. During the conversation Squire B.
+asked us if he had ever told us how he had served 'old Owen' in
+Community times. He then informed us that he came from Illinois to New
+Harmony, and that a man in Illinois was owing him, and asked him to
+take a barrel of whisky for the debt. He could not well get the money;
+so took the whisky. When it came to New Harmony he did not know where
+to put it, but finally hid it in his cellar. Not long after Mr. Owen
+found that the people still got whisky from some quarter, he could not
+tell where, though he did his best to find out. At last he suspected
+Squire B., and came right into his shop and accused him of it; on
+which Squire B. had to own that it was he who retailed the whisky. 'It
+was taken for a debt,' said he, 'and what else was I to do to get rid
+of it?' Mr. Owen turned round, and in his simple manner said, 'Ah, I
+see you do not understand the principles.' This story was finished
+with a hearty laugh at 'old Owen.' I could not laugh, but felt that
+such men as Squire B. really did not understand the principles; and no
+wonder there are failures, when such men as he thrust themselves in,
+and frustrate benevolent designs."</p>
+
+<p>It was too early for a Community, when this country was a "nation of
+drunkards," as it was in 1825.</p>
+
+<p>Owen's method of getting together the material of his Community, seems
+to us the most obvious <i>external</i> cause of his failure. It was like
+advertising for a wife; and we never heard of any body's getting a
+good wife by advertising. A public invitation to "the industrious <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>and
+well-disposed of all nations," to come on and take possession of
+30,000 acres of land and a ready-made village, leaving each one to
+judge as to his own industry and disposition, would insure a prompt
+gathering&mdash;and also a speedy scattering.</p>
+
+<p>This method, or something like it, has been tried in most of the
+non-religious experiments. The joint-stock principle, which many of
+them adopted, necessarily invites all who choose to buy stock. That
+principle may form organizations that are able to carry on the
+businesses of banks and railroads after a fashion; because such
+businesses require but little character, except zeal and ability for
+money-making. But a true Community, or even a semi-Community, like the
+Fourier Phalanxes, requires far higher qualifications in its members
+and managers.</p>
+
+<p>The socialistic theorizers all assume that Association is a step in
+advance of civilization. If that is true, we must assume also that the
+most advanced class of civilization is that which must take the step;
+and a discrimination of some sort will be required, to get that class
+into the work, and shut off the barbarians who would hinder it.</p>
+
+<p>Judging from all our experience and observation, we should say that
+the two most essential requisites for the formation of successful
+Communities, are <i>religious principle</i> and <i>previous acquaintance</i> of
+the members. Both of these were lacking in Owen's experiment. The
+advertising method of gathering necessarily ignores both.</p>
+
+<p>Owen, in his old age, became a Spiritualist, and in the light of his
+new experience confessed what seems to us the principal cause of his
+failure. Sargant, his biographer, referring to chapter and verse in
+his writings says:</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>"He confessed that until he received the revelations of Spiritualism,
+he had been quite unaware of the necessity of good <i>spiritual
+conditions</i> for forming the character of men. The physical, the
+intellectual, the moral, and the practical conditions, he had
+understood, and had known how to provide for; but the spiritual he had
+overlooked. <i>Yet this, as he now saw, was the most important of all in
+the future development of mankind.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>In the same new light, Owen recognized the principal cause of all real
+success. Sargant continues:</p>
+
+<p>"Owen says, that in looking back on his past life, he can trace the
+finger of God directing his steps, preserving his life under imminent
+dangers, and impelling him onward on many occasions. It was under the
+immediate guidance of the Spirit of God, that during the inexperience
+of his youth, he accomplished much good for the world. The
+preservation of his life from the peculiar dangers of childhood, was
+owing to the monitions of this good Spirit. To this superior invisible
+aid he owed his appointment, at the age of seven years, to be usher in
+a school, before the monitorial system of teaching was thought of. To
+this he must ascribe his migration from an inaccessible Welsh county
+to London, and then to Stamford, and his ability to maintain himself
+without assistance from his friends. So he goes on recounting all the
+events of his life, great and small, and attributing them to the
+<span class="sc">special providence of God</span>."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VI.</h3>
+
+<h4>YELLOW SPRINGS COMMUNITY.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>The fame of New Harmony has of course overshadowed and obscured all
+other experiments that resulted from Owen's labors in this country. It
+is perhaps scarcely known at this day that a Community almost as
+brilliant as Brook Farm, was started by his personal efforts at
+Cincinnati, even before he commenced operations at New Harmony. The
+following sketch, clipped by Macdonald from some old newspaper (the
+name and date of which are missing), is not only pleasant reading, but
+bears internal marks of painstaking and truthfulness. It is a model
+memoir of the life and death of a non-religious Community; and would
+serve for many others, by changing a few names, as ministers do when
+they re-preach old funeral sermons. The moral at the close, inferring
+the impracticability of Communism, may probably be accepted as sound,
+if restricted to non-religious experiments. The general career of Owen
+is sketched correctly and in rather a masterly manner: and the
+interesting fact is brought to light, that the beginning of the Owen
+movement in this country was signalized by a conjunction with
+Swedenborgianism. The significance of this fact will appear more
+fully, when we come to the history of the marriage between Fourierism
+and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>Swedenborgianism, which afterwards took place at Brook Farm.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">MEMOIR.</p>
+
+<p>"The narrative here presented," says the unknown writer, "was prepared
+at the request of a minister who had looked in vain for any account of
+the Communities established by Robert Owen in this country. It is
+simply what it pretends to be, reminiscences by one who, while a
+youth, resided with his parents as a member of the Community at Yellow
+Springs. For some years together since his manhood, he has been
+associated with several of the leading men of that experiment, and has
+through them been informed in relation to both its outer and <i>inner</i>
+history. The article may contain some errors, as of dates and other
+matters unimportant to a just view of the Community; but the social
+picture will be correct. With the hope that it may convey a useful
+lesson, it is submitted to the reader.</p>
+
+<p>"Robert Owen, the projector of the Communities at Yellow Springs,
+Ohio, and New Harmony, Indiana, was the owner of extensive
+manufactories at New Lanark, Scotland. He was a man of considerable
+learning, much observation, and full of the love of his fellow men;
+though a disbeliever in Christianity. His skeptical views concerning
+the Bible were fully announced in the celebrated debate at Cincinnati
+between himself and Dr. Alexander Campbell. But whatever may have been
+his faith, he proved his philanthropy by a long life of beneficent
+works. At his manufactories in Scotland he established a system based
+on community of labor, which was crowned with the happiest effects.
+But it should be remembered that Owen himself was the owner of the
+works and controlled all things by a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>single mind. The system,
+therefore, was only a beneficent scheme of government by a
+manufacturer, for the good of himself and his operatives.</p>
+
+<p>"Full of zeal for the improvement of society, Owen conceived that he
+had discovered the cause of most of its evils in the laws of <i>meum et
+tuum</i>; and that a state of society where there is nothing <i>mine</i> or
+<i>thine</i>, would be a paradise begun. He brooded upon the idea of a
+Community of property, and connected it with schemes for the
+improvement of society, until he was ready to sacrifice his own
+property and devote his heart and his life to his fellow men upon this
+basis. Too discreet to inaugurate the new system among the poorer
+classes of his own country, whom he found perverted by prejudice and
+warped by the artificial forms of society there, he resolved to
+proceed to the United States, and among the comparatively unperverted
+people, liberal institutions and cheap lands of the West, to establish
+Communities, founded upon common property, social equality, and the
+equal value of every man's labor.</p>
+
+<p>"About the year 1824 Owen arrived in Cincinnati. He brought with him a
+history of his labors at New Lanark; with glowing and not unjust
+accounts of the beneficent effects of his efforts there. He exhibited
+plans for his proposed Communities here; with model farms, gardens,
+vineyards, play-grounds, orchards, and all the internal and external
+appliances of the social paradise. At Cincinnati he soon found many
+congenial spirits, among the first of whom was Daniel Roe, minister of
+the "New Jerusalem Church," a society of the followers of Swedenborg.
+This society was composed of a very superior class of people. They
+were intelligent, liberal, generous, cultivated men and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>women&mdash;many
+of them wealthy and highly educated. They were apparently the best
+possible material to organize and sustain a Community, such as Owen
+proposed. Mr. Roe and many of his congregation became fascinated with
+Owen and his Communism; and together with others in the city and
+elsewhere, soon organized a Community and furnished the means for
+purchasing an appropriate site for its location. In the meantime Owen
+proceeded to Harmony, and, with others, purchased that place, with all
+its buildings, vineyards, and lands, from Rapp, who emigrated to
+Pennsylvania and established his people at Economy. It will only be
+added of Owen, that after having seen the New Harmonians fairly
+established, he returned to Scotland.</p>
+
+<p>"After careful consultation and selection, it was decided by the
+Cincinnati Community to purchase a domain at Yellow Springs, about
+seventy-five miles north of the city, [now the site of Antioch
+College] as the most eligible place for their purpose. It was really
+one of the most delightful regions in the whole West, and well worthy
+the residence of a people who had resolved to make many sacrifices for
+what they honestly believed to be a great social and moral
+reformation.</p>
+
+<p>"The Community, as finally organized consisted of seventy-five or one
+hundred families; and included professional men, teachers, merchants,
+mechanics, farmers, and a few common laborers. Its economy was nearly
+as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"The property was held in trust forever, in behalf of the members of
+the Community, by the original purchasers, and their chosen
+successors, to be designated from time to time by the voice of the
+Community. All additional property thereafter to be acquired, by
+labor, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>purchase, or otherwise, was to be added to the common stock,
+for the benefit of each and all. Schools were to be established, to
+teach all things useful (except religion). Opinion upon all subjects
+was free; and the present good of the whole Community was the standard
+of morals. The Sabbath was a day of rest and recreation, to be
+improved by walks, rides, plays, and pleasing exercises; and by public
+lectures. Dancing was instituted as a most valuable means of physical
+and social culture; and the ten-pin alley and other sources of
+amusement were open to all.</p>
+
+<p>"But although Christianity was wholly ignored in the system, there was
+no free-loveism or other looseness of morals allowed. In short, this
+Community began its career under the most favorable auspices; and if
+any men and women in the world could have succeeded, these should have
+done so. How they <i>did</i> succeed, and how they did not, will now be
+shown.</p>
+
+<p>"For the first few weeks, all entered into the new system with a will.
+Service was the order of the day. Men who seldom or never before
+labored with their hands, devoted themselves to agriculture and the
+mechanic arts, with a zeal which was at least commendable, though not
+always according to knowledge. Ministers of the gospel guided the
+plough; called the swine to their corn, instead of sinners to
+repentance; and let patience have her perfect work over an unruly yoke
+of oxen. Merchants exchanged the yard-stick for the rake or
+pitch-fork. All appeared to labor cheerfully for the common weal.
+Among the women there was even more apparent self-sacrifice. Ladies
+who had seldom seen the inside of their own kitchens, went into that
+of the common eating-house (formerly a hotel), and made <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>themselves
+useful among pots and kettles: and refined young ladies, who had all
+their lives been waited upon, took their turns in waiting upon others
+at the table. And several times a week all parties who chose mingled
+in the social dance, in the great dining-hall."</p>
+
+<p>But notwithstanding the apparent heartiness and cordiality of this
+auspicious opening, it was in the social atmosphere of the Community
+that the first cloud arose. Self-love was a spirit which would not be
+exorcised. It whispered to the lowly maidens, whose former position in
+society had cultivated the spirit of meekness&mdash;"You are as good as the
+formerly rich and fortunate; insist upon your equality." It reminded
+the favorites of former society of their lost superiority; and in
+spite of all rules, tinctured their words and actions with the love of
+self. Similar thoughts and feelings soon arose among the men; and
+though not so soon exhibited, they were none the less deep and strong.
+It is unnecessary to descend to details: suffice it to say, that at
+the end of three months&mdash;<i>three months!</i>&mdash;the leading minds in the
+Community were compelled to acknowledge to each other that the social
+life of the Community could not be bounded by a single circle. They
+therefore acquiesced, but reluctantly, in its division into many
+little circles. Still they hoped and many of them no doubt believed,
+that though social equality was a failure, community of property was
+not. But whether the law of <i>mine and thine</i> is natural or incidental
+in human character, it soon began to develop its sway. The
+industrious, the skillful and the strong, saw the products of their
+labor enjoyed by the indolent, the unskilled, and the improvident; and
+self-love rose against benevolence. A band of musicians insisted that
+their brassy harmony was as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>necessary to the common happiness as
+bread and meat; and declined to enter the harvest field or the
+work-shop. A lecturer upon natural science insisted upon talking only,
+while others worked. Mechanics, whose day's labor brought two dollars
+into the common stock, insisted that they should, in justice, work
+only half as long as the agriculturist, whose day's work brought but
+one.</p>
+
+<p>"For a while, of course, these jealousies were only felt; but they
+soon began to be spoken also. It was useless to remind all parties
+that the common labor of all ministered to the prosperity of the
+Community. <i>Individual</i> happiness was the law of nature, and it could
+not be obliterated; and before a single year had passed, this law had
+scattered the members of that society, which had come together so
+earnestly and under such favorable circumstances, back into the
+selfish world from which they came.</p>
+
+<p>"The writer of this sketch has since heard the history of that
+eventful year reviewed with honesty and earnestness by the best men
+and most intelligent parties of that unfortunate social experiment.
+They admitted the favorable circumstances which surrounded its
+commencement; the intelligence, devotion, and earnestness which were
+brought to the cause by its projectors; and its final, total failure.
+And they rested ever after in the belief that man, though disposed to
+philanthropy, is essentially selfish; and that a community of social
+equality and common property is impossible."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3>
+
+<h4>NASHOBA.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>Macdonald erects a magniloquent monument over the remains of Nashoba,
+the experiment of Frances Wright. This woman, little known to the
+present generation, was really the spiritual helpmate and better-half
+of the Owens, in the socialistic revival of 1826. Our impression is,
+not only that she was the leading woman in the communistic movement of
+that period, but that she had a very important agency in starting two
+other movements, that have had far greater success, and are at this
+moment strong in public favor: viz., Anti-Slavery and Woman's Rights.
+If justice were done, we are confident her name would figure high with
+those of Lundy, Garrison, and John Brown on the one hand, and with
+those of Abby Kelly, Lucy Stone and Anna Dickinson on the other. She
+was indeed the pioneer of the "strong-minded women." We copy the most
+important parts of Macdonald's memoir of Nashoba:</p>
+
+<p>"This experiment was made in Shelby Co., Tennessee, by the celebrated
+Frances Wright. The objects were, to form a Community in which the
+negro slave should be educated and upraised to a level with the
+whites, and thus prepared for freedom; and to set an example, which,
+if carried out, would eventually abolish slavery in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>the Southern
+States; also to make a home for good and great men and women of all
+countries, who might there sympathize with each other in their love
+and labor for humanity. She invited congenial minds from every quarter
+of the globe to unite with her in the search for truth and the pursuit
+of rational happiness. Herself a native of Scotland, she became imbued
+with these philanthropic views through a knowledge of the sufferings
+of a great portion of mankind in many countries, and of the condition
+of the negro in the United States in particular.</p>
+
+<p>"She traveled extensively in the Southern States, and explained her
+views to many of the planters. It was during these travels that she
+visited the German settlement of Rappites at Harmony, on the Wabash
+river, and after examining the wonderful industry of that Community,
+she was struck with the appropriateness of their system of co&ouml;peration
+to the carrying out of her aspirations. She also visited some of the
+Shaker establishments then existing in the United States, but she
+thought unfavorably of them. She renewed her visits of the Rappites,
+and was present on the occasion of their removal from Harmony to
+Economy on the Ohio, where she continued her acquaintance with them,
+receiving valuable knowledge from their experience, and, as it were,
+witnessing a new village, with its fields, orchards, gardens,
+vineyards, flouring-mills and manufactories, rise out of the earth,
+beneath the hands of some eight hundred trained laborers."</p>
+
+<p>Here is another indication of the important part the Rappites played
+in the early history of Owenism. As they cleared the 30,000 acres and
+built the village which was the theatre of Owen's great experiment, so
+it is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>evident from the above account and from other hints, that their
+Communistic ideas and manner of living were systematically studied by
+the Owen school, before and after the purchase of New Harmony. Indeed
+it is more than intimated in a passage from the <i>New Moral World</i>
+quoted in our 5th chapter, that Owen depended on their assistance in
+commencing his Community, and attributed his failure to their
+premature removal. On the whole we may conclude that Owen learned all
+he really knew about practical Communism, and more than he was able to
+imitate, from the Rappites. They learned Communism from the New
+Testament and the day of Pentecost.</p>
+
+<p>"In the autumn of 1825 [when New Harmony was under full sail in the
+absence of Mr. Owen], Frances Wright purchased 2,000 acres of good and
+pleasant woodland, lying on both sides of the Wolf river in west
+Tennessee, about thirteen miles above Memphis. She then purchased
+several negro families, comprising fifteen able hands, and commenced
+her practical experiment."</p>
+
+<p>Her plan in brief was, to take slaves in large numbers from time to
+time (either by purchase, or by inducing benevolent planters to donate
+their negroes to the institution), and to prepare them for liberty by
+education, giving them half of what they produced, and making them pay
+their way and purchase their emancipation, if necessary, by their
+labor. The working of the negroes and the general management of the
+Community was to be in the hands of the philanthropic and wealthy
+whites associated with the lady-founder. The theory was benevolent;
+but practically the institution must have been a two-story
+commonwealth, somewhat like the old Grecian States which founded
+liberty on Helotism. Or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>we might define it as a Brook Farm <i>plus</i> a
+negro basis. The trouble at Brook Farm, according to Hawthorne, was,
+that the amateurs who took part in that 'pic-nic,' did not like to
+serve as 'chambermaids to the cows.' This difficulty was provided
+against at Nashoba.</p>
+
+<p>"We are informed that Frances Wright found in her new occupation
+intense and ever-increasing interest. But ere long she was seized by
+severe and re&iuml;terated sickness, which compelled her to make a voyage
+to Europe for the recovery of her health. 'During her absence,' says
+her biographer, 'an intriguing individual had disorganized every thing
+on the estate, and effected the removal of persons of confidence. All
+her serious difficulties proceeded from her white assistants, and not
+from the blacks.'"</p>
+
+<p>In December of the following year, she made over the Nashoba estate to
+a board of trustees, by a deed commencing thus:</p>
+
+<p>"I, Frances Wright, do give the lands after specified, to General
+Lafayette, William Maclure, Robert Owen, Cadwallader Colden,
+Richardson Whitby, Robert Jennings, Robert Dale Owen, George Flower,
+Camilla Wright, and James Richardson, to be held by them and their
+associates and their successors in perpetual trust for the benefit of
+the negro race."</p>
+
+<p>By another deed she gave the slaves of Nashoba to the before-mentioned
+trustees: and by still another she gave them all her personal
+property.</p>
+
+<p>In her appeal to the public in connection with this transfer, she
+explains at length her views of reform, and her reasons for choosing
+the above-named trustees instead of the Emancipation or Colonization
+Societies; and in respect to education says: 'No difference will <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>be
+made in the schools between the white children and the children of
+color, whether in education or any other advantage.' After further
+explanation of her plans she goes on to say:</p>
+
+<p>"'It will be seen that this establishment is founded on the principle
+of community property and labor: preserving every advantage to those
+desirous, not of accumulating money but of enjoying life and rendering
+services to their fellow-creatures; these fellow-creatures, that is,
+the blacks here admitted, requiting these services by services equal
+or greater, by filling occupations which their habits render easy, and
+which, to their guides and assistants, might be difficult or
+unpleasing.' [Here is the 'negro basis.']</p>
+
+<p>"'No life of idleness, however, is proposed to the whites. Those who
+cannot work must give an equivalent in property. Gardening or other
+cultivation of the soil, useful trades practiced in the society or
+taught in the school, the teaching of every branch of knowledge,
+tending the children, and nursing the sick, will present a choice of
+employment sufficiently extensive.'"</p>
+
+<p>In the course of another year trouble had come and Disorganization had
+begun.</p>
+
+<p>"In March, 1828, the trustees published a communication in the
+<i>Nashoba Gazette</i>, explaining the difficulties they had to contend
+with, and the causes why the experience of two years had modified the
+original plan of Frances Wright. They show the impossibility of a
+co-operative Community succeeding without the members composing it are
+superior beings; 'for,' say they, 'if there be introduced into such a
+society thoughts of evil and unkindness, feelings of intolerance and
+words of dissension, it can not prosper. That which produces <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>in the
+world only common-place jealousies and every-day squabbles, is
+sufficient to destroy a Community.'</p>
+
+<p>"The society has admitted some members to labor, and others as
+boarders from whom no labor was required; and in this they confess
+their error, and now propose to admit those only who possess the funds
+for their support.</p>
+
+<p>"The trustees go on to say that 'they desire to express distinctly
+that they have deferred, for the present, the attempt to have a
+society of co-operative labor; and they claim for the association only
+the title of a Preliminary Social Community.'</p>
+
+<p>"After describing the moral qualifications of members, who may be
+admitted without regard to color, they propose that each one shall
+yearly throw $100 into the common fund for board alone, to be paid
+quarterly in advance. Each one was also to build for himself or
+herself a small brick house, with piazza, according to a regular plan,
+and upon a spot of ground selected for the purpose, near the center or
+the lands of Nashoba."</p>
+
+<p>This communication is signed by Frances Wright, Richardson Whitby,
+Camilla Wright Whitby, and Robert Dale Owen, as resident trustee, and
+is dated Feb. 1, 1828.</p>
+
+<p>"It is probable that success did not further attend the experiment,
+for Francis Wright abandoned it soon after, and in June following
+removed to New Harmony, where, in conjunction with William Owen, she
+assumed for a short time the management of the <i>New Harmony Gazette</i>,
+which then had its name altered to the <i>New Harmony and Nashoba
+Gazette or Free Enquirer</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"Her biographer says that she abandoned, though not without a
+struggle, the peaceful shades of Nashoba, leaving the property in the
+charge of an individual, who <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>was to hold the negroes ready for
+removal to Hayti the year following. In relinquishing her experiment
+in favor of the race, she held herself equally pledged to the colored
+families under her charge, to the southern state in which she had been
+a resident citizen, and to the American community at large, to remove
+her dependents to a country free to their color. This she executed a
+year after."</p>
+
+<p>This Communistic experiment and failure was nearly simultaneous with
+that of New Harmony, and was the immediate antecedent of Frances
+Wright's famous lecturing-tour. In December 1828 she was raising
+whirlwinds of excitement by her eloquence in Baltimore, Philadelphia
+and New York; and soon after the <i>New Harmony Gazette</i>, under the
+title of <i>The Free Enquirer</i>, was removed to the latter city, where it
+was ably edited several years by Frances Wright and Robert Dale Owen.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VIII.</h3>
+
+<h4>SEVEN EPITAPHS.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>We have passed the most notable monuments of the Owen epoch, and come
+now to obscurer graves. Doubtless many of the little Communities that
+followed New Harmony, and in a small way repeated its fortunes, were
+buried without memorial. We have on Macdonald's list the names of only
+seven more, and their epitaphs are for the most part very brief. We
+may as well group them all in one chapter, and copy what Macdonald
+says about them, without comment.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">EPITAPH NO. I. CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY, 1825.</p>
+
+<p>"Located at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Founded on the principles of
+Robert Owen. Benjamin Bakewell, President; John Snyder, Treasurer;
+Magnus M. Murray, Secretary."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">EPITAPH NO. II. FRANKLIN COMMUNITY, 1826.</p>
+
+<p>"Located somewhere in New York. Had a printed Constitution; also a
+'preparatory school.' No further particulars."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">EPITAPH NO. III. BLUE SPRINGS COMMUNITY. 1826-7.</p>
+
+<p>"A gathering under the above title, existed for a short time near
+Bloomington, Ind. It was said [by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>somebody] to be 'harmonious and
+prosperous' as late as Jan. 1, 1827; but as I find no trace of it in
+my researches, it is fair to conclude that it is numbered with the
+dead, like others of its day."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">EPITAPH NO. IV. FORRESTVILLE COMMUNITY. (INDIANA.)</p>
+
+<p>"This Society was formed on the 16th day of December, 1825, of four
+families consisting of thirty-one persons. March 26, 1826, the
+constitution was printed. During the year their number increased to
+over sixty. The business was transacted by three trustees, to be
+elected annually, together with a secretary and treasurer. The
+principles were purely republican. They had no established religion,
+the constitution only requiring that all candidates should be of good
+moral character, sober and industrious. They declared that 'a baptist,
+a methodist, a universalist, a quaker, a calvinist, a deist, or any
+other <i>ist</i>, provided he or she is a genuine good moralist, are
+equally privileged and equally esteemed.' They occupied 325 acres of
+land, two saw-mills, one grist-mill, a carding machine, and a tannery,
+and carried on wagon-making, shoe-making, blacksmithing, coopering,
+agriculture, &amp;c."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">EPITAPH NO. V. HAVERSTRAW COMMUNITY.</p>
+
+<p>"This Society was formed in the year 1826 by a Mr. Fay (an attorney),
+Jacob Peterson and George Houston of New York, and Robert L. Ginengs
+of Philadelphia. It is probable that it originated in consequence of
+the lectures which were at that time delivered by Robert Owen in this
+country.</p>
+
+<p>"The principles and objects of the Society, as far as I can learn,
+were to better the condition of themselves <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>and their fellowmen, which
+they conceived could be done by living in Community, having all things
+in common, giving equal rights to each, and abolishing the terms 'mine
+and thine.'</p>
+
+<p>"They increased their numbers to eighty persons, including women and
+children, and purchased an estate at Haverstraw, two miles back from
+the Hudson river, on the west side, about thirty miles above Mew York.
+There were 120 acres of wood land, two mansion houses, twelve or
+fourteen out-buildings, one saw-mill, and a rolling and
+splitting-mill: and the estate had a noble stream of water running
+through it. The property was owned by a Major Suffrens of Haverstraw,
+who demanded $18,000 for it. On this sum $6,000 were paid, and bond
+and mortgage were given for the remainder. To raise the $6,000 and to
+defray other expenses, Jacob Peterson advanced $7,000; another
+individual $300; and others subscribed sums as low as $10. Money,
+land, and every thing else were held as common stock for the equal
+benefit of all the members.</p>
+
+<p>"Among the members, were persons of various trades and occupations,
+such as carpenters, cabinet-makers, tailors, shoe-makers and farmers.
+It was the general opinion that the society, as a whole, possessed a
+large amount of intelligence; and both men and women were of good
+moral character. I was acquainted with two or three persons who were
+engaged in this enterprise, and must say I never saw more just and
+honorable old men than they were when I knew them.</p>
+
+<p>"It appears that they formed a church among themselves, which they
+denominated the <i>Church of Reason</i>; and on Sundays they attended
+meetings, where lectures were delivered to them on Morals,
+Philosophy, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>Agriculture and various scientific subjects. They had no
+religious ceremonies or articles of faith.</p>
+
+<p>"They admitted members by ballot. The details of their rules and
+regulations were never printed. I have reason to believe that they had
+an abundance of laws and by-laws; and that they disagreed upon these,
+as well as upon other matters.</p>
+
+<p>"While the Community lasted, they were well supplied with the
+necessaries of life, and generally speaking their circumstances were
+by no means inferior to those they had left.</p>
+
+<p>"The splitting and rolling mill was not used, but farming and
+mechanical operations were carried on; and it is supposed (as in many
+other instances) that if the officers of the society had acted right,
+the experiment would have succeeded; but by some means the affairs
+soon became disorderly, and though so much money had originally been
+raised, and assistance was received from without, yet the experiment
+came to an end after a struggle of only five months.</p>
+
+<p>"An informant asserts that dishonesty of the managers and want of good
+measures were the causes of failure, and expresses himself thus: 'We
+wanted men and women of skillful industry, sober and honest, with a
+knowledge of themselves, and a disposition to command and be
+commanded, and not men and women whose sole occupation is parade and
+talk.'</p>
+
+<p>"In this experiment, like many others, several individuals suffered
+pecuniary loss. Those who had but a home, left it for Community, and
+of course were thrown back in their progress. Those who had money and
+invested there, lost it. Jacob Peterson, of New York, who advanced
+$7,000, never got more than $300 of it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>back, and even that was lost
+to him through the dishonesty of those with whom he did business."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">EPITAPH NO. VI. COXSACKIE COMMUNITY.</p>
+
+<p>"This experiment also was commenced in 1826, and members from the
+Haverstraw experiment joined it on the breaking up of their Society.</p>
+
+<p>"The principal actors in this attempt, were Samuel Underhill, John
+Norberry, Nathaniel Underhill, Wm. G. Macy, Jethro Macy and Jacob
+Peterson. The objects were the same as at Haverstraw, but in trying to
+carry them out they met with no better success. It appears that the
+capital was small, and the estate, which was located seven miles back
+from Coxsackie on the Hudson river, was very much in debt. From the
+little information I am enabled to gather concerning this attempt, I
+judge that they made many laws, that their laws were bad, and that
+they had many persons engaged in talking and law-making, who did not
+work at any useful employment. The consequences were, that after
+struggling on for a little more than a year, this experiment came to
+an end. One of my informants thus expresses himself about this
+failure: 'There were few good men to steer things right. We wanted men
+and women who would be willing to live in simple habitations, and on
+plain and simple diet; who would be contented with plain and simple
+clothing, and who would band together for each others' good. With such
+we might have succeeded; but such attempts can not succeed without
+such people.'</p>
+
+<p>"In this little conflict there were many sacrifices; but those who
+survived and were still imbued with the principles, emigrated to Ohio,
+to fight again with the old system of things."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>EPITAPH NO. VII. KENDAL COMMUNITY.</p>
+
+<p>"This was an attempt to carry out the views of Mr. Owen. It was
+located near Canton, Stark County, Ohio. The purchase of the property
+was made in June 1826, by a body of freeholders, whose farms were
+mortgaged for the first payment, and who, on account of the difficulty
+of realizing cash for their estates, were under some embarrassment in
+their operations, though the property was a great bargain."</p>
+
+<p>Of this enterprise in its early stage the <i>Western Courier</i> (Dec.,
+1826,) thus speaks:</p>
+
+<p>"The Kendal Community is rapidly on the increase; a number of
+dwellings have been erected in addition to those previously built; yet
+the increase of families has been such that there is much
+inconvenience experienced for want of house-room. The members are now
+employed in erecting a building 170 by 33 feet, which is intended to
+be temporarily occupied as private dwellings, but ultimately as
+work-shops. This and other improvements for the convenience of the
+place, will soon be completed.</p>
+
+<p>"Kendal is pleasantly and advantageously situated for health. We are
+informed that there is not a sick person on the premises. Mechanics of
+various professions have joined the Community, and are now occupied in
+prosecuting the various branches of industry. They have a woolen
+factory in which many hands are employed. Everything appears to be
+going on prosperously and harmoniously. There is observed a bustling
+emulation among the members. They labor hard, and are probably not
+exempt from the cares and perplexities incident to all worldly
+undertakings; and what society <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>or system can claim immunity from
+them? The question is, whether they may not be mitigated. Trouble we
+believe to be a divisible quantity; it may be softened by sympathy and
+intercourse, as pleasure may be increased by union and companionship.
+These advantages have already been experienced at the Kendal
+Community, and its members are even now in possession of that which
+the poet hath declared to be the sum total of human happiness, viz.,
+Health, Peace and Competence."</p>
+
+<p>"Several families from the Coxsackie Community," says Macdonald, "had
+joined Kendal when the above was written, and the remainder were to
+follow as soon as they were prepared. The Kendal Community then
+numbered about one bundled and fifty members including children. They
+were engaged in manufacturing woolen goods on a small scale, had a few
+hops, and did considerable business on the farm. They speak of their
+'<i>choice spirits</i>;' and anticipate assistance to carry out their
+plans, and prove the success of the social system beyond all
+contradiction, by the disposal of property and settlement of affairs
+at Coxsackie. In their enthusiasm they assert, 'that unaided, and with
+only their own resources and experience, and above all, with their
+little band of <i>invincible spirits</i>, who are tired of the old system
+and are determined to conquer or die, they <i>must</i> succeed.' I conclude
+they did not conquer but died, for I can learn nothing further
+concerning them."</p>
+
+<p>A recent letter from Mr. John Harmon, of Ravenna, Ohio, who was a
+member of the Kendal Community, gives a more definite account of its
+failure, as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"Our Community progressed harmoniously and prosperously, so long as
+the members had their health and a hope of paying for their domain.
+But a summer-fever <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>attacked us, and seven heads of families died,
+among whom were several of our most valued and useful members. At the
+same time the rich proprietors of whom we purchased our land urged us
+to pay; and we could not sell a part of it and give a good title,
+because we were not incorporated. So we were compelled to give up and
+disperse, losing what we had paid, which was about $7,000. But we
+formed friendships that were enduring, and the failure never for a
+moment weakened my faith in the value of Communism."</p>
+
+<br />
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+<br />
+
+<p>We group the three last Communities together, because they were
+evidently closely related by members passing from one to another, as
+the earlier ones successively failed. This habit of migrating from one
+Community to another is an interesting characteristic of the veterans
+of Socialism, which we shall meet with frequently hereafter.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IX.</h3>
+
+<h4>OWEN'S GENERAL CAREER.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>Confining ourselves strictly to memoirs of Associations, we might
+leave Owen now and go on to the experiments of the Fourier school. But
+this would hardly be doing justice to the father of American
+Socialisms. We have exhibited his great failure; and we must stop long
+enough to acknowledge his great success, and say briefly what we think
+of his whole life and influence. Indeed such a review is necessary to
+a just estimate of the Owen movement in this country.</p>
+
+<p>We accept what he himself said about his early achievements, that he
+was under the guidance of the Spirit of God, and was carried along by
+a wonderful series of special providences in his first labors for the
+good of the working classes. The originality, wisdom and success of
+his doings at New Lanark were manifestly supernatural. His factory
+village was indeed a light to the world, that gave the nations a great
+lesson in practical beneficence; and shines still amid the darkness of
+money-making selfishness and industrial misery. The single fact that
+he continued the wages of his operatives when the embargo stopped his
+business, actually paying out $35,000 in four months, to men who had
+nothing to do but to oil his machinery and keep it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>clean, stamps him
+as a genius of an order higher than Napoleon. By this bold maneuver of
+benevolence he won the confidence of his men, so that he could manage
+them afterwards as he pleased; and then he went on to reform and
+educate them, till they became a wonder to the world and a crown of
+glory to himself. So far we have no doubt that he walked with
+inspiration and special providence.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, it is also manifest, that his inspiration and
+success, so far at least as practical attempts were concerned,
+deserted him afterwards, and that much of the latter part of his life
+was spent in disastrous attempts to establish Communism, without the
+necessary spiritual conditions. His whole career may be likened to
+that of the first Napoleon, whose "star" insured victory till he
+reached a certain crisis; after which he lost every battle, and sunk
+into final and overwhelming defeat.</p>
+
+<p>In both cases there was a turning-point which can be marked.
+Napoleon's star deserted him when he put away Josephine. Owen
+evidently lost his hold on practical success when he declared war
+against religion. In his labors at New Lanark he was not an active
+infidel. The Bible was in his schools. Religion was at least tolerated
+and respected. He there married the daughter of Mr. Dale, a preacher
+of the Independents, who was his best friend and counsellor through
+the early years of his success. But when his work at New Lanark became
+famous, and he rose to companionship with dukes and kings, he outgrew
+the modesty and practical wisdom of his early life, and undertook the
+task of Universal Reform. Then it was that he fell into the mistake of
+confounding the principles of the Bible with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>character and
+pretensions of his ecclesiastical opposers, and so came into the false
+position of open hostility to religion. Christ was in a similar
+temptation when he found the Scribes and Pharisees arrayed against
+him, with the Old Testament for their vantage ground; but he had
+wisdom enough to keep his foothold on that vantage ground, and drive
+them off. His programme was, "Think not that I am come to destroy the
+law and the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill."
+Whereas Owen, at the turning-point of his career, abandoned the Bible
+with all its magazines of power to his enemies, and went off into a
+hopeless warfare with Christianity and with all God's past
+administrations. From that time fortune deserted him. The splendid
+success of New Lanark was followed by the terrible defeat at New
+Harmony. The declaration of war against all religion was between them.
+Such is our interpretation of his life; and something like this must
+have been his own interpretation, when he confessed in the light of
+his later experience, that by overlooking spiritual conditions, he had
+missed the most important of all the elements of human improvement.</p>
+
+<p>And yet we must not push our parallel too far. Owen, unlike Napoleon,
+never knew when he was beaten, and fought on thirty years after his
+Waterloo. It would be a great mistake to imagine that the failure of
+New Harmony and of the attempts that followed it, was the end of
+Owen's achievements and influence, even in this country. Providence
+does not so waste its preparations and inspirations. Let us see what
+was left, and what Owen did, after the disasters of 1826-7.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place the failure of his Community at New Harmony was not
+the failure of the <i>village</i> which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>he bought of the Rappites. That
+was built of substantial brick and stone. The houses and a portion of
+the population which he gathered there, remained and have continued to
+be a flourishing and rather peculiar village till the present time.
+Several Communities that came over from England in after-years made
+New Harmony their rendezvous, either on their arrival or when they
+broke up. So Macdonald, with the enthusiasm of a true Socialist, on
+landing in this country in 1842 first sought out New Harmony. There he
+found Josiah Warren, the apostle of Individualism, returned from his
+wanderings and failures, to set up a "Time Store" in the old seat of
+Socialism. We remember also, that Dr. J.R. Buchanan, the
+anthropologist, was at New Harmony in 1842, when he astonished the
+world with his novel experiments in Mesmerism, which Robert Dale Owen
+reported in a famous letter to the <i>Evening Post</i>, and which gave
+impetus and respectability to the beginnings of modern Spiritualism.
+These facts and many others indicate that New Harmony continued to be
+a center and refuge of Socialists and innovators long after the
+failure of the Community. Notwithstanding the unpopularity of
+Communism which Macdonald says he found there, it is probably a
+semi-socialist village to this day, representing more or less the
+spirit of Robert Owen.</p>
+
+<p>In the next place, with all his failures, Owen was successful in
+producing a fine family; and though he himself returned to England
+after the disaster at New Harmony, he bequeathed all his children to
+this country. Macdonald, writing in 1842, says: "Mr. Owen's family all
+reside in New Harmony. There are four sons and one daughter; viz.,
+William Owen, who is a merchant <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>and bank director; Robert Dale Owen,
+a lawyer and politician, who attends to the affairs of the Owen
+Estate; David Dale Owen, a practical geologist; Richard Owen, a
+practical farmer; and Mrs. Fauntleroy. The four brothers, with the
+wives and families of three of them, live together in one large
+mansion."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Owen in his published journal says that "his eldest son Robert
+Dale Owen, after writing much that was excellent, was twice elected
+member of Congress, and carried the bill for establishing the
+Smithsonian Institute in Washington; that his second son, David Dale
+Owen, was professor of chemistry, mineralogy and geology, and had been
+employed by successive American governments as their accredited
+geologist; that his third son, Major Richard Owen, was a professor in
+a Kentucky Military College; and that his only daughter living in
+1851, was the widow of a distinguished American officer."</p>
+
+<p>Robert Dale Owen undoubtedly has been and is, the spiritual as well as
+natural successor of Robert Owen. Wiser and more moderate than his
+father, he has risen out of the wreck of New Harmony to high stations
+and great influence in this country. He was originally associated with
+Frances Wright in her experiment at Nashoba, her lecturing career, and
+her editorial labors in New York. At that time he partook of the
+anti-religious zeal of his father. Opposition to revivals was the
+specialty of his paper, the <i>Free Enquirer</i>. In those days, also, he
+published his "Moral Physiology," a little book teaching in plain
+terms a method of controlling propagation&mdash;<i>not</i> "Male Continence."
+This bold issue, attributed by his enemies to licentious proclivities,
+was really part of the socialistic movement of the time; and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>indicated the drift of Owenism toward sexual freedom and the abolition
+of marriage.</p>
+
+<p>Robert Dale Owen originated and carried the law in Indiana giving to
+married women a right to property separate from their husbands; and
+the famous facilities of divorce in that State are attributed to his
+influence.</p>
+
+<p>He, like his father, turned toward Spiritualism, notwithstanding his
+non-religious antecedents. His report of Dr. Buchanan's experiments,
+and his books and magazine-articles demonstrating the reality of a
+world of spirits, have been the most respectable and influential
+auxiliaries to the modern system of necromancy. There is an air of
+respect for religion in many of his publications, and even a happy
+freedom of Bible quotation, which is not found in his father's
+writings. Perhaps the variation is due to the blood of his mother, who
+was the daughter of a Bible man and a preacher.</p>
+
+<p>So much Mr. Owen left behind. Let us now follow him in his after
+career. He bade farewell to New Harmony and returned to England in
+June 1828. Acknowledging no real defeat or loss of confidence in his
+principles, he went right on in the labors of his mission, as Apostle
+of Communism for the world, holding himself ready for the most distant
+service at a moment's warning. His policy was slightly changed,
+looking more toward moving the nations, and less toward local
+experiments. In April 1828, he was again in this country, settling his
+affairs at New Harmony, and preaching his gospel among the people.
+During this visit the challenge to debate passed between him and Rev.
+Alexander Campbell, and an arrangement was made for a theological
+duel. He returned to England in the summer, and in November of the
+same year <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>(1828) sailed again for America on a scheme of obtaining
+from the Mexican government a vast territory in Texas on which to
+develop Communism. After finishing the negotiations in Mexico (which
+negotiations were never executed), he came to the United States, and
+in April 1829 met Alexander Campbell at Cincinnati in a debate which
+was then famous, though now forgotten. From Cincinnati he proceeded to
+Washington, where he established intimate relations with Martin Van
+Buren, then Secretary of State, and had an important interview with
+Andrew Jackson, the President, laboring with these dignitaries on
+behalf of national friendship and his new social system. In the summer
+of 1829 he returned to England, and for some years after was engaged
+in labors for the conversion of the English government, and in some
+local attempts to establish "Equitable Commerce," "Labor Exchange" and
+partial Communism, all of which failed. Here Mr. Sargant, his English
+biographer, gives up the pursuit of him, and slurs over the rest of
+his life as though it were passed in obscurity and dotage. Not so
+Macdonald. We learn from him that after Mr. Owen had exceeded the
+allotment of three-score years and ten, he twice crossed the ocean to
+this country. Let us follow the faithful record of the disciple. We
+condense from Macdonald:</p>
+
+<p>In September 1844, Mr. Owen arrived in New York and immediately
+published in the <i>Herald</i> (Sept. 21) an address to the people of the
+United States proclaiming his mission "to effect in peace the greatest
+revolution ever yet made in human society." Fourierism was at that
+time in the ascendant. Mr. Owen called at the office of the <i>Phalanx</i>,
+the organ of Brisbane, and was received with distinction. In October
+he visited his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>family at New Harmony. On his way he stopped at the
+Ohio Phalanx. In December he went to Washington with Robert Dale Owen,
+who was then member of Congress. The party in power was less friendly
+than that of 1829, and refused him the use of the National Halls. He
+lectured, or advertised to lecture, in Concert Hall, Pennsylvania
+Avenue. "In March 1845," says Macdonald, "I had the pleasure of
+hearing him lecture at the Minerva rooms in New York, after which he
+lectured in Lowell and other places." In May he visited Brook Farm. In
+June he published a manifesto, appointing a World's Convention, to be
+held in New York in October; and soon after sailed for England.
+Stopping there scarcely long enough to turn round, he was in this
+country again in season to give a course of lectures preparatory to
+the October Convention. After that Convention (which Macdonald
+confesses was a trifling affair) he continued his labors in various
+places. On the 26th of October Macdonald met him on the street in
+Albany, and spent some time with him at his lodgings in much pleasant
+gossip about New Lanark. In November he called at Hopedale. Adin
+Ballou, in a published report of the visit, dashed off a sketch of him
+and his projects, which is so good a likeness that we copy it here:</p>
+
+<p>"Robert Owen is a remarkable character, in years nearly seventy-five:
+in knowledge and experience super-abundant; in benevolence of heart
+transcendental; in honesty without disguise; in philanthropy
+unlimited; in religion a skeptic; in theology a Pantheist: in
+metaphysics a necessarian circumstantialist; in morals a universal
+exclusionist; in general conduct a philosophic non-resistant; in
+socialism a Communist; in hope a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>terrestrial elysianist; in practical
+business a methodist; in deportment an unequivocal gentleman.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Owen has vast schemes to develop, and vast hopes of speedy
+success in establishing a great model of the new social state; which
+will quite instantaneously, as he thinks, bring the human race into a
+terrestrial Paradise. He insists on obtaining a million of dollars to
+be expended in lands, buildings, machinery, conveniences and
+beautifications, for his model Community; all to be finished and in
+perfect order, before he introduces to their new home the
+well-selected population who are to inhabit it. He flatters himself he
+shall be able, by some means, to induce capitalists, or perhaps
+Congress, to furnish the capital for this object. We were obliged to
+shake an incredulous head and tell him frankly how groundless, in our
+judgment, all such splendid anticipations must prove. He took it in
+good part, and declared his confidence unshaken, and his hopes
+undiscourageable by any man's unbelief."</p>
+
+<p>The winter of 1845&mdash;6 Mr. Owen appears to have spent in the west,
+probably at New Harmony. In June 1846, he was again in Albany, and
+this time for an important purpose. The Convention appointed to frame
+a new Constitution for the State of New York was then in session. He
+obtained the use of the Assembly Chamber and an audience of the
+delegates; and gave them two lectures on "Human Rights and Progress,"
+and withal on their own duties. Macdonald was present, and speaks
+enthusiastically of his energy and dignity. After reminding the
+Convention of the importance of the work they were about, he went on
+to say that "all religious systems, Constitutions, Governments and
+Laws are and have been founded in <i>error</i>, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>and that error is the
+false supposition that <i>man forms his own character</i>. They were about
+to form another Constitution based upon that error, and ere long more
+Constitutions would have to be made and altered, and so on, until the
+truth that the <i>character of man is formed for him</i> shall be
+recognized, and the system of society based upon that principle become
+national and universal." "After the lecture," says Macdonald, "I
+lunched with Mr. Owen at the house of Mr. Ames. We had conversation on
+New Harmony, London, &amp;c. Mr. Ames having expressed a desire for a
+photograph of Mr. Owen, I accompanied them to a gallery at the
+Exchange where I parted with him&mdash;perhaps forever! He returned soon
+after to England where he remains till the present time." [1854.]</p>
+
+<p>Six times after he was fifty years old, and twice after he was
+seventy, he crossed the Atlantic and back in the service of Communism!
+Let us not say that all this wonderful activity was useless. Let us
+not call this man a driveller and a monomaniac. Let us rather
+acknowledge that he was receiving and distributing an inspiration
+unknown even to himself, that had a sure aim, and that is at this
+moment conquering the world. His hallucination was not in his
+expectations, but in his ideas of methods and times.</p>
+
+<p>Owen had not much theory. His main idea was Communism, and that he got
+from the Rappites. His persistent assertion that man's character is
+formed for him by his circumstances, was his nearest approach to
+original doctrine; and this he virtually abandoned when he came to
+appreciate spiritual conditions. The rest of his teaching is summed up
+in the old injunction, "Be good," which is the burden of all
+preaching.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>But theory was not his function. Nor yet even practice. His business
+was to seed the world, and especially this country, with an
+unquenchable desire and hope for Communism; and this he did
+effectually.</p>
+
+<p>We call him the Father of American Socialisms, because he took
+possession of this country first. Fourierism was a secondary infusion.
+His English practicality was more in unison with the Yankee spirit,
+than the theorizing of the French school. He himself claimed the
+Fourierites as working on his job, grading the track by their half-way
+schemes of joint-stock and guaranteeism for his Rational Communism.
+And in this he was not far wrong. Communism or nothing, is likely to
+be the final demand of the American people.</p>
+
+<p>The most conspicuous trait in all Owen's labors and journeyings is his
+indomitable perseverance. And this trait he transmitted to a large
+breed of American Socialists. Read again the letter of John Harmon at
+the close of our last chapter. He is now an old man, but his faith in
+Communism remains unshaken; it is failure-proof. See how the veterans
+of Haverstraw, when their Community fell in pieces, moved to
+Coxsackie, and when the Coxsackie Community broke up, migrated to Ohio
+and joined the Kendal Community; and perhaps when the Kendal Community
+failed, they joined another, and another; and probably never gave up
+the hope of a Community-home. We have met with many such
+wanderers&mdash;men and women who were spoiled for the world by once
+tasting or at least imagining the sweets of Communism, and would not
+be turned back by any number of failures. Alcander Longley is a fine
+specimen of this class. He has tried every kind of Association, from
+Co-operation to Communism, including Fourierism and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>the nameless
+combinations of Spiritualism; and is now hard at work in the farthest
+corner of Missouri on his sixth experiment, as enthusiastic as ever!
+J.J. Franks is a still finer specimen. He began with Owenism. When
+that failed he enlisted with the Fourierites. During their campaign he
+bought five-thousand acres of land in the mountains of Virginia for a
+prospective Association, the Constitution of which he prepared and
+printed, though the Association itself never came into being. When
+Fourierism failed he devoted himself to Protective Unions. For twenty
+years past he has been a faithful disciple and patron of the Oneida
+Community. In such examples we trace the image and spirit of Robert
+Owen.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER X.</h3>
+
+<h4>CONNECTING LINKS.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>In the transition from Owenism to Fourierism and later socialist
+movements, we find that Josiah Warren fulfills the function of a
+modulating chord. As we have already said, after seeing the wreck of
+Communism at New Harmony, he went clear over to the extreme doctrine
+of "Individual Sovereignty," and continued working on that theme
+through the period of Fourierism, till he founded the famous village
+of Modern Times on Long Island, and there became the master-spirit of
+a school, which has developed at least three famous movements, that
+are in some sense alive yet, long after the Communities and Phalanxes
+have gone to their graves.</p>
+
+<p>Imprimis, Dr. Thomas L. Nichols was a fellow of the royal society of
+Individual Sovereigns, and an <i>habitue</i> of Modern Times, when he
+published his "Esoteric Anthropology" in 1853, and issued his printed
+catalogue of names for the reciprocal use of affinity-hunters all over
+the country; whereby he inaugurated the system of "Free Love" or
+Individual Sovereignty in sexual intercourse, that prevailed among the
+Spiritualists. He afterwards fell into a reaction opposite to
+Warren's, and swung clear back into Roman Catholicism. But "though
+dead, he yet speaketh."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>Secondly, Stephen Pearl Andrews was publishing-partner of Josiah
+Warren in the propagandism of Individual Sovereignty; and built or
+undertook to build a notable edifice at Modern Times, when that
+village was in its glory. He subsequently distinguished himself by
+instituting, in connection with Nichols and others, a series of
+"Sociables" for the Individual Sovereigns in New York city, which were
+broken up by the conservatives. He is also understood to have
+originated a great spiritual or intellectual hierarchy, called the
+"Pantarchy," and a system of Universology, which is not yet published,
+but has long been on the eve of organizing science and revolutionizing
+the world. On the whole he may be regarded as the American rival of
+Comte, as A.J. Davis is of Swedenborg.</p>
+
+<p>Lastly, Henry Edger, the actual hierarch of Positivism, one of the ten
+apostles <i>de propaganda fide</i> appointed by Comte, was called to his
+great work from Warren's school at Modern Times. He is still a
+resident of that village, and has attempted within a year or two to
+form a Positivist Community there, but without success.</p>
+
+<p>The genealogy from Owen to these modern movements may be traced thus:</p>
+
+<p>Owen begat New Harmony; New Harmony (by reaction) begat Individual
+Sovereignty; Individual Sovereignty begat Modern Times; Modern Times
+was the mother of Free Love, the Grand Pantarchy, and the American
+branch of French Positivism. Josiah Warren was the personal link next
+to Owen, and deserves special notice. Macdonald gives the following
+account of him:</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">JOSIAH WARREN.</p>
+
+<p>"This gentleman was one of the members of Mr. Owen's Community at New
+Harmony in 1826, and from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>the experience gained there, he became
+convinced that there was an important error in Mr. Owen's principles,
+and that error was <i>combination</i>. It was then that he developed the
+doctrine of Individual Sovereignty, and devised the plan of Equitable
+Commerce, which he labored on incessantly for many years. He
+communicated his views on Labor Exchange to Mr. Owen, who endeavored
+to practice them in London upon a large scale, but failed, as Mr.
+Warren asserts, through not carrying out the principle of
+<i>Individuality</i>. A similar attempt was made in Philadelphia, but also
+failed for the same cause.</p>
+
+<p>"After the failure of the New Harmony Community, Mr. Warren went to
+Cincinnati, and there opened a Time Store, which continued in
+operation long enough, as he says, to demonstrate the truth of his
+principles. After this, in association with others, he commenced an
+experiment in Tuscarawas Co., Ohio; but in consequence of sickness it
+was abandoned. His next experiment was at Mount Vernon, Indiana, which
+was unsuccessful. After that he opened a Time Store in New Harmony,
+which he was carrying on when I became acquainted with him in 1842.</p>
+
+<p>"The following must suffice as a description of</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE NEW HARMONY TIME STORE.</p>
+
+<p>"A portion of a room was divided off by a lattice-work, in which were
+many racks and shelves containing a variety of small articles. In the
+center of this lattice an opening was left, through which the
+store-keeper could hand goods and take pay. On the wall at the back of
+the store-keeper and facing the customer, hung a clock, and underneath
+it a dial. In other parts of the room <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>were various articles, such as
+molasses, corn, buckets, dry-goods, etc. There was a board hanging on
+the wall conspicuous enough for all persons to see, on which were
+placed the bills that had been paid to wholesale merchants for all the
+articles in the store; also the orders of individuals for various
+things.</p>
+
+<p>"I entered the store one day, and walking up to the wicket, requested
+the store-keeper to serve me with some glue. I was immediately asked
+if I had a '<i>Labor note</i>,' and on my saying no, I was told that I must
+get some one's note. My object in going there was to inquire if Mr.
+Warren would exchange labor with me; but this abrupt reception scared
+me, and I hastily departed. However, upon my becoming further
+acquainted with Mr. Warren, we exchanged labor notes, and I traded a
+little at the Time Store in the following manner:</p>
+
+<p>"I made or procured a written labor note, promising so many hours
+labor at so much per hour. Mr. Warren had similar labor notes. I went
+to the Time Store with my note and my cash, and informed the keeper
+that I wanted, for instance, a few yards of Kentucky jean. As soon as
+he commenced conversation or business with me, he set the dial which
+was under the clock, and marked the <i>time</i>. He then attended to me,
+giving me what I wanted, and in return taking from me as much cash as
+he paid for the article to the wholesale merchant; and as much time
+out of my labor note as he spent for me, according to the dial, in the
+sale of the article. I believe five per cent. was added to the cash
+cost, to pay rent and cover incidental expenses. The change for the
+labor notes was in small tickets representing time by the five, ten,
+or fifteen minutes; so that if I presented a note representing an
+hour's labor, and he had been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>occupied only ten minutes in serving
+me, he would have to give me forty minutes in change. I have seen Mr.
+Warren with a large bundle of these notes, representing various kinds
+and quantities of labor, from mechanics and others in New Harmony and
+its vicinity. Each individual who gave a note, affixed his or her own
+price per hour for labor. Women charged as high, or nearly as high, as
+men; and sometimes unskillful hands overrated their services. I knew
+an instance where an individual issued too many of his notes, and they
+became depreciated in value. I was informed that these notes were
+refused at the Time Store. It was supposed that public opinion would
+regulate these things, and I have no doubt that in time it would. In
+this experiment Mr. Warren said he had demonstrated as much as he
+intended. But I heard him complain of the difficulties he had to
+contend with, and especially of the want of common honesty.</p>
+
+<p>"The Time Store existed about two years and a half, and was then
+discontinued. In 1844 Mr. Warren went to Cincinnati and lectured upon
+his principles. On the breaking up of the Clermont Phalanx and the
+Cincinnati Brotherhood, Mr. Warren went to the spot where both
+failures had taken place, and there found four families who were
+disposed to try 'Equitable Commerce.' With these and a few other
+friends he started a village which he called Utopia, where he
+published the <i>Peaceful Revolutionist</i> for a time.</p>
+
+<p>"His next and last movement was at Modern Times, on Long Island, a few
+miles from New York, whither he came in 1851."</p>
+
+<p>From a copy of the <i>Peaceful Revolutionist</i>, published by Warren at
+Utopia in 1845, we take the first of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>the two following extracts. The
+second, relating to Modern Times, is from a newspaper article pasted
+into Macdonald's collection, without date, but probably printed in
+1853. These will give a sufficient idea of the reaction from New
+Harmony, which, on several important lines of influence, connects Owen
+with the present time.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">A PEEP INTO UTOPIA.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">From an editorial by J. Warren.</p>
+
+<p>"Throughout the whole of our operations at this village, everything
+has been conducted so nearly on the <i>Individual</i> basis, that not one
+meeting for legislation has taken place. No organization, no delegated
+power, no constitutions, no laws or bye-laws, rules or regulations,
+but such as each individual makes for himself and his own business; no
+officers, no priests nor prophets have been resorted to; nothing of
+this kind has been in demand. We have had a few meetings, but they
+were for friendly conversation, for music, dancing or some other
+social and pleasant pastime. Not even a single lecture upon the
+principles upon which we were acting, has been given on the premises!
+It was not necessary; for, as a lady remarked, 'the subject once
+stated and understood, there is nothing left to talk about; all is
+action after that.'</p>
+
+<p>"I do not mean to be understood that all are of one mind. On the
+contrary, in a progressive state there is no demand for conformity. We
+build on <i>Individuality</i>; any difference between us confirms our
+position. Differences, therefore, like the admissible discords in
+music, are a valuable part of our harmony! It is only when the rights
+of persons or property are actually invaded that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>collisions arise.
+These rights being clearly defined and sanctioned by public opinion,
+and temptations to encroachments being withdrawn, we may then consider
+our great problem practically solved. With regard to mere difference
+of opinion in taste, convenience, economy, equality, or even right and
+wrong, good and bad, sanity and insanity&mdash;all must be left to the
+supreme decision of each <i>Individual</i>, whenever he can take on himself
+the <i>cost</i> of his decisions; which he cannot do while his interests or
+movements are united or combined with others. It is in combination or
+close connection only, that compromise and conformity are required.
+Peace, harmony, ease, security, happiness, will be found only in
+<i>Individuality</i>."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">A PEEP INTO MODERN TIMES.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">Conversation between a Resident and a Reporter.</p>
+
+<p>"We are not Fourierites. We do not believe in Association. Association
+will have to answer for very many of the evils with which mankind are
+now afflicted. We are not Communists; we are not Mormons; we are not
+Non-Resistants. If a man steals my property or injures me, I will take
+good care to make myself square with him. We are Protestants, we are
+Liberals. We believe in the <span class="fakesc">SOVEREIGNTY OF THE INDIVIDUAL</span>. We
+protest against all laws which interfere with <span class="fakesc">INDIVIDUAL
+RIGHTS</span>&mdash;hence we are Protestants. We believe in perfect liberty
+of will and action&mdash;hence we are Liberals. We have no compacts with
+each other, save the compact of individual happiness; and we hold that
+every man and every woman has a perfect and inalienable right to do
+and perform, all and singular, just exactly as he or she may choose,
+now and hereafter. But, gentlemen, this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>liberty to act must only be
+exercised at the <i>entire cost</i> of the individuals so acting. They have
+no right to tax the community for the consequences of their deeds."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you go back to nearly the first principles of government, and
+acknowledge the necessity of some controlling power other than
+individual will?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not much&mdash;not much. In the present depraved state of society
+generally, we&mdash;few in numbers&mdash;are forced by circumstances into
+courses of action not precisely compatible with our principles or with
+the intent of our organization, thus: we are a new colony; we can not
+produce all which we consume, and many of our members are forced to go
+out into the world to earn what people call money, so that we may
+purchase our groceries, &amp;c. We are mostly mechanics&mdash;eastern men.
+There is not yet a sufficient home demand for our labor to give
+constant employment to all. When we increase in numerical strength,
+our tinsmiths and shoemakers and hatters and artisans of that grade
+will not only find work at home, but will manufacture goods for sale.
+That will bring us money. We shall establish a Labor Exchange, so that
+if my neighbor, the blacksmith, wants my assistance, and I in turn
+desire his services, there will be a scale to fix the terms of the
+exchange."</p>
+
+<p>"But this would disturb Individual Sovereignty."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see it. No one will be <i>forced</i> to barter his labor for
+another's. If parties don't like the terms, they can make their own.
+There are three acres of corn across the way&mdash;it is good corn&mdash;a good
+crop&mdash;it is mine. You see that man now at work in the field cutting
+and stacking it. His work as a farmer is not so valuable as mine as a
+mason. We exchange, and it is a mutual benefit. Corn is just as good a
+measure of value <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>as coin. You should read the pamphlet we are getting
+out. It will come cheap. Andrews has published an excellent work on
+this subject of Individual Sovereignty."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you any schools?"</p>
+
+<p>"Schools? Ah! we only have a sort of primary affair for small
+children. It is supported by individual subscription. Each parent pays
+his proportion."</p>
+
+<p>"How about women?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, in regard to the ladies, we let them do about as they please,
+and they generally please to do about right. Yes, <i>they</i> like the idea
+of Individual Sovereignty. We give them plenty of amusement; we have
+social parties, music, dancing, and other sports. They are not all
+Bloomers: they wear such dresses as suit the individual taste,
+<i>provided they can get them</i>!"</p>
+
+<p>"And the <i>breeches</i> sometimes, I suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly they can <i>wear the breeches</i> if they choose."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you hold to marriage?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, marriage! Well, folks ask no questions in regard to <i>that</i> among
+us. We, or at least some of us, do not believe in life-partnerships,
+when the parties can not live happily. Every person here is supposed
+to know his or her own interests best. We don't interfere; there is no
+eaves-dropping, or prying behind the curtain. Those are good members
+of society, who are industrious and mind their own business. The
+individual is sovereign and independent, and all laws tending to
+restrict the liberty he or she should enjoy, are founded in error, and
+should not be regarded."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XI.</h3>
+
+<h4>CHANNING'S BROOK FARM.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>We are now on the confines of the Fourier movement. The time-focus
+changes from 1826 to 1843. As the period of our history thus approaches
+the present time, our resources become more ample and authentic.
+Henceforward we shall not confine ourselves so closely to Macdonald's
+materials as we have done. The printed literature of Fourierism is more
+abundant than that of Owenism; and while we shall still follow the
+catalogue of Associations which we gave from Macdonald in our third
+chapter, and shall appropriate all that is interesting in his memoirs,
+we shall also avail ourselves freely of various publications of the
+Fourierists themselves. A full set of their leading periodicals,
+(probably the only one in existence) was thrust upon us by the freak of
+a half-crazed literary gentleman, nearly at the very time when we had
+the good fortune to find Macdonald's collections. We shall hereafter
+refer most frequently to the files of <i>The Dial</i>, <i>The Present</i>, <i>The
+Phalanx</i>, <i>The Harbinger</i>, and <i>The Tribune</i>.</p>
+
+<p>In order to understand the Fourier movement, we must look at the
+preparations for it. This we have already been doing, in studying
+Owenism. But there were other preparations. Owenism was the
+socialistic <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>prelude. We must now attend to what may be called the
+religious preparations.</p>
+
+<p>Owenism was limited and local, chiefly because it was thoroughly
+non-religious and even anti-religious. In order that Fourierism might
+sweep the nation, it was necessary that it should ally itself to some
+form of popular religion, and especially that it should penetrate the
+strongholds of religious New England.</p>
+
+<p>To prepare for this combination, a differentiation in the New England
+church was going on simultaneously with the career of Owenism. After
+the war of 1815, the division of Congregationalism into Orthodoxy and
+Unitarianism, commenced. Excluding from our minds the doctrinal and
+ecclesiastical quarrels that attended this division, it is easy to see
+that Providence, which is always on both sides of every fight, aimed
+at division of labor in this movement. One party was set to defend
+religion; the other liberty. One stood by the old faith, like the Jew;
+the other went off into free-thinking and the fine arts, like the
+Greek. One worked on regeneration of the heart; the other on culture
+of the external life. In short, one had for its function the carrying
+through of the Revival system; the other the development of Socialism.</p>
+
+<p>The royal men of these two "houses of Israel" were Dr. Beecher and Dr.
+Channing; and both left royal families, direct or collateral. The
+Beechers are leading the Orthodox to this day; and the Channings, the
+Unitarians. We all know what Dr. Beecher and his children have done
+for revivals. He was the pivotal man between Nettleton and Finney in
+the last generation, and his children are the standard-bearers of
+revival religion in the present. What the Channings have done for
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>Socialism is not so well known, and this is what we must now bring to
+view.</p>
+
+<p>First and chief of all the experiments of the Fourier epoch was
+<span class="sc">Brook Farm</span>. And yet Brook Farm in its original conception,
+was not a Fourier formation at all, but an American seedling. It was
+the child of New England Unitarianism. Dr. Channing himself was the
+suggester of it. So says Ralph Waldo Emerson. As this is an
+interesting point of history, we have culled from a newspaper report
+of Mr. Emerson's lecture on Brook Farm, the following summary, from
+which it appears that Dr. Channing was the pivotal man between
+old-fashioned Unitarianism and Transcendentalism, and the father of
+<i>The Dial</i> and of Brook Farm:</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">EMERSON'S REMINISCENCES OF BROOK FARM.</p>
+
+<p>"In the year 1840 Dr. Channing took counsel with Mr. George Ripley on
+the point if it were possible to bring cultivated, thoughtful people
+together, and make a society that deserved the name. He early talked
+with Dr. John Collins Warren on the same thing, who admitted the
+wisdom of the purpose, and undertook to make the experiment. Dr.
+Channing repaired to his house with these thoughts; he found a well
+chosen assembly of gentlemen; mutual greetings and introductions and
+chattings all around, and he was in the way of introducing the general
+purpose of the conversation, when a side-door opened, the whole
+company streamed in to an oyster supper with good wines, and so ended
+that attempt in Boston. Channing opened his mind then to Ripley, and
+invited a large party of ladies and gentlemen. I had the honor to be
+present. No important consequences of the attempt followed. Margaret
+Fuller, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>Ripley, Bronson and Hedge, and many others, gradually came
+together, but only in the way of students. But I think there prevailed
+at that time a general belief in the city that this was some concert
+of doctrinaires to establish certain opinions, or to inaugurate some
+movement in literature, philosophy, or religion, but of which these
+conspirators were quite innocent. It was no concert, but only two or
+three men and women, who read alone with some vivacity. Perhaps all of
+them were surprised at the rumor that they were a school or sect, but
+more especially at the name of 'Transcendentalism.' Nobody knows who
+first applied the name. These persons became in the common chance of
+society acquainted with each other, and the result was a strong
+friendship, exclusive in proportion to its heat.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"From that time, meetings were held with conversation&mdash;with very
+little form&mdash;from house to house. Yet the intelligent character and
+varied ability of the company gave it some notoriety, and perhaps
+awakened some curiosity as to its aims and results. But nothing more
+serious came of it for a long time. A modest quarterly journal called
+<i>The Dial</i>, under the editorship of Margaret Fuller, enjoyed its
+obscurity for four years, when it ended. Its papers were the
+contributions and work of friendship among a narrow circle of writers.
+Perhaps its writers were also its chief readers. But it had some noble
+papers; perhaps the best of Margaret Fuller's. It had some numbers
+highly important, because they contained papers by Theodore Parker. *
+*</p>
+
+<p>"I said the only result of the conversations which Dr. Channing had
+was to initiate the little quarterly called <i>The Dial</i>; but they had a
+further consequence in the creation of the society called the "Brook
+Farm" in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>1841. Many of these persons who had compared their notes
+around in the libraries of each other upon speculative matters, became
+impatient of speculation, and wished to put it into practice. Mr.
+George Ripley, with some of his associates, established a society, of
+which the principle was, that the members should be stockholders, and
+that while some deposited money others should be allowed to give their
+labor in different kinds as an equivalent for money. It contained very
+many interesting and agreeable persons. Mr. Curtis of New York, and
+his brother of English Oxford, were members of the family; from the
+first also was Theodore Parker; Mr. Morton of Plymouth&mdash;engaged in the
+fisheries&mdash;eccentric; he built a house upon the farm, and he and his
+family continued in it till the end; Margaret Fuller, with her joyous
+conversations and sympathies. Many persons gave character and
+attractiveness to the place. The farm consisted of 200 acres, and
+occupied some spot near Reedville camp of later years. In and around
+it, whether as members, boarders, or visitors, were remarkable persons
+for character, intellect and accomplishments.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;The Rev. Wm. H.
+Channing, now of London, student of Socialism in France and England,
+was a frequent sojourner here, and in perfect sympathy with the
+experiment.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"Brook Farm existed six or seven years, when the society broke up and
+the farm was sold, and all parties came out with a loss; some had
+spent on it the accumulations of years. At the moment all regarded it
+as a failure; but I do not think that all so regard it now, but
+probably as an important chapter in their experience, which has been
+of life-long value. What knowledge has it not afforded them! What
+personal power which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>the studies of character have given: what
+accumulated culture many members owe to it; what mutual pleasure they
+took of each other! A close union like that in a ship's cabin, of
+persons in various conditions; clergymen, young collegians, merchants,
+mechanics, farmers' sons and daughters, with men of rare opportunities
+and culture."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Emerson's lecture is doubtless reliable on the main point for
+which we quote from it&mdash;the Unitarian and Channing-arian origin of
+Brook Farm&mdash;but certainly superficial in its view of the substantial
+character and final purpose of that Community. Brook Farm, though
+American and Unitarian in its origin, became afterward the chief
+representative and propagative organ of Fourierism, as we shall
+ultimately show. The very blossom of the experiment, by which it
+seeded the nation and perpetuated its species, was its periodical,
+<i>The Harbinger</i>, and this belonged entirely to the Fourieristic period
+of its career. Emerson dilates on <i>The Dial</i>, but does not allude to
+<i>The Harbinger</i>. In thus ignoring the public function by which Brook
+Farm was signally related to the great socialistic revival of 1843,
+and to the whole of American Socialism, Emerson misses what we
+conceive to be the main significance of the experiment, and indeed of
+Unitarianism itself.</p>
+
+<p>And here we may say, in passing, that this brilliant Community has a
+right to complain that its story should have to be told by aliens.
+Emerson, who was not a member of it, nor in sympathy with the
+socialistic movement to which it abandoned itself, has volunteered a
+lecture of reminiscences; and Hawthorne, who joined it only to jilt
+it, has given the world a poetico-sneering romance about it; and that
+is all the first-hand <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>information we have, except what can be gleaned
+from obsolete periodicals. George William Curtis, though he was a
+member, coolly exclaims in <i>Harper's Magazine:</i></p>
+
+<p>"Strangely enough, Hawthorne is likely to be the chief future
+authority upon 'the romantic episode' of Brook Farm. Those who had it
+at heart more than he, whose faith and energy were all devoted to its
+development, and many of whom have every ability to make a permanent
+record, have never done so, and it is already so much a thing of the
+past, that it will probably never be done."</p>
+
+<p>In the name of history we ask, Why has not George William Curtis
+himself made the permanent record? Why has not George Ripley taken the
+story out of the mouths of the sneerers? Brook Farm might tell its own
+story through him, for he <i>was</i> Brook Farm. It was George Ripley who
+took into his heart the inspiration of Dr. Channing, and went to work
+like a hero to make a fact of it; while Emerson stood by smiling
+incredulity. It was Ripley who put on his frock and carted manure, and
+set Hawthorne shoveling, and did his best for years to keep work
+going, that the Community might pay as well as play. It was no
+"picnic" or "romantic episode" or chance meeting "in a ship's cabin"
+to him. His whole soul was bent on making a <i>home</i> of it. If a man's
+first-born, in whom his heart is bound up, dies at six years old, that
+does not turn the whole affair into a joke. There were others of the
+same spirit, but Ripley was the center of them.</p>
+
+<p>Brook Farm came very near being a <i>religious</i> Community. It inherited
+the spirit of Dr. Channing and of Transcendentalism. The inspiration
+in the midst of which it was born, was intensely literary, but also
+religious. The Brook Farmers refer to it as the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>"revival," the
+"<i>newness</i>," the "<i>renaissance</i>." There was evidently an afflatus on
+the men, and they wrote and acted as they were moved. <i>The Dial</i> was
+the original organ of this afflatus, and contains many articles that
+are edifying to Christians of good digestion. It was published
+quarterly, and the four volumes of it (sixteen numbers) extended from
+July 1840 to April 1844.</p>
+
+<p>The first notice we find of Brook Farm is in connection with an
+article in the second volume of <i>The Dial</i> (Oct. 1841), entitled, "<i>A
+Glimpse of Christ's Idea of Society</i>." The writer of this most devout
+essay was Miss Elizabeth P. Peabody, then and since a distinguished
+literary lady. She was evidently in full sympathy with the "newness"
+out of which Brook Farm issued. Margaret Fuller, one of the
+constituents of Brook Farm, was editress of <i>The Dial</i>, and thus
+sanctioned the essay. Its reference to Brook Farm is avowed in a note
+at the end, and in a subsequent article. The following extracts give
+us</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE ORIGINAL IDEAL OF BROOK FARM.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">[From <i>The Dial</i>, Oct. 1841.]</p>
+
+<p>"While we acknowledge the natural growth, the good design, and the
+noble effects of the apostolic church, and wish we had it, in place of
+our own more formal ones, we should not do so small justice to the
+divine soul of Jesus of Nazareth, as to admit that it was a main
+purpose of his to found it, or that when it was founded it realized
+his idea of human society. Indeed we probably do injustice to the
+apostles themselves, in supposing that they considered their churches
+anything more than initiatory. Their language implies that they looked
+forward to a time when the uttermost parts of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>the earth should be
+inherited by their beloved master; and beyond this, when even the
+name, which is still above every name, should be lost in the glory of
+the Father, who is to be all in all.</p>
+
+<p>"Some persons, indeed, refer all this sort of language to another
+world; but this is gratuitously done. Both Jesus and the apostles
+speak of life as the same in both worlds. For themselves individually
+they could not but speak principally of another world; but they imply
+no more than that death is an accident, which would not prevent, but
+hasten the enjoyment of that divine life, which they were laboring to
+make possible to all men, in time as well as in eternity.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"The Kingdom of Heaven, as it lay in the clear spirit of Jesus of
+Nazareth, is rising again upon vision. Nay, this Kingdom begins to be
+seen not only in religious ecstasy, in moral vision, but in the light
+of common sense, and the human understanding. Social science begins to
+verify the prophecy of poetry. The time has come when men ask
+themselves what Jesus meant when he said, 'Inasmuch as ye have not
+done it unto the least of these little ones, ye have not done it unto
+me.'</p>
+
+<p>"No sooner is it surmised that the Kingdom of Heaven and the Christian
+Church are the same thing, and that this thing is not an association
+outside of society, but a re&ouml;rganization of society itself, on those
+very principles of love to God and love to man, which Jesus Christ
+realized in his own daily life, than we perceive the day of judgment
+for society is come, and all the words of Christ are so many trumpets
+of doom. For before the judgment-seat of his sayings, how do our
+governments, our trades, our etiquettes, even our benevolent
+institutions and churches look? What church in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>Christendom, that
+numbers among its members a pauper or a negro, may stand the thunder
+of that one word, 'Inasmuch as ye have not done it to the least of
+these little ones, ye have not done it unto me?' And yet the church of
+Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven, has not come upon earth, according to
+our daily prayer, unless not only every church, but every trade, every
+form of social intercourse, every institution political or other, can
+abide this test.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"One would think from the tone of conservatives, that Jesus accepted
+the society around him, as an adequate framework for individual
+development into beauty and life, instead of calling his disciples
+'out of the world.' We maintain, on the other hand, that Christ
+desired to re&ouml;rganize society, and went to a depth of principle and a
+magnificence of plan for this end, which has never been appreciated,
+except here and there, by an individual, still less been carried out.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"There <i>are</i> men and women, who have dared to say to one another, Why
+not have our daily life organized on Christ's own idea? Why not begin
+to move the mountain of custom and convention? Perhaps Jesus's method
+of thought and life is the Savior&mdash;is Christianity! For each man to
+think and live on this method is perhaps the Second Coming of Christ.
+To do unto the little ones as we would do unto <i>him</i>, would be perhaps
+the reign of the Saints&mdash;the Kingdom of Heaven. We have hitherto heard
+of Christ by the hearing of the ear; now let us see him, let us be
+him, and see what will come of that. Let us communicate with each
+other and live.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"There have been some plans and experiments of Community attempted in
+this country, which, like those <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>elsewhere, are interesting chiefly as
+indicating paths in which we should <i>not</i> go. Some have failed because
+their philosophy of human nature was inadequate, and their
+establishments did not regard man as he is, with all the elements of
+devil and angel within his actual constitution. Brisbane has made a
+plan worthy of study in some of its features, but erring in the same
+manner. He does not go down into a sufficient spiritual depth, to lay
+foundations which may support his superstructure. Our imagination
+before we reflect, no less than our reason after reflection, rebels
+against this attempt to circumvent moral freedom, and imprison it in
+his Phalanx.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"<i>The</i> church of Christ's Idea, world-embracing, can be founded on
+nothing short of faith in the universal man, as he comes out of the
+hands of the Creator, with no law over his liberty, but the Eternal
+Ideas that lie at the foundation of his Being. Are you a man? This is
+the only question that is to be asked of a member of human society.
+And the enounced laws of that society should be an elastic medium of
+these Ideas; providing for their everlasting unfolding into new forms
+of influence, so that the man of time should be the growth of
+eternity, consciously and manifestly.</p>
+
+<p>"To form such a society as this is a great problem, whose perfect
+solution will take all the ages of time; but let the Spirit of God
+move freely over the great deep of social existence, and a creative
+light will come at his word; and after that long evening in which we
+are living, the morning of the first day shall dawn on a Christian
+society.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"N.B. A Postscript to this Essay, giving an account of a specific
+attempt to realize its principles, will appear in the next number."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>Thus, according to this writer, Brook Farm, in its inception, was an
+effort to establish the kingdom of God on earth; that kingdom in which
+"the will of God shall be done as it is done in heaven;" a higher
+state than that of the apostolic church; worthy even to be called the
+Second Coming of Christ, and the beginning of the day of judgment! A
+high religious aim, surely! and much like that proposed by the Shakers
+and other successful Communities, that have the reputation of being
+fanatical.</p>
+
+<p>The reader will notice that Miss Peabody, on behalf of Brook Farm,
+disclaims Fourierism, which was then just beginning to be heard of
+through Brisbane's <i>Social Destiny of Man</i>, first published in 1840.</p>
+
+<p>In the next number of <i>The Dial</i> Miss Peabody fulfills her promise of
+information about Brook Farm, in an article entitled, "<i>Plan of the
+West Roxbury Community</i>." Some extracts will give an idea of the first
+tottering steps of the infant enterprise:</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<div class="block">
+<p class="cen">THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION OF BROOK FARM.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">[From <i>The Dial</i>, Jan. 1842.]</p>
+
+<p>"In the last number of <i>The Dial</i>, were some remarks, under the
+perhaps ambitious title of, 'A Glimpse of Christ's Idea of
+Society;' in a note to which it was intimated, that in this
+number would be given an account of an attempt to realize in
+some degree this great Ideal, by a little company in the midst
+of us, as yet without name or visible existence. The attempt is
+made on a very small scale. A few individuals, who, unknown to
+each other, under different disciplines of life, reacting from
+different social evils, but aiming at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>the same object,&mdash;of
+being wholly true to their natures as men and women&mdash;have been
+made acquainted with one another, and have determined to become
+the Faculty of the Embryo University.</p>
+
+<p>"In order to live a religious and moral life worthy the name,
+they feel it is necessary to come out in some degree from the
+world, and to form themselves into a community of property, so
+far as to exclude competition and the ordinary rules of trade;
+while they reserve sufficient private property, or the means of
+obtaining it, for all purposes of independence, and isolation at
+will. They have bought a farm, in order to make agriculture the
+basis of their life, it being the most direct and simple in
+relation to nature. A true life, although it aims beyond the
+highest star, is redolent of the healthy earth. The perfume of
+clover lingers about it. The lowing of cattle is the natural
+bass to the melody of human voices. [Here we have the old
+farming hobby of the socialists.]&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"The plan of the Community, as an economy, is in brief this: for
+all who have property to take stock, and receive a fixed
+interest thereon: then to keep house or board in commons, as
+they shall severally desire, at the cost of provisions purchased
+at wholesale, or raised on the farm; and for all to labor in
+community, and be paid at a certain rate an hour, choosing their
+own number of hours, and their own kind of work. With the
+results of this labor and their interest, they are to pay their
+board, and also purchase whatever else they require at cost, at
+the warehouses of the Community, which are to be filled by the
+Community as such. To perfect this economy, in the course of
+time they must have all trades and all modes of business carried
+on among <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>themselves, from the lowest mechanical trade, which
+contributes to the health and comfort of life, to the finest
+art, which adorns it with food or drapery for the mind.</p>
+
+<p>"All labor, whether bodily or intellectual, is to be paid at the
+same rate of wages; on the principle that as the labor becomes
+merely bodily, it is a greater sacrifice to the individual
+laborer to give his time to it; because time is desirable for
+the cultivation of the intellectual, in exact proportion to
+ignorance. Besides, intellectual labor involves in itself higher
+pleasures, and is more its own reward, than bodily labor.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"After becoming members of this Community, none will be engaged
+merely in bodily labor. The hours of labor for the Association
+will be limited by a general law, and can be curtailed at the
+will of the individual still more; and means will be given to
+all for intellectual improvement and for social intercourse,
+calculated to refine and expand. The hours redeemed from labor
+by community, will not be re-applied to the acquisition of
+wealth, but to the production of intellectual goods. This
+Community aims to be rich, not in the metallic representative of
+wealth, but in the wealth itself, which money should represent;
+namely, <span class="fakesc">LEISURE TO LIVE IN ALL THE FACULTIES OF THE
+SOUL</span>. As a Community, it will traffic with the world at
+large, in the products of agricultural labor; and it will sell
+education to as many young persons as can be domesticated in the
+families, and enter into the common life with their own
+children. In the end it hopes to be enabled to provide, not only
+all the necessaries, but all the elegances desirable for bodily
+and for spiritual health: books, apparatus, collections for
+science, works of art, means of beautiful amusement. These
+things are to be common to all; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>and thus that object, which
+alone gilds and refines the passion for individual accumulation,
+will no longer exist for desire, and whenever the sordid passion
+appears, it will be seen in its naked selfishness. In its
+ultimate success, the Community will realize all the ends which
+selfishness seeks, but involved in spiritual blessings, which
+only greatness of soul can aspire after.</p>
+
+<p>"And the requisitions on the individuals, it is believed, will
+make this the order forever. The spiritual good will always be
+the condition of the temporal. Every one must labor for the
+Community in a reasonable degree, or not taste its benefits.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;Whoever
+is willing to receive from his fellow men that for
+which he gives no equivalent, will stay away from its precincts
+forever. But whoever shall surrender himself to its principles,
+shall find that its yoke is easy and its burden light.
+Everything can be said of it, in a degree, which Christ said of
+his kingdom, and therefore it is believed that in some measure
+it does embody his idea. For its gate of entrance is strait and
+narrow. It is literally a pearl hidden in a field. Those only
+who are willing to lose their life for its sake shall find it.
+Its voice is that which sent the young man sorrowing away: 'Go
+sell all thy goods and give to the poor, and then come and
+follow me.' 'Seek first the kingdom of Heaven and its
+righteousness, and all other things shall be added to you.'&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"There may be some persons at a distance, who will ask, To what
+degree has this Community gone into operation? We can not answer
+this with precision, but we have a right to say that it has
+purchased the farm which some of its members cultivated for a
+year with success, by way of trying their love and skill for
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>agricultural labor; that in the only house they are as yet rich
+enough to own, is collected a large family, including several
+boarding scholars, and that all work and study together. They
+seem to be glad to know of all who desire to join them in the
+spirit, that at any moment, when they are able to enlarge their
+habitations, they may call together those that belong to them."</p></div>
+
+<p>Thus far it is evident that Brook Farm was not a Fourier formation.
+Whether the beginnings of the excitement about Fourierism may not have
+secretly affected Dr. Channing and the Transcendentalists, we can not
+say. Brisbane's first publication and Dr. Channing's first suggestion
+of a Community (according to Emerson) took place in the same
+year&mdash;1840. But Brook Farm, as reported by Miss Peabody, up to January
+1842 had nothing to do with Fourierism, but was an original Yankee
+attempt to embody Christianity as understood by Unitarians and
+Transcendentalists; having a constitution (written or unwritten)
+invented perhaps by Ripley, or suggested by the collective wisdom of
+the associates. Without any great scientific theory, it started as
+other Yankee experiments have done, with the purpose of feeling its
+way toward co-operation, by the light of experience and common sense;
+beginning cautiously, as was proper, with the general plan of
+joint-stock; but calling itself a Community, and evidently bewitched
+with the idea which is the essential charm of all Socialisms, that it
+is possible to combine many families into one great home. Moreover
+thus far there was no "advertising for a wife," no gathering by public
+proclamation. The two conditions of success which we named as primary
+in a previous chapter, viz., <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span><i>religious principle</i> and <i>previous
+acquaintance</i>, were apparently secured. The nucleus was small in
+number, and well knit together by mutual acquaintance and spiritual
+sympathy. In all this, Brook Farm was the opposite of New Harmony.</p>
+
+<p>If we take Rev. William H. Channing, nephew and successor of Dr.
+Channing, as the exponent of Brook Farm&mdash;which we may safely do, since
+Emerson says he was "a frequent sojourner there, and in perfect
+sympathy with the experiment"&mdash;we have evidence that the Community had
+not fallen into the ranks of Fourierism at a considerably later
+period. On the 15th of September 1843, Mr. Channing commenced
+publishing in New York a monthly Magazine called <i>The Present</i>, the
+main object of which was nearly the same as that of <i>The Dial</i>, viz.,
+the discussion of religious Socialism, as understood at Brook Farm and
+among the Transcendentalists; and in his third number (Nov. 15) he
+used language concerning Fourier, which <i>The Phalanx</i>, Brisbane's
+organ (then also just commencing), criticised as disrespectful and
+painfully offensive.</p>
+
+<p>From this indication, slight as it is, we may safely conclude that the
+amalgamation of Brook Farm and Fourierism had not taken place up to
+November 1843, which was more than two years after Miss Peabody's
+announcement of the birth of the Community. So far Brook Farm was
+American and religious, and stood related to the Fourier revival only
+as a preparation. So far it was <i>Channing's</i> Brook Farm. Its story
+after it became <i>Fourier's</i> Brook Farm will be reserved for the end of
+our history of Fourierism.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XII.</h3>
+
+<h4>HOPEDALE.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>This Community was another anticipation of Fourierism, put forth by
+Massachusetts. It was similar in many respects to Brook Farm, and in
+its origin nearly contemporaneous. It was intensely religious in its
+ideal. As Brook Farm was the blossom of Unitarianism, so Hopedale was
+the blossom of Universalism. Rev. Adin Ballou, the founder, was a
+relative of the Rev. Hosea Ballou, and thus a scion of the royal
+family of the Universalists. Milford, the site of the Community, was
+the scene of Dr. Whittemore's first ministerial labors.</p>
+
+<p>Hopedale held on its way through the Fourier revival, solitary and
+independent, and consequently never attained so much public
+distinction as Brook Farm and other Associations that affiliated
+themselves to Fourierism; but considered by itself as a Yankee attempt
+to solve the socialistic problem, it deserves more attention than any
+of them. Our judgment of it, after some study, may be summed up thus:
+As it came nearest to being a religious community, so it commenced
+earlier, lasted longer, and was really more scientific and sensible
+than any of the other experiments of the Fourier epoch.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>Brook Farm was talked about in 1840, but we find no evidence of its
+organization till the fall of 1841. Whereas Mr. Ballou's Community
+dates its first compact from January 1841; though it did not commence
+operations at Hopedale till April 1842.</p>
+
+<p>The North American Phalanx is reputed to have outlived all the other
+Associations of the Fourier epoch; but we find, on close examination
+of dates, that Hopedale not only was born before it, but lived after
+it. The North American commenced in 1843, and dissolved in 1855.
+Hopedale commenced in 1841, and lasted certainly till 1856 or 1857.
+Ballou published an elaborate exposition of it in the winter of
+1854-5, and at that time Hopedale was at its highest point of success
+and promise. We can not find the exact date of its dissolution, but it
+is reported to have attained its seventeenth year, which would carry
+it to 1858. Indeed it is said there is a shell of an organization
+there now, which has continued from the Community, having a President,
+Secretary, &amp;c., and holding occasional meetings; but its principal
+function at present is the care of the village cemetery.</p>
+
+<p>As to the theory and constitutional merits of the Hopedale Community,
+the reader shall judge for himself. Here is an exposition published in
+tract form by Mr. Ballou in 1851, outlining the scheme which was fully
+elaborated in his subsequent book:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The Hopedale Community, originally called Fraternal Community,
+No. 1, was formed at Mendon, Massachusetts, January 28, 1841, by
+about thirty individuals from different parts of the State. In
+the course of that year they purchased what was called the
+'Jones Farm,' <i>alias</i> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>'The Dale,' in Milford. This estate they
+named <span class="sc">Hopedale</span>&mdash;joining the word 'Hope' to its ancient
+designation, as significant of the great things they hoped for
+from a very humble and unpropitious beginning. About the first
+of April 1842, a part of the members took possession of their
+farm and commenced operations under as many disadvantages as can
+well be imagined. Their present domain (December 1, 1851),
+including all the lands purchased at different times, contains
+about 500 acres. Their village consists of about thirty new
+dwelling-houses, three mechanic shops, with water-power,
+carpentering and other machinery, a small chapel, used also for
+the purposes of education, and the old domicile, with the barns
+and out-buildings much improved. There are now at Hopedale some
+thirty-six families, besides single persons, youth and children,
+making in all a population of about 175 souls.</p>
+
+<p>"It is often asked, What are the peculiarities, and what the
+advantages of the Hopedale Community? Its leading peculiarities
+are the following:</p>
+
+<p>"1. It is a church of Christ (so far as any human organization
+of professed Christians, within a particular locality, have the
+right to claim that title), based on a simple declaration of
+faith in the religion of Jesus Christ, as he taught and
+exemplified it, according to the scriptures of the New
+Testament, and of acknowledged subjection to all the moral
+obligations of that religion. No person can be a member, who
+does not cordially assent to this comprehensive declaration.
+Having given sufficient evidence of truthfulness in making such
+a profession, each individual is left to judge for him or
+herself, with entire freedom, what abstract doctrines are
+taught, and also what external religious rites are enjoined <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>in
+the religion of Christ. No precise theological dogmas,
+ordinances or ceremonies are prescribed or prohibited. In such
+matters all the members are free, with mutual love and
+toleration, to follow their own highest convictions of truth and
+religious duty, answerable only to the great Head of the true
+Church Universal. But in practical Christianity this church is
+precise and strict. There its essentials are specific. It
+insists on supreme love to God and man&mdash;that love which 'worketh
+no ill' to friend or foe. It enjoins total abstinence from all
+God-contemning words and deeds; all unchastity; all intoxicating
+beverages; all oath-taking; all slave-holding and pro-slavery
+compromises; all war and preparations for war; all capital and
+other vindictive punishments; all insurrectionary, seditious,
+mobocratic and personal violence against any government,
+society, family or individual; all voluntary participation in
+any anti-Christian government, under promise of unqualified
+support&mdash;whether by doing military service, commencing actions
+at law, holding office, voting, petitioning for penal laws,
+aiding a legal posse by injurious force, or asking public
+interference for protection which can be given only by such
+force; all resistance of evil with evil; in fine, from all
+things known to be sinful against God or human nature. This is
+its acknowledged obligatory righteousness. It does not expect
+immediate and exact perfection of its members, but holds up this
+practical Christian standard, that all may do their utmost to
+reach it, and at least be made sensible of their shortcomings.
+Such are the peculiarities of the Hopedale Community as a
+church.</p>
+
+<p>"2. It is a Civil State, a miniature Christian Republic,
+existing within, peaceably subject to, and tolerated by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>the
+governments of Massachusetts and the United States, but
+otherwise a commonwealth complete within itself. Those
+governments tax and control its property, according to their own
+laws, returning less to it than they exact from it. It makes
+them no criminals to punish, no disorders to repress, no paupers
+to support, no burdens to bear. It asks of them no corporate
+powers, no military or penal protection. It has its own
+Constitution, laws, regulations and municipal police; its own
+Legislative, Judiciary and Executive authorities; its own
+educational system of operations; its own methods of aid and
+relief; its own moral and religious safeguards; its own fire
+insurance and savings institutions; its own internal
+arrangements for the holding of property, the management of
+industry, and the raising of revenue; in fact, all the elements
+and organic constituents of a Christian Republic, on a miniature
+scale. There is no Red Republicanism in it, because it eschews
+blood; yet it is the seedling of the true Democratic and Social
+Republic, wherein neither caste, color, sex nor age stands
+proscribed, but every human being shares justly in 'Liberty,
+Equality and Fraternity.' Such is The Hopedale Community as a
+Civil State.</p>
+
+<p>"3. It is a universal religious, moral, philanthropic, and
+social reform Association. It is a Missionary Society, for the
+promulgation of New Testament Christianity, the reformation of
+the nominal church, and the conversion of the world. It is a
+moral suasion Temperance Society on the teetotal basis. It is a
+moral power Anti-Slavery Society, radical and without
+compromise. It is a Peace Society on the only impregnable
+foundation of Christian non-resistance. It is a sound
+theoretical and practical Woman's Rights Association. It is a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>Charitable Society for the relief of suffering humanity, to the
+extent of its humble ability. It is an Educational Society,
+preparing to act an important part in the training of the young.
+It is a socialistic Community, successfully actualizing, as well
+as promulgating, practical Christian Socialism&mdash;the only kind of
+Socialism likely to establish a true social state on earth. The
+members of this Community are not under the necessity of
+importing from abroad any of these valuable reforms, or of
+keeping up a distinct organization for each of them, or of
+transporting themselves to other places in search of
+sympathizers. Their own Newcastle can furnish coal for
+home-consumption, and some to supply the wants of its neighbors.
+Such is the Hopedale Community as a Universal Reform Association
+on Christian principles.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">"<i>What are its Advantages?</i></p>
+
+<p>"1. It affords a theoretical and practical illustration of the
+way whereby all human beings, willing to adopt it, may become
+individually and socially happy. It clearly sets forth the
+principles to be received, the righteousness to be exemplified,
+and the social arrangements to be entered into, in order to this
+happiness. It is in itself a capital school for self-correction
+and improvement. No where else on earth is there a more
+explicit, understandable, practicable system of ways and means
+for those who really desire to enter into usefulness, peace and
+rational enjoyment. This will one day be seen and acknowledged
+by multitudes who now know nothing of it, or knowing, despise
+it, or conceding its excellence, are unwilling to bow to its
+wholesome requisitions. 'Yet the willing and the obedient shall
+eat the good of the land.'</p>
+
+<p>"2. It guarantees to all its members and dependents <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>employment,
+at least adequate to a comfortable subsistence; relief in want,
+sickness or distress; decent opportunities for religious, moral
+and intellectual culture; an orderly, well regulated
+neighborhood; fraternal counsel, fellowship and protection under
+all circumstances; and a suitable sphere of individual
+enterprise and responsibility, in which each one may, by due
+self-exertion, elevate himself to the highest point of his
+capabilities.</p>
+
+<p>"3. It solves the problem which has so long puzzled Socialists,
+the harmonization of just individual freedom with social
+co-operation. Here exists a system of arrangements, simple and
+effective, under which all capital, industry, trade, talent,
+skill and peculiar gifts may freely operate and co-operate, with
+no restrictions other than those which Christian morality every
+where rightfully imposes, constantly to the advantage of each
+and all. All may thrive together as individuals and as a
+Community, without degrading or impoverishing any. This
+excellent system of arrangements in its present completeness is
+the result of various and wisely improved experiences.</p>
+
+<p>"4. It affords a peaceful and congenial home for all
+conscientious persons, of whatsoever religious sect, class or
+description heretofore, who now embrace practical Christianity,
+substantially as this Community holds it, and can no longer
+fellowship the popular religionists and politicians. Such need
+sympathy, co-operation and fraternal association, without undue
+interference in relation to non-essential peculiarities. Here
+they may find what they need. Here they may give and receive
+strength by rational, liberal Christian union.</p>
+
+<p>"5. It affords a most desirable opportunity for those <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>who mean
+to be practical Christians in the use of property, talent, skill
+or productive industry, to invest them. Here those goods and
+gifts may all be so employed as to benefit their possessors to
+the full extent of justice, while at the same time they afford
+aid to the less favored, help build up a social state free from
+the evils of irreligion, ignorance, poverty and vice, promote
+the regeneration of the race, and thus resolve themselves into
+treasure laid up where neither moth, nor rust, nor thieves can
+reach them. Here property is pre&euml;minently safe, useful and
+beneficent. It is Christianized. So, in a good degree, are
+talent, skill, and productive industry.</p>
+
+<p>"6. It affords small scope, place or encouragement for the
+unprincipled, corrupt, supremely selfish, proud, ambitious,
+miserly, sordid, quarrelsome, brutal, violent, lawless, fickle,
+high-flying, loaferish, idle, vicious, envious and
+mischief-making. It is no paradise for such; unless they
+voluntarily make it first a moral penitentiary. Such will hasten
+to more congenial localities; thus making room for the upright,
+useful and peaceable.</p>
+
+<p>"7. It affords a beginning, a specimen and a presage of a new
+and glorious social Christendom&mdash;a grand confederation of
+similar Communities&mdash;a world ultimately regenerated and
+Edenized. All this shall be in the forthcoming future.</p>
+
+<p>"The Hopedale Community was born in obscurity, cradled in
+poverty, trained in adversity, and has grown to a promising
+childhood, under the Divine guardianship, in spite of numberless
+detriments. The bold predictions of many who despised its puny
+infancy have proved false. The fears of timid and compassionate
+friends that it would certainly fail have been put to rest. Even
+the repeated desertion of professed friends, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>disheartened by
+its imperfections, or alienated by too heavy trials of their
+patience, has scarcely retarded its progress. God willed
+otherwise. It has still many defects to outgrow, much impurity
+to put away, and a great deal of improvement to make&mdash;moral,
+intellectual and physical. But it will prevail and triumph. The
+Most High will be glorified in making it the parent of a
+numerous progeny of practical Christian Communities. Write,
+saith the Spirit, and let this prediction be registered against
+the time to come, for it shall be fulfilled."</p></div>
+
+<p>In the large work subsequently published, Mr. Ballou goes over the
+whole ground of Socialism in a systematic and masterly manner. If the
+people of this country were not so bewitched with importations from
+England and France, that they can not look at home productions in this
+line, his scheme would command as much attention as Fourier's, and a
+great deal more than Owen's. The fact of practical failure is nothing
+against him in the comparison, as it is common to all of them.</p>
+
+<p>For a specimen, take the following: Mr. Ballou finds all man's wants,
+rights and duties in seven spheres, viz.: 1, Individuality; 2,
+Connubiality; 3, Consanguinity; 4, Congeniality; 5, Federality; 6,
+Humanity; 7, Universality. These correspond very nearly to the series
+of spheres tabulated by Comtists. On the basis of this philosophy of
+human nature, Mr. Ballou proposes, not a mere monotony of Phalanxes or
+Communities, all alike, but an ascending series of four distinct kinds
+of Communities, viz.: 1, The Parochial Community, which is nearly the
+same as a common parish church; 2, The Rural Community, which is a
+social body occupying a distinct territorial domain, but not
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>otherwise consolidated; 3, The Joint-stock Community, consolidating
+capital and labor, and paying dividends and wages; of which Hopedale
+itself was a specimen; and 4, The Common-stock Community, holding
+property in common and paying no dividends or wages; which is
+Communism proper. Mr. Ballou provides elaborate Constitutional forms
+for all of these social states, and shows their harmonious relation to
+each other. Then he builds them up into larger combinations, viz.: 1,
+Communal Municipalities, consisting of two or more Communities, making
+a town or city; 2, Communal States; 3, Communal Nations; and lastly,
+"the grand Fraternity of Nations, represented by Senators in the
+Supreme Unitary Council." Moreover he embroiders on all this an
+ascending series of categories for individual character. Citizens of
+the great Republic are expected to arrange themselves in seven
+Circles, viz.: 1, The Adoptive Circle, consisting of members whose
+connections with the world preclude their joining any integral
+Community; 2, The Unitive Circle, consisting of those who join in
+building up Rural and Joint-stock Communities; 3, The Preceptive
+Circle, consisting of persons devoted to teaching in any of its
+branches; 4, The Communistic Circle, consisting of members of common
+stock Communities; 5, The Expansive Circle, consisting of persons
+devoted to extending the Republic, by founding new Communities; 6, The
+Charitive Circle, consisting of working philanthropists; and 7, The
+Parentive Circle, consisting of the most worthy and reliable
+counselors&mdash;the fathers and mothers in Israel.</p>
+
+<p>This is only a skeleton. In the book all is worked into harmonious
+beauty. All is founded on religion; all is deduced from the Bible. We
+confess that if it were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>our doom to attempt Community-building by
+paper programme, we should choose Adin Ballou's scheme in preference
+to any thing we have ever been able to find in the lucubrations of
+Fourier or Owen.</p>
+
+<p>To give an idea of the high religious tone of Mr. Ballou and his
+Community, we quote the following passage from his preface:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"Let each class of dissenting socialists stand aloof from our
+Republic and experiment to their heart's content on their own
+wiser systems. It is their right to do so uninjured, at their
+own cost. It is desirable that they should do so, in order that
+it may be demonstrated as soon as possible which the true social
+system is. When the radically defective have failed, there will
+be a harmonious concentration of all the true and good around
+the Practical Christian Standard. Meantime the author confides
+this Cause calmly to the guidance, guardianship and benediction
+of God, even that Heavenly Father who once manifested his divine
+excellency in Jesus Christ, and who ever manifests himself
+through the Christ-Spirit to all upright souls. He sincerely
+believes the movement to have been originated and thus far
+supervised by that Holy Spirit. He is confident that
+well-appointed ministering angels have watched over it, and will
+never cease to do so. This strong confidence has sustained him
+from the beginning, under all temporary discouragements, and now
+animates him with unwavering hopes for the future. The Hopedale
+Community, the first constituent body of the new social order,
+commenced the settlement of its Domain in the spring of 1842,
+very small in numbers and pecuniary resources. Its disadvantages
+were so multiform and obvious, that most Associationists of that
+period <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>regarded it as little better than a desperate
+undertaking, alike contracted in its social platform, its funds,
+and other fundamental requisites of success. Yet it has lived
+and flourished, while its supposed superiors have nearly all
+perished. Such was the will of God; such his promise to its
+founders; such their trust in him; such the realization of their
+hopes; and such the recompense of their persevering toils. And
+such is the benignant Providence which will bear the Practical
+Christian Republic onward through all its struggles to the
+actualization of its sublime destiny. Its citizens 'seek first
+the kingdom of God and his righteousness.' Therefore will all
+things needful be added unto them. Let the future demonstrate
+whether such a faith and such expectations are the dreams of a
+shallow visionary, or the divinely inspired, well-grounded
+assurances of a rightly balanced religious mind."</p></div>
+
+<p>Let it not be thought that Ballou was a mere theorizer. Unlike Owen
+and Fourier, he worked as well as wrote. Originally a clergyman and a
+gentleman, he gave up his salary, and served in the ranks as a common
+laborer for his cause. In conversation with one who reported to us, he
+said, that often-times in the early days of Hopedale he would be so
+tired at his work in the ditch or on the mill-dam, that he would go to
+a neighboring haystack, and lie down on the sunny side of it, wishing
+that he might go to sleep and never wake again! Then he would
+recuperate and go back to his work. Nearly all the recreation he had
+in those days, was to go out occasionally into the neighborhood and
+preach a funeral sermon!</p>
+
+<p>And this, by the way, is a fit occasion to say that in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>our opinion
+there ought to be a prohibitory duty on the importation of socialistic
+theories, that have not been worked out, as well as written out, by
+the inventors themselves. It is certainly cruel to set vast numbers of
+simple people agog with Utopian projects that will cost them their
+all, while the inventors and promulgators do nothing but write and
+talk. What kind of a theory of chemistry can a man write without a
+laboratory? What if Napoleon had written out a programme for the
+battle of Austerlitz, and then left one of his aids-de-camp to
+superintend the actual fighting?</p>
+
+<p>It will be noticed that Mr. Ballou, in his expositions, carries his
+assurance that his system is all right, and his confidence of success,
+to the verge of presumption. In this he appears to have partaken of a
+spirit that is common to all the socialist inventors. Fourier, without
+a laboratory or an experiment, was as dogmatic and infallible as
+though he were an oracle of God; and Owen, after a hundred defeats,
+never doubted the perfection of his scheme, and never fairly confessed
+a failure. But in the end Ballou rises above these theorizers, even in
+this matter. Our informant says he manfully owns that Hopedale was a
+<i>total</i> failure.</p>
+
+<p>As to the causes of the catastrophe, his account is the old story of
+general depravity. The timber he got together was not suitable for
+building a Community. The men and women that joined him were very
+enthusiastic, and commenced with great zeal; their devotion to the
+cause seemed to be sincere; but they did not know themselves.</p>
+
+<p>The following details, given by Mr. Ballou, of the actual proceedings
+which brought Hopedale to its end, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>are very instructive in regard to
+the operation of the joint-stock principle.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Ballou was the first President of the Community; but was
+ultimately superseded by E.D. Draper. This gentleman came to Hopedale
+with great enthusiasm for the cause. He was not wealthy, but was a
+sharp, enterprising business man; and very soon became the managing
+spirit of the whole concern. He had a brother associated with him in
+business, who had no sympathy with the Community enterprise. With this
+brother Mr. Draper became deeply engaged in outside operations, which
+were very lucrative. They gained in wealth by these operations, while
+the inside interests were gradually falling into neglect and bad
+management. The result was that the Community sunk capital from year
+to year. Meanwhile Draper bought up three-fourths of the joint-stock,
+and so had the legal control in his own hands. At length he became
+dissatisfied with the way matters were tending, and went to Mr. Ballou
+and told him that "this thing must not go any further." Mr. Ballou
+asked him if that meant that the Community must come to an end. He
+replied, "Yes." "There was no other way," said Mr. Ballou, "but to
+submit to it." He then said to Mr. Draper that he had one condition to
+put to him; that was, that he should assume the responsibility of
+paying the debts. Mr. Draper consented; the debts were paid; and thus
+terminated the Hopedale experiment.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XIII.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>We have said that Brook Farm came very near being a religious
+Community; and that Hopedale came still nearer. In this respect these
+two stand alone among the experiments of the Fourier epoch. Here
+therefore is the place to bring to view in some brief way for purposes
+of comparison, the series of strictly religious Communities that we
+have referred to heretofore as colonies of foreigners. The following
+account of them first published in the <i>Social Record</i>, has the
+authority and freshness of testimony by an eye-witness. Of course it
+must not be taken as a view of the exotic Communities at the present
+time, but only at its date.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<div class="block">
+<p class="cen">JACOBI'S SYNOPSIS.</p>
+
+<p>"During the last eight years I have visited all the Communities in
+this country, except the Icarian and Oneida societies, staying at each
+from six months to two years, to get thoroughly acquainted with their
+practical workings. I will mention each society according to its age:</p>
+
+<p>"1. Conrad Beizel, a German, founded the colony of Ephrata, eight
+miles from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1713. There were at times some
+thousands of members. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>The Bible was their guide; they had all things
+in common; lived strictly a life of celibacy; increased in numbers,
+and became very rich. Conrad was at the head of the whole; he was the
+sun from which all others received the rays of life and animation. He
+lived to a very old age, but it was with him as with all other men;
+his sun was not standing in the zenith all the time, but went down in
+the afternoon. His rays had not power enough to warm up thousands of
+members, as in younger days: he as the head became old and lifeless,
+and the members began to leave. He appointed a very amiable man as his
+successor, but he could not stop the emigration. The property is now
+in the hands of trustees who belong to the world, and gives an income
+of about $1200 a year. Perhaps there are now twelve or fifteen
+members. Some of the grand old buildings are yet standing. This was
+the first Community in America.</p>
+
+<p>"2. Ann Lee, an English woman, came to this country in 1774, and
+founded the Shaker societies. I have visited four, and lived in two.
+In point of order, neatness, regularity and economy, they are far in
+advance of all the other societies. They are from nearly all the
+civilized nations of the globe, and this is one reason for their great
+temporal success. Other Communities do not prosper as well, because
+they are composed too much of one nation. In Ann Lee's time, and even
+some time after her departure, they had many spiritual gifts, as never
+a body of people after Christ's time has had; and they were of such a
+nature as Christ said should be among his true followers; but they
+have now lost them, so far as they are essential and beneficial. The
+ministry is the head. Too much attention is given <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>to outward rules,
+that set up the ministers and elders as patterns, and keep all minds
+on the same plane. While limited by these rules there will be no
+progress, and their noble institutions will become dead letters.</p>
+
+<p>"3. George Rapp, a German, founded a society in the first quarter of
+this century. After several removals they settled at Economy, in
+Beaver County, Pennsylvania, eighteen miles from Pittsburg. They are
+all Germans; live strictly a life of celibacy; take the Bible as their
+guide, as Rapp understood it. They numbered about eighteen hundred in
+their best times, but are now reduced to about three hundred, and most
+of them are far advanced in years. They are very rich and industrious.
+Rapp was their leader and head, and kept the society in prosperous
+motion so long as he was able to exercise his influence; but as he
+advanced in years and his mental strength and activity diminished, the
+members fell off. He is dead; and his successor, Mr. Baker, is
+advanced in years. They are next to the Shakers in point of neatness
+and temporal prosperity; but unlike them in being strict
+Bible-believers, and otherwise differing in their religious views.</p>
+
+<p>"4. Joseph Bimeler, a German, in 1816 founded the colony of Zoar, in
+Tuscorora County, Ohio, twelve miles from New Philadelphia, with about
+eight hundred of his German friends. They are Bible believers in
+somewhat liberal style. Bimeler was the main engine; he had to do all
+the thinking, preaching and pulling the rest along. While he had
+strength all went on seemingly very well; but as his strength began to
+fail the whole concern went on slowly. I arrived the week after his
+death. The members looked like a flock of sheep who had lost their
+shepherd. Bimeler appointed a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>well-meaning man for his successor, but
+as he was not Bimeler, he could not put his engine before the train.
+Every member pushed forward or pulled back just as he thought proper;
+and their thinking was a poor affair, as they were not used to it.
+They live married or not, just as they choose; are well off, a good
+moral people, and number about five hundred.</p>
+
+<p>"5. Samuel Snowberger, an American, founded a society in 1820 at
+Snowhill, Pennsylvania, twenty miles from Harrisburg. He took Ephrata
+as his pattern in every respect. The Snowbergers believe in the Bible
+as explained in Beizel's writings. They are well off, and number about
+thirty. [This society should be considered an offshoot of No. 1.]</p>
+
+<p>"6. Christian Metz, a German, with his followers, founded a society
+eight miles from Buffalo, New York, in 1846. They called themselves
+the inspired people, and their colony Ebenezer. They believe in the
+Bible, as it is explained through their mediums. Metz and one of the
+sisters have been mediums more than thirty years, through whom one
+spirit speaks and writes. This spirit guides the society in spiritual
+and temporal matters, and they have never been disappointed in his
+counsels for their welfare. They have been led by this spirit for more
+than a century in Germany. They permit marriage, when, after
+application has been made, the spirit consents to it; but the parties
+have to go through some public mortification. In 1851 they had some
+thousands of members. They have now removed to Iowa, where they have
+30,000 acres of land. This is the largest and richest Community in the
+United States. One member brought in $100,000, others $60,000,
+$40,000, $20,000, etc. They are an intelligent and very kind people,
+and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>live in little comfortable cottages, not having unitary houses as
+the other societies. They are not anxious to get members, and none are
+received except by the consent of the controlling spirit. They have a
+printing-press for their own use, but do not publish any books.</p>
+
+<p>"7. Erick Janson, a Swede, and his friends started a colony at Bishop
+Hill, Illinois, in 1846, and now number about eight hundred. They are
+Bible-believers according to their explanations. They believe that a
+life of celibacy is more adapted to develop the inner man, but
+marriage is not forbidden. Their minds are not closed against liberal
+progress, when they are convinced of the truth and usefulness of it.
+They began in very poor circumstances, but are now well off, and not
+anxious to get members; do not publish any books about their colony.
+Janson died eight years ago. They have no head; but the people select
+their preachers and trustees, who superintend the different branches
+of business. They are kept in office as long as the majority think
+proper. I am living there now.</p>
+
+<p><span class="leftdiv">"<i>August 26 1858.</i></span><span class="rightdiv sc">A. Jacobi."</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The connection between religion of some kind and success in these
+Communities, has come to be generally recognized, even among the old
+friends of non-religious Association. Thus Horace Greeley, in his
+"Recollections of a Busy Life," says:</p>
+
+<p>"That there have been&mdash;nay, are&mdash;decided successes in practical
+Socialism, is undeniable; but they all have that Communistic basis
+which seems to me irrational and calculated to prove fatal.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"I can easily account for the failure of Communism at New Harmony, and
+in several other experiments; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>I can not so easily account for its
+successes. Yet the fact stares us in the face that, while hundreds of
+banks and factories, and thousands of mercantile concerns, managed by
+shrewd, strong men, have gone into bankruptcy and perished, Shaker
+Communities, established more than sixty years ago, upon a basis of
+little property and less worldly wisdom, are living and prosperous
+to-day. And their experience has been imitated by the German
+Communities at Economy, Zoar, the Society of Ebenezer, &amp;c., &amp;c.
+Theory, however plausible, must respect the facts.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*</p>
+
+<p>"Religion often makes practicable that which were else impossible, and
+divine love triumphs where human science is baffled. Thus I interpret
+the past successes and failures of Socialism.</p>
+
+<p>"With a firm and deep religious basis, any Socialistic scheme may
+succeed, though vicious in organization and at war with human nature,
+as I deem Shaker Communism and the antagonist or 'Free Love' Community
+of Perfectionists at Oneida. Without a basis of religious sympathy and
+religious aspiration, it will always be difficult, though I judge not
+impossible."</p>
+
+<p>Also Charles A. Dana, in old times a Fourierist and withal a Brook
+Farmer, now chief of <i>The New York Sun</i>, says in an editorial on the
+Brocton Association (May 1 1869):</p>
+
+<p>"Communities based upon peculiar religious views, have generally
+succeeded. The Shakers and the Oneida Community are conspicuous
+illustrations of this fact; while the failure of the various attempts
+made by the disciples of Fourier, Owen, and others, who have not had
+the support of religious fanaticism, proves that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>without this great
+force the most brilliant social theories are of little avail."</p>
+
+<p>It used to be said in the days of Slavery, that religious negroes were
+worth more in the market than the non-religious. Thus religion,
+considered as a working force in human nature, has long had a
+recognized commercial value. The logic of events seems now to be
+giving it a definite socialistic value. American experience certainly
+tends to the conclusion that religious men can hold together longer
+and accomplish more in close Association, than men without religion.</p>
+
+<p>But with this theory how shall we account for the failure of Brook
+Farm and Hopedale? They certainly had, as we have seen, much of the
+"fanaticism" of the Shakers and other successful Communities&mdash;at least
+in their expressed ideals. Evidently some peculiar species of
+religion, or some other condition than religion, is necessary to
+insure success. To discover the truth in this matter, let us take the
+best example of success we can find, and see what other principle
+besides religion is most prominent in it.</p>
+
+<p>The Shakers evidently stand highest on the list of successful
+Communities. Religion is their first principle; what is their second?
+Clearly the exclusion of marriage, or in other words, the subjection
+of the sexual relation to the Communistic principle. Here we have our
+clue; let us follow it. Can any example of success be found where this
+second condition is not present? We need not look for precisely the
+Shaker treatment of the sexual relation in other examples. Our
+question is simply this: Has any attempt at close Association ever
+succeeded, which took marriage into it substantially as it exists in
+ordinary society? Reviewing Jacobi's list, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>which includes all the
+Communities commonly reported to be successful, we find the following
+facts:</p>
+
+<p>1. The Communists of Ephrata live strictly a life of celibacy.</p>
+
+<p>2. The Rappites live strictly a life of celibacy; though Williams says
+they did not adopt this principle till 1807, which was four years
+after their settlement in Pennsylvania.</p>
+
+<p>3. The Zoarites marry or not as they choose, according to Jacobi; but
+Macdonald, who also visited them, says: "At their first organization
+marriage was strictly forbidden, not from any religious scruples as to
+its propriety, but as an indispensable matter of economy. They were
+too poor to rear children, and for years their little town presented
+the anomaly of a village without a single child to be seen or heard
+within its limits. Though this regulation has been for years removed,
+as no longer necessary, their settlement still retains much of its old
+character in this respect."</p>
+
+<p>4. The Snowbergers, taking Ephrata as their pattern, adhere strictly
+to celibacy.</p>
+
+<p>5. The Ebenezers, according to Jacobi, permit marriage, when their
+guiding spirit consents to it; but the parties have to go through some
+public mortification. Another account of the Ebenezers says: "They
+marry and are given in marriage; but what will be regarded as most
+extraordinary, they are practically Malthusians when the economy of
+their organization demands it. We have been told that when they
+contemplated emigration to this country, in view of their then
+condition and what they must encounter in fixing a new home, they
+concluded there should be no increase of their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>population by births
+for a given number of years; and the regulation was strictly adhered
+to."</p>
+
+<p>6. The Jansonists believe that a life of celibacy is more adapted to
+develop the life of the inner man; but marriage is not forbidden.</p>
+
+<p>Thus in all these Societies Communism evidently is stronger than
+marriage familism. The control over the sexual relation varies in
+stringency. The Shakers and perhaps the Ephratists exclude familism
+with religious horror; the Rappites give it no place, but their
+repugnance is less conspicuous; the Zoarites have no conscience
+against it, but exclude it from motives of economy; the Ebenezers
+excluded it only in the early stages of their growth, but long enough
+to show that they held it in subjection to Communism. The Jansonists
+favor celibacy; but do not prohibit marriage. The decreasing ratio of
+control corresponds very nearly to the series of dates at which these
+Communities commenced. The Ephratists settled in this country in 1713;
+the Shakers in 1774; the Rappites in 1804; the Zoarites in 1816; the
+Ebenezers in 1846; and the Jansonists in 1846. Thus there seems to be
+a tendency to departure from the stringent anti-familism of the
+Shakers, as one type of Communism after another is sent here from the
+Old World. Whether there is a complete correspondence of the fortunes
+of these several Communities to the strength of their anti-familism,
+is an interesting question which we are not prepared to answer. Only
+it is manifest that the Shakers, who discard the radix of old society
+with the greatest vehemence, and are most jealous for Communism as the
+prime unit of organization, have prospered most, and are making the
+longest and strongest mark on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>history of Socialism. And in
+general it seems probable from the fact of success attending these
+forms of Communism to the exclusion of all others, that there is some
+rational connection between their control of the sexual relation and
+their prosperity.</p>
+
+<p>The only case that we have heard of as bearing against the hypothesis
+of such a connection, is that of the French colony of Icarians. We
+have seen their example appealed to as proof that Communism may exist
+without religion, and <i>with</i> marriage. Our accounts, however, of this
+Society in its present state are very meager. The original Icarian
+Community, founded by Cabet at Nauvoo, not only tolerated but required
+marriage; and as it soon came to an end, its fate helps the
+anti-marriage theory. The present Society of Icarians is only a
+fragment of that Community&mdash;about sixty persons out of three hundred
+and sixty-five. Whether it retained its original constitution after
+separating from its founder, and how far it can fairly claim to be a
+success, we know not. All our other facts would lead us to expect that
+it will either subordinate the sexual relation to the Communistic, or
+that it will not long keep its Communism.</p>
+
+<p>Of course we shall not be understood as propounding the theory that
+the negative or Shaker method of disposing of marriage and the sexual
+relation, is the only one that can subordinate familism to Communism.
+The Oneida Communists claim that their control over amativeness and
+philoprogenitiveness, the two elements of familism, is carried much
+farther than that of the Shakers; inasmuch as they make those passions
+serve Communism, instead of opposing it, as they do under suppression.
+They dissolve the old dual unit of society, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>but take the constituent
+elements of it all back into Communism. The only reason why we do not
+name the Oneida Community among the examples of the connection between
+anti-marriage and success, is that we do not consider it old enough to
+be pronounced successful.</p>
+
+<p>Let us now go back to Brook Farm and Hopedale, and see how they stood
+in relation to marriage.</p>
+
+<p>We find nothing that indicates any attempt on the part of Brook Farm
+to meddle with the marriage relation. In the days of its original
+simplicity, it seems not to have thought of such a thing. It finally
+became a Fourier Phalanx, and of course came into more or less
+sympathy with the <i>expectations</i> of radical social changes which
+Fourier encouraged. But it was always the policy of the <i>Harbinger</i>,
+the <i>Tribune</i>, and all the organs of Fourierism, to indignantly
+protest their innocence of any <i>present</i> disloyalty to marriage. And
+yet we find in the <i>Dial</i> (January 1844), an article about Brook Farm
+by Charles Lane, which shows in the following significant passage,
+that there was serious thinking among the Transcendentalists, as to
+the possibility of a clash between old familism and the larger style
+of life in the Phalanx:</p>
+
+<p>"The great problem of socialism now is, whether the existence of the
+marital family is compatible with that of the universal family, which
+the term 'Community' signifies. The maternal instinct, as hitherto
+educated, has declared itself so strongly in favor of the separate
+fireside, that Association, which appears so beautiful to the young
+and unattached soul, has yet accomplished little progress in the
+affections of that important section of the human race&mdash;the mothers.
+With fathers, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>feeling in favor of the separate family is
+certainly less strong; but there is an undefinable tie, a sort of
+magnetic rapport, an invisible, inseverable, umbilical cord between
+the mother and child, which in most cases circumscribes her desires
+and ambition to her own immediate family. All the accepted adages and
+wise saws of society, all the precepts of morality, all the sanctions
+of theology, have for ages been employed to confirm this feeling. This
+is the chief corner-stone of present society; and to this maternal
+instinct have, till very lately, our most heartfelt appeals been made
+for the progress of the human race, by means of a deeper and more
+vital education. Pestalozzi and his most enlightened disciples are
+distinguished by this sentiment. And are we all at once to abandon, to
+deny, to destroy this supposed stronghold of virtue? Is it questioned
+whether the family arrangement of mankind is to be preserved? Is it
+discovered that the sanctuary, till now deemed the holiest on earth,
+is to be invaded by intermeddling skepticism, and its altars
+sacrilegiously destroyed by the rude hand of innovating progress? Here
+'social science' must be brought to issue. The question of Association
+and of marriage are one. If, as we have been popularly led to believe,
+the individual or separate family is in the true order of Providence,
+then the associative life is a false effort. If the associative life
+is true, then is the separate family a false arrangement. By the
+maternal feeling it appears to be decided, that the co-existence of
+both is incompatible, is impossible. So also say some religious sects.
+Social science ventures to assert their harmony. This is the grand
+problem now remaining to be solved, for at least the enlightening, if
+not for the vital elevation of humanity. That the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>affections can be
+divided, or bent with equal ardor on two objects, so opposed as
+universal and individual love, may at least be rationally doubted.
+History has not yet exhibited such phenomena in an associate body, and
+scarcely perhaps in any individual. The monasteries and convents,
+which have existed in all ages, have been maintained solely by the
+annihilation of that peculiar affection on which the separate family
+is based. The Shaker families, in which the two sexes are not entirely
+dissociated, can yet only maintain their union by forbidding and
+preventing the growth of personal affection other than that of a
+spiritual character. And this in fact is not personal in the sense of
+individual, but ever a manifestation of universal affection. Spite of
+the speculations of hopeful bachelors and &aelig;sthetic spinsters, there is
+somewhat in the marriage bond which is found to counteract the
+universal nature of the affections, to a degree tending at least to
+make the considerate pause, before they assert that, by any social
+arrangements whatever, the two can be blended into one harmony. The
+general condition of married persons at this time is some evidence of
+the existence of such a doubt in their minds. Were they as convinced
+as the unmarried of the beauty and truth of associate life, the
+demonstration would be now presented. But might it not be enforced
+that the two family ideas really neutralize each other? Is it not
+quite certain that the human heart can not be set in two places? that
+man can not worship at two altars? It is only the determination to do
+what parents consider the best for themselves and their families,
+which renders the o'er populous world such a wilderness of self-hood
+as it is. Destroy this feeling, they say, and you prohibit every
+motive to exertion. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>Much truth is there in this affirmation. For to
+them, no other motive remains, nor indeed to any one else, save that
+of the universal good, which does not permit the building up of
+supposed self-good, and therefore forecloses all possibility of an
+individual family.</p>
+
+<p>"These observations, of course, equally apply to all the associative
+attempts, now attracting so much public attention; and perhaps most
+especially to such as have more of Fourier's designs than are
+observable at Brook Farm. The slight allusion in all the writers of
+the 'Phalansterian' class, to the subject of marriage, is rather
+remarkable. They are acute and eloquent in deploring Woman's oppressed
+and degraded position in past and present times, but are almost silent
+as to the future."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p>So much for Brook Farm. Hopedale was thoroughly conservative in
+relation to marriage. The following is an extract from its
+Constitution:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"<span class="sc">Article viii.</span> Sec. 1. Marriage, being one of the most
+important and sacred of human relationships, ought to be guarded
+against caprice and abuse by the highest wisdom which is
+available. Therefore within the membership of this republic and
+the dependencies thereof, marriage is specially commended to the
+care of the Preceptive and Parentive circles. They are hereby
+designated as the confidential counselors of all members and
+dependents who may desire their mediation in cases of
+matrimonial negotiation, contract or controversy; and shall be
+held pre&euml;minently responsible for the prudent and faithful
+discharge of their duties. But no person decidedly averse to
+their interposition shall be considered under imperative
+obligation to solicit or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>accept it. And it shall be considered
+the perpetual duty of the Preceptive and Parentive Circles to
+enlighten the public mind relative to the requisites of true
+matrimony, and to elevate the marriage institution within this
+Republic to the highest possible plane of purity and happiness.</p>
+
+<p>"Sec. 2. Marriage shall always be solemnized in the presence of
+two or more witnesses, by the distinct acknowledgment of the
+parties before some member of the Preceptive, or of the
+Parentive Circle, selected to preside on the occasion. And it
+shall be the imperative duty of the member so presiding, to see
+that every such marriage be recorded within ten days thereafter,
+in the Registry of the Community to which one or both of them
+shall at the time belong.</p>
+
+<p>"Sec. 3. Divorce from the bonds of matrimony shall never be
+allowable within the membership of this Republic, except for
+adultery conclusively proved against the accused party. But
+separations for other sufficient reasons may be sanctioned, with
+the distinct understanding that neither party shall be at
+liberty to marry again during the natural lifetime of the
+other."</p></div>
+
+<p>On this text Mr. Ballou comments in his book to the extent of thirty
+pages, and occupies as many more with the severest criticisms of
+"Noyesism" and other forms of sexual innovation.</p>
+
+<p>The facts we have found stand thus: All the successful Communities,
+besides being religious, exercise control, more or less stringent,
+over the sexual relation; and this principle is most prominent in
+those that are most successful. But Brook Farm and Hopedale did not
+attempt any such control.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>We incline therefore to the conclusion that the Massachusetts
+Socialisms were weak, not altogether for want of religion, but because
+they were too conservative in regard to marriage, and thus could not
+digest and assimilate their material. Or in more general terms, the
+conclusion toward which our facts and reflections point is, first,
+that religion, not as a mere doctrine, but as an <i>afflatus</i> having in
+itself a tendency to make many into one, is the first essential of
+successful Communism; and, secondly, that the <i>afflatus</i> must be
+strong enough to decompose the old family unit and make Communism the
+home-center.</p>
+
+<p>We will conclude with some observations that seem necessary to
+complete our view of the religious Communities.</p>
+
+<p>When we speak of these societies as successful, this must not be
+understood in any absolute sense. Their success is evidently a thing
+of <i>degrees</i>. All of them appear to have been very successful at some
+period of their career in <i>making money</i>; which fact indicates plainly
+enough, that the theories of Owen and Fourier about "compound
+economies" and "combined industry," are not moonshine, but practical
+verities. We may consider it proved by abundant experiment, that it is
+easy for harmonious Associations to get a living, and to grow rich.
+But in other respects these religious Communities have had various
+fortunes. The oldest of them, Beizel's Colony of Ephrata, in its early
+days numbered its thousands; but in 1858 it had dwindled down to
+twelve or fifteen members. So the Rappites in their best time numbered
+from eight hundred to a thousand; but are now reduced to two or three
+hundred old people. This can hardly be called success, even if the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>money holds out. On the other hand, the Shakers appear to have kept
+their numbers good, as well as increased in wealth, for nearly a
+century; though Jacobi represents them as now at a stand-still. The
+rest of the Communities in his list, dating from 1816 to 1846, are
+perhaps not old enough to be pronounced permanently successful.
+Whether they are dwindling, like the Beizelites and Rappites, or at a
+stand-still, like the Shakers, or in a period of vigor and growth,
+Jacobi does not say; and we have no means of ascertaining. It is
+proper, however, to call them all successful in a relative sense; that
+is, as compared with the non-religious experiments. They have held
+together and made money for long periods; which is a success that the
+Owen and Fourier Communities have not attained.</p>
+
+<p>If required here to define absolute success, we should say that at the
+lowest it includes not merely self-support, but also self-perpetuation.
+And this attainment is nearly precluded by the ascetic method of
+treating the sexual relation. The adoption of foreign children can not
+be a reliable substitute for home-propagation. The highest ideal of a
+successful Community requires that it should be a complete nursery of
+human beings, doing for them all that the old family home has done, and
+a great deal more. Scientific propagation and universal culture should
+be its ends, and money-making only its means.</p>
+
+<p>The causes of the comparative success which the ascetic Communities
+have attained, we have found in their religious principles and their
+freedom from marriage. Jacobi seems disposed to give special
+prominence to <i>leadership</i>, as a cause of success. He evidently
+attributes the decline of the Beizelites, the Rappites and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>the
+Zoarites, to the old age and death of their founders. But something
+more than skillful leadership is necessary to account for the success
+of the Shakers. They had their greatest expansion after the death of
+Ann Lee. Jacobi recognizes, in his account of the Ebenezers, another
+centralizing and controlling influence, co&ouml;perating with leadership,
+which has probably had more to do with the success of all the
+religious Communities than leadership or anything else; viz.,
+<i>inspiration</i>. He says of the Ebenezers:</p>
+
+<p>"They call themselves the inspired people. They believe in the Bible,
+as it is explained through their mediums. Metz, the founder, and one
+of the sisters, have been mediums more than thirty years, through whom
+<i>one</i> spirit speaks and writes. This spirit guides the society in
+spiritual and temporal matters, and they have never been disappointed
+in his counsels for their welfare. They have been led by this spirit
+for more than a century in Germany. No members are received except by
+the consent of this controlling spirit."</p>
+
+<p>Something like this must be true of all the Communities in Jacobi's
+list. This is what we mean by <i>afflatus</i>. Indeed, this is what we mean
+by <i>religion</i>, when we connect the success of Communities with their
+religion. Mere doctrines and forms without afflatus are not religion,
+and have no more power to organize successful Communities, than the
+theories of Owen and Fourier.</p>
+
+<p>Personal leadership has undoubtedly played a great part in connection
+with afflatus, in gathering and guiding the religious Communities.
+Afflatus requires personal mediums; and probably success depends on
+the due adjustment of the proportion between afflatus and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>medium. As
+afflatus is the permanent element, and personal leadership the
+transitory, it is likely that in the cases of the dwindling
+Communities, leadership has been too strong and afflatus too weak. A
+very great man, as medium of a feeble afflatus, may belittle a
+Community while he holds it together, and insure its dwindling away
+after his death. On the other hand, we see in the case of the Shakers,
+a strong afflatus, with an ordinary illiterate woman for its first
+medium; and the result is success continuing and increasing after her
+death.</p>
+
+<p>It is probably true, nevertheless, that an afflatus which is strong
+enough to make a strong man its medium <i>and keep him under</i>, will
+attain the greatest success; or in other words, that the greater the
+medium the better, other things being equal.</p>
+
+<p>In all cases of afflatus continuing after the death of the first
+medium, there seems to be an alternation of experience between
+afflatus and personal leadership, somewhat like that of the Primitive
+Christian Church. In that case, there was first an afflatus
+concentrated on a strong leader; then after the death of the leader, a
+distributed afflatus for a considerable period following the day of
+Pentecost; and finally another concentration of the afflatus on a
+strong leader in the person of Paul, who was the final organizer.</p>
+
+<p>Compare with this the experience of the Shakers. The afflatus (issuing
+from a combination of the Quaker principality with the "French
+Prophets") had Ann Lee for its first medium, and worked in the
+concentrated form during her life. After her death, there was a short
+interregnum of distributed inspiration. Finally the afflatus
+concentrated on another leader; and this time it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>was a man, Elder
+Meacham, who proved to be the final organizer. Each step of this
+progress is seen in the following brief history of Shakerism, from the
+American Cyclop&aelig;dia:</p>
+
+<p>"The idea of a community of property, and of Shaker families or
+unitary households, was first broached by Mother Ann, who formed her
+little family into a model after which the general organizations of
+the Shaker order, as they now exist, have been arranged. She died in
+1784. In 1787 Joseph Meacham, formerly a Baptist preacher, but who had
+been one of Mother Ann's first converts at Watervliet, collected her
+adherents in a settlement at New Lebanon, and introduced both
+principles, together probably with some others not to be found in the
+revelations of their foundress. Within five years, under the efficient
+administration of Meacham, eleven Shaker settlements were founded,
+viz.: at New Lebanon, New York, which has always been regarded as the
+parent Society; at Watervliet, New York; at Hancock, Tyringham,
+Harvard, and Shirley, Massachusetts; at Enfield, Connecticut
+(Meacham's native town); at Canterbury and Enfield, New Hampshire; and
+at Alfred and New Gloucester, Maine."</p>
+
+<p>Going beyond the Communities for examples (as the principles of growth
+are the same in all spiritual organizations), we may in like manner
+compare the development of Mormonism with that of Christianity. Joseph
+Smith was the first medium. After his death came a period of
+distributed inspiration. Finally the afflatus concentrated on Brigham
+Young as its second medium, and he has organized Mormonism.</p>
+
+<p>For a still greater example, look at the Bonaparte dynasty. It can not
+be doubted that there is a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>persistent afflatus connected with that
+power. It was concentrated on the first Napoleon. After his deposal
+and death there was a long interregnum; but the afflatus was only
+distributed, not extinguished. At length it concentrated again on the
+present Napoleon; and he proves to be great in diplomacy and
+organization, as the first Napoleon was in war.</p>
+
+<p>We have said that the general conclusion toward which our facts and
+reflections point, is, first, that religion, not as a mere doctrine,
+but as an afflatus, is the first essential to successful Communism;
+and secondly, that the afflatus must be strong enough to make
+Communism the home-center. We may now add (if the law we have just
+enunciated is reliable), that the afflatus must also be strong enough
+to prevail over personal leadership in its mediums, and be able, when
+one leader dies, to find and use another.</p>
+
+<p>We must note however that this law of apparent transfer does not
+necessarily imply real change of leadership. In the case of
+Christianity, its adherents assume that the first leader was not
+displaced, but only transferred from the visible to the invisible
+sphere, and thus continued to be the administrative medium of the
+original afflatus. And something like this, we understand, is claimed
+by the Shakers in regard to Ann Lee.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XIV.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE NORTHAMPTON ASSOCIATION.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>This Community, though its site was in a region where Jonathan Edwards
+and Revivalism reigned a hundred years before, could hardly be called
+religious. It seems to have represented a class sometimes called
+"Nothingarians." But like Brook Farm and Hopedale, it was an
+independent Yankee attempt to regenerate society, and a forerunner of
+Fourierism.</p>
+
+<p>Massachusetts, the center of New England, the mother of school systems
+and factory systems, of Faneuil Hall revolutions and Anti-Slavery
+revolutions, of Liberalism, Literature, and Social Science, appears to
+have anticipated the advent of Fourierism, and to have prepared herself
+for or against the rush of French ideas, by throwing out three
+experiments of her own on her three avenues of approach:&mdash;Unitarianism,
+Universalism, and Nothingarianism.</p>
+
+<p>The following neat account of the Northampton Community, is copied
+from a feminine manuscript in Macdonald's collection, on which he
+wrote in pencil:</p>
+
+<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>"<i>By Mrs. Judson, for me, through G.W. Benson, Williamsburg, February
+14 1853.</i>"</p>
+
+<p class="cen">MEMOIR.</p>
+
+<p>"The Northampton Association of Education and Industry had its origin
+in the aspiration of a few individuals for a better and purer state of
+society&mdash;for freedom from the trammels of sect and bigotry, and an
+opportunity of carrying out their principles, socially, religiously,
+and otherwise, without restraint from the prevailing practices of the
+world around.</p>
+
+<p>"The projectors of this enterprise were Messrs. David Mack, Samuel L.
+Hill, George W. Benson and William Adam. These, with several others
+who were induced to unite with them, in all ten persons, held their
+first meeting April 8 1842, organized the Association, and adopted a
+preamble, constitution and by-laws.</p>
+
+<p>"This little band formed the nucleus, around which a large number soon
+clustered, all thinking, intelligent persons; all, or nearly all,
+seeing and feeling the imperfections of existing society, and seeking
+a purer, more free and elevated position as regards religion,
+politics, business, &amp;c. It would not be true to say that <i>all</i> the
+members of the Community were imbued with the true spirit of reform;
+but the leading minds were sincere reformers, earnest, truthful souls,
+sincerely desiring to advance the cause of truth and liberty. Some
+were young persons, attracted thither by friends, or coming there to
+seek employment on the same terms as members, and afterwards applying
+for full membership.</p>
+
+<p>"The Association was located about two and a half miles from the
+village and center of business of Northampton. The estate consisted of
+five hundred acres of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>land, a good water-privilege, a silk factory
+four stories in height, six dwelling-houses, a saw-mill and other
+property, all valued at about $31,000. This estate was formerly owned
+by the Northampton Silk Company; afterwards by J. Conant &amp; Co., who
+sold it to the persons who originated the Association. The amount of
+stock paid in was $20,000. This left a debt of $11,000 upon the
+Community, which, in the enthusiasm of the new enterprise, they
+expected soon to pay by additions to their capital stock, and by the
+profits of labor. But by the withdrawal of members holding stock, and
+also by some further purchases of property, this debt was afterwards
+increased to nearly four times its original amount, and no progress
+was made toward its liquidation during the continuance of the
+Association.</p>
+
+<p>"Labor was remunerated equally; both sexes and all occupations
+receiving the same compensation.</p>
+
+<p>"It could not be expected that so many persons, bound by no pledges or
+'Articles of Faith,' should agree in all things. They were never asked
+when applying for membership, 'Do you believe so and so?' On the
+contrary, a good life and worthy motives were the only tests by which
+they were judged. Of course it was necessary, before they could be
+admitted, to decide the question, 'Can they be useful to the
+Association?'</p>
+
+<p>"The accommodations for families were extremely limited, and many
+times serious inconvenience was experienced, in consequence of small
+and few apartments. For the most part it was cheerfully sustained; at
+least, so long as there was any hope of success&mdash;that is, of paying
+the debts, and obtaining a livelihood. Most of the members had been
+accustomed to good, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>spacious houses, and every facility for
+comfortable living.</p>
+
+<p>"To obviate the difficulty of procuring suitable tenements for
+separate families, a community family was instituted, occupying a part
+of the silk-factory. Two stories of this building were appropriated to
+the use of such as chose to live at a common table and participate in
+the labor of the family. This also formed the home of young persons
+who were unconnected with families.</p>
+
+<p>"There was always plenty of food, and no one suffered for the
+necessaries or comforts of life. All were satisfied with simplicity,
+both in diet and dress.</p>
+
+<p>"At the first annual meeting, held January 18 1843, some important
+changes were made in the management of the affairs of the Association,
+and a new 'Preamble and Articles of Association,' tending toward
+consolidation and communism, were adopted for the year. This step was
+the occasion of dissatisfaction to some of the stockholders&mdash;to one in
+particular, and probably led to his withdrawal, before the expiration
+of the year.</p>
+
+<p>"Previous to this time some of the early members had become
+dissatisfied with life in a Community, and had withdrawn from all
+connection with it. They were persons who had been pleased with the
+avowed objects and principles of the Association, and with the persons
+composing it, and also looked upon it as a profitable investment of
+money. Of course in this they were disappointed, and they had no
+principles which would induce them to make sacrifices for the cause.</p>
+
+<p>"A department of education was organized, in which it was designed to
+unite study with labor, on the ground that no education is complete
+which does not combine physical with mental development. Mr. Adam was
+the first director of that department, and was an able and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>efficient
+teacher. He was succeeded by Mr. Mack and his wife, who were persons
+of much experience in teaching, and of superior attainments. A
+boarding-school was opened under their auspices, and several pupils
+were received from abroad, who pursued the same course as those
+belonging to the Association.</p>
+
+<p>"In the course of the third year a subscription was opened, for the
+purpose of relieving the necessities of the Association; and people
+interested in the object of Social Reform were solicited to invest
+money in this enterprise, no subscription to be binding unless the sum
+of $25,000 was raised. This sum never was subscribed, and of course no
+assistance was obtained in that way.</p>
+
+<p>"Many troubles were constantly growing out of the pecuniary
+difficulties in which the Community was involved. Many sacrifices were
+demanded, and much hard labor was required, and those whose hearts
+were not in the work withdrew.</p>
+
+<p>"As might be inferred from what has been said, there was no religious
+creed, and no particular form of religious worship enjoined. A meeting
+was sustained on the first day of the week most of the time while the
+Association existed, in which various subjects were discussed, and all
+had the right and an opportunity of expressing their opinions or
+personal feelings. Of course a great variety of views and sentiments
+were introduced. As the religious sentiment is strong in most minds,
+this introduction of every phase of religious belief was very
+exciting, producing in some dissatisfaction; in others, the shaking of
+all their preconceived views; and probably resulting in greater
+liberality and more charitable feelings in all.</p>
+
+<p>"The carrying out of different religious views was, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>perhaps, the
+occasion of more disagreement than any other subject: the more liberal
+party advocating the propriety and utility of amusements, such as
+card-playing, dancing, and the like; while others, owing perhaps to
+early education, which had taught them to look upon such things as
+sinful, now thought them detrimental and wholly improper, especially
+in the impoverished state of the Community. This disagreement operated
+to general disadvantage; as in consequence of it several worthy people
+and valuable members withdrew.</p>
+
+<p>"There was also a difference of opinion many times with regard to the
+management of business, which was principally in the hands of the
+trustees, viz., the President, Secretary, and Treasurer, and it is
+believed was honestly conducted.</p>
+
+<p>"The whole number of persons ever resident there, as nearly as can be
+ascertained, was two hundred and twenty; while probably the number of
+actual members at any one time did not exceed one hundred and thirty.</p>
+
+<p>"With regard to the dissolution of this organization, which took place
+November 1 1846, I can only quote from the official records. 'There
+being no business before the meeting, there was a general conversation
+among the members about the business prospects of the Association, and
+many were of the opinion that it was best to dissolve; as we were
+deeply in debt, and there was no prospect of any more stock being
+taken up, which was the only thing that could relieve us, as our
+earnings were not large, and those members who had left us, whose
+stock was due, were calling for it. Some spoke of the want of that
+harmony and brotherly feeling which were indispensable to the success
+of such an enterprise. Others spoke of the unwillingness to make
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>sacrifices on the part of some of the members; also, of the lack of
+industry and the right appropriation of time.' At a subsequent meeting
+the Executive Council stated that 'in view of all the circumstances of
+the Association, they had decided upon a dissolution of the several
+departments as at present organized, and should proceed to close the
+affairs of the Association as soon as practicable.' So the Association
+ceased to exist.</p>
+
+<p>"The spirit which prompted it can never die; and though, in the
+carrying out of the principles which led to its organization, a
+failure has been experienced, yet the spirit of good-will and
+benevolence, that all-embracing charity, which led them to receive
+among them some unworthy and unprofitable members, still lives and is
+developing itself in other situations and by other means.</p>
+
+<p>"It is impossible to give a complete history of this Community&mdash;its
+changes&mdash;its trials&mdash;its failure, and in some respects, perhaps, its
+success. Much happiness was experienced there&mdash;much of trial and
+discipline. No doubt it had its influence on the surrounding world,
+leading them to greater liberality and Christian forbearance. It was a
+great innovation on the established order of things in the whole
+region, and was at first looked upon with horror and distrust. These
+prejudices in a great measure subsided, and gave way to a feeling of
+comparative respect. With other similar undertakings that have been
+abandoned, it has done its work; and may it be found that its
+influence has been for good and not for evil."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XV.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE SKANEATELES COMMUNITY.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>A wonderful year was 1843. Father Miller's prophetic calculations had
+created a vast expectation that it would be the year of the final
+conflagration. His confident followers had their ascension-robes
+ready; and outside multitudes saw the approach of that year with an
+uneasy impression that the advent of Christ, or something equally
+awful, was about to make an end of the world.</p>
+
+<p>And indeed tremendous events did come in 1843. If Father Miller and
+his followers had been discerning and humble enough to have accepted a
+spiritual fulfillment of their prophecies, they might have escaped the
+mortification of a total mistake as to the time. The events that came
+were these:</p>
+
+<p>The Anti-slavery movement, which for twelve years had been gathering
+into itself all minor reforms and firing the northern heart for
+revolution, came to its climax in the summer of 1843, in a rush of one
+hundred National Conventions! At the same time Brisbane had every
+thing ready for his great socialistic movement, and in the autumn of
+1843 the flood of Fourierism broke upon the country. Anti-slavery was
+destructive; Fourierism professed to be constructive. Both were
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>rampant against existing civilization. Perhaps it will be found that
+in the junction and triumphant sweep of these forces, the old world,
+in an important sense, did come to an end.</p>
+
+<p>In 1843 Massachusetts, the great mother of notions, threw out in the
+face of impending Fourierism her fourth and last socialistic
+experiment. There was a mania abroad, that made common Yankees as
+confident of their ability to achieve new social machinery and save
+the world, as though they were Owens or Fouriers. The Unitarians at
+Brook Farm, the Universalists at Hopedale, and the Nothingarians at
+Northampton, had tried their hands at Community-building in 1841&mdash;2,
+and were in the full glory of success. It was time for Anti-slavery,
+the last and most vigorous of Massachusetts nurslings, to enter the
+socialistic field. This time, as if to make sure of out-flanking the
+French invasion, the post for the experiment was taken at Skaneateles
+(a town forty miles west of the present site of the Oneida Community),
+thus extending the Massachusetts line from Boston to Central New York.</p>
+
+<p>John A. Collins, the founder of the Skaneateles Community, was a
+Boston man, and had been a working Abolitionist up to the summer of
+1843. He was in fact the General Agent of the Massachusetts
+Anti-slavery Society, and in that capacity had superintended the one
+hundred National Conventions ordered by the Society for that year.
+During the latter part of this service he had turned his own attention
+and that of the Conventions he managed, so much toward his private
+schemes of Association, that he had not the face to claim his salary
+as Anti-slavery agent. His way was to get up a rousing Anti-slavery
+Convention, and conclude it by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>calling a socialistic Convention, to
+be held on the spot immediately after it. At the close of the campaign
+he resigned, and the Anti-slavery Board gave him the following
+certificate of character:</p>
+
+<p>"Voted, That the Board, in accepting the resignation of John A.
+Collins, tender him their sincerest thanks, and take this occasion to
+bear the most cordial testimony to the zeal and disinterestedness with
+which, at a great crisis, he threw himself a willing offering on the
+altar of the Anti-slavery cause, as well as to the energy and rare
+ability with which for four years he has discharged the duties of
+their General Agent; and in parting, offer him their best wishes for
+his future happiness and success."</p>
+
+<p>In October Mr. Collins bought at Skaneateles a farm of three hundred
+and fifty acres for $15,000, paying $5,000 down, and giving back a
+mortgage for the remainder. There was a good stone farm-house with
+barns and other buildings on the place. Mr. Collins gave a general
+invitation to join. One hundred and fifty responded to the call, and
+on the first of January 1844 the Community was under way, and the
+first number of its organ, <i>The Communitist</i>, was given to the world.</p>
+
+<p>The only document we find disclosing the fundamental principles of
+this Community is the following&mdash;which however was not ventilated in
+the <i>Communitist</i>, but found its way to the public through the
+<i>Skaneateles Columbian</i>, a neighboring paper. We copy <i>verbatim</i>:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen"><i>Articles of Belief and Disbelief, and Creed prepared and read
+by John A. Collins, November 19, 1843.</i></p>
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">Beloved Friends</span>: By your consent and advice, I am
+called upon to make choice of those among you to aid me in
+establishing in this place, a Community of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>property and
+interest, by which we may be brought into love relations,
+through which, plenty and intelligence may be ultimately secured
+to all the inhabitants of this globe. To accomplish this great
+work there are but very few, in consequence of their original
+organization, structure of mind, education, habits and
+preconceived opinions, who are at the present time adapted to
+work out this great problem of human redemption. All who come
+together for this purpose, should be united in thought and
+feeling on certain fundamental principles; for without this, a
+Community of property would be but a farce. Therefore it may be
+said with great propriety that the success of the experiment
+will depend upon the wisdom exhibited in the choice of the
+materials as agents for its accomplishment.</p>
+
+<p>"Without going into the detail of the principles upon which this
+Community is to be established, I will state briefly a few of
+the fundamental principles which I regard as essential to be
+assented to by every applicant for admission:</p>
+
+<p>"1. <span class="sc">Religion</span>.&mdash;A disbelief in any special revelation of
+God to man, touching his will, and thereby binding upon man as
+authority in any arbitrary sense; that all forms of worship
+should cease; that all religions of every age and nation, have
+their origin in the same great falsehood, viz., God's special
+Providences; that while we admire the precepts attributed to
+Jesus of Nazareth, we do not regard them as binding because
+uttered by him, but because they are true in themselves, and
+best adapted to promote the happiness of the race: therefore we
+regard the Sabbath as other days; the organized church as
+adapted to produce strife and contention rather than love and
+peace; the clergy as an imposition; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>the bible as no authority;
+miracles as unphilosphical; and salvation from sin, or from
+punishment in a future world, through a crucified God, as a
+remnant of heathenism.</p>
+
+<p>"2. <span class="sc">Governments</span>.&mdash;A disbelief in the rightful existence
+of all governments based upon physical force; that they are
+organized bands of bandits, whose authority is to be
+disregarded: therefore we will not vote under such governments,
+or petition to them, but demand them to disband; do no military
+duty; pay no personal or property taxes; sit upon no juries; and
+never appeal to the law for a redress of grievances, but use all
+peaceful and moral means to secure their complete destruction.</p>
+
+<p>"3. That there is to be no individual property, but all goods
+shall be held in common; that the idea of mine and thine, as
+regards the earth and its products, as now understood in the
+exclusive sense, is to be disregarded and set aside; therefore,
+when we unite, we will throw into the common treasury all the
+property which is regarded as belonging to us, and forever after
+yield up our individual claim and ownership in it; that no
+compensation shall be demanded for our labor, if we should ever
+leave.</p>
+
+<p>"4. <span class="sc">Marriage</span>.&mdash;[Orthodox as usual on this head.] That
+we regard marriage as a true relation, growing out of the nature
+of things&mdash;repudiating licentiousness, concubinage, adultery,
+bigamy and polygamy; that marriage is designed for the happiness
+of the parties and to promote love and virtue; that when such
+parties have outlived their affections and can not longer
+contribute to each other's happiness, the sooner the separation
+takes place the better; and such separation shall not be a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>barrier to the parties in again uniting with any one, when they
+shall consider their happiness can be promoted thereby; that
+parents are in duty bound to educate their children in habits of
+virtue and love and industry; and that they are bound to unite
+with the Community.</p>
+
+<p>"5. <span class="sc">Education of Children</span>.&mdash;That the Community owes to
+the children a duty to secure them a virtuous education, and
+watch over them with parental care.</p>
+
+<p>"6. <span class="sc">Dietetics</span>.&mdash;That a vegetable and fruit diet is
+essential to the health of the body, and purity of the mind, and
+the happiness of society; therefore, the killing and eating of
+animals is essentially wrong, and should be renounced as soon as
+possible, together with the use of all narcotics and stimulants.</p>
+
+<p>"7. That all applicants shall, at the discretion of the
+Community, be put upon probation of three or six months.</p>
+
+<p>"8. Any person who shall force himself or herself upon the
+Community, who has received no invitation from the Community, or
+who does not assent to the views above enumerated, shall not be
+treated or considered as a member of the Community; no work
+shall be assigned to him or her if solicited, while at the same
+time, he or she shall be regarded with the same kindness as all
+or any other strangers&mdash;shall be furnished with food and
+clothing; that if at any time any one shall dissent from any or
+all of the principles above, he ought at once, in justice to
+himself, to the Community, and to the world, to leave the
+Association. To these views we hereby affix our respective
+signatures.</p>
+
+<p>"Assented to by all, except Q.A. Johnson, of Syracuse; J.
+Josephine Johnson, do.; William Kennedy, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>do.; Solomon Johnson,
+of Martinsburgh; and William C. Besson, of Lynn, Massachusetts."</p></div>
+
+<p>This was too strong, and had to be repudiated the next spring by the
+following editorial in the <i>Communitist</i>:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"<span class="sc">Creeds.</span>&mdash;Our friends abroad require us to say a few
+words under this head.</p>
+
+<p>"We repudiate all creeds, sects, and parties, in whatever shape
+or form they may present themselves. Our principles are as broad
+as the universe, and as liberal as the elements that surround
+us. They forbid the adoption and maintenance of any creed,
+constitution, rules of faith, declarations of belief and
+disbelief, touching any or all subjects; leaving each individual
+free to think, believe and disbelieve, as he or she may be moved
+by knowledge, habit, or spontaneous impulses. Belief and
+disbelief are founded upon some kind of evidence, which may be
+satisfactory to the individual to-day, but which other or better
+evidence may change to-morrow. We estimate the man by his acts
+rather than by his peculiar belief. We say to all, Believe what
+you may, but act as well as you can.</p>
+
+<p>"These principles do not deny to any one the right to draw out
+his peculiar views&mdash;his belief and disbelief&mdash;on paper, and
+present them for the consideration and adoption of others. Nor
+do we deny the fact that such a thing has been done even with
+us. But we are happy to inform all our friends and the world at
+large, that such a document was not fully assented to and was
+never adopted by the Community; and that the authors were among
+the first to discover the error and retrace the step. The
+document, with all proceedings under it, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>or relating thereto,
+has long since been abolished and repudiated by unanimous
+consent; and we now feel ourselves to be much wiser and better
+than when we commenced."</p></div>
+
+<p>It will be noticed that there was a party in the Community, headed by
+Q.A. Johnson, who saw the error of the creed before Collins did, and
+refused to sign it. This Johnson and his party made much trouble for
+Collins; and the whole plot of the Community-drama turns on the
+struggle between these two men, as the reader will see in the sequel.</p>
+
+<p>Macdonald says, "A calamitous error was made in the deeding of the
+property. It appears that Mr. Collins, who purchased the property, and
+whose experiment it really was, permitted the name of another man
+[Q.A.J.] to be inserted in the deed, as a trustee, in connection with
+his own. He did this to avoid even the suspicion of selfishness. But
+his confidence was misplaced; as the individual alluded to
+subsequently acted both selfishly and dishonestly. Mr. Collins and his
+friends had to contend with the opposition of this person and one or
+two others during a great portion of the time."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Finch, an Owenite, writing to the <i>New Moral World</i>, August 16,
+1845, says:</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Collins held to no-government or non-resistance principles: and
+while he claimed for the Community the right to receive and reject
+members, he refused to appeal to the government to aid him in
+expelling imposters, intruders and unruly members; which virtually
+amounted to throwing the doors wide open for the reception of all
+kinds of worthless characters. In consequence of his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span>efforts to
+reduce that principle to practice, the Community soon swarmed with an
+indolent, unprincipled and selfish class of 'reformers,' as they
+termed themselves; one of whom, a lawyer [Q.A.J.], got half the estate
+into his own hands, and well-nigh ruined the concern. Mr. Collins,
+from his experience, at length became convinced of his errors as to
+these new-fangled Yankee notions, and has now abandoned them,
+recovered the property, got rid of the worthless and dissatisfied
+members, restored the society to peace and harmony, and they are now
+employed in forming a new Constitution for the society, in agreement
+with the knowledge they have all gained by the last two years'
+experience.</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"Owing to the dissensions that arose from their defective
+organization at the first, a considerable number of the
+residents have either been dismissed, or have withdrawn from the
+place. The population, therefore, at present numbers only eleven
+adult male members, eight female, and seven children. The whole
+number of members, male and female, labor most industriously
+from six till six; and having large orders for their saw-mill
+and turning shop, they work them night and day, with two sets of
+men, working each twelve hours&mdash;the saw-mill and turning shop
+being their principal sources of revenue."</p></div>
+
+<p><i>The Communitist</i>, September 18, 1845, about two years after the
+commencement of the Community, and eight months before its end, gives
+the following picture of its experiences and prospects, from the
+lively pen of Mr. Collins:</p>
+
+<p>"Most happy are we to inform our readers and the friends of Community in
+general, that our prospects of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>success are now cheering. The dark
+clouds which so long hung over our movement, and at times threatened not
+only to destroy its peace, but its existence, have at last disappeared.
+We now have a clear sky, and the genial rays of a brilliant sun once
+more are radiating upon us. Our past experience, though grievous, will
+be of great service to us in our future progress, and will no doubt
+ultimately work out the fruits of unity, industry, abundance,
+intelligence and progress. It has taught us how far we may, in safety to
+our enterprise, advance; that some important steps may be taken, of the
+practicability of which we had doubts; and others, in the success of
+which we had but little faith, have proved both safe and expedient. Our
+previous convictions have been confirmed, that all is not gold that
+glitters; that not all who are most clamorous for reform are competent
+to become successful agents for its accomplishment; that there is
+floating upon the surface of society, a body of restless, disappointed,
+jealous, indolent spirits, disgusted with our present social system, not
+because it enchains the masses to poverty, ignorance, vice and endless
+servitude; but because they could not render it subservient to their
+private ends. Experience has convinced us that this class stands ready
+to mount every new movement that promises ease, abundance, and
+individual freedom; and that when such an enterprise refuses to
+interpret license for freedom, and insists that members shall make their
+strength, skill and talent subservient to the movement, then the cry of
+tyranny and oppression is raised against those who advocate such
+industry and self-denial; then the enterprise must become a scape-goat,
+to bear the fickleness, indolence, selfishness and envy of this class.
+But the above is not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>the only class of minds that our cause convened.
+From the great, noble, and disinterested principles which it embraces,
+from the high hopes which it inspires for progress, reform and, in a
+word, for human redemption, it has called many true reformers, genuine
+philanthropists, men and women of strong hands, brave hearts and
+vigorous minds.</p>
+
+<p>"Our enterprise, the most radical and reformatory in its profession,
+gathers these two extremes of character, from motives diametrically
+opposite. When these are brought together, it is reasonable to expect
+that, like an acid and alkali, they will effervesce, or, like the two
+opposite poles of a battery, will repel each other. For the last year
+it has been the principal object of the Community to rid itself of its
+cumbersome material, knowing that its very existence hinged upon this
+point. In this it has been successful. Much of this material was hired
+to go at an expense little if any short of three thousand dollars.
+People will marvel at this. But the Community, in its world-wide
+philanthropy, cast to the winds its power to expel unruly and
+turbulent members, which gave our quondam would-be-called 'Reformers,'
+an opportunity to reduce to practice, their real principles. In this
+winnowing process it would be somewhat remarkable if much good wheat
+had not been carried off with the chaff.</p>
+
+<p>"Communities and Associations, in their commencement too heavily
+charged with an impracticable, inexperienced, self-sufficient, gaseous
+class of mind, have generally exploded before they were conscious of
+the combustible material they embraced, or had acquired strength or
+experience sufficient to guard themselves against those elements which
+threaten their destruction. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>With a small crew well acclimated, we
+have doubled the cape, and are now upon a smooth sea, heading for the
+port of Communism.</p>
+
+<p>"The problem of social reform must be solved by its own members; by
+those possessed of living faith, indomitable perseverance, unflinching
+devotion and undying energy. The vicious, the sick, the infirm, the
+indolent, can not at present be serviceable to our cause. Community
+should neither be regarded in the light of a poor-house nor hospital.
+Our object is not so much to give a home to the poor, as to
+demonstrate to them their own power and resources, and thereby
+ultimately to destroy poverty. We make money no condition of
+membership; but poverty alone is not a sufficient qualification to
+secure admission. Stability of character, industrious habits, physical
+energy, moral strength, mental force, and benevolent feelings, are
+characteristics indispensable to a valuable Communist. A Community of
+such members has an inexhaustible mine of wealth, though not in
+possession of one dollar. Do not understand by this that we reject
+either men or money, simply because they happen to be united. The more
+wealth a good member brings, the better. It is, however, the smallest
+of all qualifications, in and of itself. There should be at first as
+few non-producers as possible. Single men and women and small families
+are best adapted to our condition and circumstances. In the
+commencement, the less children the better. It would be desirable to
+have none but the children born on the domain. Then they would grow up
+with an undivided Community feeling. Through the agency of such is our
+cause to be successfully carried forward. A man with a large family of
+non-producing children, must <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>possess extraordinary powers, to justify
+his admission."</p>
+
+<p>Macdonald thus concludes the tale: "After the experiment had
+progressed between two and three years, Mr. Collins became convinced
+that he and his fellow members could not carry out in practice the
+Community idea. He resolved to abandon the attempt; and calling the
+members together, explained to them his feelings on the subject. He
+resigned the deed of the property into their hands, and soon after
+departed from Skaneateles, like one who had lost his nearest and
+dearest friend. Most of the members left soon after, and the Community
+quietly dissolved.</p>
+
+<p>"This experiment did not fail through pecuniary embarrassment. The
+property was worth twice as much when the Community dissolved, as it
+was at first; and was much more than sufficient to pay all debts. So
+it may be truly said, that this experiment was given up through a
+conviction in the mind of the originator, that the theory of the
+Community could not be carried out in practice&mdash;that the attempt was
+premature, and the necessary conditions did not yet exist. The
+Community ended in May 1846."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Collins subsequently acknowledged in the public prints his
+abandonment of the schemes of philanthropy and social improvement in
+which he had been conspicuous; and returned, as a socialistic paper
+expressed it, "to the decencies and respectabilities of orthodox
+Whiggery."</p>
+
+<p>For side-lights to this general sketch which we have collected from
+Macdonald, Finch and Collins, we have consulted the files of the
+<i>Phalanx</i> and the <i>Harbinger</i>. The following is all we find:</p>
+
+<p><i>The Phalanx</i>, September 7, 1844, mentions that the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span><i>Communitist</i> has
+reached its seventh number&mdash;has been enlarged and improved&mdash;has changed
+its terms from <i>gratis</i> to $1.00 per year in advance&mdash;congratulates the
+Community on this improvement, but criticises its fundamental principle
+of Communism.</p>
+
+<p><i>The Harbinger</i>, September 14, 1845, quotes a Rochester paper as
+saying that "the Skaneateles concern has been sifted again and again
+of its chaff or wheat, we hardly know which, until, from a very wild
+republic, it appears verging toward a sober monarchy; i.e., toward the
+unresisted sway of a single mind." On this the <i>Harbinger</i> remarks:</p>
+
+<p>"The Skaneateles Community, so far from being a Fourier institution,
+has been in open and bitter hostility with that system; no man has
+taken stronger ground against the Fourier movement than its founder,
+Mr. John Collins; and although of late it has somewhat softened in its
+opposition to the views of Fourier, it is no more in unison with them
+than it is with the doctrines of the Presbyterian Church, or the
+'domestic arrangements' of South Carolina. We understand that Mr.
+Collins has essentially modified his ideas in regard to a true social
+order, since he commenced at Skaneateles; that he finds many
+principles to which he was attached in theory, untenable in practice;
+and that learning wisdom by experience, he is now aiming at results
+which are more practicable in their nature, than those which he had
+deeply at heart in the commencement. But with the most friendly
+feelings toward Mr. Collins and the Skaneateles Community, we declare
+that it has no connection with Association on the plan of Fourier; it
+is strictly speaking a Community of property&mdash;a system which we reject
+as the grave of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>liberty; though incomparably superior to the system
+of violence and fraud which is upheld in the existing order of
+society."</p>
+
+<p>In the <i>Harbinger</i> of September 27, 1845, Mr. Ripley writes in
+friendly terms of the brightening prospects of the Skaneateles
+Community; objects to its Communistic principles and its hostility to
+religion; with these exceptions thinks well of it and wishes it
+success.</p>
+
+<p>In the <i>Harbinger</i> of November 20, 1847, a year and more after the
+decease of the Community, an enthusiastic Associationist says that
+several defunct Phalanxes&mdash;the Skaneateles among the rest&mdash;"are not
+dead, but only asleep; and will wake up by and by to new and superior
+life!"</p>
+
+<p>Several members of the Oneida Community had more or less personal
+knowledge of the Skaneateles experiment. At our request they have
+written what they remember; which we present in conclusion, as the
+nearest we can get to an "inside view."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">RECOLLECTIONS OF H.J. SEYMOUR.</p>
+
+<p>"My acquaintance with the Skaneateles Community was limited to what I
+gathered under the following circumstances: John A. Collins lectured
+on Association in Westmoreland, near where I lived, in 1843. His
+eloquence had some effect on my father and his family, and on me among
+the rest. In the fall, when the Community started, my father sent my
+brother, then eighteen years old, with a wagon and yoke of oxen, to
+the Community. He remained there till nearly the middle of winter,
+when he returned home, ostensibly by invitation of my mother, who had
+become alarmed by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>the reports and evidences of the infidelity of
+Collins and his associates; but I am inclined to think my brother was
+ready to leave, having satisfied his aspirations for that kind of
+Communism. The next summer I made a call of a few hours at the
+Community in company with my mother; but most of my information about
+it is derived from my brother.</p>
+
+<p>"He spoke of Collins as full of fiery zeal, and a kind of fussy
+officiousness in business, but lacking in good judgment. To figure
+abroad as a lecturer was thought to be his appropriate sphere. The
+other most prominent leader was Q.A. Johnson of Syracuse. I have heard
+him represented as a long-headed, tonguey lawyer. The question to be
+settled soon after my brother's arrival, was, on which of the falls
+the saw-mill and machine-shop should be built. Collins said it should
+be on one; Johnson said it should be on the other; and the dispute
+waxed warm between them. I judge, from what my brother told me, that
+the conflict between these two men and their partisans raged through
+nearly the whole life of the Community, and was finally ended only by
+the withdrawal of Johnson, in consideration of a pretty round sum of
+money.</p>
+
+<p>"My brother did not make a practice of attending their evening
+meetings, for the reason that he was one of the hard workers and could
+not afford it; as there was an amount of disputing going on that was
+very wearisome to the flesh.</p>
+
+<p>"The question of diet was one about which the Community was greatly
+exercised. And there seems to have been an inner circle, among whom
+the dietetic furor worked with special violence. For the purpose of
+living what they considered a strictly natural life, they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>betook
+themselves to an exclusive diet of boiled wheat, and built themselves
+a shanty in the woods; hoping to secure long life and happiness by
+thus getting nearer to nature."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">RECOLLECTIONS OF E.L. HATCH.</p>
+
+<p>"I visited the Skaneateles Community twice, partly on business, and
+partly by request of a neighbor who was about to join, and wished me
+to join with him. I was received pleasantly and treated well. The
+first time, they gave me a cup of tea and bread and butter for supper.
+I told them I wished to fare as the rest did. They said it was usual
+for them to give visitors what they were accustomed to; but they were
+looking forward to some reform in this respect. In the morning I
+noticed that some poured milk on their plates, laid a slice of bread
+in it, and cut it into mouthfuls before eating. Some used molasses
+instead of milk. There was not much of the home-feeling there. Every
+one seemed to be setting an example, and trying to bring all the
+others to it. The second time I was there I discovered there were two
+parties. One man remarked to another on seeing meat on the table, that
+he 'guessed they had been to some grave-yard.' The other said he 'did
+not eat dead creatures.' After supper I was standing near some men in
+the sitting-room, when one said to another, 'How high is your God?'
+The answer was, 'About as high as my head.' The first, putting his
+hand up to his breast, said, 'Mine is so high.' I concluded they were
+infidels."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">RECOLLECTIONS OF L. VANVELZER.</p>
+
+<p>"I attended a Convention of Associationists held near the Skaneateles
+Community in 1845, and became very <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>much interested in the principles
+set forth by John A. Collins and his friends. There was much
+excitement at that time all through the country in regard to
+Association. Quite a number came from Boston and joined the
+Skaneateles Community. Johnson and Collins seemed to be the two
+leading spirits, Collins was a strong advocate of infidel principles,
+and was very intolerant to all religious sects; while Johnson
+advocated religious principles and general toleration. In becoming
+acquainted with these two men, I was naturally drawn toward Johnson;
+this created jealousy between them. Mrs. Vanvelzer and myself talked a
+great deal about selling out and going there; but before we had made
+any practical move, I began to see that there was not any unity among
+them, but on the contrary a great deal of bickering and back-biting. I
+became disgusted with the whole affair. But my wife did not see things
+as I did at that time. She was determined to go, and did go. At the
+expiration of three or four weeks I went to see her, and found she was
+becoming dissatisfied. In consequence of her joining them, there had
+been a regular quarrel between the two parties, and it resulted in a
+rupture. They had a meeting that lasted nearly all night; Johnson and
+his party standing up for Mrs. Vanvelzer, and Collins and his party
+against her. Some went so far as to threaten Johnson's life. This
+state of things went on until they broke up, which was only a short
+time after Mrs. Vanvelzer left."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">RECOLLECTIONS OF MRS. S. VANVELZER.</p>
+
+<p>"In the winter of 1845 Mr. Collins and others associated with him
+lectured in Baldwinsville, where I then resided. My husband was
+interested in their teachings, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>and invited them to our house, where I
+had more or less conversation with them. They set forth their scheme
+in glowing colors, and professed that the doings of the day of
+Pentecost were their foundation; and withal they flattered me
+considerably, telling me I was just the woman to go to the Community
+and help carry out their principles and build up a home for humanity.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I went; but I was disappointed. Nothing was as represented; but
+back-biting, evil-thinking, and quarreling were the order of the day.
+They set two tables in the same dining-room; one provided with
+ordinary food, though rather sparingly; the other with boiled wheat,
+rice and Graham mush, without salt or seasoning of any kind. They kept
+butter, sugar and milk under lock and key, and in fact almost every
+thing else. They had amusements, such as dancing, card-playing,
+checkers, etc. There were some 'affinity' affairs among them, which
+caused considerable gossiping. I remained there three weeks, and came
+away disgusted; but firm in the belief that Christian Communism would
+be carried out sometime."</p>
+
+<br />
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+<br />
+
+<p>Allen and Orvis, the lecturing missionaries of Fourierism sent out by
+Brook Farm in 1847, passed through Central New York in the course of
+their tour, and in their reports of their experiences to the
+<i>Harbinger</i>, thus bewailed the disastrous effects of Collins's
+experiment:</p>
+
+<p>"In Syracuse our meetings were almost a failure. Collins's Skaneateles
+'Hunt of Harmony,' or fight to conquer a peace, his infidelity, his
+disastrous failure after making such an outcry in behalf of a better
+order of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>society, and the ignorance of the people, who have not
+intelligence enough to discriminate between a true Constructive
+Reform, and the No-God, No-Government, No-Marriage, No-Money, No-Meat,
+No-Salt, No-Pepper system of Community, but think that Collins was a
+'Furyite' just like ourselves, has closed the ears of the people in
+this neighborhood against our words."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XVI.</h3>
+
+<h4>SOCIAL ARCHITECTS.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>Thus far we have been disposing of the preludes of Fourierism. Before
+commencing the memoirs of the regular <span class="sc">Phalanxes</span> (which is the
+proper name of the Fourier Associations), we will devote a chapter or
+two to general views of Fourierism, as compared with other forms of
+Socialism, and as it was practically developed in this country.</p>
+
+<p>Parke Godwin was one of the earliest and ablest of the American
+expositors of Fourierism; second only, perhaps, to Albert Brisbane. In
+his "<i>Popular View of the Doctrines of Charles Fourier</i>" (an octavo
+pamphlet of 120 pages published in 1844), he has a chapter on "Social
+Architects," in which he proposes the following classification:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"These daring and original spirits arrange themselves in three
+classes; the merely Theoretical; the simply Practical; and the
+Theoretico-Practical combined. In other words, the Social
+Architects whom we propose to consider, may be described as
+those who ideally plan the new structure of society; those who
+set immediately to work to make a new structure, without any
+very large <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>and comprehensive plan; and those who have both
+devised a plan and attempted its actual execution.</p>
+
+<p>"I. The Theoretical class is one which is most numerous, but
+whose claims are the least worthy of attention. [Under this
+head, Mr. Godwin mentions Plato, Sir Thomas More and Harrington,
+and discusses their imaginative projects&mdash;the Republic, Utopia
+and Oceana.]</p>
+
+<p>"II. The Practical Architects of Society, or the Communities
+instituted to exemplify a more perfect state of social life.
+[The Essenes, Moravians, Shakers and Rappites are mentioned
+under this head.]</p>
+
+<p>"III. The Theoretico-Practical Architects of Society, or those
+who have combined the enunciation of general principles of
+social organization with actual experiments, of whom the best
+representatives are St. Simon, Robert Owen and Charles Fourier.
+This class will extend the basis of our inquiries, and demand a
+more elaborate consideration."</p></div>
+
+<p>This classification, if it had not gone beyond the popular pamphlet in
+which it was started, might have been left without criticism. But it
+is substantially reproduced in the New American Cyclop&aelig;dia under the
+head of "Socialism," and thus has become a standard doctrine. We will
+therefore point out what we conceive to be its errors, and indicate a
+truer classification.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, from the account of St. Simon and Fourier which Mr.
+Godwin himself gives immediately after the last of his three headings,
+it is clear that they did <i>not</i> belong to the theoretico-practical
+class. St. Simon undertook to perfect himself in all knowledge, and for
+this purpose experimented in many things, good and bad; but it does not
+appear that he ever tried <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>his hand at Communism or Association of any
+kind. He published a book called "New Christianity," of which Godwin
+says:</p>
+
+<p>"It was an attempt to show, what had been often before attempted, that
+the spirit and practice of religion were not at one; that there was a
+wide chasm separating the revelation from the commentary, the text
+from the gloss, the Master from the Disciples. Nothing could have been
+more forcible than its attacks on the existing church, in which the
+Pope and Luther received an equal share of the blows. He convicted
+both parties of errors without number, and heresies the most
+monstrous. But he did not carry the same vigor into the development of
+the positive portions of his thought. He ceased to be logical, that he
+might be sentimental. Yet the truth which he insisted on was a great
+one&mdash;perhaps the greatest, <i>viz.</i>, that the fundamental principle in
+the constitution of society, should be Love. Christ teaches all men,
+he says, that they are brothers; that humanity is one; that the true
+life of the individual is in the bosom of his race; and that the
+highest law of his being is the law of progress."</p>
+
+<p>On the basis of this sentimentalism, St. Simon appealed most
+eloquently to all classes to unite&mdash;to march as one man&mdash;to inscribe
+on their banners, "Paradise on earth is before us!" but Godwin says:</p>
+
+<p>"Alas! the magnanimous spirit which could utter these thrilling words
+was not destined to see their realization. The long process of
+starvation finally brought St. Simon to his end; but in the sufferings
+of death, as in the agony of life, his mind retained its calmness and
+sympathy, and he perished with these words of sublime confidence and
+hope on his lips: 'The future is ours!'</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>"The few devoted friends who stood round that deathbed, took up the
+words, and began the work of propagation. The doctrine rapidly spread;
+it received a more precise and comprehensive development under the
+expositions of Bazard and Enfantan; and a few years saw a new family,
+which was also a new church, gathered at Menilmontant. On its banner
+was inscribed, 'To each, according to his capacity, and to each
+capacity according to its work.' Its government took the form of a
+religious hierarchy, and its main political principle was the
+abolition of inheritance.</p>
+
+<p>"It was evident that a society so constituted could not long be held
+together. Made up of enthusiasts, without definite principles of
+organization, trusting to feeling and not to science, its members soon
+began to quarrel, and the latter days of its existence were stained by
+disgusting license. St. Simon was one of the noblest spirits, but an
+unfit leader of any enterprise. He saw all things, says a friendly
+critic, through his heart. In this was his weakness; he wanted head;
+he wanted precise notions; he vainly hoped to reconstruct society by a
+sentiment; he laid the foundations of his house on sand."</p>
+
+
+<p>What is there in all this that entitles St. Simon to a place among the
+theoretico-practicals? How does it appear that he "combined the
+enunciation of general principles of social organization with actual
+experiments?" His followers tried to do something; but St. Simon
+himself, according to this account, did absolutely nothing but write
+and talk; and far from being a theoretico-practical, was not even
+theoretical, but only sentimental!</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>Fourier was theoretical enough. But we look in vain through Mr.
+Godwin's account of him for any signs of the practical. He meditated
+much and wrote many books, and that is all. He was a student and a
+recluse to the end of his career. Instead of engaging in any practical
+attempt to realize his social theories, he quarreled with the only
+experiment that was made by his disciples during his life. Godwin
+says:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"A joint-stock company was formed in 1832, to realize the new
+theory of Association; and one gentleman, M. Baudet Dulary,
+member of parliament for the county of Seine and Oise, bought an
+estate, which cost him five hundred thousand francs (one hundred
+thousand dollars), for the express purpose of putting the theory
+into practice. Operations were actually commenced; but for want
+of sufficient capital to erect buildings and stock the farm, the
+whole operation was paralyzed; and notwithstanding the natural
+cause of cessation, the simple fact of stopping short after
+having commenced operations, made a very unfavorable impression
+upon the public mind. Success is the only criterion with the
+indolent and indifferent, who do not take the trouble to reason
+on circumstances and accidental difficulties.</p>
+
+<p>"Fourier was very much vexed at the precipitation of his
+partisans, who were too impatient to wait until sufficient means
+had been obtained. They argued that the fact of having commenced
+operations would attract the attention of capitalists, and
+insure the necessary funds. He begged them to beware of
+precipitation; told them how he had been deceived himself in
+having to wait more than twenty years for a simple hearing,
+which, from the importance of his discovery, he had fully
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>expected to obtain immediately. All his entreaties were in vain.
+They told him he had not obtained a hearing sooner because he
+was not accustomed to the duplicity of the world; and confident
+in their own judgment, commenced without hesitation, and were
+taught, at the expense of their own imprudence, to appreciate
+more correctly the sluggish indifference of an ignorant public."</p></div>
+
+<p>Not only did Fourier thus wholly abstain from practical experiments
+himself and discourage those of others during his lifetime, but he
+condemned in advance all the experiments that have since been made in
+his name. He set the conditions of a legitimate experiment so high,
+that it has been thus far impossible to make a fair trial of
+Fourierism, and probably always will be. How Mr. Godwin could imagine
+him to be one of the theoretico-practicals, we do not understand. His
+system seems to us to have been as thoroughly separate from
+experiment, as it was possible for him to make it; and in that sense,
+as far removed from the modern standards of science, as the east is
+from the west. It can be defended only as a theory that came by
+inspiration or intuition, and therefore needs no experiment.
+Considered simply as the result of human lucubrations, it belongs with
+the <i>a priori</i> theories of the ancient world, of which Youmans says:
+"The old philosophers, disdaining nature, retired into the ideal world
+of pure meditation, and holding that the mind is the measure of the
+universe, they believed they could reason out all truths from the
+depths of the soul."</p>
+
+<p>Owen, Mr. Godwin's third example, was really a theoretico-practical
+man; i.e. he attempted to carry his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>theories into practice&mdash;with what
+success we have seen. Instead of classing St. Simon and Fourier with
+him, we should name Ballou and Cabet as his proper compeers.</p>
+
+<p>Another error of Mr. Godwin is, in representing Plato as merely
+theoretical; meaning that the Republic, like the Utopia and Oceana,
+was "sketched as an exercise of the imagination or reason, rather than
+as a plan for actual experiment." It is recorded of Plato in the
+American Cyclop&aelig;dia, that "he made a journey to Syracuse in the vain
+hope of realizing, through the new-crowned younger Dionysius, his
+ideal Republic." Thus, though he never made an actual experiment, he
+wished and intended to do so; which is quite as much as St. Simon and
+Fourier ever did.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Godwin seems also to underrate the Practical Architects: i.e.
+those that we have called the successful Communities. It is hardly
+fair to represent them as merely practical. The Shakers certainly have
+a theory which is printed in a book; and there is no reason to doubt
+that such thinkers as Rapp, and Bimeler of the Zoarites, and the
+German nobleman that led the Ebenezers, had socialistic ideas which
+they either worked by or worked out in their practical operations, and
+which would compare favorably at least with the sentimentalisms of the
+first French school. If St. Simon and Owen and Fourier are to be
+called the theoretico-practicals, such workers as Ann Lee, Elder
+Meacham, Rapp, and Bimeler ought at least to be called the
+practico-theoreticals.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed these Practical Architects, who have actually given the world
+examples of successful Communism, have certainly contributed more to
+the great socialistic movement of modern times, than they have credit
+for in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>Godwin's classification, or in public opinion. We called
+attention, in the course of our sketch of the Owen movement, to the
+fact that Owen and his disciples studied the social economy of the
+Rappites, and were not only indebted to them for the village in which
+they made their great experiment, but leaned on them for practical
+ideas and hopes of success. These facts came to us at the first
+without our seeking them. But since then we have watched occasionally,
+in our readings of the socialistic journals and books, for indications
+that the Fourierist movement was affected in the same way by the
+silent successful examples; and we have been surprised to see how
+constantly the Shakers, Ebenezers &amp;c., are referred to as
+illustrations of the possibilities and benefits of close Association.
+We will give a few examples of what we have found.</p>
+
+<p><i>The Dial</i>, which was the nurse of Brook Farm and of the beginnings of
+Fourierism in this country, has two articles devoted to the Shakers.
+One of them entitled "A Day with the Shakers," is an elaborate and
+very favorable exhibition of their doctrines and manner of life. It
+concludes with the following observation:</p>
+
+<p>"The world as yet but slightingly appreciates the domestic and humane
+virtues of this recluse people; and we feel that in a record of
+attempts for the actualization of a better life, their designs and
+economies should not be omitted, especially as, during their first
+half century, they have had remarkable success."</p>
+
+<p>The other article, entitled the "Millennial Church," is a flattering
+review of a Shaker book. In it occurs the following paragraph:</p>
+
+<p>"It is interesting to observe, that while Fourier in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>France was
+speculating on the attainment of many advantages by union, these
+people have, at home, actually attained them. Fourier has the merit of
+beautiful words and theories; and their importation from a foreign
+land is made a subject for exultation by a large and excellent portion
+of our public; but the Shakers have the superior merit of excellent
+actions and practices; unappreciated, perhaps, because they are not
+exotic. 'Attractive Industry and Moral Harmony,' on which Fourier
+dwells so promisingly, have long characterized the Shakers, whose
+plans have always in view the passing of each individual into his or
+her right position, and of providing suitable, pleasant, and
+profitable employment for every one."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Peabody, in the article entitled "Christ's Idea of Society," from
+which we quoted in a former chapter, thus refers to the practical
+Communities:</p>
+
+<p>"The temporary success of the Hernhutters, the Moravians, the Shakers,
+and even the Rappites, has cleared away difficulties and solved
+problems of social science. It has been made plain that the material
+goods of life, 'the life that now is,' are not to be sacrificed (as by
+the anchorite) in doing fuller justice to the social principle. It has
+been proved, that with the same degree of labor, there is no way to
+compare with that of working in a Community, banded by some sufficient
+Idea to animate the will of the laborers. A greater quantity of wealth
+is procured with fewer hours of toil, and without any degradation of
+the laborer. All these Communities have demonstrated what the
+practical Dr. Franklin said, that if every one worked bodily three
+hours daily, there would be no necessity of any one's working more
+than three hours."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>A writer in <i>The Tribune</i> (1845) at the end of a glowing account of
+the Ebenezers, says:</p>
+
+<p>"The labor they have accomplished and the improvements they have made
+are surprising; it speaks well for the superior efficiency of combined
+effort over isolated and individual effort. A gentleman who
+accompanied me, and who has seen the whole western part of this State
+settled, observed that they had made more improvements in two years,
+than were made in our most flourishing villages when first settled, in
+five or six."</p>
+
+<p>In <i>The Harbinger</i> (1845) Mr. Brisbane gives an account of his visit
+to the same settlement, and concludes as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"It is amazing to see the work which these people have
+accomplished in two years; they have cleared large fields, and
+brought them under cultivation; they have built, I should judge,
+forty comfortable houses, handsomely finished and painted white;
+many are quite large. They have the frame-work for quite an
+additional number prepared; they are putting up a large woolen
+manufactory, which is partly finished; they have six or eight
+large barns filled with their crops, and others erecting, and
+some minor branches of manufactures. I was amazed at the work
+accomplished in less than two years. It testifies powerfully in
+favor of combined effort."</p></div>
+
+<p>But enough for specimens. Such references to the works of the
+Practical Architects are scattered everywhere in socialistic
+literature. The conclusion toward which they lead is, that the
+successful religious Communities, silent and unconspicuous as they
+are, have been, after all, the specie-basis of the entire socialistic
+movement of modern times. A glimmering of this idea <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>seems to have
+been in Mr. Godwin's mind, when he wrote the following:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"If, in spite of their ignorance, their mistakes, their
+imperfections, and their despotisms, the worst of these
+societies, which have adopted, with more or less favor, unitary
+principles, have succeeded in accumulating immeasurable wealth,
+what might have been done by a Community having a right
+principle of organization and composed of intellectual and
+upright men? Accordingly the discovery of such a principle has
+become an object of earnest investigation on the part of some of
+the most acute and disinterested men the world ever saw. This
+inquiry has given rise to our third division, called
+theoretico-practical architects of society."</p></div>
+
+<p>The great facts of modern Socialism are these: From 1776&mdash;the era of
+our national Revolution&mdash;the Shakers have been established in this
+country; first at two places in New York; then at four places in
+Massachusetts; at two in New Hampshire; two in Maine; one in
+Connecticut; and finally at two in Kentucky, and two in Ohio. In all
+these places prosperous religious Communism has been modestly and yet
+loudly preaching to the nation and the world. New England and New York
+and the great West have had actual Phalanxes before their eyes for
+nearly a century. And in all this time what has been acted on our
+American stage, has had England, France and Germany for its audience.
+The example of the Shakers has demonstrated, not merely that
+successful Communism is subjectively possible, but that this nation is
+free enough to let it grow. Who can doubt that this demonstration was
+known and watched in Germany from the beginning; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>and that it helped
+the successive experiments and emigrations of the Rappites, the
+Zoarites and the Ebenezers? These experiments, we have seen, were
+echoes of Shakerism, growing fainter and fainter, as the time-distance
+increased. Then the Shaker movement with its echoes was sounding also
+in England, when Robert Owen undertook to convert the world to
+Communism; and it is evident enough that he was really a far-off
+follower of the Rappites. France also had heard of Shakerism, before
+St. Simon or Fourier began to meditate and write Socialism. These men
+were nearly contemporaneous with Owen, and all three evidently obeyed
+a common impulse. That impulse was the sequel and certainly in part
+the effect of Shakerism. Thus it is no more than bare justice to say,
+that we are indebted to the Shakers more than to any or all other
+Social Architects of modern times. Their success has been the solid
+capital that has upheld all the paper theories, and counteracted the
+failures, of the French and English schools. It is very doubtful
+whether Owenism or Fourierism would have ever existed, or if they had,
+whether they would have ever moved the practical American nation, if
+the facts of Shakerism had not existed before them, and gone along
+with them.</p>
+
+<p>But to do complete justice we must go a step further. While we say
+that the Rappites, the Zoarites, the Ebenezers, the Owenites, and even
+the Fourierites are all echoes of the Shakers, we must also
+acknowledge that the Shakers are the far-off echoes of the
+<span class="sc">Primitive Christian Church</span>.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XVII.</h3>
+
+<h4>FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIALISM.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>The main idea on which Owen and Fourier worked was the same. Both
+proposed to reconstruct society by gathering large numbers into
+unitary dwellings. Owen had as clear sense of the compound economies
+of Association as Fourier had, and discoursed as eloquently, if not as
+scientifically, on the beauties and blessings of combined industry.
+Both elaborated plans for vast buildings, which they proposed to
+substitute for ordinary family dwellings. Owen's communal edifice was
+to be a great hollow square, somewhat like a city block. Fourier's
+phalanstery, on the other hand, was to be a central palace with two
+wings. In like manner their plans of reconstructing society differed
+in details, but the main idea of combination in large households was
+the same.</p>
+
+<p>What they undertook to do may be illustrated by the history of
+bee-keeping. The usual way in this business is to provide hives that
+will hold only a few quarts of bees each, and so compel new
+generations to swarm and find new homes. But it has always been a
+problem among ingenious apiarians, how to construct compound hives,
+that will prevent the necessity of swarming, and either allow a single
+swarm to increase indefinitely, or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>induce many swarms to live
+together in contiguous apartments. We remember there was an invention
+of this kind that had quite a run about the time of the Fourier
+excitement. It was not very successful; and yet the idea seems not
+altogether chimerical; for it is known that wild bees, in certain
+situations, as in large hollow trees and in cavities among rocks, do
+actually accumulate their numbers and honey from generation to
+generation. Owen and Fourier, like the apiarian inventors (who are
+proverbially unpractical), undertook to construct, each in his own
+way, great compound hives for human beings; and they had the example
+of the Shakers (who may be considered the wild bees in the
+illustration) to countenance their schemes.</p>
+
+<p>The difference of their methods was this: Owen's plan was based on
+<i>Communism</i>; Fourier's plan was based on the <i>Joint-stock</i> principle.
+Both of these modes of combination exist abundantly in common society.
+Every family is a little example of Communism; and every working
+partnership is an example of Joint-stockism. Communism creates homes;
+Joint-stockism manages business. Perhaps national idiosyncracies had
+something to do with the choice of principles in these two cases.
+<i>Home</i> is an English word for an English idea. It is said there is no
+equivalent word in the French language. Owen, the Englishman, chose
+the home principle. Fourier, the Frenchman, chose the business
+principle.</p>
+
+<p>These two principles, as they exist in the world, are not
+antagonistic, but reciprocal. Home is the center from which men go
+forth to business; and business is the field from which they go home
+with the spoil. Home is the charm and stimulus of business; and
+business <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>provides material for the comfort and beauty of home. This
+is the present practical relation between Communism and Joint-stockism
+every-where. And these two principles, thus working together, have had
+a wonderful expansion in modern times. Every body knows what progress
+has been made in Joint-stockism, from the old-fashioned simple
+partnership, to the thousands of corporations, small and great, that
+now do the work of the world. But Communism has had similar progress,
+from the little family circle, to the thousands of benevolent
+institutions that are now striving to make a home of the world. Every
+hospital and free school and public library that is comforting and
+civilizing mankind, is an extension of the free, loving element, that
+is the charm of home. And it is becoming more and more the fashion for
+men to spend the best part of their lives in accumulating millions by
+Joint-stockism, and at last lay their treasures at the feet of
+Communism, by endowing great public institutions of mercy or
+education.</p>
+
+<p>As these two principles are thus expanding side by side, the question
+arises, Which on the whole is prevailing and destined to prevail? and
+that means, which is primary in the order of truth, and which is
+secondary? The two great socialistic inventors seem to have taken
+opposite sides on this question. Owen believed that the grand advance
+which the world is about to make, will be into Communism. Fourier as
+confidently believed that civilization will ripen into universal
+Joint-stockism. In all cases of reciprocal dualism, there is
+manifestly a tendency to mutual absorption, coalescence and unity.
+Where shall we end? in Owenism or Fourierism? Or will a combination of
+both keep its place in the world hereafter, as it has done hitherto?
+and if so which will <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>be primary and which secondary, and how will
+they be harmonized? We do not propose to answer these questions, but
+only to help the study of them, as we proceed with our history.</p>
+
+<p>A few facts, however, may be mentioned in passing, which lead toward
+some solution of them. One is, that the changes which are going on in
+the laws of marriage, are in the direction of Joint-stockism. The
+increase of woman's independence and separate property, is manifestly
+introducing Fourierism into the family circle, which is the oldest
+sanctuary of Communism. But over against this is the fact, that all
+the successful attempts at Socialism go in the other direction, toward
+Communism. Providence has presented Shakerism, which is Communism in
+the concrete, and Owenism, which is Communism in theory, to the
+attention of this country at advance of Fourierism; and there are many
+signs that the third great socialistic movement, which many believe to
+be impending, will be a returning wave of Communism. All these facts
+together might be interpreted as indicating that Joint-Stockism is
+devouring the institutions of the past, while Communism is seizing the
+institutions of the future.</p>
+
+<p>It must not be forgotten that, in representing Owen as the exponent of
+Communism, and Fourier as the exponent of Joint-stockism, we refer to
+their theoretical principles, and not at all to the experiments that
+have been made in their name. Those experiments were invariably
+compromises, and nearly all alike. We doubt whether there was ever an
+Owen Community that attempted unconditional Communism, even of worldly
+goods. Certainly Owen himself never got beyond provisional
+experiments, in which he held on to his land. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>And on the other hand,
+we doubt whether there was ever a Fourier Association that came any
+where near carrying out Joint-stockism, into all the minuti&aelig; of
+account-keeping which pure Fourierism requires. When we leave theories
+and attempt actual combinations, it is a matter of course that we
+should communize as far as we dare; that is, as far as we can trust
+each other; and beyond that manage things as well as we can by some
+kind of Joint-stockism. Experiments therefore always fall into a
+combination of Owenism and Fourierism.</p>
+
+<p>If we could find out the metaphysical bases of the two principles
+represented respectively by Owen and Fourier, perhaps we should see
+that these practical combinations of them are, after all,
+scientifically legitimate. Let us search a little in this direction.</p>
+
+<p>Our view is, that unity of <i>life</i> is the basis of Communism; and
+distinction of <i>persons</i> is the basis of Joint-stockism. Property
+belongs to life, and so far as you and I have consciously one life, we
+must hold our goods in common; but so far as distinct personalities
+prevail, we must have separate properties. This statement of course
+raises the old question of the Trinitarian controversy, viz., whether
+two or more persons can have absolutely the same life&mdash;which we will
+not now stop to discuss. All we need to say is that, according to our
+theory, if there is no such thing as unity of life between a plurality
+of persons, then there is no basis for Communism.</p>
+
+<p>But the Communism which we find in families is certainly based on the
+assumption, right or wrong, that there is actual unity of life between
+husband and wife, and between parents and children. The common law of
+England and of most other countries recognizes only a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>unit in the
+male and female head of every family. The Bible declares man and wife
+to be "one flesh." Sexual intercourse is generally supposed to be a
+symbol of more complete unity in the interior life; and children are
+supposed to be branches of the one life of their parents. This theory
+is evidently the basis of family Communism.</p>
+
+<p>So also the basis of Bible Communism is the theory that in Christ,
+believers become spiritually one; and the law, "Thou shalt love thy
+neighbor as thyself," is founded on the assumption that "thy neighbor"
+is, or should be, a part of "thyself."</p>
+
+<p>In this view we can reduce Communism and Joint-stockism to one
+principle. The object of both is to secure property to life. Communism
+looks after the rights of the unitary life&mdash;call it <i>afflatus</i> if you
+please&mdash;which organizes families and spiritual corporations.
+Joint-stockism attends to the rights of individuals. Both these forms
+of life have rights; and as all true rights can certainly be
+harmonized, Communism and Joint-stockism should find a way to work
+together. But the question returns after all, Which is primary and
+which is secondary? and so we are in the old quarrel again. Our
+opinion, however, is, that the long quarrel between afflatus and
+personality will be decided in favor of afflatus, and that personality
+will pass into the secondary position in the ages to come.</p>
+
+<p>Practically, Communism is a thing of degrees. With a small amount of
+vital unity, Communism is possible only in the limited sphere of
+familism. With more unity, public institutions of harmony and
+benevolence make their appearance. With another degree of unity,
+Communism of external property becomes possible, as among the Shakers.
+With still higher degrees, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>Communism may be introduced into the
+sexual and propagative relations. And in all these cases the
+correlative principle of Joint-stockism necessarily takes charge of
+all property that Communism leaves outside.</p>
+
+<p>Other differences of theory, besides this fundamental contrast of
+Communism and Joint-stockism, have been insisted upon by the
+respective partizans of Owen and Fourier; but they are less important,
+and we shall leave them to be exhibited incidentally in our memoirs of
+the Phalanxes.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XVIII.</h3>
+
+<h4>LITERATURE OF FOURIERISM.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>The exposition of Fourierism in this country commenced with the
+publication of the "<i>Social Destiny of Man</i>," by Albert Brisbane, in
+1840. It is very probable that the excitement propagated by this book,
+turned the thoughts of Dr. Channing and the Transcendentalists toward
+Association, and led to the Massachusetts experiments which we have
+reported. Other influences prepared the way. Religious Liberalism and
+Anti-slavery were revolutionizing the world of thought, and
+predisposing all lively minds to the boldest innovations. But it is
+evident that the positive scheme of reconstructing society came from
+France through Brisbane. Brook Farm, Hopedale, the Northampton
+Community and the Skaneateles Community struck out, each on an
+independent theory of social architecture; but they all obeyed a
+common impulse; and that impulse, so far as it came by literature, is
+traceable to Brisbane's importation and translation of the writings of
+Charles Fourier.</p>
+
+<p>The second notable movement, preparatory to the great Fourier revival
+of 1843, was the opening of the <i>New York Tribune</i> to the teachings of
+Brisbane and the Socialists. That paper was in its first volume, but
+already popular and ascending towards its zenith of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>rivalry with the
+<i>Herald</i>, when one morning in the spring of 1842, it appeared with the
+following caption at the top of one of its columns:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">"ASSOCIATION; OR, PRINCIPLES OF A TRUE ORGANIZATION OF SOCIETY.</p>
+
+<p>"This column has been purchased by the Advocates of Association,
+in order to lay their principles before the public. Its
+editorship is entirely distinct from that of the <i>Tribune</i>."</p></div>
+
+<p>By this contrivance, which might be called a paper within a paper,
+Brisbane became the independent editor of a small daily, with all the
+<i>Tribune's</i> subscribers for his readers; and yet that journal could
+not be held responsible for his inculcations. It was known, however,
+that Horace Greeley, the editor-in-chief, was much in sympathy with
+Fourierism; so that Brisbane had the help of his popularity; though
+the stock-company of the <i>Tribune</i> was not implicated. Whether the
+<i>Tribune</i> lifted Fourierism or Fourierism lifted the <i>Tribune</i>, may be
+a matter of doubt; but we are inclined to think the paper had the best
+of the bargain; as it grew steadily afterward to its present
+dimensions, and all the more merrily for the <i>Herald's</i> long
+persistence in calling it "our Fourierite cotemporary;" while
+Fourierism, after a year or two of glory, waned and disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>Brisbane edited his column with ability for more than a year. Our file
+(which is defective), extends from March 28, 1842, to May 28, 1843. At
+first the socialistic articles appeared twice a week; after August
+1842, three times a week; and during the latter part of the series,
+every day.</p>
+
+<p>This was Brisbane's great opportunity, and he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>improved it. All the
+popularities of Fourierism&mdash;"Attractive Industry," "Compound
+Economies," "Democracy of Association," "Equilibrium of the
+Passions"&mdash;were set before the <i>Tribune's</i> vast public from day to
+day, with the art and zest of a young lawyer pleading before a court
+already in his favor. Interspersed with these topics were notices of
+socialistic meetings, reports of Fourier festivals, toasts and
+speeches at celebrations of Fourier's birthday, and all the usual
+stimulants of a growing popular cause. The rich were enticed; the poor
+were encouraged; the laboring classes were aroused; objections were
+answered; prejudices were annihilated; scoffing papers were silenced;
+the religious foundations of Fourierism were triumphantly exhibited.
+To show how gloriously things were going, it would be announced on one
+day that "Mr. Bennett has promised us the insertion of an article in
+this day's <i>Herald</i>, in vindication of our doctrines;" on the next,
+that "<i>The Democratic</i> and <i>Boston Quarterly Reviews</i>, are publishing
+a series of articles on the system from the pen of A. Brisbane;" on
+the next, that "we have obtained a large Hall, seventy-seven feet deep
+by twenty-five feet wide, in Broadway, for the purpose of holding
+meetings and delivering lectures."</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps the reader would like to see a specimen of Brisbane's
+expositions. The following is the substance of one of his articles in
+the <i>Tribune</i>, dated March, 1842; subject&mdash;"Means of making a
+Practical Trial:"</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"Before answering the question, How can Association be realized?
+we will remark that we do not propose any sudden transformation
+of the present system of society, but only a regular and gradual
+substitution of a new <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>order by local changes or replacement.
+One Association must be started, and others will follow, without
+overthrowing any true institutions in state or church, such as
+universal suffrage or religious worship.</p>
+
+<p>"If a few rich could be interested in the subject, a stock
+company could be formed among them with a capital of four or
+five hundred thousand dollars, which would be sufficient. Their
+money would be safe: for the lands, edifices, flocks, &amp;c., of
+the Association, would be mortgaged to secure it. The sum which
+is required to build a small railroad, a steamship, to start an
+insurance company or a bank, would establish an Association.
+Could not such a sum be raised?</p>
+
+<p>"A practical trial of Association might be made by appropriation
+from a State Legislature. Millions are now spent in constructing
+canals and railroads that scarcely pay for repairs. Would it
+endanger the constitution, injure the cause of democracy, or
+shock the consciences of politicians, if a Legislature were to
+advance for an Association, half a million of dollars secured by
+mortgage on its lands and personal estate? We fear very much
+that it might, and therefore not much is to be hoped from that
+source.</p>
+
+<p>"The truth of Association and attractive industry could also be
+proved by children. A little Association or an industrial or
+agricultural institution might be established with four hundred
+children from the ages of five to fifteen. Various lighter
+branches of agriculture and the mechanical arts, with little
+tools and implements adapted to different ages, which are the
+delight of children, could be prosecuted. These useful
+occupations could, if organized according to a system which we
+shall later explain, be rendered more pleasing and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>attractive
+than are their plays at present. Such an Association would prove
+the possibility of attractive industry, and that children could
+support themselves by their own labor, and obtain at the same
+time a superior industrial and scientific education. The
+Smithsonian bequest might be applied to such a purpose, as could
+have been Girard's noble donation, which has been so shamefully
+mismanaged.</p>
+
+<p>"The most easy plan, perhaps, for starting an Association would
+be to induce four hundred persons to unite, and take each $1,000
+worth of stock, which would form a capital of $400,000. With
+this sum, an Association could be established, which could be
+made to guarantee to every person a comfortable room in it and
+board for life, as interest upon the investment of $1,000; so
+that whatever reverses might happen to those forming the
+Association, they would always be certain of having two great
+essentials of existence&mdash;a dwelling to cover them, and a table
+at which to sit. Let us explain how this could be effected.</p>
+
+<p>"The stockholders would receive one-quarter of the total product
+or profits of the Association; or if they preferred, they would
+receive a fixed interest of eight per cent. At the time of a
+general division of profits at the end of the year, the
+stockholders would first receive their interest, and the balance
+would be paid over to those who performed the labor. A slight
+deviation would in this respect take place from the general law
+of Association, which is to give one-quarter of the profits to
+capital, whatever they may be; but additional inducements of
+security should be held out to those who organize the first
+Association.</p>
+
+<p>"The investment of $1,000 would yield $80 annual <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>interest. With
+this sum the Association must guarantee a person a dwelling and
+living; and this could be done. The edifice could be built for
+$150,000, the interest upon which, at 10 per cent., would be
+$15,000. Divide this sum by 400, which is the number of persons,
+and we have $37.50 per annum, for each person as rent. Some of
+the apartments would consist of several rooms, and rent for
+$100, others for $90, others for $80, and so on in a descending
+ratio, so that about one-half of the rooms could be rented at
+$20 per annum. A person wishing to live at the cheapest rates
+would have, after paying his rent, $60 left. As the Association
+would raise all its fruit, grain, vegetables, cattle, &amp;c., and
+as it would economize immensely in fuel, number of cooks, and
+every thing else, it could furnish the cheapest priced board at
+$60 per annum, the second at $100, and the third at $150. Thus a
+person who invested $1,000 would be certain of a comfortable
+room and board for his interest, if he lived economically, and
+would have whatever he might produce by his labor in addition.
+He would live, besides, in an elegant edifice surrounded by
+beautiful fields and gardens.</p>
+
+<p>"If one-half of the persons taking stock did not wish to enter
+the Association at first, but to continue their business in the
+world, reserving the chance of so doing later, they could do so.
+Experienced and intelligent agriculturists and mechanics would
+be found to take their places; the buildings would be gradually
+enlarged, and those who remained out could enter later as they
+wished. They would receive, however, in the mean time their
+interest in cash upon their capital. A family with two or three
+children could enter upon taking from $2,000 to $2,500 worth of
+stock.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>"We have not space to enter into full details, but we can say
+that the advantages and economies of combination and Association
+are so immense, that if four hundred persons would unite, with a
+capital of $1,000 each, they could establish an Association in
+which they could produce, by means of economical machinery and
+other facilities, four times as much by their labor as people do
+at present, and live far cheaper and better than they now can;
+or which, in age or in case of misfortune, would always secure
+them a comfortable home.</p>
+
+<p>"There are multitudes of persons who could easily withdraw
+$1,000 from their business and invest it in an establishment of
+this kind, and secure themselves against any reverses which may
+later overtake them. In our societies, with their constantly
+recurring revulsions and ruin, would they not be wise in so
+doing?"</p></div>
+
+<p>With this specimen, we trust the imagination of the reader will be
+able to make out an adequate picture of Brisbane's long work in the
+<i>Tribune</i>. That work immediately preceded the rush of Young America
+into the Fourier experiments. He was beating the drum from March 1842
+till May 1843; and in the summer of '43, Phalanxes by the dozen were
+on the march for the new world of wealth and harmony.</p>
+
+<p>On the fifth of October 1843, Brisbane entered upon his third
+advance-movement by establishing in New York City, an independent paper
+called <span class="sc">The Phalanx</span>, devoted to the doctrines of Fourier, and
+edited by himself and Osborne Macdaniel. It professed to be a monthly,
+but was published irregularly the latter part of its time. The volume we
+have consists of twenty-three numbers, the first of which is dated
+October 5, 1843, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>and the last May 28, 1845. In the first number
+Brisbane gives the following condensed statement of practical
+experiments then existing or contemplated, which may be considered the
+results of his previous labors, and especially of his fourteen months
+<i>reveille</i> in the <i>Tribune</i>:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"In Massachusetts, already there are three small Associations,
+viz., the Roxbury Community near Boston, founded by the Rev.
+George Ripley; the Hopedale Community, founded by the Rev. Adin
+Ballou; and the Northampton Community, founded by Prof. Adam and
+others. These Associations, or Communities, as they are called,
+differ in many respects from the system of Fourier, but they
+accept some of his fundamental practical principles, such as
+joint-stock property in real and movable estate, unity of
+interests, and united domestic arrangements, instead of living
+in separate houses with separate interests. None of them have
+community of property. They have been founded within the last
+three years, and two of them at least, under the inspiration of
+Fourier's doctrine.</p>
+
+<p>"In the state of New York, there are two established on a larger
+scale than those in Massachusetts: the Jefferson County
+Industrial Association, at Watertown, founded by A.M. Watson,
+Esq.; and another in Herkimer and Hamilton Counties (on the
+line), called the Moorhouse Union, and founded by Mr. Moorhouse.
+A larger Association, to be called the Ontario Phalanx, is now
+organizing at Rochester, Monroe County.</p>
+
+<p>"In Pennsylvania there are several: the principal one is the
+Sylvan in Pike County, which has been formed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>by warm friends of
+the cause from the cities of New York and Albany; Thomas W.
+Whitley, President, and Horace Greeley, Treasurer. In the same
+county there is another small Association, called the Social
+Unity, formed principally of mechanics from New York and
+Brooklyn. There is a large Association of Germans in McKean
+County, Pennsylvania, commenced by the Rev. George Ginal of
+Philadelphia. They own a very extensive tract of land, over
+30,000 acres we are informed, and are progressing prosperously:
+the shares, which were originally $100, have been sold and are
+now held at $200 or more. At Pittsburg steps are taking to
+establish another.</p>
+
+<p>"A small Association has been commenced in Bureau County,
+Illinois, and preparations are making to establish another in
+Lagrange County, Indiana, which will probably be done this fall,
+upon quite an extensive scale, as many of the most influential
+and worthy inhabitants of that section are deeply interested in
+the cause.</p>
+
+<p>"In Michigan the doctrine has spread quite widely. An excellent
+little, paper called <i>The Future</i>, devoted exclusively to the
+cause, published monthly, has been established at Ann Arbor,
+where an Association is projected to be called the Washtenaw
+Phalanx.</p>
+
+<p>"In New Jersey an Association, projected upon a larger scale
+than any yet started, has just been commenced in Monmouth
+County: it is to be called the North American Phalanx, and has
+been undertaken by a company of enterprising gentlemen of the
+city of Albany.</p>
+
+<p>"Quite a large number of practical trials are talked of in
+various sections of the United States, and it is probable that
+in the course of the next year, numbers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>will spring into
+existence. These trials are upon so small a scale, and are
+commenced with such limited means, that they exhibit but a few
+of the features of the system. They are, however, very important
+commencements, and are small beginnings of a reform in some of
+the most important arrangements of the present social order;
+particularly its system of isolated households or separate
+families, its conflicts of interest, and its uncombined and
+incoherent system of labor."</p></div>
+
+<p>The most important result of Brisbane's eighteen month's labor in the
+<i>Phalanx</i> was the conversion of Brook Farm to Fourierism. William H.
+Channing's magazine, the <i>Present</i>, which commenced nearly at the same
+time with the <i>Phalanx</i>, closed its career at the end of seven months,
+and its subscription list was transferred to Brisbane. In the course
+of a year after this, Brook Farm confessed Fourierism, changed its
+constitution, assumed the title of the <i>Brook Farm Phalanx</i>, and on
+the 14th of June 1845 commenced publishing the <i>Harbinger</i>, as the
+successor of the <i>Phalanx</i> and the heir of its subscription list. So
+that Brisbane's fourth advance was the transfer of the literary
+responsibilities of his cause to Brook Farm. This was a great move. A
+more brilliant attorney could not have been found. The concentrated
+genius of Unitarianism and Transcendentalism was at Brook Farm. It was
+the school that trained most of the writers who have created the
+newspaper and magazine literature of the present time. Their work on
+the <i>Harbinger</i> was their first drill. Fourierism was their first case
+in court. The <i>Harbinger</i> was published weekly, and extended to seven
+and a half semi-annual volumes, five of which were edited and printed
+at Brook Farm, and the last two and a half at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>New York, but by Brook
+Farm men. Its issues at Brook Farm extend from June 14, 1845 to
+October 30, 1847; and at New York from November 6, 1847 to February
+10, 1849. The <i>Phalanx</i> and <i>Harbinger</i> together cover a period of
+more than five years.</p>
+
+<p>Other periodicals of a more provincial character, and of course a
+great variety of books and pamphlets, were among the issues of the
+Fourier movement; but the main vertebr&aelig; of its literature were the
+publications of which we have given account&mdash;Brisbane's <i>Social
+Destiny of Man</i>, his daily column in the <i>Tribune</i>, the monthly
+<i>Phalanx</i>, and the weekly <i>Harbinger</i>.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XIX.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE PERSONNEL OF FOURIERISM.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>Albert Brisbane of course was the central man of the brilliant group
+that imported and popularized Fourierism. But the reader will be
+interested to see a full tableau of the persons who were prominent in
+this movement. We will bring them to view by presenting, first, a list
+of the contributors to the <i>Phalanx</i> and <i>Harbinger</i>, and secondly, a
+condensed report of one of the National Conventions of the
+Fourierists.</p>
+
+<p>The indexes of the <i>Phalanx</i> and <i>Harbinger</i> (eight volumes in all),
+have at their heads the names of the principal contributors; and their
+initials, in connection with the articles in the indexes, enable us to
+give the number of articles written by each contributor. Thus the
+reader will see at a glance, not only the leading men of the movement,
+but proximately the proportion of influence, or at least of
+literature, that each contributed. Several of the names on this list
+are now of world-wide fame, and many of them have attained eminence
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>as historians, essayists, poets, journalists or artists. A few of them
+have reached the van in politics, and gained public station.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">WRITERS FOR THE PHALANX AND HARBINGER.</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="40%" summary="Phalanx and Harbinger Writers">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp" width="70%">Names.</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="30%">No. of articles.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">John Allen,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Stephen Pearl Andrews,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Albert Brisbane,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">56</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Geo. H. Calvert,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Wm. E. Channing,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Wm. F. Channing,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Wm. H. Channing,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">39</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Otis Clapp,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">J. Freeman Clarke,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Joseph J. Cooke,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">10</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Christopher P. Cranch,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">9</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">George W. Curtis,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">10</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Charles A. Dana,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">248</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Hugh Doherty,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">11</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">A.J.H. Duganne,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">John S. Dwight,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">324</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">George G. Foster,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">7</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Edward Giles,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Parke Godwin,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">152</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">E.P. Grant,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">4</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Horace Greeley,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Frederic H. Hedge,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">T.W. Higginson,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">10</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">E. Ives, Jr.,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Henry James,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">32</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Wm. H. Kimball,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Marx E. Lazarus,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">52</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">James Russell Lowell,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Osborne Macdaniel,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">47</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Wm. H. M&uuml;ller,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">C. Neidhardt,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">D.S. Oliphant,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">John Orvis,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">23</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Jean M. Palisse,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">16</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">E.W. Parkman,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Mary Spencer Pease,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">J.H. Pulte,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">George Ripley,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">315</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Samuel D. Robbins,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Lewis W. Ryckman,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">5</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">J.A. Saxton,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">James Sellers,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">3</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Francis G. Shaw,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">131</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Miss E.A. Starr,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">5</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">W.W. Story,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">14</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Edmund Tweedy,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">7</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">John G. Whittier,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">J.J. Garth Wilkinson,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">12</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>Most of these writers were in the prime of youth, and Socialism was
+their first love. It would be interesting to trace their several
+careers in after time, when acquaintance with "stern reality" put
+another face on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>their early dream, and turned them aside to other
+pursuits. Certain it is, that the socialistic revival, barren as it
+was in direct fruit, fertilized in many ways the genius of these men,
+and through them the intellect of the nation.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">NATIONAL CONVENTION.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">Report from <i>The Phalanx</i> condensed.</p>
+
+<p>Pursuant to a call published in the <i>Phalanx</i> and other papers, a
+Convention of Associationists assembled on Thursday morning, the 4th
+of April, 1844, at Clinton Hall, in the city of New York.</p>
+
+<p>The following gentlemen were appointed officers of the Convention:</p>
+
+<div class="block2">
+<p class="cen"><i>President</i>, George Ripley.<br />
+<br />
+                 <i>Vice Presidents</i>,<br />
+     A.B. Smolnikar, &nbsp;&nbsp; Parke Godwin, &nbsp;&nbsp; Horace Greeley,<br />
+     Charles A. Dana, &nbsp;&nbsp; A. Brisbane, &nbsp;&nbsp; Alonzo M. Watson.<br />
+<br />
+                   <i>Secretaries</i>,<br />
+         Osborne Macdaniel, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; D.S. Oliphant.<br />
+<br />
+        <i>Committee on the Roll and Finance.</i><br />
+    John Allen, &nbsp; James P. Decker, &nbsp; Nathan Comstock, Jr.<br />
+<br />
+                <i>Business Committee.</i><br />
+     L.W. Ryckman, &nbsp;&nbsp; John Allen, &nbsp;&nbsp; Osborne Macdaniel,<br />
+     George Ripley, &nbsp;&nbsp; Horace Greeley, &nbsp;&nbsp; Albert Brisbane,<br />
+     Parke Godwin, &nbsp;&nbsp; James Kay, &nbsp;&nbsp; Charles A. Dana,<br />
+     W.H. Channing, &nbsp;&nbsp; A.M. Watson, &nbsp;&nbsp; Solyman Brown.<br /></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Before proceeding to business, the secretary read letters addressed to
+the Convention by a number of societies and individuals in different
+parts of the United <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>States. The style of these letters may be seen in
+a few brief extracts. E.P. Grant wrote:</p>
+
+<p>"The day is speedily coming when justice will be done to Fourier and
+his doctrines; when monuments will rise from ten thousand hills,
+surmounted by his statue in colossal proportions, gazing upon a happy
+people, whose God will be truly the Lord, because they will live in
+spontaneous obedience to his eternal laws."</p>
+
+<p>John White and others wrote:</p>
+
+<p>"We behold in the science of associated industry, a new social
+edifice, of matchless and indescribable beauty, and true architectural
+symmetry! Surely, it must be no other than that 'house not made with
+hands, eternal in the heavens;' for its foundation is justice, and the
+superstructure, praise; in every department of which dwell peace and
+smiling plenty, and whose walls are every where inscribed with
+manifold representations of that highest Divine attribute&mdash;love."</p>
+
+<p>H.H. Van Amringe wrote:</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly all creation is a reflex of the mind of the Deity, and we
+cannot hesitate to believe that all the works of Divine wisdom are
+connected, as Fourier teaches, by laws of groups and series of groups.
+To discover these, as observers of nature discover and combine the
+harmonies of astronomy, geology, botany and chemistry, should be our
+aim; and this noble and heavenly employment, while it banishes want
+and misery from our present life&mdash;destroying the spiritual death and
+hell which now reign&mdash;will, under the Providence of the most High,
+open to us admission into the Kingdom of the Messiah, that the will of
+our Father may be done on earth as it is done in heaven."</p>
+
+<p>And so on. After the reading of the letters, Wm. H. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>Channing, on
+behalf of the business committee, introduced a series of resolutions,
+prefacing them with a speech in the following vein:</p>
+
+<p>"It is but giving voice to what is working in the hearts of those now
+present, and of thousands whose sympathies are at this moment with us
+over our whole land, to say this is a religious meeting. Our end is to
+do God's will, not our own; to obey the command of Providence, not to
+follow the leadings of human fancies. We stand to-day, as we believe,
+amid the dawn of a new era of humanity; and as from a Pisgah look down
+upon a promised land."</p>
+
+<p>The resolutions (occupying nearly two pages of the <i>Phalanx</i>) commence
+with a long preamble of four <i>Whereases</i> about the designs of God in
+regard to universal unity, the call of Christendom and especially of
+the United States to forward these designs, the dreadful state of the
+world, &amp;c., &amp;c. The third resolution proposes Association on Fourier's
+principles of Joint-stockism, Guaranteeism, Combined Industry, Series
+and Groups, &amp;c., as the panacea of human woes. The fourth resolution
+protests against "rash and fragmentary attempts," and advises
+Associationists not to undertake practical operations till they have
+secured the right sort of men and women and plenty of capital. The
+fifth resolution recommends that Associationists concentrate their
+efforts on experiments already commenced, in preference to undertaking
+new enterprises. The sixth resolution betrays a little distrust of
+Fourier, and an inclination to keep a certain independence of him&mdash;a
+symptom that the Brook Farm and Unitarian element prevailed in the
+business committee. They say:</p>
+
+<p>"We do not receive all the parts of his theories <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>which in the
+publications of the Fourier school are denominated 'conjectural,'
+because Fourier gives them as speculations, because we do not in all
+respects understand his meaning, and because there are parts which
+individually we reject; and we hold ourselves not only free, but in
+duty bound, to seek and obey truth wherever revealed, in the word of
+God, the reason of humanity, and the order of nature. For these
+reasons we do not call ourselves Fourierists; but desire to be always
+publicly designated as the Associationists of the United States of
+America."</p>
+
+<p>It must be borne in mind, in order to understand this <i>caveat</i>, that
+the courtship between the Massachusetts Socialists and the Brisbane
+propagandists, though very warm, had not yet proceeded to coalescence.
+Brook Farm was not yet a "Phalanx," The <i>Harbinger</i> was yet <i>in
+futuro</i>. And Fourier's latitudinarian speculations about marriage and
+sexual matters, made a difficulty for men of Puritan blood, that was
+not yet disposed of. In fact this difficulty always made a jar in the
+family of American Fourierists, and probably helped on their disasters
+and hastened their dissolution.</p>
+
+<p>The seventh resolution proposes that measures be taken for forming a
+National Confederation of Associations. The eighth resolution
+expresses a wish for concert of action with the Associationists of
+Europe, and says:</p>
+
+<p>"For this end we hereby appoint Albert Brisbane, representative from
+this body, to confer with them as to the best modes of mutual
+co&ouml;peration. And we assure our brethren in Europe that the
+disinterestedness, ability and perseverance with which our
+representative has devoted himself to the promulgation of the doctrine
+of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>Association in the United States, entitle him to their most
+cordial confidence. Through him we extend to them, with joy and trust,
+the right hand of fellowship; and may heaven soon bless all nations
+with a compact of perpetual peace."</p>
+
+<p>The ninth and last resolution appoints the following gentlemen as an
+executive committee to edit the <i>Phalanx</i>, and to do many other things
+for carrying into effect the objects of the Convention:</p>
+
+<div class="block2">
+<p class="cen">Horace Greeley, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Parke Godwin, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; James P. Decker,<br />
+Frederick Grain, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Albert Brisbane, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Wm. H Channing,<br />
+Edward Giles, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Chas. J. Hempel, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Osborne Macdaniel,<br />
+Rufus Dawes, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; D.S. Oliphant, &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Pierre Maroncelli,<br />
+of the City of New York.<br /></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="block3"><p>Solyman Brown, Leraysville Phalanx, Bradford County,
+Pennsylvania.</p>
+
+<p>George Ripley, Brook Farm Association, West Roxbury,
+Massachusetts.</p>
+
+<p>Alonzo M. Watson, Jefferson County Industrial Association, New
+York.</p>
+
+<p>E.P. Grant, Ohio Phalanx, Belmont County, Ohio.</p>
+
+<p>John White, Cincinnati Phalanx, Cincinnati, Ohio.</p>
+
+<p>Nathan Starks, North American Phalanx, Monmouth County, New
+Jersey.</p></div>
+
+<p>On the second evening of the Convention, Parke Godwin, on behalf of
+the business committee, reported a long address to the people of the
+United States. It is a powerful presentation of all the common-places
+of Fourierism: the defects of present society; organization of the
+townships into joint-stock companies; central unitary mansions and
+workshops; division of labor according to the law of groups and
+series; distribution <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>of profit in the proportion of five-twelfths to
+labor, four-twelfths to capital, and three-twelfths to talent, &amp;c. We
+quote the eloquent and pious conclusion, as a specimen of the whole:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"An important branch of the divine mission of our Savior Jesus
+Christ, was to establish the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth. He
+announced incessantly the practical reign of Divine wisdom and
+love among all men: and it was a chief aim of all his struggles
+and teachings to prepare the minds of men for this glorious
+consummation. He proclaimed the universal brotherhood of
+mankind; he insisted upon universal justice, and he predicted
+the triumphs of universal unity. 'Thou shall love,' he said,'the
+Lord thy God with all thy mind and all thy heart, and all thy
+soul, and thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments
+hang all the law and the prophets.' Again: 'If ye love not one
+another, how can ye be my disciples?' 'I have loved you, that
+you also may love one another.' 'Ye are all one, as I and my
+father are one.' Again: he taught us to ask in daily prayer of
+our Heavenly Father, 'Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on
+earth as it is in heaven.' Aye, it must be done, actually
+executed in all the details of life! And again, in the same
+spirit his disciple said, 'Little children, love one another.'
+'If you love not man, whom you have seen, how can you love God
+whom you have not seen?' And in regard to the form which this
+love should take, the apostle Paul says, 'As the body is one, so
+also is Christ. For by one spirit we are all baptized into one
+body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,' &amp;c. 'That there should be
+no schism (disunity) in the body, but that the members should
+have the same care one for another; and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>if one member suffer,
+all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all
+the members rejoice with it.' 'Ye are members one of another.'</p>
+
+<p>"These Divine truths must be translated into actual life. Our
+relations to each other as men, our business relations among
+others, must all be instituted according to this law of highest
+wisdom and love. In Association alone can we find the
+fulfillment of this duty; and therefore we again insist that
+Association is the duty of every branch of the universal church.
+Let its views of points of doctrines be what they may; let it
+hold to any creed as to the nature of man, or the attributes of
+God, or the offices of Christ; we say that it can not fully and
+practically embody the spirit of Christianity out of an
+organization like that which we have described. It may exhibit,
+with more or less fidelity, some tenet of a creed, or even some
+phase of virtue; but it can possess only a type and shadow of
+that universal unity which is the destiny of the church. But let
+the church adopt true associative organization, and the
+blessings so long promised it will be fulfilled. Fourier, among
+the last words that he wrote, describing the triumph of
+universal Association, exclaims, 'These are the days of mercy
+promised in the words of the Redeemer, Blessed are they which do
+hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be
+filled.' It is verily in harmony, in Associative unity, that God
+will manifest to us the immensity of his providence, and that
+the Savior will come according to his word, in 'all the glory of
+his Father:' it is the Kingdom of Heaven that comes to us in
+this terrestrial world; it is the reign of Christ; he has
+conquered evil. <i>Christus regnat, vincit, imperat.</i> Then will
+the Cross have accomplished its two-fold <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>destiny, that of
+consolation during the reign of sin, and that of universal
+banner, when human reason shall have accomplished the task
+imposed upon it by the Creator. 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of
+God and his righteousness'&mdash;the harmony of the passions in
+associative unity. Then will the banner of the Cross display
+with glory its device, the augury of victory, <i>In Hoc Signo
+Vinces</i>; for then it will have conquered evil, conquered the
+gates of hell, conquered false philosophy and national indigence
+and spurious civilization; <i>et port&aelig; inferi non prevalebunt</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"To the free and Christian people of the United States, then, we
+commend the principle of Association; we ask that it be fairly
+sifted; we do not shrink from the most thorough investigation.
+The peculiar history of this nation convinces us that it has
+been prepared by Providence for the working out of glorious
+issues. Its position, its people, its free institutions, all
+prepare it for the manifestation of a true social order. Its
+wealth of territory, its distance from the political influences
+of older and corrupter nations, and above all the general
+intelligence of its people, alike contribute to fit it for that
+noble union of freemen which we call Association. That peculiar
+constitution of government, which, for the first time in the
+world's career, was established by our Fathers; that signal fact
+of our national motto, <i>E Pluribus Unum</i>, many individuals
+united in one whole; that beautiful arrangement for combining
+the most perfect independence of the separate members with
+complete harmony and strength in the federal heart&mdash;is a rude
+outline and type of the more scientific and more beautiful
+arrangement which we would introduce into all the relations of
+man to man. We would give our theory of state rights an
+application to individual <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>rights. We would bind trade to trade,
+neighborhood to neighborhood, man to man, by the ties of
+interest and affection which bind our larger aggregations called
+States; only we would make the ties holier and more
+indissoluble. There is nothing impossible in this; there is
+nothing unpractical! We, who are represented in this Convention
+have pledged our sleepless energies to its accomplishment. It
+may cost time, it may cost trouble, it may expose us to
+misconception and even to abuse; but it must be done. We know
+that we stand on sure and positive grounds; we know that a
+better time must come; we know that the hope and heart of
+humanity is with us&mdash;that justice, truth and goodness are with
+us; we feel that God is with us, and we do not fear the anger of
+man. <i>The future is ours&mdash;the future is ours.</i> Our practical
+plans may seem insignificant, but our moral aim is the grandest
+that ever elevated human thought. We want the love and wisdom of
+the Highest to make their daily abode with us; we wish to see
+all mankind happy and good; we desire to emancipate the human
+body and the human soul; we long for unity between man and man
+in true society, between man and nature by the cultivation of
+the earth, and between man and God, in universal joy and
+religion."</p></div>
+
+<p>After this address, Mr. Ripley of Brook Farm made a speech, and Mr.
+Solyman Brown of the Leraysville Phalanx recited "a very beautiful
+pastoral, entitled, A Vision of the Future." Here occurred a little
+episode that brought our old friends of the Owenite wing of Socialism
+on the scene; not, however, altogether harmonically. The report says:</p>
+
+<p>"A delegation of English Socialists, from a society in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>this city,
+presented itself. The gentlemen composing the delegation, demanded
+seats as members of the Convention. The call of the Convention was
+read, and they were asked if they could unite with the Convention
+according to the terms of the call, as 'friends of Association based
+on the principles of Charles Fourier.' This they said they could not
+do, as they differed with the partisans of Fourier in fundamental
+principles, and particularly in regard to religion and property. They
+held to community of property, and did not accept our views of a
+Providential and Divine social order. They were informed that the
+objects of the Convention were of a special and business character,
+and that a controversy and discussion of principles could not be
+entered into. Their claim to sit as members of the Convention was
+therefore denied: but they were allowed freely to express their
+opinions, and treated with the utmost courtesy, without reply."</p>
+
+<p>Many "admirable addresses" continued to be delivered; among which one
+of Mr. Channing's is mentioned, and one of Charles A. Dana's is
+reported in full. He spoke as the representative of Brook Farm. We
+cull a few broken paragraphs:</p>
+
+<p>"As a member of the oldest Association in the United States, I deem it
+my duty to make some remarks on the practical results of the system.
+We have an Association at Brook Farm, of which I now speak from my own
+experience. We have there abolished domestic servitude. This
+institution of domestic servitude was one of the first considerations;
+it gave one of the first impulses to the movement at Brook Farm. It
+seemed that a continuance in the relations which it established, could
+not possibly be submitted to. It was a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>deadly sin&mdash;a thing to be
+escaped from. Accordingly it was escaped from, and we have now for
+three years lived at Brook Farm and have carried on all the business
+of life without it. At Brook Farm they are all servants of each other;
+no man is master. We do freely, from the love of it, with joy and
+thankfulness, those duties which are usually discharged by domestics.
+The man who performs one of these duties&mdash;he who digs a ditch or
+executes any other repulsive work, is not at the foot of the social
+scale; he is at the head of it. Again we have in Association
+established a natural system of education; a system of education which
+does justice to every one; where the children of the poor receive the
+integral development of all their faculties, as far as the means of
+Association in its present condition will permit. Here we claim to
+have made an advance upon civilized society.</p>
+
+<p>"Again, we are able already, not only to assign to manual labor its
+just rank and dignity in the scale of human occupations, but to insure
+to it its just reward. And here also, I think, we may humbly claim
+that we have made some advance upon civilized society. In the best
+society that has ever been in this world, with very small exceptions,
+labor has never had its just reward. Every where the gain is to the
+pocket of the employer. He makes the money. The laborer toils for him
+and is his servant. The interest of the laborer is not consulted in
+the arrangements of industry; but the whole tendency of industry is
+perpetually to disgrace the laborer, to grind him down and reduce his
+wages, and to render deceit and fraud almost necessary for him. And
+all for the benefit of whom? For the benefit of our excellent
+monopolists, our excellent <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>companies, our excellent employers. The
+stream all runs into their pockets, and not one little rill is
+suffered to run into the pockets of those who do the work. Now in
+Association already we have changed all this; we have established a
+true relation between labor and the people, whereby the labor is done,
+not entirely for the benefit of the capitalist, as it is in civilized
+society, but for the mutual benefit of the laborer and the capitalist.
+We are able to distribute the results and advantages which accrue from
+labor in a joint ratio.</p>
+
+<p>"These, then, very briefly and imperfectly stated, are the practical,
+actual results already attained. In the first place we have abolished
+domestic servitude; in the second place, we have secured thorough
+education for all; and in the third place, we have established justice
+to the laborer, and ennobled industry.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;* Two or three years ago we
+began our movement at Brook Farm, and propounded these few simple
+propositions, which I say are here proven. All declared it to be a
+scheme of fanaticism. There was universal skepticism. No one believed
+it possible that men could live together in such relations. Society,
+it was said, had always lived in a state of competition and strife
+between man and man; and when told that it was possible to live
+otherwise, no one received the proposition except with scorn and
+ridicule. But in the experience of two or three years, we maintain
+that we have by actual facts, by practical demonstration, proven this,
+viz.: that harmonious relations, relations of love and not of
+selfishness and mutual conflict, relations of truth and not of
+falsehood, relations of justice and not of injustice, are possible
+between man and man."</p>
+
+<p>At noon on Saturday the last resolution was adopted, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>and the
+Convention was about to adjourn, when Mr. Channing rose and addressed
+the assembly, as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. President and brother Associationists: We began our meeting with
+calling to mind, as in the presence of God, our solemn privileges and
+responsibilities. We can not part without invoking for ourselves, each
+other, our friends everywhere, and our race, a blessing. It this cause
+in which we are engaged, is one of mere human device, the emanation of
+folly and self, may it utterly fail; it will then utterly fail. But
+if, as we believe, it is of God, and, making allowance for human
+limitations, is in harmony with the Divine will, may it go on, as thus
+it must, conquering and to conquer. Those of us who are active in this
+movement have met, and will meet with suspicion and abuse. It is well!
+well that critical eyes should probe the schemes of Association to the
+core, and if they are evil, lay bare their hidden poison; well that in
+this fiery ordeal the sap of our personal vanities and weaknesses
+should be consumed. We need be anxious but on one account; and that is
+lest we be unworthy of this sublime reform. Who are we, that we should
+have the honor of giving our lives to this grandest of all possible
+human endeavors, the establishment of universal unity, of the reign of
+heaven on earth? Truly 'out of the mouths of babes and sucklings has
+the Lord ordained strength.' Kings and holy men have desired to see
+the things we see, and have not been able. Let our desire be, that our
+imperfections, our unfaithfulness, do not hinder the progress of love
+and truth and joy."</p>
+
+<p>The Convention then united in prayer, and parted with the benediction,
+"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward
+men."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>But this was not the end. That last day of the Convention was also the
+anniversary of Fourier's birthday, and in the evening the members held
+a festival at the Apollo Saloon. "The repast was plain and simple, but
+the intellectual feast and the social communion were delightful." The
+regular toasts, announced and probably prepared by Mr. Channing, were
+to the memory of Fourier, and to each of the twelve passions which,
+according to Fourier, constitute the active forces of human nature.
+"Soul-stirring speeches" followed each toast. Mr. Dana responded to
+the toast for friendship, and at the close of his speech Mr. Macdaniel
+proposed that the toast be repeated with clasped hands. "This
+proposition was instantly accepted, and with a burst of enthusiasm
+every man rose, and locking hands all round the table, the toast was
+repeated by the whole company, producing an electric thrill of emotion
+through every nerve."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Godwin compared the present prospects of Association to the tokens
+of approaching land which cheered the drooping spirits of the crew of
+Columbus. The friends from Brook Farm were the birds, and those from
+other places the flowers that floated on the waves.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Ripley said, "Our friend has compared us to birds. Well, it is
+true we have a good deal of singing, though not a great deal to eat;
+and we have very small nests. (Laughter.) Our most appropriate emblem
+is the not very beautiful or magnificent, but the very useful and
+respectable barn-yard fowl! for we all have to scratch for a living!</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Brisbane pronounced an enthusiastic and hearty tribute of his
+gratitude, esteem and respect for Horace Greeley, for the manly,
+independent, and generous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>support he had given to the cause from its
+infancy to the present day; and closed by saying&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"He (Mr. Greeley), has done for us what we never could have done. He
+has created the cause on this continent. He has done the work of a
+century. Well then, I will give [as a toast], 'One Continent and One
+Man!'"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Greeley returned his grateful thanks for what he said was the
+extravagant eulogium of his partial friend, and continued:</p>
+
+<p>"When I took up this cause, I knew that I went in the teeth of many of
+my patrons, in the teeth of prejudices of the great mass, in the teeth
+of religious prejudices; for I confess I had a great many more
+clergymen on my list before, than I have now, as I am sorry to say,
+for had they kept on, I think I could have done them a little good.
+(Laughter.) But in the face of all this, in the face of constant
+advices, 'Don't have any thing to do with that Mr. Brisbane,' I went
+on. 'Oh!' said many of my friends, 'consider your position&mdash;consider
+your influence.' 'Well,' said I, 'I shall endeavor to do so, but I
+must try to do some good in the meantime, or else what is the use of
+the influence.' (Cheers.) And thus I have gone on, pursuing a manly
+and at the same time a circumspect course, treading wantonly on no
+man's prejudice, telling on the contrary, universal man, I will defer
+to your prejudices, as far as I can consistently with duty; but when
+duty leads me, you must excuse my stepping on your corn, if it be in
+the way." (Cheers.)</p>
+
+<p>And so they went on with toasts and speeches and letters from
+distinguished outsiders&mdash;one, by the way, from Archbishop Hughes,
+courteously declining an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>invitation to attend&mdash;till the twelve
+o'clock bell warned them of the advent of holy time, and so they
+separated.</p>
+
+<p>A notable thing in this great demonstration was the intense
+<i>religious</i> element that pervaded it. The Convention was opened and
+closed with prayers and Christian doxologies. The letters and
+addresses abounded in quotations from scripture, always laboring to
+identify Fourierism with Christianity. Even the jollities of the
+festival at the Apollo Saloon could not commence till a blessing had
+been asked.</p>
+
+<p>These manifestations of religious feeling were mainly due to the
+presence of the Massachusetts men, and especially to the zeal of
+William H. Channing. He never forgot his religion in his enthusiasm
+for Socialism.</p>
+
+<p>It would be easy to ridicule the fervor and assurance of the actors in
+this enthusiastic drama, by comparing their hopes and predictions with
+the results. But for our part we hold that the hopes and predictions
+were true, and the results were liars. Mistakes were made as to the
+time and manner of the blessings foreseen, as they have been made many
+times before and since: but the inspiration did not lie.</p>
+
+<p>We have had a long succession of such enthusiasms in this country.
+First of all and mother of all, was the series of Revivals under
+Edwards, Nettleton and Finney, in every paroxysm of which the
+Millennium seemed to be at the door. Then came Perfectionism,
+rapturously affirming that the Millennium had already begun. Then came
+Millerism, reproducing all the excitements and hopes that agitated the
+Primitive Church just before the Second Advent. Very nearly coincident
+with the crisis of this last enthusiasm in 1843, came this Fourier
+revival, with the same confident predictions of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>coming of
+Christ's kingdom, and the same mistakes as to time and manner. Since
+then Spiritualism has gone through the same experience of brilliant
+prophecies and practical failures. We hold that all these enthusiasms
+are manifestations, in varied phase, of one great afflatus, that takes
+its time for fulfillment more leisurely than suits the ardor of its
+mediums, but inspires them with heart-prophecies of the good time
+coming, that are true and sure.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">HORACE GREELEY'S POSITION.</p>
+
+<p>The reader will observe that in the final passage of compliments
+between Messrs. Brisbane and Greeley at the Apollo festival, there is
+a clear answer to the question, Who was next in rank after Brisbane in
+the propagation of Fourierism in this country? As there is much
+confusion in the public memory on this important point in the
+<i>personnel</i> of Fourierism, we will here make a note of the principal
+facts in the Fourieristic history of the <i>Tribune</i>:</p>
+
+<p>A prominent New England journal in an elaborate obituary on the late
+Henry J. Raymond, after mentioning that he was an efficient assistant
+of Mr. Greeley on the <i>Tribune</i>, from the commencement of that paper
+in 1841 till he withdrew and took service on the <i>Courier and
+Enquirer</i>, went on to say:</p>
+
+<p>"It was at the time of Mr. Raymond's withdrawal from it, that the
+<i>Tribune</i>, which was speedily joined by George Ripley and Charles A.
+Dana, fresh from Brook Farm, had its Fourieristic phase."</p>
+
+<p>The mistakes in this paragraph are remarkable, and ought not to be
+allowed any chance of getting into history.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>In the first place Ripley and Dana did not thus immediately succeed
+Raymond on the <i>Tribune</i>. The American Cyclop&aelig;dia says that Raymond
+left the <i>Tribune</i> and joined Webb on the <i>Courier and Enquirer</i> in
+1843. But Ripley and Dana retained their connection with Brook Farm
+till October 30, 1847, and continued to edit the <i>Harbinger</i> in New
+York till February 10, 1849, as we know by the files of that paper in
+our possession. They could not have joined the <i>Tribune</i> before the
+first of these dates, and probably did not till after the last; so
+that there was an interval of from three to six years between
+Raymond's leaving and their joining the <i>Tribune</i>.</p>
+
+<p>But the most important error of the above quoted paragraph is its
+implication that the "Fourieristic phase" of the <i>Tribune</i> was after
+Raymond left it, and was owing to the advent of Ripley and Dana "fresh
+from Brook Farm." The truth is, that the <i>Tribune</i> had become the
+organ of Mr. Brisbane, the importer of Fourierism, in March 1842, less
+than a year from its commencement (which was on April 10, 1841); and
+of course had its "Fourieristic phase" while Raymond was employed on
+it, and in fact before Ripley and Dana had been converted to
+Fourierism. Brook Farm, be it ever remembered, was originally an
+independent Yankee experiment, started in 1841 by the suggestion of
+Dr. Channing, and did not accept Fourierism till the winter of 1843-4.
+During the entire period of Brisbane's promulgations in the <i>Tribune</i>,
+which lasted more than a year, and which manifestly caused the great
+Fourier excitement of 1843, Brook Farm had nothing to do with
+Fourierism, except as it was being carried away with the rest of the
+world, by Brisbane and the <i>Tribune</i>. Thus it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>is certain that Ripley
+and Dana did not bring Fourierism into the <i>Tribune</i>, but on the
+contrary received Fourierism from the <i>Tribune</i>, during the very
+period when Raymond was assisting Greeley. When they joined the
+<i>Tribune</i> in 1847-9, Fourierism was in the last stages of defeat, and
+the most that they or Greeley or any body else did for it after that,
+was to help its retreat into decent oblivion.</p>
+
+<p>The obituary writer probably fell into these mistakes by imagining
+that the controversy between Greeley and Raymond, which occurred in
+1846, while Raymond was employed on the <i>Courier and Enquirer</i>, was
+the principal "Fourieristic phase" of the <i>Tribune</i>. But this was
+really an after-affair, in which Greeley fought on the defensive as
+the rear-guard of Fourierism in its failing fortunes; and even this
+controversy took place before Brook Farm broke up; so that Ripley and
+Dana had nothing to do with it.</p>
+
+<p>The credit or responsibility for the original promulgation of
+Fourierism through the <i>Tribune</i>, of course does not belong to Mr.
+Raymond; though he was at the time (1842) Mr. Greeley's assistant. But
+neither must it be put upon Messrs. Ripley and Dana. It belongs
+exclusively to Horace Greeley. He clearly was Brisbane's other and
+better half in the propagation of Fourierism. For practical devotion,
+we judge that he deserves even the <i>first</i> place on the roll of honor.
+We doubt whether Brisbane himself ever pledged his property to
+Association, as Greeley did in the following address, published in the
+<i>Harbinger</i>, October 25, 1845:</p>
+
+<div class="block">
+<p>"As one Associationist who has given his efforts and means freely to
+the cause, I feel that I have a right to speak frankly. I know that
+the great number of our <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>believers are far from wealthy; yet I know
+that there is wealth enough in our ranks, if it were but devoted to
+it, to give an instant and resistless influence to the cause. A few
+thousand dollars subscribed to the stock of each existing Association
+would in most cases extinguish the mortgages on its property, provide
+it with machinery and materials, and render its industry immediately
+productive and profitable. Then manufacturing invention and skill
+would fearlessly take up their abode with our infant colonies; labor
+and thrift would flow thither, and a new and brighter era would dawn
+upon them. Fellow Associationists! <i>I</i> shall do whatever I can for the
+promotion of our common cause; to it whatever I have or may hereafter
+acquire of pecuniary ability is devoted: may I not hope for a like
+devotion from you?</p></div>
+
+<p class="right">"H.G."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XX.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE SYLVANIA ASSOCIATION.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>This was the first of the <span class="sc">Phalanxes</span>. The North American was
+the last. These two had the distinction of metropolitan origin; both
+being colonies sent forth by the socialistic schools of New York and
+Albany. The North American appears to have been Mr. Brisbane's
+<i>protege</i>, if he had any. Mr. Greeley seems to have attached himself
+to the Sylvania. His name is on its list of officers, and he gives an
+account of it in his "Recollections," as one of the two Phalanxes that
+issued from New York City. In the following sketch we give the
+rose-color first, and the shady side afterward. Indeed this will be
+our general method of making up the memoirs of the Phalanxes.</p>
+
+<p>The first number of Brisbane's paper, the <i>Phalanx</i>, (October 5, 1843)
+gives the following account of the Sylvania:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"This Association has been formed by warm friends of the cause
+from the cities of New York and Albany. Thomas W. Whitley is
+President, and Horace Greeley, Treasurer. Operations were
+commenced in May last, and have already proved incontestably the
+great advantages of Association; having thus far more than
+fulfilled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>the most sanguine hopes of success of those engaged
+in the enterprise. Temporary buildings have been erected, and
+the foundation laid of a large edifice; a great deal of land has
+been cleared, and a saw- and grist-mill on the premises when
+purchased, have been put in excellent repair; several branches
+of industry, shoe-making particularly, have been established,
+and the whole concern is now in full operation. Upwards of one
+hundred and fifty persons, men, women and children, are on the
+domain, all contented and happy, and much gratified with their
+new mode of life, which is new to most of the members as a
+country residence, as well as an associated household; for
+nearly all the mechanics formerly resided in cities, New York
+and Albany principally. In future numbers we will give more
+detailed accounts of this enterprising little Association. The
+following is a description of its location and soil:</p>
+
+<p>"The Sylvania domain consists of 2,300 acres of arable land,
+situated in the township of Lackawaxen, County of Pike, State of
+Pennsylvania. It lies on the Delaware river, at the mouth of the
+Lackawaxen creek, fourteen miles from Milford, about eighty-five
+miles in a straight line west by north of New York City (by
+stage route ninety-four, and by New York and Erie Railroad to
+Middletown, one hundred and ten miles; seventy-four of which are
+now traversed by railroad). The railroad will certainly be
+carried to Port Jervis, on the Delaware, only fifteen miles
+below the domain; certainly if the Legislature of the State will
+permit. The Delaware and Hudson Canal now passes up the Delaware
+directly across from the domain, affording an unbroken water
+communication with New York City; and the turnpike from Milford,
+Pennsylvania, to Owego, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>New York, bounds on the south the lands
+of the Association, and crosses the Delaware by a bridge about
+one mile from the dwellings. The domain may be said, not very
+precisely, to be bounded by the Delaware on the north, the
+Lackawaxen on the west, the Shoholy on the east, and the
+turnpike on the south.</p>
+
+<p>"The soil of the domain is a deep loam, well calculated for
+tillage and grazing. About one hundred acres had been cleared
+before the Association took possession of it; the remainder is
+thinly covered with the primitive forest; the larger trees
+having been cut off of a good part of it for timber. Much of it
+can be cleared at a cost of six dollars per acre. Abundance of
+timber remains on it for all purposes of the Association. The
+land lies in gentle sloping ridges, with valleys between, and
+wide, level tables at the top. The general inclination is to the
+east and south. There are very few acres which can not be plowed
+after clearing.</p>
+
+<p>"Application for membership, to be made (by letter, post paid),
+to Thomas W. Whitley, Esq., President, or to Horace Greeley,
+Esq., New York."</p></div>
+
+<p>The Executive officers issued a pamphlet soon after the commencement
+of operations, from which we extract the following:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"This Association was formed early in 1843, by a few citizens of
+New York, mainly mechanics, who, deeply impressed with the
+present defective, vice-engendering and ruinous system of
+society, with the wasteful complication of its isolated
+households, its destructive competition and anarchy in industry,
+its constraint of millions to idleness and consequent dependence
+or famine for want of employment, and its failure to secure
+education and development to the children growing up all around
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>and among us in ignorance and vice, were impelled to immediate
+and energetic action in resistance to these manifold and mighty
+evils. Having earnestly studied the system of industrial
+organization and social reform propounded by Charles Fourier,
+and been led to recognize in it a beneficent, expensive and
+practical plan for the melioration of the condition of man and
+his moral and intellectual elevation, they most heartily adopted
+that system as the basis and guide of their operations. Holding
+meetings from time to time, and through the press informing the
+public of their enterprise and its objects, their numbers
+steadily increased; their organization was perfected;
+explorations with a view to the selection of a domain were
+directed and made; and in the last week of April a location was
+finally determined on and its purchase effected. During the
+first week in May, a pioneer division of some forty persons
+entered upon the possession and improvement of the land. Their
+number has since been increased to nearly sixty, of whom over
+forty are men, generally young or in the prime of life, and all
+recognizing labor as the true and noble destiny on earth. The
+Sylvania Association is the first attempt in North America to
+realize in practice the vast economies, intellectual advantages
+and such enjoyments resulting from Fourier's system.</p>
+
+<p>"Any person may become a stockholder by subscribing for not less
+than one share ($25); but the council, having as yet its
+head-quarters in New York, is necessarily entrusted with power
+to determine at what time and in what order subscribers and
+their families can be admitted to resident membership on the
+domain. Those who are judged best calculated to facilitate the
+progress of the enterprise must be preferred; those with large
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>families unable to labor must await the construction of
+buildings for their proper accommodation; while such as shall,
+on critical inquiry, be found of unfit moral character or
+debasing habits, can not be admitted at all. This, however, will
+nowise interfere with their ownership in the domain; they will
+be promptly paid the dividends on their stock, whenever
+declared, the same as resident members.</p>
+
+<p>"The enterprise here undertaken, however humble in its origin,
+commends itself to the respect of the skeptical and the generous
+co&ouml;peration of the philanthropic. Its consequences, should
+success (as we can not doubt it will) crown our exertions, must
+be far-reaching, beneficent, unbounded. It aims at no
+aggrandizement of individuals, no upbuilding or overthrow of
+sect or party, but at the founding of a new, more trustful, more
+benignant relationship between capital and labor, removing
+discord, jealousy and hatred, and replacing them by concord,
+confidence and mutual advantage. The end aimed at is the
+emancipation of the mass; of the depressed toiling millions, the
+slaves of necessity and wretchedness, of hunger and constrained
+idleness, of ignorance, drunkenness and vice; and their
+elevation to independence, moral and intellectual development;
+in short, to a true and hopeful manhood. This enterprise now
+appeals to the lovers of the human race for aid; not for
+praises, votes or alms, but for co&ouml;peration in rendering its
+triumph signal and speedy. It asks of the opulent and the
+generous, subscriptions to its stock, in order that its lands
+may be promptly cleared and improved, its buildings erected,
+&amp;c.; as they must be far more slowly, if the resident members
+must devote their energies at once and henceforth to the
+providing, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>under the most unfavorable circumstances, of the
+entire means of their own subsistence. Subscriptions are
+solicited, at the office of the Association, 25 Pine street,
+third story.</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">Thos. W. Whitley</span>, President; <span class="sc">J.D. Pierson</span>,
+Vice President; <span class="sc">Horace Greeley</span>, Treasurer; <span class="sc">J.T.S.
+Smith</span>, Secretary."</p></div>
+
+<p>After this discourse, the pamphlet presents a constitution, by-laws,
+bill of rights, &amp;c., which are not essentially different from scores
+of joint-stock documents which we find, not only in the records of the
+Fourier epoch, but scattered all along back through the times of
+Owenism. The truth is, the paper constitutions of nearly all the
+American experiments, show that the experimenters fell to work, only
+under the <i>impulse</i>, not under the <i>instructions</i>, of the European
+masters. Yankee tinkering is visible in all of them. They all are shy,
+on the one hand, of Owen's flat Communism (as indeed Owen himself
+was,) and on the other, of Fourier's impracticable account-keeping and
+venturesome theories of "passional equilibrium." The result is, that
+they are all very much alike, and may all be classed together as
+attempts to solve the problem, How to construct a <i>home</i> on the
+joint-stock principle; which is much like the problem, How to eat your
+cake and keep it too.</p>
+
+<p>For the shady side, Macdonald gives us a Dialogue which, he says, was
+written by a gentleman who was a member of the Sylvania Association
+from beginning to end. It is not very artistic, but shrewd and
+interesting. We print it without important alteration. The curious
+reader will find entertainment in comparing its descriptions of the
+Sylvania domain with those given in the official documents above. In
+this case as in many <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>others, views taken before and after trial, are
+as different as summer and winter landscapes.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">TALK ABOUT THE SYLVANIA ASSOCIATION.</p>
+
+<p><i>B.</i>&mdash;Good morning, Mr. A. I perceive you are busy among your papers.
+I hope we do not disturb you?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;Not in the least, sir. I am much pleased to meet you.</p>
+
+<p><i>B.</i>&mdash;I wish to introduce to you my friend Mr. C. He is anxious to
+learn something concerning the experiment in which you were engaged in
+Pike County, Pennsylvania, and I presumed that you would be willing to
+furnish him with the desired information.</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;I suppose, Mr. C., like many others, you are doubtful about the
+correctness of the reports you have heard concerning these
+Associations.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;Yes, sir: but I am endeavoring to discover the truth, and
+particularly in relation to the causes which produce so many failures.
+I find thus far in my investigations, that the difficulties which all
+Associations have to contend with, are very similar in their
+character. Pray, sir, how and where did the Sylvania Association
+originate?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;It originated partly in New York City and partly in Albany, in
+the winter of 1842-3. We first held meetings in Albany, and agitated
+the subject of Socialism till we formed an Association. Our original
+object was to read and explain the doctrines of Charles Fourier, the
+French Socialist; to have lectures delivered, and arouse public
+attention to the consideration of those social questions which
+appeared to us, in our new-born zeal, to have an important bearing
+upon the present, and more especially upon the future welfare of the
+human <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span>family. In this we partly succeeded, and had arrived at the
+point where it appeared necessary for us to think of practically
+carrying out those splendid views which we had hitherto been dreaming
+and talking about. Hearing of a similar movement going on in New York
+City, we communicated with them and ascertained that they thought
+precisely as we did concerning immediate and practical operations.
+After several communications the two bodies united, with a
+determination to vent their enthusiasm upon the land. Our New York
+friends appointed a committee of three persons to select a desirable
+location, and report at the next meeting of the Society.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;What were the qualifications of the men who were appointed to
+select the location? I think this very important.</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;One was a landscape painter, another an industrious cooper, and
+the third was a hom&oelig;opathic doctor!</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;And not a farmer among them! Well, this must have been a great
+mistake. At what season did they go to examine the country?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;I think it was in March; I am sure it was before the snow was
+off the ground.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;How unhappy are the working classes in having so little
+patience. Every thing they attempt seems to fail because they will not
+wait the right time. Had you any capitalists among you?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;No; they were principally working people, brought up to a city
+life.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;But you encouraged capitalists to join your society?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;Our constitution provided for them as well as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span>laborers. We
+wished to combine capital and labor, according to the theory laid down
+by Charles Fourier.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;Was his theory the society's practice?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;No; there was infinite difference between his theory and our
+practice. This is generally the case in such movements, and invariably
+produces disappointment and unhappiness.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;Does this not result from ignorance of the principles, or a want
+of faith in them?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;To some extent it does. If human beings were passive bodies, and
+we could place them just where we pleased, we might so arrange them
+that their actions would be harmonious. But they are not so. We are
+active beings; and the Sylvanians were not only very active, but were
+collected from a variety of situations least likely to produce
+harmonious beings. If we knew mathematically the laws which regulate
+the actions of human beings, it is possible we might place all men in
+true relation to each other.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;Working people seem to know no patience other than that of
+enduring the everlasting toil to which they are brought up. But about
+the committee which you say consisted of an artist, mechanic and a
+doctor; what report did they make concerning the land?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;They reported favorably of a section of land in Pike County,
+Pennsylvania, consisting of about 2,394 acres, partly wooded with
+yellow pine and small oak trees, with a soil of yellow loam without
+lime. It was well watered, had an undulating surface, and was said to
+be elevated fifteen hundred feet above the Hudson river. To reach it
+from New York and Albany, we had to take our things first to Rondout
+on the Hudson, and thence by canal to Lackawanna; then five miles up
+hill on a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>bad stony road. [In the description on p. 234 the canal is
+said to be "<i>directly across from the domain</i>."] There was plenty of
+stone for building purposes lying all over the land. The soil being
+covered with snow, the committee did not see it, but from the small
+size of the trees, they probably judged it would be easily cleared,
+which would be a great advantage to city-choppers. Nine thousand
+dollars was the price demanded for this place, and the society
+concluded to take it.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;What improvements were upon it, and what were the conditions of
+sale?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;There were about thirty acres planted with rye, which grain, I
+understood, had been successively planted upon it for six years
+without any manure. This was taken as a proof of the strength of the
+soil; but when we reaped, we were compelled to rake for ten yards on
+each side of the spot where we intended to make the bundle, before we
+had sufficient to tie together. There were three old houses on the
+place; a good barn and cow-shed; a grist-mill without machinery, with
+a good stream for water-power; an old saw-mill, with a very
+indifferent water-wheel. These, together with several skeletons of
+what had once been horses, constituted the stock and improvements. We
+were to pay $1,000 down in cash; the owner was to put in $1,000 as
+stock, and the balance was to be paid by annual instalments.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;How much stock did the members take?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;To state the exact amount would be somewhat difficult; for some
+who subscribed liberally at first, withdrew their subscriptions, while
+others increased them. On examining my papers, I reckon that in Albany
+there were about $4,500 subscribed in money <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>and useful articles for
+mechanical and other purposes. In New York I should estimate that
+about $6,000 were subscribed in like proportions.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;When did the members proceed to the domain, and how did they
+progress there?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;They left New York and Albany for the domain about the beginning
+of May; and I find from a table I kept of the number of persons, with
+their ages, sex and occupations, that in the following August there
+were on the place twenty-eight married men, twenty-seven married
+women, twenty-four single young men, six single young women, and
+fifty-one children; making a total of one hundred and thirty-six
+individuals. These had to be closely packed in three very indifferent
+two-story frame houses. The upper story of the grist-mill was devoted
+to as many as could sleep there. These arrangements very soon brought
+trouble. Children with every variety of temper and habits, were
+brought in close contact, without any previous training to prepare
+them for it. Parents, each with his or her peculiar character and mode
+of educating children, long used to very different accommodations,
+were brought here and literally compelled to live like a herd of
+animals. Some thought their children would be taken and cared for by
+the society, as its own family; while others claimed and practiced the
+right to procure for their children all the little indulgences they
+had been used to. Thus jealousies and ill-feelings were created, and
+in place of that self-sacrifice and zealous support of the
+constitution and officers, to which they were all pledged (I have no
+doubt by some in ignorance), there was a total disregard of all
+discipline, and a determination in each to have the biggest share of
+all things going, except hard labor, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>which was very unpopular with a
+certain class. Aside from the above, had we been carefully selected
+from families in each city, and had we been found capable of giving up
+our individual preferences to accomplish the glorious object we had in
+view, what had we to experiment upon? In my opinion, a barren
+wilderness; not giving the slightest prospect that it would ever
+generously yield a return for the great sacrifices we were making upon
+it. The land was cold and sterile, apparently incapable of supporting
+the stunted pines which looked like a vast collection of barbers'
+poles upon its surface. I will give you one or two illustrations of
+the quality of the soil: We cut and cleared four and a half acres of
+what we thought might be productive soil; and after having plowed and
+cross-plowed it, we sowed it with buckwheat. When the crop was drawn
+into the barn and threshed, it yielded eleven and a-half bushels.
+Again, we toiled hard, clearing the brush and picking up the stones
+from seventeen acres of new land: we plowed it three different ways,
+and then sowed and harrowed it with great care. When the product was
+reaped and threshed, it did not yield more than the quantity of seed
+planted. Such experiences as these made me look upon the whole
+operation as a suicidal affair, blasting forever the hopes and
+aspirations of the few noble spirits who tried so hard to establish in
+practice, the vision they had seen for years.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;How long did the Association remain on the place?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;About a year and a half, and then it was abandoned as rapidly as
+it was settled.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;They made improvements while there. What were they, and who got
+them when the society left?</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span><i>A.</i>&mdash;We cleared over one hundred acres and fenced it in; built a
+large frame-house forty feet by forty, three stories high; also a
+two-story carpenter's-shop, and a new wagon-house. We repaired the dam
+and saw-mill, and made other improvements which I can not now
+particularize. These improvements went to the original owner, who had
+already received two thousand dollars on the purchase; and (as he
+expressed it) he generously agreed to take the land back, with the
+improvements, and release the trustees from all further obligations!</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;It appears to me that your society, like many others, lacked a
+sufficient amount of intelligence, or they never would have sent such
+a committee to select a domain; and after the domain was selected,
+sent so many persons to live upon it so soon. Your means were totally
+inadequate to carry out the undertaking, and you had by far too many
+children upon the domain. There should have been no children sent
+there, until ample means had been secured for their care and education
+under the superintendence of competent persons.</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;It is difficult to get any but married men and women to endure
+the hardships consequent on such an experiment. Single young men,
+unless under some military control, have not the perseverance of
+married men.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;But the children! What have you to say of them?</p>
+
+<p><i>A.</i>&mdash;I am not capable of debating that question just now; but I am
+satisfied that a very different course from the one we tried must be
+pursued. Better land and more capital must be obtained, and a greater
+degree of intelligence and subordination must pervade the people,
+before a Community can be successful.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>Macdonald moralizes as usual on the failure. The following is the
+substance of his funeral sermon:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"There were too many children on the place, their number being
+fifty-one to eighty-five adults. Some persons went there very
+poor, in fact without anything, and came away in a better
+condition; while others took all they could with them, and came
+back poor. Young men, it is stated, wasted the good things at
+the commencement of the experiment; and besides victuals,
+dry-goods supplied by the Association were unequally obtained.
+Idle and greedy people find their way into such attempts, and
+soon show forth their character by burdening others with too
+much labor, and, in times of scarcity, supplying themselves with
+more than their allowance of various articles, instead of taking
+less.</p>
+
+<p>"Where such a failure as this occurs, many persons are apt to
+throw the blame upon particular individuals as well as on the
+principles; but in this case, I believe, nearly all connected
+with it agree that the inferior land and location was the
+fundamental cause of ill success.</p>
+
+<p>"It was a loss to nearly all engaged in it. Those who subscribed
+and did not go, lost their shares; and those who subscribed and
+did go, lost their valuable time as well as their shares. The
+sufferers were in error, and were led into the experiment by
+others, who were likewise in error. Working men left their
+situations, some good and some bad, and, in their enthusiasm,
+expected, not only to improve their own condition, but the
+condition of mankind. They fought the fight and were defeated.
+Some were so badly wounded that it took them many years to
+recover; while others, more fortunate, speedily regained their
+former positions, and now <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>thrive well in the world again. The
+capital expended on this experiment was estimated at $14,000."</p></div>
+
+<p>The exact date at which the Sylvania dissolved is not given in
+Macdonald's papers, but the <i>Phalanx</i> of August 10, 1844, indicates in
+the following paragraph, that it was dying at that time:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"We are requested to state that the Sylvania Association, having
+become satisfied of its inability to contend successfully
+against an ungrateful soil and ungenial climate, which
+unfortunately characterize the domain on which it settled, has
+determined on a dissolution. Other reasons also influence this
+step, but these, and the fact that the domain is located in a
+thinly inhabited region, cut off almost entirely from a market
+for its surplus productions, are the prominent reasons. A
+grievous mistake was made by those engaged in this enterprise,
+in the selection of a domain; but as a report on the matter is
+forthcoming, we shall say no more at present."</p></div>
+
+<p>It is evident enough that this was not Fourierism. Indeed, Mr. A., the
+respondent in the Dialogue, frankly admits, for himself and doubtless
+for his associates, that their doings had in them no semblance of
+Fourierism. But then the same may be said, without much modification,
+of all the experiments of the Fourier epoch. Fourier himself would
+have utterly disowned every one of them. We have seen that he
+vehemently protested against an experiment in France, which had a cash
+basis of one hundred thousand dollars, and the advantage of his own
+possible presence and administration. Much more would he have refused
+responsibility for the whole brood of unscientific and starveling
+"picnics," that followed Brisbane's excitations.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>Here then arises a distinction between Fourierism as a theory
+propounded by Fourier, and Fourierism as a practical movement
+administered in this country by Brisbane and Greeley. The constitution
+of a country is one thing; the government is another. Fourier
+furnished constitutional principles; Brisbane was the working
+President of the administration. We must not judge Fourier's theory by
+Brisbane's execution. We can not conclude or safely imagine, from the
+actual events under Brisbane's administration, what would have been
+the course of things, if Fourier himself had been President of the
+American movement. It might have been worse; or it might have been
+better. It certainly would not have been the same; for Brisbane was a
+very different man from Fourier. For one thing, Fourier was
+practically a cautious man; while Brisbane was a young enthusiast.
+Again, Fourier was a poor man and a worker; while Brisbane was a
+capitalist. Our impression also is, that Fourier was more religious
+than Brisbane. From these differences we might conjecture, that
+Fourier would not have succeeded so well as Brisbane did, in getting
+up a vast and swift excitement; but would have conducted his
+operations to a safer end. At all events, it is unfair to judge the
+French theory by the American movement under Brisbane. The value of
+Fourier's ideas is not determined, nor the hope of good from them
+foreclosed, merely by the disasters of these local experiments.</p>
+
+<p>And, to deal fairly all round, it must further be said, that it is not
+right to judge Brisbane by such experiments as that of the Sylvania
+Association. Let it be remembered that, with all his enthusiasm, he
+gave warning from time to time in his publications of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>deficiencies and possible failures of these hybrid ventures; and was
+cautious enough to keep himself and his money out of them. We have not
+found his name in connection with any of the experiments, except the
+North American Phalanx; and he appears never to have been a member
+even of that; but only was recommended for its presidency by the
+Fourier Association of New York, which was a sort of mother to it.</p>
+
+<p>What then shall we say of the rank-and-file that formed themselves
+into Phalanxes and marched into the wilderness to the music of
+Fourierism? Multitudes of them, like the poor Sylvanians, lost their
+all in the battle. To them it was no mere matter of theory or pleasant
+propagandism, but a miserable "Bull Run." And surely there was a great
+mistake somewhere. Who was responsible for the enormous miscalculation
+of times, and forces, and capabilities of human nature, that is
+manifest in the universal disaster of the experiments? Shall we clear
+the generals, and leave the poor soldiers to be called volunteer
+fools, without the comfort even of being in good company?</p>
+
+<p>After looking the whole case over again, we propose the following
+distribution of criticism:</p>
+
+<p>1. Fourier, though not responsible for Brisbane's administration, was
+responsible for tantalizing the world with a magnificent theory,
+without providing the means of translating it into practice. Christ
+and Paul did no such thing. They kept their theory in the back-ground,
+and laid out their strength mainly on execution. The mistake of all
+"our incomparable masters" of the French school, seems to have been in
+imagining that a supreme genius is required for developing a theory,
+but the experimenting and execution may be left to second-rate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>men.
+One would think that the example of their first Napoleon might have
+taught them, that the place of the supreme genius is at the head of
+the army of execution and in the front of the battle with facts.</p>
+
+<p>2. Brisbane, though not altogether responsible for the inadequate
+attempts of the poor Sylvanians and the rest of the rabble volunteers,
+must be blamed for spending all his energy in drumming and recruiting;
+while, to insure success, he should have given at least half his time
+to drilling the soldiers and leading them in actual battle. One
+example of Fourierism, carried through to splendid realization, would
+have done infinitely more for the cause in the long run, than all his
+translations and publications. As Fourier's fault was devotion to
+theory, Brisbane's fault was devotion to propagandism.</p>
+
+<p>3. The rank-and-file, as they were strictly volunteers, should have
+taken better care of themselves, and not been so ready to follow and
+even rush ahead of leaders, who were thus manifestly devoting
+themselves to theorizing and propagandism without experience.</p>
+
+<p>It may be a consolation to all concerned&mdash;officers, privates, and
+far-off spectators of the great "Bull Run" of Fourierism&mdash;that the
+cause of Socialism has outlived that battle, and has learned from it,
+not despair, but wisdom. We have found by it at least <i>what can not be
+done</i>. As Owenism, with all its disasters, prepared the way for
+Fourierism, so we may hope that Fourierism, with all its disasters,
+has prepared the way for a third and perhaps final socialistic
+movement. Every lesson of the past will enter into the triumph of the
+future.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXI.</h3>
+
+<h4>OTHER PENNSYLVANIA EXPERIMENTS.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>Our memoirs of the Phalanxes and other contemporary Associations, may
+as well be arranged according to the States in which they were
+located. We have already disposed of the Sylvania, which was the most
+interesting of the experiments in Pennsylvania during the Fourier
+epoch. Our accounts of the remaining half-dozen are not long. The
+whole of them may be dispatched at a sitting.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE PEACE UNION SETTLEMENT.</p>
+
+<p>This was a Community founded by Andreas Bernardus Smolnikar, whose
+name we saw among the Vice Presidents of the National Convention.
+Macdonald says nothing of it; but the <i>Phalanx</i> of April 1844, has the
+following paragraph:</p>
+
+<p>"This colony of Germans is situated in Limestown township, Warren
+County, Pennsylvania; it is founded upon somewhat peculiar views and
+associative principles, by Andreas Bernardus Smolnikar, who was
+Professor of Biblical Study and Criticism in Austria, and perceiving
+by the signs of the times compared with prophecies of the Bible, that
+the time was at hand for the foundation of the universal peace which
+was promised to all nations, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>and feeling called to undertake a
+mission to aid in carrying out the great work thus disclosed to him,
+he came to America. In the years 1838 and 1842, he published at
+Philadelphia five volumes in explanation of his views; and gathering
+around him a body of his countrymen, during the last summer he
+commenced with them the Peace Union Settlement, on a tract of fertile
+wild land of 10,000 acres, which had been purchased."</p>
+
+<p>That is all we find. Smolnikar begun, but, we suppose, was not able to
+finish. In 1845 he was wandering about the country, professing to be
+the "Ambassador extraordinary of Christ, and Apostle of his peace." He
+called on us at Putney; but we heard nothing of his Community.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE MCKEAN COUNTY ASSOCIATION.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Phalanx</i>, in its first number (October 1843), announced this
+experiment among many others, in the following terms:</p>
+
+<p>"There is a large Association of Germans in McKean County,
+Pennsylvania, commenced by the Rev. George Ginal of Philadelphia. They
+own a very extensive tract of land, over thirty thousand acres we are
+informed, and are progressing prosperously. The shares, which were
+originally $100, have been sold and are now held at $200 or more."</p>
+
+<p>This is the first and the last we hear of the Rev. George Ginal and
+his thirty thousand acres.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE ONE-MENTIAN COMMUNITY.</p>
+
+<p>The name of this Community, Macdonald says, was derived from
+Scripture; probably from the expression of Paul, "Be of one mind."
+<i>The New Moral World</i> claimed it as an Owenite Association, "with a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>constitution slightly altered from Owen's outline of rational society,
+i.e., made a little more theological." It originated at Paterson, New
+Jersey, but the sect of One-Mentianists appears to have had branches
+in Newark, New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and other cities. The
+prominent men were Dr. Humbert and Messrs. Horner, Scott, and Hudson.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Regenerator</i> of February 12, 1844, published a long epistle from
+John Hooper, a member of the One-Mentian Community, giving an account
+in rather stilted style, of its origin, state and prospects. We quote
+the most important paragraphs:</p>
+
+<p>"In the beginning of last year a few humble but sincere persons
+resolved to raise the standard of human liberty, and though limited
+indeed in their means, yet such as they could sacrifice they
+contributed for that purpose; believing that the tree being once
+planted, other generous spirits, filled with the same sympathy,
+enlightened by the same knowledge, and kindled by the same resolve,
+would, from time to time step forward, unite in the same holy cause,
+and nurture this tree, until its redeeming unction shall shed a
+kindred halo through the length and breadth of the land. Having made
+this resolve, they looked not behind them, but freely contributed of
+their hard-earned means, and purchased eight hundred acres of fertile
+wood-land, in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Their zeal perhaps
+overpacing their judgment, they located upon their domain several
+families before organizing sufficient means for their support, which
+necessarily produced much privation and disappointment, and which
+placed men and women, good and true, in a position to which human
+nature never ought to be exposed. But their undying faith <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>in the
+truth and grandeur of social Community, strengthened them in their
+endeavor to overcome their disasters, and they have passed the fiery
+ordeal chastened and purified. Do I censure their want of foresight?
+Do I regret this trial? Oh, no! It but the more forcibly confirms me
+in my persuasion of the practicability of our system. It but the more
+clearly shows how persons united in a good and just cause, can and
+will surmount unequaled privations, withering disappointments, and
+unimagined difficulties, if their impulse be as pure as their object
+is sacred and magnificent. It shows, too, most clearly, how the
+humblest in society can work out their redemption, when true to one
+another. And moreover, it is a security that blessings so dearly
+purchased, will be guarded by as judicious watchfulness and jealous
+care, as the labor was severe and trying in producing them.</p>
+
+<p>"But the land has been bought, and better still, it is paid for; and
+the Society stands at this moment free from debt. We have no interest
+nor rent to pay, no mortgage to dread; but we are free and
+unincumbered. The land is good, as can be testified by several persons
+in the city of New York, who well know it, and who are willing to bear
+witness of this fact to any who may or have questioned it. About
+sixteen acres of this land are cleared and cultivated. We have
+implements, some stock, and some machinery. But what is better than
+all, we have honest hearts, clear heads, and hardy limbs, which have
+passed the severest tests, battling with the huge forest, struggling
+with the hitherto sterile glebe, fostering the generous seed, that
+they may build suffering humanity a home. Who after this can be so
+cold as not to bid them good speed? Who so ungenerous as to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>speak to
+their disparagement? Who so niggardly as to withhold from them their
+mite? Having a fine water-power on their domain, they are yearning for
+the creation of a mill, which, at a small cost, can and will be soon
+accomplished," etc.</p>
+
+<p>Macdonald reports the progress and <i>finale</i> of this experiment, with
+some wholesome criticisms, as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The committee appointed to select a domain, chose the location
+when the ground was covered with snow. The land was wild and
+well timbered, but the region is said to be cold. Some of the
+soil is good, but generally it is very rocky and barren. The
+society paid five hundred dollars for some six or seven hundred
+acres, Cheap enough, one would say; but it turned out to be dear
+enough.</p>
+
+<p>"Enthusiasm drove between thirty and forty persons out to the
+spot, and they commenced work under very unfavorable
+circumstances. The accommodations were very inferior, there
+being at first only one log cabin on the place; and what was
+worse, there was an insufficiency of food, both for men and
+animals. The members cleared forty acres of land and made other
+improvements; and for the number of persons collected, and the
+length of time spent on the place, the work performed is said to
+have been immense.</p>
+
+<p>"As the land was paid for and assistance was being rendered by
+the various branches of the society, there were great
+anticipations of success. But it appears that an individual from
+Philadelphia visited the place, constituted himself a committee
+of inspection, and reported unfavorably to the Philadelphia
+branch; which quenched the Philadelphia ardor in the cause. A
+committee was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>sent on from the New York branch, and they
+likewise reported unfavorably of the domain. This speedily
+caused the dissolution of the Community.</p>
+
+<p>"The parties located on the domain reluctantly abandoned it, and
+returned again to the cities. I am informed that one of the
+members still lives on the place, and probably holds it as his
+own. Who has got the deeds, it seems difficult to determine.</p>
+
+<p>"This failure, like many others, is ascribed to ignorance.
+Disagreements of course took place; and one between Mr. Hudson
+and the New York branch, caused that gentleman to leave the
+One-Mentian, and start another Community a few miles distant.
+This probably broke up the One-Mentian. It lasted scarcely a
+year."</p></div>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE SOCIAL REFORM UNITY.</p>
+
+<p>"This Association," says Macdonald, "originated in Brooklyn, Long
+Island, among some mechanics and others, who were stimulated to make a
+practical attempt at social reform, through the labors of Albert
+Brisbane and Horace Greeley. Business was dull and the times were
+hard; so that working-men were mostly unemployed, and many of them
+were glad to try any apparently reasonable plan for bettering their
+condition."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. C.H. Little and Mr. Mackenzie were the leading men in this
+experiment. They framed and printed a very elaborate constitution; but
+as Macdonald says they never made any use of it, we omit it. One or
+two curiosities in it, however, deserve to be rescued from oblivion.</p>
+
+<p>The 14th article provides that "The treasury of the Unity shall
+consist of a suitable metallic safe, secured by seven different locks,
+the keys of which shall be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>deposited in the keeping and care of the
+following officers, to wit: one with the president of the Unity, one
+with the president of the Advisory Council, one with the secretary
+general, one with the accountant general, one with the agent general,
+one with the arbiter general, and one with the reporter general. The
+monies in said treasury to be drawn out only by authority of an order
+from the Executive Council, signed by all the members of the same in
+session at the time of the drawing of such order, and counter-signed
+by the president of the Unity. All such monies thus drawn shall be
+committed to the care and disposal of the Executive Council."</p>
+
+<p>The 62d Article says, "The question or subject of the dissolution of
+this Unity shall never be entertained, admitted or discussed in any of
+the meetings of the same."</p>
+
+<p>"Land was offered to the society by a Mr. Wood, in Pike County,
+Pennsylvania, at $1.25 per acre, and the cheapness of it appears to
+have been the chief inducement to accepting it. They agreed to take
+two thousand acres at the above rate, but only paid down $100. The
+remainder was to be paid in installments within a certain period.</p>
+
+<p>"A pioneer band was formed of about twenty persons, who went on to the
+property: their only capital being their subscriptions of $50 each.
+The journey thither was difficult, owing to the bad roads and the
+ruggedness of the country.</p>
+
+<p>"The domain was well-timbered land near the foot of a mountain range,
+and was thickly covered with stones and boulders. A half acre had been
+cleared for a garden by a previous settler. A small house with about
+four rooms, a saw-mill, a yoke of oxen, some pigs, poultry, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>etc.,
+were on the place; but the accommodations and provisions were
+altogether insufficient, and the circumstances very unpleasant for so
+many persons, and especially at such a season of the year; for it was
+about the middle of November when they went on the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"At the commencement of their labors they made no use of their
+constitution and laws to regulate their conduct, intending to use them
+when they had made some progress on their domain, and had prepared it
+for a greater number of persons. All worked as they could, and with an
+enthusiasm worthy of a great cause, and all shared in common whatever
+there was to share. They commenced clearing land, building bridges
+over the 'runs,' gathering up the boulders, and improving the
+habitation. But going on to an uncultivated place like that, without
+ample means to obtain the provisions they required, and at such a
+season, seems to me to have been a very imprudent step; and so the
+sequel proved.</p>
+
+<p>"None of the leading men were agriculturists; and although it may be
+quite true that the soil under the boulders was excellent, yet a band
+of poor mechanics, without capital, must have been sadly deluded, if
+they supposed that they could support themselves and prepare a home
+for others on such a spot as that; unless, indeed, mankind can live on
+wood and stone.</p>
+
+<p>"They depended upon external support from the Brooklyn Society, and
+expected it to continue until they were firmly established on the
+domain. In this they were totally disappointed; the promised aid never
+came; and indeed the subscriptions ceased entirely on the departure of
+the pioneers to the place of experiment.</p>
+
+<p>"They continued struggling manfully with the rocks, wood, climate and
+other opposing circumstances, for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>about ten months; and agreed pretty
+well till near the close, when the legislating and chafing increased,
+as the means decreased.</p>
+
+<p>"Occasionally a new member would arrive, and a little foreign
+assistance would be obtained. But this did not amount to much; and
+finally it was thought best to abandon the enterprise. Want of capital
+was the only cause assigned by the Community for its failure; but
+there was evidently also want of wisdom and general preparation."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">GOOSE-POND COMMUNITY.</p>
+
+<p>It was mentioned at the close of the account of the One-Mentian
+Community, that a Mr. Hudson seceded and started another Association.
+That Association took the domain left by the Social Reform Unity. The
+locality was called "Goose Pond," and hence the name of this
+Community. About sixty persons were engaged in it. After an existence
+of a few months it failed.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE LERAYSVILLE PHALANX.</p>
+
+<p>Several notices of this Association occur in The <i>Phalanx</i>, from which
+we quote as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Phalanx</i>, February 5, 1844.]</p>
+
+<p>"An Industrial Association, which promises to realize
+immediately the advantages of united interests, and ultimately
+all the immense economies and blessings of a true, brotherly
+social order, is now in progress of organization near the
+village of Leraysville, town of Pike, county of Bradford, in the
+State of Pennsylvania.</p>
+
+<p>"Nearly fifty thousand dollars have been subscribed to its
+stock, and a constitution nearly identical with that of the
+North American Phalanx, has received the signatures of a number
+of heads of families and others, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>who are preparing to commence
+operations early in the spring. Thus the books are fairly open
+for subscription to the capital stock, only a few thousand
+dollars more of cash capital being needed for the first year's
+expenditures.</p>
+
+<p>"About fifteen hundred acres of land have already been secured
+for the domain, consisting of adjacent farms in a good state of
+cultivation, well fenced and watered, and as productive as any
+tract of equal dimensions in its vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>"As Dr. Lemuel C. Belding, the active projector of this
+enterprise, and several other gentlemen who have united their
+farms to form the domain, are members of the New Jerusalem
+church, it may be fairly presumed that the Leraysville Phalanx
+will be owned mostly by members of that religious connection;
+although other persons desirous of living in charity with their
+neighbors, will by no means be excluded, but on the contrary be
+freely admitted to the common privileges of membership.</p>
+
+<p>"We are very much pleased with this little Phalanx, which is
+just starting into existence. Rev. Dr. Belding, the clergyman at
+the head of it, is a man of sound judgment, great practical
+energy, and clear views&mdash;not merely a theologian, talking only
+of abstract faith and future salvation. He knows that 'work is
+worship;' that order, economy and justice must exist on earth in
+the practical affairs of men, as they do wherever God's laws are
+carried out; and that if men would pray in <i>deed</i>, as they do in
+<i>word</i>, those principles would soon be realized in this world.</p>
+
+<p>"He enjoys the confidence of the people around him, and unites
+with them practically in the enterprise, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>setting an example by
+putting in his own land and other property, and doing his share
+of the <span class="fakesc">LABOR</span>."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Phalanx</i> March 1, 1844.]</p>
+
+<p>"We learn that this Association is proceeding with its
+organization under favorable auspices. The most interesting
+practical step that has been taken is, throwing down the
+division fences of the farms which have been united to form the
+domain. How significant a fact is this! The barricades of
+selfishness and isolation are overthrown!</p>
+
+<p>"Buried deep in the mountains of Pennsylvania, in a secluded,
+and as is said, beautiful valley, some honest farmers are living
+on their separate farms. In general they are thrifty; but they
+feel sensibly many evils and disadvantages to which they are
+subjected. The doctrines of Association reach them, and as
+intelligent, sincere minded men, they come together and discuss
+their merits. They are satisfied of their truth, and that they
+can live together as brethren with united interests, far better
+than they can separated, under the old system of divided and
+conflicting interests. They resolve to carry out their
+convictions, and to form an Association. Now how is this to be
+done? Simply by uniting their farms, and forming of them one
+domain. They do not sacrifice any interest in their property;
+the tenure of it only is changed. Instead of owning the acres
+themselves, they own the shares of stock which represent the
+acres, and the individual and collective interests are at once
+united. They are now joint-partners in a noble domain, and the
+interest of each is the interest of all, and the interest of all
+the interest of each. From unity of interests at once springs
+unity of feeling and unity of design; and the first sign is a
+destructive one; they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>throw down the old land-marks of
+division. The next will be constructive; they will build them a
+large and comfortable edifice in which they can reside in true
+social relations.</p>
+
+<p>"Now what do we gather from this? Plainly that the social
+transformation from isolation to Association, is a simple and
+easy thing, a peaceful and a practical thing, which neither
+violates any right nor disturbs any order.</p>
+
+<p>"We understand that as soon as the spring opens, the Leraysville
+Phalanx is to be joined by a number of enterprising men and
+skillful mechanics from this city and other places."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Phalanx</i>, April 1, 1844.]</p>
+
+<p>"The cash resources of the Phalanx, in addition to its local
+trade, will consist of sales of cattle, horses, boots, shoes,
+saddles and harness, woolen goods, hats, books of its own
+manufacture, paper, umbrellas, stockings, gloves, clothing,
+cabinet-wares, piano fortes, tin-ware, nursery-trees, carriages,
+bedsteads, chairs, oil-paintings and other productions of skill
+and art, together with the receipts from pupils in the schools
+and boarders from abroad, residing on the domain.</p>
+
+<p>"It need not be concealed that the intention of the founders of
+the Leraysville Association, is to keep up, if possible, a
+prevailing New Church influence in the Phalanx, in order that
+its schools may be conducted consistently with the views of that
+religious connection."</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="sc">Solyman Brown</span>, General Agent.<br />
+13 Park Place, New York.</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Phalanx</i>, September 7, 1844.]</p>
+
+<p>"We have received a paper containing an oration delivered on the
+Fourth of July, by Dr. Solyman Brown, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>late of this city, at the
+Leraysville Phalanx, which institution he has joined."</p></div>
+
+<p>So far the <i>Phalanx</i> carries us pleasantly; but here it leaves us.
+Macdonald tells the unpleasant part of the story thus:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"There were about forty men, women and children in the
+Association. Among them were seven farmers, two or three
+carpenters, one cabinet maker, two or three shoemakers, one
+cooper, one lawyer, and several doctors of physic and divinity,
+together with some young men who made themselves generally
+useful. The majority of the members were Swedenborgians, and Dr.
+Belding was their preacher.</p>
+
+<p>"The land (about three hundred acres) and other property
+belonged to Dr. Belding, his sons, his brother, and other
+relatives. It was held as stock, at a valuation made by the
+owners.</p>
+
+<p>"In addition to the families who were thus related, and who
+owned the property, individuals from distant places were induced
+to go there; but for these outsiders the accommodations were not
+very good. Each of the seven persons owning the land had
+comfortable homesteads on which they lived, the estimated value
+of which gave them controlling power and influence. But the
+associates from a distance (some even from the State of Maine)
+were compelled to board with Dr. Belding and others, until the
+associative buildings could be constructed&mdash;which in fact was
+never done. No doubt these invidious arrangements produced
+disagreements, which led to a speedy dissolution. The outsiders
+very soon became discontented with the management, conceiving
+that those who held the most stock, i.e., the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span>original owners
+of the soil, after receiving aid from without, endeavored so to
+rule as to turn all to their own advantage.</p>
+
+<p>"The circumstances of the property owners were improved by what
+was done on the place; but the associates from a distance, whose
+money and labor were expended in cultivating the land and in
+rearing new buildings, were not so fortunate. Their money
+speedily vanished, and their labor was not remunerated. The land
+and the buildings remained, and the owners enjoyed the
+improvements. The whole affair came to an end in about eight
+months."</p></div>
+
+<p>We hope the reader will not fail to notice how powerfully the
+land-mania raged among these Associations. Let us recapitulate. The
+Pennsylvania Associations, including the Sylvania, are credited with
+real estate as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="40%" summary="Real Estate">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="75%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdc" width="25%">Acres.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The Sylvania Association had</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">2,394</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The Peace Union Settlement had</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">10,000</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The McKean Co. Association had</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">30,000</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The Social Reform Unity had</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">2,000</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The Goose-Pond Community had</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">2,000</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The Leraysville Phalanx had</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">1,500</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">The One-Mentian Community had</td>
+  <td class="tdrp bb">800</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Total for the seven Associations</td>
+  <td class="tdrp bt">48,694</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>It is to be observed that Northern Pennsylvania, where all these
+Associations were located, is a paradise of cheap lands. Three great
+chains of mountains and not less than eight high ridges run through
+the State, and spread themselves abroad in this wild region. Any one
+who has passed over the Erie railroad can judge of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>the situation. It
+is evident from the description of the soil of the above domains, as
+well as from the prices paid for them, that they were, almost without
+exception, mountain deserts, cold, rocky and remote from the world of
+business. The Sylvania domain in Pike County, was elevated 1,500 feet
+above the Hudson river. Its soil was "yellow loam," that would barely
+support stunted pines and scrub-oaks; price, four dollars per acre.
+Smolnikar's Peace Union Settlement was on the ridges of Warren County,
+a very wild region. The Rev. George Ginal's 30,000 acres were among
+the mountains of McKean County, which adjoins Warren, and is still
+wilder. The Social Reform Unity was located in Pike County, near the
+site of the Sylvania. Its domain was thickly covered with stones and
+boulders; price, one dollar and a quarter per acre. The Goose Pond
+Community succeeded to this domain of the Social Reform Unity, with
+its stones and boulders. The Leraysville Association appears to have
+occupied some respectable land; but the <i>Phalanx</i> speaks of it as
+"deep buried in the mountains of Pennsylvania." The One-Mentian
+Community, like the Sylvania, selected its domain while covered with
+snow; the soil is described as wild, cold, rocky and barren; price,
+five hundred dollars for seven or eight hundred acres, or about
+sixty-five cents per acre.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the domains on which the Fourier enthusiasm vented itself.
+An illusion, like the <i>mirages</i> of the desert, seems to have prevailed
+among the Socialists, cheating the hungry mechanics of the cities with
+the fancy, that, if they could combine and obtain vast tracts of land,
+no matter where or how poor, their fortunes were made. Whereas it is
+well known to the wise that the more of worthless land a man has the
+poorer he is, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>if he pays taxes on it, or pays any attention to it;
+and that agriculture anyhow is a long and very uncertain road to
+wealth.</p>
+
+<p>We can not but think that Fourier is mainly responsible for this
+<i>mirage</i>. He is always talking in grand style about vast domains&mdash;three
+miles square, we believe, was his standard&mdash;and his illustrations of
+attractive industry are generally delicious pictures of fruit-raising
+and romantic agriculture. He had no scruple in assigning a series of
+twelve groups of amateur laborers to raising twelve varieties of the
+Bergamot pear! And his staunch disciples are always full of these
+charming impracticable ruralities.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXII.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE VOLCANIC DISTRICT.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>Western New York was the region that responded most vigorously to the
+gospel of Fourierism, proclaimed by Brisbane, Greeley, Godwin and the
+Brook Farmers.</p>
+
+<p>Taking Rochester for a center, and a line of fifty miles for radius,
+we strike a circle that includes the birth-places of nearly all the
+wonderful excitements of the last forty years. At Palmyra, in Wayne
+County, twenty-five miles east of Rochester, Joseph Smith in 1823 was
+visited by the Angel Moroni, and instructed about the golden plates
+from which the book of Mormon was copied; and there he began the
+gathering which grew to be a nation and settled Utah. Batavia, about
+thirty miles west of Rochester, was the scene of Morgan's abduction in
+1820; which event started the great Anti-Masonic excitement, that
+spread through the country and changed the politics of the nation. At
+Acadia, in Wayne County, adjoining Palmyra, the Fox family first heard
+the mysterious noises which were afterward known as the "Rochester
+rappings," and were the beginning of the miracles of modern
+Spiritualism. The Rochester region has also been famous for its
+Revivals, and borders on what Hepworth Dixon has celebrated as the
+"Burnt District."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>In this same remarkable region around Rochester, occurred the greatest
+Fourier excitement in America. T.C. Leland, writing from that city in
+April 1844, thus described the enthusiasm: "I attended the socialistic
+Convention at Batavia. The turn-out was astonishing. Nearly every town
+in Genesee County was well represented. Many came from five to twelve
+miles on foot. Indeed all western New York is in a deep, a shaking
+agitation on this subject. Nine Associations are now contemplated
+within fifty miles of this city. From the astonishing rush of
+applications for membership in these Associations, I have no
+hesitation in saying that twenty thousand persons, west of the
+longitude of Rochester in this State, is a low estimate of those who
+are now ready and willing, nay anxious, to take their place in
+associative unity."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Brisbane traveled and lectured in this excited region a few months
+before Mr. Leland wrote the above. The following is his report to the
+<i>Phalanx</i>:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"It will no doubt be gratifying to those who take an interest in
+the great idea of a Social Reform, to learn that it is spreading
+very generally through the State of New York. I have visited
+lately the central and western parts of the State, and have been
+surprised to see that the principles of a reform, based upon
+Association and unity of interests, have found their way into
+almost every part of the country, and the farmers are beginning
+to see the truth and greatness of a system of dignified and
+attractive industry, and the advantages of Association, such as
+its economy, its superior means of education, and the guaranty
+it offers against the indirect and legalized spoliation by those
+intermediate classes who now live upon their labor.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span>"The conviction that Association will realize Christianity
+practically upon earth, which never can be done in the present
+system of society, with its injustice, frauds, distrust, and the
+conflict and opposition of all interests, is taking hold of many
+minds and attracting them strongly to it. There is a very
+earnest desire on the part of a great number of sincere minds to
+see that duplicity which now exists between theory and practice
+in the religious world, done away with; and where this desire is
+accompanied with intelligence, Association is plainly seen to be
+the means. It is beginning to be perceived that a great social
+reformation must take place, and a new social order be
+established, before Christianity can descend upon earth with its
+love, its peace, its brotherhood and charity. The noble doctrine
+propounded by Fourier, is gaining valuable disciples among this
+class of persons.</p>
+
+<p>"I lectured at Utica, Syracuse, Seneca Falls, and Rochester, and
+although the weather was very unfavorable, the audiences were
+large. At Rochester I attended a convention of the friends of
+Association, interested in the establishment of the Ontario
+Phalanx. Men of intelligence, energy and strong convictions, are
+at the head of this enterprise, and it will probably soon be
+carried into operation. A very heavy subscription to the stock
+can be obtained in Rochester and the vicinity, in productive
+farms and city real estate, for the purpose of organizing this
+Association; but, owing to the scarcity of money, it is
+difficult to obtain the cash capital requisite to commence
+operations. From the perseverance and determination of the men
+at the head of the undertaking, it is presumed, however, that
+this difficulty will be overcome. Those persons in the western
+part of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>State of New York, who wish to enter an
+Association, can not be too strongly recommended to unite with
+the Ontario Phalanx.</p>
+
+<p>"It is very advisable that the friends of the cause should not
+start small Associations. If they are commenced with inadequate
+means, and without men who know how to organize them, they may
+result in failures, which will cast reproach upon the
+principles. The American people are so impelled to realize in
+practice any idea which strikes them as true and advantageous,
+that it will of course be useless to preach moderation in
+organizing Associations; still I would urgently recommend to
+individuals, for their own interest, to avoid small and
+fragmental undertakings, and unite with the largest one in their
+section of the country.</p>
+
+<p>"Four gentlemen from Rochester and its vicinity will be engaged
+this winter in propagating the principles of Association by
+lectures etc., in western New York. At Rochester they have
+commenced the publication of tracts upon Association, which we
+trust will be extensively circulated. That city is becoming an
+important center of propagation, and will, we believe, exercise
+a very great influence, as it is situated in a flourishing
+region of country, inhabited by a very intelligent population.</p>
+
+<p>"It must be deeply gratifying to the friends of Association to
+see the unexampled rapidity with which our principles are
+spreading throughout this vast country. Would it not seem that
+this very general response to, and acceptance of, an entirely
+new and radically reforming doctrine by intelligent and
+practical men, prove that there is something in it harmonizing
+perfectly with the ideas of truth, justice, economy and order,
+and those <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>higher sentiments implanted in the soul of man,
+which, although so smothered at present, are awakened when the
+correspondences in doctrine or practice are presented to them
+clearly and understandingly?</p>
+
+<p>"The name of Fourier is now heard from the Atlantic to the
+Mississippi; from the remotest parts of Wisconsin and Louisiana
+responsive echoes reach us, heralding the spread of the great
+principles of universal Association; and this important work has
+been accomplished in a few years, and mainly within two years,
+since Horace Greeley, Esq., the editor of the <i>Tribune</i>, with
+unprecedented courage and liberality, opened the columns of his
+widely-circulated journal to a fair exposition of this subject.
+What will the next ten years bring forth?"</p></div>
+
+<p>Mr. John Greig of Rochester, a participator in this socialistic
+excitement and in the experiments that went with it, contributed the
+following sketch of its beginnings to Macdonald's collection of
+manuscripts:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"We in western New York received an account of the views and
+discoveries of (the to-be-illustrious) Fourier, through the
+writings of Brisbane, Greeley, Godwin and the earnest lectures
+of T.C. Leland. Those ideas fell upon willing ears and hearts
+then (1843), and thousands flocked from all quarters to hear,
+believe, and participate in the first movement.</p>
+
+<p>"This excitement gathered itself into a settled purpose at a
+convention held in Rochester in August 1843, which was attended
+by several hundred delegates from the city and neighboring towns
+and villages. A great deal of discussion ensued as a matter of
+course, and some little amount of business was done. The nucleus
+of a society was formed, and committees for several <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>purposes
+were appointed to sit in permanence, and call together future
+conventions for further discussions.</p>
+
+<p>"I was one of the Vice Presidents of that convention, and took a
+decided interest in the whole movement. As there existed from
+the very beginning of the discussions some diversity of opinion
+on several points of doctrine and expediency, there arose at
+least four different Associations out of the constituents of
+said convention. Those who were most determined to follow as
+near the letter of Fourier as possible, were led off chiefly by
+Dr. Theller (of 'Canadian Patriot' notoriety), Thomas Pond (a
+Quaker), Samuel Porter of Holly, and several others of less
+note, including the writer hereof. They located at Clarkson, in
+Monroe County. The other branches established themselves at
+Sodus Bay in Wayne County, at Hopewell near Canandaigua in
+Ontario County, at North Bloomfield in Ontario County, and at
+Mixville in Alleghany County."</p></div>
+
+<p>The Associations that thus radiated from Rochester, hold a place of
+peculiar interest in the history of the Fourier movement, from the
+fact that they made the first, and, we believe, the only practical
+attempt, to organize a <i>Confederation</i> of Associations. The National
+Convention, as we have seen, recommended general Confederation; and
+its executive committee afterward, through Parke Godwin, made
+suggestions in the <i>Phalanx</i> tending in the same direction. The
+movement, however, came to nothing, and at the subsequent National
+Convention in October, was formally abandoned. But the Rochester group
+of Associations, attracted together by their common origin, actually
+formed a league, called the "American Industrial Union," and a Council
+of their delegates held a session of two days at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>the domain of the
+North Bloomfield Association, commencing on the 15th of May, 1844. The
+<i>Phalanx</i> has an interesting report of the doings of this Confederate
+Council, from which we give below a liberal extract, showing how
+heartily these western New Yorkers abandoned themselves to the spirit
+of genuine Fourierism:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">FROM THE REPORT OF THE SESSION OF THE INDUSTRIAL UNION.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Resolved</i>, That it be recommended to the several institutions
+composing this Confederacy to adopt, as far as possible, the
+practice of mutual exchanges between each other; and that they
+should immediately take such measures as will enable them to
+become the commercial agents of the producing classes in the
+sections of the country where the Associations are respectively
+located.</p>
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Classification of Industry.</i></p>
+
+<p>"<i>Resolved</i>, That in the opinion of the council, the first step
+towards organization should be an arrangement of the different
+branches of agricultural, mechanical and domestic work, in the
+classes of necessity, usefulness and attractiveness. The exact
+category in which an occupation shall be placed, will be
+influenced more or less by local circumstances, and is, at best,
+somewhat conjectural. It will be indicated, however, with
+certainty, by observation and experience. In the meantime, the
+council take the liberty to express an opinion, that to the</p>
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Class of Necessity.</i></p>
+
+<p>belong, among others, the following, viz.: ditching, masonry,
+work in woolen and cotton factories, quarrying stone,
+brickmaking, burning lime and coal, getting out manure, baking,
+washing, ironing, cooking, tanning and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>currier business,
+night-sawing and other night work, blacksmithing, care of
+children and the sick, care of dairy, flouring, hauling seine,
+casting, chopping wood, and cutting timber.</p>
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Class of Usefulness.</i></p>
+
+<p>"All mechanical trades not mentioned in the class of necessity;
+agriculture, school-teaching, book-keeping, time of directors
+while in session, other officers acting in an official capacity,
+engineering, surveying and mapping, store-keeping, gardening,
+rearing silk-worms, care of stock, horticulture, teaching music,
+housekeepers (not cooks), teaming.</p>
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Class of Attractiveness.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Cultivation of flowers, cultivation of fruit, portrait-and
+landscape-painting, vine-dressing, poultry-keeping, care of
+bees, embellishing public grounds.</p>
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Groups and Series.</i></p>
+
+<p>"The Council recommend to the different Associations the
+following plan for the organization of groups and series, viz.:</p>
+
+<p>"1. Ascertain, for example, the whole number of members who will
+attach themselves to, or at any time take part in, the
+agricultural line. From this number, organize as many groups as
+the business of the line will admit.</p>
+
+<p>"2. We recommend the numbers 30, 24, 18, as the maximum rank of
+the classes of necessity, usefulness and attractiveness.</p>
+
+<p>"The series should then be numbered in the order in which they
+are formed, and the groups in the same manner, beginning 1, 2,
+3, &amp;c., for each series.</p>
+
+<p>"Mechanical series can be organized, embracing all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>the
+different trades employed by the Association, in the same
+manner; and if the groups can not be filled up at once with
+adults, we would recommend to the institutions to fill them
+sufficiently for the purpose of organization, with apprentices.</p>
+
+<p>"Each group should have a foreman, whose business it should be
+to keep correct accounts of time, superintend and direct the
+performance of work, and maintain an oversight of
+working-dresses, etc.</p>
+
+<p>"There should be one individual elected as superintendent of the
+series, whose business it should be to confer with the farming
+committee of the board, and inform the different foremen of
+groups, of the work to be done, and inspect the same afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>"The council is thoroughly satisfied that all the labor of an
+Association should be performed by groups and series, and
+although the combined order can not be fully established at
+once, the adoption of this arrangement will avoid incoherence,
+and be calculated to impress on each member a sense of his
+personal responsibility.</p>
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Time and Rank.</i></p>
+
+<p>"The time, rank and occupation should be noted daily, and
+oftener, if a change of employment is made. The sum of the
+products of the daily time of each individual, as multiplied by
+his daily rank, should be carried to the time-ledger, weekly or
+monthly, to his or her credit. Each of the several amounts,
+whether performed in the classes of necessity, usefulness, or
+attractiveness, will thus be made to bear an equal proportion to
+the value of the services rendered.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="sc">A.M. Watson</span>, President.</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">E.A. Stillman</span>, Secretary."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>The reader may be curious to see how these instructions were carried
+out in actual account-keeping. Fortunately the <i>Phalanx</i> furnishes a
+specimen of what, we suppose, may be called, unmitigated Fourierism.</p>
+
+<p>"The following tables," says a subsequent report, "exhibit the mode of
+keeping the account of a group at the Clarkson domain. The total
+number of hours that each individual has been employed during the
+week, is multiplied by the degree in the scale of rank, which gives an
+equation of rank and time of the whole group. At Clarkson, for every
+thousand of the quotient, each member is allowed to draw on his
+account for necessaries, to the value of seventy-five cents:</p>
+
+<p class="cen">SERIES OF TAILORESSES&mdash;GROUP NO. I.</p>
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Maximum Rank 25.</i></p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="70%" summary="Group No. 1">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp box" width="8%">1844<br />Rank</td>
+  <td class="tdr box" width="28%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">Mo.</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">Tue.</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">We.</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">Thu.</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">Fri.</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">Sat.</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">Total<br />hours</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">Hours<br />&amp; rank.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp bt br">20</td>
+  <td class="tdlp bltr">M. Weed,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bltr">6</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bltr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bltr">3</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bltr">&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bltr">&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bltr">5</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bltr">24</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bl bt">480</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp br">25</td>
+  <td class="tdlp blr">J. Peabody,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">12</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">62</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bl">1550</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp br">20</td>
+  <td class="tdlp blr">S. Clark,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">8</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">48</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bl">960</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp br">25</td>
+  <td class="tdlp blr">E. Clark,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">2</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">Sick</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">22</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bl">550</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp br">18</td>
+  <td class="tdlp blr">H. Lee,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">6</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">4</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">6</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">4</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">4</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">34</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bl">612</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp br">15</td>
+  <td class="tdlp blr">J. Folsom,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">3</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">3</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">2</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">6</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">5</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">3</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">22</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bl">330</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp br bb2">12</td>
+  <td class="tdlp blr bb2">Eliza Mann,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr bb2">4</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr bb2">4</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr bb2">2</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr bb2">2</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr bb2">6</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr bb2">4</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr bb2">22</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bl bb2">264</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>The above is a true account of the time and rank of the whole group,
+working under my direction for the past week.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="sc">Julia Peabody.</span> Foreman.<br />
+<span class="leftsig">Entered on the books of the Association, by</span></p>
+<p class="right"><span class="sc">Wm. Seaver</span>, Clerk.</p>
+<p><i>Clarkson Domain, July 6, 1844.</i></p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>SERIES OF WORKERS IN WOOD&mdash;GROUP NO II.</p>
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Maximum Rank 30.</i></p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="70%" summary="Group No. 1">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp box" width="8%">1844<br />Rank</td>
+  <td class="tdr box" width="28%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">Mo.</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">Tue.</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">We.</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">Thu.</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">Fri.</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">Sat.</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">Total<br />hours</td>
+  <td class="tdc box" width="8%">Hours<br />&amp; rank.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp bt br">24</td>
+  <td class="tdlp bltr">Chas. Odell,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bltr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bltr">9</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bltr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bltr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bltr">8</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bltr">9</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bltr">56</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bl bt">1344</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp br">30</td>
+  <td class="tdlp blr">John Allen,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">2</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">6</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">8</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">46</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bl">1380</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp br">20</td>
+  <td class="tdlp blr">Jas. Smith,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">Sick</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">3</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">3</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bl">120</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp br">30</td>
+  <td class="tdlp blr">Wm. Allen,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">12</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr">62</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bl">1860</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp br bb2">30</td>
+  <td class="tdlp blr bb2">Jas. Griffith,</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr bb2">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr bb2">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr bb2">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr bb2">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr bb2">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr bb2">10</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 blr bb2">60</td>
+  <td class="tdrp2 bl bb2">1800</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>The above is a true account of the time and rank of the whole group,
+working under my direction for the past week.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="sc">James Griffith</span>, Foreman.<br />
+<span class="leftsig">Entered on the books of the Association, by</span></p>
+<p class="right"><span class="sc">Wm. Seaver</span>, Clerk.</p>
+<p><i>Clarkson Domain, July 6, 1844.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>For the sake of keeping in view the various religious influences that
+entered into the Fourier movement, it is worth noting here that Edwin
+A. Stillman, the Secretary of the Union, was one of the early
+Perfectionists; intimately associated with the writer of this history
+at New Haven in 1835. We judge from the frequent occurrence of his
+official reports in the <i>Phalanx</i> and <i>Harbinger</i>, that he was the
+working center of the socialist revival at Rochester, and of the
+incipient confederacy of Associations that issued therefrom. In like
+manner James Boyle, another New Haven Perfectionist, was a very busy
+writer and lecturer among the Socialists of New England in the
+excitements 1842-3, and was a member of the Northampton Community.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXIII.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE CLARKSON PHALANX.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>This Association appears to have been the first and most important of
+the Confederated Phalanxes. Mr. John Greig (before referred to) is its
+historian, whose account we here present with few alterations:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"Our Association commenced at Clarkson on the shore of Lake
+Ontario, in the county of Monroe, about thirty miles from
+Rochester, in February 1844. We adopted a constitution and
+bye-laws, but I am sorry to say that I have not a copy of them.
+The reason why no copies have been preserved is, that after a
+year's experience in the associative life, we all became so wise
+(or smart, as the phrase is), that we thought we could make much
+better constitutions, and ceased to value the old ones.</p>
+
+<p>"We had no property qualifications. All male and female members
+over eighteen years of age were voters upon all important
+matters, excepting the investment and outlay of capital. No
+religious or political tests were required. The chief principle
+upon which we endeavored to found our Association, was to
+establish justice and judgment in our little earth at Clarkson
+domain, and as much further as possible.</p>
+
+<p>"Our means were ample; but, as it proved, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>unavailable. The
+beginning and ending of our troubles was this&mdash;and let all
+readers consider it&mdash;we were without the pale and protection of
+law, for want of incorporation. Consequently we could do no
+business, could not buy or sell land or other property, could
+not sue or be sued, could neither make ourselves responsible,
+nor compel others to become so; and as a majority of us were
+never able to adopt the dreamy abstractions of non-resistance
+and no-law, we were unable to live and prosper in that kingdom
+of smoke 'above the world.'</p>
+
+<p>"The members, in different proportions, had placed in the hands
+of trustees, after the manner of religious societies in this
+State, ninety-five thousand dollars worth of choice landed
+property, to be sold, turned into cash, and invested in Clarkson
+domain. We purchased of a Mr. Richmond Church and others, over
+two thousand acres of first-rate land, all on trust, excepting
+twenty acres bought for cash. The rise in value of our large
+purchase since our dispersion, has exceeded fifty thousand
+dollars. We probably took on to the domain some ten thousand
+dollars worth of goods and chattels.</p>
+
+<p>"Our property was not considered common stock; we only
+recognized a common cause. Our agreement gave capital to labor
+for less than half of the world's present interest, and gave to
+labor its full reward, according to merit, that is, skill,
+strength, and time; establishing 'Do as you would be done by'
+first; and attending to the questions of brotherhood afterward,
+such as home for life, respect, comfort, and all needful or
+desirable things to the old, the infant, the disabled, etc. This
+was the extent of our Communism. Our company stock was divided
+into twenty-five dollar shares. About one-third of the members
+owned none at all at first, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>although their rights were
+considered equal; and that point, be it said to the glory of the
+domain, was never mooted and scarcely mentioned.</p>
+
+<p>"We commenced our new life at Clarkson in March, April and May,
+1844; building our temporary, and enlarging our established,
+houses, and beginning to marshal our forces of toil. In April we
+'numbered Israel,' and found we were four hundred and twenty
+souls, as happy and joyous a family as ever thronged to an
+Independence dinner. If, in our fiscal affairs we were not
+Communists, in our moral and social feelings we were a house not
+divided against itself.</p>
+
+<p>"In relation to education, natural intelligence, and morality, I
+candidly think we were a little above the average of common
+citizens at large in the State, and no more. Trades and
+occupations were multiform. Our doctor and minister were
+academical scholars merely. We had one ripe merchant (a great
+rogue, too), some first-rate mechanics of all the substantial
+trades, and a noble lot of common farmers.</p>
+
+<p>"As for religion, we had seventy-four praying Christians,
+including all the sects in America, excepting Millerites and
+Mormons. We had one Catholic family (Dr. Theller's), one
+Presbyterian clergyman, and one Universalist. One of our first
+trustees was a Quaker. We had one Atheist, several Deists, and
+in short a general assortment; but of Nothingarians, none; for
+being free for the first time in our lives, we spoke out, one
+and all, and found that every body did believe something. All
+the gospels were preached in harmony and good fellowship. We
+early got up a committee on preaching the gospel, placing one of
+each known denomination upon said committee, including a Deist,
+who being a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>liberal soul, and no bigot in his infidelity, was
+chosen chairman on the gospel; and allow him modestly to say, he
+did acquit himself to the entire satisfaction of his more
+fortunate brethren in the faith. One word about our Atheist&mdash;our
+poor unfortunate Atheist; he was beloved by every soul on the
+domain, and was an intimate friend of our orthodox minister. We
+had no difficulties on the score of religion, and had we
+remained, we should have been nearer to love to God and love to
+man, than we are now, scattered as we are, broadcast over the
+continent. For membership, we required a decent character&mdash;no
+more. No oaths nor fines were required. Honorable pledges were
+given and generally kept.</p>
+
+<p>"Our domain was located at the mouth of Sandy Creek, on Lake
+Ontario. It was a slightly rolling plain, and the best soil in
+the world. On account of so much water (Lake, Bay and Creek), it
+was rather unhealthy, but would improve in time by cultivation.
+We had one good flour-mill, two saw-mills, one machine-shop,
+some good farm buildings and barns, and about half a mile in
+length of temporary rows of board buildings; a dry goods store
+for a portion of the time, and over 400 acres of land, under
+fair cultivation. At one period of our career, we had about four
+hundred sheep, forty cows, twenty-five span of horses, twelve
+yoke of oxen, swine, guinea fowls, barn fowls, geese, ducks,
+bees, etc., etc., in great abundance. We cultivated several
+acres of vegetable garden, reaped one hundred acres of wheat,
+and had corn, potatoes, peas, etc., to a large amount&mdash;I should
+think seventy-five acres. We had abundance of pasture, and must
+have cut two hundred tons of hay. Of wild berries there must
+have been gathered hundreds of bushels.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>"Our regularly elected officers managed the receipts and
+expenditures; and they were, I believe, honestly managed up to a
+certain time.</p>
+
+<p>"The four hundred and twenty members kept together until the
+autumn of the first year, and then were forced to break up and
+divide property, having but little to sustain themselves,
+because our capital was wrongfully tied up, in the hands of
+trustees: this course having been pursued by advice of certain
+great lawyers, who, when our legal troubles commenced, appeared
+in the courts against us. No purchasers could be found to buy
+the lands in the hands of the trustees; so we had come to a dead
+lock, and were obliged to break up or down, as the fact may be
+estimated. The associates did not disagree at all save in one
+thing, and that was, as to these bad property arrangements,
+which compelled them to break up. They staid or went by lots
+cast. Two hundred persons staid on the domain some four months
+longer, and then, the hope of a legal foundation having entirely
+died out, the whole matter was necessarily thrown into the court
+of Chancery, and the lawyers, as usual, took the avails of the
+hard earnings of the disappointed members.</p>
+
+<p>"The regularly organized Association kept together nearly one
+year. A remnant of the band remained after the court of chancery
+had adjudged a transfer of the estate back into the hands of the
+original owners. That remnant tried every little scheme and new
+contrivance that imagination could devise (except Fourierism),
+to stick together in a joint-stock capacity for a year longer or
+so, and then broke and ran all over the world, proclaiming
+Fourierism a failure. The Heavens may <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>fall, and Fourier's
+industrial science may fail; but it must be tried first; till
+then it can not fail.</p>
+
+<p>"In short the reason why the attempt at Clarkson failed, and the
+only reason, was, that the founders missed the entrance door,
+viz., a legal foundation; by which they would have made friends
+with the old world, and begun the new in a constructive way,
+obtaining the right men and plenty of the 'mammon of
+unrighteousness.' They should have got incorporated under a
+general law like our manufacturing law, and obtained a suitable
+domain of at least 5760 acres of land or three miles square, and
+should have built and furnished a sufficient portion of a
+phalanstery to accommodate at least 400 persons, at the outset
+of organization. I boldly pronounce all partial attempts, short
+of such a beginning, a waste, and worse than a waste, of time
+and brain, blood and muscle, soul and body.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">John Greig."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>A writer in the <i>Phalanx</i> (July 1844), viewing things from a
+standpoint a little further off than Mr. Greig's, gave the following
+more probable account of the Clarkson failure:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The original founders of this Association, no doubt actuated by
+good motives, but lacking discretion, held out such a brilliant
+prospect of comfort and pleasure in the very infancy of the
+movement, that hundreds, without any correct appreciation of the
+difficulties to be undergone by a pioneer band, rushed upon the
+ground, expecting at once to realize the heaven they so ardently
+desired, and which the eloquent words of the lecturers had
+warranted them to hope for. Thus, ignorant of Association,
+possessed, for the most part, of little capital, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>without
+adequate shelter from the inclemency of the weather, or even a
+sufficient store of the most common articles of food, without
+plan, and I had almost said, without purpose, save to fly from
+the ills they had already experienced in civilization, they
+assembled together such elements of discord as naturally in a
+short time led to their dissolution."</p></div>
+
+<p>One feature of Mr. Greig's entertaining sketch deserves notice in
+passing, viz., his cheerful boast of the multiplicity of religions in
+the Clarkson Association, and the wonderful harmony that prevailed
+among them. The meaning of the boast undoubtedly is, that religious
+belief was so completely a secondary and insignificant matter, that it
+did not prevent peaceful family relations, even between the atheists
+and the orthodox. This kind of harmony is often spoken of in the
+accounts of other Associations, and seems to have been a general
+characteristic, or at least a <i>desideratum</i>, of the Owen and Fourier
+schools. It is this harmonious indifference, which we refer to when we
+speak of the Associations of those schools as <i>non-religious</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The primary Massachusetts Communities, however, were hardly so free
+from religious limitations, though they issued from the sects commonly
+called liberal. The Brook Farmers, we have seen, covered the National
+Convention all over with the mantle of piety, insisting that they were
+at work as devout Christians, and that Fourierism, as they held it,
+was Christianity. And Hopedale was even more zealous for Christianity
+than Brook Farm. Collins's Community at Skaneateles, on the other
+hand, went clear over to exclusive anti-religion; and actually barred
+out by its original creed, all kinds of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>Christians, tolerating nobody
+but sound Atheists and Deists.</p>
+
+<p>The Northampton Association, which we have termed Nothingarian, seems
+to have invented the happy medium of the Clarkson platform, and in
+that respect may be regarded as the prototype of the whole class of
+Fourier Associations. The mixture of religions, however, at
+Northampton, was not so harmonious as at Clarkson. The historian of
+the Northampton Community says: "The carrying out of different
+religious views was perhaps the occasion of more disagreement than any
+other subject; and this disagreement, operated to general
+disadvantage, as in consequence of it several valuable members
+withdrew." We shall meet with similar disagreements and disasters in
+the Sodus Bay Phalanx and other Associations, to be reported
+hereafter. So that it does not seem altogether safe to huddle a great
+variety of contradictory religions together in close Association,
+notwithstanding the apparent results in the Clarkson case. And it
+occurs, as a natural suggestion, that possibly the Clarkson
+Association did not last long enough to fairly test the results of a
+general mixture of religions.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXIV.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE SODUS BAY PHALANX.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>This Association originated about the same time as the Clarkson
+Association (February 1844), and in the same place (Rochester). The
+following description of its domain is from the <i>Herald of Freedom</i>:</p>
+
+<p>"We have at this place about 1,400 acres of choice land, three hundred
+of which are under improvement. It borders on Sodus Bay, the best
+harbor on Lake Ontario, and for beauty of scenery, is not surpassed by
+any tract in the State. We have on the domain two streams of water,
+which can both be used for propelling machinery. We number at present
+about three hundred men, women and children. The buildings on the
+place were nearly enough to accommodate the whole, the place having
+formerly been occupied by the Shakers, who had erected good buildings
+for their own accommodation."</p>
+
+<p>The editor of the <i>Phalanx</i> visited this Association in the autumn of
+1844, and wrote of it as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"The advantages of the location seemed to us very rare, and it was
+with great pain that we discovered that the internal condition, of the
+Phalanx was not encouraging. We did not find that unity of purpose,
+without which a small and imperfectly provided Association can <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>not be
+held together until it has attained the necessary perfection in its
+mechanism. At the commencement, as it appeared to us, there was not
+sufficient caution in the admission of members. A large number of
+persons were received without proper qualification, either in
+character or industrial abilities. Sickness unfortunately soon arose
+in the new Phalanx, and increased the confusion which resulted from a
+want of unity of feeling and systematic organization. Religious
+differences, pressed in an intolerant manner on both sides, had at the
+time of our visit produced entire uncertainty as to future operations,
+and carried disorder to its height. We left the domain with the
+conviction, which reflection has strengthened, that without an entire
+re&ouml;rganization under more efficient leaders, the Association must fall
+entirely to pieces; a fact which is greatly to be deplored on account
+of the cause in general, as well as on account of the excellence of
+the location, and the real worth of several individuals who have
+passed unshaken through such trying circumstances. We have, however,
+in the case of this Phalanx, a striking example of the folly of
+undertaking practical Association without sufficient means, and
+without men of proper character. No other advantages can compensate
+for the want of these."</p>
+
+<p>Nearly a year later (September 1845), a member of the Sodus Bay
+Phalanx wrote to the <i>Harbinger</i> in the following dubious vein:</p>
+
+<p>"We have only about twelve or fifteen adult males, and we believe we
+may safely say (from the amount of labor performed the present
+season), not many unprofitable ones. We have learned wisdom from the
+many difficulties and privations of last year, and there is now
+evidently a settled and determined will to succeed in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>our enterprise.
+There is, however, a debt which is very discouraging; $7,000 principal
+(besides $2,450 interest), which will come due next spring, and an
+ability on our part of paying no more than the interest."</p>
+
+<p>About the beginning of 1846 John A. Collins of the Skaneateles
+Community, visited Sodus Bay, and sent to his paper, the
+<i>Communitist</i>, the following mournful report:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"Experience has taught them that but little confidence can be
+placed on calculations which are predicated upon a
+newly-organized, or more properly disorganized, body of
+heterogeneous materials, during the first and second years of
+its existence. There is not the least doubt, but that an
+energetic and efficient individual, with sufficient capital to
+erect with the least possible delay the saw-mill, lath, shingle,
+broom-handle, tub and pail, fork and hoe-handle, last, and
+general turning machinery, and employ as many first-class
+workmen as the business would require, could in three years, pay
+both principal and interest, and have the entire farm and
+several thousand dollars besides. But an Association composed of
+inexperienced, restless, indolent, feeble and selfish
+individuals, would perish beneath the pressure of interest, ere
+they could construct their mills, get their machinery in
+operation, and become organized and systematized, so that all
+things could be carried forward with that system and perfection
+which characterize isolation and the older established
+Communities.</p>
+
+<p>"But had not capital stepped forth to crush this movement, other
+elements equally poisonous and deadly were introduced, which
+would have sealed its ruin. A great portion of its members were
+brought together, not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span>by a strong feeling or sympathy for the
+poor, noble philanthropy, or self-denying enthusiasm, but by the
+most narrow selfishness. Add to this, that bane of all that is
+meek, pure, noble and peaceful, religious bigotry was carried in
+and incorporated into the constitution of the Phalanx. Soon the
+body was divided into the religious and liberal portions, both
+of which carried their views, we think, to extremes.</p>
+
+<p>"We were present at a business meeting, in the early part of the
+fall of 1844. Each party, it seemed, felt bound to oppose the
+wishes, plans and movements of the other. We advised the more
+liberal portion of the society quietly to withdraw, and allow
+the other party to succeed if it possibly could. But they did
+not feel at liberty to do so; and soon after the religious body
+left, taking with them what of their property they could find,
+leaving those who remained (the liberal portion of the society),
+comparatively destitute. They felt determined to succeed, and
+nobly have they combated, to the present time, the hostile
+elements which have warred against them with terrible force.
+United in sympathy and feeling, they re-organized last spring;
+but the interest was too much for them to meet, and now there is
+no prospect of their remaining as an Association longer than the
+approaching April. Could those now upon the domain purchase
+three or four hundred acres of the land, we have not the least
+doubt but that they would succeed, and ultimately come into
+possession of the valuable wood-land adjoining. But this is
+impossible. In the evening all the adults convened together, and
+at their earnest request, we spoke for the space of an hour or
+more upon the signs of the times, the evidences of social
+progress, and the various minor difficulties that the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span>pioneers
+in this movement must necessarily have to experience; proving to
+the satisfaction of most of them, we think, that Fourier's plan
+of distributing wealth, was both arbitrary and superficial; that
+it was a useless effort to unite two opposite and hostile
+elements, which have no more affinity for each other than water
+and oil, or fire and gunpowder; that inasmuch as individual and
+separate interests are the cause or occasion of nearly all the
+crime, poverty, and suffering in civilized society, it follows
+that the cause and occasion must be removed, ere the effects
+will disappear. Still the difference between Communists and
+Associationists is not so great, that they should be opposed and
+alienated. It should be our object to see the points of
+agreement, rather than seek for points of disagreement. In the
+former we have been too active and earnest. Association is a
+great school for Communism. It will develop the false, and point
+out the good.</p>
+
+<p>"As we left this interesting spot the following morning, it was
+painful to think that those men and women, who for nearly two
+years had struggled against great odds, with their
+philanthropic, manly and heroic spirit, with all their
+enthusiasm, zeal and confidence in the beauty and practicability
+of the principles of social co-operation, must soon be dispersed
+and thrown back again, to act upon the selfish and beggarly
+principles of strife and competition."</p></div>
+
+<p>Macdonald ends the story in his usual sombre style as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"This experiment was a total failure. I have been unable to
+gather many particulars concerning its last days, and those I
+have obtained are of a very unfavorable character.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>"The chief cause of failure was religious difference. Persons of
+various religious creeds could not agree. There were some among
+them who thought it no sin to labor on the Sabbath, and others
+who looked upon it as an outrage, which the Phalanx should take
+action to prevent. A committee was appointed to settle such
+differences, but in this they failed. Sickness was another of
+their troubles. They were severely afflicted with typhoid
+erysipelas, and at one time forty-nine of their members were
+upon the sick list.</p>
+
+<p>"After laboring a year or two under these difficulties, there
+was a hasty and disorderly retreat. It is said that each
+individual helped himself to the movable property, and that some
+decamped in the night, leaving the remains of the Phalanx to be
+disposed of in any way which the last men might choose. The fact
+that mankind do not like to have their faults and failings made
+public, will probably account for the difficulty in obtaining
+particulars of such experiments as the Sodus Bay Phalanx."</p></div>
+
+<p>Allen and Orvis, the lecturing missionaries of Brook Farm, in that
+same letter from which we quoted some time since a maledictory
+paragraph on the memory of the Skaneateles Community, mention also the
+bad odor of the defunct confederated Phalanxes of Western New York, in
+the following disrespectful terms. Their letter is dated at Rochester,
+September 1847:</p>
+
+<p>"The prospect for meetings in this city is less favorable than that of
+any place where we have previously visited. It is the nest wherein was
+hatched that anomalous brood of birds, called the 'Sodus Bay Phalanx,'
+'The Clarkson Phalanx,' the 'Bloomfield Phalanx,' and the 'Ontario
+Union.' The very name of Association is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>odious with the public, and
+the unfortunate people who went into these movements in such mad
+haste, have been ridiculed till endurance is no longer possible, and
+they have slunk away from the sight and knowledge of their neighbors."</p>
+
+<p>The experience of the Sodus Bay Phalanx in regard to religion,
+suggests reflections. Let us improve the opportunity to study some of
+the practical relations of religion to Association.</p>
+
+<p>The object and end of Association in all its forms, as we have
+frequently said, is to gather men, women and children into larger and
+more permanent <span class="fakesc">HOMES</span> than those established by marriage. The
+advantages of partnership, incorporation and co&ouml;peration have become
+so manifest in modern affairs, that an unspeakable longing has arisen
+in the very heart of civilization for the extension of those
+advantages to the dearest of all human interests&mdash;family affairs&mdash;the
+business of home. The charm that drew the western New Yorkers together
+in such rushing multitudes, was simply the prospect of home on the
+large scale, which indeed is heaven.</p>
+
+<p>Now if we consider the laws which govern the formation of homes on the
+small scale, we shall be likely to get some wisdom in regard to their
+formation on the large scale.</p>
+
+<p>And in the first place, it is evident that homes formed by the
+conjunction of pairs in the usual way, are not all harmonious&mdash;perhaps
+we might say, are not generally harmonious. Families quarrel and break
+up, as well as Associations; and if husbands and wives were as free to
+separate as the members of Association are, possibly marriage would
+not make much better show than Socialism has made. Human nature, as we
+have seen it in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>the Communities and Phalanxes&mdash;discordant,
+centrifugal&mdash;is the same in marriage. Now, as experience has developed
+something like a code of rules that govern prudent people in venturing
+on marriage, our true way is to study that code, and apply it as far
+as possible to the vastly greater venture of Association.</p>
+
+<p>Fourier's dream that two or three thousand discordant centrifugal
+individuals in one great home, would fall, by natural gravitation,
+into a balance of passions, and realize a harmony unattainable on the
+small scale of familism, has not been confirmed by experience, and
+seems to us the wildest opposite of truth. We should expect, <i>a
+priori</i>, that with discordant materials, the greater the formation,
+the worse would be the hell: and this is just what has been proved by
+all the experiments. Let us go back, then, and study the rules of
+harmony in the formation of common families.</p>
+
+<p>Probably there is not one among those rules so familiar and so
+universally approved by the prudent, as that which advises men and
+women not to marry without agreement in religion This rule has nothing
+to do with bigotry. It does not look at the supposed truth or
+falsehood of different religious creeds. It simply says: Let the
+Catholic marry the Catholic; the Orthodox, the Orthodox; the Deist,
+the Deist; the Nothingarian, the Nothingarian; but don't match these
+discords together, if you wish for family peace. Now this is the
+precept which the Fourier Associations, as we see, deliberately
+violated; and yet they expected peace, and complained dreadfully
+because they did not get it! There is latent quarrel enough in the
+religious opposition of a single pair, to spoil a family; and yet
+these Socialists ventured on hundred-fold complications of such
+oppositions, with a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span>heroism that would be sublime, if it were not
+desperately unwise.</p>
+
+<p>It is useless to say that religion is an affair of the inner man and
+need not disturb external relations. It did disturb the external
+relations of the Socialists at Sodus Bay, and could not do otherwise.
+They quarreled about the Sabbath. It did disturb the external
+relations of the Northampton Socialists. They quarreled about
+amusements. Religion always extends from the inner man to such
+external things.</p>
+
+<p>It is useless to say, as Collins evidently wished to insinuate, that
+the bigoted sort of religionists, those of the orthodox order, were
+alone to blame. In the first place this is not true. All the witnesses
+say, Collins among the rest, that both parties pushed and hooked. And
+in the next place, if it were true, it would only show the importance
+of excluding the orthodox from Associations, and the value of the rule
+that forbids marrying religious discords.</p>
+
+<p>Even Collins, with all his liberality, had originally too much good
+sense to attempt Association in the promiscuous way of the
+Fourierists. His first idea was to make his Community a sort of
+close-communion church of infidelity; and, as it turned out, this was
+his brightest idea; for in abandoning it he succumbed to his more
+religious rival, Johnson, and admitted quarreling and weakness that
+ruined the enterprise. His advice also to the liberal party at Sodus
+Bay to withdraw, shows that his judgment was opposed to the
+heterogeneous mixtures that were popular among the Fourierists.</p>
+
+<p>On the whole it seems to us that it should be considered settled by
+reason and experience, that the rule <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span>we have found governing the
+prudential theory of marriage on the small scale, should be
+transferred to the theory of Association, which is really marriage on
+the large scale. Better not marry at all, than marry a religious
+quarrel. Better have no religion, than have a dozen different
+religions, as they had at Clarkson. If you mean to found a Community
+for peace and permanence, first of all find associates that agree with
+you in religion, or at least in no-religion, and if possible bar out
+all others. Remember that all the successful Communities are
+harmonious, and the basis of their harmony is unity in religion. If
+you think you can find a way to secure harmony in no-religion, try it.
+But don't be so foolish as to enter on the tremendous responsibilities
+of Community-building, with a complication of religious quarrels
+lurking in your material.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXV.</h3>
+
+<h4>OTHER NEW YORK EXPERIMENTS.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>The next on the list of the Confederated Associations of western New
+York, was</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE BLOOMFIELD ASSOCIATION.</p>
+
+<p>We have but meager accounts of this experiment. Macdonald does not
+mention it. The <i>Phalanx</i> of June 15, 1844, says that it commenced
+operations on the 15th of March in that year, on a domain of about
+five hundred acres, mostly improved land, situated one mile east of
+Honeoye Falls, in the Counties of Monroe, Livingston and Ontario; that
+it was in debt for its land about $11,000, and had $35,000 of its
+subscriptions actually paid in; that it had one hundred and
+forty-eight resident members, and a large number more expecting to
+join, as soon as employment could be found for them. Two or three
+allusions to this Association occur afterward in the <i>Phalanx</i>,
+congratulating it on its prospects, and mentioning good reports of its
+progress. Finally in the <i>Harbinger</i>, volume 1, page 247, we find a
+letter from E.D. Wight and E.A. Stillman, dated August 20, 1845,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span>defending the Association against newspaper charges, and asserting its
+continued prosperity; but giving us the following peep into a
+complication of troubles, that probably brought it to its end shortly
+afterwards:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"We are not fully satisfied with the tenor by which our real
+estate, under the existing laws, is obliged to be held.
+Conveyances, pursuant to legal advice, were made originally by
+the owners of each particular parcel, to the committee of
+finance, in trust for the stockholders and members; and a power
+was executed by the stockholders to the committee, by which,
+under certain regulations, they were to have authority to sell
+and convey the same. The absurdity of the Statute of Trusts
+never having been licked into shape by judicial decisions, a
+close and unavailing search has since been instituted for the
+fugitive legal title.</p>
+
+<p>"Some counselors, learned in the law, find it in the committee
+of finance, as representatives of the Association; others have
+discovered that it is vested in them as individuals; others
+still, of equal eminence, and equally intent on arriving at a
+true solution, find perhaps that it is in the committee and
+stockholders jointly; while there are those who profess to find
+it in neither of these parties, but in the persons of whom the
+property was purchased, and to whom has been paid its full
+valuation!</p>
+
+<p>"In order to educe order out of this confusion of opinions, and
+to enable us to acquire, if possible, a less objectionable
+title, it has been proposed to petition the Chancellor for a
+sale, as a title from the court would be free from doubt."</p></div>
+
+<p>If this may be considered the end (as it probably was), it shows that
+the Bloomfield Association died, as the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span>Clarkson did, in a quarrel
+about its titles, and in the hands of the lawyers.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE ONTARIO UNION.</p>
+
+<p>"This Association" says the <i>Phalanx</i> of June 1844, "commenced
+operations about two weeks since, in Hopewell, Ontario County, five
+miles from Canandaigua. They have purchased the mills and farm
+formerly owned by Judge Bates, consisting of one hundred and fifty
+acres of land, a flouring mill with five run of burr stones, and
+saw-mill, at $16,000. They have secured by subscription, about one
+hundred and thirty acres of land in the immediate vicinity, which they
+are now working. To meet their liabilities for the original purchase,
+I am informed they have already a subscription which they believe can
+be relied on, amounting to over $40,000. They have now upon the domain
+about seventy-five members. This institution has been able already to
+commence such branches of industry as will produce an immediate
+return, and as a consequence, will avoid the necessity of living upon
+their capital. There is danger that their enthusiasm will get the
+better of their judgment in admitting members too fast."</p>
+
+<p>The editor of the <i>Phalanx</i> visited this Association among others, in
+the fall of 1844, and gave the following cheerful account of it:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The whole number of resident members is one hundred and fifty;
+fifty of whom are men, and upward of sixty children. We were
+greatly pleased with the earnest spirit which seemed to pervade
+this little Community. We thought we perceived among them a
+really religious devotion to the great cause in which they have
+embarked. This gave an unspeakable charm to their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span>rude,
+temporary dwellings, and lent a grace to their plain manners,
+far above any superficial elegance. We have no doubt that they
+will succeed in establishing a state of society higher even than
+they themselves anticipate. Of their pecuniary success their
+present condition gives good assurance. We should think that,
+with ordinary prudence, it was entirely certain."</p></div>
+
+<p>We find nothing after this in the <i>Phalanx</i> about this Association.
+Macdonald merely mentions a few such items as the date, place, etc.,
+and concludes with the following terse epitaph: "It effected but
+little, and was of brief duration. No further particulars."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE MIXVILLE ASSOCIATION</p>
+
+<p>was one of the group that radiated from Rochester, according to Mr.
+Greig; but we can find no account of it anywhere, except that it had
+not commenced operations at the time of the session of the
+Confederated Council; though a delegate from it was a member of that
+Council. How long it lived, or whether it lived at all, does not
+appear.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE JEFFERSON COUNTY PHALANX.</p>
+
+<p>This Association, though not properly a member of the group that
+radiated from Rochester, and somewhat remote from western New York,
+was named among the confederated Associations, and sent a delegate to
+the Bloomfield Council. Three notices of it occur in the <i>Phalanx</i>,
+which we here present.</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Phalanx</i> October 5, 1843.]</p>
+
+<p>"This Association has been commenced through the efforts,
+principally, of A.M. Watson, Esq., the President, who for some
+years past has been engaged in advocating <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>and disseminating the
+principles of Association in Watertown and that section of the
+State. There are over three hundred persons now on the domain,
+which consists of twelve or fifteen hundred acres of superior
+land, finely watered, and situated within two or three miles of
+Watertown. It is composed of several farms, put in by farmers,
+who have taken stock for their lands, and joined the
+Association. Very little cash capital has been paid in; the
+enterprise was undertaken with the subscription of property,
+real estate, provisions, tools, implements, &amp;c., brought in by
+the members, who were principally farmers and mechanics in the
+neighborhood; and the result is an interesting proof of what can
+be done by union and combined effort among the producing
+classes. Different branches of manufactures have been
+established, contracts for building in Watertown have been
+taken, and an organization of labor into groups or squads, with
+their foremen or leaders, has been made to some extent. The
+agricultural department is prosecuted with vigor, and when last
+heard from, the Association was flourishing. We hope from this
+Association that perseverance and constancy&mdash;for it of course
+has many difficulties to contend with&mdash;which will insure
+success, and give another proof of the truth of the great
+principles of combined effort and united interests."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Phalanx</i>, November 4, 1843.]</p>
+
+<p>"The following statement from the <i>Black River Journal</i> of
+October 6th, exhibits the affairs of the Jefferson County
+Association in a gratifying light, and shows that so far it has
+been extremely prosperous and successful. The fact alone of a
+profit having been made, whether much or little, affords a
+strong proof of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span>the advantages of associated effort, for we
+apprehend that either farmers or mechanics working separately,
+would generally find it difficult to show a balance in their
+favor upon the settlement of their accounts. But a net profit of
+nearly thirteen thousand dollars, or twenty-five per cent. upon
+the capital invested, for the first six months that a small
+Association has been in operation, under circumstances by no
+means the most favorable, is striking and incontestable evidence
+of real prosperity. Before a great while we shall have many such
+cases to record."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">ABSTRACT OF SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT.</p>
+
+<p>The first Semi-Annual Report of the property, expenditures and
+proceeds of labor of the Jefferson County Industrial
+Association, was submitted to a meeting of the stockholders on
+Monday the 2d inst.</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="70%" summary=" Report of the property, expenditures and proceeds of labor">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="70%" style="padding-right: 1em;">Since the organization of the Association in
+    April last, the real and personal property acquired by purchase and subscription, has
+    reached the amount of</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb" width="15%">$54,832.10</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb" width="15%">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" style="padding-right: 1em;">This is subject to reduction by the amount
+    of subscribed property applied to the purchase of real estate</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb bb"> 5,458.28</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp2" style="padding-right: 1em;">Total property on hand</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb bt">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb">$49,373.82</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" style="padding-right: 1em;">The aggregate product of the several
+    departments of business, to Sept. 23d</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb">$20,301.67</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" style="padding-right: 1em;">Expense of same, including all purchases
+    of goods and supplies</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb bb">7,331.95</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp2" style="padding-right: 1em;">Net proceeds</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb bt">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb">$12,969.72</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" style="padding-right: 1em;">Of this has been expended in improvement of
+    buildings, making a brick-yard, and preparing summer fallows</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb bb">1,365.00</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp2" style="padding-right: 1em;">Balance on hand</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb bt">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb">$11,604.72</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>This balance consists of agricultural products in store, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span>brick
+manufactured and now on hand, proceeds of jobbing contracts,
+earnings of mechanics' shops, etc.</p>
+
+<p>Published by order of the President and Board of Directors.</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen"><i>Report of A.M. Watson to the Confederate Council, May 15,
+1844.</i></p>
+
+<p>"The Jefferson County Association has made its first annual
+statement, by which it appears that capital in that institution
+will receive a fraction over six per cent. interest. Owing to
+inattention to the principles of Association, and a defective
+and incomplete organization of industry into groups and series,
+as well as to the fact that in the commencement much time is
+lost, labor in this institution fails to obtain its fair
+remuneration. Another circumstance which has operated to the
+disadvantage of labor, is, that no allowance has been made in
+its favor, in the annual settlement, for working dresses. These
+facts are conclusive, to my mind, that the disadvantages of
+improper or inadequate organization in all institutions, will be
+even more injurious to labor than to capital.</p>
+
+<p>"This institution commenced operations without the investment of
+much, if any, cash capital, and they now are somewhat
+embarrassed for want of such means. A subscription to their
+stock of two thousand dollars in cash, or a loan of that amount
+for a reasonable time, for which good security could be given,
+would, in my opinion, place them in a situation to carry on a
+very profitable business the ensuing year. If this obstacle can
+be surmounted, I know of no institution of better promise than
+this. This would seem to be but a small matter; but when the
+fact is considered that they are located in the midst of a
+community which sympathizes but little in the movement, while
+many exert themselves <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>to increase the embarrassment by decrying
+their responsibility, it will readily be seen that their
+situation is unenviable. Their responsibility, when compared
+with that of most business concerns in the country, is more real
+than that of a majority of business men who are considered
+perfectly solvent. Considering the difficulties and
+embarrassments through which they have already struggled, I have
+strong confidence in their ultimate success. The whole number of
+members will not vary much at this time, from one hundred and
+fifty. They have reduced, by sale, their lands to about eight
+hundred acres, and I refer you to the annual report for further
+information as to their liabilities."</p></div>
+
+<p>We perceive in the depressed tone of this report, as well as in the
+reduction of numbers and land which it exhibits, that decline had
+begun and failure was impending. Nothing more is said in the <i>Phalanx</i>
+about this Association, except that it sent a delegate to a
+socialistic convention that met in New York City on the 7th of
+October, 1844. We have to fall back, as usual, on Macdonald, for the
+summing-up and final moral. He says:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"After a few months, disagreements among the members became
+general. Their means were totally inadequate; they were too
+ignorant of the principles of Association; were too much crowded
+together, and had too many idlers among them. There was bad
+management on the part of the officers, and some were suspected
+of dishonesty. As times grew better, many of those who joined on
+account of hard times, got employment and left; and many more
+thought they could do better in the world again, and did the
+same <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span>thing. The only aid they could get in their difficulties,
+was from stock subscriptions, and that was not much. Men who
+invested actual property sustained heavy losses. One farmer who
+involved his farm, lost nearly all he possessed. After existing
+about twelve months the land was sold to pay the debts, and the
+Association disbanded."</p></div>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE MOORHOUSE UNION</p>
+
+<p>is mentioned in the first number of the <i>Phalanx</i>, October 1843, as
+one among the many Associations just starting at that time. Macdonald
+gives the following account of it:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"This experiment originated in the offer of a grant of land by
+A.K. Moorhouse, of Moorhouseville, Hamilton County, New York,
+who owned 60,000 acres of land in the counties of Hamilton,
+Herkimer and Saratoga. As most of this land was situated in what
+is called the 'wilderness of New York,' he could find few
+persons who were willing to purchase and settle the inhospitable
+wild. Under these circumstances he offered to the Socialists as
+much of 10,000 acres as they might clear in three years, hoping
+that an Association would build up a village and form a nucleus
+around which individuals and Associations might settle and
+purchase his lands.</p>
+
+<p>"The offer was accepted by an Association formed in New York
+City, and several capitalists promised to take stock in the
+enterprise; but none was ever paid for. In May 1843, Mr.
+Moorhouse arrived at Piseco from New York, with a company of
+pioneers, who were soon followed by others, and the work
+commenced. The locality chosen at Lake Piseco was situated about
+five miles from Lake Pleasant, the county seat, a village of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span>eight or nine houses and a court-house. On the arrival of the
+party it was found that Mr. Moorhouse had made some
+improvements, which he was willing to exchange for $2,000 of
+stock in the Association. This was agreed to. He also engaged to
+furnish provisions, tools etc., and take his pay in stock. The
+land on which the Association commenced its labors was a gift
+from Mr. Moorhouse; but the improvements which consisted of 120
+acres of cleared land with a few buildings, was accepted as
+stock at the above valuation.</p>
+
+<p>"The money, property and labor were put into common stock. Labor
+was rated at fifty cents per day, no matter of what kind. A
+store was kept on the premises, in which articles were sold at
+prime cost, with an allowance for transportation, &amp;c. By the
+constitution the members were entitled to scrip representing the
+excess of wages over the amount of goods received from the
+store; or, in other words, laborers became stockholders in
+proportion to that excess. No dividends were to be declared for
+the first five years.</p>
+
+<p>"The persons thus congregated to carry out the principles of
+Association [number not stated], belonged to a variety of
+occupations; but it appears that but few of them were adapted to
+the wants of the Community. Some of the members were intelligent
+and moral people; but the majority were very inferior. No
+property qualifications were necessary to admission. It appears
+that members were obtained by an agent, who took
+indiscriminately all he could get. The most common religious
+belief among them was Methodist; but a large proportion of them
+did not profess any religion, and some were what is commonly
+called infidels.</p>
+
+<p>"Though the persons congregated here had left but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>humble homes
+and poor circumstances generally, yet the circumstances now
+surrounding them were worse than those they had left, and as a
+natural consequence there was a deterioration of character. Not
+having formed any organization in the city, as is customary in
+such experiments, they received no aid from without; and the
+want of this aid does not appear to have insured success, as
+some enthusiastic Socialists have imagined that it would; but on
+the contrary a most signal failure ensued.</p>
+
+<p>"The leading persons were Mr. Moorhouse and a relative of his
+named Brown. The former furnished every thing and turned it in
+as stock. The latter kept the store and the accounts. The
+members do not appear to have been acquainted with the mode in
+which either the store or books were kept.</p>
+
+<p>"At the commencement, when they were sufficiently supplied from
+the store, they agreed tolerably well; but during the latter
+period of the experiment, when Mr. Moorhouse began to be slack
+in buying things for the members, there was a good deal of
+disagreement. The store was nearly always empty, and when
+anything was brought into it, there was a general scramble to
+see who should get the most. This, as a matter of course,
+produced much jealousy and quarreling. All kinds of suspicions
+were afloat, and it was generally reported that the executive,
+including the store-keeper, fared better than the rest.</p>
+
+<p>"Some work was done, and some improvements were made upon the
+land. Rye and potatoes were planted, and probably consumed. The
+experiment existed a few months, and then by degrees died away."</p></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span>The following from a person who took part in the experiment, will give
+the reader a nearer view of the causes of the failure:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The population congregated at Piseco was composed of all
+nations, characters and conditions; a motley group of
+ill-assorted materials, as inexperienced as it was
+heterogeneous. We had some specimens of the raw material of
+human nature, and some of New York manufacture spoiled in the
+making. There were philosophers and philanthropists, bankrupt
+merchants and broken-down grocery-keepers; officers who had
+retired from the Texan army on half-pay; and some who had
+retired from situations in the New York ten-pin alleys. There
+were all kinds of ideas, notions, theories, and whims; all kinds
+of religions; and some persons without any. There was no
+unanimity of purpose, or congeniality of disposition; but there
+was plenty of discussion, and an abundance of variety, which is
+called the spice of life. This spice however constituted the
+greater part of the fare, as we sometimes had scarcely anything
+else to eat.</p>
+
+<p>"At first we were pretty well off for provisions; but soon the
+supplies began to be reduced; and in November the list of
+luxuries and necessaries commenced with rye and ended with
+potatoes, with nothing between! As the supplies were cut off,
+the number of members decreased. They were starved out. But of
+course the starving process was slower in those cases where the
+individuals had not the means of transportation back to the
+white settlements. When I left the 'promised land' in March
+1844, there were only six families remaining. I had determined
+to see it out; but the state of things was so bad, and the
+prospects ditto, that I could stand <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>it no longer. I thought the
+whole would soon fall into the hands of Mr. Moorhouse, and I
+could not afford to spend any more time in a cause so hopeless.
+I had given nine months' time, was half starved, got no pay, had
+worn out my clothes, and had my best coat borrowed without
+leave, by a man who went to New York some time before. This I
+thought might suffice for one experiment. I left the place less
+sanguine than when I went there that Associations could succeed
+without capital and without a good selection of members. Yet my
+belief was as firm as ever in the coming abolition of
+conflicting interests, and the final harmonious reconstruction
+of society."</p></div>
+
+<p>Here ends the history of the Fourier Associations in the State of New
+York. The Ohio experiments come next.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXVI.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE MARLBORO ASSOCIATION.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>As in New England, so in Ohio, the general socialistic excitement of
+1841 and afterwards, gave rise to several experiments that had nothing
+to do with Fourier's peculiar philosophy. We begin with one of these
+indigenous productions.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Esther Ann Lukens, a member of the Marlboro Community, answered
+Macdonald's inquiries about its history. We copy the greater part of
+her story:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen"><i>Mrs. Lukens's Narrative.</i></p>
+
+<p>"The Marlboro Community seems, as I think of it, to have had its
+existence so entirely in dreams of human advancement and the
+generous wish to promote it, and also in ignorance of all but
+the better part of human nature, that it is hard to speak of it
+as a <i>bona fide</i> portion of our plodding work-a-day world.</p>
+
+<p>"It was originated by a few generous and ardent spirits, who
+were disgusted with the oppressive and antagonistic conditions
+of ordinary labor and commerce. The only remedy they saw, was a
+return to the apostolic manner of living&mdash;that of 'having all
+things common.'</p>
+
+<p>"The Association was first talked of and its principles
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>generally discussed in Clinton County, some years before
+anything was done. Many in all parts of Ohio participated in
+this discussion, and warmly urged the scheme; but only a few
+were found who were hopeful and courageous enough to dare the
+final experiment.</p>
+
+<p>"The gathering commenced in 1841 on the farm of Mr. E. Brooke,
+and consisted at first of his family and a few other persons.
+Gradually the number increased, and another farm was added by
+the free gift of Dr. A. Brooke, or rather by his resigning all
+right and title to it as an individual, and delivering it over
+to the joint ownership of the great family.</p>
+
+<p>"As may be supposed, the majority of those who gathered around
+this nucleus, were without property, and very slenderly gifted
+with the talent of acquiring it, but thoroughly honest,
+philanthropic, warmly social, and willing to perform what
+appeared to them the right amount of labor belonging to freemen
+in a right state of society. They forgot in a few instances,
+that this right state did not exist, but was only dreamed about,
+and had yet to be realized by more than common labor with the
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>"The Community had but little property of any value but land,
+and that was in an uncultivated, half-wild state. There were a
+few hundred dollars in hand; I can not say how many; but
+certainly not half the amount required for purchases that seemed
+immediately necessary. There was a good house and barn on each
+farm, each house capable of accommodating comfortably three
+families, besides three small tenant houses of logs, capable of
+accommodating one family each. There were also on the premises
+four or five horses and a few cattle and sheep.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>"It became necessary, as the numbers increased, to purchase the
+farm intervening between the one first owned by E. Brooke, and
+the one given by Dr. A. Brooke, both for convenience in passing
+and repassing, and for the reason that more land was needed to
+give employment to all. The owner asked an exorbitant price,
+knowing our necessities; but it was paid, or rather promised,
+and so a load of debt was contracted.</p>
+
+<p>"The members generally were eminently moral and intellectual. As
+to religious belief, they were what people called, and perhaps
+justly, Free-thinkers. In our conferences for purposes of
+improvement and domestic counsel, which were held on Sundays,
+religion, as a distinct obligation, was never mentioned.</p>
+
+<p>"Provisions were easily procured. One of the farms had a large
+orchard, and our living was confined to the plainest vegetable
+diet; so that much time was left for social and mental
+improvement. All will join with me in saying that love and good
+fellowship reigned paramount; so that all enjoyed good care
+during sickness, and kindly sympathy at all times.</p>
+
+<p>"About a year and a-half after its foundation, the Community
+sustained a great loss by the death of one of its most efficient
+and ardent supporters, Joseph Lukens. It was after this period
+that a constitution or form of Association was framed, and many
+persons were admitted who had different views of property and
+the basis of rights, from what were generally held at the
+beginning.</p>
+
+<p>"The existence of the Community, from first to last, was nearly
+four years. If I should say there was perfect unanimity of
+feeling to the last, it would not be true. Yet there were no
+quarrels, and all discussions among us <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>were temperate and kind.
+As to our breaking up, there was no cause for it clear to my
+mind, except the complicated state of the business concerns, the
+amount of debt contracted, and the feeling that each one would
+work with more energy, for a time at least, if thrown upon his
+own resources, with plenty of elbow-room and nothing to distract
+his attention."</p></div>
+
+<p>Mr. Thomas Moore, also a member of this Community, gave his opinion of
+the cause of its decease in a separate paper, as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen"><i>Mr. Moore's Post Mortem.</i></p>
+
+<p>"The failure of this experiment may be traced to the fact that
+the minds of its originators were not homogeneous. They all
+agreed that in a properly organized Community, there should be
+no buying and selling between the members, but that each should
+share the common products according to his necessity. But while
+Dr. A. Brooke held that this principle should govern our conduct
+in our interchange with the whole world, the others believed it
+right for any number of individuals to separate themselves from
+the surrounding world, and from themselves into a distinct
+Community; and while they had every thing free among themselves,
+continue to traffic in the common way with those outside. And
+again, while many believed they were prepared to enter into a
+Community of this kind, Mr. Edward Brooke had his doubts,
+fearing that the time had not yet arrived when any considerable
+number of individuals could live together on these principles;
+that though some might be prompted to enter into such relations
+through principles of humanity and pure benevolence, others
+would come in from motives altogether selfish; and that discord
+would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span>be the result. Dr. A. Brooke, not being willing to be
+confined in any Community that did not embrace the whole world,
+stepped out at the start, but left the Community in possession
+of his property during his life; believing that to be as long as
+he had any right to dispose of it. But Edward Brooke yielded to
+the views of others, and went on with the Community.</p>
+
+<p>"For some time the members who came in from abroad added nothing
+of consequence to the common stock. Some manifested by their
+conduct that their objects were selfish, and being disappointed,
+left again. Others, who perhaps entered from purer motives, also
+became dissatisfied for various reasons and left; and so the
+Community fluctuated for some time. At length three families
+were admitted as members, who had property invested in farms,
+and who were to sell the farms and devote the proceeds to the
+common stock. Two of these, after having tried community life a
+year, concluded to leave before they had sold their farms; and
+the third, not being able to sell, there was a lack of capital
+to profitably employ the members; and the consequence was, there
+was not quite enough produced to support the Community.
+Discovering this to be the case, several of the persons who
+originally owned the property became dissatisfied; and although
+according to the principles of the Community they had no greater
+interest in that property than any other members, yet it was no
+less a fact that they had donated it nearly all (excepting Dr.
+A. Brooke's lease), and that now they would like to have it
+back. This placed the true Socialists in delicate circumstances.
+Being without pecuniary means of their own, they could not
+exercise the power that had voluntarily been placed in their
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span>hands, to control these dissatisfied ones, so as to cause them,
+against their will, to leave their property in the hands of the
+Community. The property was freely yielded up, though with the
+utmost regret. My opinion therefore is that the experiment
+failed at the time it did, through lack of faith in those who
+had the funds, and lack of funds in those who had the faith."</p></div>
+
+<p>Dr. A. Brooke, who devoted his land to the Marlboro Community, but
+stepped out himself, because he would not be confined to anything less
+than Communism with the world, afterwards tried a little experiment of
+his own, which failed and left no history. Macdonald visited him in
+1844, and reports some curious things about him, which may give the
+reader an idea of what was probably the most radical type of Communism
+that was developed in the Socialistic revival of 1841-3.</p>
+
+<p>"Dr. Brooke" says Macdonald, "was a tall, thin man, with gray hair,
+and beard quite unshaven. His face reminded me of the ancient
+Philosophers. His only clothing was a shirt and pantaloons; nothing
+else on either body, head, or feet. He invited us into his comfortable
+parlor, which was neatly furnished and had a good supply of books and
+papers. Our breakfast consisted of cold baked apples, cold corn bread,
+and I think potatoes.</p>
+
+<p>"We questioned him much concerning his strange notions, and in the
+course of conversation I remarked, that such men as Robert Owen,
+Charles Fourier, Josiah Warren and others, had each a certain number
+of fundamental principles, upon which to base their theories, and I
+wished to understand definitely what fundamental principles he had,
+and how many of them. He replied that he had only one principle, and
+that was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>to do what he considered right. He said he attended the sick
+whenever he was called upon, for which he made no charge. When he
+wanted anything which he knew one of his neighbors could supply, he
+sent to that neighbor for it. He shewed me a brick out-building at the
+back of his cottage, which he said had been put up for him by masons
+in the vicinity. He made it known that he wanted such work done, and
+no less than five men came to do it for him."</p>
+
+<p>Macdonald adds the following story:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"I remember when in Cincinnati, one Sunday afternoon at a
+Fourier meeting I heard Mr. Benjamin Urner read a letter from
+Dr. A. Brooke to some hardware merchants in Cincinnati (the
+Brothers Donaldson in Main street, I believe), telling them that
+his necessities required a variety of agricultural tools, such
+as a plow, harrow, axes, etc., and requesting that they might be
+sent on to him. He stated that he had given up the use of money,
+that he gave his professional services free of cost to those
+whose necessities demanded them, and for any thing his
+necessities required he applied to those whom he thought able to
+give. Mr. Urner stated that this strange individual had been the
+post-master of the place where he now lived, but that he had
+given up the office so that he might not have to use money. He
+also informed us that the hardware merchants very kindly sent on
+the articles to Dr. Brooke free of cost; which announcement gave
+great satisfaction to the meeting."</p></div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXVII.</h3>
+
+<h4>PRAIRIE HOME COMMUNITY.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>This Association (another indigenous production) with several like
+attempts, originated with Mr. John O. Wattles, Valentine Nicholson and
+others, who, after attending a socialistic convention in New York in
+1843, lectured on Association at various places on their way back to
+the West. Orson S. Murray, the editor of the <i>Regenerator</i>, was also
+interested in this Community, and was on his way with his printing
+establishment to join it and publish his paper under its auspices,
+when he was wrecked on Lake Erie, and lost nearly every thing but his
+life.</p>
+
+<p>Prairie Home is a beautiful location near West Liberty in Logan
+County, Ohio. The domain consisted of over five hundred acres; half of
+which on the hills was well-timbered, and the remainder was in fine
+rich fields stretching across the prairie.</p>
+
+<p>The members numbered about one hundred and thirty, nearly all of whom
+were born and bred in the West. Of foreigners there were only two
+Englishmen and one German. Most of the members were agriculturists.
+Many of them had been Hicksite Quakers. A few were from other sects,
+and some from no sect at all. There were but few children.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span>A few months before the dissolution of this Community Macdonald
+visited it, and staid several days. His gossiping report of what he
+saw and heard gives as good an inside view of the transitory species
+of Associations as any we find in his collections. We quote the most
+of it:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen"><i>Macdonald's visit at Prairie Home.</i></p>
+
+<p>"On arriving at West Liberty I inquired eagerly for the
+Community; but when very coldly and doubtfully told that it was
+somewhere down the Urbana road, and seeing that folks in the
+town did not seem to know or care much where it was, my ardor
+sensibly abated, and I began to doubt whether it was much of an
+affair after all; but I pushed on, anxious at once to see the
+place.</p>
+
+<p>"On reaching the spot where I was told I should find the
+Community, I turned off from the main road up a lane, and soon
+met a gaunt-looking individual, rough but very polite, having
+the look of a Quaker, which I afterwards found he was. He spoke
+kindly to me, and directed me where to go. There was a two-story
+frame house at the entrance of the lane, which belonged to the
+Community; also a log cabin at the other corner of the lane.
+After walking a short distance I arrived at another two-story
+frame house, opposite to which was a large flour-mill on a
+little stream, and an old saw-mill, looking very rough. At the
+door of the dwelling-house there was a group of women and girls,
+picking wool; and as it was just noon, many men came in from
+various parts of the farm to take their dinner. At the back of
+the house there was a long shed, with a rough table down the
+center, and planks for seats on each side, on which thirty or
+forty people sat. I was kindly received by them, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span>invited to
+dinner; and a good dinner it was, consisting of coarse brown
+bread piled up in broken lumps, dishes of large potatoes
+unpeeled, some potato-soup, and a supply of melons for a second
+course.</p>
+
+<p>"I sat beside a Dr. Hard, who noticed that I took a little salt
+with my potatoes, and remarked to me that if I abstained from
+it, I would have my taste much more perfect. There was but
+little salt on the table, and I saw no person touch it. There
+was no animal food of any kind except milk, which one or two of
+them used. They all appeared to eat heartily. The women waited
+upon the table, but the variety of dishes being small, each
+person so attended to himself that waiting was rendered almost
+unnecessary. All displayed a rude politeness.</p>
+
+<p>"After dinner I fell in with a cabinet-maker, a young man from
+Bond street, London, and had quite a chat with him; also an
+elderly man from England, John Wood by name, who was acquainted
+with the socialistic movement in that country. I then went to
+see the man work the saw-mill, and was much pleased with his
+apparent interest and industry.</p>
+
+<p>"Not finding the acquaintance I was in search of at this place,
+and hearing that he was at another Community or branch of
+Prairie Home, about nine miles distant in a northerly direction
+(which they called the Upper Domain or Highland Home or
+Zanesfield), I determined to see him that night, and after
+obtaining necessary information I started on my journey.</p>
+
+<p>"The walk was long, and it was dark before I reached the
+Community farm. At length the friendly bow-wow of a dog told of
+the habitable dwelling, and soon I was in the comfortable and
+pretty looking farm house at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span>Highland Home. This Community
+consisted of only ten or twelve persons. Here I found my friend,
+and after a wholesome Grahamite supper of corn-bread, apple-pie
+and milk, I had a long conversation with him and others on
+Community matters. I put many questions to them, all of which
+were answered satisfactorily. Here is a specimen of our
+dialogue:</p>
+
+<p>"Do you make laws? No. Does the majority govern the minority?
+No. Have you any delegated power? No. Any kind of government?
+No. Do you express opinions and principles as a body? No. Have
+you any form of society or test for admission of members? No. Do
+you assist runaway slaves? Yes. Must you be Grahamites? No. Do
+you object to religionists? No. What are the terms of admission?
+The land is free to all; let those who want, come and use it.
+Any particular trades? No. Can persons take their earnings away
+with them when they leave? Yes.</p>
+
+<p>"Their leading principle, they repeatedly told me, was to
+endeavor to practice the golden rule, 'Do as you would be done
+by.'</p>
+
+<p>"The next morning I took a walk round the farm. It was a nice
+place, and appeared to have been well kept formerly, but now
+there was some disorder. The workmen appeared to be without
+clear ideas of the duties they were to perform. It seemed as if
+they had not made up their minds what they could do, or what
+they intended to do. Some of them were feeble-looking men, and
+in conversation with them I ascertained that several, both here
+and at Prairie Home, had adopted the present mode of Grahamite
+living to improve their health.</p>
+
+<p>"Phrenology seemed to be pretty generally <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span>understood, and I was
+surprised to hear rude-looking men, almost ragged, ploughing,
+fence-making, and in like employments, converse so freely upon
+Phrenology, Physiology, Magnetism, Hydropathy, &amp;c. The
+<i>Phrenological Journal</i> was taken by several of them.</p>
+
+<p>"I visited a neighboring farm, said to belong to the Community,
+the residence, I believe, of Horton Brown, with whom I had an
+interesting conversation on religion and Community matters. He
+said they took the golden rule as their guide, 'Do unto others
+as ye would have others do unto you.' I reminded him that even
+the golden rule was subject to individual interpretation, and
+might be misinterpreted.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Saturday, August 25, 1844.</i>&mdash;I noticed several persons here
+were sick with various complaints, and those who were not sick
+labored very leisurely. During the day four men arrived from
+Indiana to see the place and 'join the Community;' but there
+were no accommodations for them. They reported quite a stir in
+Indiana in regard to the Community.</p>
+
+<p>"In the afternoon my friend was ready to return to Cincinnati,
+whither he was going to try and induce his family to come to
+Zanesfield. We walked to Prairie Home that evening. At night we
+were directed to sleep at the two-story frame house at the
+entrance of the lane. At that place there seemed to be much
+confusion; too many people and too many idlers among them. The
+young women were most industrious, attending to the supper table
+and the provisions in a very steady, business-like manner; but
+the young men were mostly lounging about doing nothing. At
+bed-time there were too many persons for each to be accommodated
+with a bed; so the females all went up stairs and slept as they
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span>could; and the males slept below, all spread out in rows upon
+the floor. This was unpleasant, and as the sequel proved, could
+not long be endured.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Prairie Home, Sunday, August 26.</i>&mdash;In the morning, there was a
+social meeting of all the members. The weather was too wet and
+cold for them to meet on the hills, as was intended; so they
+adjourned to the flour-mill, and seated themselves as best they
+could, on chairs and planks, men and women all together. Such a
+meeting as this was quite a novel sight for me. There was no
+chairman, no secretary and no constitution or by-laws to
+preserve order. Yet I never saw a more orderly meeting. The
+discussions seemed chiefly relating to agricultural matters. One
+man rose and stated that there was certain plowing to be done on
+the following day, and if it was thought best by the brothers
+and sisters, he would do it. Another rose and said he would
+volunteer to do the plowing if the first one pleased, and he
+might do something else. There appeared to be some competition
+in respect to what each should do, and yet a strong
+non-resistant principle was manifest, which seemed to smooth
+over any difficulty. There was some talk about money and the
+lease of the property, and several persons spoke, both male and
+female, apparently just as the spirit moved them. At the close
+of the meeting some singing was attempted, but it was very poor
+indeed. The folks scattered to the houses for dinner, and as
+usual took a pretty good supply of the potatoes, potato-soup,
+brown bread, apples and apple butter, together with large
+quantities of melons of various kinds.</p>
+
+<p>"Owing to the cold weather the people were all huddled together
+inside the houses. The rooms were too <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span>small, and many of the
+young men were compelled to sleep in the mill. Altogether there
+were too many persons brought together for the scanty
+accommodations of the place.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Monday, August 27.</i>&mdash;The wind blew hard, and threw down a
+large stack of hay. It was interesting to see the rapidity with
+which a group of volunteers put it in order again. The party
+seemed to act with perfect union.</p>
+
+<p>"Several persons arrived to join the Community; among the rest a
+farmer and his family in a large wagon, with a lot of household
+stuff.</p>
+
+<p>"I watched several men at work in different places, and to one
+party I could not help expressing myself thus: 'If you fail, I
+will give it up; for never did I see men work so well or so
+brotherly with each other.' But all were not thus industrious;
+for I saw some who merely crawled about (probably sick), just
+looking on like myself, at any thing which fell in their way.
+There was evident disorder, showing a transition state toward
+either harmony or anarchy. I am sorry to say, it too soon proved
+to be the latter.</p>
+
+<p>"After dinner some one suggested having a meeting to talk about
+a plow. With some little exertion they managed to get ten or
+twelve men together. Then they sat down and reasoned with each
+other at great length. But it was very uneconomical, I thought,
+to bring so many persons together from their work, to talk so
+much about so small a matter. A plow had to be repaired; some
+one must and did volunteer to go to the town with it; he wanted
+money to pay for it; there was no money; he must take a bag of
+corn or wheat, and trade that off <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span>to pay for the repairs; a
+wagon had to be got out; two horses put to it, and a journey of
+some miles made, and nearly a day of time expended about such a
+trifling job.</p>
+
+<p>"I went to see the saw-mill at work; found one or two men
+engaged at it. They were working for customers, and got a
+certain portion of the lumber for what they sawed. I then went
+into an old log cabin and found my acquaintance, the
+cabinet-maker. On my inquiring how he liked Community, he told
+me the following story: He came from London to find friends in
+Indiana, and brought with him a fine chest of tools. On his
+arrival, he found his friends about to start for Community; so
+he came with them. He brought his tools with him, but left them
+at Zanesfield, and came down here. The folks at Zanesfield,
+wanting a plane, a saw and chisels, and knowing that his box was
+there, having no key, actually broke open the box, and under the
+influence of the common-property idea, helped themselves to the
+tools, and spoiled them by using them on rough work. He had got
+his chest away from there. He said he had no objection to their
+using the tools, if they knew how and did not spoil them. I saw
+one or two large chisels with pieces chipped out of them and
+planes nicked by nails, all innocently and ignorantly done by
+the brothers, who scarcely saw any wrong in it.</p>
+
+<p>"It was interesting to see the groups of unshaven men. There
+were men between forty and fifty years of age, who had shaved
+all their lives before, but now they let their beards grow, and
+looked ferocious. The young men looked well, and some of them
+rather handsome, with their soft beards and hair uncut; but the
+elderly ones did certainly look ugly. There was a German of a
+thin, gaunt figure, about fifty years of age, with a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span>large,
+stubby, gray beard, and an ill-tempered countenance.</p>
+
+<p>"John Wood, the Englishman, a pretty good specimen, blunt,
+open-hearted and independent, had got three pigs in a pen, which
+he fed and took care of. They were the only animals on the
+place, except the horses. But exercising his rights, he said,
+'If the rest of them did not want meat, he <i>did</i>&mdash;for he liked a
+bit o'meat.'</p>
+
+<p>"I was informed that all the animals on the place, when the
+Community took possession of the domain, were allowed to go
+where they pleased; or those who wanted them were free to take
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"Before the meeting on Sunday, groups of men stood round the
+house talking; some two or three of them, including John Wood
+and the Dutchman (as he was called) were cleaning themselves up
+a bit; and John had blackened and polished his boots; after
+which he carefully put the blacking and brushes away. Out came
+the Dutchman and looked round for the same utensils. Not seeing
+them, he asked the Englishman for the 'prushes.' So John brings
+them out and hands them to him. Whereupon the Dutchman marches
+to the front of the porch, and in wrathful style, with the
+brushes uplifted in his hand, he addresses the assembled crowd:
+'He-ar! lookee he-ar! Do you call dis Community? Is dis common
+property? See he-ar! I ask him for de prushes to placken mine
+poots, and he give me de prushes, and <i>not give me de
+placking</i>!' This was said with great excitement. 'He never saw
+such community as dat; he could not understand; he tought every
+ting was to be common to all!' But John Wood good-humoredly
+explained that he had bought a box of blacking for himself, and
+if he gave it to every one who <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span>wanted to black boots, he would
+very soon be without any; so he shut it up for his own use, and
+those who wanted blacking must buy it for themselves.</p>
+
+<p>"I noticed there was some carelessness with the farm tools.
+There was a small shed in which all the scythes, hoes, axes,
+&amp;c., were supposed to be deposited when not in use. But they
+were not always returned there. It appeared that these tools
+were used indiscriminately by any one and every one, so that one
+day a man would have one ax or scythe, and the next day another.
+This was evidently not agreeable in practice; for every
+working-man well knows that he forms attachments for certain
+tools, as much as he does for friends, and his hand and heart
+get used to them, as it were, so that he can use them better
+than he can strange ones.</p>
+
+<p>"With these few notices of failings, I must say I never saw a
+better-hearted or more industrious set of fellows. They appeared
+to struggle hard to effect something, yet it seemed evident that
+something was lacking among them to make things work well. It
+might have been organized laws, or government of some kind; it
+might have been a definite bond of union, or a prominent leader.
+It is certain there was some power or influence needed, to
+direct the force mustered there, and make it work economically
+and harmoniously.</p>
+
+<p>"People kept coming and going, and were ready to do something;
+but there was nobody to tell them what to do, and they did not
+know what to do themselves. They had to eat, drink and sleep;
+and they expected to obtain the means of doing so; but they
+seemed not to reflect who was going to supply these means, or
+where they were to come from. Some seemed greedy and reckless,
+eating all the time, cutting melons out of the garden and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span>from
+among the corn, eating them and throwing the peels and seeds
+about the foot-paths and door-ways.</p>
+
+<p>"There was an abundance of fine corn on the domain, abundance of
+melons of all kinds, and, I believe, plenty of apples at the
+upper Community. Much provision had been brought and sent there
+by farmers who had entered into the spirit of the cause. For
+instance there were some wagon-loads of potatoes and apples
+sent, as well as quantities of unbolted wheat meal, of which the
+bread was made.</p>
+
+<p>"On my asking about the idlers, the reply was, 'Oh! they will
+not stop here long; it is uncongenial to lazy people to be among
+industrious ones; and for their living, it don't cost much more
+than fifty cents per week, and they can surely earn that.'</p>
+
+<p>"At the Sunday meeting before mentioned, the enthusiasm of some
+was great. One man said he left his home in Indiana; he had a
+house there, which he thought at first to reserve in case of
+accident; but he finally concluded that if he had any thing to
+fall back upon, he could not give his heart and soul to the
+cause as he wanted to; so he gave up every thing he possessed,
+and put it into Community. Others did the same, while some had
+reserved property to fall back upon. Some said they had lands
+which they would put into the Community, if they could get rid
+of them; but the times were so hard that there was much scarcity
+of money, and the lands would not sell.</p>
+
+<p>"From all I saw I judged that the Community was too loosely put
+together, and that they had not entire confidence in each other;
+and I left them with forebodings.</p>
+
+<p>"The experiment lasted scarcely a year. On the 25th <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span>of October,
+about two months after my visit, they had a meeting to talk over
+their affairs. More than three thousand dollars had been paid on
+the property; but the land owner was pressed with a mortgage,
+and so pressed them. One man sold his farm and got part of the
+required sum ready to pay. Others who owned farms could not sell
+them; and the consequence was, that according to agreement they
+were obliged to give up the papers; so they surrendered the
+domain and all upon it, into the hands of the original
+proprietor.</p>
+
+<p>"The members then scattered in various directions. Several were
+considerable losers by the attempt, while many had nothing to
+lose. At the present time I learn that there are men and women
+of that Community who are still ready with hands and means to
+try the good work again. The cause of failure assigned by the
+Communists was their not owning the land they settled upon; but
+I think it very doubtful whether they could have kept together
+if the land had been free; for as I have before said, there was
+something else wanted to make harmony in labor."</p></div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE TRUMBULL PHALANX.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>This experiment originated among the Socialist enthusiasts of
+Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Its domain at Braceville, Trumbull County,
+Ohio, was selected and a commencement was made in the spring of 1844.
+From this date till its failure in the latter part of 1847, we find in
+the <i>Phalanx</i> and <i>Harbinger</i> some sixteen notices of it, long and
+short, from which we are to gather its history. We will quote the
+salient parts of these notices; and so let the friends of the
+experiment speak for themselves. The rose-color of their
+representations will be corrected by the ultimate facts. This was one
+of the three most notable experiments in the Fourier epoch&mdash;the North
+American and the Wisconsin Phalanxes being the other two.</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter of Mr. Jehu Brainerd, June 29, 1844.]</p>
+
+<p>"The location which this society has chosen, is a very beautiful
+one and is situated in the north-west quarter of Braceville
+township, eight miles west of Warren, and five miles north of
+Newton Falls.</p>
+
+<p>"The domain was purchased of Mr. Eli Barnum, at twelve dollars
+per acre, and consists of two hundred and eighty acres of the
+choicest land, about half of which is under good cultivation.
+There is a valuable and durable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span>mill privilege on the domain,
+valued at three thousand six hundred dollars; and at the time
+the purchase was made, there were in successful operation, a
+grist-mill with two run of stones, an oil-mill, saw-mill, double
+carding-machine, and cloth-dressing works.</p>
+
+<p>"The principal buildings on the domain are a large two story
+brick house, grist-mill and oil-mill, very large, substantial,
+and entirely new, framed and well painted, and a large barn; the
+other buildings, though sufficient for present accommodation,
+are old and somewhat decayed.</p>
+
+<p>"There has been already subscribed in real estate stock, most of
+which is within two miles and less of the domain, nine hundred
+and fifty-seven acres of land, mostly improved farms, which were
+valued (including neat stock, grain, &amp;c.) at sixteen thousand
+one hundred and fifty dollars. Five hundred dollars cash capital
+has also been subscribed and paid in; and about six hundred
+dollars in lathes, tools, machinery, &amp;c., including one hundred
+thousand feet of lumber, have been received.</p>
+
+<p>"There are thirty-five families now belonging to the
+Association, in all one hundred and forty persons; of this
+number forty-three are males over twenty-one years of age. Until
+accommodations can be prepared on the domain, some of the
+families will reside on the farms subscribed as stock. It is the
+intention to commence an edifice of brick this present summer,
+and extend it from time to time, as the increase of members may
+require, or the funds of the society admit. For present
+necessity, temporary buildings are erected."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter of N.C. Meeker, August 10, 1844.]</p>
+
+<p>"The number of persons belonging to the Phalanx is about two
+hundred; some reside on the domain proper; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span>others on more
+distant farms belonging to the Phalanx. Indeed as regards room,
+they are much crowded, residing in loose sheds. Nevertheless, on
+no consideration would they exchange present conditions for
+former ones. More convenient residences are to be erected
+forthwith, but it is not contemplated to erect the Phalanstery
+or final edifice for a year or so, or until they are possessed
+of sufficient means. Then the magnificent palace of the Combined
+Order will equally shame the temples of antiquity and the
+card-houses of modern days.</p>
+
+<p>"For the present year hard work and few of the attractions of
+Association are expected. Almost everything is unfitted for the
+use of Associations, being too insignificant, or characteristic
+of present society; made to sell rather than to use. The members
+of the Trumbull Phalanx, knowing how to work truly, and fully
+understanding that it is a gigantic labor to overturn the
+despair which has been accumulating so long in men's bosoms,
+have nerved themselves manfully, showing the true dignity of
+human nature.</p>
+
+<p>"Labor is partially organized by the instituting of groups, and
+to much advantage. Boys who were idle and unproductive, have
+become producers, and a very fine garden is the work of their
+hands. They are under the charge of a proper person, who permits
+them to choose their foreman from among themselves, and at
+certain hours, in grounds laid out for the purpose, to engage in
+sports. Even the men themselves, at the close of the work, find
+agreeable and salutary exercise in a game of ball. Some going to
+school, earn six or seven shillings a week, and where they work
+in the brick-yard, from three to four shillings a day. These
+sums are not final <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span>wages, but <i>permits</i>; for when a dividend is
+declared there will be an additional remuneration.</p>
+
+<p>"On the Sabbath I attended their social meeting, in which those
+of all persuasions participated. The liberal views and kindly
+feelings manifested by the various speakers were such as I had
+never heard before. They spoke of the near relations they
+sustained to each other, and of the many blessings they look to
+receive in the future; meanwhile the present unity gave them an
+idea of heaven. One spirit of joy and gladness seemed to animate
+them, viz; that they had escaped from the wants, cares, and
+temptations of civilization, and instead were placed where
+public good is the same as individual good; hence nothing save
+pre-conceived prejudices, fast giving away, prevent their loving
+their neighbors as themselves. This is the spirit of
+Christianity. Their position calls for union. No good can arise
+from divers sects; no good ever did arise. They will all unite,
+Presbyterians, Disciples, Baptists, Methodists, and all; and if
+any name be needed, under that of Unionism. After meeting the
+sacrament was administered; then followed a Bible-class, and
+singing exercises closed the day. [It would seem from this
+description, that the religion of the Trumbull was more orthodox
+than any we have found in other Phalanxes.]</p>
+
+<p>"Those not accustomed to view the progress of combined labor
+will be astonished to see aggregates. A vast brick-kiln is
+raised in a short time; a touch plants a field of corn, and a
+few weeks turns a forest into a farm. Only a few of such results
+can be seen now; but enough has been done at this Phalanx since
+last spring, to give one an idea of the vast results which will
+arise in the days of the new industrial world. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span>Seating myself
+in the venerable orchard, with the temporary dwellings on the
+opposite side, the joiners at their benches in their open shops
+under the green boughs, and hearing on every side the sound of
+industry, the roll of wheels in the mills, and merry voices, I
+could not help exclaiming mentally: Indeed my eyes see men
+making haste to free the slave of all names, nations and
+tongues, and my ears hear them driving, thick and fast, nails
+into the coffin of despotism. I can but look on the
+establishment of this Phalanx as a step of as much importance as
+any which secured our political independence; and much greater
+than that which gained the Magna Charta, the foundation of
+English liberty.</p>
+
+<p>"But as yet there is nothing clearly demonstrated save by faith.
+That which remains to be seen is, whether families can be made
+to associate in peace, enjoying the profits as well as pleasures
+arising from public tables, granaries, store-houses, libraries,
+schools, gardens, walks and fountains; or, briefer, whether a
+man will be willing that he and his neighbor should be happy
+together. Are men forever to be such consummate fools as to
+neglect even the colossal profits of Association? Am I to be
+astonished by hearing sensible men declare, because mankind have
+been the victims of false relations, that these things are
+impracticable? No, no! We have been shown by the Columbus of the
+new industrial world how to solve the problem of the egg, and a
+few caravels have adventured across the unknown ocean, and are
+now, at the dawn of a new day, drawing nigh unto strange shores,
+covered with green, and loading the breeze with the fragrance of
+unseen flowers.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">"Nathan C. Meeker."</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From an official letter to a Convention of Associations in New<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span>
+York, signed by B. Robins and H.N. Jones, <br />President and
+Secretary of the Trumbull Phalanx, dated October 1, 1844.]</p>
+
+<p>"We should have sent a delegate to your Convention or written
+sooner, were not the assistance of all of our members daily
+demanded, as also all our time, in the building up of Humanity's
+Home. In common with the inhabitants of the region round about
+(it is supposed on account of the dry season), we have had many
+cases of fever and ague, a disease which has not been known here
+for many years. This has prevented our executing various plans
+for organization, etc., which we are now entering upon. And now,
+with each day, we have abundant cause to hope for a joyous
+future. We have harmony within and sympathy without; and being
+persuaded that these are sure indications of success, we toil
+on, 'heart within and God o'erhead.'</p>
+
+<p>"Further, our pecuniary prospects brighten. Late arrangements
+add to our means of paying our debt, which is light; and
+accumulations of landed estate make us quite secure.
+Nevertheless we feel that we are in the transition period, using
+varied and noble elements not the most skillfully, and that we
+need more than man's wisdom to guide us.</p>
+
+<p>"The union of the Associations we look upon as a great and noble
+idea, without which the chain of universal unity were
+incomplete. When we shall have emerged from the sea of
+civilization, so that we can do our own breathing, we shall be
+able to co&ouml;perate with our friends throughout the world, as
+members of the grand Phalanx. Meanwhile our hearts will be with
+you, urging you not to falter in the work in which all the noble
+and healthy spirit of the age is engaged.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span>"Accompanying is a copy of our constitution. Our number is over
+two hundred. We have 1,500 acres of land, half under
+cultivation, and a capital stock of $100,000. The branches of
+industry are sufficiently varied, but mostly agricultural."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[Letter to the Pittsburg <i>Spirit of the Age</i>, July 1845.]</p>
+
+<p>"I have just returned from a visit to the Trumbull Phalanx, and
+I can but express my astonishment at the condition in which I
+found the Association. I had never heard much of this Phalanx,
+and what little had been said, gave me no very favorable opinion
+of either location or people, and in consequence I went there
+somewhat prejudiced against them. I was pleased, however, to
+find that they have a beautiful and romantic domain, a rich
+soil, with all the natural and artificial advantages they can
+desire. The domain consists of eleven hundred acres in all. The
+total cost of the real estate of the Phalanx is $18,428; on
+which they have paid $8,239, leaving a debt of $10,189. The
+payments are remarkably easy; on the principal, $1,000 are to be
+paid in September next, and the same sum in April 1846, and
+$1,133 in April 1847, and the same sum annually thereafter. They
+apprehend no difficulty in meeting their engagements. Should
+they even fail in making the first payments, they will be
+indulged by their creditor. From this it will be seen that the
+pecuniary condition of the Trumbull Phalanx is encouraging.</p>
+
+<p>"The Phalanx has fee simple titles to many tracts of land, and a
+house in Warren, with which they will secure capitalists who
+choose to invest money, for the purpose of establishing some
+branches of manufacturing.</p>
+
+<p>"There are about two hundred and fifty people on the domain at
+present, and weekly arrivals of new <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span>members. The greater
+portion of them are able-bodied men, who are industrious and
+devoted to the cause in which they are engaged. The ladies
+perform their duties in this pioneer movement in a manner
+deserving great praise. The educational department of the
+Phalanx is well organized. The children from eight to fourteen
+attend a manual-labor school, which is now in successful
+operation. The advantages of Association are realized in the
+boarding department. The cost per week for men, women and
+children, is not more than forty cents.</p>
+
+<p>"They soon expect to manufacture their own clothing. Carders,
+cloth-dressers, weavers etc., are now at work. These branches
+will be a source of profit to the Association. A good
+flouring-mill with two run of stone is now in operation, which
+more than supplies the bread-stuffs. They expect shortly to have
+four run of stone, when this branch will be of immense profit to
+the Association. The mill draws the custom of the neighborhood
+for a number of miles around. Two saw-mills are now in
+operation, which cut six hundred thousand feet per year, worth
+at least $3,000. The lumber is principally sent to Akron. A
+shingle-machine now in operation, will yield a revenue of $3,000
+or $4,000 per annum. Machinery for making wooden bowls has been
+erected, which will also yield a revenue of about $3,000. An
+ashery will yield the present season about $500. The
+blacksmiths, shoemakers, and other branches are doing well. A
+wagon-shop is in progress of erection, and a tan-yard will be
+sunk and a house built, the second story of which is intended
+for a shoe-shop.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Crops</i>: thirty acres of wheat, fifty acres of oats, seventy
+acres of corn, twelve acres of potatoes, five acres of English
+turnips, ten acres of buckwheat, five <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span>acres of garden truck,
+one and a half acres of broom corn. There are five hundred young
+peach trees in the nursery; two hundred apple trees in the old
+orchard; (fruit killed this year). <i>Live Stock</i>: forty-five
+cows, twelve horses, five yoke of oxen, twenty-five head of
+cattle.</p>
+
+<p>"From the above hasty sketch (for I can not find time to speak
+of this flourishing Association as I should), it will be seen
+that it stands firm. Under all the disadvantages of a new
+movement, the members live together, in perfect harmony; and
+what is gratifying, Mr. Van Amringe is there, cheering them on
+in the great cause by his eloquence, and setting them an example
+of devotion to the good of humanity.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">J.D.T."</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[Editorial in the <i>Harbinger</i> August 23 1845.]</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">Trumbull Phalanx.</span>&mdash;We rejoice to learn by a letter
+just received from a member of this promising Association, that
+they are going forward with strength and hope, determined to
+make a full experiment of the great principles which they have
+espoused. Have patience, brothers, for a short season; shrink
+not under the toils of the pioneer; let nothing daunt your
+courage, nor cloud your cheerfulness; and soon you will joy with
+the 'joy of harvest.' A few years will present the beautiful
+spectacle of prosperous, harmonic, happy Phalanxes, dotting the
+broad prairies of the West, spreading over its luxuriant
+valleys, and radiating light to the whole land that is now in
+'darkness and the shadow of death.' The whole American people
+will yet see that the organization of industry is the great
+problem of the age; that the spirit of democracy must expand in
+universal unity; that co&ouml;peration in labor and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span>union of
+interest alone can realize the freedom and equality which have
+been made the basis of our national institutions.</p>
+
+<p>"We trust that our friends at the Trumbull Phalanx will let us
+hear from them again at an early date. We shall always be glad
+to circulate any intelligence with which they may favor us. Here
+is what they say of their present condition: 'Our crops are now
+coming in; oats are excellent, wheat and rye are about average,
+while our corn will be superior. We are thankful that we shall
+raise enough to carry us through the year; for we know what it
+is to buy every thing. We are certain of success, certain that
+the great principles of Association are to be carried out by us;
+if not on one piece of ground, then on another. Literally we
+constitute a Phalanx, a Phalanx which can not be broken, let
+what will oppose. And this you are authorized to say in any
+place or manner.'"</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[Letter of N.C. Meeker to the <i>Pittsburg Journal</i>.]</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<i>Trumbull Phalanx, September 13, 1845.</i></p>
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">R.M. Riddle</span>&mdash;Sir: I have the pleasure of informing the
+public, through the columns of the <i>Commercial Journal</i>, that we
+consider the success of our Association as entirely certain. We
+have made our fall payment of five hundred dollars, and, what is
+perhaps more encouraging, we are at this moment engaged in
+industrial operations which yield us thirty dollars cash, each
+week. The waters are now rising, and in a few days, in addition
+to these works which are now in operation, we shall add as much
+more to the above revenue. The Trumbull Phalanx may now be
+considered as an entirely successful enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Our crops will be enough to carry us through. Last <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span>year we
+paid over a thousand dollars for provisions. We have sixty-five
+acres of corn, fifty-five of oats, twenty-four of buckwheat,
+thirty of wheat, twenty of rye, twelve of potatoes, and two of
+broom-corn. Our corn, owing to the excellent soil and superior
+skill of the foreman of the farming department, is the best in
+all this region of country. Thus we have already one of the
+great advantages of Association, in securing the services of the
+most able and scientific, not for individual, selfish good, but
+for public good. We are fortunate, also, that we shall be able
+to keep all our stock of fifty cows, etc., and not be obliged to
+drive them off or kill them, as the farmers do around us, for we
+have nearly fodder enough from our grains alone. Thus we are
+placed in a situation for building up an Association, for
+establishing a perfect organization of industry by means of the
+groups and series, and in education by the monitorial
+manual-labor system, and shall demonstrate that order, and not
+civilization, is heaven's first law.</p>
+
+<p>"Some eight or ten families have lately left us, one-fourth
+because they had been in the habit of living on better food (so
+they said), but the remainder because they were averse to our
+carrying out the principles of Association as far as we thought
+they ought to be carried. On leaving, they received in return
+whatever they asked of us. They who enter Association ought
+first to study themselves, and learn which stage of Association
+they are fitted for, the transitional or the perfect. If they
+are willing to endure privations, to eat coarse food, sometimes
+with no meat, but with milk for a substitute (this is a glorious
+resort for the Grahamites), to live on friendly terms with an
+old hat or coat, rather than have the society run in debt, and
+to have patience when <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span>many things go wrong, and are willing to
+work long and late to make them go right, they may consider
+themselves fitted for the transition-period. But if they sigh
+for the flesh-pots and leeks and onions of civilization, feel
+melancholy with a patch on their back, and growl because they
+can not have eggs and honey and warm biscuit and butter for
+breakfast, they had better stay where they are, and wait for the
+advent of perfect industrial Association. I am thus trifling in
+contrast; for there is nothing so serious, hearty, and I might
+add, sublime, as the building up of a Phalanx, making and seeing
+it grow day by day, and anticipating what fruits we shall enjoy
+when a few years are past. Why, the heart of man has never yet
+conceived what are the to-be results of the equilibrial
+development of all the powers and faculties of man. It is like
+endeavoring to comprehend the nature and pursuits of a spiritual
+and superior race of beings.</p>
+
+<p>"We are prepared to receive members who are desirous of uniting
+their interests with us, and of becoming truly devoted to the
+cause of industrial Association.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="leftsig">"Yours truly,</span>     <span class="sc">N.C. Meeker."</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter to the <i>Tribune</i>, September 29, 1846.]</p>
+
+<p>"The progress made by the Trumbull Phalanx is doing great good.
+People begin to say, 'If they could hang together under such bad
+circumstances for so long a time, and no difficulties occur,
+what must we hope for, now that they are pecuniarily
+independent?' You have heard, I presume, that the Pittsburghers
+have furnished money enough to place that Association out of
+debt. I may be over-sanguine, but I feel confident of their
+complete success. I fear our Eastern friends have not sufficient
+faith in our efforts. Well, I trust we may <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span>disappoint them. The
+Trumbull, so far as means amount to any thing, stands first of
+any Phalanx in the United States; and as to harmony among the
+members, I can only say that there has been no difficulty yet.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="leftsig">"Yours truly,</span>       <span class="sc">J.D.S.</span>"</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Harbinger</i>, January 2, 1847.]</p>
+
+<p>"We have received the following gratifying account of the
+Trumbull Phalanx. Every attempt of the kind here described,
+though not to be regarded as an experiment of a model Phalanx,
+is in the highest degree interesting, as showing the advantages
+of combined industry and social union. Go forward,
+strong-hearted brothers, assured that every step you take is
+bringing us nearer the wished-for goal, when the redemption of
+humanity shall be fully realized. This is what they say:</p>
+
+<p>"'We are getting along well. Our Pittsburg friends have lately
+sent us two thousand dollars, and are to send more during the
+winter. We are also adding to our numbers. We have an abundance
+to eat of our own raising; but aside from this, our mill brings
+sufficient for our support. We have put up a power-loom at our
+upper works, and are about prepared to produce thereby
+sufficient to clothe us. Hence, by uniting capital, labor and
+skill in two mechanical branches, we secure, with ordinary
+industry, what no equal number of families in civilization can
+be said to possess entirely, a sufficient amount of food and
+clothing. And these are items which practical men know how to
+value; and we know how to value them too, because they are the
+results of our own efforts.</p>
+
+<p>"'We have two schools, one belonging to the district, that is, a
+State or public school, and the other to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span>Phalanx, both
+taught by persons who are members. In the latter school, among
+other improvements, there are classes in Phonography and
+Phonotopy, learning the new systems embraced by the writing and
+printing reformation, the progress of which is highly
+satisfactory.</p>
+
+<p>"'On the whole, we feel that our success is ensured beyond an
+earthly doubt. Not but that we have yet to pass through trying
+scenes. But we have encountered so many difficulties that we are
+not apprehensive but that we are prepared to meet others equally
+as great. Indeed we feel that if we had known at the
+commencement what fiery trials were to surround us, we should
+have hesitated to enter upon the enterprise. Now, being fairly
+in, we will brave it through, and we think you may look to see
+us grow with each year, adding knowledge to wealth, and
+industrious habits to religious precepts and elevated
+sentiments, till we shall be prepared to enter upon the combined
+order, and, with our co-partners, who are now breast and heart
+with us, lead the kingdoms of the earth into the regions of
+light, liberty and love.'"</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Pittsburg Post</i>, January 1847.]</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">Trumbull Phalanx.</span>&mdash;Several Pittsburgers have joined
+the above-named Association: and a sufficient amount of money
+has been contributed to place it upon a solid foundation. It is
+pecuniarily independent, as we are informed; and the members are
+full of faith in complete success. Several letters have been
+received by persons in this city from resident members of the
+Phalanx. We should like to have one of them for publication, to
+show the feelings which pervade those who are working out the
+problem of social unity. They write in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span>substance, 'The
+Association is prosperous, and we are all happy.'</p>
+
+<p>"The Trumbull Phalanx is now in its third or fourth year, and so
+far has met with but few of the difficulties anticipated by the
+friends or enemies of the cause. The progress has been slow, it
+is true, owing to a variety of causes, the principal one of
+which has been removed, viz.: debt. Much sickness existed on the
+domain during the last season, but no fears are felt for the
+future, as to the general health of the neighborhood."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter of C. Woodhouse, July 3, 1847.]</p>
+
+<p>"This Phalanx has been in existence nearly four years, and has
+encountered many difficulties and submitted to many privations.
+Difficulties still exist and privations are not now few or
+small; but so great is the change for the better in less than
+four years, that they are fully impressed with the promise of
+success. At no time, indeed, have they met with as many
+difficulties as the lonely settler in a new country meets with;
+for in all their poverty they have been in pleasant company and
+have aided one another. They are now surrounded by all the
+necessaries and some of the comforts of life. Each family has a
+convenient dwelling, and so far as I can judge from a short
+visit, they enjoy the good of their labor, with no one to molest
+or make them afraid. Several branches of mechanical industry are
+carried on there, but agriculture is the staff on which they
+principally lean. Their land is very good, and of their thousand
+acres, over three hundred are improved. Their stock&mdash;horses,
+cattle and cows&mdash;look very well, as the farmers say. The
+improvements and condition of the domain bespeak thrift,
+industry and practical skill. The Trumbullites are workers. I
+saw no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span>dainty-fingered theorists there. When such do come, I am
+informed, they do not stay long. Work is the order of the day.
+They would be glad of more leisure; but at this stage of the
+enterprise they put forth all their powers to redeem themselves
+from debt, and make such improvements as will conduce to this
+end and at the same time add to their comforts. Not a cent is
+expended in display or for knicknacks. The President lives in a
+log house and drives team on the business of the Association.
+Whatever politicians may say to the contrary, I think he is the
+only veritable 'log-cabin President' the whole land can show."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter of the Women of the Trumbull Phalanx to the Women
+of the Boston Union of Associationists, July 15, 1847.]</p>
+
+<p>"It is plain that our efforts must be different from yours.
+Yours is the part to arouse the idle and indifferent by your
+conversation, and by contributing funds to sustain and aid
+publications. Ours is the part to organize ourselves in all the
+affairs of life, in the best manner that our imperfect
+institution will permit; and, not least, to have faith in our
+own efforts. In this last particular we are sometimes deficient,
+for it is impossible for us with our imperfect and limited
+capacities, clearly and fully to foresee what faith and
+confidence in God's providence can accomplish. We have been
+brought hither through doubts and dangers, and through the
+shadows of the future we have no guide save where duty points
+the way.</p>
+
+<p>"Our trials lie in the commonest walks. To forego conveniences,
+to live poorly, dress homely, to listen calmly, reply mildly,
+and wait patiently, are what we must become familiar with. True,
+these are requirements by no means uncommon; but imperfect
+beings <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span>like ourselves are apt to imagine that they alone are
+called upon to endure. Yet, perhaps, we enjoy no less than the
+most of our sex; nay, we are in truth, sisters the world round;
+if one suffers, all suffer, no matter whether she tends her
+husband's dogs amidst the Polar snows, or mounts her consort's
+funeral pile upon the banks of the Ganges. Together we weep,
+together we rejoice. We rise, we fall together.</p>
+
+<p>"It would afford us much pleasure could we be associated
+together. Could all the women fitted to engage in Social Reform
+be located on one domain, one can not imagine the immense
+changes that would ensue. We pray that we, or at least our
+children, may live to see the day when kindred souls shall be
+permitted to co&ouml;perate in a sphere sufficiently extensive to
+call forth all our powers."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">(From a letter of N.C. Meeker, August 11, 1847.)</p>
+
+<p>"Our progress and prosperity are still continued. By this we
+only mean that whatever we secure is by overcoming many
+difficulties. Our triumphs, humble though they be, are achieved
+in the same manner that the poet or the sculptor or the chemist
+achieves his, by labor, by application; and we believe that to
+produce the most useful and beautiful things, the most labor and
+pains are necessary.</p>
+
+<p>"Our present difficulties are, first, want of a sufficient
+number to enable us to establish independent groups, as Fourier
+has laid down. The present arrangement is as though we were all
+in one group; what is earned by the body is divided among
+individuals according to the amount of labor expended by each.
+Were our branches of business fewer (for we carry on almost
+every branch of industry necessary to support us) we could
+organize <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span>with less danger of interruption, which at present
+must be incessant; yet, at the same time there would be less
+choice of employment. Our number is about two hundred and fifty,
+and that of laboring men not far from fifty. This want of a
+greater number is by no means a serious difficulty; still, one
+we wish were corrected by an addition of scientific and
+industrious men, with some capital.</p>
+
+<p>"Again, when the season is wet, we have the fever and ague among
+us to some extent, though previous to our locating here the
+place was healthy. Whether it will be healthy in future we of
+course can not determine, but see no reason why it may not. The
+ague is by no means dangerous, but it is quite disagreeable, and
+during its continuance, is quite discouraging. Upon the approach
+of cold weather it disappears, and we recover, feeling as strong
+and hopeful as ever. Other diseases do not visit us, and the
+mortality of the place is low, averaging thus far, almost four
+years, less than two annually, and these were children. We are
+convinced, however, that all cause of the ague may be removed by
+a little outlay, which of course we shall make.</p>
+
+<p>"These are our chief incumbrances at present; others have
+existed equally discouraging, and have been surmounted. The time
+was when our very existence for a period longer than a few
+months, was exceedingly doubtful. Two or three heavy payments
+remained due, and our creditor was pressing. Now we shall not
+owe him a cent till next April. By the assistance of our
+Pittsburg friends and Mr. Van Amringe, we have been put in this
+situation. About half of our debt of about $7,000 is paid. All
+honor to Englishmen (William Bayle <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span>in particular), who have
+thus set an example to the 'sons of '76.'"</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a report of a Socialist Convention at Boston, October
+1847.]</p>
+
+<p>"The condition and prospects of the experiments now in progress
+in this country, especially the North American, Trumbull and
+Wisconsin Phalanxes, were discussed. Mr. Cooke has lately
+visited all these Associations, and brings back a large amount
+of interesting information. The situation of the North American
+is decidedly hopeful; as to the other two, his impressions were
+of a less sanguine tone than letters which have been recently
+published in the <i>Harbinger</i> and <i>Tribune</i>. Yet it is not time
+to despair."</p></div>
+
+<p>The reader will hardly be prepared for the next news we have about the
+Trumbull; but we have seen before that Associations are apt to take
+sudden turns.</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[Letter to the <i>Harbinger</i> announcing failure.]</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<i>Braceville, Ohio, December 3, 1847.</i></p>
+
+<p><i>To the Editors of the Harbinger</i>,</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">Gentlemen</span>: You and your readers have no doubt heard
+before this of the dissolution of this Association, and the
+report is but too true; we have fallen. But we wish civilization
+to know that in our fall we have not broken our necks. We have
+indeed caught a few pretty bad scratches; but all our limbs are
+yet sound, and we mean to pick ourselves up again. We will try
+and try again. The infant has to fall several times before he
+can walk; but that does not discourage him, and he succeeds; nor
+shall we be so easily discouraged.</p>
+
+<p>"Some errors, not intentional though fatal, have been committed
+here; we see them now, and will endeavor to avoid them. I
+believe that it may be said of us with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span>truth, that our failure
+is a triumph. Our fervent love for Association is not quenched;
+we are not dispersed; we are not discouraged; we are not even
+scared. We know our own position. What we have done we have done
+deliberately and intentionally, and we think we know also what
+we have to do. There are, however, difficulties in our way: we
+are aware of them. We may not succeed in re&ouml;rganizing here as we
+wish to do; but if we fail, we will try elsewhere. There is yet
+room in this western world. We will first offer ourselves, our
+experience, our energies, and whatever means are left us, to our
+sister Associations. We think we are worth accepting; but if
+they have the inhumanity to refuse, we will try to build a new
+hive somewhere else, in the woods or on the prairies. God will
+not drive us from his own earth. He has lent it to all men; and
+we are men, and men of good intentions, of no sinister motives.
+Our rights are as good in his eyes as those of our brothers.</p>
+
+<p>"We do not deem it necessary here to give a detailed account of
+our affairs and circumstances. It will be sufficient to say
+that, however unfavorable they may be at present, we do not
+consider our position as desperate. We think we know the remedy;
+and we intend to use our best exertions to effect a cure. It may
+be proper also to state that we have not in any manner infringed
+our charter.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not write in an official capacity, but I am authorized to
+say, gentlemen, that if you can conveniently, and will, as soon
+as practicable, give this communication an insertion in the
+<i>Harbinger</i>, you will serve the cause, and oblige your brothers
+of the late Trumbull Phalanx.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">G.M.M."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span>After this decease, an attempt was made to resuscitate the
+Association; as will be seen in the following paragraphs:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter in the <i>Harbinger</i>, May 27, 1848.]</p>
+
+<p>"With improvident philanthropy, the Phalanx had admitted too
+indiscriminately; so that the society was rather an asylum for
+the needy, sick and disabled, than a nucleus of efficient
+members, carrying out with all their powers and energies, a
+system on which they honestly rely for restoring their race to
+elevation and happiness. They also had accepted unprofitable
+capital, producing absolutely nothing, upon which they were
+paying interest upon interest. All this weighed most heavily on
+the efficient members. They made up their minds to break up
+altogether.</p>
+
+<p>"A new society has been organized, which has bought at auction,
+and very low, the domain with all its improvements. We, the new
+society, purpose to work on the following foundation: Our object
+is to try the system of Fourier, so far as it is in our power,
+with our limited means, etc."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter in the <i>Harbinger</i>, July 15, 1848.]</p>
+
+<p>"With respect to our little society here, we wish at present to
+say only that it is going on with alacrity and great hopes of
+success. We are prepared for a few additional members with the
+requisite qualifications; but we do not think it expedient to do
+or say much to induce any body to come on until we see how we
+shall fare through what is called the sickly season. To the
+present date, however, we may sum up our condition in these
+three words: We are healthy, busy and happy."</p>
+
+<p>This is the last we find about the new organization. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span>So we
+conclude it soon passed away. As it is best to hear all sides,
+we will conclude this account with some extracts from a
+grumbling letter, which we find among Macdonald's manuscripts.</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[Account by a Malcontent.]</p>
+
+<p>"A great portion of the land was swampy, so much so that it
+could not be cultivated. It laid low, and had a creek running
+through it, which at times overflowed, and caused a great deal
+of sickness to the inhabitants of the place. The disease was
+mostly fever and ague; and this was so bad, that three-fourths
+of the people, both old and young, were shaking with it for
+months together. Through the public prints, persons favorable to
+the Association were invited to join, which had the effect of
+drawing many of the usual mixed characters from various parts of
+the country. Some came with the idea that they could live in
+idleness at the expense of the purchasers of the estate, and
+these ideas they practically carried out; whilst others came
+with good hearts for the cause. There were one or two designing
+persons, who came with no other intent than to push themselves
+into situations in which they could impose upon their fellow
+members; and this, to a certain extent, they succeeded in doing.</p>
+
+<p>"When the people first assembled, there was not sufficient house
+room to accommodate them, and they were huddled together like
+brutes; but they built some log cabins, and then tried to
+establish some kind of order, by rules and regulations. One of
+their laws was, that all persons before becoming members must
+pay twenty-five dollars each. Some did pay this, but the
+majority had not the money to pay. I think most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span>persons came
+there for a mere shift. Their poverty and their quarrelling
+about what they called religion (for there were many notions
+about which was the right way to heaven), were great drawbacks
+to success. Nearly all the business was carried on by barter,
+there was so little money. Labor was counted by the hour, and
+was booked to each individual. Booking was about all the pay
+they ever got. At the breaking up, some of the members had due
+to them for labor and stock, five or six hundred dollars; and
+some of them did not receive as many cents.</p>
+
+<p>"To give an idea of the state of things, I may mention that
+there was a shrewd Yankee there, who established a
+boarding-house and pretended to accommodate boarders at very
+reasonable charges. He was poor, but he made many shifts to get
+something for his boarders to eat, though it was but very
+little. There was seldom any butter, cheese, or animal food upon
+the table, and what he called coffee was made of burnt bread. He
+had no bedding for the boarders; they had to provide it for
+themselves if they could; if not, they had to sleep on the
+floor. For this board he charged $1.62 per week, while it was
+proved that the cost per week for each individual was not more
+than twenty cents. This man professed to be a doctor, (though I
+believe he really knew no more of medicine than any other person
+there); and as there were so many persons sick with the ague, he
+got plenty of work. Previous to the breaking up, he brought in
+his bills to the patients (whom he had never benefited),
+charging them from ten to thirty dollars each, and some even
+higher. But the people being very poor, he did not succeed in
+recovering much of what he called his 'just dues;' though by
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span>threats of the law he scared some of them out of a trifle. There
+was another keen fellow, a preacher and lawyer, who got into
+office as secretary and treasurer, and kept the accounts. When
+there was any money he had the management of it; and I believe
+he knew perfectly well how to use it for his own advantage,
+which many of the members felt to their sorrow. The property was
+supposed to have been held by stockholders. Those who had the
+management of things know best how it was finally disposed of.
+For my part I think this was the most unsatisfactory experiment
+attempted in the West.</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<span class="sc">J.M.</span>, member of the Trumbull Phalanx."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>What a story of passion and suffering can be traced in this broken
+material! Study it. Think of the great hope at the beginning; the
+heroism of the long struggle; the bitterness of the end. This human
+group was made up of husbands and wives, parents and children,
+brothers and sisters, friends and lovers, and had two hundred hearts,
+longing for blessedness. Plodding on their weary march of life,
+Association rises before them like the <i>mirage</i> of the desert. They
+see in the vague distance, magnificent palaces, green fields, golden
+harvests, sparkling fountains, abundance of rest and romance; in one
+word, <span class="fakesc">HOME</span>&mdash;which also is <span class="fakesc">HEAVEN</span>. They rush like the
+thirsty caravan to realize their vision. And now the scene changes.
+Instead of reaching palaces, they find themselves huddled together in
+loose sheds&mdash;thirty-five families trying to live in dwellings built
+for one. They left the world to escape from want and care and
+temptation; and behold, these hungry wolves follow them in fiercer
+packs than ever. The gloom of debt is over them from the beginning.
+Again and again they are on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span>the brink of bankruptcy. It is a constant
+question and doubt whether they will "<span class="fakesc">SUCCEED</span>," which means,
+whether they will barely keep soul and body together, and pacify their
+creditors. But they cheer one another on. "They <i>must</i> succeed; they
+<i>will</i> succeed; they <i>are</i> already succeeding!" These words they say
+over and over to themselves, and shout them to the public. Still debt
+hangs over them. They get a subsidy from outside friends. But the
+deficit increases. Meanwhile disease persecutes them. All through the
+sultry months which should have been their working time, they lie idle
+in their loose sheds, or where they can find a place, sweating and
+shivering in misery and despair. Human parasites gather about them,
+like vultures scenting prey from afar. Their own passions torment
+them. They are cursed with suspicion and the evil eye. They quarrel
+about religion. They quarrel about their food. They dispute about
+carrying out their principles. Eight or ten families desert. The rest
+worry on through the long years. Foes watch them with cruel
+exultation. Friends shout to them, "Hold on a little longer!" They
+hold on just as long as they can, insisting that they are successful,
+or are just going to be, till the last. Then comes the "break up;" and
+who can tell the agonies of that great corporate death!</p>
+
+<p>If the reader is willing to peer into the darkest depths of this
+suffering, let him read again and consider well that suppressed wail
+of the women where they speak of the "polar snows" and the "funeral
+pile;" and let him think of all that is meant when the men say, "If we
+had known at the commencement what fiery trials were to surround us,
+we should have hesitated to enter on the enterprise. <i>But now being
+fairly in, we will brave it</i> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span><i>through!</i>" See how pathetically these
+soldiers of despair, with defeat in full view, offer themselves to
+other Associations, and take comfort in the assurance that God will
+not drive them from the earth! See how the heroes of the "forlorn
+hope," after defeat has come, turn again and re&ouml;rganize, refusing to
+surrender! The end came at last, but left no record.</p>
+
+<p>This is not comedy, but direst tragedy. God forbid that we should
+ridicule it, or think of it with any feeling but saddest sympathy. We
+ourselves are thoroughly acquainted with these heights and depths.
+These men and women seem to us like brothers and sisters. We could
+easily weep with them and for them, if it would do any good. But the
+better way is to learn what such sufferings teach, and hasten to find
+and show the true path, which these pilgrims missed; that so their
+illusions may not be repeated forever.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXIX.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE OHIO PHALANX.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>This Association, originally called the American Phalanx, commenced
+with a very ambitious programme and flattering prospects; but it did
+not last so long as many of its contemporaries. It belonged to the
+Pittsburg group of experiments. The founder of it was E.P. Grant. Mr.
+Van Amringe was one of its leaders, whom we saw busy at the Trumbull.
+The first announcement of it we find in the third number of the
+<i>Phalanx</i>, as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Phalanx</i>, December 5, 1843.]</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">Grand Movement in the West.</span>&mdash;The friends of
+Association in Ohio and other portions of the West, have
+undertaken the organization of a Phalanx upon quite an extended
+scale. They have secured a magnificent tract of land on the
+Ohio, have framed a constitution, and taken preliminary steps to
+make an early commencement.</p>
+
+<p>The projectors say: "We feel pleasure in announcing that the
+American Phalanx has contracted for about two thousand acres of
+land in Belmont County, Ohio, known as the Pultney farm, lying
+along the Ohio river, seven or eight miles below Wheeling; and
+that sufficient means are already pledged to remove all doubts
+as to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span>the formation of an Association, as soon as the domain
+can be prepared for the reception of the members. The land has
+been purchased of Col. J.S. Shriver, of Wheeling, Virginia, at
+thirty dollars per acre, payable at the pleasure of the
+Association, in sums not less than $5,000. The payment of six
+per cent. interest semi-annually, is secured by a lien on the
+land.</p>
+
+<p>"The tract selected is two and a-half miles in length from north
+to south, and of somewhat irregular breadth, by reason of the
+curvatures of the Ohio river, which forms its eastern boundary.
+It contains six hundred acres of bottom land, all cleared and
+under cultivation; the residue is hill land of a fertility truly
+surprising and indeed incredible to persons unacquainted with
+the hills of that particular neighborhood. Of the hill lands,
+about two hundred and fifty acres are cleared, and about three
+hundred acres more have been partially cleared, so as to answer
+imperfectly for sheep pasture. The residue is for the most part
+well-timbered.</p>
+
+<p>"There are upon the premises two frame dwelling-houses, and ten
+log houses, mostly with shingle roofs; none of them, however,
+are of much value, except for temporary purposes.</p>
+
+<p>"The domain is singularly beautiful, as well as fertile; and
+when it is considered, in connection with the advantages already
+enumerated, that it is situated on one of the greatest
+thoroughfares in the world, the charming Ohio, along which from
+six to ten steamboats pass every day for eight or nine months in
+the year; that it is immediately accessible to several large
+markets, and a multitude of small ones; and that it is within
+seven miles of that great public improvement, the National Road,
+leading through the heart of the Western States, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span>we think we
+are authorized to affirm that the broad territory of our country
+furnishes but few localities more favorable for an experiment in
+Association, than that which has been secured by the American
+Phalanx.</p>
+
+<p>"From eighty to one hundred laborers are expected to be upon the
+ground early in the spring, and it is hoped that in the fall a
+magnificent edifice or Phalanstery, on Fourier's plan, will be
+commenced, and will progress rapidly, until it shall be of
+sufficient extent to accommodate one hundred families.</p>
+
+<p>"Our object can not be more intelligibly explained than by
+stating that it is proposed to organize an industrial army,
+which, instead of ravaging and desolating the earth, like the
+armies of civilization, shall clothe it luxuriantly and
+beautifully with supplies for human wants; to distribute this
+army into platoons, companies, battalions, regiments, in which
+promotion and rewards shall depend, not upon success in
+spreading ruin and woe, but upon energy and efficiency in
+diffusing comfort and happiness; in short, to invest labor the
+creator, with the dignity which has so long impiously crowned
+labor the destroyer and the murderer, so that men shall vie with
+each other, not in devastation and carnage, but in usefulness to
+the race."</p></div>
+
+<p>Applicants for admission or stock were referred to E.P. Grant, A.
+Brisbane, H. Greeley and others.</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Phalanx</i>, February 5, 1844.]</p>
+
+<p>"E.P. Grant, Esq., of Canton, Ohio, a gentleman of high
+standing, superior talents, and indefatigable energy, who is at
+the head of the movement to establish the American Phalanx,
+which is to be located on the banks of the beautiful Ohio,
+informs us by letter, that 'the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span>prospect is truly cheering;
+even that greatest of wants, capital, is likely to be abundantly
+supplied. There will indeed be some deficiency during the
+ensuing spring and summer; but the amount already pledged to be
+paid by the end of the first year, is not, I think, less than
+$40,000, and by the end of the second year, probably not less
+than $100,000; and these amounts, from present appearances, can
+be almost indefinitely increased. Besides, the proposed
+associates are devoted and determined, resenting the intimation
+of possible failure, as a reflection unworthy of their zeal.'"</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Phalanx</i>, March 1, 1844.]</p>
+
+<p>"The Ohio Phalanx (heretofore called the American), is now
+definitely constituted, and the first pioneers are already upon
+the domain. More will follow in a few days to assist in making
+preliminary preparations. A larger company will be added in
+March, and by the end of May the Phalanx is expected to consist
+of 120 resident members, of whom the greater part will be adult
+males. They will be received from time to time as rapidly as
+temporary accommodations can be provided. The prospects of the
+Phalanx are cheering beyond the most sanguine anticipations of
+its friends.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">E.P. Grant."</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Phalanx</i>, July 13, 1844.]</p>
+
+<p>"Our friends of the Ohio Phalanx appear to have celebrated the
+Fourth of July with much hilarity and enthusiasm. About ten
+o'clock the members of the Association with their guests, were
+seated beneath the shade of spreading trees, near the dwelling;
+when Mr. Grant, the President, announced briefly the object of
+the assemblage and the order to be observed, which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span>was, first,
+prayer by Dr. Rawson, then an address by Mr. Van Amringe, in
+which the present condition of society, its inevitable
+tendencies and results, were contrasted with the social system
+as delineated by Fourier. It is not doing full justice to the
+orator to say merely that his address was interesting and able.
+It was lucid, cogent, religious and highly impressive. This
+portion of the festival was closed by prayer and benediction by
+Rev. J.P. Stewart, and adjournment for dinner. After a good and
+plentiful repast, the social party resumed their seats for the
+purpose of hearing (rather than drinking) toasts and whatsoever
+might be said thereupon."</p></div>
+
+<p>The topics of the regular toasts were, <i>The day we celebrate</i>; <i>The
+memory of Fourier</i>; <i>The Associationists of Pittsburg</i>; and so on
+through a long string. The volunteer toasters liberally complimented
+each other and the socialistic leaders generally, not forgetting
+Horace Greeley. Somebody in the name of the Phalanx gave the
+following:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>The Bible</i>, the book of languages, the book of ideas, the book of
+life. May its pages be the delight of Associationists, and its
+precepts practiced by the whole world."</p>
+
+<p>Our next quotation hints that something like a dissolution and
+re&ouml;rganization had taken place.</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Phalanx</i>, May 3, 1845.]</p>
+
+<p>"We notice in a recent number of the <i>Pittsburg Chronicle</i>, an
+article from the pen of James D. Thornburg, on the present
+condition of the Ohio Phalanx, from which it appears that the
+report of its failure which has gone the rounds of the papers,
+is premature; and that although it has suffered embarrassment
+and difficulties <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span>from various causes, it is still in operation
+under new arrangements that authorize the hope of its ultimate
+success. We know nothing of the internal obstacles of which Mr.
+Thornburg speaks, and have no means of forming an opinion on the
+merits of the questions which, it would seem, have given rise to
+divided counsels and inefficient action. For the founder of the
+Ohio Phalanx, E.P. Grant, we cherish the most unqualified
+respect, believing him to be fitted as few men are, by his
+talents, energy and scientific knowledge, for the station of
+leader of the great enterprise, which demands no less courage
+and practical vigor, than wisdom and magnanimity.</p>
+
+<p>"We learn from Mr. Thornburg's statement that to those who chose
+to leave the Phalanx, it was proposed to give thirty-three per
+cent. on their investments, which is all they could be entitled
+to, in case of a forfeiture of the title to the domain, in which
+case all the improvements, buildings, crops in ground, etc.,
+would be a total loss to the members. But there is no
+depreciation in the stock, when these improvements are
+estimated. The rent has been reduced to one-half the former
+amount. The proprietor is expected to furnish a large number of
+sheep, the profits of which, it is believed, will be nearly or
+quite sufficient to pay the rent. At the end of two years,
+$30,000 in bonds, mortgages, etc., is to be raised, for which
+the Phalanx will receive a fee-simple title to the domain. A
+large share of the balance will be invested in stock, and
+whatever may remain will be apportioned in payments at two and
+a-half per cent. interest, and fixed at a date so remote that no
+difficulty will result. There are buildings on the domain
+sufficient for the accommodation of forty families, in addition
+to a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span>number of rooms suitable for single persons. The movable
+property on the domain is at present worth three thousand
+dollars.</p>
+
+<p>"In view of all the facts in the case, as set forth by Mr.
+Thornburg, we see no reason to dissent from the conclusion which
+he unhesitatingly expresses, that the future success of the
+Phalanx is certain. We trust that we have not been inspired with
+too flattering hopes by the earnestness of our wishes. For we
+acknowledge that we have always regarded the magnificent
+material resources of this Phalanx with the brightest
+anticipations; we have looked to it with confiding trust, for
+the commencement of a model Association; and we can not now
+permit ourselves to believe that any disastrous circumstance
+will prevent the realization of the high hopes which prompted
+its founders to engage in their glorious enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>"The causes of difficulty in the Ohio Phalanx, as stated in the
+article before us, are as follows: Want of experience; too much
+enthusiasm; unproductive members; want of means. These causes
+must always produce difficulty and discouragement; and at the
+same time, can scarcely be avoided in the commencement of every
+attempt at Association.</p>
+
+<p>"The harmonies of the combined order are not to be arrived at in
+a day or a year. Even with the noblest intentions, great
+mistakes in the beginning are inevitable, and many obstacles of
+a formidable character are incident to the very nature of the
+undertaking. A want of sufficient means must cripple the most
+strenuous industry. Ample capital is essential for a complete
+organization, for the necessary machinery and fixtures, for the
+ordinary conveniences, to say nothing of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span>elegancies of the
+household order; and this in the commencement can scarcely ever
+be obtained. Restriction, retrenchment, more or less confusion,
+are the necessary consequences; and these in their turn beget a
+spirit of impatience and discontent in all but the heroic; and
+few men are heroes. The transition from the compulsory industry
+of civilization to the voluntary, but not yet attractive,
+industry of Association, is not favorable to the highest
+industrial effects. Men who have been accustomed to shirk labor
+under the feeling that they had poor pay for hard work, will not
+be transformed suddenly into kings of industry by the atmosphere
+of a Phalanx. There will be more or less loafing, a good deal of
+exertion unwisely applied, a certain waste of strength in random
+and unsystematic efforts, and a want of the business-like
+precision and force which makes every blow tell, and tell in the
+right place. Under these circumstances many will grow uneasy, at
+length become discouraged, and perhaps prove false to their
+early love. But all these, we are fully persuaded, are merely
+temporary evils. They will soon pass away. They are like the
+thin mists of the valley, which precede, but do not prevent, the
+rising of the sun. The principles of Association are founded on
+the eternal laws of justice and truth; they present the only
+remedy for the appalling confusion and discord of the present
+social state; they are capable of being carried into practice by
+just such men and women as we daily meet in the usual walks of
+life; and as firmly as we believe in a Universal Providence, so
+sure we are that their practical accomplishment is destined to
+bless humanity with ages of abundance, harmony, and joy,
+surpassing the most enthusiastic dream."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[Editorial in the <i>Harbinger</i>, June, 14, 1845.]</p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span>
+
+<p>"We learn from a personal interview with Mr. Thornburg, whose
+letter on the Ohio Phalanx was alluded to in a recent number of
+the <i>Phalanx</i>, that the affairs of that Association wear a very
+promising aspect, and that there can be no reasonable doubt of
+its success. He gives a very favorable description of the soil
+and general resources of the domain, and from all that we have
+learned of its character, we believe there are few localities at
+the West better adapted for the purposes of an experimental
+Association on a large scale. We sincerely hope that our friends
+in that vicinity will concentrate their efforts on the Ohio
+Phalanx, and not attempt to multiply Associations, which,
+without abundant capital and devoted and experienced men, will,
+almost to a certainty, prove unsuccessful. The true policy for
+all friends of Associative movements, is to combine their
+resources, and give an example of a well-organized Phalanx, in
+complete and harmonic operation. This will do more for the cause
+than any announcement of theories, however sound and eloquent,
+or ten thousand abortive attempts begun in enthusiasm and
+forsaken in despair."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the correspondence of the <i>Harbinger</i>, July 19, 1845,
+announcing the final dissolution.]</p>
+
+<p>"On the 24th of June last, the Ohio Phalanx again dissolved. The
+reason is the want of funds. Since the former dissolution they
+have obtained no accession of numbers or capital worth
+considering. The members, I presume, will now disperse. They all
+retain, I believe, their sentiments in favor of Association; but
+they have not the means to go on."</p></div>
+
+<p>Macdonald contributes the following summary, to close the account:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the Journal of a Resident Member of the Ohio Phalanx.]</p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span>
+
+<p>"At the commencement of the experiment there was general
+good-humor among the members. There seemed to be plenty of
+means, and there was much profusion and waste. There was no
+visible organization according to Fourier, most of the members
+being inexperienced in Association. They were too much crowded
+together, had no school nor reading-room, and the younger
+members, as might be expected, were at first somewhat unruly.
+The character of the Association had more of a sedate and
+religious tone, than a lively or social one. There was too much
+discussion about Christian union, etc., and too little practical
+industry and business talent. No weekly or monthly accounts were
+rendered.</p>
+
+<p>"About ten months after the commencement of the Association, a
+partial scarcity of provisions took place, and other
+difficulties occurred, which may in part be attributed to
+neglect in keeping the accounts. At this juncture Mr. Van
+Amringe started on a lecturing tour in aid of the Association;
+and the Phalanx had a meeting at which Mr. Grant, who was then
+regent, stated that between $7,000 and $8,000 had been expended
+since they came together; but no accounts were shown giving the
+particulars of this expenditure. From the difficult position in
+which the Phalanx was placed, Mr. Grant advised the breaking-up
+of the concern, which was agreed to, with two or three
+dissentients. [This was probably the first dissolution, referred
+to in a previous extract from the <i>Harbinger</i>.]</p>
+
+<p>"On December 26 a new constitution was proposed which caused
+much discontent and confusion; and with the commencement of 1845
+more disagreements took <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span>place, some in relation to the social
+amusements of the people, and some regarding the debts of the
+Phalanx, the empty treasury, the depreciation of stock, Mr. Van
+Amringe's possession of the lease of the property, and the bad
+prospect there was for raising the interest upon the cost of the
+domain, which was about $4,140, or six per cent. on $69,000, the
+price of twenty-two hundred acres.</p>
+
+<p>"On January 20th, 1845, another attempt at re-organization was
+made by persons who had full confidence in the management of Mr.
+Grant, and on February 28th still another re-organization was
+considered. On March 10th a general meeting of the Phalanx took
+place. Three constitutions were read, and the third (attributed,
+I believe, to Mr. Van Amringe), was adopted by a majority of
+one. After this there was a meeting of the minority, and the
+constitution of Mr. Grant was adopted with some slight
+alterations. Difficulties now took place between the two
+parties, which led to a suit at law by one of the members
+against the Ohio Phalanx. [These fluctuations remind us of the
+experience of New Harmony in its last days.]</p>
+
+<p>"In such manner did the Association progress until August 27,
+1845, when it was whispered about, that the Phalanx was defunct,
+although no notification to that effect was given to the
+members. Colonel Shriver, who held the mortgage on the property,
+took alarm at the state of affairs, and placed an agent on the
+premises to look after his interests. This agent employed
+persons to work the farm, and the members had to shift for
+themselves as best they could. Col. S. proposed an assignment of
+the whole property over to him, requiring entire possession by
+the 1st of October. This was assented <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span>to, though the value of
+the property was more than enough to cover every claim.</p>
+
+<p>"On September 9th advertisements were issued for the public sale
+of the whole property, and on the 17th of that month the sale
+took place before two or three hundred persons. After this the
+members dispersed, and the Ohio Phalanx was at an end. The lease
+of the property had been made out in the name of Mr. Grant for
+the Phalanx. It was afterward given up to him by Mr. Van
+Amringe, who had possession of it, and by Mr. Grant was returned
+to Colonel Shriver.</p>
+
+<p>"Much space might be occupied in endeavoring to show the right
+and the wrong of these parties and proceedings, which to the
+reader would be quite unprofitable. The broad results we have
+before us, viz., that certain supposed-to-be great and important
+principles were tried in practice, and through a variety of
+causes failed. The most important causes of failure were said to
+be the deficiency of wealth, wisdom, and goodness; or if not
+these, the fallacy of the principles."</p></div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXX.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE CLERMONT PHALANX.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>This Association originated in Cincinnati. An enthusiastic convention
+of Socialists was held in that city on the 22d of February, 1844, at
+which interesting letters were read from Horace Greeley, Albert
+Brisbane, and Wm. H. Channing, and much discussion of various
+practical projects ensued. A committee was appointed to find a
+suitable domain; and at a second meeting on the 14th of March, the
+society adopted a constitution, elected officers, and opened books for
+subscription of stock. Mr. Wade Loofbourrow, a gentleman of capital
+and enterprise, took the lead in these proceedings, and was chosen
+president of the future Phalanx. A domain of nine hundred acres was
+soon selected and purchased on the banks of the Ohio, in Clermont
+County, about thirty miles above Cincinnati. On the 9th of May a large
+party of the members proceeded from Cincinnati on a steamer chartered
+for the occasion, to take possession of the domain with appropriate
+ceremonies, and leave a pioneer band to commence operations. Macdonald
+accompanied this party, and gives the following account of the
+excursion:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"There were about one hundred and thirty of us. The weather was
+beautiful, but cool, and the scenery on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span>the river was splendid
+in its spring dress. The various parties brought their
+provisions with them, and toward noon the whole of it was
+collected and spread upon the table by the waiters, for all to
+have an equal chance. But alas for equality! On the meal being
+ready, a rush was made into the cabin, and in a few minutes all
+the seats were filled. In a few minutes more the provisions had
+all disappeared, and many persons who were not in the first
+rush, had to go hungry. I lost my dinner that day; but improved
+the opportunity to observe and criticise the ferocity of the
+Fourieristic appetite. We reached the domain about two o'clock
+P.M., and marched on shore in procession, with a band of music
+in front, leading the way up a road cut in the high clay bank;
+and then formed a mass meeting, at which we had praying, music
+and speech-making. I strolled out with a friend and examined the
+purchase, and we came to the conclusion that it was a splendid
+domain. A strip of rich bottom-land, about a quarter of a mile
+wide, was backed by gently rolling hills, well timbered all
+over. Nine or ten acres were cleared, sufficient for present
+use. Here then was all that could be desired, hill and plain,
+rich soil, fine scenery, plenty of first-rate timber, a
+maple-sugar camp, a good commercial situation, convenient to the
+best market in the West, with a river running past that would
+float any kind of boat or raft; and with steamboats passing and
+repassing at all hours of the day and night, to convey
+passengers or goods to any point between New Orleans and
+Pittsburg. Here was wood for fuel, clay and stone to make
+habitations, and a rich soil to grow food. What more could be
+asked from nature? Yet, how soon all this was found
+insufficient!</p>
+
+<p>"The land was obtained on credit; the price was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span>$20,000. One
+thousand was to be paid down, and the rest in installments at
+stated periods. The first installment was paid; enthusiasm
+triumphed; and now for the beginning! On my return to the
+landing, I found a band of sturdy men commencing operations as
+pioneers. They were clearing a portion of the wood away with
+their axes, and preparing for building temporary houses, the
+materials for which they brought with them. A temporary tent was
+put up, and it would surprise any one to hear how many things
+were going to be done.</p>
+
+<p>"We left the domain on our return at about five P.M., and I
+noticed that the president, Mr. Loofbourrow, and the secretary,
+Mr. Green, remained with the workmen. There were about a dozen
+persons left, consisting, I believe, of carpenters, choppers and
+shoemakers. They all seemed in good spirits, and cheered merrily
+on our departure."</p></div>
+
+<p>A second similar excursion of Socialists from Cincinnati came off on
+the 4th of July following, which also Macdonald attended, and reports
+as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"We left Cincinnati triumphantly to the sound of martial music,
+and took our journey up the river in fine spirits, the young
+people dancing in the cabin as we proceeded. We arrived at the
+Clermont Phalanx about one o'clock. On landing, we formed a
+procession and marched to a new frame building, which was being
+erected for a mill. Here an oration was delivered by a Mr.
+Whitly, who, I noticed, had the Bible open before him. After
+this we formed a procession again and marched to a lot of rough
+tables enclosed within a line of ropes, where we stood and took
+a cold collation. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span>After this the folks enjoyed themselves with
+music and dancing, and I took a walk about the place to see what
+progress had been made since my last visit. The frame building
+before mentioned was the only one in actual progress. A
+steam-boiler had been obtained, and preparations had been made
+to build other houses. A temporary house had been erected to
+accommodate the families then on the domain, amounting as I was
+informed, to about one hundred and twenty persons. This building
+was made exactly in the manner of the cabin of a Western
+steamboat; i.e., there was one long narrow room the length of
+the house, and little rooms like state-rooms arranged on either
+side. Each little room had one little window, like a port-hole;
+and was intended to accommodate a man and his wife, or two
+single men temporarily. It was at once apparent that the persons
+living there were in circumstances inferior to what they had
+been used to; and were enduring it well, while the enthusiastic
+spirit held out. But it seldom lasts long. It is said that
+people will endure these deprivations for the sake of what is
+soon to come. But experience shows that the endurance is
+generally brief, and that if they are able, they soon return to
+the circumstances to which they have been accustomed. They
+either find that their patience is insufficient for the task, or
+that being in inferior circumstances, <i>they</i> are becoming
+inferior. Be the cause what it may, the result is nearly always
+the same. This Association had been on the ground only a few
+months; but I was told that disagreements had already commenced.
+The persons brought together were strangers to each other, of
+many different trades and habits, and discord was the result, as
+might have been anticipated. From one of the shoemakers I
+gained <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span>considerable information as to their state and
+prospects. In the afternoon we returned to the city."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Phalanx</i>, May 3, 1845.]</p>
+
+<p>"We are glad to learn by the following notice, taken from a
+Cincinnati paper, that the <i>Clermont Phalanx</i> still lives, and
+is in a fair way of going on successfully. We have received no
+account of it lately, and as the last that we had was not very
+flattering in respect to its pecuniary condition, we should not
+have been surprised to hear of its dissolution. The indiscretion
+of starting Associations without sufficient means and a proper
+selection of persons, has been shown to be disastrous in some
+other cases, and that we should fear for the fate of this one
+was quite natural. But if our Clermont friends can, by their
+devotion, energy and self-sacrificing spirit, overcome the
+trying difficulties of a pioneer state, rude and imperfect as it
+must be, they will deserve and will receive an abundant reward.
+We bid them God speed! They say:</p>
+
+<p>"'The pioneer band, with their friends, took possession of the
+domain on the 9th day of May last year, since which time we have
+been engaged in cultivating our land, clearing away the forest,
+and erecting buildings of various kinds for the use of the
+Phalanx.</p>
+
+<p>"'The amount of capital stock paid in is about $10,000; $3,000
+of which has been paid for the domain. We have a stock of
+cattle, hogs and sheep, and sufficient teams and agricultural
+utensils of various kinds; also a steam saw- and grist-mill.
+Shoe, brush, tin and tailor's shops are in active operation.
+There are on the ground thirty-five able-bodied men, with a
+sufficient number of women and children.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span>"'When we first entered on our domain, there were no buildings
+of any description, except three log-cabins, which were occupied
+by tenants. We have since erected a building for a saw- and
+grist-mill, a frame building forty by thirty feet, two stories
+high, and another, one story high, eighty by thirty-six feet,
+and one thirty-six by thirty feet, together with a kitchen,
+wash-house, etc. These buildings are of course slightly built,
+being temporary. We have also commenced a brick building eighty
+by thirty feet, three stories high, which is ready for the roof;
+all the timbers are sawed for that purpose; and we expect soon
+to put them on.</p>
+
+<p>"'There are about two thousand cords of wood chopped, part of
+which is on the bank of the river. There are thirty acres of
+wheat in the ground, in excellent condition, and it is intended
+to put in good spring crops. We are also preparing to plant
+large orchards this spring, Mr. A.H. Ernst having made us the
+noble donation of one thousand selected fruit-trees.'"</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Harbinger</i>, June 14, 1845.]</p>
+
+<p>"George Sampson, Secretary of the Phalanx, says, in an address
+soliciting funds: 'The members of the Association have the
+satisfaction of announcing that they have just paid off this
+year's installment due for their domain, amounting to $4,505,
+and have also advanced nearly $1,000 on their next year's
+payment. With increased zeal and confidence we now look forward
+to certain success.'"</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[Letter from a member, in the <i>Harbinger</i>, October 4, 1845.]</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<i>Clermont Phalanx, September 13, 1845.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"I am pleased to have to inform you, that we are improving since
+you were among us. We have had an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span>accession of members, three
+single men, and two with families. One of them attends the
+saw-mill, which he understands, and the others are carpenters
+and joiners, whom we much needed.</p>
+
+<p>"We are now hard at work on our large brick edifice. We are
+fitting up a large dining-hall in the rear of it, with kitchen,
+wash-house, bakery, etc. We think we shall get into it in about
+five weeks from this time. We now all sit down to the Phalanx
+table, and have done so for about six weeks, and all goes on
+harmoniously. How much better is this system than for each
+family to have their own table, their own dining-room, kitchen,
+etc. We have admitted several other members, who have not yet
+arrived. We have applications before us from several members of
+the Ohio Phalanx. How much I regret that these people were
+compelled to abandon so beautiful a location as Pultney Bottom,
+merely for want of money to carry on their operations. Their
+experience is the same as ours. Though their movement failed,
+they have become confirmed Associationists; they know that
+living together is practicable; that the Phalanstery is man's
+true home; and the only one in which he can enjoy all the
+blessings of earthly existence, without those evils which flesh
+is heir to in false civilization."</p></div>
+
+<p>Macdonald concludes his account with the following observations:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The Phalanx continued to progress, or to exist, till the fall
+of 1846, when it was finally abandoned. During its existence
+various circumstances concurred to hasten its termination; among
+them the following: Stock to the amount of $17,000 was
+subscribed, but scarcely $6,000 of it was ever paid;
+consequently the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span>Association could not meet its liabilities. An
+installment of $3,000 had been paid at the purchase of the
+property, but as the after installments could not be met, a
+portion of the land had to be sold to pay for the rest. A little
+jealousy, originating among the female portion of the Community,
+eventually led to a law-suit on the part of one of the male
+members against the Association, and caused them some trouble. I
+have it also on good authority, that an important difficulty
+took place between Mr. Loofbourrow and the Phalanx, relative to
+the deed of the property which he held for the Phalanx.</p>
+
+<p>"At one time there were about eighty persons on the domain,
+exclusive of children. They were of various trades and
+professions, and of various religious beliefs. There was no
+common religious standard among them.</p>
+
+<p>"Some of the friends of this experiment say it failed from two
+causes, viz., the want of means and the want of men; while
+others attribute the failure to jealousy and the law-suit, and
+also to losses they sustained by flood."</p></div>
+
+<p>The fifth volume of the <i>Harbinger</i> has a letter from one who had been
+a member of the Clermont Phalanx, giving a curious account of certain
+ghosts of Associations that flitted about the Clermont domain, after
+the decease of the original Phalanx. Here is what it says:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[Letter in the <i>Harbinger</i>, October 2, 1847.]</p>
+
+<p>"It was well known that our frail bark would strand about a year
+ago. I need not say from what cause, as the history of one such
+institution is the history of all; but it is commonly said and
+believed that it was owing to our large indebtedness on our
+landed property. Persons of large discriminating powers need not
+inquire <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span>how and why such debt was contracted; suffice it to
+say, it was done, and under such burden the Clermont Phalanx
+went down about the first of November, 1856. The property of the
+concern was delivered up to our esteemed friends, B. Urner and
+C. Donaldson of Cincinnati, who disposed of the land in such a
+way as to let it fall into the hands of our friends of the
+Community school, of which John O. Wattles, John P. Cornell and
+Hiram S. Gilmore are conspicuous members, and who seem to have
+all the pecuniary means and talents for carrying on a grand and
+notable plan of reform. They are now putting up a small
+Community building, spaciously suited for six families, which
+for beauty, convenience and durability, probably is not
+surpassed in the western country.</p>
+
+<p>"Of the old members of the Clermont, many returned again to the
+city where the institution was first started, but a goodly
+number still remain about the old domain, making various
+movements for a re-organization. After the break-up, a deep
+impression seemed to pervade the whole of us that something had
+been wrong at the outset, in not securing individually a
+permanent place <i>to be</i>, and then procuring the things <i>to be
+with</i>. Had that been the case, a permanent and happy home would
+have been here for us ere this time. But I will add with
+gratitude that such is the case now. We have a home! We have a
+place to be! After various plans for uniting our energies in the
+purchase of a small tract of land, we were visited during the
+past summer by Mr. Josiah Warren of New Harmony, Indiana, who
+laid before us his plan for the use of property, in the
+rudimental re-organization of society. Mr. Warren is a man of no
+ordinary talents. In his investigations of human <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span>character his
+experience has been of the most rigorous kind, having begun with
+Mr. Owen in 1825, and been actively engaged ever since; and
+being an ingenious mechanic and artist, an inventor of several
+kinds of printing-presses and a new method of stereotyping and
+engraving, and an excellent musician, and combining withal a
+character to do instead of say, gives us confidence in him as a
+man. His plan was taken up by one of our former members, who has
+an excellent tract of land lying on the bank of the Ohio river,
+within less than a mile of the old domain. He has had it
+surveyed into lots, and sells to such of us as wish to join in
+the cause. An extensive brick-yard is in operation, stone is
+being quarried and lumber hauled on the ground, and buildings
+are about to go up 'with a perfect rush.' Mr. Warren will have a
+press upon the ground in a few weeks that will tell something.
+So you see we have a home, we have a place. But by no means is
+the cause at rest. We call upon philanthropists and all men who
+have means to invest for the cause of Association, to come and
+see us, and understand our situation, our means and our
+intentions. We are ready to receive capital in many forms, but
+not to hold it as our own. The donor only becomes the lender,
+and must maintain a strict control over every thing he
+possesses. [Here Warren's Individual Sovereignty protrudes.]
+Farms and farming utensils, mechanical tools, etc., can be
+received only to be used and not abused; and in the language of
+the 'Poughkeepsie seer,' of whose work we have lately received a
+number of copies, this all may be done without seriously
+depreciating the capital or riches of one person in society. On
+the contrary, it will enrich and advance all to honor and
+happiness."</p></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span>Here we come upon the trail of two old acquaintances. John O. Wattles
+was one of the founders of the Prairie Home Community. It seems from
+the above, that after the failure of that experiment, he set up his
+tent among the <i>debris</i> of the Clermont Phalanx. And Josiah Warren
+came from the failure of his New Harmony Time-store to the same
+favored or haunted spot, and there started his Utopia. These
+intersections of the wandering Socialists are intricate and
+interesting. Note also that the ideas of the "Poughkeepsie seer," A.J.
+Davis, whose star was then only just above the horizon, had found
+their way to this queer mixture of all sorts of Socialists.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXI.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE INTEGRAL PHALANX.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>This Association was founded in the early part of 1845 by John S.
+Williams of Cincinnati, who is spoken of by the <i>Phalanx</i>, as one of
+the most active adherents of Fourierism in the West. It settled first
+in Ohio, and afterwards in Illinois.</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Ohio State Journal</i>, June 14, 1845.]</p>
+
+<p>"An Association of citizens of Ohio, calling themselves the
+'Integral Phalanx,' have recently purchased the valuable
+property of Mr. Abner Enoch, near Middletown, Butler County, in
+this State, known by the name of Manchester Mills, twenty-three
+miles north of Cincinnati, on the Miami Canal. This property
+embraces about nine hundred acres of the most fertile land in
+Ohio, or perhaps in the world; six hundred acres of which lie in
+one body, and are now in the highest state of cultivation,
+according to the usual mode of farming; three hundred acres in
+wood and timber land. There are now in operation on the place a
+large flouring-mill, saw-mill, lath-factory and shingle-cutter,
+with water-power which is abundantly sufficient to propel all
+necessary machinery that the company may choose to put in
+operation. The property is estimated to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span>worth $75,000, but
+was sold to the Phalanx for $45,000. As Mr. Enoch is himself an
+Associationist and a devoted friend of the cause, the terms of
+sale were made still more favorable, by the subscription, on the
+part of Mr. Enoch, of $25,000 of purchase money, as capital
+stock of the Phalanx. Entire possession of the domain is to be
+given as soon as existing contracts of the proprietor are
+completed.</p>
+
+<p>"Arrangements are already made for the vigorous prosecution of
+the plans of the Phalanx. A press is to be established on the
+domain, devoted to the science of industrial Association
+generally, and the interests of the Integral Phalanx
+particularly. Competent agents are appointed to lecture on the
+science, and receive subscriptions of stock and membership; and
+it is contemplated to erect, as soon as possible, one wing of a
+unitary edifice, large enough to accommodate sixty-four
+families, more than one-half of which number are already in the
+Association."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Harbinger</i>, July 19, 1845.]</p>
+
+<p>"We have received the first number of a new paper, entitled, the
+'<i>Plowshare and Pruning-Hook</i>,' which the Integral Phalanx
+proposes to publish semi-monthly at the rate of one dollar per
+year.</p>
+
+<p>"The reasons presented for the establishment of the Integral
+Phalanx are to our minds quite conclusive, and we feel great
+confidence that its affairs will be managed with the wisdom and
+fidelity which will insure success. We earnestly desire to
+witness a fair and full experiment of Association in the West.
+The physical advantages which are there enjoyed, are far too
+great to be lost. With the fertility of the soil, the ease with
+which it is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span>cultivated, the abundance of water-power, and the
+comparative mildness of the climate, a very few years of
+judicious and energetic industry would place an Association in
+the West in possession of immense material resources. They could
+not fail to accumulate wealth rapidly. They could live in great
+measure within themselves, without being compelled to sustain
+embarrassing relations with civilization; and with the requisite
+moral qualities and scientific knowledge, the great problem of
+social harmony would approximate, at least, toward a solution.
+We trust this will be done by the Integral Phalanx. And to
+insure this, our friends in Ohio should not be eager to
+encourage new experiments, but to concentrate their capital and
+talent, as far as possible, on that Association which bids fair
+to accomplish the work proposed. The advantages possessed by the
+Integral Phalanx will be seen from the following statement in
+their paper:</p>
+
+<p>"'To say that our prospects are not good, would be to say what
+we do not believe; or to say that the Phalanx, so far, is not
+composed of the right kind of materials, would be to affect a
+false modesty we desire not to possess. One reason why our
+materials are superior is, that young Phalanxes generally are
+known to be in doubtful, difficult circumstances, and therefore
+the inducement to rush into such movements merely from the
+pressure of the evils of civilization, without a full
+convincement of the good of Association, is not so great as it
+was. We are composed of men whose reflective organs,
+particularly that of caution, seem to be largely developed. We
+believe in moving slowly, cautiously, safely; giving our Phalanx
+time to grow well, that permanence may be the result. The
+members already <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span>enrolled on the books of the <i>Phalanx</i>, are, in
+their individual capacities, the owners of property to an amount
+exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, clear of all
+incumbrances; and they are all persons of industrial energy and
+skill, fully capable of compelling the elements of earth, air
+and water, to yield them abundant contributions for that
+harmonic unity with which their souls are deeply inspired. In
+view of all these advantages we can, with full confidence,
+invite the accession of numbers and capital, and assure them of
+a safe investment in the Integral Phalanx.'"</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Harbinger</i>, August 16, 1845.]</p>
+
+<p>"We have received the second number of the <i>Plowshare and
+Pruning-Hook</i>. Besides a variety of interesting articles on the
+subject of Association, this number contains the pledges and
+rules of the Integral Phalanx, together with an explanation of
+some parts of the instrument, which have been supposed to be
+rather obscure. It is an elaborate document, exhibiting the
+fruits of deep reflection, and aiming at the application of
+scientific principles to the present condition of Association.
+We do not feel ourselves called on to criticise it; as every
+written code for the government of a Phalanx must necessarily be
+imperfect, of the nature of a compromise, adapted to special
+exigences, and taking its character, in a great measure, from
+the local or personal circumstances of the Association for which
+it is intended. In a complete and orderly arrangement of groups
+and series, with attractive industry fully organized, with a
+sufficient variety of character for the harmonious development
+of the primary inherent passions of our nature, and a
+corresponding abundance <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span>of material resources, we conceive that
+few written laws would be necessary; everything would be
+regulated with spontaneous precision by the pervading common
+sense of the Phalanx; and the law written on the heart, the
+great and holy law of attraction, would supersede all others.
+But for this blessed condition the time is not yet. Years may be
+required, before we shall see the first red streaks of its
+dawning. Meanwhile, we must make the wisest provisional
+arrangements in our power. And no constitution recognizing the
+principles of distributive justice and the laws of universal
+unity, will be altogether defective; while time and experience
+will suggest the necessary improvements.</p>
+
+<p>"Three attorneys-at-law have left that profession and joined the
+Integral Phalanx, not, as they say, that they could not make a
+living, if they would stick to it and do their share of the
+dirty work, but because by doing so they must sacrifice their
+consciences, as the practice of the law, in many instances, is
+but stealing under another name. They are elevating themselves
+by learning honest and useful trades, so as to become producers
+in Association. A wise resolution."</p></div>
+
+<p>Here comes a sudden turn in the story of this Phalanx, for which the
+previous assurances of caution and prosperity had not prepared us, and
+of which we can find no detailed account. We skip from Ohio to
+Illinois, with no explanation except the dark hints of trouble,
+defeat, and partial dissolution, contained in the following document.
+The Sangamon Phalanx, which seems to have taken in the Integral (or
+was taken in by it), is one of the Associations of which we have no
+account either from Macdonald or the Fourier Journals.</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the New York <i>Tribune</i>.]</p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[382]</a></span>
+
+<p class="right">"<i>Home of the Integral Phalanx, }<br />
+Sangamon Co., Illinois, Oct. 20, 1845.</i>" }</p>
+
+<p>"<i>To the Editor of the New York Tribune</i>:</p>
+
+<p>"We wish to apprise the friends of Association that the Integral
+Phalanx, having for the space of one year wandered like Noah's
+dove, finding no resting place for the sole of its foot, has at
+length found a habitation. A union was formed on the 16th of
+October inst., between it and the Sangamon Association; or
+rather the Sangamon Association was merged in the Integral
+Phalanx; its members having abandoned its name and constitution,
+and become members of the Integral Phalanx, by placing their
+signatures to its pledges and rules: the Phalanx adopting their
+domain as its home. We were defeated, and we now believe, very
+fortunately for us, in securing a location in Ohio. We have,
+during the time of our wanderings, gained some experience which
+we could not otherwise have gained, and without which we were
+not prepared to settle down upon a location. Our members have
+been tried. We now know what kind of stuff they are made of.
+Those who have abandoned us in consequence of our difficulties,
+were 'with us, but not of us,' and would have been a hindrance
+to our efforts. They who are continually hankering after the
+'flesh-pots of Egypt,' and are ready to abandon the cause upon
+the first appearance of difficulties, had better stay out of
+Association. If they will embark in the cause, every Association
+should pray for difficulties sufficient to drive them out. We
+need not only clear heads, but also true hearts. We are by no
+means sorry for the difficulties which we have encountered, and
+all we fear is that we have not yet had sufficient difficulties
+to try <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[383]</a></span>our souls, and show the principles by which we are
+actuated.</p>
+
+<p>"We have now a domain embracing five hundred and eight acres of
+as good land as can be found within the limits of Uncle Sam's
+dominions, fourteen miles southwest from Springfield, the
+capital of the State, and in what is considered the best county
+and wealthiest portion of the State. This domain can be extended
+to any desired limit by purchase of adjoining lands at cheap
+rates. We have, however, at present, sufficient land for our
+purposes. It consists of high rolling prairie and woodlands
+adjoining, which can not be excelled in the State, for beauty of
+scenery and richness of soil, covered with a luxuriant growth of
+timber, of almost every description, oak, hickory, sugar-maple,
+walnut, etc. The land is well watered, lying upon Lick Creek,
+with springs in abundance, and excellent well-water at the depth
+of twenty feet. The land, under proper cultivation, will produce
+one hundred bushels of corn to the acre, and every thing else in
+proportion. There are five or six comfortable buildings upon the
+property; and a temporary frame-building, commenced by the
+Sangamon Association (intended, when finished, to be three
+hundred and sixty feet by twenty-four), is now being erected for
+the accommodation of families.</p>
+
+<p>"The whole domain is in every particular admirably adapted to
+the industrial development of the Phalanx. The railroad
+connecting Springfield with the Illinois river, runs within two
+miles of the domain. There is a steam saw- and flouring-mill
+within a few yards of our present eastern boundary, which we can
+secure on fair terms, and shall purchase, as we shall need it
+immediately.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[384]</a></span>"But we will not occupy more time with description, as those who
+feel sufficiently interested, will visit us and examine for
+themselves. We 'owe no man,' and although we are called infidels
+by those who know not what constitutes either infidelity or
+religion, we intend to obey at least this injunction of Holy
+Writ. The Sangamon Association had been progressing slowly,
+prudently and cautiously, determined not to involve themselves
+in pecuniary difficulties; and this was one great inducement to
+our union with them. We want those whose 'bump of caution' is
+fully developed. Our knowledge of the progressive movement of
+other Associations has taught us a lesson which we will try not
+to forget. We are convinced that we can never succeed with an
+onerous debt upon us. We trust those who attempt it may be more
+successful than we could hope to be.</p>
+
+<p>"We are also convinced that we can not advance one step toward
+associative unity, while in a state of anarchy and confusion,
+and that such a state of things must be avoided. We will
+therefore not attempt even a unitary subsistence, until we have
+the number necessary to enable us to organize upon scientific
+principles, and in accordance with Fourier's admirable plan of
+industrial organization. The Phalanx will have a store-house,
+from which all the families can be supplied at wholesale prices,
+and have it charged to their account. It is better that the
+different families should remain separate for five years, than
+to bring them together under circumstances worse than
+civilization. Such a course will unavoidably create confusion
+and dissatisfaction, and we venture the assertion that it has
+done so in every instance where it has been attempted. Under our
+rules of progress, it will be seen that until we are prepared to
+organize, we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[385]</a></span>shall go upon the system of hired labor. We pay to
+each individual a full compensation for all assistance rendered
+in labor or other services, and charge him a fair price for what
+he receives from the Phalanx; the balance of earnings, after
+deducting the amount of what he receives, to be credited to him
+as stock, to draw interest as capital. To capital, whether it be
+money or property put in at a fair price, we allow ten per cent.
+compound interest. This plan will be pursued until our edifice
+is finished and we have about four hundred persons, ready to
+form a temporary organization. Fourier teaches us that this
+number is necessary, and if he has taught the truth of the
+science, it is worse than folly to pursue a course contrary to
+his instructions. If there is any one who understands the
+science better than Fourier did himself, we hope he will make
+the necessary corrections and send us word. We intend to follow
+Fourier's instructions until we find they are wrong; then we
+will abandon them.</p>
+
+<p>"As to an attempt to organize groups and series until we have
+the requisite number, have gone through a proper system of
+training, and erected an edifice sufficient for the
+accommodation of about four hundred persons, every feature of
+our Rules of Progress forbids it. We believe that the effort
+will place every Phalanx that attempts it, in a situation worse
+than civilization itself. The distance between civilization and
+Association can not be passed at one leap. There must
+necessarily be a transition period; and any set of rules or
+constitution (hampered and destroyed by a set of by-laws),
+intended for the government of a Phalanx, during the transition
+period, and which have no analogical reference to the human
+form, will be worse than useless. They <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[386]</a></span>will be an impediment
+instead of an assistance to the progressive movement of a
+Phalanx. The child can not leap to manhood in a day nor a month,
+and unless there is a system of training suited to the different
+states through which he must pass in his progress to manhood,
+his energies can never be developed. If Associations will
+violate every scientific principle taught by Fourier, pay no
+regard to analogy, and attempt organisms of groups and series
+before any preparation is made for it, and then run into anarchy
+and confusion, and become disgusted with their efforts, we hope
+they will have the honesty to take the blame upon themselves,
+and not charge it to the science of Association.</p>
+
+<p>"We are ready at all times to give information of our situation
+and progress, and we pledge ourselves to give a true and correct
+statement of the actual situation of the Phalanx. We pledge
+ourselves that there shall not be found a variance between our
+written or published statements, and the statements appearing
+upon our records. Those of our members now upon the ground are
+composed principally of the former members of the Sangamon
+Association. We expect a number of our members from Ohio this
+fall, and many more of them in the spring. We have applications
+for information and membership from different directions, and
+expect large accession in numbers and capital during the coming
+year. We can extend our domain to suit our own convenience, as,
+in this land of prairies and pure atmosphere, we are not hemmed
+in by civilization to the same extent as Socialists in other
+States. We have elbow-room, and there is no danger of treading
+on each other's toes and then fighting about it.</p>
+
+<p>"The <i>Plowshare and Pruning-Hook</i> will be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[387]</a></span>continued from its
+second number, and published from the home of the Integral
+Phalanx in a few weeks, as soon as a press can be procured.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">"Secretary of Integral Phalanx."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Here all information in the <i>Harbinger</i> about the Integral comes to an
+end, and Macdonald breaks off short with, "No further particulars."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[388]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXII.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE ALPHADELPHIA PHALANX.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>This Association was commenced in the winter of 1843-4, principally by
+the exertions of Dr. H.R. Schetterly of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a
+disciple of Brisbane and the <i>Tribune</i>. The <i>Phalanx</i> of February 5,
+1844, publishes its prospectus, from which we take the following
+paragraph:</p>
+
+<p>"Notice is hereby given, that a Fourier industrial Association, called
+the Alphadelphia Phalanx, has been formed in this State, under the
+most flattering prospects. A constitution has been adopted and signed,
+and a domain selected on the Kalamazoo river, which seems to possess
+all the advantages that could be desired. It is extremely probable
+(judging from the information possessed), that only half the
+applicants can be received into one Association, because the number
+will be too great: and if such should be the case, two Associations
+will doubtless be formed; for such is the enthusiasm in the West that
+people will not suffer themselves to be disappointed."</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Phalanx</i>, March 1, 1844.]</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">The Alphadelphia Association.</span>&mdash;We have received the
+constitution of this Association, a notice of the formation of
+which was contained in our last. In <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[389]</a></span>most respects the
+constitution is similar to that of the North American Phalanx.
+It will be seen by the description of the domain selected, which
+we publish below, that the location is extremely favorable. The
+establishment of this Association in Michigan is but a pioneer
+movement, which we have no doubt will soon be followed by the
+formation of many others. Our friends are already numerous in
+that State, and the interest in Association is rapidly growing
+there, as it is throughout the West generally. The West, we
+think, will soon become the grand theater of action, and ere
+long Associations will spring up so rapidly that we shall
+scarcely be able to chronicle them. The people, the farmers and
+mechanics particularly, have only to understand the leading
+principles of our doctrines, to admire and approve of them; and
+it would therefore be no matter of surprise to see in a short
+time their general and simultaneous adoption. Indeed, the social
+transformation from a state of isolation with all its poverty
+and miseries, to a state of Association with its immense
+advantages and prosperity, may be much nearer and proceed more
+rapidly than we now imagine. The signs are many and cheering."</p>
+
+
+<p class="cen"><i>History and Description of the Alphadelphia Association.</i></p>
+
+<p>"In consequence of a call of a convention published in the
+<i>Primitive Expounder</i>, fifty-six persons assembled in the
+school-house at the head of Clark's lake, on the fourteenth day
+of December last, from the Counties of Oakland, Wayne,
+Washtenaw, Genesee, Jackson, Eaton, Calhoun and Kalamazoo, in
+the State of Michigan; and after a laborious session of three
+days, from morning to midnight, adopted the skeleton of a
+constitution, which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span>was referred to a committee of three,
+composed of Dr. H.R. Schetterly, Rev. James Billings and
+Franklin Pierce, Esq., for revision and amendment. A committee
+consisting of Dr. Schetterly, John Curtis and William Grant, was
+also elected to view three places, designated by the convention
+as possessing the requisite qualifications for a domain. The
+convention then adjourned to meet again at Bellevue, Eaton
+County, on the third day of January, to receive the reports of
+said committees, to choose a domain from those reported on by
+the committee on location, and to revise, perfect and adopt said
+constitution. This adjourned convention met on the day
+appointed, and selected a location in the town of Comstock,
+Kalamazoo County, whose advantages are described by the
+committee on location, in the following terms:</p>
+
+<p>"The Kalamazoo river, a large and beautiful stream, nine rods
+wide, and five feet deep in the middle, flows through the
+domain. The mansion and manufactories will stand on a beautiful
+plain, descending gradually toward the bank of the river, which
+is about twelve feet high. There is a spring, pouring out about
+a barrel of pure water per minute, half a mile from the place
+where the mansion and manufactories will stand. Cobble-stone
+more than sufficient for foundations and building a dam, and
+easily accessible, are found on the domain; and sand and clay,
+of which excellent brick have been made, are also abundant. The
+soil of the domain is exceedingly fertile, and of great variety,
+consisting of prairie, oak openings, and timbered and
+bottom-land along the river. About three thousand acres of it
+have been tendered to our Association, as stock to be appraised
+at the cash value, nine hundred of which are under <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[391]</a></span>cultivation,
+fit for the plow; and nearly all the remainder has been offered
+in exchange for other improved lands belonging to members at a
+distance, who wish to invest their property in our Association."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[Letter from H.R. Schetterly.]</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<i>Ann Arbor, May 20, 1844.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">Gentlemen</span>:&mdash;Your readers will no doubt be pleased to
+learn every important movement in industrial Association; and
+therefore I send you an account of the present condition of the
+Alphadelphia Association, to the organization of which all my
+time has been devoted since the beginning of last December.</p>
+
+<p>"The Association held its first annual meeting on the second
+Wednesday in March, and at the close of a session of four days,
+during which its constitution and by-laws were perfected, and
+about eleven hundred persons, including children and adults,
+admitted to membership, adjourned to meet on the domain on the
+first of May. Its officers repaired immediately to the place
+selected last winter for the domain, and after overcoming great
+difficulties, secured the deeds of 2,814 acres of land, (927 of
+which is under cultivation), at a cost of $32,000. This gives us
+perfect control over an immense water-power; and our land-debt
+is only $5,776 (the greater portion of the land having been
+invested as stock), to be paid out of a proposed capital of
+$240,000, $14,000 of which is to be paid in cash during the
+summer and autumn. More land adjoining the domain has since been
+tendered as stock; but we have as much as we can use at present,
+and do not wish to increase our taxes and diminish our first
+annual dividend too much. It will all come in as soon as wanted.
+At our <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span>last meeting the number of members was increased to
+upwards of 1,300, and more than one hundred applicants were
+rejected, because there seemed to be no end, and we became
+almost frightened at the number. Among our members are five
+mill-wrights, six machinists, furnacemen, printers,
+manufacturers of cloth, paper, etc., and almost every other kind
+of mechanics you can mention, besides farmers in abundance.</p>
+
+<p>"Farming and gardening were commenced on the domain about the
+middle of April, and two weeks since, when I came away, there
+were seventy-one adult male and more than half that number of
+adult female laborers on the ground, and more constantly
+arriving. We shall not however be able to accommodate more than
+about 200 resident members this season.</p>
+
+<p>"There is much talk about the formation of other Associations in
+this State (Michigan), and I am well convinced that others will
+be formed next winter. The fact is, men have lost all confidence
+in each other, and those who have studied the theory of
+Association, are desirous of escaping from the present
+hollow-hearted state of civilized society, in which fraud and
+heartless competition grind the more noble-minded of our
+citizens to the dust.</p>
+
+<p>"The Alphadelphia Association will not commence building its
+mansion this season; but several groups have been organized to
+erect a two-story wooden building, five hundred and twenty-three
+feet long, including the wings, which will be finished the
+coming Fall, so as to answer for dwellings till we can build a
+mansion, and afterwards may be converted into a silk
+establishment or shops. The principal pursuit this year, besides
+putting up this building, will be farming and preparing for
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span>erecting a furnace, saw-mill, machine-shop, etc. We have more
+than one hundred thousand feet of lumber on hand; and a
+saw-mill, which we took as stock, is running day and night.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not see any obstacle to our future prosperity. Our farmers
+have plenty of wheat on the ground. We have teams, provisions,
+all we ought to desire on the domain; and best of all, since the
+location of the buildings has been decided, we are perfectly
+united, and have never yet had an angry discussion on any
+subject. We have religious meetings twice a week, and preaching
+at least once, and shall have schools very soon. If God be for
+us, of which we have sufficient evidence, who can prevail
+against us?</p>
+
+<p>"Our domain is certainly unrivaled in its advantages in
+Michigan, possessing every kind of soil that can be found in the
+State. Our people are moral, religious, and industrious, having
+been actually engaged in manual labor, with few exceptions, all
+their days. The place where the mansion and out-houses will
+stand, is a most beautiful level plain, of nearly two miles in
+extent, that wants no grading, and can be irrigated by a
+constant stream of water flowing from a lake. Between it and the
+river is another plain, twelve feet lower, on which our
+manufactories may be set in any desirable position. Our
+mill-race is half dug by nature, and can be finished, according
+to the estimate of the State engineer, for eighteen hundred
+dollars, giving five and a-half feet fall without a dam, which
+may be raised by a grant from the Legislature, adding three feet
+more, and affording water-power sufficient to drive fifty pair
+of mill-stones. A very large spring, brought nearly a mile in
+pipes, will rise nearly fifty feet at our mansion. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span>Central
+railroad runs across our domain. We have a great abundance of
+first-rate timber, and land as rich as any in the State.</p>
+
+<p>"Our constitution is liberal, and secures the fullest individual
+freedom and independence. While capital is fully protected in
+its rights and guaranteed in its interests, it is not allowed to
+exercise an undue control, or in the least degree encroach on
+personal liberty, even if this too common tendency could
+possibly manifest itself in Association. As we proceed I will
+inform you of our progress.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">H.R. Schetterly."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The <i>Harbinger</i> of January 17, 1846, mentions the Alphadelphia as
+still existing and in hopeful condition; but we find no further notice
+of it in that quarter. Macdonald tells the following story of its
+fortunes and failure, the substance of which he obtained from Dr.
+Schetterly:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"At the commencement a disagreement took place between a Mr.
+Tubbs and the rest of the members. Mr. Tubbs wanted to have the
+buildings located on the land he had owned; but the Association
+would not agree to that, because the digging of a mill-race on
+the side of the river proposed by Mr. Tubbs would have cost
+nearly $18,000; whereas on the railroad side of the river, which
+was supposed to be a much better building-place, the race would
+have cost only $1,800. The consequence was that all but Mr.
+Tubbs voted for the railroad side, and Mr. Tubbs left, no doubt
+in disgust, at the same time cautioning every person against
+investing property in the Phalanx. This disagreement at the
+commencement of the experiment threw a damper on it, from which
+it never entirely recovered.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span>"There were a number of ordinary farm-houses on the domain, and
+a beginning of a Phalanstery seventy feet long was erected to
+accommodate those who resided there the first winter. The rooms
+were comfortable but small. A large frame-house was also begun.
+During the warm weather a number of persons lived in a large
+board shanty.</p>
+
+<p>"The members of the Association were mostly farmers, though
+there were builders, shoemakers, tailors, blacksmiths and
+printers, and one editor; all tolerably skillful and generally
+well informed; though but few could write for the paper called
+the <i>Tocsin</i>, which was published there. The morality of the
+members is said to have been good, with one exception. A school
+was carried on part of the time, and they had an exchange of
+some seventy periodicals and newspapers. No religious tests were
+required in the admission of members. They had preaching by one
+of the printers, or by any person who came along, without asking
+about his creed.</p>
+
+<p>"All lived in clover so long as a ton of sugar or any other such
+luxury lasted; but before provisions could be raised, these
+luxuries were all consumed, and most of the members had to
+subsist afterward on coarser fare than they were accustomed to.
+No money was paid in, and the members who owned property abroad
+could not sell it. The officers made bad bargains in selling
+some farms that lay outside the domain. Laborers became
+discouraged and some left; but many held on longer than they
+otherwise would have done, because a hundred acres of beautiful
+wheat greeted them in the fields. In the winter some of the
+influential members went away temporarily, and thus left the
+real friends of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span>Association in the minority; and when they
+returned after two or three months absence, every thing was
+turned up-side-down. There was a manifest lack of good
+management and foresight. The old settlers accused the majority
+of this, and were themselves elected officers; but it appears
+that they managed no better, and finally broke up the concern."</p></div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h3>
+
+<h4>LA GRANGE PHALANX.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>The first notice of this Association is the following announcement in
+the <i>Phalanx</i>, October 5, 1843:</p>
+
+<p>"Preparations are making to establish an Association in La Grange
+County, Indiana, which will probably be done this fall, upon quite an
+extensive scale, as many of the most influential and worthy
+inhabitants of that section are deeply interested in the cause."</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter of W.S. Prentise, Secretary of the La Grange
+Phalanx, published in the Phalanx, February 5, 1844.]</p>
+
+<p>"We have now about thirty families, and I believe might have
+fifty, if we had room for them. We have in preparation and
+nearly completed, a building large enough to accommodate our
+present members. They will all be settled and ready to commence
+business in the spring. They leave their former homes and take
+possession of their rooms as fast as they are completed. The
+building, including a house erected before we began by the owner
+of a part of our estate, is one hundred and ninety-two feet
+long, two stories high, divided so as to give each family from
+twelve to sixteen feet front and twenty-six feet depth, making a
+front room and one or two bed-rooms. One hundred and twenty feet
+of this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span>building is entirely new. We commenced it in September,
+and have had lumber, brick and lime to haul from five to twelve
+miles. All these materials can be hereafter furnished on our
+domain. Notwithstanding the disadvantages and waste attendant on
+hasty action without previous plan, we shall have our tenements
+at least as cheap again as they would cost separately. Our farm
+consists of about fifteen hundred acres of excellent land, four
+hundred of which is improved, about three hundred of rich
+meadow, with a stream running through it, falling twelve feet,
+and making a good water-power. We are about forty miles from
+Fort Wayne, on the Wabash and Erie canal. Our land, including
+one large new house and three large new barns, and a saw-mill in
+operation, cost us about $8.00 per acre. It was put in as stock,
+at $10.31 for improved, and $2.68 for unimproved. We have about
+one hundred head of cattle, two hundred sheep, and horse and ox
+teams enough for all purposes: also farming tools in abundance;
+and in fact every thing necessary to carry on such branches of
+business as we intend to undertake at present, except money.
+This property was put in as stock, at its cash value; cows at
+$10.00, sheep $1.50, horses $50.00, wheat fifty cents, corn
+twenty-five cents.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall have about one hundred and fifty persons when all are
+assembled; probably about half of this number will be children.
+Our school will commence in a few days. We have a charter from
+the Legislature, one provision of which, inserted by ourselves,
+is, that we shall never, as a society, contract a debt. We are
+located in Springfield, La Grange County, Indiana. The nearest
+post-office is Mongoquinong. We think our location a good one.
+Our members are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span>seventy-three of them practical farmers, and
+the rest mechanics, teachers, etc. We shall not commence
+building our main edifice at present. When our dwelling rooms,
+now in progress, are completed, and such work-shops as are
+necessary to accommodate our mechanics, we shall stop building
+until more capital flows in, either from abroad or from our own
+labors. It is a pity that the mechanics of the city and farmers
+of the country could not be united. They would do far better
+together than separate. We have two of the best physicians in
+the country in our number."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Harbinger</i>, July 4, 1846.]</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">La Grange Phalanx.</span>&mdash;This Association has been in
+operation some two years, and has been incorporated since the
+first of June, 1845. It commenced on the sure principle of
+incurring no debts, which it has adhered to, with the exception
+of some fifteen hundred dollars yet due on its domain. We find
+in the <i>True Tocsin</i> a statement of the operations of this
+Association for the last fifteen months, and of its present
+condition, by Mr. Anderson, its Secretary, from which we make
+the following extracts:</p>
+
+<p class="cen">"<i>Annual Statement of the condition of La Grange Phalanx, on the
+1st day of April, 1846.</i></p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="70%" summary=" Report of the property, expenditures and proceeds of labor">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="70%" style="padding-right: 1em;">"Total valuation of the real and personal estate
+    of the Phalanx, including book accounts, due from members and others</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb" width="15%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb" width="15%">$19,861.61</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" style="padding-right: 1em;">Deduct capital stock.</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb">$14,668.39</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" style="padding-right: 1em;">Deduct debts</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb">1,128.82</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb bb">15,797.21</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp2" style="padding-right: 1em;">Total product for fifteen months previous to
+    the above date</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdrvb bt">$4,064.40</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+
+<p>Being a net increase of property on hand (since our <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[400]</a></span>settlement
+on the 1st of January, 1845), of $1,535.63, the balance of the
+total product above having been consumed (namely, $2,531.72) in
+the shape of rent, tuition, fuel, food and clothing. The above
+product forms a dividend to labor of sixty-one cents eight mills
+per day of ten hours, and to the capital stock four and
+eleven-twelfths per cent. per annum.</p>
+
+<p>"Our domain at present consists of ten hundred and forty-five
+acres of good land, watered by living springs. The land is about
+one-half prairie, the balance openings, well timbered. We have
+four hundred and ninety-two acres improved, and two hundred and
+fifty acres of meadow. The improvements in buildings are three
+barns, some out-houses, blacksmith's-shop, and a dwelling house
+large enough to accommodate sixteen families; besides a
+school-room twenty-six by thirty-six feet, and a dining-room of
+the same size. All our land is within fences. We consider our
+condition bids fair for the realization of at least a share of
+happiness, even upon the earth.</p>
+
+<p>"The rule by which this Association makes dividends to capital
+is as follows: When labor shall receive seventy-five cents per
+day of ten hours at average or common farming labor, then
+capital shall receive six per cent. per annum, and in that
+ratio, be the dividend what it may; in other words, an
+investment of one hundred dollars for one year will receive the
+same amount which might be paid to eight days average labor.</p>
+
+<p>"There are now ten families of us at this place, busily engaged
+in agriculture. We are rather destitute of mechanics, and would
+be very much pleased to have a good blacksmith and shoemaker, of
+good moral <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[401]</a></span>character and steady habits, and withal
+Associationists, join our number.</p>
+
+<p>"Since our commencement in the fall of 1843, our school has been
+in active operation up to the present time, with the exception
+of some few vacations. It is our most sincere desire to have the
+very best instruction in school, which our means will enable us
+to procure."</p></div>
+
+<p>The <i>Harbinger</i> adds: "The preamble to the constitution of this little
+band of pioneers in the cause of human elevation, shows that their
+enterprise is animated by the highest purposes. We trust that they
+will not be disheartened by any discouragements or obstacles. These
+must of necessity be many; but it should be borne in mind that they
+can not be equal to the burdens which the selfishness and antagonism
+of the existing order of things lay upon every one who toils through
+its routine. The poorest Association affords a sphere of purer, more
+honest, and heartier life than the best society that we know of in the
+civilized world. Let our friends persevere; they are on the right
+track, and whatever mistakes they may make, we do not doubt that they
+will succeed in establishing for themselves and their children a
+society of united interests."</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[Communication in the <i>Harbinger</i>.]</p>
+
+<p class="right"><i>Springfield, June, 14, 1846.</i></p>
+
+<p>"We hope our humble effort here to establish a Phalanx, will in
+due time be crowned with success. Our prospects since we got our
+charter have been very cheering, notwithstanding the
+difficulties attendant upon so weak an attempt to form a
+nucleus, around which we expect to see truth and happiness
+assembled in perpetual union, and that too at no very distant
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[402]</a></span>period. Our numbers have lately been increased by some members
+from the Alphadelphia Association, whose faith has outlived that
+of others in the attempt to establish an Association at that
+place.</p>
+
+<p>"Agriculture has been our main and almost only employment since
+we came together. We have ten hundred and forty-five acres of
+excellent land, four hundred and ninety-two acres of which are
+improved, and two hundred and fifty acres of it are natural
+meadow. We are preparing this fall to sow three hundred acres of
+wheat. Our domain is as yet destitute of water-power except on a
+very limited scale. Our location in other respects is all that
+could be wished. We have a very fine orchard of peach-and
+apple-trees, set out mostly a year ago last spring, and many of
+the trees will soon bear, they having been moved from orchards
+which were set out for the use of families on different points
+of what we now call our domain. We shall have this season a
+considerable quantity of apples and peaches from old trees which
+have not been moved. The wheat crop promises to be very abundant
+in this part of the country. Oats and corn are rather backward
+on account of the late dry weather. We have at present on the
+ground one hundred and forty acres of wheat, fifty-two acres of
+oats, thirty-eight acres of corn, besides buckwheat, potatoes,
+beans, squashes, pumpkins, melons and what not.</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<span class="sc">William Anderson</span>, Secretary."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Macdonald gives the following meager account of the decease of this
+Phalanx:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"A person named Jones owned nearly one-half of the stock, and it
+appears that his influence was such that he managed trading and
+money matters all in his own way, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[403]</a></span>whether he was an officer or
+not. This gave great dissatisfaction to the members, and has
+been assigned as the chief cause of their failure. They
+possessed about one thousand acres of land, with plenty of
+buildings of all kinds. The members were mostly farmers,
+tolerably moral, but lacking in enterprise and science. They
+maintained schools and preaching in abundance, and lived as well
+as western farmers commonly do. But they fully proved that,
+though hard labor is important in such experiments, yet without
+the right kind of genius to guide, mere labor is vain."</p></div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[404]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h3>
+
+<h4>OTHER WESTERN EXPERIMENTS.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>A half dozen obscure Associations, begun or contemplated in the
+Western States, will be disposed of together in this chapter; and then
+all that will remain of the experiments on our list, will be the
+famous trio with which we propose to conclude our history of American
+Fourierism&mdash;the Wisconsin, the North American and the Brook Farm
+Phalanxes.</p>
+
+<p>One of the experiments mentioned by Macdonald, but about which he
+gives very little information, was</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE COLUMBIAN PHALANX.</p>
+
+<p>This Association turns up twice in the pages of the <i>Harbinger</i>; but
+we can not ascertain when it started, how long it lasted, nor even
+where it was located, except that it was in Franklin County, Ohio.
+Nevertheless it crowed cheerily in its time, as the following
+paragraphs testify:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[Letter to the <i>Harbinger</i>, August 15, 1845.]</p>
+
+<p>"It is reported all through the country, and currently within
+thirty miles of the location, that the Columbian Phalanx have
+disbanded and broken up; and that those who remain are in a
+constant state of discontent and bickering, owing to want of
+food and comforts of life. Now, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[405]</a></span>sir, having visited this spot,
+and viewed for myself, I can safely say, that in no one thing is
+this true. In fact only one family has left, and it is supposed
+that they can't stay away; while five families are now entering
+or about to enter, from Beverly, Morgan County, all of good,
+substantial character. As good a state of harmony exists in the
+Phalanx as could possibly be expected in so incipient a state.
+On Saturday last, having the required number of families
+(thirty-two), they went into an inceptive organization; and all
+feel that at no time have the prospects been as fair as at this
+moment. In proof of this, it need only be stated, that they are
+about four thousand dollars ahead of their payments, and no
+interest due till spring, with no other debts that they are not
+able to meet. They have one hundred and thirty-seven acres of
+wheat, and thirteen of rye, all of a most excellent quality,
+decidedly the best that I have seen this year; not more than ten
+or fifteen acres at all injured. On a part of it they calculate
+to get twenty-five bushels to the acre. They have one hundred
+and fifty acres of corn, much better than the corn generally in
+Franklin County; one hundred acres of oats, all of the largest
+kind; fifteen acres of potatoes, in the most flourishing
+condition; four acres of beans; five acres of vines; besides
+forty acres of pumpkins! (won't they have pies!) one acre of
+sweet potatoes; ten thousand cabbage plants; and are preparing
+ground for five acres of turnips; six acres of buckwheat; five
+acres of flax, and ten acres of garden. I had the pleasure of
+taking dinner with them to-day at the public table, furnished as
+comfortably as we generally find. They have provisions enough
+growing to supply three times their number, and they are
+calculating on a large increase this season. They are fully
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[406]</a></span>satisfied of the validity of their deed, which they are soon to
+secure."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[A letter from a Member, in the <i>Harbinger</i>.]</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<i>Columbian Phalanx, October 4, 1845.</i></p>
+
+<p>"If I have said aught in high-toned language of our future
+prospects, preserve it as truth, sacred as Holy Writ. We are in
+a prosperous condition. The little difficulties which beset us
+for a time, arising from lack of means, and which the world
+magnified into destruction and death, have been dissipated.</p>
+
+<p>"Our crops of grain are the very best in the State of Ohio, a
+very severe drought having prevailed in the north of the State.
+We could, if we wished, sell all our corn on the ground. We have
+one hundred and fifty acres, every acre of which will yield one
+hundred bushels. We have cut one hundred acres of good oats.
+Potatoes, pumpkins, melons, etc., are also good. We are now
+getting out stuff to build a flouring-mill in Zanesville, for a
+Mr. Beaumont; two small groups of seven persons each, make
+twenty-five dollars per day at the job. We have the best hewed
+timber that ever came to Zanesville; and it is used in all the
+mills and bridges in this region. We have purchased fixtures for
+a new steam saw-mill, with two saws and a circulator, and
+various other small machinery, all entirely new, which we shall
+get into operation soon. Plenty to eat, drink, and wear, with
+three hundred dollars per week coming in, all from our own
+industry, imparts to us a tone of feeling of a quite different
+zest, to an abundance obtained in any other way. The world has
+watched with anxious solicitude our capacity to survive alone.
+Now that we have gained shore, we find extended to us the right
+hand of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[407]</a></span>the capitalist and the laboring man; they beg
+permission to join our band.</p>
+
+<p>"You are already aware, no doubt, that the Beverly Association
+has joined us. The Integral having failed to obtain the location
+they had selected, some of the members have united their efforts
+with us. Tell Mr. W., of Alleghany, to come here; tell him for
+me that all danger is out of the question. Please by all means
+tell Mr. M. to come here; tell him what I have written. Tell H.,
+of Beaver, to come and see us, and say to him that you have
+always failed in depicting the comforts and pleasures of
+Association. And in fine, say to all the Associationists in
+Pittsburg, that we are doing well, even better than we ourselves
+ever expected; and if they wish to know more and judge for
+themselves, let them come and see us.</p>
+
+<p class="right">Yours, J.R.W."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>These are all the memorials that remain of the Columbian Phalanx.
+Another experiment of some note and enterprise, but with scanty
+history, was</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE SPRING FARM ASSOCIATION, WISCONSIN.</p>
+
+<p>"In the year 1845," says Macdonald, "there was quite an excitement in
+the quiet little village of Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, on the subject
+of Fourier Association, stimulated by the energetic mind of Dr. P.
+Cady of Ohio. Meetings were held and Socialism was discussed, until
+ten families agreed to attempt an Association somewhere in the wilds
+of Sheboygan County. In making a selection of a suitable place, they
+divided into two parties, the one wishing to settle on the shore of
+Lake Michigan, and the other about twenty miles from the lake and six
+miles from any habitation. So strong were the opinions and prejudices
+of each, that the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[408]</a></span>tents were pitched in both places. The following
+brief account relates to the one which was commenced in February,
+1846, on Government land about twenty miles from the lake shore, and
+was named 'Spring Farm' from the lovely springs of water which were
+found there. (The other company was less successful.) The objects
+proposed to be carried out by this little band, were 'Union, Equal
+Rights, and Social Guaranties.'</p>
+
+<p>"The pecuniary means, to begin with, amounted to only $1,000, put in
+as joint stock. The members consisted of six families, including ten
+children. Among them were farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters and
+joiners. They were tolerably intelligent, and with religious opinions
+various and free. They possessed an unfinished two-story frame
+building, twenty feet by thirty. They cultivated thirty acres of the
+prairie, and a small opening in the timber; but they appear to have
+made very little progress; though they worked in company for three
+years."</p>
+
+<p>One of the members thus answered Macdonald's questions concerning the
+general course and results of the experiment:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"Mr. B.C. Trowbridge was generally looked up to as leader of the
+society. The land was bought of Government by individual
+resident members. We had nothing to boast of in improvements;
+they were only anticipated. We obtained no aid from without;
+what we did not provide for ourselves, we went without. The
+frost cut off our crops the second year, and left us short of
+provisions. We were not troubled with dishonest management, and
+generally agreed in all our affairs. We dissolved by mutual
+agreement. The reasons of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[409]</a></span>failure were poverty, diversity of
+habits and dispositions, and disappointments through failure of
+harvest. Though we failed in this attempt, yet it has left an
+indelible impression on the minds of one-half the members at
+least, that a harmonious Association in some form is the way,
+and the only way, that the human mind can be fully and properly
+developed; and the general belief is, that community of property
+is the most practicable form."</p></div>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE BUREAU COUNTY PHALANX.</p>
+
+<p>In the first number of the <i>Phalanx</i>, October 5, 1843, it is mentioned
+that a small Association had been commenced in Bureau County,
+Illinois. Macdonald repeats the mention, and adds, "No further
+particulars."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE WASHTENAW PHALANX</p>
+
+<p>was projected at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a monthly paper called the
+<i>Future</i>, was started in connection with it; but it appears to have
+failed before it got fairly into operation; as the <i>Phalanx</i> barely
+refers to it once, and Macdonald dismisses it as a mere abortive
+excitement.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">GARDEN GROVE COMMUNITY, IOWA,</p>
+
+<p>was projected by D. Roberts, W. Davis, and others. The plan was to
+settle a colony of the "right sort" on contiguous lots, each family
+with its separate farm and dwelling, but all having a common
+pleasure-ground, dancing-hall, lecture-room and seminary. What came of
+it is not known.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE IOWA PIONEER PHALANX</p>
+
+<p>is mentioned twice in the <i>Phalanx</i>, as a Fourierist colony about to
+emigrate from Jefferson County, New York, to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[410]</a></span>Iowa. It issued a paper;
+but whether it ever emigrated or what became of it, does not appear.</p>
+
+<p>If there were any more of these feeble experiments&mdash;as there may have
+been many&mdash;they escaped the sharp eyes of Macdonald and the
+<i>Harbinger</i>, and left no memorials.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[411]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXV.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE WISCONSIN PHALANX.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>This was one of the most conspicuous experiments of the Fourier epoch.
+The notices of it in the <i>Phalanx</i> and <i>Harbinger</i> are quite
+voluminous. We shall have to curtail them as much as possible, and
+still our patchwork will be a long one. The Wisconsin had the
+advantage of most other Phalanxes in the skill of its spokesman. Mr.
+Warren Chase, a gentleman at present well known among Spiritualists,
+was its founder and principal manager. Most of the important
+communications relating to it in the socialistic Journals and other
+papers, were from his ready pen. We will do our best to save all that
+is most valuable in them, while we omit what seems to be irrelevant or
+repetitious. It may be understood that we are indebted to the
+<i>Phalanx</i> and <i>Harbinger</i> for nearly all our quotations from other
+papers.</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the <i>Green Bay Republican</i>, April 30, 1844.]</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">Wisconsin Phalanx.</span>&mdash;We have just been informed by the
+agent of the above Association, that the <i>locale</i> has been
+chosen, and ten sections of the finest land in the Territory
+entered at the Green Bay Land Office. The location is on a small
+stream near Green Lake, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[412]</a></span>Marquette county. The teams conveying
+the requisite implements, will start in a week, and the
+improvements will be commenced immediately. We are in favor of
+Fourier's plan of Association, although we very much fear that
+it will be unsuccessful on account of the selfishness of
+mankind, this being the principal obstacle to be overcome: yet
+we are pleased to see the commendable zeal manifested by the
+members of the Wisconsin Phalanx, who are mostly leading and
+influential citizens of Racine County. The feasibility of
+Association will now be tested in such a manner that the
+question will be decided, at least so far as Wisconsin is
+concerned."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter in the <i>Southport Telegraph</i>,]</p>
+
+<p class="right"><i>Wisconsin Phalanx, May 27, 1844.</i></p>
+
+<p>"We left Southport on Monday, the 20th inst., and arrived on the
+proposed domain, without accident, on Saturday last at five
+o'clock P.M. This morning (Monday) the first business was to
+divide into two companies, one for finding the survey stakes,
+and the other for setting up the tent on the ground designed for
+building and gardening purposes. Eight men, with ox-teams and
+cattle, arrived between nine and ten A.M. After dinner the
+members all met in the tent and proceeded to a regular
+organization, Mr. Chase being in the chair and Mr. Rounds
+Secretary.</p>
+
+<p>"A prayer was offered, expressing thanks for our safe protection
+and arrival, and invoking the Divine blessing for our future
+peace and prosperity. The list of resident members was called
+(nineteen in number), and they divided themselves into two
+series, viz., agricultural and mechanical (each appointing a
+foreman), with a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[413]</a></span>miscellaneous group of laborers, under the
+supervision of the resident directors.</p>
+
+<p>"A letter was read by request of the members, from Peter
+Johnson, a member of the board of directors, relating to the
+proper conduct of the members in their general deportment, and
+reminding them of their obligations to their Creator.</p>
+
+<p>"The agricultural series are to commence plowing and planting
+to-morrow, and the mechanical to excavate a cellar and prepare
+for the erection of a frame building, twenty-two feet by twenty,
+which is designed as a central wing for a building twenty-two
+feet by one hundred and twenty. There are nineteen men and one
+boy now on the domain. The stock consists of fifty-four head of
+cattle, large and small, including eight yoke of oxen and three
+span of horses. More men are expected during the week, and
+others are preparing to come this summer. Families will be here
+as the building can be sufficiently advanced to accommodate
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"A few words in regard to the domain: There is a stream which,
+from its clearness, we have denominated Crystal Creek; it has
+sufficient fall and water supplied by springs, for one or two
+mill-seats. It runs over a bed of lime-stone, which abounds
+here, and can be had convenient for fences and building. There
+is a good supply of prairie and timber. Every member is well
+pleased with the location, and also the arrangements for
+business. Up to this time no discordant note has sounded in our
+company.</p>
+
+<p>"We have begun without a debt, which is a source of great
+satisfaction to each member; and we are certain of success,
+provided that the same union prevails which has hitherto, and
+the company incur no debt by loan or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[414]</a></span>otherwise, in the
+transaction of business. We expect to be prepared this summer or
+fall to issue the prospectus of a paper to be published on the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">"Geo. H. Stebbins."</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter of Warren Chase.]</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<i>Wisconsin Phalanx, September, 12, 1844.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Our first company, consisting of about twenty men, arrived here
+and commenced improvements on the 27th of May last. We put in
+about twenty acres of spring crops, mostly potatoes, buckwheat,
+turnips, etc., and have now one hundred acres of winter wheat in
+the ground. We have erected three buildings (designed for wings
+to a large one to be erected this fall), in which there are
+about twenty families snugly stored, yet comfortable and happy
+and busy, comprising in all about eighty persons, men, women,
+and children. We have also erected a saw-mill, which will be
+ready to run in a few days, after which we shall proceed to
+erect better dwellings. We do all our cooking in one kitchen,
+and all eat at one table. All our labor (excepting a part of
+female labor, on which there is a reduction), is for the present
+deemed in the class of usefulness, and every member works as
+well as possible where he or she is most needed, under the
+general superintendence of the directors. We adhere strictly to
+our constitution and by-laws, and adopt as fast as possible the
+system of Fourier. We have organized our groups and series in a
+simple manner, and thus far every thing goes admirably, and much
+better than we could have expected in our embryo state. We have
+regular meetings for business and social purposes, by which
+means we keep a harmony of feeling and concert of action. We
+have a Sunday-school, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[415]</a></span>Bible-class, and Divine service every
+Sabbath by different denominations, who occupy the Hall (as we
+have but one) alternately; and all is harmony in that
+department, although we have many members of different religious
+societies. They all seem determined to lay aside metaphysical
+differences, and make a united social effort, founded on the
+fundamental principles of religion.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">"Warren Chase."</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter in the <i>Ohio American</i>, August, 1845.]</p>
+
+<p>"I wish, through the medium of your columns, to correct a
+statement which has been going the rounds of the newspapers in
+this vicinity and in other parts, that the Wisconsin Phalanx has
+failed and dispersed. I am prepared to state, upon the authority
+of a letter from their Secretary, dated July 31, 1845, that the
+report is entirely without foundation. They have never been in a
+more prosperous condition, and the utmost harmony prevails. They
+are moving forward under a charter; own two thousand acres of
+fine land, with water-power; twenty-nine yoke of oxen,
+thirty-seven cows, and a corresponding amount of other stock,
+such as horses, hogs, sheep, etc.; are putting in four hundred
+acres of wheat this fall; have just harvested one hundred acres
+of the best of wheat, fifty-seven acres of oats, and other
+grains in proportion. They have been organized a little more
+than a year, and embrace in their number about thirty families.</p>
+
+<p>"One very favorable feature in this institution is, that they
+are entirely out of debt, and intend to remain so; they do not
+owe, and are determined never to owe, a single dollar. An
+excellent free school is provided for all the members; and as
+they have no idle gentlemen <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[416]</a></span>or ladies to support, all have time
+to receive a good education."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter of Warren Chase.]</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<i>Wisconsin Phalanx, August, 13, 1845.</i></p>
+
+<p>"We are Associationists of the Fourier school, and intend to
+reduce his system to practice as fast as possible, consistently
+with our situation. We number at this time about one hundred and
+eighty souls, being the entire population of the congressional
+township. We are under the township government, organized
+similar to the system in New York. Our town was set off and
+organized last winter by the Legislature, at which time the
+Association was also incorporated as a joint-stock company by a
+charter, which is our constitution. We had a post-office and
+weekly mail within forty days after our commencement. Thus far
+we have obtained all we have asked for.</p>
+
+<p>"We have religious meetings and Sabbath-schools, conducted by
+members of some half-a-dozen different denominations of
+Christians, with whom creeds and modes of faith are of minor
+importance compared with religion. All are protected, and all is
+harmony in that department. We have had no deaths and very
+little sickness. No physician, no lawyer or preacher, yet
+resides among us; but we expect a physician soon, whose interest
+will not conflict with ours, and whose presence will
+consequently not increase disease. In politics we are about
+equally divided, and vote accordingly; but generally believe
+both parties culpable for many of the political evils of the
+day.</p>
+
+<p>"The Phalanx has a title from Government to fourteen hundred and
+forty acres of land, on which there is one of the best of
+water-powers, a saw-mill in operation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[417]</a></span>and a grist-mill
+building; six hundred and forty acres under improvement, four
+hundred of which is now seeding to winter wheat. We raised about
+fifteen hundred bushels the past season, which is sufficient for
+our next year's bread; have about seventy acres of corn on the
+ground, which looks well, and other crops in proportion. We have
+an abundance of cattle, horses, crops and provisions for the
+wants of our present numbers, and physical energy enough to
+obtain more. Thus, you see, we are tolerably independent; and we
+intend to remain so, as we admit none as members who have not
+sufficient funds to invest in stock, or sufficient physical
+strength, to warrant their not being a burden to the society. We
+have one dwelling-house nearly finished, in which reside twenty
+families, with a long hall conducting to the dining-room, where
+all who are able, dine together. We intend next summer to erect
+another for twenty families more, with a hall conducting to
+another dining-room, supplied from the same cook-room. We have
+one school constantly, but have as yet been unable to do much
+toward improving that department, and had hoped to see something
+in the <i>Harbinger</i> which would be a guide in this branch of our
+organization. We look to the Brook Farm Phalanx for instruction
+in this branch, and hope to see it in the <i>Harbinger</i> for the
+benefit of ourselves and other Associations.</p>
+
+<p>"We have a well-regulated system of grouping our laborers, but
+have not yet organized the series. We have no difficulty in any
+department of our business, and thus far more than our most
+sanguine expectations have been realized. We commenced with a
+determination to avoid all debts, and have thus far adhered to
+our resolution; for we believed debts would disband more
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[418]</a></span>Associations than any other one cause; and thus far, I believe
+it has, more than all other causes put together.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">"Warren Chase."</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">From the Annual Statement of the Condition and Progress of the
+Wisconsin Phalanx, for the fiscal year ending December 1, 1845.</p>
+
+<p>"The four great evils with which the world is afflicted,
+intoxication, lawsuits, quarreling, and profane swearing, never
+have, and with the present character and prevailing habits of
+our members, never can, find admittance into our society. There
+is but a very small proportion of the tattling, backbiting and
+criticisms on character, usually found in neighborhoods of as
+many families. Perfect harmony and concert of action prevail
+among the members of the various churches, and each individual
+seems to lay aside creeds, and strive for the fundamental
+principles of religion. Many have cultivated the social feeling
+by the study and practice of vocal and instrumental music. In
+this there is a constant progress visible. Our young gentlemen
+and ladies have occasionally engaged in cotillions, especially
+on wedding occasions, of which we have had three the past
+summer.</p>
+
+<p>"Our convenience for schools, their diminished expense, &amp;c., is
+known only to those acquainted with Association. We have done
+but little in perfecting this branch of our new organization;
+but having erected a school-house, we are prepared to commence
+our course of moral, physical and intellectual education. For
+want of a convenient place, we have not yet opened our
+reading-room or library, but intend to do so during the present
+month.</p>
+
+<p>"The family circle and secret domestic relations are not
+intruded on by Association; each family may gather around its
+family altar, secluded and alone, or mingle <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[419]</a></span>with neighbors
+without exposure to wet or cold. In our social and domestic
+arrangements we have approximated as far toward the plan of
+Fourier, as the difficulties incident to a new organization in
+an uncultivated country would permit. Owing to our infant
+condition and wish to live within our means, our public table
+has not been furnished as elegantly as might be desirable to an
+epicurean taste. From the somewhat detached nature of our
+dwellings, and the consequent inconveniencies attendant on all
+dining at one table, permission was given to such families as
+chose, to be furnished with provisions and cook their own board.
+But one family has availed itself of this privilege.</p>
+
+<p>"In the various departments of physical labor, we have
+accomplished much more than could have been done by the same
+persons in the isolated condition. We have broken and brought
+under cultivation, three hundred and twenty-five acres of land;
+have sown four hundred acres to winter wheat; harvested the
+hundred acres which we had on the ground last fall; plowed one
+hundred and seventy acres for crops the ensuing spring; raised
+sixty acres of corn, twenty of potatoes, twenty of buckwheat,
+and thirty of peas, beans, roots, etc.; built five miles of
+fence; cut four hundred tons of hay; and expended a large amount
+of labor in teaming, building sheds, taking care of stock, etc.</p>
+
+<p>"We have nearly finished the long building commenced last year
+(two hundred and eight feet by thirty-two), making comfortable
+residences for twenty families; built a stone school-house,
+twenty by thirty; a dining-room eighteen by thirty; finished one
+of the twenty-by-thirty dwellings built last year; expended
+about two hundred days' labor digging a race and foundation for
+a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[420]</a></span>grist-mill thirty by forty, three stories high, and for a
+shop twenty by twenty-five, one story, with stone basements to
+both, and erected frames for the same; built a wash-house sixty
+by twenty-two; a hen house eleven by thirty, of sun-dried brick;
+an ash-house ten by twenty, of the same material; kept one man
+employed in the saw-mill, one drawing logs, one in the
+blacksmith shop, one shoe-making, and most of the time two about
+the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>"The estimated value of our property on hand is $27,725.22,
+wholly unincumbered; and we are free from debt, except about
+$600 due to members, who have advanced cash for the purchase of
+provisions and land. But to balance this, we have over $1,000
+coming from members, on stock subscriptions not yet due.</p>
+
+<p>"The whole number of hours' labor performed by the members
+during the past year, reduced to the class of usefulness, is
+102,760; number expended in cooking, etc., and deducted for the
+board of members, 21,170; number remaining after deducting for
+board, 81,590, to which the amount due to labor is divided. In
+this statement the washing is not taken into account, families
+having done their own.</p>
+
+<p>"Whole number of weeks board charged members (including children
+graduated to adults) forty-two hundred and thirty-four. Cost of
+board per week for each person, forty-four cents for provisions,
+and five hours labor.</p>
+
+<p>"Whole amount of property on hand, as per invoice, $27,725.22.
+Cost of property and stock issued up to December 1, $19,589.18.
+Increase the past year, being the product of labor, etc.,
+$8,136.04; one-fourth of which, or $2,034.01, is credited to
+capital, being twelve <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[421]</a></span>per cent. per annum on stock, for the
+average time invested; and three-fourths, or $6,102.03 to labor,
+being seven and one-half cents per hour.</p>
+
+<p>"The property on hand consists of the following items:</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="50%" summary="property on hand">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="80%">1,553 acres of land, at $3.00</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="20%">$4,659.00</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Agricultural improvements</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1,522.47</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Mechanical improvements</td>
+  <td class="tdr">8,405.00</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Personal property</td>
+  <td class="tdr">10,314.01</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Advanced members in board, etc.</td>
+  <td class="tdr bb">2,824.74</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp2">Amount</td>
+  <td class="tdr bt">$27,725.22</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p class="right">"<span class="sc">W. Chase</span>, <i>President</i>."</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter of Warren Chase,]</p>
+
+<p class="right"><i>Wisconsin Phalanx, March 3, 1846.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Since our December statement, our course and progress has been
+undeviatingly onward toward the goal. We have added eighty acres
+to our land, making one thousand six hundred and thirty-three
+acres free of incumbrance. We are preparing to raise eight
+hundred acres of crops the coming season, finish our grist-mill,
+and build some temporary residences, etc. We have admitted but
+one family since the 1st of December, although we have had many
+applications. In this department of our organization, as well as
+in that of contracting debts, we are profiting by the experience
+of many Associations who preceded or started with us.</p>
+
+<p>"We pretend to have considerable knowledge of the serial law,
+but we are not yet prepared, mentally or physically, to adopt it
+in our industrial operations. We have something in operation
+which approaches about as near to it as the rude hut does to the
+palace. Even this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[422]</a></span>is better than none, and saves us from the
+merciless peltings of the storm.</p>
+
+<p>"Success with us is no longer a matter of doubt. Our questions
+to be settled are, How far and how fast can we adopt and put in
+practice the system and principle which we believe to be true,
+without endangering or retarding our ultimate object. We feel
+and know that our condition and prospects are truly cheering,
+and to the friends of the cause we can say, Come on, not to join
+us, but to form other Associations; for we can not receive
+one-tenth of those who apply for admission. Nothing but the
+general principles of Association are lawful tender with us.
+Money will not buy admission for those who have no faith in the
+principles, but who merely believe, as most of our neighbors do,
+that we shall get rich; this is not a ruling principle here.
+With our material, our means, and the principles of eternal
+truth on our side, success is neither doubtful nor surprising.</p>
+
+<p>"We expect at our next annual statement, to be able to represent
+ourselves as a minimum Association of forty families, not fully
+organized on Fourier's plan, but approaching to, and preparing
+for it.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">W. Chase."</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="block"><p>From the Annual Statement of the Condition and Progress of the
+Wisconsin Phalanx, for the fiscal year ending December 7, 1846.</p>
+
+<p>"The study and adoption of the principles of industrial
+Association, have here, as elsewhere, led all reflecting minds
+to acknowledge the principles of Christianity, and to seek
+through those principles the elevation of man to his true
+condition, a state of harmony with himself, with nature and with
+God. The Society have religious preaching of some kind almost
+every Sabbath, but not uniformly of that high order of talent
+which they are prepared to appreciate.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[423]</a></span>"The educational department is not yet regulated as it is
+designed to be; the Society have been too busily engaged in
+making such improvements as were required to supply the
+necessaries of life, to devote the means and labor necessary to
+prepare such buildings as are required. We have not yet
+established our reading-room and library, more for the want of
+room, than for a lack of materials.</p>
+
+<p>"The social intercourse between the members has ever been
+conducted with a high-toned moral feeling, which repudiates the
+slanderous suspicions of those enemies of the system, who
+pretend that the constant social intercourse will corrupt the
+morals of the members; the tendency is directly the reverse.</p>
+
+<p>"We have now one hundred and eighty resident members; one
+hundred and one males, seventy-nine females; fifty-six males and
+thirty-seven females over the age of twenty-one years. About
+eighty have boarded at a public table during the past year, at a
+cost of fifty cents per week and two and a half hours' labor;
+whole cost sixty-three cents. The others, most of the time, have
+had their provisions charged to them, and done their own cooking
+in their respective families, although their apartments are very
+inconvenient for that purpose. Most of the families choose this
+mode of living, more from previous habits of domestic
+arrangement and convenience, than from economy. We have resident
+on the domain, thirty-six families and thirty single persons;
+fifteen families and thirty single persons board at the public
+table: twenty-one families board by themselves, and the
+remaining five single persons board with them.</p>
+
+<p>"Four families have left during the past year, and one returned
+that had previously left. One left to commence <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[424]</a></span>a new
+Association: one, after a few weeks' residence, because the
+children did not like; and two to seek other business more
+congenial with their feelings than hard work. The Society has
+increased its numbers the past year about twenty, which is not
+one-fourth of the applicants. The want of room has prevented us
+from admitting more.</p>
+
+<p>"There has been 96,297 hours' medium class labor performed
+during the past year (mostly by males), which, owing to the
+extremely low appraisal of property, and the disadvantage of
+having a new farm to work on, has paid but five cents per hour,
+and six per cent. per annum on capital.</p>
+
+<p>"The amount of property in joint-stock, as per valuation, is
+$30,609.04; whole amount of liabilities, $1,095.33. The net
+product or income for the past year is $6,341.84, one-fourth of
+which being credited to capital, makes the six per cent.; and
+three-fourths to labor, makes the five cents per hour. We have,
+as yet, no machinery in operation except a saw-mill, but have a
+grist-mill nearly ready to commence grinding. Our wheat crop
+came in very light, which, together with the large amount of
+labor necessarily expended in temporary sheds and fences, which
+are not estimated of any value, makes our dividend much less
+than it will be when we can construct more permanent works. We
+have also many unfinished works, which do not yet afford us
+either income or convenience, but which will tell favorably on
+our future balance-sheets.</p>
+
+<p>"The Society has advanced to the members during the past year
+$3,293, mostly in provisions and such necessary clothing as
+could be procured.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[425]</a></span>"The following schedule shows in what the property of the
+Society consists, and its valuation:</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="50%" summary="Property">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="80%">1,713 acres of land, at $3.00</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="20%">$5,139.00</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Agricultural improvements</td>
+  <td class="tdr">3,206.00</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Agricultural products</td>
+  <td class="tdr">4,806.76</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Shops, dwellings, and out-houses</td>
+  <td class="tdr">6,963.61</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Mills, mill-race and dam</td>
+  <td class="tdr">5,112.90</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Cattle, horses, sheep, hogs, &amp;c.</td>
+  <td class="tdr">3,098.45</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Farming tools, &amp;c.</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1,199.36</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Mechanical tools, &amp;c.</td>
+  <td class="tdr">367.26</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Other personal property</td>
+  <td class="tdr bb">715.70</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp2">Amount</td>
+  <td class="tdr bt">$30,609.04</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p class="right">"<span class="sc">W. Chase</span>, President."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>In the <i>Harbinger</i> of March 27, 1847, there is a letter from Warren
+Chase giving eighteen elaborate reasons why the Fourierists throughout
+the country should concentrate on the Wisconsin, and make it a great
+model Phalanx; which we omit.</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter of Warren Chase.]</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<i>Wisconsin Phalanx, June 28, 1847.</i></p>
+
+<p>"We have now been a little more than three years in operation,
+and my most sanguine expectations have been more than realized.
+We have about one hundred and seventy persons, who, with the
+exception of three or four families, are contented and happy,
+and more attached to this home than to any they ever had before.
+Those three or four belong to the restless, discontented
+spirits, who are not satisfied with any condition of life, but
+are always seeking something new. The Phalanx will soon be in a
+condition to adopt the policy of purchasing the amount of stock
+which any member may have invested, whenever he shall wish to
+leave. As soon as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[426]</a></span>this can be done without embarrassing our
+business, we shall have surmounted the last obstacle to our
+onward progress. We have applications for admission constantly
+before us, but seldom admit one. We require larger amounts to be
+invested now when there is no risk, than we did at first when
+the risk was great. We have borne the heat and burden of the
+day, and now begin to reap the fruits of our labor. We also must
+know that an applicant is devoted to the cause, ready to endure
+for it hardships, privations and persecution, if necessary, and
+that he is not induced to apply because he sees our physical or
+pecuniary prosperity. We shall admit such as, in our view, are
+in all respects prepared for Association and can be useful to
+themselves and us; but none but practical workingmen need apply,
+for idlers can not live here. They seem to be out of their
+element, and look sick and lean. If no accident befalls us, we
+shall declare a cash dividend at our next annual settlement.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">"W. Chase."</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter in the New York <i>Tribune</i>.]</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<i>Wisconsin Phalanx, July 20, 1847.</i></p>
+
+<p>"I have been visiting this Association several days, looking
+into its resources, both physical and moral. Its physical
+resources are abundant. In a moral aspect there is much here to
+encourage. The people, ninety of whom are adults, are generally
+quite intelligent, and possess a good development of the moral
+and social faculties. They are earnest inquirers after truth,
+and seem aware of the harmony of thought and feeling that must
+prevail to insure prosperity. They receive thirty or forty
+different publications, which are thoroughly perused. The
+females are excellent women, and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[427]</a></span>children, about eighty,
+are most promising in every respect. They are not yet well
+situated for carrying into effect all the indispensable agencies
+of true mental development, but they are not idle on this
+momentous subject. They have an excellent school for the
+children, and the young men and women are cultivating music. Two
+or three among them are adepts in this beautiful art. While
+writing, I hear good music by well-trained voices, with the
+Harmonist accompaniment.</p>
+
+<p>"I do believe something in human improvement and enjoyment will
+soon be presented at Ceresco, that will charm all visitors, and
+prove a conclusive argument against the skepticism of the world
+as to the capability of the race to rise above the social evils
+that afflict mankind, and to attain a mental elevation which few
+have yet hoped for. I expect to see here a garden in which shall
+be represented all that is most beautiful in the vegetable
+kingdom. I expect to see here a library and reading-room, neatly
+and plentifully furnished, to which rejoicing hundreds will
+resort for instruction and amusement. I expect to see here a
+laboratory, where the chemist will unfold the operations of
+nature, and teach the most profitable mode of applying
+agricultural labor. I expect to see here interesting cabinets,
+where the mineral and animal kingdoms will be presented in
+miniature. And I expect to see all the arts cultivated, and
+every thing beautiful and grand generally appreciated.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">Hine."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>On which the editor of the <i>Tribune</i> observes: "We trust the remark
+will be taken in good part, that the writers of letters from these
+Associative experiments are too apt to blend what they desire or hope
+to see, with what they actually do see."</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter of J.J. Cooke in the <i>Tribune</i>.]</p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[428]</a></span>
+
+<p class="right">"<i>Wisconsin Phalanx, August 28, 1847.</i></p>
+
+<p>"<i>Editor of the New York Tribune</i>:</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">Dear Sir</span>: I have just perused in your paper, a letter
+from Mr. Hine, dated at this place. Believing that the letter is
+calculated to leave an erroneous impression on the mind of the
+reader, as to the true condition of this Association, I deem it
+to be my duty to notice it, for the reason of the importance of
+the subject, and the necessity of true knowledge in reference to
+correct action.</p>
+
+<p>"It is now twelve days since I arrived here, with the intention
+of making a visit sufficiently long to arrive at something like
+a critical knowledge of the experiment now in progress in this
+place. As you justly remark in your comments on Mr. Hine's
+letter, 'the writers of letters from these associative
+experiments are too apt to blend what they desire or hope to
+see, with what they actually do see.' So far as such a course
+might tend to induce premature and ill-advised attempts at
+practical Association, it should be regarded as a serious evil,
+and as such, should, if possible, be remedied. I presume no one
+here would advise the commencement of any Association, to pass
+through the same trials which they themselves have experienced.
+I have asked many of the members this question, 'Do you think
+that the reports and letters which have been published
+respecting your Association, have been so written as to leave a
+correct impression of your real existing condition on the mind
+of the reader?' The answer has invariably been, 'No.'"</p>
+
+<p>The writer then criticises the water-power, climate, etc., and
+proceeds to say:</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[429]</a></span>"The probability now is, that corn will be almost a total
+failure. 'Their present tenements,' says Mr. Hine, 'are such as
+haste and limited means forced them to erect.' This is
+undoubtedly true, and I will also add, that they are such as few
+at the East would be contented to live in. With the exception of
+the flouring-mill, blacksmith's-shop and carpenter's-shop, there
+are no arrangements for mechanical industry. This is not
+surprising, in view of the small means in their possession. 'In
+a moral aspect,' Mr. Hine says, 'there is much to encourage.' It
+would not be incorrect to say, that there is also something to
+fear. The most unpleasant feelings which I have experienced
+since I have been here, have been caused by the want of neatness
+around the dwellings, which seems to be inconsistent with the
+individual character of the members with whom I have become
+acquainted. This they state to be owing to their struggles for
+the necessaries of life; but I have freely told them that I
+considered it inexcusable, and calculated to have an injurious
+influence upon themselves and upon their children. 'They are
+earnest inquirers after truth,' says Mr. Hine, 'and seem aware
+of the harmony of thought and feeling that must prevail, in
+order to insure prosperity.' This I only object to so far as it
+is calculated to produce the impression that such harmony really
+exists. That there is a difference of feeling upon, at least,
+one important point, I know. This is in reference to the course
+to be pursued in relation to the erection of dwellings. I
+believe that a large majority are in favor of building only in
+reference to a combined dwelling; but there are some who think
+that this generation are not prepared for it, and who wish to
+erect comfortable dwellings for isolated <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[430]</a></span>households. A portion
+of the members go out to labor for hire; some, in order to
+procure those necessaries which the means of the Association
+have been inadequate to provide; and others, for want of
+occupation in their peculiar branches of industry. Mr. Hine
+says, 'They have an excellent school for the children.' I had
+thought that the proper education of the children was a want
+here, and members have spoken of it as such. They have no public
+library or reading-room for social re-union, excepting the
+school-room; and no room which is convenient for such purposes.
+There are no Associational guarantees in reference to sickness
+or disability in the charter (which is the constitution) of this
+Phalanx.</p>
+
+<p>"From the above statement, you can judge somewhat of the present
+foundation of Mr. Hine's hopes of 'soon' seeing the realization
+of the beautiful picture which he has drawn.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">Joseph J. Cooke."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>In the <i>Harbinger</i> of January 8, 1848, Warren Chase replied to Mr.
+Cooke's criticisms, admitting the general truth of them, but insisting
+that it is unfair to judge the Association by eastern standards. In
+conclusion he says:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"There is a difference of opinion in regard to board, which,
+under the law of freedom and attraction, works no harm. Most of
+our families cook their board in their rooms from choice under
+present circumstances; some because they use no meat and do not
+choose to sit at a table plentifully supplied with beef, pork
+and mutton: others because they choose to have their children
+sit at the table with them, to regulate their diet, etc., which
+our circumstances will not yet permit at our public <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[431]</a></span>table;
+others because they want to ask a blessing, etc.; and others
+because their manner of cooking and habits of living have become
+so fixed as to have sufficient influence to require their
+continuance. Some of our members think all these difficulties
+can not be speedily removed, and that cheap and comfortable
+dwellings, should be built, adapted to our circumstances, with a
+unitary work-house, bakery and dairy, by which the burdens
+should be removed as fast as possible, and the minds prepared by
+combined effort, co-operative labor, and equitable distribution,
+for the combined dwelling and unitary living, with its variety
+of tables to satisfy all tastes. Others think our devotion to
+the cause ought to induce us to forego all these attachments and
+prejudices, and board at one table and improve it, building none
+but unitary dwellings adapted to a unitary table. We pursue both
+ways in our living with perfect freedom, and probably shall in
+our building; for attraction is the only law whose force we
+acknowledge in these matters. We have passed one more important
+point in our progress since I last wrote you. We have adopted
+the policy to refund all investments to any member when he
+chooses to leave.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">W. Chase."</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a letter of Warren Chase.]</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<i>Wisconsin Phalanx, August 21, 1847.</i></p>
+
+<p>"We are in the enjoyment of an excellent state of health, owing
+in part to our healthy location, and in part to the diet and
+regimen of our members. There is a prevailing tendency here to
+abandon the use of animal food; it has been slowly, but steadily
+increasing for some time, and has been aided some by those
+excellent and interesting articles from the pen of Dr. Lazarus
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[432]</a></span>on 'Cannibalism.' When we have to resort to any medical
+treatment, hydropathy is the system, and the <i>Water-cure
+Journal</i> very good authority. Our society will soon evince
+symptoms of two conditions of Associative life, viz.: physical
+health and material wealth. By wealth I do not mean burdensome
+property, but an ample supply of the necessaries of life, which
+is real wealth.</p>
+
+<p>"I fully believe that nine out of ten organizations and attempts
+at Association would finally succeed, even with small means and
+few members, if they would adhere strictly to the following
+conditions:</p>
+
+<p>"First, keep free from debt, and live within their means;
+Second, not attempt too much in the commencement.</p>
+
+<p>"Great changes require a slow movement. All pioneers should
+remember to be constructive, and not merely destructive; not to
+tear down faster than they can substitute something better.
+Every failure of Association which has come to my knowledge, has
+been in consequence of disregarding these conditions; they have
+all been in debt, and depended on stock subscriptions to relieve
+them; and they have attempted too much. Having, in most cases,
+torn down the isolated household and family altar (or table),
+before they had even science enough to draft a plan of a
+Phalanstery or describe a unitary household, they seemed in some
+cases to imagine that the true social science, when once
+discovered, would furnish them, like the lamp of Aladdin, with
+all things wished for. They have awakened from their dreams; and
+now is the time for practical attempts, to start with, first,
+the joint-stock property, the large farm or township, the common
+home <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[433]</a></span>and joint property of all the members; second, co&ouml;perative
+labor and the equitable distribution of products, the large
+fields, large pastures, large gardens, large dairies, large
+fruit orchards, etc., with their mills, mechanic shops, stores,
+common wash-houses, bake-houses, baths, libraries, lectures,
+cabinets, etc.; third, educational organization, including all,
+both children and adults, and through that the adoption of the
+serial law, organization of groups and series; (at this point
+labor, without reference to the pay, will begin to be
+attractive;) fourth, the Phalansterian order, unitary living. As
+this is the greatest step, it requires the most time, most
+capital, and most mental preparation, especially for persons
+accustomed to country life. In most cases many years will be
+required for the adoption of the second of these conditions, and
+more for the third, and still more for the fourth. Hence the
+necessity of commencing, if the present generation is to realize
+much from the discovery of the science.</p>
+
+<p>"Let no person construe these remarks to indicate an advanced
+state of Association for the Wisconsin Phalanx. We have taken
+the first step, which required but little time, and are now
+barely commencing the second. We have spent three years, and
+judging from our progress thus far, it will doubtless take us
+from five to ten more to get far enough in the second to
+commence the third. We have made many blunders for the want of
+precedents, and in consequence of having more zeal than
+knowledge. Among the most serious blunders was an attempt at
+unitary living, without any of the surrounding circumstances
+being adapted to it. With this view we built, at a cost of more
+than $3,000, a long double front building, which can not be
+ventilated, and is very <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[434]</a></span>uncomfortable and extremely
+inconvenient for families to live in and do their cooking. But
+in this, bad as it is, some twenty of our families are still
+compelled to live, and will be for some time to come. This, with
+some other mistakes, will be to us a total loss, for the want of
+more knowledge to commence with. But these are trifling in
+comparison with the importance of our object and the result for
+a series of years. No true Associationist has been discouraged
+by these trials and losses; but we have a few among us who never
+were Associationists, and who are waiting a favorable
+opportunity to return to civilization; and we are waiting a
+favorable opportunity to admit such as we want to fill their
+places.</p>
+
+<p class="right sc">W. Chase."</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="block"><p>From the Annual Statement of the Condition and Progress of the
+Wisconsin Phalanx, for the fiscal year ending December 6, 1847.</p>
+
+<p>"The number of resident members is one hundred and fifty-seven;
+eighty-four males and seventy-three females. Thirty-two males
+and thirty-nine females are under twenty-one years, fifty-two
+males and thirty-four females over twenty-one years, and
+eighteen persons above the age of twenty-one unmarried. The
+whole number of resident families is thirty-two. We have
+resident with us who are not members, one family and four single
+persons. Four families and two single persons have left during
+the year, the stock of all of whom has been purchased, except of
+one family, and a single person; the former intends returning,
+and the latter owns but $25.00.</p>
+
+<p>"The number of hours' labor performed during the year, reduced
+to the medium class, is 93,446. The whole amount of property at
+the appraisal is $32,564.18. The net profits of the year are
+$9,029.73; which gives <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[435]</a></span>a dividend to stock of nearly 7-3/4 per
+cent., and 7-3/10 cents per hour to labor.</p>
+
+<p>"The Phalanx has purchased and cancelled during the year $2,000
+of stock; we have also, by the assistance of our mill (which has
+been in operation since June), and from our available products,
+paid off the incumbrance of $1,095.33 with which we commenced
+the year; made our mechanical and agricultural improvements, and
+advanced to members, in rent, provisions, clothing, cash, etc.,
+$5,237.07. The annexed schedule specifies the kinds and
+valuation of the property on hand:</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="50%" summary="property on hand">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="80%">1,713 acres of land at $3.00</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="20%">$5,139.00</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Agricultural improvements</td>
+  <td class="tdr">3,509.77</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Agricultural products</td>
+  <td class="tdr">5,244.16</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Mechanical improvements</td>
+  <td class="tdr">12,520.00</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Live stock</td>
+  <td class="tdr">2,983.50</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Farm and garden tools</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1,219.77</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Mechanical tools</td>
+  <td class="tdr">380.56</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Personal property, miscellaneous</td>
+  <td class="tdr bb">1,567.42</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp2">Amount</td>
+  <td class="tdr bt">$32,564.18</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p class="right">"<span class="sc">Benj. Wright</span>, President."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>In June, 1848, Warren Chase sent a letter to the <i>Boston
+Investigator</i>, complaining of the <i>Harbinger's</i> indifference to the
+interests of the Wisconsin Phalanx; and another writer in the
+<i>Investigator</i> suggested that this indifference was on account of the
+irreligious character of the Phalanx; all of which the <i>Harbinger</i>
+denied. To the charge of irreligion, a member of the Phalanx
+indignantly replied in the <i>Harbinger</i>, as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"Some of us are and have been Methodists, Baptists,
+Presbyterians, Congregationalists, etc. Others have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[436]</a></span>never been
+members of any church, but (with a very few exceptions) very
+readily admit the authenticity and moral value of the
+Scriptures. The ten commandments are the sum, substance and
+foundation of all true law. Add to this the gospel law of love,
+and you have a code of laws worthy of the adoption and practice
+of any man or set of men, and upon which Associationists must
+base themselves, or they can never succeed. There are many
+rules, doctrines and interpretations of Scripture among the (so
+denominated) Orthodox churches, that any man of common sense can
+not assent to. Even they can not agree among themselves; for
+instance the Old and New School Presbyterians, the Baptists,
+Methodists, etc. If this difference of faith and opinion is
+infidelity or irreligion, we to a man are infidels and
+irreligious; but if faith in the principles and morality of the
+Bible is the test, I deny the charge. I can scarcely name an
+individual here that dissents from them.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for
+about twenty years, and a Methodist local preacher for over
+three years, and am now Secretary of the Association. I
+therefore should know somewhat about this matter."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the New York <i>Tribune</i>, July, 1848.]</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">Wisconsin Phalanx.</span>&mdash;Having lately seen running around
+the papers a statement that the last remaining 'Fourier
+Association,' somewhere in Illinois, had just given up the
+ghost, we gladly give place to the following extracts from a
+private letter we have just received from a former fellow
+citizen, who participated in two of the earlier attempts
+(Sylvania and Leraysville) to establish something that
+ultimately would or might become an Association after the idea
+of Fourier. After the second <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[437]</a></span>failure he attached himself to the
+communistic undertaking near Skaneateles, New York, and when
+this too ran aground, he went back perforce to the cut-throat
+system of civilized competition. But this had become unendurably
+hateful to him, and he soon struck off for Ceresco, and became a
+member of the Wisconsin Phalanx at that place, whereof he has
+now for some months been a resident. Of this Association he
+writes:</p>
+
+<p>"I have worked in the various groups side by side with the
+members, and I have never seen a more persevering, practical,
+matter-of-fact body of people in any such movement. Since I came
+here last fall, I see a great improvement, both externally and
+internally. Mr. Van Amringe, the energetic herald of national
+and social reform, did a good work by his lectures here last
+winter; and the meetings statedly held for intellectual and
+social improvement, have an excellent effect. All now indicates
+unity and fraternity. The Phalanx has erected and enclosed a new
+unitary dwelling, one hundred feet long, two stories high, with
+a spacious kitchen, belfry, etc. They have burnt a lime-kiln,
+and are burning a brick-kiln of one hundred thousand bricks as
+an experiment, and they bid fair to be first-rate. All this has
+been accomplished this spring in addition to their agricultural
+and horticultural operations. Their water-power is small, being
+supplied from springs, which the drought of the last three
+seasons has sensibly affected. In adding to their machinery,
+they will have to resort to steam.</p>
+
+<p>"The location is healthy and pleasant. The atmosphere is
+uniformly pure, and a good breeze is generally blowing. I doubt
+whether another site could be found combining so many natural
+advantages. I have visited nearly all the associative
+experiments in the country, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[438]</a></span>and I like this the best. I think
+it already beyond the possibility of failure.</p>
+
+<p class="right">D.S."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mr. Van Amringe spent considerable time at Ceresco, and sent several
+elaborate articles in favor of the Phalanx to the <i>Harbinger</i>. One of
+the members wrote to him as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"Since you left here a great change has taken place in the
+feelings and tastes of the members, and that too for the better.
+You will recollect the black and dirty appearance of the
+buildings, and the wood-work inside scrubbed until it had the
+appearance of a dirty white. About the first of May they made a
+grand rally to alter the appearance of things. The long building
+was white-washed inside and out, and the wood-work of nearly all
+the houses has been painted. The school-house has been
+white-washed and painted, the windows white, the panels of the
+wood-work a light yellow, carvings around a light blue, the
+seats and desks a light blue; this has made a great change in
+its appearance. You will recollect the frame of a new building
+that stood looking so distressed; about as much more was added
+to it, and all covered and neatly painted. The corridor is now
+finished; a handsome good kitchen has been put up in the rear of
+the old one, with a bakery underneath; a beautiful cupola is on
+the top, in which is placed a small bell, weighing one hundred
+and two pounds, about the size of a steamboat bell; it can be
+heard on the prairie. The blinds in the cupola windows are
+painted green. Were you to see the place now you would be
+surprised, and agreeably so, too. Some four or five have left
+since spring; new members have been taken in their stead, and a
+good exchange, I think, has been made. Two or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[439]</a></span>three tailors,
+and the same number of shoemakers, are expected shortly."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p>From the Annual Statement of the Condition and progress of the
+Wisconsin Phalanx, for the fiscal year ending December 4, 1848.</p>
+
+<p>"Religious meetings are sustained by us every Sabbath, in which
+the largest liberty is extended to all in the search for truth.
+In the educational department we do no more than sustain a
+common school; but are waiting, anxiously waiting, for the time
+when our condition will justify a more extended operation. In
+the absence of a reading-room and library, one of our greatest
+facilities for knowledge and general information is afforded by
+a great number and variety of newspapers and periodical
+publications, an interchange of which gives advantages in
+advance of the isolated family. The number of resident members
+is one hundred and twenty, viz.: sixty-three males and
+fifty-seven females. The number of resident families is
+twenty-nine. We have resident with us, who are not members, one
+family and twelve single persons. Six families and three single
+persons have left during the year, a part of whose stock we have
+purchased. We have lost by death the past year seven persons,
+viz.: one married lady (by consumption), one child two years of
+age, and five infants. The health of the members has been good,
+with the exception of a few cases of remittent and billious
+fevers. The Phalanx has sustained a public boarding-house the
+past year, at which the majority of the members have boarded at
+a cost not exceeding seventy-five cents per week. The remaining
+families board at their own apartments.</p>
+
+<p>"The number of hours' labor performed during the year, reduced
+to the medium class, is 97,036. The whole amount of property at
+the appraisal, is $33,527.77. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[440]</a></span>net profits of the year are,
+$8,077.02; which gives a dividend to stock of 6-1/4 per cent.,
+and 6-1/4 cents per hour to labor. The annexed schedule
+specifies the kinds and valuation of property on hand:</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="50%" summary="property on hand">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="80%">Real estate 1,793 acres at $3.00</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="20%">$5,379.00</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Live Stock</td>
+  <td class="tdr">3,117.00</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Mechanical tools</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1,866.34</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Farming tools</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1,250.75</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Mechanical improvements</td>
+  <td class="tdr">14,655.00</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Agricultural improvements</td>
+  <td class="tdr">2,298.90</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Agricultural products</td>
+  <td class="tdr">3,161.56</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Garden products</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1,006.13</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Miscellaneous property</td>
+  <td class="tdr bb">793.09</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlp2">Total amount</td>
+  <td class="tdr bt">$33,527.77</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p class="right">"<span class="sc">S. Bates</span>, President."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The following anonymous summary, well written and evidently authentic,
+is taken from Macdonald's collection:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[History of the Wisconsin Phalanx, by a member.]</p>
+
+<p>"In the winter of 1843-4 there was considerable excitement in
+the village of Southport, Wisconsin (now Kenosha City), on the
+subject of Association. The subject was taken up with much
+feeling and interest at the village lyceum and in various public
+meetings. Among the advocates of Association were a few persons
+who determined in the spring of 1844 to make a practical
+experiment. For that purpose a constitution was drawn up, and a
+voluntary Association formed, which styled itself 'The Wisconsin
+Phalanx.' As the movement began to ripen into action, the
+friends fell off, and the circle narrowed down from about
+seventy to twenty persons. This little band was composed mostly
+of men <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[441]</a></span>with small means, sturdy constitutions, below the middle
+age, and full of energy; men who had been poor, and had learned
+early to buffet with the antagonisms of civilization; not highly
+cultivated in the social and intellectual faculties, but more so
+in the moral and industrial.</p>
+
+<p>"They raised about $1,000 in money, which they sent to the
+land-office at Green Bay, and entered a tract of land selected
+by their committee, in a congressional township in the
+north-west corner of Fond du Lac County, a township six miles
+square, without a single inhabitant, and with no settlement
+within twenty miles, except a few scattered families about Green
+Lake.</p>
+
+<p>"With teams, stock, tents, and implements of husbandry and
+mechanism, they repaired to this spot in the latter part of May
+1844, a distance of about one hundred and twenty-five miles from
+their homes, and commenced building and breaking up land, etc.
+They did not erect a log house, but split out of the tough burr
+and white oak of the 'openings,' shingles, clapboards, floors,
+frames and all the materials of a house, and soon prepared a
+shelter. Their families were then moved on. Late in the fall a
+saw-mill was built, and every thing prepared as well as could be
+for the winter. Their dwellings would have been unendurable at
+other times and under other circumstances; but at this time
+zeal, energy, excitement and hope kept them from complaining.
+Their land, which was subsequently increased to 1,800 acres,
+mostly at $1.25 per acre, consisted of 'openings,' prairie and
+timber, well watered, and with several small water-powers on the
+tract; a fertile soil, with as healthy a climate as could be
+found in the Western States.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[442]</a></span>"It was agreed to name the new town Ceresco, and a post-office
+was applied for under that name, and obtained. One of the
+members always held the office of post-master, until the
+administration of General Taylor, when the office was removed
+about three-quarters of a mile to a rival village. In the winter
+of 1844-5, the Association asked the Legislature to organize
+their town, which was readily done under the adopted name. A few
+settlers had by this time moved into the town (which, owing to
+the large proportion of prairie, was not rapidly settled), and
+in the spring they held their election. Every officer chosen was
+a member of the society, and as they were required to elect
+Justices and had no need of any, they chose the three oldest
+men. From that time until the dissolution of the society nearly
+every town-office of importance was filled by its members. They
+had also one of their members in both Constitutional Conventions
+of the State, and three in the State Senate for one term of two
+sessions. Subsequently one of their members was a candidate for
+Governor, receiving more votes in his town than both of the
+other candidates together; but only a small vote in the State,
+as he was the free-soil candidate.</p>
+
+<p>"The Association drew up and prepared a charter or act of
+incorporation upon which they agreed, and applied to the
+Legislature for its passage; which was granted; and thus they
+became a body corporate and politic, known in the land as the
+'Wisconsin Phalanx.' All the business was done in accordance
+with and under this charter, until the property was divided and
+the whole affair closed up. One clause in the charter prohibited
+the sale of the land. This was subsequently altered at the
+society's request, in an amendatory act in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[443]</a></span>the session of
+1849-50, for the purpose of allowing them to divide their
+property.</p>
+
+<p>"In the spring of 1845, after their organization under the
+charter, they had considerable accession to their numbers, and
+might have had greater; but were very careful about admitting
+new members, and erred very much in making a property
+qualification. About this time (1845) a question of policy arose
+among the members, the decision of which is supposed by many
+good judges to have been the principal cause of the ultimate
+division and dissolution; it was, whether the dwellings should
+be built in unitary blocks adapted to a common boarding-house,
+or in isolated style, adapted to the separate family and single
+living. It was decided by a small majority to pursue the unitary
+plan, and this policy was persisted in until there was a
+division of property. Whether this was the cause of failure or
+not, it induced many of the best members to leave; and although
+it might have been the true policy under other circumstances and
+for other persons, in this case it was evidently wrong, for the
+members were not socially developed sufficiently to maintain
+such close relations. Notwithstanding this, they continued to
+increase slowly, rejecting many more applicants than they
+admitted; and often rejecting the better and admitting the
+worse, because the worse had the property qualifications. In
+this way they increased to the maximum of thirty-three families.
+They had no pecuniary difficulties, for they kept mostly out of
+debt.</p>
+
+<p>"It was a great reading Community; often averaging as many as
+five or six regular newspapers to a family, and these constantly
+exchanging with each other. They were not religious, but mostly
+rather skeptical, except a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[444]</a></span>few elderly orthodox persons. [This
+hardly agrees with the statement and protest on the 436th page.]</p>
+
+<p>"They were very industrious, and had many discussions and warm
+arguments about work, manners, progress, etc.; but still they
+continued to work and scold, and scold and work, with much
+energy, and to much effect. They raised one season ten thousand
+bushels of wheat, and much other grain; had about seven hundred
+acres under cultivation; but committed a great error in
+cultivating four hundred acres on the school lands adjoining
+their own, because it lay a little better for a large field.
+They had subsequently to remove their fences and leave that
+land, for they did not wish to buy it.</p>
+
+<p>"Their charter elections were annual, and were often warmly
+contested, and turned mainly on the question of unitary or
+isolated households; but they never went beyond words in their
+contentions.</p>
+
+<p>"They were all temperance men and women: no ardent spirits were
+kept or sold for the first four years in the township, and never
+on the domain, while it was held as joint-stock.</p>
+
+<p>"Their system of labor and pay was somewhat complicated, and
+never could be satisfactorily arranged. The farmers and
+mechanics were always jealous of each other, and could not be
+brought to feel near enough to work on and divide the profits at
+the end of the year; but as they ever hoped to get over this
+difficulty, they said but very little about it. In their system
+of labor they formed groups for each kind of work; each group,
+when consisting of three or more, choosing its own foreman, who
+kept the account of the time worked by each member, and reported
+weekly to a meeting of all the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[445]</a></span>members, which regulated the
+average; and then the Secretary copied it; and at the end of the
+fiscal year each person drew, on his labor account, his
+proportion of the three-fourths of the increase and products
+which was allotted to labor, and on his stock shares, his
+proportion of the one-fourth that was divided to stock. The
+amount so divided was ascertained by an annual appraisal of all
+the property, thus ascertaining the rise or increase in value,
+as well as the product of labor. The dividend to capital was,
+however, usually considered too large and disproportionate.</p>
+
+<p>"The books and accounts were accurately kept by the Secretary,
+and most of the individual transactions passed through this
+form, thus leaving all accounts in the hands of a disinterested
+person, open to inspection at all times, and bringing about an
+annual settlement which avoided many difficulties incident to
+civilization.</p>
+
+<p>"The table of the Community, when kept as a public
+boarding-house, where the families and visitors or travelers
+were mostly seated, was set with plain but substantial food,
+much like the tables of farmers in newly settled agricultural
+States; but it often incurred the ridicule of loafers and
+epicures, who travel much and fare better with strangers than at
+home.</p>
+
+<p>"They had among their number a few men of leading intellect who
+always doubted the success of the experiment, and hence
+determined to accumulate property individually by any and every
+means called fair in competitive society. These would
+occasionally gain some important positions in the society, and
+representing it in part at home and abroad, caused much trouble.
+By some they were accounted the principal cause of the final
+failure.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[446]</a></span>"In the summer and fall of 1849 it became evident that a
+dissolution and division was inevitable, and plans for doing it
+within themselves, without recourse to courts of law, were
+finally got up, and they determined to have it done by their
+legal advisers as other business was done. At the annual
+election in December 1849, the officers were elected with a view
+to that particular business. They had already sold much of the
+personal property and cancelled much of the stock. The highest
+amount of stock ever issued was about $33,000, and this was
+reduced by the sale of personal property up to January 1850, to
+about $23,000; soon after which the charter was amended,
+allowing the sale of real estate and the discontinuance of
+annual settlement, schools, etc.</p>
+
+<p>"In April 1850 they fixed on an appraisal of their lands in
+small lots (having some of them cut into village and farm lots),
+and commenced selling at public sale for stock, making the
+appraisal the minimum, and leaving any lands open to entry,
+after they had been offered publicly. During the summer of 1850
+most of the lands were sold and most of the stock cancelled in
+this way, under an arrangement by which each stockholder should
+receive his proportional share of any surplus, or make up any
+deficiency. Most of the members bought either farming lands or
+village lots and became permanent inhabitants, thus continuing
+the society and its influences to a considerable extent. They
+divided about eight per cent. above par on the stock.</p>
+
+<p>"Thus commenced, flourished and decayed this attempt at
+industrial Association. It never attempted to follow Fourier or
+any other teacher, but rather to strike out a path for itself.
+It failed because its leading <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[447]</a></span>minds became satisfied that under
+existing circumstances no important progress could be made,
+rather than from a want of faith in the ultimate practicability
+of Association.</p>
+
+<p>"Many of the members regretted the dissolution, while others who
+had gained property and become established in business through
+the reputation of the Phalanx for credit and punctuality, seemed
+to care very little about it. Being absorbed in the world-wide
+spirit of speculation, and having their minds thus occupied,
+they forgot the necessity for a social change, which once
+appeared to them so important."</p></div>
+
+<p>The writer of the foregoing was probably one of the leading members.
+In a paragraph preceding the account he says that the Wisconsin
+Phalanx had these three peculiarities, viz:</p>
+
+<p>"1. The same individual who was the principal originator and organizer
+of it, was also the one, who, throughout the experiment, had the
+entire confidence of the members and stockholders; and finally did
+nearly all the business in the closing up of its affairs.</p>
+
+<p>"2. At the division of its property, it paid a premium on its stock,
+instead of sustaining a loss.</p>
+
+<p>"3. Neither the Association nor any of its members ever had a lawsuit
+of any kind during its existence, or at its close.</p>
+
+<p>"The truth is," he adds, "this attempt was pecuniarily successful; but
+socially, a failure."</p>
+
+<p>Macdonald concludes with the following note: "Mr. Daniels, a gentleman
+who saw the whole progress of the Wisconsin Phalanx, says that the
+cause of its breaking <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[448]</a></span>up was speculation; the love of money and the
+want of love for Association. Their property becoming valuable, they
+sold it for the purpose of making money out of it."</p>
+
+<p>This explanation of the mystery of the failure agrees with the hints
+at the conclusion of the previous account.</p>
+
+<p>On the whole, the coroner's verdict in this case must
+be&mdash;'<span class="sc">Died</span>, not by any of the common diseases of Associations,
+such as poverty, dissension, lack of wisdom, morality or religion, but
+by deliberate suicide, for reasons not fully disclosed.'</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[449]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE NORTH AMERICAN PHALANX.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>This was the test-experiment on which Fourierism practically staked
+its all in this country. Brisbane was busy in its beginnings; Greeley
+was Vice-President and stockholder. Its ambitious name and its
+location near New York City helped to set it apart as the model
+Phalanx. It was managed with great ability, and on the whole was more
+successful both in business and duration, than any other Fourier
+Association. It not only saw all the Phalanxes die around it, but it
+outlasted the <i>Harbinger</i> that blew the trumpet for them; and fought
+on, after the battle was given up. Indeed it outlived our friend
+Macdonald, the 'Old Mortality' of Socialism. Three times he visited
+it; and the record of his last visit, which was written in the year of
+his death, 1854, and was probably the last of his literary labors,
+closes with an acknowledgement of the continuance and prosperity of
+the North American. We shall have to give several chapters to this
+important experiment. We will begin with a semi-official expose of its
+foundations.</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>A History of the first nine years of the North American Phalanx,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[450]</a></span>
+written by its practical chief, Mr. Charles Sears, at the
+request of Macdonald; dated December, 1852.</p>
+
+
+<p>"Prior to the spring of 1843, Mr. Albert Brisbane had been
+publishing, principally in the New York <i>Tribune</i>, a series of
+articles on the subject of social science. He had also published
+his larger work on Association, which was followed by his
+pamphlet containing a summary of the doctrines of a new form of
+society, and the outline of a project to found a practical
+Association, to be called the North American Phalanx.</p>
+
+<p>"There was nominally a central organization in the city of New
+York, and affiliated societies were invited to co-operate by
+subscribing the means of endowing the proposed Phalanx, and
+furnishing the persons to engage personally in the enterprise.
+It was proposed to raise about four hundred thousand dollars,
+thus making the attempt with adequate means to establish the
+conditions of attractive industry.</p>
+
+<p>"The essays and books above mentioned had a wide circulation,
+and many were captivated with the glowing pictures of a new life
+thus presented; others were attracted by the economies of the
+combined order which were demonstrated; still others were
+inspired by the hopes of personal distinction in the brilliant
+career thus opened to their ambition; others again, were
+profoundly impressed by Fourier's sublime annunciation of the
+general destinies of globes and humanities; that progressive
+development through careers, characterized all movement and all
+forms; that in all departments of creation, the law of the
+series was the method observed in distributing harmonies;
+consequently, that human society and human activity, to be in
+harmony with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[451]</a></span>universe of relations, can not be an exception
+to the great law of the series; consequently, that the existing
+order of civilization and the societies that preceded it are but
+phases in the growth of the race, and having subserved their
+more active uses, become bases of further development.</p>
+
+<p>"Among those who became interested in the idea of social
+progress, were a few persons in Albany, New York, who from
+reading and interchange of views, were induced to unite in an
+organization for the purpose of deliberately and methodically
+investigating the doctrines of a new social order as announced
+by Fourier, deeming these doctrines worthy of the most profound
+and serious consideration.</p>
+
+<p>"This body, after several preliminary meetings, formally adopted
+rules of organization on the 6th of April, 1843, and the
+declaration of their objects is in the following words: 'We, the
+undersigned, for the purpose of investigating Fourier's theory
+of social reform as expounded by Albert Brisbane, and if deemed
+expedient, of co-operating with like organizations elsewhere, do
+associate, with the ulterior view of organizing and founding an
+industrial and commercial Phalanx.'</p>
+
+<p>"Proceeding in this direction, the body assumed the name of 'The
+Albany Branch of the North American Phalanx;' opened a
+correspondence with Messrs. Brisbane, Greeley, Godwin, Channing,
+Ripley and others; had lectures of criticism on existing
+institutions and in exposition of the doctrines of the proposed
+new order.</p>
+
+<p>"During the summer practical measures were so matured, that a
+commission was appointed to explore the country, more
+particularly in the vicinity of New York and of Philadelphia,
+for a suitable domain upon which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[452]</a></span>to commence the foundation of
+new social institutions. Mr. Brisbane was the delegate on the
+part of the New York friends, and Mr. Allen Worden on the part
+of the Albany Branch. A site was selected in Monmouth County,
+New Jersey, about forty miles south of New York; and on the 12th
+day of August, 1843, pursuant to public notice, a convention was
+held in the Albany Exchange, at which the North American Phalanx
+was organized by adopting a constitution, and subscribing to a
+covenant to invest in the capital stock.</p>
+
+<p>"At this convention were delegates from New York, Catskill,
+Troy, Brook Farm Association, and the Albany Branch; and when
+the real work of paying money and elevating life to the effort
+of social organization was to be done, about a dozen subscribers
+were found equal to the work, ten of whom finally co-operated
+personally in the new life, with an aggregate subscription of
+eight thousand dollars. This by common consent was the absolute
+minimum of men and means; and, contrasted with the large
+expectations and claims originally stated, was indeed a great
+falling-off; but the few who had committed themselves with
+entire faith to the movement, went forward, determined to do
+what they could to make a worthy commencement, hoping that with
+their own families and such others as would from time to time be
+induced to co-operate, the germs of new institutions might
+fairly be planted.</p>
+
+<p>"Accordingly in the month of September, 1843, a few families
+took possession of the domain, occupying to over-fullness the
+two farm-houses on the place, and commenced building a temporary
+house, forty feet by eighty, of two stories, for the
+accommodation of those who were to come the following spring.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[453]</a></span>"During the year 1844 the population numbered about ninety
+persons, including at one period nearly forty children under the
+age of sixteen years. Crops were planted, teams and implements
+purchased, the building of shops and mills was commenced,
+measures of business and organization were discussed, the
+construction of social doctrines debated, personal claims
+canvassed, and thus the business of life was going on at full
+tide; and now also commenced the real development of character.</p>
+
+<p>"Hitherto there had been no settled science of society. Fourier,
+the man of profound insight, announced the law of progress and
+indicated the new forms that society would take. People accepted
+the new ideas gladly, and would as gladly institute new forms;
+but there was a lack of well-defined views on the precise work
+to be done. Besides, education tended strongly to confirm in
+most minds the force of existing institutions, and after
+attaining to middle age, and even before this period, the
+character usually becomes quite fixed; so that to break up
+habitudes, relinquish prejudices, sunder ties, and to adopt new
+modes of action, accept of modified results, and re-adjust
+themselves to new relations, was a difficult, and to the many,
+almost impossible work, as is proved by the fact that, of the
+thirty or forty similar attempts at associated life within the
+past ten years in this country, only the North American Phalanx
+now [1852] remains. Nor did this Association escape the
+inevitable consequences of bringing together a body of grown-up
+people with their families, many of whom came reluctantly, and
+whose characters were formed under other influences.</p>
+
+<p>"Personal difficulties occurred as a matter of course, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[454]</a></span>but
+these were commonly overruled by a healthy sentiment of
+self-respect. Parties also began to form, but they were not
+fully developed until the first annual settlement and
+distribution of profits was attempted. Then, however, they took
+a variety of forms according to the interest or ambition of the
+partisans; though two principal views characterized the more
+permanent and clearly defined party divisions; one party
+contending for authority, enforced with stringent rules and
+final appeal to the dictation of the chief officer; the other
+party standing out for organization and distribution of
+authority. The former would centralize power and make
+administration despotic, claiming that thus only could order be
+maintained; the latter claimed that to do this, would be merely
+to repeat the institutions of civilization; that Association
+thus controlled would be devoid of corporate life, would be
+dependent upon individuals, and quite artificial; whereas what
+we wanted was a wholly different order, viz., the
+enfranchisement of the individual; order through the natural
+method of the series; institutions that would be instinct with
+the life that is organic, from the sum of the series, down to
+the last subdivision of the group. The strife to maintain these
+several views was long and vigorous; and it would scarcely be an
+exaggeration to say that our days were spent in labor and our
+nights in legislation, for the first five years of our
+associative life. The question at issue was vital. It was
+whether the infant Association should or should not have new
+institutions; whether it should be Civilizee or Phalansterian;
+whether it should be a mere joint-stock corporation such as had
+been before, or whether the new form of industrial organization
+indicated by Fourier should be initiated. In the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[455]</a></span>contest
+between the two principles of civilized joint-stock Association,
+and of the Phalansterian or Serial organization, the latter
+ultimately prevailed; and in this triumph of the idea of the
+natural organic forms of society through the method of the
+series, we see distinctly the development of the germ of the
+Phalanx. For when we have a true principle evolved, however
+insignificant the development may be, the results, although
+limited by the smallness of the development, will nevertheless
+be right in kind. It is perhaps important, to the end that the
+results of our experience be rightly comprehended, to indicate
+the essential features of the order of society that is to
+succeed present disorder, and wherein it differs from other
+social forms.</p>
+
+<p>"A fundamental feature is, that we deny the bald atheism that
+asserts human nature to be a melancholy failure and unworthy of
+respect or trust, and therefore to be treated as an alien and
+convict. On the contrary, we hold that, instead of chains, man
+requires freedom; instead of checks, he requires development;
+instead of artificial order through coercion, he requires the
+Divine harmony that comes through counterpoise. Hence society is
+bound by its own highest interests, by the obligation it owes to
+its every member, to make organic provision for the entire
+circle of human wants, for the entire range of human activity;
+so that the individual shall be emancipated from the servitude
+of nature, from personal domination, from social tyrannies; and
+that thus fully enfranchised and guaranteed by the whole force
+of society, into all freedoms and the endowment of all rights
+pertaining to manhood, he may fulfill his own destiny, in
+accordance with the laws written in his own organization.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[456]</a></span>"In the Phalanx, then, we have, in the sphere of production, the
+relation of employer and employed stricken out of the category
+of relations, not merely as in the simple joint-stock
+corporations, by substituting for the individual employer the
+still more despotic and irresistible corporate employer; but by
+every one becoming his own employer, doing that which he is best
+qualified by endowment to do, receiving for his labor precisely
+his share of the product, as nearly as it can be determined
+while there is no scientific unit of value.</p>
+
+<p>"In the sphere of circulation or currency, we have a
+representative of all the wealth produced, so that every one
+shall have issued to him for all his production, the abstract or
+protean form of value, which is convertible into every other
+form of value; in commerce or exchanges, reducing this from a
+speculation as now, to a function; employing only the necessary
+force to make distributions; and exchanging products or values
+on the basis of cost.</p>
+
+<p>"In the sphere of social relations, we have freedom to form ties
+according to affinities of character.</p>
+
+<p>"In the sphere of education, we establish the natural method,
+not through the exaltation into professorships of this, that or
+other notable persons, but through a body of institutions
+reposing upon industry, and having organic vitality. Commencing
+with the nursery, we make, through the living corporation,
+through adequately endowed institutions that fail not, provision
+for the entire life of the child, from the cradle upward;
+initiating him step by step, not into nominal, ostensible
+education apart from his life, but into the real business of
+life, the actual production and distribution of wealth, the
+science of accounts and the administration of affairs; and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[457]</a></span>providing that, through uses, the science that lies back of uses
+shall be acquired; so theory and practice, the application of
+science to the pursuits of life shall, through daily use, become
+as familiar as the mother tongue; and thus place our children at
+maturity in the ranks of manhood and womanhood, competent to all
+the duties and activities of life, that they may be qualified by
+endowment to perform.</p>
+
+<p>"In the sphere of administration, we have a graduated hierarchy
+of orders, from the simple chief of a group, or supervisor of a
+single function, up to the unitary administration of the globe.</p>
+
+<p>"In the sphere of religion, we have religious life as contrasted
+with the profession of a religious faith. The intellect requires
+to be satisfied as well as the affections, and is so with the
+scientific and therefore universal formula, that the religious
+element in man is the passion of unity; that is, that all the
+powers of the soul shall attain to true equilibrium, and act
+normally in accordance with Divine law, so that human life in
+all its powers and activities shall be in harmonious relations
+with nature, with itself, and with the supreme center of life.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course we speak of the success of an idea, and only expect
+realization through gradual development. It is obvious also that
+such realization can be attained only through organization;
+because, unaided, the individual makes but scanty conquests over
+nature, and but feeble opposition to social usurpations.</p>
+
+<p>"The principle, then, of the Serial Organization being
+established, the whole future course of the Association, in
+respect to its merely industrial institutions, was plain, viz.:
+to develop and mature the serial form.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[458]</a></span>"Not that the old questions did not arise subsequently; on the
+contrary on the admission of new members from time to time, they
+did arise and have discussion anew; but the contest had been
+virtually decided. The Association had pronounced with such
+emphasis in favor of the organization of labor upon the basis of
+co-operative efforts, joint-stock property, and unity of
+interests, that those holding adverse views gradually withdrew;
+and the harmony of the Association was never afterward in
+serious jeopardy.</p>
+
+<p>"During the later as well as earlier years of our associated
+life, the question of preference of modes of realization came
+under discussion in the Phalansterian school, one party
+advocating the measure of obtaining large means, and so fully
+endowing the Phalanx with all the external conditions of
+attractive industry, and then introducing gradually a body of
+select associates. The North American Phalanx, as represented in
+the conventions of the school, held to the view that new social
+institutions, new forms into which the life of a people shall
+flow, can not be determined by merely external conditions and
+the elaboration of a theory of life and organization, but are
+matters of growth.</p>
+
+<p>"Our view is that the true Divine growth of the social, as of
+the individual man, is the progressive development of a germ;
+and while we would not in the slightest degree oppose a
+scientific organization upon a large scale, it is our preference
+to pursue a more progressive mode, to make a more immediately
+practical and controllable attempt.</p>
+
+<p>"The call of to-day we understand to be for evidence, First: Of
+the possibility of harmony in Association; Second: That by
+associated effort, and the control of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[459]</a></span>machinery, the laborer
+may command the means, not only of comfort and the necessaries
+of life, but also of education and refinement; Third: that the
+nature of the relations we would establish are essentially those
+of religious justice.</p>
+
+<p>"The possibility of establishing true social relations,
+increased production, and the embodiment of the religious
+sentiment, are, if we read the signs aright, the points upon
+which the question of Association now hinges in the public mind.</p>
+
+<p>"Because, First: Man's capacity for these relations is doubted;
+Because, Second: Production is an essential and permanent
+condition of life, and means of progress; Because, Third: It is
+apprehended that the religious element is not sufficiently
+regarded and provided for in Association.</p>
+
+<p>"Demonstrate that capacity, prove that men by their own efforts
+may command all the means of life, show in institutions the
+truly religious nature of the movement and the relations that
+are to obtain, and the public will be gained to the idea of
+Association.</p>
+
+<p>"Another question still has been pressed upon us offensively by
+the advocates of existing institutions, as though their life
+were pure and their institutions perfect, while no terms of
+opprobrium could sufficiently characterize the depravity of the
+Socialists; and this question is that of the marriage relation.
+Upon this question a form of society that is so notoriously
+rotten as existing civilization is, a society that has marriage
+and prostitution as complementary facts of its relations of the
+sexes, a society which establishes professorships of abortion,
+which methodizes infanticide, which outlaws woman, might at
+least assume the show of modesty, might treat <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[460]</a></span>with common
+candor any and all who are seeking the Divine law of marriage.
+Instead, therefore, of recognizing its right to defame us, we
+put that society upon its defense, and say to it, Come out of
+your infidelities, and your crimes, and your pretenses; seek out
+the law of righteousness, and deal justly with woman.
+Nevertheless this is a question in which we, in common with
+others, have a profound interest; it is a question which has by
+no means escaped consideration among us, and we perhaps owe it
+to ourselves to state our position.</p>
+
+<p>"What the true law of relationship of the sexes is, we as a body
+do not pretend to determine. Here, as elsewhere, individual
+opinion is free; but there are certain conditions, as we think,
+clearly indicated, which are necessary to the proper
+consideration of the question; and our view is that it is one
+that must be determined mainly by woman herself. When she shall
+be fully enfranchised, fully endowed with her rights, so that
+she shall no longer be dependent on marriage for position, no
+longer be regarded as a pensioner, but as a constituent of the
+State; in a single phrase, when society shall, independently of
+other considerations than that of inherent right, assure to
+woman social position and pecuniary independence, so that she
+can legislate on a footing of equality, then she may announce
+the law of the sexual relations. But this can only occur in
+organized society; society in which there is a complete circle
+of fraternal institutions that have public acceptance; can only
+occur when science enters the domain of human society, and
+determines relations, as it now does in astronomy or physic.</p>
+
+<p>"We therefore say to civilization, You have no adequate solution
+of this problem that is convulsing you, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">[461]</a></span>and in which every form
+of private and public protest against the actual condition is
+expressing itself. Besides this we claim what can not be claimed
+for any similar number of people in civilization, viz., that we
+have been here over nine years, with an average population of
+nearly one hundred persons of both sexes and all ages, and,
+judged by the existing standard of morals, we are above reproach
+on this question.</p>
+
+<p>"Thus we have proceeded, disposing of our primary legislation,
+demonstrating to general acceptance the rectitude of our awards
+and distributions of profit, determining questions of social
+doctrine, perfecting methods of order, and developing our
+industry, with a fair measure of success. In this latter respect
+the following statistics will indicate partially the progress we
+have made.</p>
+
+<p>"We commenced in 1843, as before mentioned, with a dozen
+subscribers, and an aggregate subscription of $8,000. On the
+30th of November, 1844, upon our first settlement, our property
+amounted in round numbers to $28,000; of which we owed in
+capital stock and balances due members, say, $18,000. The
+remainder was debt incurred in purchasing the land, $9,000;
+implements, etc., $1,000; total, $10,000.</p>
+
+<p>"Our population at this period, including members and
+applicants, was nearly as follows: Men, thirty-two; women,
+nineteen; children of both sexes under sixteen years,
+twenty-six; making an aggregate of seventy-seven. At one period
+thereafter our numbers were reduced to about sixty-five persons.</p>
+
+<p>"On the 30th of November, 1852, our property was estimated at
+$80,000, held as follows: capital stock and balances of account
+due members, say, $62,800; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">[462]</a></span>permanent debt, $12,103; floating
+debt, $5,097; total, $80,000. Dividing this sum by 673, the
+number of acres, the entire cost of our property is $119 per
+acre.</p>
+
+<p>"At this period our population of members and applicants is as
+follows: men, forty-eight; women, thirty-seven; adults,
+eighty-five; children under sixteen years, twenty-seven; making
+an aggregate of one hundred and twelve.</p>
+
+<p>"Dividing the sum of property by this number, we have an average
+investment for each man, woman and child, of over $700, or for
+each family of five persons, say, $3,600. Dividing the sum of
+our permanent debt by the number of our population, the average
+to each person is, say, $107.</p>
+
+<p>"For the purpose of comparing the pecuniary results of our
+industry to the individual, with like pursuits elsewhere, we
+make the following exhibition: In the year 1844 the average
+earnings of adults, besides their board, was three dollars and
+eighty cents a month, and the dividend for the use of capital
+was 4.7 per cent.</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="50%" summary="Table page 462">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr" width="30%">1845. Earnings</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="20%">of labor was</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="50%">$8.21 per month.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">of capital</td>
+  <td class="tdr">05.1 per cent.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">1846. Earnings</td>
+  <td class="tdl">of labor</td>
+  <td class="tdr">2.73 per month.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">of capital</td>
+  <td class="tdr">04.4 per cent.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">1847. Earnings</td>
+  <td class="tdl">of labor</td>
+  <td class="tdr">12.02 per month.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">of capital</td>
+  <td class="tdr">05.6 per cent.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">1848. Earnings</td>
+  <td class="tdl">of labor</td>
+  <td class="tdr">14.10 per month.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">of capital</td>
+  <td class="tdr">05.7 per cent.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">1849. Earnings</td>
+  <td class="tdl">of labor</td>
+  <td class="tdr">13.58 per month.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">of capital</td>
+  <td class="tdr">05.6 per cent.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">1850. Earnings</td>
+  <td class="tdl">of labor</td>
+  <td class="tdr">13.58 per month.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">of capital</td>
+  <td class="tdr">05.52 per cent.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">1851. Earnings</td>
+  <td class="tdl">of labor</td>
+  <td class="tdr">14.59 per month.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">of capital</td>
+  <td class="tdr">04.84 per cent.</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">[463]</a></span>"It is to be noted that when we took possession of our domain,
+the land was in a reduced condition; and upon our improvements
+we have made no profit excepting subsequent increased revenue,
+they having been valued at cost. Also that our labors were
+mainly agricultural until within the last three years, when
+milling was successfully introduced. We have, it is true,
+carried on various mechanical branches for our own purposes,
+such as building, smith-work, tin-work, shoe-making, etc.; but
+for purposes of revenue, we have not to much extent succeeded in
+introducing mechanical branches of industry.</p>
+
+<p>"Furthermore, we divide our profits upon the following general
+principles: For labors that are necessary, but repulsive or
+exhausting, we award the highest rates; for such as are useful,
+but less repugnant or taxing, a relatively smaller award is
+made; and for the more agreeable pursuits, a still smaller rate
+is allowed.</p>
+
+<p>"Thus observing this general formula in our classification of
+labor, viz.: the necessary, the useful, and the agreeable; and
+also awarding to the individual, first, for his labor, secondly,
+for the talent displayed in the use of means, or in adaptation
+of means to ends, wise administration, etc., and thirdly, for
+the use of his capital; it will be perceived that we make our
+award upon a widely different basis from the current method. We
+have a theory of awards, a scientific reason for our
+classification of labor and our awards to individuals; and one
+of the consequences is that women earn more, relatively, among
+us than in existing society.</p>
+
+<p>"In matters of education we have hitherto done little else than
+keep, as we might, the common district school, introducing,
+however, improved methods of instruction. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">[464]</a></span>Other interests have
+pressed upon us; other questions clamored for solution. We were
+to determine whether or not we could associate in all the labors
+of life; and if yea, then whether we could sufficiently command
+the material means of life, until we should have established
+institutions that would supersede the necessity of strenuous
+personal effort. It will be understood that this work has been
+sufficiently arduous, and consequently that our children, being
+too feeble in point of numbers to assert their rights, have been
+pushed aside."</p></div>
+
+<p>Here follows a labored disquisition on the possibilities of serial
+education, which we omit, as the substance of it can be found in the
+standard expositions of Fourierism.</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"If now we are asked, what questions we have determined, what
+results we may fairly claim to have accomplished through our
+nine years of associated life and efforts at organization, we
+may answer in brief, that so far as the members of this body are
+concerned, we meet the universal demand of this day with
+institutions which guarantee the rights of labor and the
+products thereof, of education, and a home, and social culture.
+This is not a mere declaration of abstract rights that we claim
+to make, but we establish our members in the possession and
+enjoyment of these rights; and we venture to claim that, so far
+as the comforts of home, private rights and social privileges
+are concerned, our actual life is greatly in advance of that of
+any mixed population under the institutions of existing
+civilization, either in town or country. We claim, so far as
+with our small number we could do, to have organized labor
+through voluntary Association, upon the principle of unity of
+interests; so reconciling the hitherto hostile <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">[465]</a></span>parties of
+laborer and capitalist; so settling the world-old, world-wide
+quarrel, growing out of antagonistic interests among men; that
+is, we have organized the production and distribution of wealth
+in agricultural and domestic labor, and in some branches of
+mechanics and manufactures, and thus have abolished the servile
+character of labor, and the servile relation of employer and
+employed. And it is precisely in the point where failure was
+most confidently predicted, viz., in domestic labor, that we
+have most fully succeeded, because mainly, as we suppose, in the
+larger numbers attached to this industry we had the conditions
+of carrying out more fully the serial method of organization.</p>
+
+<p>"In distributing the profits of industry we have adopted a law
+of equitable proportion, so that when the facts are presented,
+we have initiated the measure of attaining to practical justice,
+or in the formula of Fourier, 'equitable distribution of
+profits.' We claim also that we guarantee the sale of the
+products of industry; that is, we secure the means of converting
+any and every form of product or fruit of labor at the cost
+thereof, into any other form also at cost. For all our labor is
+paid for in a domestic currency. In other words, when value is
+produced, a representative of that value is issued to the
+producer; and only so far as there is the production of value,
+is there any issue of the representative of value; so that
+property and currency are always equal, and thus we solve the
+problem of banking and currency; thus we have in practical
+operation, what Proudhon vainly attempted to introduce into
+France; what Kellogg proposed to introduce under governmental
+sanction in this country; what Warren proposes to accomplish by
+his labor notes and exchanges at cost.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">[466]</a></span>"We might state other facts, but let this suffice for the
+present; and we will only say in conclusion, that when the
+organization of our educational series shall be completed, as we
+hope to see it, we shall thus have established as a body a
+measurably complete circle of fraternal institutions, in which
+social and private rights are guaranteed; we shall then fairly
+have closed the first cycle of our societary life and efforts,
+fairly have laid the germs of living institutions, of the
+corporations which have perpetual life, which gather all
+knowledges, which husband all experiences, and into the keeping
+of which we commit all material interests, and which only need a
+healthy development to change without injustice, to absorb
+without violence, the discords of existing society, and to
+unfold, as naturally as the chrysalis unfolds into a form of
+beauty, a new and higher order of human society.</p>
+
+<p>"To carry on this work we need additional means to endow our
+agricultural, our educational, our milling and other interests,
+and to build additional tenements; and above all we need
+additional numbers of people who are willing to work for an
+idea; men and women who are competent to establish or conduct
+successfully some branch of profitable industry; who understand
+the social movement; who will come among us with worthy motives,
+and with settled purpose of fraternal co-operation; who can
+appreciate the labor, the conditions of life, the worth of the
+institutions we have and propose to have, in contrast with the
+chances of private gain accompanied by the prevailing disorder,
+the denial of right, and the ever-increasing oppressions of
+existing civilization.</p>
+
+<p>"The views of members and applicants upon the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">[467]</a></span>foregoing
+statement are expressed by the position of their signatures
+affixed below:</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Aye.</i></p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="70%" summary="Ayes.">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="33%">H.T. Stone,</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="34%">Eugenia Thomson,</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="33%">E.L. Holmes,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Lucius Eaton,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Leemon Stockwell,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Gertrude Sears,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Alcander Longley,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">R.N. Stockwell,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">E.A. Angell,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Herman Schetter,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">A.P. French,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">J. Bucklin,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">W.A. French,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Nathaniel H. Colson,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">L.E. Bucklin,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">John Ash, Jr.,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">John French,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Edwin D. Sayre,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">John H. Steel,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Mary E.F. Grey,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">O.S. Holmes,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Phebe T. Drew,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Althea Sears,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">John V. Sears,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">John Gray,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">H. Bell Munday,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">P. French,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Robert J. Smith,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Caroline M. Hathaway,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">M.A. Martin,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">J.R. Vanderburgh,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Anna E. Hathaway,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">L. French,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">James Renshaw,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Anne Guillauden,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Z. King, Jr.,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">J.G. Drew,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">L. Munday,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">D.H. King,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">S. Martin,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Chloe Sears,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">A.J. Lanotte,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Joseph T. French,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">James Renshaw, Jr.,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">W.K. Prentice,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">N.H. Stockwell,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Emile Guillauden, Jr.,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Julia Bucklin,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Chas. G. French,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">Ellen M. Stockwell,</td>
+  <td class="tdl">&mdash;&mdash; Maynet.</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Nay.</i></p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="hang">"Geo. Perry believes that difficulty arises from the
+selfishness, class-interest and personal ambition, of Class
+No. 1 and 2; also, last and not least, absence of uniformity
+of attractions.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">"J.R. Coleman endorses the above sentiments. James Warren, do.
+H.N. Coleman, do.</p>
+
+<p class="hang">"M. Hammond has very reluctantly concluded that the difficulty
+is in the Institution and not in the members."</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">[468]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXVII.</h3>
+
+<h4>LIFE AT THE NORTH AMERICAN PHALANX.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>The following pictures from the files of the <i>Harbinger</i>, with the
+subsequent reports of Macdonald's three visits, give a tolerable view
+of life at the North American in its early and its latter days.</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[Fourth of July (1845) at the Phalanx.]</p>
+
+<p>"As soon as the moisture was off the grass, a group went down to
+the beautiful meadows to spread the hay; and the right good
+will, quickness, and thoroughness with which they completed
+their task, certainly illustrated the attractiveness of combined
+industry. Others meanwhile were gathering for dinner the
+vegetables, of which, by the consent of the whole neighborhood,
+they have a supply unsurpassed in early maturity and excellence;
+and still others were busy in the various branches of domestic
+labor.</p>
+
+<p>"And now, the guests from New York and the country around having
+come in, and the hour for the meeting being at hand, the bell
+sounded, and men, women and children assembled in a walnut grove
+near the house, where a semicircle of seats had been arranged in
+the cool shade. Here addresses were given by William H. Channing
+and Horace Greeley, illustrating the position that Association
+is the truly consistent <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">[469]</a></span>embodiment in practice of the professed
+principles of our nation.</p>
+
+<p>"After some hour and a half thus spent, the company adjourned to
+the house, where a table had been spread the whole length of the
+hall, and partook of a most abundant and excellent dinner, in
+which the hospitable sisters of the Phalanx had most
+satisfactorily proved their faith by their works. Good cold
+water was the only beverage, thanks to the temperance of the
+members. A few toasts and short speeches seasoned the feast.</p>
+
+<p>"And now once again, the afternoon being somewhat advanced, the
+demand for variety was gratified by a summons to the hay-field.
+Every rake and fork were in requisition; a merrier group never
+raked and pitched; never was a meadow more dexterously cleared;
+and it was not long before there was a demand that the right to
+labor should be honored by fresh work, which the chief of the
+group lamented he could not at the moment gratify. To close the
+festivities the young people formed in a dance, which was
+prolonged till midnight. And so ended this truly cheerful and
+friendly holiday."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[George Ripley's visit to the Phalanx.]</p>
+
+<p class="right"><i>May, 14, 1846.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Arriving about dinner time at the Mansion, we received a
+cordial welcome from our friends, and were soon seated at their
+hospitable table, and were made to feel at once that we were at
+home, and in the midst of those to whom we were bound by strong
+ties. How could it be otherwise? It was a meeting of those whose
+lives were devoted to one interest, who had chosen the lot of
+pioneers in a great social reform, and who had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">[470]</a></span>been content to
+endure sacrifices for the realization of ideas that were more
+sacred than life itself. Then, too, the similarity of pursuits,
+of the whole mode of life in our infant Associations, produces a
+similarity of feeling, of manners, and I could almost fancy,
+even of expression of countenance. I have often heard strangers
+remark upon the cheerfulness and elasticity of spirit which
+struck them on visiting our little Association at Brook Farm;
+and here I found the same thing so strongly displayed, that in
+conversing with our new friends, it seemed as if they were the
+same that I had left at home, or rather that I had been side by
+side with them for months or years, instead of meeting them
+to-day for the first time. I did not need any formal
+introduction to make me feel acquainted, and I flatter myself
+that there was as little reserve cherished on their part.</p>
+
+<p>"After dinner we were kindly attended by our friend Mr. Sears
+over this beautiful, I may truly say, enchanting domain. I had
+often heard it spoken of in terms of high commendation; but I
+must confess, I was not prepared to find an estate combining so
+many picturesque attractions with such rare agricultural
+capabilities.</p>
+
+<p>"Our friends here have no doubt been singularly fortunate in
+procuring so valuable a domain as the scene of their experiment,
+and I see nothing which, with industry and perseverance, can
+create a doubt of their triumphant success, and that at no very
+distant day.</p>
+
+<p>"I was highly gratified with the appearance of the children, and
+the provision that is made for their education, physical as well
+as intellectual. I found them in a very neat school-room, under
+the intelligent care of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">[471]</a></span>Mrs. B., who is devoting herself to
+this department with a noble zeal and the most pleasing results.
+It is seldom that young people in common society have such ample
+arrangements for their culture, or give evidence of such a
+healthy desire for improvement.</p>
+
+<p>"This Association has not been free from difficulties. It has
+had to contend with the want of sufficient capital, and has
+experienced some embarrassment on that account. It has also
+suffered from the discouragement of some of its members&mdash;a
+result always to be expected in every new enterprise, and by no
+means formidable in the long run&mdash;and discontent has produced
+depression. Happily, the disaffected have retired from the
+premises, and with few, if any, exceptions, the present members
+are heartily devoted to the movement, with strong faith in the
+cause and in each other, and determined to deserve success, even
+if they do not gain it. Their prospects, however, are now
+bright, and with patient industry and internal harmony they must
+soon transform their magnificent domain into a most attractive
+home for the associative household. May God prosper them!"</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[N.C. Neidhart's visit to the Phalanx.]</p>
+
+<p class="right"><i>July 4, 1847.</i></p>
+
+<p>"It is impossible for me to describe the deep impression which
+the life and genial countenances of our brethren have made upon
+us. Although not belonging to what are very unjustly called the
+higher classes, I discovered more true refinement, that which is
+based upon humanitary feeling, than is generally found among
+those of greater pretensions. There is a serene, earnest love
+about them all, indicating a determination on their part to
+abide the issue of the great experiment in which they are
+engaged.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">[472]</a></span>"After a fatiguing walk over the domain, I found their simple
+but refreshing supper very inviting. Here we saw for the first
+time the women assembled, of whom we had only caught occasional
+glimpses before. They appeared to be a genial band, with happy,
+smiling countenances, full of health and spirits. Such deep and
+earnest eyes, it seemed to me, I had never seen before. Most of
+the younger girls had wreaths of evergreen and flowers wound
+around their hair, and some also around their persons in the
+form of scarfs, which became them admirably.</p>
+
+<p>"After tea we resorted to the reading-room, where are to be
+found on files all the progressive and reformatory, as well as
+the best agricultural, papers of the Union, such as the <i>New
+York Tribune</i>, <i>Practical Christian</i>, <i>Young America</i>,
+<i>Harbinger</i>, etc. There is also the commencement of a small
+library.</p>
+
+<p>"Only one thing was wanting to enliven the evening, and that was
+music. They possess, I believe, a guitar, flutes, and other
+instruments, but the time necessary for their cultivation seems
+to be wanting. The want of this so necessary accompaniment of
+universal harmony, was made up to us by some delightful hours
+which we spent in the parlor of Mrs. B., who showed us some of
+her beautiful drawings, and in whose intelligent society we
+spent the evening. This lady was formerly a member of the
+Clermont Phalanx, Ohio. I was sorry there was not time enough to
+receive from her an account of the causes of the disbandment of
+this society. She must certainly have been satisfied of the
+superiority of associated life, to encourage her to join
+immediately another.</p>
+
+<p>"It was my good fortune (notwithstanding the large <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">[473]</a></span>number of
+visitors), to obtain a nice sleeping-room, from which I was
+sorry to see I had driven some obliging member of the Phalanx.
+The orderly simplicity of this room was quite pleasing. It
+enabled us to form some judgment of the order which pervaded the
+Community.</p>
+
+<p>"Next morning we took an early breakfast, and accompanied by Mr.
+Wheeler, a member of the society, we wandered over the whole
+domain. On our way home we struck across Brisbane Hill, where
+they intend to erect the future Phalansterian house on a more
+improved and extensive plan.</p>
+
+<p>"There is religious worship here every Sunday, in which all
+those who feel disposed may join. The members of the society
+adhere to different religious persuasions, but do not seem to
+care much for the outward forms of religion.</p>
+
+<p>"As far as I could learn, the health of the Phalanx has been
+generally very good. They have lost, however, several children
+by different diseases. During the prevalence of the small-pox in
+the Community, the superiority of the combined order over the
+isolated household was most clearly manifested. Quite lately
+they have constructed a bathing-house. The water is good, but
+must contain more or less iron, as the whole country is full of
+it."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen"><i>Macdonald's first visit to the Phalanx.</i></p>
+
+<p class="right"><i>October, 1851.</i></p>
+
+<p>"It was dark when I arrived at the Phalanstery. Lights shone
+through the trees from the windows of several large buildings,
+the sight of which sent a cheering glow through me, and as I
+approached, I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">[474]</a></span>inwardly fancied that what I saw was part of an
+early dream. The glancing lights, the sounds of voices, and the
+notes of music, while all nature around was dark and still, had
+a strange effect, and I almost believed that this was a
+Community where people were really happy.</p>
+
+<p>"I entered and inquired for Mr. Bucklin, whose name had been
+given me. At the end of a long hall I found a small
+reading-room, with four or five strange-looking beings sitting
+around a table reading newspapers. They all appeared eccentric,
+not alone because they were unshaven and unshorn, but from the
+peculiar look of their eyes and form of their faces. Mr.
+Bucklin, a kind man, came to me, glancing as if he anticipated
+something important. I explained my business, and he sat down
+beside me; but though I attempted conversation, he had very
+little to say. He inquired if I wished for supper, and on my
+assenting, he left me for a few minutes and then returned, and
+very soon after he led me out to another building. We passed
+through a passage and up a short flight of steps into a very
+handsome room, capable, I understood, of accommodating two
+hundred persons at dinner. It had a small gallery or balcony at
+one end of it, and six windows on either side. It was furnished
+with two rows of tables and chairs, each table large enough for
+ten or twelve persons to dine at. There were three bright lamps
+suspended from the ceiling. At one end of the room the chairs
+and tables had been removed, and several ladies and gentlemen
+were dancing cotillions to the music of a violin, played by an
+amateur in the gallery. At the other end of the room there was a
+doorway leading to the kitchen, and near this my supper was
+laid, very nice <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">[475]</a></span>and tidy. Mr. Bucklin introduced me to Mr.
+Holmes, a gentleman who had lived in the Skaneateles and
+Trumbull experiments; and Mr. Holmes introduced me to Mr.
+Williston, who gave me some of the details of the early days of
+the North American Phalanx, during which he sometimes lived in
+high style, and sometimes was almost starved. He told of the
+tricks which the young members played upon the old members, many
+of whom had left.</p>
+
+<p>"On looking at the dancers I perceived that several of the
+females were dressed in the new costume, which is no more than
+shortening the frock and wearing trowsers the same as men. There
+were three or four young women, and three or four children so
+dressed. I had not thought much of this dress before, but was
+now favorably impressed by it, when I contrasted it with the
+long dresses of some of the dancers. This style is decidedly
+superior, I think, for any kind of active employment. The dress
+seems exceedingly simple. The frocks were worn about the same
+length as the Highland <i>kilt</i>, ending a little above the knee;
+the trowsers were straight, and both were made of plain
+material. Afterward I saw some of the ladies in superior suits
+of this fashion, looking very elegant.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Holmes shewed me to my bed, which was in the top of another
+building. It was a spacious garret with four cots in it, one in
+each corner. There were two windows, one of which appeared to be
+always open, and at that window a young man was sleeping,
+although the weather was very wet. The mattress I had was
+excellent, and I slept well; but the accommodations were rather
+rude, there being no chairs or pegs to hang the clothes upon.
+The young men threw their clothes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">[476]</a></span>upon the floor. There was no
+carpet, but the floor seemed very clean.</p>
+
+<p>"It rained hard all night, and the morning continued wet and
+unpleasant. I rose about seven, and washed in a passage-way
+leading from the sleeping-rooms, where I found water well
+supplied; passed rows of small sleeping-rooms, and went out for
+a stroll. The morning was too unpleasant for walking much, but I
+examined the houses, and found them to be large framed
+buildings, the largest of the two having been but recently
+built. It formed two sides of a square, and had a porch in front
+and on part of the back. It appeared as if the portion of it
+which was complete was but a wing of a more extensive design,
+intended to be carried out at some future time. The oldest
+building reminded me of one of the Rappite buildings in New
+Harmony, excepting that it was built of wood and theirs of
+brick. It formed a parallelogram, two stories high, with large
+garrets at the top. A hall ran nearly the whole length of the
+building, and terminated in a small room which is used as a
+library, and to which is joined the office. Apartments were
+ranged on either side of the hall up stairs. All the rooms
+appeared to be bed-rooms, and were in use. The new building was
+more commodious. There were well furnished sitting-rooms on
+either side of the principal entrance. The dining-hall, which I
+have before mentioned, was in the rear of this. Up stairs the
+rooms were ranged in a similar manner to the old building, and
+appeared to be very comfortable. I was informed that they were
+soon to be heated by steam. All these apartments were rented to
+the members at various prices, according to the relative
+superiority of each room.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">[477]</a></span>"As the bell at the end of the building rang a second time for
+breakfast, I followed some of the members into the room, and on
+entering took my seat at the table nearest the door. I afterward
+learned that this was the vegetarian table, and also that it was
+customary for each person always to occupy the same seat at his
+meals. The tables were well supplied with excellent, wholesome
+food, and I think the majority of the members took tea and
+coffee and ate meat. Young men and women waited upon the tables,
+and seemed active and agreeable. An easy freedom and a
+harmonious feeling seemed to prevail.</p>
+
+<p>"On leaving the room I was introduced to Mr. Sears, who, I
+ascertained, was what they called the 'leading mind.' He was
+rather tall, of a nervous temperament, the sensitive
+predominating, and was easy and affable. On my informing him of
+the object of my visit, he very kindly led me to his office and
+showed me several papers, which gave me every information I
+required. He introduced me to Mr. Renshaw, a gentleman who had
+been in the Ohio Phalanx. Mr. Renshaw was engaged in the
+blacksmith-shop; looked quite a philosopher, so far as form of
+head and length of beard and hair was concerned; but he had a
+little too much of the sanguine in his temperament to be cool at
+all times. He very rapidly asked me the object of my book: what
+good would it do? what was it for? and seemed disposed to knock
+down some imaginary wrong, before he had any clear idea of what
+it was. I explained, and together with Mr. Sears, had a short
+controversy with him, which had a softening tendency, though it
+did not lead to perfect agreement. Mr. Sears contended that
+Community experiments failed because the accounts were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478">[478]</a></span>not
+clearly and faithfully kept; but Mr. Renshaw maintained that
+they all failed for want of means, and that the public
+impression that the members always disagreed was quite
+erroneous. At dinner I found a much larger crowd of persons in
+the room than at breakfast. I was introduced to several members,
+and among them to Mr. French, a gentleman who had once been a
+Universalist preacher. He was very kind, and gave me some
+information relative to the Jefferson County Industrial
+Association.</p>
+
+<p>"I also made the acquaintance of Mr. John Gray, a gentleman who
+had lived five years among the Shakers, and who was still a
+Shaker in appearance. Mr. Gray is an Englishman, as would
+readily be perceived by his peculiar speech; but with his
+English he had gotten a little mixture of the 'down east,' where
+he had lately been living. Mr. Gray was very fluent of speech,
+and what he said to me would almost fill a volume. He spoke
+chiefly of his Shaker experience, and of the time he had spent
+among the Socialists of England. He said it was his intention to
+visit other Communities in the United States, and gain all the
+experience he could among them, and then return to England and
+make it known. He was a dyer by trade (on which account he was
+much valued by the Shakers), and was very useful in taking care
+of swine. He spoke forcibly of the evils of celibacy among the
+Shakers, and of their strict regulations. He preferred living in
+the North American Phalanx, feeling more freedom, and knowing
+that he could go away when he pleased without difficulty. He
+thought the wages too low. Reckoning, for instance, that he
+earned about 90 cts. per day for ten hours labor, he got in cash
+every two weeks three-fourths <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_479" id="Page_479">[479]</a></span>of it, the remaining fourth going
+to the Phalanx as capital. Out of these wages he had to pay
+$1.50 per week for board, and $12 a year rent, besides extras;
+but he had a very snug little room, and lived well. He thought
+single men and women could do better there than married ones;
+but either could do better, so far as making money was the
+object, in the outer world. He decidedly preferred the single
+family and isolated cottage arrangement. I made allowances for
+Mr. Gray's opinions, when I remembered that he had been living
+five years among the Shakers, and but four months at the North
+American, whose regulations about capital and interest he was
+not very clear upon.</p>
+
+<p>"I had a conversation with a lady who had lived two years at
+Hopedale. She was intelligent, but very sanguine; well-spoken
+and agreeable, but had too much enthusiasm. She described to me
+the early days of Hopedale and its present condition. She did
+not like it, but preferred the North American and its more
+unitary arrangements. She thought that the single-cottage system
+was wrong, and that woman would never attain her true position
+in such circumstances. She had a great opinion of woman's
+abilities and capacities for improvement; was sorry that the
+Phalanx had such a bombastic name; had once been very sanguine,
+but was now chastened down; believed that the North American
+could not be called an experiment on Fourier's plan; the
+necessary elements were not there, and never had been, and no
+experiment had ever been attempted with such material as Fourier
+proposed; until that is done, we can not say the system is
+false, etc.</p>
+
+<p>"After supper I had conversation with several persons on Mr.
+Warren's plan of 'Equitable Commerce.' <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_480" id="Page_480">[480]</a></span>Most of them were well
+disposed toward his views of 'individuality,' but not toward his
+'cost principle,' many believing the difficulties of estimating
+the cost of many things not to be overcome; the details in
+carrying out the system would be too trifling and fine-drawn.
+Conversation turned upon the Sabbath. Some thought it would be
+good to have periodical meetings for reading or lecturing, and
+others thought it best to have nothing periodical, but leave
+every thing and every body to act in a natural manner, such as
+eating when you are hungry, drinking when you are thirsty, and
+resting when you are tired; let the child play when it is so
+inclined, and teach it when it demands to be taught. There were
+all kinds of opinions among them regarding society and its
+progress. My Shaker friend thought that society was progressing
+'first-rate' by means of Odd-Fellowship, Freemasonry, benevolent
+associations, railroads, steamboats, and especially all kinds of
+large manufactories, without such little attempts as these of
+the North American to regenerate mankind.</p>
+
+<p>"I might speculate on this strange mixture of minds, but prefer
+that the reader should take the facts and philosophize for
+himself. Here were persons who, for many years, had tried many
+schemes of social re-organization in various parts of the
+country, brought together not from a personal knowledge and
+attraction for each other, but through a common love of the
+social principles, which like a pleasant dream attracted them to
+this, the last surviving of that extensive series of experiments
+which commenced in this country about the year 1843.</p>
+
+<p>"I retired to my cot about ten o'clock, and passed a restless
+night. The weather was warm and wet, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481">[481]</a></span>continued so in the
+morning. Rose at five o'clock and took breakfast with Dr.
+Lazarus and the stage-driver, and at a quarter to six we left
+the Phalanx in their neat little stage.</p>
+
+<p>"During the journey to Keyport the Doctor seemed to be full of
+Association, and made frequent allusions to that state in which
+all things would be right, and man would hold his true position;
+thought it wrong to cut down trees, to clear land, to raise
+corn, to fatten pigs to eat, when, if the forest was left alone,
+we could live on the native deer, which would be much better
+food for man; he would have fruit-trees remain where they are
+found naturally; and he would have many other things done which
+the world would deem crazy nonsense."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen"><i>Macdonald's second visit to the Phalanx.</i></p>
+
+<p>"I visited the North American Phalanx again in July, 1852. The
+visit was an interesting one to me; but I will only refer to the
+changes which have taken place since my last visit.</p>
+
+<p>"They have altered their eating and drinking arrangements, and
+adopted the eating-house system. At the table there is a bill of
+fare, and each individual calls for what he wants; on obtaining
+it the waiter gives him a check, with the price of the article
+marked thereon. After the meal is over, the waiters go round and
+enter the sum marked upon the check which each person has
+received, in a book belonging to that person; the total is added
+up at the end of each month and the payments are made. Each
+person finds his own sugar, which is kept upon the table. Coffee
+is half-a-cent per cup, including milk; bread one cent per
+plate; butter, I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482">[482]</a></span>think, half-a-cent; meat two cents; pie two
+cents; and other things in like proportion. On Mr. Holmes's
+book, the cost of living ran thus: breakfast from one and a-half
+cents to three and a-half cents; dinner four and a-half cents to
+nine cents; supper four and a-half cents to eight cents. In
+addition to this, as all persons use the room alike, each pays
+the same rent, which is thirty-six and a-half cents per week;
+each person also pays a certain portion for the waiting labor,
+and for lighting the room. The young ladies and gentlemen who
+waited on table, as well as the Phalanx Doctor (a gentleman of
+talent and politeness), who from attraction performed the same
+duty, got six and a-quarter cents per hour for their labor.</p>
+
+<p>"The wages of various occupations, agricultural, mechanical and
+professional, vary from six cents to ten cents per hour; the
+latter sum is the maximum. The wages are paid to each individual
+in full every month, and the profits are divided at the end of
+the year. Persons wishing to become members are invited to
+become visitors for thirty days. At the end of that time it is
+sometimes necessary for them to continue another thirty days;
+then they may be admitted as probationers for one year, and if
+they are liked by the members at the end of that time, it is
+decided whether they shall become full members or not.</p>
+
+<p>"They had commenced brick-making, intending to build a mill;
+thought of building at Keyport or Red Bank. Some anticipated a
+loan from Horace Greeley. Their stock was good; some said it was
+at par; one said, at seventy-five per cent. premium. (?) The
+profits were invested in things which they thought would bring
+them the largest interest; they had shares in two <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483">[483]</a></span>steamboats
+running to New York from Keyport and Red Bank.</p>
+
+<p>"Their crops looked well, superior to any in the vicinity. There
+were large fields of corn and potatoes and a fine one of
+tomatoes. The first bushel of the latter article had just been
+sent to the New York market, and was worth eight dollars. There
+was a field of good melons, quite a picture to look upon. Since
+my last visit, there had been an addition made to the large
+building. A man had built the addition at a cost of $800, and
+had put $200 into the Phalanx, making $1,000 worth of stock. He
+lived in the house as his own. There is a neat cottage near the
+large building, which I suppose is also Association property,
+put in by the gentleman who built it and uses it&mdash;a Mr. Manning,
+I believe.</p>
+
+<p>"The wages were all increased a little since my last visit, and
+there seemed to be more satisfaction prevailing, especially with
+the eating-house plan, which I understood had effected a saving
+of about two-thirds in the expenditure; this was especially the
+case in the article of sugar.</p>
+
+<p>"The stage group was abolished; and the stage sold. It called
+there, however, regularly with the mails and passengers as
+before.</p>
+
+<p>"I gleaned the following: The Phalanx property could support one
+thousand people, yet they can not get them, and they have not
+accommodations for such a number. Some doubt the advantage of
+taking more members until they are richer. All say they are
+doing well; yet some admit that individually they could do
+better, or that an individual with that property could have done
+better than they have done. They hire about sixteen <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484">[484]</a></span>Dutch
+laborers, and say they are better treated than they would be
+elsewhere. These board in a room beneath the Phalanx
+dining-room, and lodge in various out-places around. They had an
+addition of six Frenchmen to their numbers, said to be exiles;
+these persons were industrious and well liked.</p>
+
+<p>"In a conversation with one of the discontented members, who had
+been there five years, he said that after an existence of nine
+years, there were fewer members than at the commencement; there
+was something wrong in the system they were practicing; and if
+that was Association, then Association was wrong; thinks there
+are some persons who try to crush and oust those who differ from
+them in opinion, or who wish to change the system so as to
+increase their number.</p>
+
+<p>"There was more than enough work for all to do, mechanics
+especially. Carpenters were in demand. They had to hire the
+latter at $1.50 per day. They don't get any to join them. Some
+thought the wages too low; yet the cost of living was not much
+over $2. per week, including washing and all else but clothing
+and luxuries.</p>
+
+<p>"My acquaintance, John Gray, had been away from the Phalanx for
+some months, but had returned, having found that he could not
+live in 'old society' again; sooner than that, he would return
+to the Shakers. He spoke much more favorably of the North
+American than before, and was particularly pleased with the
+eating arrangement; he wanted to see the individual system
+carried out still further among them; for in proportion as they
+adopted that, they were made free and happy; but in proportion
+as they progressed toward Communism, the result was the reverse.
+After alluding to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_485" id="Page_485">[485]</a></span>their many little difficulties, he pointed
+out so many advantages, that they seemed to counter-balance all
+the evils spoken of by himself and others. Criticism, he said,
+was the most potent regulator and governor.</p>
+
+<p>"The charges were increased at the Phalanx. For five meals and
+very inferior sleeping accommodations twice, I paid $1.75. The
+Phalanx had paid five per cent. dividend on stock, for the past
+year."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen"><i>Macdonald's third visit to the Phalanx.</i></p>
+
+<p>"In the fall of 1853 I made another pilgrimage to the North
+American. On my journey from Red Bank I had for my
+fellow-passengers, the well-known Albert Brisbane and a young
+man named Davidson. The ride was diversified by interesting
+debates upon Spiritualism and Association.</p>
+
+<p>"At the Phalanx I was pleased with the appearance of things
+during this visit. I saw the same faces, and felt assured they
+were 'sticking to it.' I also fell in with some strangers who
+had lately been attracted there. I was informed by one or two of
+the members that the articles which had been published about the
+Phalanx in the New York <i>Herald</i>, had done them good. It made
+the place known, and caused many strangers to visit them; among
+whom were some capitalists who offered to lend their aid; a Dr.
+Parmelee was named as one of these. The articles also did good
+in criticising their peculiarities, letting them know what the
+'world' thought of them, and shaking them up, like wind upon a
+stagnant pond.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Sears informed me that they had had a freshet in August,
+which destroyed a large quantity of their forage; and the dams
+were broken down, causing a loss <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_486" id="Page_486">[486]</a></span>of two or three hundred
+dollars. Their peach-orchard had failed, causing a deficiency of
+nearly two-thirds the usual amount of peaches. He was of the
+opinion that in five years they would be able to show something
+more tangible to the world. He thought that in about that time
+the experiment would have completed a marked phase in its
+history, and become more worthy of notice.</p>
+
+<p>"In a conversation with Mr. French I learned that he had been
+away from the Phalanx for three weeks, seeing his friends in the
+country; but it made him happy to return; he felt he could not
+live elsewhere. He said their grand object was to provide a
+fitting education for their children. They had been neglected,
+though often thought of; and ere long something important would
+be done for them, if things turned out as he hoped. Last year,
+for the first time since their commencement, they declared a
+dividend to labor; this year they anticipated more, but the
+accidents would probably reduce it. Their total debts were
+$18,000, but the value of the place was $55,000. They bought the
+land at $20 per acre, and it had increased in value, not so much
+by their improvements as by the rise of land all through that
+country. They were not troubled about their debts; it was an
+advantage to them to let them remain; they could pay them at any
+time if necessary."</p></div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_487" id="Page_487">[487]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</h3>
+
+<h4>END OF THE NORTH AMERICAN PHALANX.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>The <i>Harbinger</i> and Macdonald both fail us in our search for the
+history of the last days of the North American; and having asked in
+vain for an authentic account of its failure from one at least of its
+leaders, we must content ourselves with such scraps of information on
+this interesting catastrophe, as we have picked up here and there in
+various publications. And first we will bring to view one or two facts
+which preceded the failure, and apparently led to it.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1853&mdash;the tenth year of the Phalanx&mdash;there was a
+split and secession, resulting in the formation of another
+Association, called the Raritan Bay Union, at Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
+A correspondent of the New York <i>Herald</i>, who visited this new Union
+in June, 1853, speaks of its founders and foundations as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The subscriptions already amount to over forty thousand
+dollars. Among the names of the stockholders I notice that of
+Mrs. Tyndale, formerly an extensive crockery dealer in Chestnut
+street, Philadelphia, who carried on the business in her own
+name until she accumulated a handsome fortune, and then
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_488" id="Page_488">[488]</a></span>relinquished it to her son and son-in-law; also Marcus Spring,
+commission merchant of New York; Rev. William Henry Channing of
+Rochester, and Clement O. Read, late superintendent of the large
+wash-house in Mott street, New York.</p>
+
+<p>"The President of the corporation, George B. Arnold Esq., was
+last year President of the North American Phalanx. Many years
+ago he was a minister at large in the city of New York. He
+afterward removed to Illinois, where he established an extensive
+nursery, working with his own hands at the business, which he
+carried on successfully. He is an original thinker, a practical
+man, of clear, strong common sense.</p>
+
+<p>"The founders of the Union believe that many branches of
+business may be carried on most advantageously here, and that
+the best class of mechanics will soon find their interest and
+happiness promoted by joining them. Extensive shops will be
+erected, and either carried on directly by the corporation, or
+leased, with sufficient steam-power, to companies of its own
+members. The different kinds of business will be kept separate,
+and every tub left to stand upon its own bottom. They aim at
+combination, not confusion. Every man will have pay for what he
+does, and no man is to be paid for doing nothing. Whether they
+will drag the drones out, if they find any, and kill them as the
+bees do in autumn, or whether their ferryman will be directed to
+take them out in his boat and tip them into the bay, or what
+will be done with them, I can not say. But the creed of this new
+Community seems to be, that 'Labor is praise.' In religious
+matters the utmost freedom exists, and every man is left to
+follow the dictates of his own conscience."</p></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_489" id="Page_489">[489]</a></span>Macdonald briefly mentions this Raritan Bay Association, and
+characterizes it as "a joint-stock concern, that undertook to hold an
+intermediate position between the North American and ordinary
+society;" meaning, we suppose, that it was less communistic than the
+Phalanx. He furnishes also a copy of its constitution, the preamble of
+which declares that its object is to establish "various branches of
+agriculture and mechanics, whereby industry, education and social life
+may, in principle and practice, be arranged in conformity to the
+Christian religion, and where all ties, conjugal, parental, filial,
+fraternal and communal, which are sanctioned by the will of God, the
+laws of nature, and the highest experience of mankind, may be purified
+and perfected; and where the advantages of co-operation may be
+secured, and the evils of competition avoided, by such methods of
+joint-stock Association as shall commend themselves to enlightened
+conscience and common sense."</p>
+
+<p>The board of officers whose names are attached to this constitution
+were,</p>
+
+<p><i>President</i>, George B. Arnold; <i>Directors</i>, Clement O. Read, Marcus
+Spring, George B. Arnold, Joseph L. Pennock, Sarah Tyndale;
+<i>Treasurer</i>, Clement O. Read; <i>Secretary</i>, Angelina G. Weld.</p>
+
+<p>It is evident that this offshoot drew away a portion of the members
+and stockholders of the North American. It amounted to little as an
+Association, and disappeared with the rest of its kindred; but its
+secession certainly weakened the parent Phalanx.</p>
+
+<p>During the summer after this secession, the North American appears to
+have had an acrimonious <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_490" id="Page_490">[490]</a></span>controversy about religion with somebody,
+inside or outside, the nature of which we can only guess from the
+following mysterious hints in a long article written by Mr. Sears in
+the fall of 1853, on behalf of the Association, and published in the
+New York <i>Tribune</i> under the caption, "<i>Religion in the North American
+Phalanx</i>." Mr. Sears said:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"I am incited to these remarks by the recent imposition of a
+missionary effort among us, and by a letter respecting it,
+indicating the failure of a cherished scheme, in a spirit which
+shows that the old sanctions only are wanting, to kindle the old
+fires. And, lest our silence be further misconstrued, and we
+subjected to further discourtesy, I am induced to say a few
+words in defense.</p>
+
+<p>"Neither our quiet nor our good character have quite sufficed to
+protect us from the customary officiousness of busy sectaries,
+who professed not to understand how a people could associate,
+how a commonwealth could exist, without adopting some sectarian
+profession of religious faith, some partisan form of religious
+observance.</p>
+
+<p>"In vain we urged that our institutions were religious; that
+here, before their eyes, was made real and practical in daily
+life and established as a real societary feature, that
+fraternity which the church in every form has held as its ideal;
+that here the Christian rule of life is made possible in the
+only way that it can be made possible, viz., through social
+guarantees which confirm the just claims of every member. In
+vain we showed that in the matter of private faith we did not
+propose to interfere, but in this respect held the same relation
+of a body to its constituent members, that the State of New
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_491" id="Page_491">[491]</a></span>Jersey or any other commonwealth does to its citizens; that
+tolerance was our only proper course, and must continue to be;
+that the professors of any name could organize a society and
+have a fellowship of the same religious communion, if they
+chose; but that our effort was to seek out the divine
+mathematics of societary relations, and to determine a formula
+that would be of universal application; and that to allow our
+organization to be taken possession of as an agency for pushing
+private constructions of doctrine, would be an impossible
+descent for us; that any who choose could make such profession
+and have such observances as they liked, and by arrangement have
+equal use of our public rooms. Still from time to time various
+parties have urged their private views upon us, and whenever
+they wished, have had, by arrangement, the use of room and such
+audience as they could attract. But never until the past summer
+has there been such a persistent effort to press upon us private
+observance as to excite much attention; and for the first time
+in our history there arose, through a reprehensible effort, a
+public discussion of religious dogmas; and, to our regret and
+annoyance, the usual sectarian uncharitableness was exhibited
+and has since been expressed to us."</p></div>
+
+<p>A further glimpse at the difficulty alluded to, is afforded by the
+following paragraph, which appeared in print about the same time,
+written by Eleazer Parmlee, a partizan of the other side:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"I received the inclosed letter from Marcus Spring, who
+requested me to co-operate with himself and others (at the two
+Phalanxes) in sustaining a preacher; as he insists 'that the
+religious and moral elements in man <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_492" id="Page_492">[492]</a></span>should be cultivated for
+the true success of Association.' I shall write to Mr. Spring
+that it is not my opinion that religious cultivation or teaching
+will be allowed, certainly at one of the Associations; and I
+would advise all persons who have any respect or regard for the
+religion of the Bible, and who do not wish to have their
+feelings outraged by a total want of common courtesy, to keep
+entirely away, at least from the North American."</p></div>
+
+<p>It seems probable that this controversy, whatever it may have been,
+was complicated with the secession movement in the spring before. We
+notice that Marcus Spring, who was originally a prominent stockholder
+in the North American, and who went over, as we have seen, to the
+rival Phalanx at Perth Amboy, was mixed up with this controversy, and
+apparently instigated the "missionary imposition" of which Mr. Sears
+complains. It may be reasonably conjectured that this theological
+quarrel led to the ultimate withdrawal of stock which brought the
+Association to its end.</p>
+
+<p>In September 1853, after the secession and after the quarrel about
+religion, the following gloomy picture of the Phalanx was sent abroad
+in the columns of the New York <i>Tribune</i>, the old champion of
+Socialism in general and of the North American in particular. Whether
+its representations were true or not, it must have had a very
+depressing effect on the Association, and doubtless helped to realize
+its own forebodings:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[Correspondence of the New York <i>Tribune</i>.]</p>
+
+<p>"I remained nine days at the North American Phalanx. They appear
+to be on a safe material basis. Good wages are paid the
+laborers, and both sexes are on an equality in every respect;
+the younger females <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_493" id="Page_493">[493]</a></span>wear bloomers; are beautiful and apparently
+refined; but both sexes grow up in ignorance, and seem to have
+but little desire for mental progression. Their mode of life,
+however, is a decided improvement on the old one: the land
+appears to be well cultivated and very productive; the majority
+of the men, and some of the women, are hard workers; the wages
+of labor and profits on capital are constantly increasing and
+likely to increase; probably in a few years more the stock will
+be as good an investment as any other stock, and the wages of
+labor much better than elsewhere. The standard of agricultural
+and mechanical labor is now nine cents per hour; kitchen-work,
+waiting, etc., about the same. Their arrangements for
+economizing domestic labor seem very efficient; but they have no
+sewing-machine and no store that amounts to any thing. If a hat
+of any kind is wanted, they have to go to Red Bank for it. They
+appear to make no effort to redeem their stock, which is now
+mostly in the hands of non-residents. The few who do save any
+thing, I understand, usually prefer something that 'pays'
+better. Most of them are decent sort of people, have few bad
+qualities and not many good ones, but they are evidently not
+working for an idea. They make no effort to extend their
+principles, and do not build, as a general thing, unless a
+person wanting to join builds for himself. Under such
+circumstances the progress of the movement must be necessarily
+slow, if even it progress at all. Latterly the number of members
+and probationers has decreased. They find it necessary to employ
+hired laborers to develop the resources of the land.</p>
+
+<p>"So far as regards the material aspect, however, they get along
+tolerably well. But I regard the mechanism <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_494" id="Page_494">[494]</a></span>merely as a means
+for general progress&mdash;a basis for a superstructure of unlimited
+mental and spiritual development. They seem to regard it as the
+end. This absence of facilities for education and mental
+improvement is astonishing, in a Community enjoying so many of
+the advantages of co-operation. Those engaged in nurseries
+should have some acquaintance with physiology and hygiene; but
+such things are scarcely dreamed of as yet among any of the
+members, except two or three; or if so, they keep very quiet
+about it. A considerable portion of their hard earnings ends in
+smoke and spittoons, or some other form of mere animal
+gratification, to which they are in a measure compelled to
+resort, in the absence of any rational mode of applying their
+small amount of leisure. Their reading-room is supplied by two
+<i>New York Tribunes</i>, a <i>Nauvoo Tribune</i>, and two or three
+worthless local papers. The library consists of between three
+and four hundred volumes, not many of them progressive or the
+reverse. I believe there is a sort of a school, but should think
+they don't teach much there worth knowing, if results are to be
+the criterion. Cigar smoking is bad enough in men, but
+particularly objectionable in twelve-year olds. A number of
+papers are taken by individuals, but those that most need them
+don't have much chance at them; besides, it is the end of
+associate life to economise by co-operation in this as in other
+matters. Some of them make miserable apologies for neglect of
+these matters, on the score of want of leisure, means, etc., but
+all amounts to nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"The Phalanx people, having deferred improving the higher
+faculties of themselves and children until their lower wants are
+supplied, which can never be, are heavily in debt; and so far as
+any effect on the outer world is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_495" id="Page_495">[495]</a></span>concerned, the North American
+Phalanx is a total failure. No movement based on a mere
+gratification of the animal appetites can succeed in extending
+itself. There must be intellectual and spiritual life and
+progress; matter can not move itself."</p></div>
+
+<p>A year later the Phalanx suffered a heavy loss by fire, which was
+reported in the <i>Tribune</i>, September 13, 1854, as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">Destruction of the Mills of the North American Phalanx.</p>
+
+<p>"About six and a-half o'clock Sunday morning, a fire broke out
+in the extensive mills of the North American Phalanx, located in
+Monmouth County, New Jersey. The fire was first discovered near
+the center of the main edifice, and had at that time gained
+great headway. It is supposed to have originated in the eastern
+portion of the building, and a strong easterly wind prevailing
+at the time, the flames were carried toward the center and
+western part of the edifice. This was a wooden building about
+one hundred feet square, three stories high, with a thirty
+horse-power steam-engine in the basement, and two run of
+burr-stones and superior machinery for the manufacture of flour,
+meal, hominy and samp, on the floors above. Adjoining the mill
+on the north was the general business office, containing the
+account books of the Association, the most valuable of which
+were saved by Mr. Sears at the risk of his life. Adjoining the
+office was the saw-mill, blacksmith-shop, tin-shop, etc., with
+valuable machinery, driven by the engine, all of which was
+destroyed. About two thousand bushels of wheat and corn were
+stored in the mill directly over the engine, which, in falling,
+covered it so as to preserve the machinery from the fire. There
+was a large quantity <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_496" id="Page_496">[496]</a></span>of hominy and flour and feed destroyed
+with the mill. The carpenters' shop, a little south of the grain
+mill, was saved by great exertion of all the members, men and
+women. All else in that vicinity is a smouldering mass. Nothing
+was insured but the stock, valued at $3,000, for two-thirds that
+amount. The loss is from $7,000 to $10,000."</p></div>
+
+<p>Alcander Longley, at present the editor of a Communist paper, was a
+member of the North American, and should be good authority on its
+history. He connects this fire very closely with the breaking-up of
+the Phalanx. In a criticism of one of Brisbane's late socialistic
+schemes, he says:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"A little reminiscence just here. We were a member of the North
+American Phalanx. A fire burned our mills and shops one unlucky
+night. We had plenty of land left and plenty else to do. But we
+called the 'money bags' [stockholders] together for more stock
+to rebuild with. Instead of subscribing more, they dissolved the
+concern, because it didn't pay enough dividend! And the honest
+resident working members were scattered and driven from the home
+they had labored so hard and long for years to make. Would Mr.
+Brisbane repeat such a farce?"</p></div>
+
+<p>Yet it appears that the crippled Phalanx lingered another year; for we
+find the following in the editorial correspondence of <i>Life
+Illustrated</i> for August 1855:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">Last Picture of the North American.</p>
+
+<p>"After supper (the hour set apart for which is from five to six
+o'clock) the lawn, gravel walks and little lake in front of the
+Phalanstery, present an animated and charming scene. We look out
+upon it from our window. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_497" id="Page_497">[497]</a></span>Nearly the whole population of the
+place is out of doors. Happy papas and mammas draw their baby
+wagons, with their precious freight of smiling innocence, along
+the wide walks; groups of little girls and boys frolic in the
+clover under the big walnut-trees by the side of the pond; some
+older children and young ladies are out on the water in their
+light canoes, which they row with the dexterity of sailors; men
+and women are standing here and there in groups engaged in
+conversation, while others are reclining on the soft grass; and
+several young ladies in their picturesque working and walking
+costume&mdash;a short dress or tunic coming to the knees, and loose
+pantaloons&mdash;are strolling down the road toward the shaded avenue
+which leads to the highway.</p>
+
+<p>"There seems to be a large measure of quiet happiness here; but
+the place is now by no means a gay one. If we observe closely we
+see a shadow of anxiety on most countenances. The future is no
+longer assured. Henceforth it must be 'each for himself,' in
+isolation and antagonism. Some of these people have been
+clamorous for a dissolution of the Association, which they
+assert has, so far as they are concerned at least, proved a
+failure; but some of them, we have fancied, now look forward
+with more fear than hope to the day which shall sunder the last
+material ties which bind them to their associates in this
+movement."</p></div>
+
+<p>The following from the <i>Social Revolutionist</i>, January, 1856, was
+written apparently in the last moments of the Phalanx.</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[Alfred Cridge's Diagnosis in Articulo Mortis.]</p>
+
+<p>"The North American Phalanx has decided to dissolve. When I
+visited it two years since it seemed to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_498" id="Page_498">[498]</a></span>be managed by practical
+men, and was in many respects thriving. The domain was well
+cultivated, labor well paid, and the domestic department well
+organized. With the exception of the single men's apartments
+being overcrowded, comfort reigned supreme. The following were
+some of the defects:</p>
+
+<p>"1. The capital was nearly all owned by non-residents, who
+invested it, however, without expectation of profit, as the
+stock was always below par, yielding at that time but 4-1/2 per
+cent. of interest, which was a higher rate than that formerly
+allowed. Probably the majority of the Community were hard
+workers, many of them to the extent of neglecting mental
+culture. I was informed that they generally lived from hand to
+mouth, saving nothing, though living was cheap, rent not high,
+and the par rate of wages ninety cents for ten hours, but
+varying from sixty cents to $1.20, according to skill,
+efficiency, unpleasantness, etc. Nearly all those who did save,
+invested in more profitable stock, leaving absentees to keep up
+an Association in which they had no particular interest. As the
+generality of those on the ground gave no tangible indications
+of any particular interest in the movement, it is no matter of
+surprise that, notwithstanding the zeal of a few disinterested
+philanthropists engaged in it, the institution failed to meet
+the sanguine expectations of its projectors.</p>
+
+<p>"2. They neglected the intellectual and &aelig;sthetic element. Some
+residents there attributed the failure of the Brook Farm
+Association to an undue predominance of these, and so ran into
+the opposite error. A well-known engraver in Philadelphia wished
+to reside at the Phalanx and practice his profession; but no; he
+must work on the farm; if allowed to join, he would not be
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_499" id="Page_499">[499]</a></span>permitted to follow his attractions. So he did not come.</p>
+
+<p>"3. The immediate causes of the dissolution of both Associations
+were disastrous fires, and no way attributable to the principles
+on which they were based.</p>
+
+<p>"4. The formation of Victor Considerant's colony in Texas
+probably hastened the dissolution of the Phalanx, as many of the
+members preferred establishing themselves in a more genial
+latitude, to working hard one year or two for nothing, which
+they must have done, to regain the loss of $20,000 by fire, to
+say nothing of the indirect loss occasioned by the want of the
+buildings.</p>
+
+<p>"Thus endeth the North American Phalanx! <i>Requiescat in pace!</i>
+Where is the Ph&oelig;nix Association that is to arise from its
+ashes?</p>
+
+<p>"P.S. Since the above was written, the domain of the North
+American Phalanx has been sold."</p></div>
+
+<p>N.C. Meeker, who wrote those enthusiastic letters from the Trumbull
+Phalanx (now one of the editors of the <i>Tribune</i>), is the author of
+the following picturesque account of the North American, which we will
+call its</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen"><i>Post Mortem and Requiem, by an old Fourierist.</i></p>
+
+<p class="cen">[From the New York <i>Tribune</i> of November 3, 1866.]</p>
+
+<p>"Once in about every generation, attention is called to our
+social system. Many evils seem to grow from it. A class of men
+peculiarly organized, unite to condemn the whole structure. If
+public affairs are tranquil, they attempt to found a new system.
+So repeatedly and for so many ages has this been done, that it
+must be said that the effort arises from an aspiration. The
+object is not destructive, but beneficent. Twenty-five years ago
+an attempt was made in most of the Northern States. There are
+signs that another is about to be made. To <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_500" id="Page_500">[500]</a></span>those who are
+interested, a history of life in a Phalanx will be instructive.
+It is singular that none of the many thousand Fourierists have
+related their experience. (!) Recently I visited the old grounds
+of the North American Phalanx. Additional information is brought
+from a similar institution [the Trumbull] in a Western State.
+Light will be thrown on the problem; it will not solve it.</p>
+
+<p>"Four miles from Red Bank, Monmouth County, New Jersey, six
+hundred acres of land were selected about twenty years ago, for
+a Phalanx on the plan of Fourier. The founders lived in New
+York, Albany and other places. The location was fortunate, the
+soil naturally good, the scenery pleasing and the air healthful.
+It would have been better to have been near a shipping-port. The
+road from Red Bank was heavy sand.</p>
+
+<p>"First, a large building was erected for families; afterward, at
+a short distance, a spacious mansion was built, three stories
+high, with a front of one hundred and fifty feet, and a wing of
+one hundred and fifty feet. It is still standing in good repair,
+and is about to be used for a school. The rooms are of large
+size and well finished, the main hall spacious, airy, light and
+elegant. Grape-vines were trained by the side of the building,
+flowers were cultivated, and the adjoining ground was planted
+with shade-trees. Two orchards of every variety of choice fruit
+(one of forty acres) were planted, and small fruits and all
+kinds of vegetables were raised on a large scale. The Society
+were the first to grow okra or gumbo for the New York market,
+and those still living there continue its cultivation and
+control supplies. A durable stream ran near by; on its banks
+were pleasant walks, which are unchanged, shaded by chestnut
+and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_501" id="Page_501">[501]</a></span>walnut trees. On this stream they built a first-class
+grist-mill. Not only did it do good work, but they established
+the manufacture of hominy and other products which gave them a
+valued reputation, and the profits of this mill nearly earned
+their bread.</p>
+
+<p>"It was necessary to make the soil highly productive, and many
+German and other laborers were employed. The number of members
+was about one hundred, and visitors were constant. Of all the
+Associations, this was the best, and on it were fixed the hopes
+of the reformers. The chief pursuit was agriculture. Education
+was considered important, and they had good teachers and
+schools. Many young persons owed to the Phalanx an education
+which secured them honorable and profitable situations.</p>
+
+<p>"The society was select, and it was highly enjoyed. To this day
+do members, and particularly women, look back to that period as
+the happiest in their lives. Young people have few proper wishes
+which were not gratified. They seemed enclosed within walls
+which beat back the storms of life. They were surrounded by
+whatever was useful, innocent and beautiful. Neighborhood
+quarrels were unknown, nor was there trouble among children.
+There were a few white-eyed women who liked to repeat stories,
+but they soon sunk to their true value.</p>
+
+<p>"After they had lived this life fourteen years,<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> their mill
+burned down. Mr. Greeley offered to lend them <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_502" id="Page_502">[502]</a></span>$12,000 to
+rebuild it. They were divided on the subject of location. Some
+wanted to build at Red Bank, to save hauling. They could not
+agree. But there was another subject on which they did agree.
+Some suggested that they had better not build at all! that they
+had better dissolve! The question was put, and to every one's
+surprise, decided that they would dissolve. Accordingly the
+property was sold, and it brought sixty-six cents on a dollar.
+In a manner the sale was forced. Previously the stockholders had
+been receiving yearly dividends, and they lost little.</p>
+
+<p>"While the young had been so happy, and while the women, with
+some exceptions, enjoyed society, with scarcely a cause for
+disquiet, fathers had been considering the future prospects of
+those they loved. The pay for their work was out of the profits,
+and on a joint-stock principle. Work was credited in hours, and
+on striking a dividend, one hour had produced a certain sum. A
+foreman, a skillful man, had an additional reward. It was five
+cents a day. One of the chief foremen told me that after working
+all day with the Germans, and working hard, so that there would
+be no delay he had to arrange what each was to do in the
+morning. Often he would be awakened by falling rain. He would
+long be sleepless in re-arranging his plans. A skillful teacher
+got an additional five cents. All this was in accordance with
+democratic principles. I was told that the average wages did not
+exceed twenty cents a day. You see capital drew a certain share
+which labor had to pay. But this was of no consequence,
+providing the institution was perpetual. There they could live
+and die. Some, however, ran in debt each year. With large
+families and small wages, they could <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_503" id="Page_503">[503]</a></span>not hold their own. These
+men had long been uneasy.</p>
+
+<p>"There was a public table where all meals were eaten. At first
+there was a lack of conveniences, and there was much hard work.
+Mothers sent their children to school, and became cooks and
+chamber-maids. The most energetic lady took charge of the
+washing group. This meant she had to work hardest. Some of the
+best women, though filled with enthusiasm for the cause, broke
+down with hard work. Afterward there were proper conveniences;
+but they did not prevent the purchase of hair-dye. The idea that
+woman in Association was to be relieved of many cares, was not
+realized.</p>
+
+<p>"On some occasions, perhaps for reasons known at the time, there
+was a scarcity of victuals. One morning all they had to eat was
+buckwheat cakes and water. I think they must have had salt. In
+another Phalanx, one breakfast was mush. Every member felt
+ashamed.</p>
+
+<p>"The combined order had been strongly recommended for its
+economies. All articles were to be purchased at wholesale; food
+would be cheaper; and cooking when done for many by a few, would
+cost little. In practice there were developments not looked for.
+The men were not at all alike. Some so contrived their work as
+not to be distant at meal-time. They always heard the first
+ringing of the bell. In the preparation of food, naturally,
+there will be small quantities which are choice. In families
+these are thought much of, and are dealt out by a mother's good
+hands. They come last. But here, in the New Jerusalem, those who
+were ready to eat, seized upon such the first thing. If they
+could get enough of it, they would eat nothing else.</p>
+
+<p>"You know that in all kinds of business there must <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_504" id="Page_504">[504]</a></span>be men to
+see that nothing is neglected. On a farm teams must be fed and
+watered, cattle driven up or out, and bars or gates closed. They
+who did these things were likely to come to their meals late.
+They were sweaty and dirty, their feet dragged heavy. First they
+must wash. On sitting down they had to rest a little. Naturally
+they would look around. At such times one's wife watches him. At
+a glance she can see a cloud pass across his face. He need not
+speak to tell her his thoughts. She can read him better than a
+Bible in large type. In one Phalanx where I was acquainted, the
+public table was thrown up in disgust, like a pack of unlucky
+cards.</p>
+
+<p>"But our North Americans were determined. To give to all as good
+food as the early birds were getting, it was necessary to
+provide large quantities. When this was done, living became very
+expensive and the economies of Association disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>"They had to take another step. They established an eating-house
+on what is called the European plan. The plainest and the
+choicest food was provided. Whatever one might desire he could
+have. His meal might cost him ten cents or five dollars. When he
+finished eating he received a counter or ticket, and went to the
+office and settled. He handed over his ticket, and the amount
+printed on it was charged to him. For instance, a man has the
+following family: first, wifey, and then, George, Emily, Mary,
+Ralph and Rosa. They sit at a table by themselves, unless wifey
+is in the kitchen, with a red face, baking buckwheat cakes with
+all her might. They select their breakfast&mdash;a bill of fare is
+printed every day&mdash;and they have ham and eggs, fifteen cents;
+sausage, ten cents; cakes, fifteen cents; fish, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_505" id="Page_505">[505]</a></span>ten cents; and
+a cup of coffee and six glasses of water, five cents; total,
+fifty-five cents, which is charged, and they go about their
+business. If wifey had been to work, she would eat afterward,
+and though she too would have to pay, she was credited with
+cake-baking. One should be so charitable as to suppose that she
+earned enough to pay for the meal that she ate sitting sideways.
+To keep these accounts, a book-keeper was required all day. One
+would think this a curious way; but it was the only one by which
+they could choke off the birds of prey. One would think, too,
+that Rosa, Mary and Co., might have helped get breakfast; but
+the plan was to get rid of drudgery.</p>
+
+<p>"Again, there was another class. They were sociable and amiable
+men. Everybody liked to hear them talk, and chiefly they secured
+admission for these qualities. Unfortunately they did not bring
+much with them. All through life they had been unlucky. There
+was what was called the Council of Industry, which discussed and
+decided all plans and varieties of work. With them originated
+every new enterprise. If a man wanted an order for goods at a
+store, they granted or refused it. Some of these amiable men
+would be elected members; it was easy for them to get office,
+and they greatly directed in all industrial operations. At the
+same time those really practical would attempt to counteract
+these men; but they could not talk well, though they tried hard.
+I have never seen men desire more to be eloquent than they;
+their most powerful appeals were when they blushed with silent
+indignation. But there was one thing they could do well, and
+that was to grumble while at work. They could make an impression
+then. Fancy the result.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_506" id="Page_506">[506]</a></span>"Lastly: the rooms where families lived adjoined each other, or
+were divided by long halls. Young men do not always go to bed
+early. Perhaps they would be out late sparking, and they
+returned to their rooms before morning. A man was apt to call to
+mind the words of the country mouse lamenting that he had left
+his hollow tree. Sometimes one had a few words to say to his
+wife when he was not in good humor on account of bad digestion.
+When some one overheard him, they would think of her delicate
+blooming face, and her ear-rings and finger-rings, and wonder,
+but keep silent; while others thought that they had a good thing
+to tell of. But let no one be troubled. These two will cling to
+each other, and nothing but death can separate them. He will
+bear these things a long time, winking with both eyes; but at
+last he thinks that they should have a little more room, and she
+heartily agrees.</p>
+
+<p>"Fourteen years make a long period. At last they learned that it
+was easy enough to get lazy men, but practical and thorough
+business men were scarce. Five cents a day extra was not
+sufficient to secure them. A promising, ambitious young man
+growing up among them, did not see great inducements. He heard
+of the world; men made money there. His curiosity was great. One
+can see that the Association was likely to be childless.</p>
+
+<p>"Learning these things which Fourier had not set down, their
+mill took fire. Still they were out of debt. They were doing
+well. The soil had been brought to a high state of cultivation.
+Of the fifteen or twenty Associations through the country, their
+situation and advantages were decidedly superior. I inquired of
+the old members remaining on the ground, and who bought <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_507" id="Page_507">[507]</a></span>the
+property and are doing well, the reason for their failure. They
+admit there was no good reason to prevent their going on, except
+the disposition. But Fourier did not recommend starting with
+less than eighteen hundred. When I asked them what would have
+been the result if they had had this number, they said they
+would have broken up in less than two years. Generally men are
+not prepared. Association is for the future.</p>
+
+<p>"I found one still sanguine. He believes there are now men
+enough afloat, successfully to establish an Association. They
+should quietly commence in a town. There should be means for
+doing work cheaply by machinery. A few hands can wash and iron
+for several hundred in the same manner as it is done in our
+public institutions. Baking, cooking and sewing can be done in
+the same way. There is no disputing the fact that these means
+did not exist twenty years ago. Gradually family after family
+could be brought together. In time a whole town would be
+captured.</p>
+
+<p>"The plausible and the easy again arise in this age. Let no one
+mistake a mirage for a real image. Disaster will attend any
+attempt at social reform, if the marriage relation is even
+suspected to be rendered less happy. The family is a rock
+against which all objects not only will dash in vain, but they
+will fall shivered at its base.</p>
+
+<p class="right">"N.C.M."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>But even marriage and family, rocks though they are, have to yield to
+earthquakes: and Fourierism, in which Meeker delighted, was one of the
+upheavals that have unsettled them. They will have to be
+reconstructed.</p>
+
+<p>The latest visitor to the remains of the North American whose
+observations have fallen under our notice, is Mr. E.H. Hamilton, a
+leading member of the Oneida <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_508" id="Page_508">[508]</a></span>Community. His letter in the <i>Circular</i>
+of April 13, 1868, will be a fitting conclusion to this account; as
+well for the new peep it gives us into the causes of failure, as for
+its appropriate reflections.</p>
+
+
+<div class="block">
+<p class="cen">Why the North American Phalanx failed.</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<i>New York, March 31, 1868.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Business called me a short time ago to visit the domain once
+occupied by the North American Phalanx. The gentleman whom I
+wished to see, resided in a part of the old mansion, once warm
+and lively with the daily activities and bright anticipations of
+enthusiastic Associationists. The closed windows and silent
+halls told of failure and disappointment. When individuals or a
+Community push out of the common channel, and with great
+self-sacrifice seek after a better life, their failure is as
+disheartening as their success would have been cheering. Why did
+they fail?</p>
+
+<p>"The following story from an old member and eye-witness whom I
+chanced to meet in the neighboring village, impressed me, and
+was so suggestive that I entered it in my note-book. After
+inquiring about the Oneida Community, he told his tale almost
+word for word, as follows:</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;My interest in Association turns entirely on its relations
+to industry. In our attempt, a number of persons came together
+possessed of small means and limited ideas. After such a company
+has struggled on a few years as we did, resolutely contending
+with difficulties, a vista will open, light will break in upon
+them, and they will see a pathway opening. So it was with us. We
+prospered in finances. Our main business grew better; but the
+mill with which it was connected grew <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_509" id="Page_509">[509]</a></span>poorer, till the need of
+a new building was fairly before us. One of our members offered
+to advance the money to erect a new mill. A stream was surveyed,
+a site selected. One of our neighbors whose land we wanted to
+flow, held off for a bonus. This provoked us and we dropped the
+project for the time. At this juncture it occurred to some of us
+to put up a steam-mill at Red Bank. This was the vista that
+opened to us. Here we would be in water-communication with New
+York city. Some $2,000 a year would be saved in teaming. This
+steam-mill would furnish power for other industries. Our
+mechanics would follow, and the mansion at Red Bank become the
+center of the Association, and finally the center of the town.
+Our secretary was absent during this discussion. I was fearful
+he would not approve of the project, and told some of our
+members so. On his return we laid the plan before him, and he
+said no. This killed the Phalanx. A number of us were
+dissatisfied with this decision, and thirty left in a body to
+start another movement, which broke the back of the Association.
+The secretary was one of our most enthusiastic members and a man
+of good judgment; but he let his fears govern him in this
+matter. I believe he sees his mistake now. The organization
+lingered along two years, when the old mill took fire and burned
+down; and it became necessary to close up affairs.</p>
+
+<p><i>E.H.H.</i>&mdash;Would it not have been better if your company of
+thirty had been patient, and gone on quietly till the others
+were converted to your views? If truth were on your side, it
+would in time have prevailed over their objections.</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;I would not give a cent for a person's conversion. When a
+truth is submitted to a body of persons, a few <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_510" id="Page_510">[510]</a></span>only will accept
+it. The great body can not, because their minds are unprepared.</p>
+
+<p><i>E.H.H.</i>&mdash;How did your company succeed in their new movement?</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;We failed because we made a mistake. The great mistake
+Associationists every where made, all through these movements,
+was to locate in obscure places which were unsuitable for
+becoming business centers. Fourier's system is based on a
+township. An Association to be successful must embrace a
+township.</p>
+
+<p><i>E.H.H.</i>&mdash;Well, suppose you get together a number sufficient to
+form a township, and become satisfactorily organized, will there
+not still remain this liability to be broken up by diversity of
+judgments arising, as in the instance you have just related to
+me?</p>
+
+<p><i>C.</i>&mdash;No; let the movement be organized aright and it might
+break up every day and not fail.</p>
+
+<p>"Here ended the conversation. The story interested me
+especially, because it taught so clearly that the success of
+Communism depends upon something else besides money-making. When
+Hepworth Dixon visited this country and inquired about the
+Oneida Community, Horace Greeley told him he would 'find the
+O.C. a trade success.' Now according to C.'s story the North
+American Phalanx entered the stage of 'trade success,' and then
+failed because it lacked the <i>faculty of agreement</i>. It is
+patent to every person of good sense, that 'a house divided
+against itself can not stand.' Divisions in a household, in an
+army, in a nation, are disastrous, and unless healed, are
+finally fatal. The great lesson that the Oneida Community has
+been learning, is, that agreement is possible. In cases where
+diversity of judgment has arisen, we have always secured
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_511" id="Page_511">[511]</a></span>unanimity by being patient with each other, waiting, and
+submitting all minds to the Spirit of Truth. We have experienced
+this result over and over again, until it has become a settled
+conviction through the Community, that when a project is brought
+forward for discussion, the best thing will be done, and we
+shall all be of one mind about it. How many times questions have
+arisen that would have destroyed us like the North American
+Phalanx, were it not for this ability to come to an agreement!
+Prosperity puts this power of harmony to a greater test than
+adversity. When we built our new house, how many were the
+different minds about material, location, plan! How were our
+feelings wrought up! Party-spirit ran high. There was the stone
+party, the brick party, and the concrete-wall party. Yet by
+patience, forbearing one with another and submitting one to
+another, the final result satisfied every one. Unity is the
+essential thing. Secure that, and financial success and all
+other good things will follow."</p></div>
+
+<br />
+<hr style="width: 15%;" />
+<br />
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> To be exact, this should be eleven years instead of
+fourteen. The Phalanx commenced operations in September, 1843, and the
+fire occurred in September, 1854. The whole duration of the experiment
+was only a little over twelve years, as the domain was sold, according
+to Alfred Cridge, in the winter of 1855-6.</p></div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_512" id="Page_512">[512]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXIX.</h3>
+
+<h4>CONVERSION OF BROOK FARM TO FOURIERISM.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>At the beginning of our history of the Fourier epoch, we gave an
+account of the origin of the Brook Farm Association in 1841, and
+traced its career till the latter part of 1843. So far we found it to
+be an original American experiment, not affiliated to Fourier, but to
+Dr. Channing; and we classed it with the Hopedale, Northampton and
+Skaneateles Communities, as one of the preparations for Fourierism.
+Now, at the close of our history, we must return to Brook Farm and
+follow it through its transformation into a Fourierist Phalanx, and
+its career as a public teacher and propagandist.</p>
+
+<p>In the final number of the <i>Dial</i>, dated April 1844, Miss E.P. Peabody
+published an article on Fourierism, which commences as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"In the last week of December, 1843, and first week of January,
+1844, a convention was held in Boston, which may be considered
+as the first publication of Fourierism in this region.</p>
+
+<p>"The works of Fourier do not seem to have reached us, and this
+want of text has been ill supplied by various conjectures
+respecting them; some of which are more remarkable for the
+morbid imagination they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_513" id="Page_513">[513]</a></span>display than for their sagacity. For
+ourselves we confess to some remembrances of vague horror
+connected with this name, as if it were some enormous parasitic
+plant, sucking the life principles of society, while it spread
+apparently an equal shade, inviting man to repose under its
+beautiful but poison-dropping branches. We still have a certain
+question about Fourierism, considered as a catholicon for evil;
+but our absurd horrors were dissipated, and a feeling of genuine
+respect for the friends of the movement ensured, as we heard the
+exposition of the doctrine of Association, by Mr. Channing and
+others. That name [Channing] already consecrated to humanity,
+seemed to us to have worthily fallen, with the mantle of the
+philanthropic spirit, upon this eloquent expounder of Socialism;
+in whose voice and countenance, as well as in his pleadings for
+humanity, the spirit of his great kinsman still seemed to speak.
+We can not sufficiently lament that there was no reporter of the
+speech of Mr. Channing."</p></div>
+
+<p>At the close of this article Miss Peabody says:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"We understand that Brook Farm has become a Fourierist
+establishment. We rejoice in this, because such persons as form
+that Association, will give it a fair experiment. We wish it
+Godspeed. May it become a University, where the young American
+shall learn his duties, and become worthy of this broad land of
+his inheritance."</p></div>
+
+<p>William H. Channing, in the <i>Present</i>, January 15, 1844, gives an
+account of this same Boston convention, from which we extract as
+follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"This convention marked an era in the history of New England.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_514" id="Page_514">[514]</a></span>
+It was the commencement of a public movement upon the subject of
+social reform, which will flow on, wider, deeper, stronger,
+until it has proved in deeds the practicability of societies
+organized, from their central principle of faith to the minutest
+detail of industry and pleasure, according to the order of love.
+This movement has been long gathering. A hundred rills and
+rivers of humanity have fed it.</p>
+
+<p>"The number of attendants and their interest increased to the
+end, as was manifested by the continuance of the meetings from
+Wednesday, December 27th, when the convention had expected to
+adjourn, through Thursday and Friday. The convention was
+organized by the choice of William Bassett, of Lynn, as
+President; of Adin Ballou, of Hopedale, G.W. Benson, of
+Northampton, George Ripley, of Brook Farm, and James N. Buffum,
+of Lynn, as Vice-Presidents; and of Eliza J. Kenney, of Salem,
+and Charles A. Dana, of Brook Farm, as Secretaries. The
+Associations of Northampton, Hopedale and Brook Farm, were each
+well represented.</p>
+
+<p>"It was instructive to observe that practical and scientific men
+constantly confirmed, and often apparently without being aware
+of it, the doctrines of social science as announced by Fourier.
+Indeed, in proportion to the degree of one's intimacy with this
+profound student of harmony, does respect increase for his
+admirable intellectual power, his foresight, sagacity,
+completeness. And for one, I am desirous to state, that the
+chief reason which prevents my most public confession of
+confidence in him as the one teacher now most needed, is, that
+honor for such a patient and conscientious investigator demands,
+of all who would justify his views, a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_515" id="Page_515">[515]</a></span>simplicity of affection,
+an extent and accuracy of knowledge, an intensity of thought, to
+which very few can now lay claim. Quite far am I from saying,
+that as now enlightened, I adopt all his opinions; on the
+contrary, there are some I reject; but it is a pleasure to
+express gratitude to Charles Fourier, for having opened a whole
+new world of study, hope and action. It does seem to me, that he
+has given us the clue out of our scientific labyrinth, and
+revealed the means of living the law of love."</p></div>
+
+<p>The <i>Phalanx</i> of February 5, 1844, refers to the revolution going on
+at Brook Farm, as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The Brook Farm Association, near Boston, is now in process of
+transformation and extension from its former condition of an
+educational establishment mainly, to a regularly organized
+Association, embracing the various departments of industry, art
+and science. At the head of this movement, are George Ripley,
+Minot Pratt and Charles A. Dana. We can not speak in too high
+terms of these men and their enterprise. They are gentlemen of
+high standing in the community, and unite in an eminent degree,
+talent, scientific attainments and refinement, with great
+practical energy and experience. This Association has a fine
+spiritual basis in those already connected with it, and we hope
+that it will be able to rally to its aid the industrial skill
+and capital necessary to organize an Association, in which
+productive labor, art, science, and the social and the religious
+affections, will be so wisely and beautifully blended and
+combined, that they will lend reciprocal strength, support,
+elevation and refinement to each other, and secure abundance,
+give health to the body, development and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_516" id="Page_516">[516]</a></span>expansion to the mind,
+and exaltation to the soul. We are convinced that there are
+abundant means and material in New England now ready to form a
+fine Association; they have only to be sought out and brought
+together."</p></div>
+
+<p>From these hints it is evident that the Brook Farmers were fully
+converted to Fourierism in the winter of 1843-4, and that William H.
+Channing led the way in this conversion. He had been publishing the
+<i>Present</i> since September 1843, side by side with the <i>Phalanx</i> (which
+commenced in October of that year); and though he, like the rest of
+the Massachusetts Socialists, began with some shyness of Fourierism,
+he had gradually fallen into the Brisbane and Greeley movement, till
+at last the <i>Present</i> was hardly distinguishable in its general drift
+from the <i>Phalanx</i>. Accordingly in April, 1844, just at the time when
+the <i>Dial</i> ended its career, as we have seen, with a confession of
+quasi-conversion to Fourierism, the <i>Present</i> also concluded its
+labors with a twenty-five-page exposition of Fourier's system, and the
+<i>Phalanx</i> assumed its subscription list.</p>
+
+<p>The connection of the Channings with Fourierism, then, stands thus:
+Dr. Channing, the first medium of the Unitarian afflatus, was the
+father (by suggestion) of the Brook Farm Association, which was
+originally called the West Roxbury Community. William H. Channing, the
+second medium according to Miss Peabody, converted this Community to
+Fourierism and changed it into a Phalanx. The <i>Dial</i>, which Emerson
+says was also a suggestion of Dr. Channing, and the <i>Present</i>, which
+was edited by William H. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_517" id="Page_517">[517]</a></span>Channing, ended their careers in the same
+month, both hailing the advent of Fourierism, and the <i>Phalanx</i> and
+<i>Harbinger</i> became their successors.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Dial</i> and <i>Present</i>, in thus surrendering their Roxbury daughter
+as a bride to Fourierism, did not neglect to give her with their dying
+breath some good counsel and warning. We will grace our pages with a
+specimen from each. Miss Peabody in the <i>Dial</i> moralizes thus:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The social passions, set free to act, do not carry within them
+their own rule, nor the pledge of conferring happiness. They can
+only get this from the free action upon them of the intellectual
+passions which constitute human reason.</p>
+
+<p>"But these functions of reason, do they carry within themselves
+the pledge of their own continued health and harmonious action?</p>
+
+<p>"Here Fourierism stops short, and, in so doing, proves itself to
+be, not a life, a soul, but only a body. It may be a magnificent
+body for humanity to dwell in for a season; and one for which it
+may be wise to quit old diseased carcases, which now go by the
+proud name of civilization. But if its friends pretend for it
+any higher character than that of a body, thus turning men from
+seeking for principles of life essentially above organization,
+it will prove but another, perhaps a greater curse.</p>
+
+<p>"The question is, whether the Phalanx acknowledges its own
+limitations of nature, in being an organization, or opens up any
+avenue into the source of life that shall keep it sweet,
+enabling it to assimilate to itself contrary elements, and
+consume its own waste; so that, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_518" id="Page_518">[518]</a></span>ph&oelig;nix-like, it may renew
+itself forever in greater and finer forms.</p>
+
+<p>"This question, the Fourierists in the convention, from whom
+alone we have learned any thing of Fourierism, did not seem to
+have considered. But this is a vital point.</p>
+
+<p>"The life of the world is now the Christian life. For eighteen
+centuries, art, literature, philosophy, poetry, have followed
+the fortunes of the Christian idea. Ancient history is the
+history of the apotheosis of nature, or natural religion; modern
+history is the history of an idea, or revealed religion. In vain
+will any thing try to be, which is not supported thereby.
+Fourier does homage to Christianity with many words. But this
+may be cant, though it thinks itself sincere. Besides, there are
+many things which go by the name of Christianity, that are not
+it.</p>
+
+<p>"Let the Fourierists see to it, that there be freedom in their
+Phalanxes for churches, unsupported by their material
+organization, and lending them no support on their material
+side. Independently existing, within them but not of them,
+feeding on ideas, forgetting that which is behind petrified into
+performance, and pressing on to the stature of the perfect man,
+they will finally spread themselves in spirit over the whole
+body.</p>
+
+<p>"In fine, it is our belief, that unless the Fourierist bodies
+are made alive by Christ, 'their constitution will not march;'
+and the galvanic force of re&auml;ction, by which they move for a
+season, will not preserve them from corruption. As the
+corruption of the best is the worst, the warmer the friends of
+Fourierism are, the more awake should they be to this danger,
+and the more energetic to avert it."</p></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_519" id="Page_519">[519]</a></span>Charles Lane in the <i>Present</i> discoursed still more profoundly, as
+follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"Some questions, of a nice importance, may be considered by the
+Phalanx before they set out, or at least on the journey, for
+they will have weighty, nay, decisive influences on the final
+result. One of these, perhaps the one most deserving attention,
+nay, perhaps that upon which all others hinge, is the adjustment
+of those human affections, out of which the present family
+arrangements spring. In a country like the United States of
+North America, where food is very cheap, and all the needs of
+life lie close to the industrious hand, it is very rare to find
+a family of old parents with their sons and daughters married
+and residing under the same roof. The universal bond is so weak,
+or the individual bond is so strong, that one married pair is
+deemed a sufficient swarm of human bees to hive off and form a
+new colony. How, then, can it be hoped that there is universal
+affection sufficient to unite many such families in one body for
+the common good? If, with the natural affections to aid the
+attempt to meliorate the hardships and difficulties in natural
+life, it is rare, nay, almost impossible, to unite three
+families in one bond of fellowship, how shall a greater number
+be brought together? If, in cases where the individual
+characters are known, can be relied on, are trusted with each
+other's affections, property and person, such union can not be
+formed, how shall it be constructed among strangers, or
+doubtful, or untried characters? The pressing necessities in
+isolated families, the great advantages in even the smallest
+union, are obvious to all, not least to the country families in
+this land; yet they unite not, but out of every pair of
+affectionate hearts they construct a new <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_520" id="Page_520">[520]</a></span>roof-tree, a new
+hearth-stone, at which they worship as at their exclusive altar.</p>
+
+<p>"Is there some secret leaven in this conjugal mixture, which
+declares all other union to be out of the possible affinities?
+Is this mixture of male and female so very potent, as to hinder
+universal or even general union? Surely it can not happen, in
+all those numerous instances wherein re-unions of families would
+obviously work so advantageously for all parties, that there are
+qualities of mind so foreign and opposed, that no one could
+beneficially be consummated. Or is it certain, that in these
+natural affections and their consequences in living offspring,
+there is an element so subversive of general Association that
+the two can not co-exist? The facts seem to maintain such a
+hypothesis. History has not yet furnished one instance of
+combined individual and universal life. Prophecy holds not very
+strong or clear language on the point. Plato scarcely fancied
+the possible union of the two affections; the religious
+Associations of past or present times have not attempted it; and
+Fourier, the most sanguine of all futurists, does not deliver
+very succinct or decisive oracles on the subject.</p>
+
+<p>"Can we make any approximation to axiomatical truth for
+ourselves? May we not say that it is no more possible for the
+human affections to flow at once in two opposite directions,
+than it is for a stream of water to do so? A divided heart is an
+impossibility. We must either serve the universal (God), or the
+individual (Mammon). Both we can not serve. Now, marriage, as at
+present constituted, is most decidedly an individual, and not a
+universal act. It is an individual act, too, of a depreciated
+and selfish kind. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_521" id="Page_521">[521]</a></span>The spouse is an expansion and enlargement of
+one's self, and the children participate of the same nature. The
+all-absorbent influence of this union is too obvious to be dwelt
+upon. It is used to justify every glaring and cruel act of
+selfish acquisition. It is made the ground-work of the
+institution of property, which is itself the foundation of so
+many evils. This institution of property and its numerous
+auxiliaries must be abrogated in associative life, or it will be
+little better than isolated life. But it can not, it will not be
+repealed, so long as marital unions are indulged in; for, up to
+this very hour, we are celebrating the act as the most sacred on
+earth, and what is called providing for the family, as the most
+onerous and holy duty.</p>
+
+<p>"The lips of the purest living advocates of human improvement,
+Pestalozzi, J.P. Greaves and others, are scarcely silent from
+the most strenuous appeals to mothers, to develop in their
+offspring the germs of all truth, as the highest resource for
+the regeneration of our race; and we are now turning round upon
+them and declaring, that naught but a deeper development of
+mortal selfishness can result from such a course. At least such
+seems to be a consequence of the present argument. Yet, if it be
+true, we must face it. This is at least an inquiry which must be
+answered. It is certain, indeed, that if there be a source of
+truth in the human soul, deeper than all selfishness, it may be
+consciously opened by appeals which shall enforce their way
+beneath the human selfishness which is superincumbent on the
+divine origin. Then we may possibly be at work on that ground
+whereon universal Association can be based. But must not,
+therefore, individual (or dual) union cease? Here is our
+predicament. It haunts us at every turn; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_522" id="Page_522">[522]</a></span>as the poets represent
+the disturbed wanderings of a departed spirit. And
+reconciliation of the two is not yet so clearly revealed to the
+faithful soul, as the headlong indulgence is practiced by the
+selfish. It is an axiom that new results can only be arrived at
+by action on new principles, or in new modes. The old principle
+and mode of isolated families has not led to happy results. This
+is a fact admitted on all hands. Let us then try what the
+consociate, or universal family will produce. But, then, let us
+not seduce ourselves by vain hopes. Let us not fail to see, that
+to this end the individual selfishness, or, if so they must be
+called, the holy gratifications of human nature, must be
+sacrificed and subdued. As has been affirmed above, the two can
+not be maintained together. We must either cling to heaven, or
+abide on earth; we must adhere to the divine, or indulge in the
+human attractions. We must either be wedded to God or to our
+fellow humanity. To speak in academical language, the
+conjunction in this case is the disjunctive 'or,' not the
+copulative 'and.' Both these marriages, that is, of the soul
+with God, and of soul with soul, can not exist together. It
+remains, therefore, for us, for the youthful spirit of the
+present, for the faithfully intelligent and determinedly true,
+to say which of the two marriages they will entertain."</p></div>
+
+<p>In consummation of their union with Fourierism, the Brook Farmers
+formed and published a new constitution, confessing in its preamble
+their conversion, and offering themselves to Socialists at large as a
+nucleus for a model Phalanx. They say:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The Association at Brook Farm has now been in existence upwards
+of two years. Originating in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_523" id="Page_523">[523]</a></span>thought and experience of a
+few individuals, it has hitherto worn, for the most part, the
+character of a private experiment, and has avoided rather than
+sought the notice of the public. It has, until the present time,
+seemed fittest to those engaged in this enterprise to publish no
+statements of their purposes or methods, to make no promises or
+declarations, but quietly and sincerely to realize as far as
+might be possible, the great ideas which gave the central
+impulse to their movement. It has been thought that a steady
+endeavor to embody these ideas more and more perfectly in life,
+would give the best answer, both to the hopes of the friendly
+and the cavils of the skeptical, and furnish in its results the
+surest grounds for any larger efforts.</p>
+
+<p>"Meanwhile every step has strengthened the faith with which we
+set out; our belief in a divine order of human society, has in
+our own minds become an absolute certainty; and considering the
+present state of humanity and of social science, we do not
+hesitate to affirm that the world is much nearer the attainment
+of such a condition than is generally supposed. The deep
+interest in the doctrine of Association which now fills the
+minds of intelligent persons every where, indicates plainly that
+the time has passed when even initiative movements ought to be
+prosecuted in silence, and makes it imperative on all who have
+either a theoretical or practical knowledge of the subject, to
+give their share to the stock of public information.</p>
+
+<p>"Accordingly we have taken occasion at several public meetings
+recently held in Boston, to state some of the results of our
+studies and experience, and we desire here to say emphatically,
+that while on the one hand we yield an unqualified assent to
+that doctrine of universal unity <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_524" id="Page_524">[524]</a></span>which Fourier teaches, so on
+the other, our whole observation has shown us the truth of the
+practical arrangements which he deduces therefrom. The law of
+groups and series is, as we are convinced, the law of human
+nature, and when men are in true social relations their
+industrial organization will necessarily assume those forms.</p>
+
+<p>"But beside the demand for information respecting the principles
+of Association, there is a deeper call for action in the matter.
+We wish, therefore, to bring Brook Farm before the public, as a
+location offering at least as great advantages for a thorough
+experiment as can be found in the vicinity of Boston. It is
+situated in West Roxbury, three miles from the depot of the
+Dedham Branch Railroad, and about eight miles from Boston, and
+combines a convenient nearness to the city, with a degree of
+retirement and freedom from unfavorable influences, unusual even
+in the country. The place is one of great natural beauty, and
+indeed the whole landscape is so rich and various as to attract
+the notice even of casual visitors. The farm now owned by the
+Association contains two hundred and eight acres, of as good
+quality as any land in the neighborhood of Boston, and can be
+enlarged by the purchase of land adjoining, to any necessary
+extent. The property now in the hands of the Association is
+worth nearly or quite thirty thousand dollars, of which about
+twenty-two thousand dollars is invested either in the stock of
+the company, or in permanent loans at six per cent., which can
+remain as long as the Association may wish.</p>
+
+<p>"The fact that so large an amount of capital is already invested
+and at our service, as the basis of more extensive operations,
+furnishes a reason why <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_525" id="Page_525">[525]</a></span>Brook Farm should be chosen as the scene
+of that practical trial of Association which the public feeling
+calls for in this immediate vicinity, instead of forming an
+entirely new organization for that purpose. The completeness of
+our educational department is also not to be overlooked. This
+has hitherto received our greatest care, and in forming it we
+have been particularly successful. In any new Association it
+must be many years before so many accomplished and skillful
+teachers in the various branches of intellectual culture could
+be enlisted. Another strong reason is to be found in the degree
+of order our organization has already attained, by the help of
+which a large Association might be formed without the losses and
+inconveniences which would otherwise necessarily occur. The
+experience of nearly three years in all the misfortunes and
+mistakes incident to an undertaking so new and so little
+understood, carried on throughout by persons not entirely fitted
+for the duties they have been compelled to perform, has, we
+think, prepared us to assist in the safe conduct of an extensive
+and complete Association.</p>
+
+<p>"Such an institution, as will be plain to all, can not by any
+sure means be brought at once and full-grown into existence. It
+must, at least in the present state of society, begin with a
+comparatively small number of select and devoted persons, and
+increase by natural and gradual aggregations. With a view to an
+ultimate expansion into a perfect Phalanx, we desire to organize
+immediately the three primary departments of labor, agriculture,
+domestic industry and the mechanic arts. For this purpose
+additional capital will be needed, etc.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="sc">George Ripley, Minot Pratt, Charles A. Dana.</span><br />
+<span class="leftsig">"<i>Brook Farm, January 18, 1844.</i>"</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_526" id="Page_526">[526]</a></span>Here follows the usual appeal for co-operation and investments. In
+October following a second edition of this constitution was issued, in
+the preamble of which the officers say:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The friends of the cause will be gratified to learn, that the
+appeal in behalf of Brook Farm, contained in the introductory
+statement of our constitution, has been generously answered, and
+that the situation of the Association is highly encouraging. In
+the half-year that has elapsed, our numbers have been increased
+by the addition of many skillful and enthusiastic laborers in
+various departments, and our capital has been enlarged by the
+subscription of about ten thousand dollars. Our organization has
+acquired a more systematic form, though with our comparatively
+small numbers we can only approximate to truly scientific
+arrangements. Still with the unavoidable deficiencies of our
+groups and series, their action is remarkable, and fully
+justifies our anticipations of great results from applying the
+principles of universal order to industry.</p>
+
+<p>"We have made considerable agricultural improvements; we have
+erected a work-shop sixty feet by twenty-eight for mechanics of
+several trades, some of which are already in operation; and we
+are now engaged in building a section one hundred and
+seventy-five feet by forty, of a Phalanstery or unitary
+dwelling. Our first object is to collect those who, from their
+character and convictions, are qualified to aid in the
+experiment we are engaged in, and to furnish them with
+convenient and comfortable habitations, at the smallest possible
+outlay. For this purpose the most careful economy is used,
+though we are yet able to attain many of the peculiar
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_527" id="Page_527">[527]</a></span>advantages of the Associated household. Still for transitional
+society, and for comparatively temporary use, a social edifice
+can not be made free from the defects of civilized architecture.
+When our Phalanx has become sufficiently large, and has in some
+measure accomplished its great purposes, the serial organization
+of labor and unitary education, we shall have it in our power to
+build a Phalanstery with the magnificence and permanence proper
+to such a structure."</p></div>
+
+<p>Whereupon the appeal for help is repeated. Finally, in May 1845 this
+new constitution was published in the <i>Phalanx</i>, with a new preamble.
+In the previous editions the society had been styled the "Brook Farm
+Association for Education and Industry;" but in this issue, Article 1
+Section 1 declares that "the name of this Association shall be The
+Brook Farm Phalanx." We quote a few paragraphs from the preamble:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"At the last session of the legislature of Massachusetts, our
+Association was incorporated under the name which it now
+assumes, with the right to hold real estate to the amount of one
+hundred thousand dollars. This confers upon us all the usual
+powers and privileges of chartered companies.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing is now necessary to the greatest possible measure of
+success, but capital to furnish sufficient means to enable us to
+develop every department to advantage. This capital we can now
+apply profitably and without danger of loss. We are well aware
+that there must be risk in investing money in an infant
+Association, as well as in any other untried business; but with
+the labors of nearly four years we have arrived at a point where
+this risk hardly exists.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_528" id="Page_528">[528]</a></span>"By that increasing number whose most ardent desire is to see
+the experiment of Association fairly tried, we are confident
+that the appeal we now make will not be received without the
+most generous response in their power. As far as their means and
+their utmost exertions can go, they will not suffer so favorable
+an opportunity for the realization of their fondest hopes to
+pass unimproved. Nor do we call upon Americans alone, but upon
+all persons of whatever nation, to whom the doctrines of
+universal unity have revealed the destiny of man. Especially to
+those noble men who in Europe have so long and so faithfully
+labored for the diffusion and propagation of these doctrines, we
+address what to them will be an occasion of the highest joy, an
+appeal for fraternal co-operation in behalf of their
+realization. We announce to them the dawning of that day for
+which they have so hopefully and so bravely waited, the
+upspringing of those seeds that they and their compeers have
+sown. To them it will seem no exaggeration to say that we, their
+younger brethren, invite their assistance in a movement which,
+however humble it may superficially appear, is the grandest both
+in its essential character and its consequences, that can now be
+proposed to man; a movement whose purpose is the elevation of
+humanity to its integral rights, and whose results will be the
+establishment of happiness and peace among the nations of the
+earth.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="leftsig">"By order of the Central Council,</span><br />
+"<span class="sc">George Ripley</span>, <i>President</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>West Roxbury, May 20, 1845.</i>"</p>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XL" id="CHAPTER_XL"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_529" id="Page_529">[529]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XL.</h3>
+
+<h4>BROOK FARM PROPAGATING FOURIERISM.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>Brook Farm having attained the dignity of incorporation and assumed
+the title of Phalanx, was ready to undertake the enterprise of
+propagating Fourierism. Accordingly, in the same number of the
+<i>Phalanx</i> that published the appeal recited at the close of our last
+chapter, appeared the prospectus of a new paper to be called the
+<i>Harbinger</i>, with the following editorial notice:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"Our subscribers will see by the prospectus that the name of the
+<i>Phalanx</i> is to be changed for that of the <i>Harbinger</i>, and that
+the paper is to be printed in future by the Brook Farm Phalanx."</p></div>
+
+<p>From this time the main function of Brook Farm was propagandism. It
+published the <i>Harbinger</i> weekly, with a zeal and ability of which our
+readers have seen plenty of specimens. It also instituted a missionary
+society and a lecturing system, of which we will now give some
+account.</p>
+
+<p>New York had hitherto been the head-quarters of Fourierism. Brisbane,
+Greeley and Godwin, the primary men of the cause, lived and published
+there; the <i>Phalanx</i> was issued there; the National Conventions had
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_530" id="Page_530">[530]</a></span>been held there; and there was the seat of the Executive Committee
+that made several abortive attempts to institute a confederation of
+Associations and a national organization of Socialists. But after the
+conversion of Brook Farm, the center of operations was removed from
+New York to Massachusetts. As the <i>Harbinger</i> succeeded to the
+subscription-list and propagandism of the <i>Phalanx</i>, so a new National
+Union of Socialists, having its head-quarters nominally at Boston, but
+really at Brook Farm, took the place of the old New York Conventions.
+Of this organization, William H. Channing was the chief-engineer; and
+his zeal and eloquence in that capacity for a short time, well
+entitled him to the honors of the chief Apostle of Fourierism. In fact
+he succeeded to the post of Brisbane. This will be seen in the
+following selections from the <i>Harbinger</i>:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From William H. Channing's Appeal to Associationists.]</p>
+
+<p class="sc">"Brethren:</p>
+
+<p>"Your prompt and earnest co-operation is requested in fulfilling
+the design of a society organized May 27, 1846, at Boston,
+Massachusetts, by a general convention of the friends of
+Association. This design may be learned from the following
+extracts from its constitution:</p>
+
+<p>"'I. The name of this society shall be the American Union of
+Associationists.</p>
+
+<p>"'II. Its purpose shall be the establishment of an order of
+society based on a system of joint-stock property; co-operative
+labor; association of families; equitable distribution of
+profits; mutual guarantees; honors according to usefulness;
+integral education; unity of interests: which system we believe
+to be in accord with the laws of divine providence and the
+destiny of man.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_531" id="Page_531">[531]</a></span>"'III. Its method of operation shall be the appointment of
+agents, the sending out of lecturers, the issuing of
+publications, and the formation of a series of affiliated
+societies which shall be auxiliary to the parent society; in
+holding meetings, collecting funds, and in every way diffusing
+the principles of Association: and preparing for their practical
+application, etc.'</p>
+
+<p>"We have a solemn and glorious work before us: 1, To
+indoctrinate the whole people of the United States with the
+principles of associative unity; 2, To prepare for the time when
+the nation, like one man, shall re-organize its townships upon
+the basis of perfect justice.</p>
+
+<p>"A nobler opportunity was certainly never opened to men, than
+that which here and now welcomes Associationists. To us has been
+given the very word which this people needs as a guide in its
+onward destiny. This is a Christian Nation; and Association
+shows how human societies may be so organized in devout
+obedience to the will of God, as to become true brotherhoods,
+where the command of universal love may be fulfilled indeed.
+Thus it meets the present wants of Christians; who, sick of
+sectarian feuds and theological controversies, shocked at the
+inconsistencies which disgrace the religious world, at the
+selfishness, ostentation, and caste which pervade even our
+worshiping assemblies, at the indifference of man to the claims
+of his fellow-man throughout our communities in country and
+city, at the tolerance of monstrous inhumanities by professed
+ministers and disciples of him whose life was love, are longing
+for churches which may be really houses of God, glorified with
+an indwelling spirit of holiness, and filled to overflowing with
+heavenly charity.</p>
+
+<p>"Brethren! Can men engaged in so holy and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_532" id="Page_532">[532]</a></span>humane a cause as
+this, which fulfills the good and destroys the evil in existing
+society throughout our age and nation, which teaches unlimited
+trust in Divine love, and commands perfect obedience to the laws
+of Divine order among all people, which heralds the near advent
+of the reign of heaven on earth&mdash;be timid, indifferent,
+sluggish? Abiding shame will rest upon us, if we put not forth
+our highest energies in fulfillment of the present command of
+Providence. Let us be up and doing with all our might.</p>
+
+<p>"The measures which you are now requested at once and
+energetically to carry out, are the three following: 1, Organize
+affiliated societies to act in concert with the American Union
+of Associationists; 2, Circulate the <i>Harbinger</i> and other
+papers devoted to Association; 3, Collect funds for the purpose
+of defraying the expenses of lectures and tracts. It is proposed
+in the autumn and winter to send out lecturers, in bands and
+singly, as widely as possible.</p>
+
+<p>"Our white flag is given to the breeze. Our threefold motto,</p>
+
+<p>"Unity of man with man in true society,</p>
+
+<p>"Unity of man with God in true religion,</p>
+
+<p>"Unity of man with nature in creative art and industry,</p>
+
+<p>"Is blazoned on its folds. Let hearts, strong in the might of
+faith and hope and charity, rally to bear it on in triumph. We
+are sure to conquer. God will work with us; humanity will
+welcome our word of glad tidings. The future is ours. On! in the
+name of the Lord.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="sc leftsig">William Henry Channing,</span><br />
+"<i>Cor. Sec. of the Am. Un. of Associationists.</i></p>
+
+<p>"<i>Brook Farm, June 6, 1846.</i>"</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_533" id="Page_533">[533]</a></span>In connection with this appeal, an editorial announced</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen"><i>The Mission of Charles A. Dana.</i></p>
+
+<p>"The operations of the 'American Union,' will be commenced
+without delay. Mr. Dana will shortly make a tour through the
+State of New York as its agent. He will lecture in the principal
+towns, and take every means to diffuse a knowledge of the
+principles of Association. Our friends are requested to use
+their best exertions to prepare for his labors, and give
+efficiency to them."</p></div>
+
+<p>A meeting of the American Union of Associationists is reported in the
+<i>Harbinger</i> of June 27, at which all the speakers except Mr. Brisbane,
+were Brook Farmers. The session continued two days, and William H.
+Channing made the closing and electric speeches for both days. The
+editor says:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"Mr. Channing closed the first day in a speech of the loftiest
+and purest eloquence, in which he declared the great problem and
+movement of this day to be that of realizing a unitary church;
+showed how utterly unchristian is every thing now calling itself
+a church, and how impossible the solution of this problem, so
+long as industry tends only to isolate those who would be
+Christians, and to make them selfish; and ended with announcing
+the life-long pledge into which the believers in associative
+unity in this country have entered, that they will not rest nor
+turn back until the mind of this whole nation is made to see and
+own the truth which there is in their doctrines. The effect upon
+all present was electric, and the resolution to adjourn to the
+next evening, was a resolution to commence then in earnest a
+great work."</p></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_534" id="Page_534">[534]</a></span>After mentioning many good things said and done on the second day, the
+editor says:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"It was understood that the whole would be brought to a head and
+the main and practical business of the meeting set forth by Mr.
+Channing. His appeal, alike to friends and to opposers of the
+cause, will dwell like a remembered inspiration in all our
+minds. It spoke directly to the deepest religious sentiment in
+every one, and awakened in each a consciousness of a new energy.
+All the poetic wealth and imagery of the speaker's mind seemed
+melted over into the speech, as if he would pour out all his
+life to carry conviction into the hearts of others. He seemed an
+illustration of a splendid figure which he used, to show the
+present crisis in this cause. 'It was,' said he, 'nobly,
+powerfully begun in this country; but, there has been a pause in
+our movement. When Benvenuto Cellini was casting his great
+statue, wearied and exhausted he fell asleep. He was roused by
+the cries of the workmen; Master, come quick, the fires have
+gone down, and the metal has caked in the running! He hesitated
+not a moment, but rushed into the palace, seized all the gold
+and silver vessels, money, ornaments, which he could find, and
+poured them into the furnace; and whatever he could lay hands on
+that was combustible, he took to renew the fire. We must begin
+anew, said he. And the flames roared, and the metal began to
+run, and the Jupiter came out in complete majesty. Just so our
+greater work has caked in the running. We have been luke-warm;
+we have slept. But shall not we throw in all our gold and
+silver, and throw in ourselves too, since our work is to produce
+not a mere statue, but a harmonious life of man made perfect in
+the image of God? Who ever had such motive for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_535" id="Page_535">[535]</a></span>action? The
+Crusaders, on their knees and upon the hilts of their swords,
+which formed a cross, daily dedicated their lives and their all
+to the pious resolution of re-conquering the sepulcher in which
+the dead Lord was laid. But ours is the calling, not to conquer
+the sepulcher of the dead Lord, but to conquer the world, and
+bring it in subjection to truth, love and beauty, that the
+living Christ may at length return and enter upon his Kingdom of
+Heaven on the earth.'</p>
+
+<p>"We by no means intend this as a report of Mr. Channing's
+speech. To reproduce it at all would be impossible. We only tell
+such few things as we easily remember. He closed with requesting
+all who had signed the constitution, or who were ready to
+co-operate with the American Union, to remain at a business
+meeting.</p>
+
+<p>"The hour was late and the business was made short. The plans of
+the executive committee were stated and approved. These were, 1,
+to send out lecturers; a beginning having been already made in
+the appointment of Mr. Charles A. Dana as an agent of the
+society, to proceed this summer upon a lecturing tour through
+New York, Western Pennsylvania and Ohio; 2, to support the
+<i>Harbinger</i>; and 3, to publish tracts."</p></div>
+
+<p>This report is followed by another stirring appeal from the Secretary,
+of which the following is the substance:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"<span class="sc">Action!</span>&mdash;Fellow Associationists, Brethren, Sisters,
+each and all! You are hereby once again earnestly entreated, in
+the name of our cause of universal unity, at once to co-operate
+energetically in carrying out the proposed plans of the American
+Union:</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_536" id="Page_536">[536]</a></span>"1. Form societies. 2. Circulate the <i>Harbinger</i>. 3. Raise
+funds. We wish to find one hundred persons in the United States,
+who will subscribe $100 a year for three years, in permanently
+establishing the work of propagation; or two hundred persons who
+will subscribe $50. Do you know any persons in your neighborhood
+who will for one year, three years, five years, contribute for
+this end? Be instant, friends, in season and out of season, in
+raising a permanent fund, and an immediate fund. This whole
+nation must hear our gospel of glad tidings. Will you not aid?</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="sc leftsig">William H. Channing,</span><br />
+"<i>Cor. Sec. of the Am. Un. of Associationists.</i>"</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>How far Mr. Dana fulfilled the missionary programme assigned to him,
+we have not been able to discover. But we find that the two most
+conspicuous lecturers sent abroad by the American Union were Messrs
+John Allen and John Orvis. These gentlemen made two or three tours
+through the northern part of New England; and in the fall of 1847 they
+were lecturing or trying to lecture in Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, and
+other parts of the state of New York, as we mentioned in our account
+of the Skaneateles and Sodus Bay Associations. But the harvest of
+Fourierism was past, and they complained sorely of the neglect they
+met with, in consequence of the bad odor of the defunct Associations.
+This is the last we hear of them. The American Union continued to
+advertise itself in the <i>Harbinger</i> till that paper disappeared in
+February 1849; but its doings after 1846 seem to have been limited to
+anniversary meetings.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XLI" id="CHAPTER_XLI"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_537" id="Page_537">[537]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XLI.</h3>
+
+<h4>BROOK FARM PROPAGATING SWEDENBORGIANISM.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>Our history of the career of Brook Farm in its final function of
+public teacher and propagandist, would not be complete without some
+account of its agency in the great Swedenborgian revival of modern
+times.</p>
+
+<p>In a series of articles published in the Oneida <i>Circular</i> a year or
+two ago, under the title of <i>Swedenborgiana</i>, the author of this
+history said:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The foremost and brightest of the Associations that rose in the
+Fourier excitement, was that at Brook Farm. The leaders were men
+whose names are now high in literature and politics. Ripley,
+Dana, Channing, Dwight and Hawthorne, are specimens of the list.
+Most of them were from the Unitarian school, whose head-quarters
+are at Boston and Cambridge. The movement really issued as much
+from transcendental Unitarianism as from Fourierism. It was
+religious, literary and artistic, as well as social. It had a
+press, and at one time undertook propagandism by missionaries
+and lectures. Its periodical, the <i>Harbinger</i>, was ably
+conducted, and very charming to all enthusiasts of progress. Our
+Putney school, which had not then reached Communism, was among
+the admirers of this periodical, and undoubtedly took an impulse
+from its teachings. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_538" id="Page_538">[538]</a></span>Brook Farm Association, as the leader
+and speaker of the hundred others that rose with it, certainly
+contributed most largely to the effect of the general movement
+begun by Brisbane and Greeley. But the remarkable fact, for the
+sake of which I am calling special attention to it, is, that in
+its didactic function, it brought upon the public mind, not only
+a new socialism but a new religion, and that religion was
+<i>Swedenborgianism</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"The proof of this can be found by any one who has access to the
+files of the <i>Harbinger</i>. I could give many pages of extracts in
+point. The simple truth is that Brook Farm and the <i>Harbinger</i>
+meant to propagate Fourierism, but succeeded only in propagating
+Swedenborgianism. The Associations that arose with them and
+under their influence, passed away within a few years, without
+exception; but the surge of Swedenborgianism which they started,
+swept on among their constituents, and, under the form of
+Spiritualism, is sweeping on to this day.</p>
+
+<p>"Swedenborgianism went deeper into the hearts of the people than
+the Socialism that introduced it, because it was a <i>religion</i>.
+The Bible and revivals had made men hungry for something more
+than social reconstruction. Swedenborg's offer of a new heaven
+as well as a new earth, met the demand magnificently. He suited
+all sorts. The scientific were charmed, because he was primarily
+a son of science, and seemed to reduce the universe to
+scientific order. The mystics were charmed, because he led them
+boldly into all the mysteries of intuition and invisible worlds.
+The Unitarians liked him, because, while he declared Christ to
+be Jehovah himself, he displaced the orthodox ideas of Sonship
+and tri-personality, and evidently meant only that Christ was
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_539" id="Page_539">[539]</a></span>an illusive representation of the Father. Even the infidels
+liked him, because he discarded about half the Bible, including
+all Paul's writings, as 'not belonging to the Word,' and made
+the rest a mere 'nose of wax' by means of his doctrine of the
+'internal sense.' His vast imaginations and magnificent promises
+chimed in exactly with the spirit of the accompanying
+Socialisms. Fourierism was too bald a materialism to suit the
+higher classes of its disciples, without a religion
+corresponding. Swedenborgianism was a godsend to the enthusiasts
+of Brook Farm; and they made it the complement of Fourierism.</p>
+
+<p>"Swedenborg's writings had long been circulating feebly in this
+country, and he had sporadic disciples and even churches in our
+cities, before the new era of Socialism. But any thing like a
+general interest in his writings had never been known, till
+about the period when Brook Farm and the <i>Harbinger</i> were in the
+ascendant. Here began a movement of the public mind toward
+Swedenborg, as palpable and portentous as that of Millerism or
+the old revivals.</p>
+
+<p>"But Young America could not receive an old and foreign
+philosophy like Swedenborg's, without reacting upon it and
+adapting it to its new surroundings. The old afflatus must have
+a new medium. In 1845 the movement which commenced at Brook Farm
+was in full tide. In 1847 the great American Swedenborg, Andrew
+Jackson Davis, appeared, and Professor Bush gave him the right
+hand of fellowship, and introduced him into office as the medium
+and representative of the 'illustrious Swede,' while the
+<i>Harbinger</i> rejoiced over them both.</p>
+
+<p>"Here I might show by chapter and verse from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_540" id="Page_540">[540]</a></span>Davis's and Bush's
+writings, exactly how the conjunction between them took place;
+how Davis met Swedenborg's ghost in a graveyard near
+Poughkeepsie in 1844, and from him received a commission to help
+the 'inefficient' efforts of Christ to regulate mankind; how he
+had another interview with the same ghost in 1846, and was
+directed by him to open correspondence with Bush; how Bush took
+him under his patronage, watched and studied him for months, and
+finally published his conclusion that Davis was a true medium of
+Swedenborg, providentially raised up to confirm his divine
+mission and teachings; and finally, how Bush and Davis quarreled
+within a year, and mutually repudiated each other's doctrines;
+but I must leave details and hurry on to the end.</p>
+
+<p>"After 1847 Swedenborgianism proper subsided, and 'Modern
+Spiritualism' took its place. But the character of the two
+systems, as well as the history of their relations to each
+other, proves them to be identical in essence. Spiritualism is
+Swedenborgianism Americanized. Andrew Jackson Davis began as a
+medium of Swedenborg, receiving from him his commission and
+inspiration, and became an independent seer and revelator, only
+because, as a son, he outgrew his father. The omniscient
+philosophies which the two have issued are identical in their
+main ideas about intuition, love and wisdom, familiarity of the
+living with the dead, classification of ghostly spheres,
+astronomical theology, etc. Andrew Jackson Davis is more
+flippant and superficial than Swedenborg, and less respectful
+toward the Bible and the past, and in these respects he suits
+his customers."</p></div>
+
+<p>We understand that some of the Brook Farmers think <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_541" id="Page_541">[541]</a></span>this view of the
+Swedenborgian influence of Brook Farm and the <i>Harbinger</i> is
+exaggerated. It will be appropriate therefore now to set forth some of
+the facts and teachings which led to this view.</p>
+
+<p>The first notable statement of the essential dualism between
+Swedenborg and Fourier that we find in the writings of the Socialists,
+is in the last chapter of Parke Godwin's "<i>Popular View</i>," published
+in the beginning of 1844, a standard work on Fourierism, second in
+time and importance only to Brisbane's "<i>Concise Exposition</i>." Godwin
+says:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"Thus far we have given Fourier's doctrine of Universal Analogy;
+but it is important to observe that he was not the first man of
+modern times who communicated this view. Emanuel Swedenborg,
+between whose revelations in the sphere of spiritual knowledge,
+and Fourier's discoveries in the sphere of science, there has
+been remarked the most exact and wonderful co&iuml;ncidence, preceded
+him in the annunciation of the doctrine in many of its aspects,
+in what is termed the doctrine of correspondence. These two
+great minds, the greatest beyond all comparison in our later
+days, were the instruments of Providence in bringing to light
+the mysteries of His Word and Works, as they are comprehended
+and followed in the higher states of existence. It is no
+exaggeration, we think, to say, that they are the two
+commissioned by the Great Leader of the Christian Israel, to spy
+out the promised land of peace and blessedness.</p>
+
+<p>"But in the discovery and statement of the doctrine of Analogy,
+these authorities have not proceeded according to precisely the
+same methods. Fourier has arrived <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_542" id="Page_542">[542]</a></span>at it by strictly scientific
+synthesis, and Swedenborg by the study of the Scriptures aided
+by Divine illumination. What is the aspect in which Fourier
+views it we have shown; we shall next attempt to elucidate the
+peculiar development of Swedenborg."</p></div>
+
+<p>From this Mr. Godwin goes on to show at length the parallelism between
+the teachings of these "incomparable masters." It will be seen that he
+intimates that thinkers and writers before him had taken the same
+view. One of these, doubtless, was Hugh Doherty, an English
+Fourierist, whose writings frequently occur in the <i>Phalanx</i> and
+<i>Harbinger</i>. A very long article from him, maintaining the identity of
+Fourierism and Swedenborgianism, appeared in the <i>Phalanx</i> of
+September 7, 1844. The article itself is dated London, January 30,
+1844. Among other things Mr. Doherty says:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"I am a believer in the truths of the New Church, and have read
+nearly all the writings of Swedenborg, and I have no hesitation
+in saying that without Fourier's explanation of the laws of
+order in Scriptural interpretation, I should probably have
+doubted the truth of Swedenborg's illumination, from want of a
+ground to understand the nature of spiritual sight in
+contradistinction from natural sight; or if I had been able to
+conceive the opening of the spiritual sight, and credit
+Swedenborg's doctrines and affirmations, I should probably have
+understood them only in the same degree as most of the members
+of the New Church whom I have met in England, and that would
+seem to me, in my present state, a partial calamity of cecity. I
+say this in all humility and sincerity of conscience, with a
+view to future reference to Swedenborg himself in the spiritual
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_543" id="Page_543">[543]</a></span>world, and as a means of inducing the members of the New Church
+generally not to be content with a superficial or limited
+knowledge of their own doctrines."</p></div>
+
+<p>In another passage Mr. Doherty claims to have been "a student of
+Fourier fourteen years, and of Swedenborg two years."</p>
+
+<p>In consequence partly of the new appreciation of Swedenborg that was
+rising among the Fourierists, a movement commenced in England in 1845
+for republishing the scientific works of "the illustrious Swede." An
+Association for that purpose was formed, and several of Swedenborg's
+bulkiest works were printed under the auspices of Wilkinson, Clissold
+and others. This Wilkinson was also a considerable contributor to the
+<i>Phalanx</i> and <i>Harbinger</i>, as the reader will see by recurring to a
+list in our chapter on the Personnel of Fourierism.</p>
+
+<p>Following this movement, came the famous lecture of Ralph Waldo
+Emerson on "<i>Swedenborg, the Mystic</i>," claiming for him a lofty
+position as a scientific discoverer. That lecture was first published
+in this country in a volume entitled, "<i>Representative Men</i>," in 1849;
+but according to Mr. White (the biographer of Swedenborg), it was
+delivered in England several times in 1847; and we judge from an
+expression which we italicize in the following extract from it, that
+it was written and perhaps delivered in this country in 1845 or 1846,
+i.e. very soon after the republication movement in England:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The scientific works [of Swedenborg] have <i>just now</i> been
+translated into English, in an excellent edition. Swedenborg
+printed these scientific books in the ten years from 1734 to
+1744, and they remained from that time neglected; and now, after
+their century is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_544" id="Page_544">[544]</a></span>complete, he has at last found a pupil in Mr.
+Wilkinson, in London, a philosophic critic, with a coequal vigor
+of understanding and imagination comparable only to Lord
+Bacon's, who has produced his master's buried books to the day,
+and transferred them, with every advantage, from their forgotten
+Latin into English, to go round the world in our commercial and
+conquering tongue. This startling re&auml;ppearance of Swedenborg,
+after a hundred years, in his pupil, is not the least remarkable
+fact in his history. Aided, it is said, by the munificence of
+Mr. Clissold, and also by his literary skill, this piece of
+poetic justice is done. The admirable preliminary discourses
+with which Mr. Wilkinson has enriched these volumes, throw all
+the cotemporary philosophy of England into shade."</p></div>
+
+<p>Emerson, it is true, was not a Brook Farmer; but he was the spiritual
+fertilizer of all the Transcendentalists, including the Brook Farmers.
+It is true also that in his lecture he severely criticised Swedenborg;
+but this was his vocation: to judge and disparage all religious
+teachers, especially seers and thaumaturgists. On the whole he gave
+Swedenborg a lift, just as he helped the reputation of all "ethnic
+Scriptures." His criticism of Swedenborg amounts to about this: "He
+was a very great thinker and discoverer; but his visions and
+theological teachings are humbugs; still they are as good as any
+other, and rather better."</p>
+
+<p>William H. Channing, another fertilizer of Brook Farm, was busy at the
+same time with Emerson, in the work of calling attention to
+Swedenborg. His conversions to Fourierism and Swedenborgianism seem to
+have proceeded together. The last three numbers of the <i>Present</i> are
+loaded with articles extolling <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_545" id="Page_545">[545]</a></span>Swedenborg, and the editor only
+complains of them that they "by no means do justice to the great
+Swedish philosopher and seer." The very last article in the volume is
+an item headed, "Fourier and Swedenborg," in which Mr. Charming says:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"I have great pleasure in announcing another work upon Fourier
+and his system, from the pen of C.J. Hempel. This book is a very
+curious and interesting one, from the attempt of the author to
+show the identity or at least the extraordinary resemblance
+between the views of Fourier and Swedenborg. How far Mr. Hempel
+has been successful I cannot pretend to judge. But this may be
+safely said, no one can examine with any care the writings of
+these two wonderful students of Providence, man and the
+universe, without having most sublime visions of divine order
+opened upon him. Their doctrine of Correspondence and Universal
+Unity accords with all the profoundest thought of the age."</p></div>
+
+<p>Such were the influences under which Brook Farm assumed its final task
+of propagandism. Let us now see how far the coupling of Fourier and
+Swedenborg was kept up in the <i>Harbinger</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The motto of the paper, displayed under its title from first to last,
+was selected from the writings of the Swedish seer. In the editors'
+inaugural address they say:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"In the words of the illustrious Swedenborg, which we have
+selected for the motto of the <i>Harbinger</i>, 'All things, at the
+present day, stand provided and prepared, and await the light.
+The ship is in the harbor; the sails are swelling; the east wind
+blows; let us weigh anchor, and put forth to sea.'"</p></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_546" id="Page_546">[546]</a></span>In a glancing run through the five semi-annual volumes of the
+<i>Harbinger</i> we find between thirty and forty articles on Swedenborg
+and Swedenborgian subjects, chiefly editorial reviews of books,
+pamphlets, etc., with a considerable amount of correspondence from
+Wilkinson, Doherty and other Swedenborgian Fourierists in England. The
+burden of all these articles is the same, viz., the unity of
+Swedenborgianism and Fourierism. On the one hand the Fourierists
+insist that Swedenborg revealed the religion that Fourier anticipated;
+and on the other the Swedenborgians insist that Fourier discovered the
+divine arrangement of society that Swedenborg foreshadowed. The
+reviews referred to were written chiefly by John S. Dwight and Charles
+A. Dana.<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> We will give a few specimens of their utterances:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From Editorials by John S. Dwight.]</p>
+
+<p>*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;"In religion we have Swedenborg; in social economy
+Fourier; in music Beethoven.</p>
+
+<p>*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;"Swedenborg we reverence for the greatness and profundity
+of his thought. We study him continually for the light he sheds
+on so many problems of human destiny, and more especially for
+the remarkable correspondence, as of inner with outer, which his
+revelations present with the discoveries of Fourier concerning
+social organization, or the outward forms of life. The one is
+the great poet and high-priest, the other the great <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_547" id="Page_547">[547]</a></span>economist,
+as it were, of the harmonic order, which all things are
+preparing.</p>
+
+<p>*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;"Call not our praises of Swedenborg 'hollow;' if he
+offered us ten times as much which we could not assent to, it
+would not detract in the least from our reverence for the man,
+or our great indebtedness to his profoundly spiritual insight.</p>
+
+<p>*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;"Deeper foundations for science have not been touched by
+any sounding-line as yet, than these same philosophical
+principles of Swedenborg. Fourier has not gone deeper; but he
+has shed more light on these deep foundations, taken their
+measurement with a more bold precision, and reared a no
+insignificant portion of the everlasting superstructure. But in
+their ground they are both one. Taken together they are the
+highest expression of the tendency of human thought to universal
+unity."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From Editorials by Charles A. Dana.]</p>
+
+<p>*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;"We recommend the writings of Swedenborg to our readers of
+all denominations, as we should recommend those of any other
+providential teacher. We believe that his mission is of the
+highest importance to the human family, and shall take every fit
+occasion to call the attention of the public to it.</p>
+
+<p>*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;"No man of unsophisticated mind can read Swedenborg
+without feeling his life elevated into a higher plane, and his
+intellect excited into new and more reverent action on some of
+the sublimest questions which the human mind can approach.
+Whatever may be thought of the doctrines of Swedenborg or of his
+visions, the spirit which breathes from his works is pure and
+heavenly.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_548" id="Page_548">[548]</a></span>*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;"We do not hesitate to say that the publication and study
+of Swedenborg's scientific writings must produce a new era in
+human knowledge, and thus in society.</p>
+
+<p>*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;"Though Swedenborg and Fourier differ in the character of
+their minds, and the immediate end of their studies, the method
+they adopted was fundamentally the same; their success is thus
+due, not to the vastness of their genius alone, but in a measure
+also to the instruments they employed. The logic of Fourier is
+imperfectly stated in his doctrine of the Series, of Universal
+Analogy, and of Attractions proportional to Destinies; that of
+Swedenborg in the incomplete and often very obscure and
+difficult expositions which appear here and there in his works,
+of the doctrine of Forms; of Order and Degrees; of Series and
+Society; of Influx; of Correspondence and Representation; and of
+Modification. This logic appears to have existed complete in the
+minds of neither of these great men; but even so much of it as
+they have communicated, puts into the hands of the student the
+most invaluable assistance, and attracts him to a path of
+thought in which the successful explorers will receive immortal
+honors from a grateful race.</p>
+
+<p>*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;"The chief characteristic of this epoch is, its tendency,
+everywhere apparent, to unity in universality; and the men in
+whom this tendency is most fully expressed are Swedenborg,
+Fourier and Goethe. In these three eminent persons is summed up
+the great movement toward unity in universality, in religion,
+science and art, which comprise the whole domain of human
+activity. In speaking of Swedenborg as the teacher of this
+century in religion, some of the most obvious <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_549" id="Page_549">[549]</a></span>considerations
+are his northern origin, his peculiar education, etc.</p>
+
+<p>*&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;"We say without hesitation, that, excepting the writings
+of Fourier, no scientific publications of the last fifty years
+are to be compared with [the Wilkinson edition of Swedenborg] in
+importance. To the student of philosophy, to the savan, and to
+the votary of social science, they are alike invaluable, almost
+indispensable. Whether we are inquiring for truth in the
+abstract, or looking beyond the aimlessness and contradictions
+of modern experimentalism in search of the guiding light of
+universal principles, or giving our constant thought to the laws
+of Divine Social Order, and the re-integration of the Collective
+Man, we can not spare the aid of this loving and beloved sage.
+His was a grand genius, nobly disciplined. In him, a devotion to
+truth almost awful, was tempered by an equal love of humanity
+and a supreme reverence for God. To his mind, the order of the
+universe and the play of its powers were never the objects of
+idle curiosity or of cold speculation. He entered into the
+retreats of nature and the occult abode of the soul, as the
+minister of humanity, and not as a curious explorer eager to add
+to his own store of wonders or to exercise his faculties in
+those difficult regions. No man had ever such sincerity, such
+absolute freedom from intellectual selfishness as he."</p></div>
+
+<p>The reader, we trust, will take our word for it, that there is a very
+large amount of this sort of teaching in the volumes of the
+<i>Harbinger</i>. Even Mr. Ripley himself wielded a vigorous cudgel on
+behalf of Swedenborg against certain orthodox critics, and held the
+usual language of his socialistic brethren about the "sublime <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_550" id="Page_550">[550]</a></span>visions
+of the illustrious Swedish seer," his "bold poetic revelations," his
+"profound, living, electric principles," the "piercing truth of his
+productions," etc. Vide <i>Harbinger</i>, Vol. 3, p. 317.</p>
+
+<p>On these and such evidences we came to the conclusion that the Brook
+Farmers, while they disclaimed for Fourierism all sectarian
+connections, did actually couple it with Swedenborgianism in their
+propagative labors; and as Fourierism soon failed and passed away, it
+turned out that their lasting work was the promulgation of
+Swedenborgianism; which certainly has had a great run in this country
+ever since. It would not perhaps be fair to call Fourierism, as taught
+by the <i>Harbinger</i> writers, the stalking-horse of Swedenborgianism;
+but it is not too much to say that their Fourierism, if it had lived,
+would have had Swedenborgianism for its state-religion. This view
+agrees with the fact that the only sectarian Association, avowed and
+tolerated in the Fourier epoch, was the Swedenborgian Phalanx at
+Leraysville.</p>
+
+<p>The entire historical sequence which seems to be established by the
+facts now before us, may be stated thus: Unitarianism produced
+Transcendentalism; Transcendentalism produced Brook Farm; Brook Farm
+married and propagated Fourierism; Fourierism had Swedenborgianism for
+its religion; and Swedenborgianism led the way to Modern Spiritualism.</p>
+
+<br />
+<hr style="width: 15%;" />
+<br />
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> Henry James also wrote many articles for the <i>Harbinger</i>
+in the interest of Swedenborg. His subsequent career as a promulgator
+of the Swedenborgian philosophy, in which he has even scaled the
+heights of the <i>North American Review</i>, is well known; but perhaps it
+is not so well known that he commenced that career in the <i>Harbinger</i>.
+He has continued faithful to both Swedenborg and Fourier, to the
+present time.</p></div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XLII" id="CHAPTER_XLII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_551" id="Page_551">[551]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XLII.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE END OF BROOK FARM.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>It only remains to tell what we know of the causes that brought the
+Brook Farm Phalanx to its end.</p>
+
+<p>Within a year from the time when it assumed the task of propagating
+Fourierism, i.e. on the 3d of March, 1846, a disastrous fire
+prostrated the energies and hopes of the Association. We copy from the
+<i>Harbinger</i> (March 14) the entire article reporting it:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"<span class="sc">Fire at Brook Farm.</span>&mdash;Our readers have no doubt been
+informed before this, of the severe calamity with which the
+Brook Farm Association has been visited, by the destruction of
+the large unitary edifice which it has been for some time
+erecting on its domain. Just as our last paper was going through
+the press, on Tuesday evening the 3d inst., the alarm of fire
+was given at about a quarter before nine, and it was found to
+proceed from the 'Phalanstery;' in a few minutes the flames were
+bursting through the doors and windows of the second story; the
+fire spread with almost incredible rapidity throughout the
+building; and in about an hour and a-half the whole edifice was
+burned to the ground. The members of the Association were on the
+spot in a few moments, and made some attempts to save a quantity
+of lumber that was in the basement story; but so rapid <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_552" id="Page_552">[552]</a></span>was the
+progress of the fire, that this was found to be impossible, and
+they succeeded only in rescuing a couple of tool-chests that had
+been in use by the carpenters.</p>
+
+<p>"The neighboring dwelling-house called the 'Eyry,' was in
+imminent danger while the fire was at its height, and nothing
+but the stillness of the night, and the vigilance and activity
+of those who were stationed on its roof, preserved it from
+destruction. The vigorous efforts of our nearest neighbors, Mr.
+T.J. Orange, and Messrs. Thomas and George Palmer, were of great
+service in protecting this building, as a part of our force were
+engaged in another direction, watching the work-shop, barn, and
+principal dwelling-house.</p>
+
+<p>"In a short time our neighbors from the village of West Roxbury,
+a mile and a-half distant, arrived in great numbers with their
+engine, which together with the engines from Jamaica Plain,
+Newton, and Brookline, rendered valuable assistance in subduing
+the flaming ruins, although it was impossible to check the
+progress of the fire, until the building was completely
+destroyed. We are under the deepest obligations to the fire
+companies which came, some of them five or six miles, through
+deep snow on cross roads, and did every thing in the power of
+skill or energy, to preserve our other buildings from ruin. Many
+of the engines from Boston came four or five miles from the
+city, but finding the fire going down, returned without reaching
+the spot. The engines from Dedham, we understand, made an
+unsuccessful attempt to come to our aid, but were obliged to
+turn back on account of the condition of the roads. No efforts,
+however, would have probably been successful in arresting the
+progress of the flames. The building was divided into nearly a
+hundred rooms in the upper stories, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_553" id="Page_553">[553]</a></span>most of which had been
+lathed for several months, without plaster, and being almost as
+dry as tinder, the fire flashed through them with terrific
+rapidity.</p>
+
+<p>"There had been no work performed on this building during the
+winter months, and arrangements had just been made to complete
+four out of the fourteen distinct suites of apartments into
+which it was divided, by the first of May. It was hoped that the
+remainder would be finished during the summer, and that by the
+first of October, the edifice would be prepared for the
+reception of a hundred and fifty persons, with ample
+accommodations for families, and spacious and convenient public
+halls and saloons. A portion of the second story had been set
+apart for a church or chapel, which was to be finished, in a
+style of simplicity and elegance, by private subscription, and
+in which it was expected that religious services would be
+performed by our friend William H. Channing, whose presence with
+us, until obliged to retire on account of ill health, has been a
+source of unmingled satisfaction and benefit.</p>
+
+<p>"On the Saturday previous to the fire, a stove was put in the
+basement story for the accommodation of the carpenters, who were
+to work on the inside; a fire was kindled in it on Tuesday
+morning which burned till four o'clock in the afternoon; at half
+past eight in the evening, the building was visited by the
+night-watch, who found every thing apparently safe; and at a
+quarter before nine, a faint light was discovered in the second
+story, which was supposed at first to have proceeded from the
+lamp, but, on entering to ascertain the fact, the smoke at once
+showed that the interior was on fire. The alarm was immediately
+given, but almost before the people had time to assemble, the
+whole edifice was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_554" id="Page_554">[554]</a></span>wrapped in flames. From a defect in the
+construction of the chimney, a spark from the stove-pipe had
+probably communicated with the surrounding wood-work; and from
+the combustible nature of the materials, the flames spread with
+a celerity that made every effort to arrest their violence
+without effect.</p>
+
+<p>"This edifice was commenced in the summer of 1844, and has been
+in progress from that time until November last, when the work
+was suspended for the winter, and resumed, as before stated, on
+the day in which it was consumed. It was built of wood, one
+hundred and seventy-five feet long, three stories high, with
+attics divided into pleasant and convenient rooms for single
+persons. The second and third stories were divided into fourteen
+houses independent of each other, with a parlor and three
+sleeping-rooms in each, connected by piazzas which ran the whole
+length of the building on both stories. The basement contained a
+large and commodious kitchen, a dining-hall capable of seating
+from three to four hundred persons, two public saloons, and a
+spacious hall or lecture-room. Although by no means a model for
+the Phalanstery or unitary edifice of a Phalanx, it was well
+adapted for our purposes at present, situated on a delightful
+eminence, which commanded a most extensive and picturesque view,
+and affording accommodations and conveniences in the combined
+order, which in many respects would gratify even a fastidious
+taste. The actual expenditure upon the building, including the
+labor performed by the Association, amounted to about $7,000;
+and $3,000 more, it was estimated, would be sufficient for its
+completion. As it was not yet in use by the Association, and
+until the day of its destruction, not exposed to fire, no
+insurance had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_555" id="Page_555">[555]</a></span>been effected. It was built by investments in our
+loan-stock, and the loss falls upon the holders of
+partnership-stock and the members of the Association.</p>
+
+<p>"It is some alleviation of the great calamity which we have
+sustained, that it came upon us at this time rather than at a
+later period. The house was not endeared to us by any grateful
+recollections; the tender and hallowed associations of home had
+not yet begun to cluster around it; and although we looked upon
+it with joy and hope, as destined to occupy an important sphere
+in the social movement to which it was consecrated, its
+destruction does not rend asunder those sacred ties which bind
+us to the dwellings that have thus far been the scene of our
+toils and of our satisfactions. We could not part with either of
+the houses in which we have lived at Brook Farm, without a
+sadness like that which we should feel at the departure of a
+bosom friend. The destruction of our edifice makes no essential
+change in our pursuits. It leaves no family destitute of a home;
+it disturbs no domestic arrangements; it puts us to no immediate
+inconvenience. The morning after the disaster, if a stranger had
+not seen the smoking pile of ruins, he would not have suspected
+that any thing extraordinary had taken place. Our schools were
+attended as usual; our industry in full operation; and not a
+look or expression of despondency could have been perceived. The
+calamity is felt to be great; we do not attempt to conceal from
+ourselves its consequences: but it has been met with a calmness
+and high trust, which gives us a new proof of the power of
+associated life to quicken the best elements of character, and
+to prepare men for every emergency.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall be pardoned for entering into these almost <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_556" id="Page_556">[556]</a></span>personal
+details, for we know that the numerous friends of Association in
+every part of our land, will feel our misfortune as if it were a
+private grief of their own. We have received nothing but
+expressions of the most generous sympathy from every quarter,
+even from those who might be supposed to take the least interest
+in our purposes; and we are sure that our friends in the cause
+of social unity will share with us the affliction that has
+visited a branch of their own fraternity.</p>
+
+<p>"We have no wish to keep out of sight the magnitude of our loss.
+In our present infant state, it is a severe trial of our
+strength. We can not now calculate its ultimate effect. It may
+prove more than we are able to bear; or like other previous
+calamities, it may serve to bind us more closely to each other,
+and to the holy cause to which we are devoted. We await the
+result with calm hope, sustained by our faith in the universal
+Providence, whose social laws we have endeavored to ascertain
+and embody in our daily lives.</p>
+
+<p>"It may not be improper to state, as we are speaking of our own
+affairs more fully than we have felt at liberty to do before in
+the columns of our paper, that, whatever be our trials of an
+external character, we have every reason to rejoice in the
+internal condition of our Association. For the last few months
+it has more nearly than ever approached the idea of a true
+social order. The greatest harmony prevails among us; not a
+discordant note is heard; a spirit of friendship, of brotherly
+kindness, of charity, dwells with us and blesses us; our social
+resources have been greatly multiplied; and our devotion to the
+cause which has brought us together, receives new strength every
+day. Whatever may be in reserve for us, we have an infinite
+satisfaction in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_557" id="Page_557">[557]</a></span>true relations which have united us, and
+the assurance that our enterprise has sprung from a desire to
+obey the Divine law. We feel assured that no outward
+disappointment or calamity can chill our zeal for the
+realization of a Divine order of society, or abate our effort in
+the sphere which may be pointed out by our best judgment as most
+favorable to the cause which we have at heart."</p></div>
+
+<p>In the next number of the <i>Harbinger</i> (March 21), an editorial
+addressed to the friends of Brook Farm, indicated some depression and
+uncertainty. The following are extracts from it:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"We do not altogether agree with our friends, in the importance
+which they attach to the special movement at Brook Farm; we have
+never professed to be able to represent the idea of Association
+with the scanty resources at our command; nor would the
+discontinuance of our establishment or of any of the partial
+attempts which are now in progress, in the slightest degree
+weaken our faith in the associative system, or our conviction
+that it will sooner or later be adopted as the only form of
+society suited to the nature of man and in accordance with the
+Divine will. We have never attempted any thing more than to
+prepare the way for Association, by demonstrating some of the
+leading ideas on which the theory is founded; in this we have
+had the most gratifying success; but we have always regarded
+ourselves only as the humble pioneers in the work, which would
+be carried on by others to its magnificent consummation, and
+have been content to wait and toil for the development of the
+cause and the completion of our hope.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_558" id="Page_558">[558]</a></span>"Still we have established a center of influence here for the
+associative movement, which we shall spare no effort to sustain.
+We are fully aware of the importance of this; and nothing but
+the most inexorable necessity, will withdraw the congenial
+spirits that are gathered in social union here, from the work
+which has always called forth their most earnest devotedness and
+enthusiasm. Since our disaster occurred, there has not been an
+expression or symptom of despondency among our number; all are
+resolute and calm; determined to stand by each other and by the
+cause; ready to encounter still greater sacrifices than have as
+yet been demanded of them; and desirous only to adopt the course
+which may be presented by the clearest dictates of duty. The
+loss which we have sustained occasions us no immediate
+inconvenience, does not interfere with any of our present
+operations; although it is a total destruction of resources on
+which we had confidently relied, and must inevitably derange our
+plans for the enlargement of the Association and the extension
+of our industry. We have a firm and cheerful hope, however, of
+being able to do much for the illustration of the cause with the
+materials that remain. They are far too valuable to be
+dispersed, or applied to any other object; and with favorable
+circumstances will be able to accomplish much for the
+realization of social unity."</p></div>
+
+<p>This fire was a disaster from which Brook Farm never recovered. The
+organization lingered, and the <i>Harbinger</i> continued to be published
+there, till October 1847; but the hope of becoming a model Phalanx
+died out long before that time. The <i>Harbinger</i> is very reticent in
+relation to the details of the dissolution. We can only give the
+reader the following scraps hinting at the end:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the New York <i>Tribune</i> (August, 1847), in answer to an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_559" id="Page_559">[559]</a></span>
+allegation in the New York <i>Observer</i> <br />that "the Brook Farm
+Association, which was near Boston, had wound up its affairs
+some time since."]</p>
+
+<p>"The Brook Farm Association not only was, but is near Boston,
+and the <i>Harbinger</i> is still published from its press. But,
+having been started without capital, experience or industrial
+capacity, without reference to or knowledge of Fourier's or any
+other systematic plan of Association, on a most unfavorable
+locality, bought at a high price, and constantly under mortgage,
+this Association is about to dissolve, when the paper will be
+removed to this city, with the master-spirits of Brook Farm as
+editors. The Observer will have ample opportunity to judge how
+far experience has modified their convictions or impaired their
+energies."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From a report of a Boston Convention of Associationists, in the
+<i>Harbinger</i>, October 23, 1847.]</p>
+
+<p>"The breaking up of the life at Brook Farm was frequently
+alluded to, especially by Mr. Ripley, who, on the eve of
+entering a new sphere of labor for the same great cause,
+appeared in all his indomitable strength and cheerfulness,
+triumphant amid outward failure. The owls and bats and other
+birds of ill omen which utter their oracles in leading political
+and sectarian religious journals, and which are busily croaking
+and screeching of the downfall of Association, had they been
+present at this meeting, could their weak eyes have borne so
+much light, would never again have coupled failure with the
+thought of such men, nor entertained a feeling other than of
+envy of experience like theirs."</p></div>
+
+<p>The next number of the <i>Harbinger</i> (October 30, 1847) announced that
+that paper would in future be published in New York under the
+editorial charge of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_560" id="Page_560">[560]</a></span>Parke Godwin, assisted by George Ripley and
+Charles A. Dana in New York, and William H. Channing and John S.
+Dwight in Boston. This of course implied the dispersion of the Brook
+Farmers, and the dissolution of the Association; and this is all we
+know about it.</p>
+
+<p>The years 1846 and 1847 were fatal to most of the Fourier experiments.
+Horace Greeley, under date of July 1847, wrote to the <i>People's
+Journal</i> the following account of what may be called,</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen"><i>Fourierism reduced to a Forlorn Hope.</i></p>
+
+<p>"As to the Associationists (by their adversaries termed
+'Fourierites'), with whom I am proud to be numbered, their
+beginnings are yet too recent to justify me in asking for their
+history any considerable space in your columns. Briefly,
+however, the first that was heard in this country of Fourier and
+his views (beyond a little circle of perhaps a hundred persons
+in two or three of our large cities, who had picked up some
+notion of them in France or from French writings), was in 1840,
+when Albert Brisbane published his first synopsis of Fourier's
+theory of industrial and household Association. Since then, the
+subject has been considerably discussed, and several attempts of
+some sort have been made to actualize Fourier's ideas, generally
+by men destitute alike of capacity, public confidence, energy
+and means. In only one instance that I have heard of was the
+land paid for on which the enterprise commenced; not one of
+these vaunted 'Fourier Associations' ever had the means of
+erecting a proper dwelling for so many as three hundred people,
+even if the land had been given them. Of course, the time for
+paying the first installment on the mortgage covering their land
+has generally witnessed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_561" id="Page_561">[561]</a></span>the dissipation of their sanguine
+dreams. Yet there are at least three of these embryo
+Associations still in existence; and, as each of these is in its
+third or fourth year, they may be supposed to give some promise
+of vitality. They are the North American Phalanx, near
+Leedsville, New Jersey; the Trumbull Phalanx, near Braceville,
+Ohio; and the Wisconsin Phalanx, Ceresco, Wisconsin. Each of
+these has a considerable domain nearly or wholly paid for, is
+improving the soil, increasing its annual products, and
+establishing some branches of manufactures. Each, though far
+enough from being a perfect Association, is animated with the
+hope of becoming one, as rapidly as experience, time and means
+will allow."</p></div>
+
+<p>Of the three Phalanxes thus mentioned as the rear-guard of Fourierism,
+one&mdash;the Trumbull&mdash;disappeared about four months afterward (very
+nearly at the time of the dispersion of Brook Farm), and another&mdash;the
+Wisconsin&mdash;lasted only a year longer, leaving the North American alone
+for the last four years of its existence.</p>
+
+<p>Brook Farm in its function of propagandist (which is always expensive
+and exhausting at the best), must have been sadly depressed by the
+failures that crowded upon it in its last days; and it is not to be
+wondered that it died with its children and kindred.</p>
+
+<p>If we might suggest a transcendental reason for the failure of Brook
+Farm, we should say that it had naturally a <i>delicate constitution</i>,
+that was liable to be shattered by disasters and sympathies; and the
+causes of this weakness must be sought for in the character of the
+afflatus that organized it. The transcendental afflatus, like that of
+Pentecost, had in it two elements, viz., <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_562" id="Page_562">[562]</a></span>Communism, and "the gift of
+tongues;" or in other words, the tendency to religious and social
+unity, represented by Channing and Ripley; and the tendency to
+literature, represented by Emerson and Margaret Fuller. But the
+proportion of these elements was different from that of Pentecost.
+<i>The tendency to utterance was the strongest.</i> Emerson prevailed over
+Channing even in Brook Farm; nay, in Channing himself, and in Ripley,
+Dana and all the rest of the Brook Farm leaders. In fact they went
+over from practical Communism to literary utterance when they assumed
+the propagandism of Fourierism; and utterance has been their vocation
+ever since. A similar phenomenon occurred in the history of the great
+literary trio of England, Coleridge, Wordsworth and Southey. Their
+original afflatus carried them to the verge of Communism; but "their
+gift of tongues" prevailed and spoiled them. And the tendency to
+literature, as represented by Emerson, is the farthest opposite of
+Communism, finding its <i>summum bonum</i> in individualism and incoherent
+instead of organic inspiration.</p>
+
+<p>The end of Brook Farm was virtually the end of Fourierism. One or two
+Phalanxes lingered afterward, and the <i>Harbinger</i>, was continued a
+year or two in New York; but the enthusiasm of victory and hope was
+gone; and the Brook Farm leaders, as soon as a proper transition could
+be effected, passed into the service of the <i>Tribune</i>.</p>
+
+<p>During the fatal year following the fire at Brook Farm, the famous
+controversy between Greeley and Raymond took place, which we have
+mentioned as Greeley's last battle in defense of retreating
+Fourierism. It commenced on the 20th of November, 1846, and ended on
+the 20th of May, 1847, each of the combatants <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_563" id="Page_563">[563]</a></span>delivering twelve
+well-shotted articles in their respective papers, the <i>Tribune</i> and
+the <i>Courier and Enquirer</i>, which were afterward published together in
+pamphlet-form by the Harpers. Parton, in his biography of Greeley,
+says at the beginning of his report of that discussion, "It <i>finished</i>
+Fourierism in the United States;" and again at the close&mdash;"Thus ended
+Fourierism. Thenceforth the <i>Tribune</i> alluded to the subject
+occasionally, but only in reply to those who sought to make political
+or personal capital by reviving it."</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XLIII" id="CHAPTER_XLIII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_564" id="Page_564">[564]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XLIII.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE SPIRITUALIST COMMUNITIES.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>We proposed at the beginning to trace the history of the Owen and
+Fourier movements, as comprising the substance of American Socialisms.
+After reaching the terminus of this course, it is still proper to
+avail ourselves of the station we have reached, to take a birds-eye
+view of things beyond.</p>
+
+<p>We must not, however, wander from our subject. <span class="sc">Co-operation</span>
+is the present theme of enthusiasm in the <i>Tribune</i>, and among many of
+the old representatives of Fourierism. But Co-operation is not
+Socialism. It is a very interesting subject, and doubtless will have
+its history; but it does not belong to our programme. Its place is
+among the <i>preparations</i> of Socialism. It is not to be classed with
+Owenism, Fourierism and Shakerism; but with Insurance, Saving's Banks
+and Protective Unions. It is not even the offspring of the theoretical
+Socialisms, but rather a product of general common sense and
+experiment among the working classes. It is the application of the
+principle of combination to the business of buying and distributing
+goods; whereas Socialism proper is the application of that principle
+to domestic arrangements, and requires at the lowest, local gatherings
+and combinations of homes. If the old <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_565" id="Page_565">[565]</a></span>Socialists have turned aside or
+gone back to Co-operation, it is because they have lost their original
+faith, and like the Israelites that came out of Egypt, are wandering
+their forty years in the wilderness, instead of entering the promised
+land in three days, as they expected.</p>
+
+<p>We do not believe that the American people have lost sight of the
+great hope which Owen and Fourier set before them, or will be
+contented with any thing less than unity of interests carried into all
+the affairs of life. Co-operation as one of the preparations for this
+unity, is interesting them at the present time, in the absence of any
+promising scheme of real Socialism. But they are interested in it
+rather as a movement among the oppressed operatives of Europe, where
+nothing higher can be attempted, than as a consummation worthy of the
+progress that has commenced in Young America.</p>
+
+<p>Our present business as historians of American Socialisms, is not with
+Co-operation, but with experiments in actual Association which have
+occurred since the downfall of Fourierism.</p>
+
+<p>The terminus we have reached is 1847, the year of Brook Farm's
+decease. Since then "Modern Spiritualism" has been the great American
+excitation. And it is interesting to observe that all the Socialisms
+that we have surveyed, sent streams (if they did not altogether
+debouch) into this gulf. It is well known that Robert Owen in his last
+days was converted to Spiritualism, and transferred all he could of
+his socialistic stock to that interest. His successor, Robert Dale
+Owen, has not carried forward the communistic schemes of his father,
+but has been the busy patron of Spiritualism. Several other indirect
+but important <i>anastomoses</i> of Owenism <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_566" id="Page_566">[566]</a></span>with Spiritualism may be
+traced; one, through Josiah Warren and his school of Individual
+Sovereignty at Modern Times, where Nichols and Andrews developed the
+germ of spiritualistic free-love; another (curiously enough), through
+Elder Evans of New Lebanon, who was originally an Owen man, and now
+may be said to be a common center of Shakerism, Owenism and
+Spiritualism. In his auto-biographical articles in the <i>Atlantic
+Monthly</i> he maintained that Shakerism was the actual mother of
+Spiritualism, and had the first run of the "manifestations," that
+afterwards were called the "Rochester rappings." And lastly,
+Fourierism, by its marriage with Swedenborgianism at Brook Farm, and
+in many other ways, gave its strength to Spiritualism.</p>
+
+<p>It is a point of history worth noting here, that Mr. Brisbane is
+mentioned in the introduction to Andrew Jackson Davis's Revelations,
+as one of the witnesses of the <i>seances</i> in which that work was
+uttered. C.W. Webber, a spiritualistic expert, in the introduction to
+his story of "Spiritual Vampirism," refers to this conjunction of
+Fourierism with Spiritualism, as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"No man, who has kept himself informed of the psychological
+history and progress of his race, can by any means fail to
+recognize at once, in the pretended 'revelations' of Davis, the
+mere <i>disjecta membra</i> of the systems so extensively promulgated
+by Fourier and Swedenborg. Davis, during the whole period of his
+'utterings,' was surrounded by groups, consisting of the
+disciples of Fourier and Swedenborg; as, for instance, the
+leading Fourierite of America [Mr. Brisbane] was, for a time, a
+constant attendant upon those mysterious meetings, at which the
+myths of innocent Davis were formally announced from the
+condition of clairvoyance, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_567" id="Page_567">[567]</a></span>transcribed by his keeper, for
+the press; while the chief exponent and minister of
+Swedenborgianism in New York [George Bush] was often seated side
+by side with him. Can it be possible that these men failed to
+comprehend, as thought after thought, principle after principle,
+was enunciated in their presence, which they had previously
+supposed to belong exclusively to their own schools, that the
+'revelation' was merely a sympathetic reflex of their own
+derived systems? It was no accident; for, as often as Fourierism
+predominated in 'the evening lecture,' it was sure that the
+prime representative of Fourier was present; and when the
+peculiar views of Swedenborg prevailed, it was equally certain
+that he was forcibly represented in the conclave. Sometimes both
+schools were present; and on those identical occasions we have a
+composite system of metaphysics promulgated, which exhibited,
+most consistently, the doctrines of Swedenborg and Fourier,
+jumbled in liberal and extraordinary confusion."</p></div>
+
+<p>As might be expected, Spiritualism has taken something from each of
+the Socialisms which have emptied into it. It is obvious enough that
+it has the omnivorous marvelousness of the Shakers, combined with the
+infidelity of the Owenites. But probably the world knows little of the
+tendency to socialistic speculation and experiment which it has
+inherited from all three of its confluents. It has had very little
+success in its local attempts at Association; and this has been owing
+chiefly to the superior tenacity of its devotion to the great
+antagonist of Association, Individual Sovereignty, which devotion also
+it inherited specially from Owen through Warren, and generally from
+both the Owen and Fourier schools. In consequence of its never having
+been able <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_568" id="Page_568">[568]</a></span>to produce more than very short-lived abortions of
+Communities, its Socialisms have not attracted much attention; but it
+has been continually speculating and scheming about Association, and
+its attempts on all sorts of plans ranging between Owenism and
+Fourierism, with inspiration superadded, have been almost numberless.</p>
+
+<p>One of the first of these spiritualistic attempts, and probably a
+favorable specimen of the whole, was the Mountain Cove Community.
+Having applied in vain for information, to several persons who had the
+best opportunity to know about this Community, we must content
+ourselves with a very imperfect sketch, obtained chiefly from
+statements and references furnished by Macdonald, and from documents
+in the files of the Oneida <i>Circular</i>.</p>
+
+<p>All the witnesses we have found, testify that this Community was set
+on foot by the rapping spirits in a large circle of Spiritualists at
+Auburn, New York, sometime between the years 1851 and 1853. It appears
+to have had active constituents at Oneida, Verona, and other places in
+Oneida and Madison Counties. Several of the leading "New York
+Perfectionists" in those places were conspicuous in the preliminary
+proceedings, and some of them actually joined the emigration to
+Virginia. The first reference to the movement that we have found, is
+in a letter from Mr. H.N. Leet, published in the <i>Circular</i>, November
+16, 1851. He says:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The 'rappings' have attracted my attention. I have scarcely
+known whether I should have to consider them as wholly of earth,
+or regard them as from Hades; or even be 'sucked in' with the
+other old Perfectionists. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_569" id="Page_569">[569]</a></span>The reports I hear from abroad are
+wonderful, and some of them well calculated to make men exclaim,
+'This is the great power of God!' But what I see and hear
+partakes largely of the ridiculous, if not the contemptible.
+They have had frequent meetings at the houses of Messrs. Warren,
+Foot, Gould, Stone, Mrs. Hitchcock, etc.; and 'a chiel's amang
+them them taking notes;' but whether he will 'prent 'em' or not,
+is uncertain. I have from time to time been writing out what
+facts have come under my observation, and do so yet.</p>
+
+<p>"Yesterday in their meeting, I heard extracts of letters from
+Mr. Hitchcock written from Virginia; in which he states that
+they have found the garden of Eden, the identical spot where our
+first parents sinned, and on which no human foot has trod since
+Adam and Eve were driven out; that himself, Ira S. Hitchcock,
+was the first who has been permitted to set his foot upon it;
+and further, that in all the convulsions of nature, the
+upheavings and depressions, this spot has remained undisturbed
+as it originally appeared. This is the spot that is to form the
+center in the redemption now at hand; and parts adjacent are, by
+convulsions and a reverse process, to be restored to their
+primeval state. This is the substance of what I heard read. The
+revelation was said to have been spelled out to them by raps
+from Paul."</p></div>
+
+<p>In a subsequent letter published in the <i>Circular</i> December 14, 1851,
+Mr. Leete sent us the spiritual document which summoned the saints to
+Mountain Cove, introducing it as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"I send inclosed an authentic copy of a printed circular, said
+to have been received by Mr. Scott, the spiritual leader of the
+Virginia movement, in this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_570" id="Page_570">[570]</a></span>manner, viz.: the words were seen in
+a vision, printed in space, one at a time, declared off by him,
+and written down by some one else."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen"><i>Mountain Cove Circular.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Go! Scarcely let time intervene. Escape the vales of death.
+Pass from beneath the cloud of magnetic human glory. Flee to the
+mountains whither I direct. Rest in their embrace, and in a
+place fashioned and appointed of old. There the dark cloud of
+magnetic death has never rested. For I, the Lord, have thus
+decreed, and in my purpose have I sworn, and it shall come to
+pass. Time waiteth for no man.</p>
+
+<p>"For above the power of sin a storm is gathering that shall
+sweep away the refuge of lies. Come out of her, O, my people!
+for their sun shall be darkened, and their moon turned into
+blood, and their stars shall fall from their heaven. The Samson
+of strength feeleth for the pillars of the temple. Her
+foundation already moveth. Her ruin stayeth for the rescue of my
+people.</p>
+
+<p>"The city of refuge is builded as a hiding place and a shelter;
+as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land; as an asylum for
+the afflicted; a safety for those fleeing from the power of sin
+which pursueth to destroy. In that mountain my people shall rest
+secure. Above it the cloud of glory descendeth. Thence it
+encompasseth the saints. There angels shall ascend and descend.
+There the soul shall feast and be satisfied. There is the bread
+and the water of life. 'And in this mountain shall the Lord of
+hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of
+wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the
+lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face
+of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_571" id="Page_571">[571]</a></span>covering cast over all people, and the vail that is
+spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory;
+and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and
+the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the
+earth; for the Lord hath spoken it.' And I will defend Zion, for
+she is my chosen. There shall the redeemed descend. There shall
+my people be made one. There shall the glory of the Lord appear,
+descending from the tabernacle of the Most High.</p>
+
+<p>"The end is not yet.</p>
+
+<p>"You are the chosen. Go, bear the reproaches of my people. Go
+without the camp. Lead in the conquest. Vanquish the foe. As ye
+have been bidden, meekly obey. Paradise hath no need of the
+things that ye love so dearly. For earthly apparel, if obedient,
+ye shall have garments of righteousness and salvation. For
+earthly treasures, ye shall gather grapage from your Maker's
+throne. For tears, ye shall have jewels, as dewdrops from
+heaven. For sighs, notes of celestial melody. For death, ye
+shall have life. For sorrow, ye shall have fulness of joy.
+Cease, then, your earthly struggle. All ye love or value, ye
+shall still possess. Earth is departing. The powers and
+imaginations of men are rolling together like a scroll. Escape
+the wreck ere it leaps into the abyss of woe. Forget not each
+other. Bear with each other. Love each other. Go forth as lambs
+to the slaughter. For lo, thy King cometh, and ere thou art
+slain he shall defend. Kiss the rod that smites thee, and bow
+chastened at thy Maker's throne."</p></div>
+
+<p>Here occurs a long break in our information, extending from December
+1851, to July 1853. How the Community was established and what
+progress it made in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_572" id="Page_572">[572]</a></span>that interval, the reader must imagine for
+himself. Our leap is from the beginning to near the end. The
+<i>Spiritual Telegraph</i> of July 2, 1853, contained the following:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"<span class="sc">Mountain Cove Community.</span>&mdash;We copy below an article
+from the <i>Journal of Progress</i>, published in New York. It is
+from the pen of Mr. Hyatt, who was for a time a member of the
+Community at Mountain Cove. Mr. Hyatt is a conscientious man,
+and is still a firm believer in a rational Spiritualism. We have
+never regarded the claims of Messrs. Scott and Harris with
+favor, though we have thought and still think, that the motives
+and life of the latter were always honorable and pure. There are
+other persons at the Mountain who are justly esteemed for their
+virtues; but we most sincerely believe they are deluded by the
+absurd pretensions of Mr. Scott."</p></div>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[<i>From the Journal of Progress.</i>]</p>
+
+<p>"Most of our readers are undoubtedly aware that there is a
+company of Spiritualists now residing at Mountain Cove,
+Virginia, whose claims of spiritual intercourse are of a
+somewhat different nature from those usually put forth by
+believers in other parts of the country.</p>
+
+<p>"This movement grew out of a large circle of Spiritualists at
+Auburn, New York, nearly two years since; but the pretensions on
+the part of the prime movers became of a far more imposing
+nature than they were in Auburn, soon after their location at
+Mountain Cove. It is claimed that they were directed to the
+place which they now occupy, by God, in fulfillment of certain
+prophecies in Isaiah, for the purpose of redeeming all who would
+co-operate with them and be dictated by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_573" id="Page_573">[573]</a></span>their counsel; and the
+place which they occupy is denominated 'the Holy Mountain, which
+was sanctified and set apart for the redemption of his people.'</p>
+
+<p>"The principal mediums, James L. Scott and Thomas L. Harris,
+profess absolute Divine inspiration, and entire infallibility;
+that the infinite God communicates with them directly, without
+intermediate agency; and that by him they are preserved from the
+possibility of error in any of their dictations which claim a
+spiritual origin.</p>
+
+<p>"By virtue of these assumptions, and claiming to be the words of
+God, all the principles and rules of practice, whether of a
+spiritual or temporal nature, which govern the believers in that
+place, are dictated by the individuals above mentioned. Among
+the communications thus received, which are usually in the form
+of arbitrary decrees, are requirements which positively forbid
+those who have once formed a belief in the divinity of the
+movement, the privilege of criticising, or in any degree
+reasoning upon, the orders and communications uttered; or in
+other words, the disciples are forbidden the privilege of having
+any reason or conscience at all, except that which is prescribed
+to them by this oracle. The most unlimited demands of the
+controlling intelligence must be acceded to by its followers, or
+they will be thrust without the pale of the claimed Divine
+influence, and utter and irretrievable ruin is announced as the
+penalty.</p>
+
+<p>"In keeping with such pretensions, these 'Matthiases' have
+claimed for God his own property; and hence men are required to
+yield up their stewardships: that is, relinquish their temporal
+possessions to the Almighty. And, in pursuance of this, there
+has been a large <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_574" id="Page_574">[574]</a></span>quantity of land in that vicinity deeded
+without reserve by conscientious believers, to the human
+vicegerents of God above mentioned, with the understanding that
+such conveyance is virtually made to the Deity!</p>
+
+<p>"As would inevitably be the case, this mode of operations has
+awakened in the minds of the more reasoning and reflective
+members, distrust and unbelief, which has caused some, with
+great pecuniary loss, to withdraw from the Community, and with
+others who remain, has ripened into disaffection and violent
+opposition; and the present condition of the 'Holy Mountain' is
+anything but that of divine harmony. Discord, slander and
+vindictiveness is the order of proceedings, in which one or both
+of the professed inspired mediators take an active part; and the
+prospect now is, that the claims of divine authority in the
+temporal matters of 'the Mountain,' will soon be tested, and the
+ruling power conceded to be absolute, or else completely
+dethroned."</p></div>
+
+<p>After the above, came the following counter-statement in the
+<i>Spiritual Telegraph</i>, August 6, 1853:</p>
+
+<div class="block">
+<p class="right"><i>Cincinnati, July 14, 1853.</i></p>
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">Mr. S.B. Brittan</span>&mdash;Sir: A friend has handed me the
+<i>Telegraph</i> of July 2, and directed my attention to an article
+appearing in that number, headed 'Mountain Cove Community,'
+which, although purporting to be from the pen of one familiar
+with our circumstances at the Cove, differs widely from the
+facts in our case.</p>
+
+<p>"Suffice it for the present to say, that Messrs. Scott and
+Harris, either jointly or individually, for themselves, or as
+the 'human vicegerents of God,' have and hold no deed (as the
+article quoted from the <i>Journal of Progress</i> represents) of
+lands at the Cove. Neither have they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_575" id="Page_575">[575]</a></span>pecuniary supporters
+there. Nor are men residing there required or expected to deal
+with them upon terms aside from the ordinary rules of business
+transactions. They have no claims upon men there for temporal
+benefits. They exact no tithes, or even any degree of
+compensation for public services; and, although they have
+preached and lectured to the people there during their sojourn
+in that country, they have never received for such services a
+penny; and, except what they have received from a few liberal
+friends who reside in other portions of the country, they secure
+their temporal means by their own industry. Moreover, for land
+and dwellings occupied by them, they are obligated to pay rent
+or lease-money; and should they at any time obtain a deed,
+according to present written agreement, they are to pay the full
+value to those who are the owners of the soil and by virtue
+thereof still retain their steward-ship.</p>
+
+<p>"I have thus briefly stated facts; facts of which I should have
+an unbiased knowledge, and of which I ought to be a competent
+judge. These facts I have ample means to authenticate, and
+together with a full and explicit statement of the nature of the
+lease, when due the public, if ever, I shall not hesitate to
+give. And from these the reader may determine the character of
+the entire expose, so liberally indorsed, as also other
+statements so freely trumpeted, relative to us at Mountain Cove.</p>
+
+<p>"From some years of the most intimate intercourse with the Rev.
+T.L. Harris, surrounded by circumstances calculated to try men's
+souls, I am prepared to bear testimony to your statements
+relative to his goodness and purity; and will add, that were all
+men of like <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_576" id="Page_576">[576]</a></span>character, earth would enjoy a saving change, and
+that right speedily.</p>
+
+<p>"Assured that your sense of right will secure for this brief
+statement, equal notoriety with the charges preferred against
+us&mdash;hence a place in the columns of the <i>Telegraph</i>;</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="leftsig">I am, &amp;c.,</span>   J.L. Scott."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>This counter-statement has the air of special pleading, and all the
+information that we have obtained by communication with various
+ex-members of the Mountain Cove Community, goes to confirm the
+substance of the preceding charges. The following extracts from a
+letter in reply to some of our questions, is a specimen:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"There were indications in the acts of one or more individuals
+at Mountain Cove, that plainly showed their desire to get
+control of the possessions which other individuals had saved as
+the fruits of their industry and economy. Those evil designs
+were frustrated by those who were the intended victims of the
+crafty, though not without some pecuniary sacrifice to the
+innocent."</p></div>
+
+<p>From all this we infer that the Mountain Cove Community came to its
+end in the latter part of 1853, by a quarrel about property; which is
+all we know about it.</p>
+
+<p>This was the most noted of the Spiritualist Communities. The rest are
+not noticed by Macdonald, and, so far as we know, hardly deserve
+mention.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XLIV" id="CHAPTER_XLIV"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_577" id="Page_577">[577]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XLIV.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE BROCTON COMMUNITY.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>We are forbidden to class this Association with the Spiritualist
+Communities, by a positive disclaimer on the part of its founders: as
+the reader will see further on. Otherwise we should have said that the
+Brocton Community is the last of the series which commenced at
+Mountain Cove. Thomas L. Harris, the leader at Brocton, was also one
+of the two leaders at Mountain Cove, and as Swedenborgianism, his
+present faith, is certainly a species of Spiritualism, not altogether
+unrelated to the more popular kind which he held in the times of
+Mountain Cove, we can not be far wrong in counting the Brocton
+Community as one of the <i>sequel&aelig;</i> of Fourierism, and in the true line
+of succession from Brook Farm.</p>
+
+<p>After the bad failure of non-religious Socialism in the Owen
+experiments, and the worse failure of semi-religious Socialism in the
+Fourier experiments, a lesson seems to have been learned, and a
+tendency has come on, to lay the foundations of socialistic
+architecture in some kind of Spiritualism, equivalent to religion.
+This tendency commenced, as we have seen, among the Brook Farmers, who
+promulgated Swedenborgianism <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_578" id="Page_578">[578]</a></span>almost as zealously as they did
+Fourierism. The same tendency is seen in the history of the Owens,
+father and son. Thus, it is evident that the entire Spiritualistic
+platform has been pushed forward by a large part of its constituency,
+as a hopeful basis of future Socialisms. And the Brocton Community
+seems to be the final product and representative of this tendency to
+union between Spiritualism and Socialism.</p>
+
+<p>As Mr. Harris and Mr. Oliphant, the two conspicuous men at Brocton,
+are both Englishmen, we might almost class that Community with the
+exotics, which do not properly come into our history. But the close
+connection of Brocton with the Spiritualistic movement, and the
+general interest it has excited in this country, on the whole entitle
+it to a place in the records of American Socialisms. The following
+account is compiled from a brilliant report in the <i>New York Sun</i> of
+April 30, 1869, written by Oliver Dyer:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen"><i>History and Description of the Brocton Community.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Nine miles beyond Dunkirk, on the southerly shore of Lake Erie,
+in the village of Brocton, New York, is a Community which, in
+some respects, and especially as to the central idea around
+which the members gather, is probably without a parallel in the
+annals of mankind.</p>
+
+<p>"The founder of this Community is the Rev. Thomas Lake Harris,
+an Englishman by birth, but whose parents came to this country
+when he was three years old. He was for several years a noted
+preacher of the Universalist denomination in New York.
+Subsequently he went to England, where he had a noticeable
+career as a preacher of strange doctrines. Between five and six
+years ago he returned to this country, and settled in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_579" id="Page_579">[579]</a></span>Amenia,
+Duchess County, where he prospered as a banker and
+agriculturist, until in October, 1867, he (as he claims), in
+obedience to the direct leadings of God's spirit, took up his
+abode at his present residence in Chautauqua County, on the
+southerly shore of Lake Erie, and founded the Brocton Community.</p>
+
+<p>"The tract of land owned and occupied by the Community,
+comprises a little over sixteen hundred acres, and is about two
+and a-half miles long, by one mile in breadth. One-half of this
+tract was purchased by Mr. Harris with his own money; the
+residue was purchased with the money of his associates and at
+their request is held by him in trust for the Community. The
+main building on the premises (for there are several residences)
+is a low, two-story edifice straggling over much ground.</p>
+
+<p>"A deep valley runs through the estate, and along the bed of the
+valley winds a copious creek, on the northerly bank of which, at
+a well-selected site, stands a saw-mill, [the inevitable!] which
+seems to have constant use for all its teeth.</p>
+
+<p>"The land for the most part lies warm to the sun, and its
+quality and position are such that it does not require
+under-draining, which is a great advantage. It is bountifully
+supplied with wood and water and is variegated in surface and in
+soil.</p>
+
+<p>"About eighty acres are in grapes, of several varieties, among
+which are the Concord, Isabella, Salem, Iona, Rogers's Hybrid
+and others. They expect much from their grapes. The intention is
+to strive for quality rather than quantity, and to run
+principally to table fruit of an excellence which will command
+the highest prices.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_580" id="Page_580">[580]</a></span>"It is the intention of the Community to go extensively into the
+dairy business, and considerable progress has already been made
+in that direction. Other industrial matters are also being
+driven ahead with skill and vigor; but a large portion of the
+estate has yet to be brought under cultivation, and there is a
+deal of hard work to be done to make the 1,600 acres
+presentable, and to secure comfortable homes for the workers.</p>
+
+<p>"There are about sixty adult members of the Community, besides a
+number of children. Among the rest are five orthodox clergymen;
+several representatives from Japan; several American ladies of
+high social position and exquisite culture, etc.</p>
+
+<p>"But the members who attract the most attention, at least of the
+newspaper world, are Lady Oliphant and her son, Lawrence
+Oliphant, who are understood to be exiles from high places in
+the aristocracy of England.</p>
+
+<p>"All these work together on terms of entire equality, and all
+are very harmonious in religion, notwithstanding their previous
+diversity of position and faith.</p>
+
+<p>"This is a very religious Community. Swedenborg furnishes the
+original doctrinal and philosophical basis of its faith, to
+which Mr. Harris, as he conceives, has been led by Providence to
+add other and vital matters, which were unknown until they were
+revealed through him. They reverence the Scriptures as the very
+word of God.</p>
+
+<p>"The fundamental religious belief of the Community may be summed
+up in the dogma, that there is one God and only one, and that he
+is the Lord Jesus Christ. The religion of the Community is
+intensely practical, and may be stated as, faith in Christ, and
+a life in accordance with his commandments.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_581" id="Page_581">[581]</a></span>"And here comes in the question, What is a life in accordance
+with Christ's commandments? Mr. Harris and his fellow believers
+hold that when a man is 'born of the Spirit,' he is inevitably
+drawn into communal relations with his brethren, in accordance
+with the declaration that 'the disciples were of one heart and
+one mind, and had all things in common.'</p>
+
+<p>"This doctrine of Communism has been held by myriads, and
+repeated attempts have been made, but made in vain, to embody it
+in actual life. It is natural, therefore, to distrust any new
+attempt in the same direction. Mr. Harris is aware of this
+general distrust, and of the reasons for it; but he claims that
+he has something which places his attempt beyond the
+vicissitudes of chance, and bases it upon immutable certainty;
+that hitherto there has been no palpable criterion whereby the
+existence of God could be tested, no tangible test whereby the
+indication of his will could be determined; but that such
+criterion and test have now been vouchsafed, and that on such
+criterion and test to him communicated, his Community is
+founded.</p>
+
+<p>"The pivot on which this movement turns, the foundation on which
+it rests, the grand secret of the whole matter, is known in the
+Community as 'open respiration,' also as 'divine respiration;'
+and the starting point of the theory is, that God created man in
+his own image and likeness, and breathed into him the breath of
+life. That the breathing into man of the breath of life was the
+sensible point of contact between the divine and human, between
+God and man. That man in his holy state was, so to speak,
+directly connected with God, by means of what might be likened
+to a spiritual respiratory umbilical chord, which ran from God
+to man's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_582" id="Page_582">[582]</a></span>inmost or celestial nature, and constantly suffused
+him with airs from heaven, whereby his spiritual respiration or
+life was supported, and his entire nature, physical as well as
+spiritual, kept in a state of godlike purity and innocence,
+without, however, any infringement of man's freedom.</p>
+
+<p>"That after the fall of man this spiritual respiratory
+connection between God and man was severed, and the spiritual
+intercourse between the Creator and the creature brought to an
+end, and hence spiritual death. That the great point is to have
+this respiratory connection with God restored. That Mr. Harris
+and those who are co-operating with him have had it restored,
+and are in the constant enjoyment thereof. That it is by this
+divine respiration, and by no other means, that a human being
+can get irrefragable, tangible, satisfactory evidence that God
+is God, and that man has or can have conjunction with God. This
+divine respiration retains all that is of the natural
+respiration as its base and fulcrum, and builds upon and employs
+it for its service.</p>
+
+<p>"In the new respiration, God gives an atmosphere that is as
+sensitive to moral quality as the physical respiration is to
+natural quality; and this higher breath, whose essence is
+virtue, builds up the bodies of the virtuous, wars against
+disease, expels the virus of hereditary maladies, renews health
+from its foundations, and stands in the body as a sentinel
+against every plague. When this spiritual respiration descends
+and takes possession of the frame, there is thenceforth a
+guiding power, a positive inspiration, which selects the
+recipient's calling, which trains him for it, which leads him to
+favorable localities, and which co-ordinates affairs on a large
+scale. It will deal with groups as with individuals; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_583" id="Page_583">[583]</a></span>it will
+re-distribute mankind; it will re-organize the village, the
+town, the workshop, the manufactory, the agricultural district,
+the pastoral region, gathering human atoms from their
+degradation, and crystallizing them in resplendent unities.</p>
+
+<p>"This primary doctrine has for its accompaniment a special
+theory of love and marriage, which is this: In heaven the basis
+of social order is marital order, and so it must be in this
+world. There, all the senses are completed and included in the
+sense of chastity; that sense of chastity is there the body for
+the soul of conjugal desire; there, the corporeal element of
+passion is excluded from the nuptial senses: there, the utterly
+pure alone are permitted to enter into the divine state involved
+in nuptial union; and so it must be here below. The 'sense of
+chastity' is the touchstone of conjugal fitness, and is bestowed
+in this wise:</p>
+
+<p>"When the Divine breaths have so pervaded the nervous structures
+that the higher attributes of sensation begin to waken from
+their immemorial torpor, and to react against disease, a sixth
+sense is as evident as hearing is to the ear, or sight to
+vision. It is distributed through the entire frame. So
+exquisitely does it pervade the hands that the slightest touch
+declares who are chaste and who are unchaste. And this sixth
+sense is the sense of chastity. It comes from God, who is the
+infinite chastity.</p>
+
+<p>"Within this sense of chastity nuptial love has its
+dwelling-place. So utterly hostile is it by nature to what the
+world understands by desire and passion, that the waftings of an
+atmosphere bearing these elements in its bosom affect it with
+loathing. This sense of chastity literally clothes every nerve.
+A living, sensitive <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_584" id="Page_584">[584]</a></span>garment, without spot or seam, it invests
+the frame of the universal sensations, and gives instant warning
+of the approach of impurity even in thought.</p>
+
+<p>"In true nuptial love, which is born of love to God, the nuptial
+pair, from the inmost oneness of the divine being, are embosomed
+each in each, as loveliness in loveliness, innocence in
+innocence, blessedness in blessedness. In possessing each other
+they possess the Lord, who prepares the two to become one heart,
+one mind, one soul, one love, one wisdom, one felicity. There
+are ladies and gentlemen in the Community who claim to have
+attained this sense of chastity to such a degree that they
+instantly detect the presence of an impure person.</p>
+
+<p>"It may surprise the reader to hear that what is called
+'Spiritualism' finds no favor in this Community. All phases of
+the spirit-rapping business are abhorred.</p>
+
+<p>"A cardinal principle of government, as to their own affairs in
+the Community, is unity of conviction. The Council of Direction
+consists of nineteen members; and if any one of them fails to
+perceive the propriety of a course or plan agreed upon by the
+other eighteen, it is accepted as an indication of Providence
+that the time for carrying out the course or plan has not yet
+come; and they patiently wait until the entire Council becomes
+'of one heart and one mind' as to the matter proposed.</p>
+
+<p>"They do not hunger for proselytes, nor seek public recognition.
+They know that the spirit is the great matter; and that an
+enterprise, as well as a human being, or a tree, must grow from
+the internal, vital principle, and not from external
+agglomerations. Whosoever, therefore, applies for admission to
+their circle is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_585" id="Page_585">[585]</a></span>subject to crucial spiritual tests and a
+revealing probation. Unconditional surrender to God's will,
+absolute chastity not only in act but in spirit, complete
+self-abnegation, a full acceptance of Christ as the only and
+true God, are fundamental conditions even to a probationship.</p>
+
+<p>"Painting, sculpture, music and all the accomplishments are to
+have fitting development. There is no Quakerism or Puritanism in
+them. Man (including woman) is to be developed liberally,
+thoroughly, grandly, but all in the name of the Lord, and with
+an eye single to God's glory. Science, art, literature,
+languages, mechanics, philosophy, whatever will help to give
+back to man his lost mastership of the universe, is to be
+subordinated for that purpose.</p>
+
+<p>"Their domestic affairs, including cooking and washing, are
+carried on much as in the outside world. They live in many
+mansions, and have no unitary household. But they are alive to
+all the teachings of science and sociology on these topics, and
+intend to make machinery and organization do as much of the
+drudgery of the Community as possible.</p>
+
+<p>"They have no peculiar costume or customs. They eat, drink,
+dress, converse and worship God just like cultivated Christians
+elsewhere. They have no regular preaching at present, nor
+literary entertainments, but all these are to come in due
+season. They intend, as their numbers increase, and as the
+organization solidifies, to inaugurate whatever institutions may
+be necessary to promote their intellectual and spiritual
+welfare, and also to establish such industries and manufactures
+on the domain, as sound, economical discretion, vivified and
+guided by the new respiration, shall dictate.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_586" id="Page_586">[586]</a></span>"By means of the new respiration they think that, in the lapse
+of time, mankind will become regenerate, and society be
+reconstructed, and physical disease banished from the earth, and
+a millennial reign inaugurated under the domination of Divine
+order. They especially expect great things in the East; that the
+doctrine of the Lord, as set forth by Swedenborg and Mr. Harris,
+and re-inforced by the new respiration, will by and by sweep
+over Asia, where the people are already beginning to be tossed
+on the waves of spiritual unrest, and are longing for a higher
+religious development."</p></div>
+
+<p>After this luminous introduction, Mr. Dana, the editor of the <i>Sun</i>,
+followed with the article ensuing:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">"WILL IT SUCCEED?</p>
+
+<p>"The account which we published yesterday, from the accomplished
+pen of Mr. Oliver Dyer, of the new Community in Chautauqua
+County, which Mr. Harris, Mr. Oliphant and their associates are
+engaged in founding, will, we think, excite attention
+everywhere. Considered as a religious movement alone, the
+enterprise merits a candid and even sympathetic attention. Its
+fundamental ideas are such as must promote thought and inquiry
+wherever they are promulgated. That they are all true, as a
+matter of theological doctrine, we certainly are not prepared to
+affirm; but that they challenge a respectful interest in the
+minds of all sincere inquirers after spiritual truth, can not be
+disputed. But it is not as a new form of Christianity, with new
+dogmas and new pretensions, that we have to deal with the system
+proclaimed at Brocton. What especially engages our observation
+is the social aspect of the undertaking. Is it founded upon
+notions that promise any considerable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_587" id="Page_587">[587]</a></span>advance upon the present
+form of society? Does it contain within itself the elements of
+success?</p>
+
+<p>"As respects the first question, we are free to answer that the
+scheme of the Brocton philosophers is too little developed, too
+immature in their own minds, to allow of any dogmatic judgment
+respecting it. The religious phase of the Community, and the
+enthusiasm which belongs to it, have not yet crystallized in
+relations of industry, art, education and external life,
+sufficiently to show the precise end at which it will aim.
+Indeed it would seem that its founders have avoided rather than
+cultivated those speculations on the organization of society to
+which most social innovators give the first place in their
+thoughts. Starting from man's highest spiritual nature alone,
+they prefer to leave every practical problem to be solved as it
+rises, not by scientific theory or business shrewdness, but by
+the help of that supernatural inspiration which forms a vital
+point in their theology. But on the other hand, they are pledged
+to democratic equality, to perfect respect for the dignity of
+labor, and to brotherly justice in the distribution alike of the
+advantages of life and the earnings of the common toil. We may
+conclude, then, that despite the Communism which seems to lie at
+the foundation of their design, with its annihilation of
+individual property, and its tendency to annihilate individual
+character also, all persons who can adopt the religion of this
+Community will find a happier life within its precincts than
+they can look for elsewhere. But that it will initiate a new
+stage in the world's social progress, or exercise any
+perceptible influence upon the general condition of mankind, is
+not to be expected.</p>
+
+<p>"As to the probability of its lasting, that seems to us <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_588" id="Page_588">[588]</a></span>to be
+strong. Communities based upon peculiar religious views, have
+generally succeeded. The Shakers and the Oneida Community are
+conspicuous illustrations of this fact; while the failure of the
+various attempts made by the disciples of Fourier, Owen and
+others, who have not had the support of religious fanaticism,
+proves that without this great force the most brilliant social
+theories are of little avail. Have the Brocton people enough of
+it to carry them safely through? Or is their religion of too
+transcendental a character to form a sure and tenacious cement
+for their social structure? These questions only time can
+positively answer; but we incline to the belief that they are
+likely to live and prosper, to become numerous and wealthy, and
+to play a much more influential part in the world than either of
+the bodies of religious Socialists that have preceded them."</p></div>
+
+<p>The reader will perhaps expect us to say something from our
+stand-point, in answer to Mr. Dana's question, "Will it succeed?" and
+as the name of the Oneida Community is called in connection with the
+Shakers and the Broctonians, it seems proper that we should do what we
+can to help on a fair comparison of these competing Socialisms.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, many of the cardinal principles reported in Mr.
+Dyer's account, command our highest respect and sympathy. Religion as
+the basis, inspiration as the guide, Providence as the insurer,
+reverence for the Bible, Communism of property, unanimity in action,
+abstinence from proselytism, self-improvement instead of preaching and
+publicity, liberality of culture in science, art, literature,
+language, mechanics, philosophy, and whatever will help to give back
+man his lost <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_589" id="Page_589">[589]</a></span>mastership of the universe, these and many other of the
+fundamentals at Brocton we recognize as old acquaintances and very
+dear friends. With this acknowledgment premised, we will be free to
+point out some things which we regard as unpromising weaknesses in the
+constitution of the new Socialism.</p>
+
+<p>The Brocton Community is evidently very religious, and so far may be
+regarded as strong in the first element of success. Its religion,
+however, is Swedenborgianism, revised and adapted to the age, but not
+essentially changed; and we have seen that the experiments in
+Socialism which Swedenborgians have heretofore made, have not been
+successful. The Yellow Spring Community in Owen's time, and the
+Leraysville Phalanx in the Fourier epoch, were avowedly Swedenborgian
+Associations; but they failed as speedily and utterly as their
+contemporaries. Notwithstanding the claim of a wonderful affinity
+between Swedenborgianism and Fourierism which the <i>Harbinger</i> used to
+make, it seems probable that the afflatus of pure Swedenborgianism is
+not favorable to Communism or to close Association of any kind.
+Swedenborg in his personal character was not a Socialist or an
+organizer in any way, but a very solitary speculator; and the heavens
+he set before the world were only sublimated embodiments of the
+ordinary principle of private property, in wives and in every thing
+else.</p>
+
+<p>When we say that the Brocton Community is Swedenborgian, we do not
+forget that Mr. Harris professes to have made important additions to
+the Teutonic revelations. But we see that the fundamental doctrines
+reported by Mr. Dyer are essentially the same as those we have found
+in Swedenborg's works. Even the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_590" id="Page_590">[590]</a></span>pivotal discovery of "internal
+respiration" is not original with Mr. Harris. Swedenborg had it in
+theory and in personal experience. He ascribes the purity of the
+Adamic church to this condition, and its degeneracy and destruction,
+to the loss of it. Thus he says:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"It was shown me, that [at the time of the degeneracy of the
+Adamites] the internal respiration, which proceeded from the
+navel toward the interior region of the breast, retired toward
+the region of the back and toward the abdomen, thus outward and
+downward. Immediately before the flood scarce any internal
+respiration existed. At last it was annihilated in the breast,
+and its subjects were choked or suffocated. In those who
+survived, external respiration was opened. With the cessation of
+internal respiration, immediate intercourse with angels and the
+instant and instinctive perception of truth and falsehood, were
+lost."</p></div>
+
+<p>And Mr. White, the latest biographer of Swedenborg, says of him:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"The possession by him of the power of easy transition of sense
+and consciousness from the lower to the upper world, arose, it
+would appear, from some peculiarities in his physical
+organization. The suspension of respiration under deep thought,
+common to all men, was preternaturally developed in him; and in
+his diary he makes a variety of observations on his case; as for
+instance he says:</p>
+
+<p>"'My respiration has been so formed by the Lord, as to enable me
+to breathe inwardly for a long time without the aid of the
+external air, my respiration being directed within, and my
+outward senses, as well as actions, still continuing in their
+vigor, which is only possible with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_591" id="Page_591">[591]</a></span>persons who have been so
+formed by the Lord. I have also been instructed that my
+breathing was so directed, without my being aware of it, in
+order to enable me to be with spirits, and to speak with them.'</p>
+
+<p>"Again, he tells us that there are many species of respirations
+inducing divers introductions to the spirits and angels with
+whom the lungs conspire; and goes on to say, that he was at
+first habituated to insensible breathing in his infancy, when at
+morning and evening prayers, and occasionally afterward when
+exploring the concordance between the heart, lungs and brain,
+and particularly when writing his physiological works; that for
+a number of years, beginning with his childhood, he was
+introduced to internal respiration mainly by intense
+speculations in which breathing stops, for otherwise intense
+thought is impossible. When heaven was open to him, and he spoke
+with spirits, sometimes for nearly an hour he scarcely breathed
+at all. The same phenomena occurred when he was going to sleep,
+and he thinks that his preparation went forward during repose.
+So various was his breathing, so obedient did it become, that he
+thereby obtained the range of the higher world, and access to
+all its spheres."</p></div>
+
+<p>Thus it would seem that what Mr. Harris is attempting at Brocton is,
+to realize on a large scale the experience of Swedenborg, and
+reproduce the Adamic church. This "open respiration," however, must be
+an oracular influx not essentially different from that which guides
+the Shakers, the Ebenezers, and all the religious Communities. We have
+called it afflatus. It does not appear to be strong enough in the
+Brocton Community to dissolve old-fashioned familism; which we
+consider a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_592" id="Page_592">[592]</a></span>bad sign, as our readers know. There is an inevitable
+competition between the family-spirit and the Community-spirit, which
+all the "internal respiration" that we have enjoyed, has never been
+able to harmonize in any other way than by thoroughly subordinating
+family interests, and making the Community the prime organization. And
+it is quite certain that this has been the experience of the Shakers
+and all the other successful Communities. Indeed this is the very
+revolution that is involved in real Christianity. The private family
+has been and is the unit of society in naturalism, i.e. in the
+pre-Christian, pagan state. But the Church, which is equivalent to the
+Association, or Community, or Phalanx, is clearly the unit of society
+in the Christian scheme.</p>
+
+<p>The Brocton philosophy of love and marriage is manifestly
+Swedenborgian. In some passages it seems like actual Shakerism, but
+the prevailing sense is that of intensified conjugality, <i>a la</i>
+Swedenborg. Here again the Swedenborgian afflatus will be very
+unfavorable to success. Swedenborg wrote in the same vein as Mr.
+Harris talks, about chastity; but withal he kept mistresses at several
+times in his life; and he recommends mistress-keeping to those who
+"can not contain." Moreover he gives married men thirty-four reasons,
+many of them very trivial, for keeping concubines. Above all, his
+theory of marriage in heaven, involving the sentimentalism of
+predestined mating (which doubtless is retained entire in the Brocton
+philosophy), not only leads directly to contempt of ordinary marriage,
+as being an artificial system of blunders, but necessarily authorizes
+the "right of search" to find the true mate. The practical result of
+this theory is seen <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_593" id="Page_593">[593]</a></span>in the system of "free love," or experimenting
+for "affinities," which has prevailed among Spiritualists. It will
+require a very high power of "internal respiration" to steer the
+Brocton Community through these dangers, resulting from its
+affiliation with the Swedenborgian principality. Close Association is
+a worse place than ordinary society for working out the delicate
+problems of the negative theory of chastity.</p>
+
+<p>The Broctonians are reported as reverencing the Bible, but this can
+only mean that they reverence it in Swedenborg's fashion. He rejected
+about half of it (including all of Paul's writings) as uninspired; and
+worshiped the rest as full of divinity, stuffed in every letter and
+dot with double and triple significance, of which significance he
+alone had the key.</p>
+
+<p>Probably Mr. Harris's principal deviation from the Swedenborgian
+theology, is the introduction of his original faith of Universalism.
+Swedenborg lived and wrote before modern benevolence was developed so
+far as to require the elimination of future punishment; and with all
+his laxity on other points, he was more orthodox and uncompromising in
+regard to the eternity of hell-torments, and even as to their
+sulphuric nature, than any writer the world has ever seen before or
+since. Hence the Spiritualists, who generally belong to the
+Universalist school, either have to quarrel with Swedenborg openly, as
+Andrew Jackson Davis did, or modify his system on this point, as T.L.
+Harris has done.</p>
+
+<p>We were surprised, as Mr. Dyer supposes his readers might be, to learn
+that the Brocton Communists abhor "all phases of the rapping
+business;" for we remember that Mr. Harris was counted among
+Spiritualists in old times, and we see that he is still in pursuit of
+the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_594" id="Page_594">[594]</a></span>Adamic status and other attainments that were the objective
+points of the Mountain Cove Community.</p>
+
+<p>As to externals, the Brocton Community, we fear, has got the
+land-mania, which ruined so many of the Owen and Fourier Associations.
+Sixteen hundred acres must be a dreary investment for a young and
+small Community. If our experience is worth any thing, and if we might
+offer our advice, we should say, Sell two-thirds of that domain and
+put the proceeds into a machine-shop. Agriculture, after all, is not a
+primary business. Machinery goes before it; always did and always will
+more and more. Plows and harrows, rakes and hoes, were the dynamics
+even of ancient farming; and the men that invented and made them were
+greater than farmers. The Oneida Community made its fortune by first
+sinking forty thousand dollars in training a set of young men as
+machinists. The business thus started has proved to be literally a
+high school in comparison with farming or almost any other business,
+not excepting that of academies and colleges. With that school always
+growing in strength and enthusiasm, we can make the tools for all
+other businesses, and the whole range of modern enterprise is open to
+us.</p>
+
+<p>If the Brocton leaders have plenty of money at interest, we see no
+reason why they may not live pleasantly and do well in some form of
+loose co-operation. But with the weaknesses we have noticed, we doubt
+whether their "internal respiration" will harmonize them in close
+Association, or enable them to get their living by amateur farming.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XLV" id="CHAPTER_XLV"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_595" id="Page_595">[595]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XLV.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE SHAKERS.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>We should hardly do justice to the Shakers if we should leave them
+undistinguished among the obscure exotics. Their influence on American
+Socialisms has been so great as to set them entirely apart from the
+other antique religious Communities. Macdonald makes more of them than
+of any other single Community, devoting nearly a hundred pages to
+their history and peculiarities. Most of his material relating to
+them, however, may be found in their own current publications; and
+need not be reproduced here. But there is one document in his
+collection giving an "inside view" of their social and religious life,
+which we are inclined to publish for special reasons. It is, in the
+first place, a picture of their daily routine, as faithful as could be
+expected from one who appears to have been neither a friend nor an
+enemy to them; and its representations in this respect are verified
+substantially by various Shaker publications. But it is specially
+interesting to us as a disclosure of the historical secret which
+connects Shakerism with "modern Spiritualism." Elder Evans, the
+conspicuous man of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_596" id="Page_596">[596]</a></span>the Shakers, in his late autobiography alludes to
+this secret in the following terms:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"In 1837 to 1844, there was an influx from the spirit world,
+confirming the faith of many disciples, who had lived among
+believers for years, and extending throughout all the eighteen
+[Shaker] societies, making media by the dozen, whose various
+exercises, not to be suppressed even in their public meetings,
+rendered it imperatively necessary to close them all to the
+world during a period of seven years, in consequence of the then
+unprepared state of the world, to which the whole of the
+manifestations, and the meetings too, would have been as
+unadulterated foolishness, or as inexplicable mysteries.</p>
+
+<p>"The spirits then declared, again and again, that, when they had
+done their work among the inhabitants of Zion, they would do a
+work in the world, of such magnitude, that not a place nor a
+hamlet upon earth should remain unvisited by them.</p>
+
+<p>"After their mission among us was finished, we supposed that the
+manifestations would immediately begin in the outside world; but
+we were much disappointed; for we had to wait four years before
+the work began, as it finally did, at Rochester, New York. But
+the rapidity of its course throughout the nations of the earth
+(as also the social standing and intellectual importance of the
+converts), has far exceeded the predictions."</p>
+
+<p class="right">&mdash;<i>Atlantic Monthly</i>, May, 1869.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The narrative we are about to present relates to the period of closed
+doors here mentioned, and to some of the "manifestations" which had to
+be withdrawn from public view, lest they should be regarded as
+"unadulterated foolishness." It is perhaps the only testimony the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_597" id="Page_597">[597]</a></span>world has in regard to the events which, according to Evans, were the
+real beginnings of modern Spiritualism.</p>
+
+<p>Macdonald does not give the name of the writer, but says that he was
+an "intimate and esteemed friend, who went among the Shakers partly to
+escape worldly troubles, and partly through curiosity; and that his
+story is evidently clear-headed and sincere."</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen"><i>Four Months Among the Shakers.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Circumstances that need not be rehearsed, induced me to visit
+the Shaker Society at Watervliet, in the winter of 1842-3. Soon
+after my arrival, I was conducted to the Elder whose business it
+was to deal with inquirers. He was a good-looking old man, with
+a fine open countenance, and a well-formed head, as I could see
+from its being bald. I found him very intelligent, and soon made
+known to him my business, which was to learn something about the
+Shakers and their conditions of receiving members. On my
+observing that I had seen favorable accounts of their society in
+the writings of Mr. Owen, Miss Martineau, and other travelers in
+the United States, he replied, that 'those who wished to know
+the Shakers, must live with them;' and this remark proved to be
+true. He propounded to me at considerable length their faith,
+'the daily cross' they were obliged to take up against the devil
+and the flesh, and the supreme virtue of a life of celibacy.
+When he had concluded I asked if those who wished to join the
+society were expected to acknowledge a belief in all the
+articles of their faith? To which he replied, 'that they were
+not, for many persons came there to join them, who had never
+heard their gospel preached; but they were always received, and
+an opportunity given them of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_598" id="Page_598">[598]</a></span>accepting or rejecting it.' He
+then informed me of the conditions under which they received
+candidates: 'All new comers have one week's trial, to see how
+they like; and after that, if they wish to continue they must
+take up the daily cross, and commence the work of regeneration
+and salvation, following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and
+Mother Ann.' My first cross, he informed me, would be to confess
+all the wicked acts I had ever committed. I asked him if he gave
+absolution like a Catholic priest. He replied, 'that God forgave
+sins and not they; but it was necessary in beginning the work of
+salvation, to unburden the mind of all its past sins.' I thought
+this confession (demanded of strangers) was a piece of good
+policy on their part; for it enabled the Elder who received the
+confession, to form a tolerable opinion of the individual to be
+admitted. I agreed however before confession to make a week's
+trial of the place, and was accordingly invited to supper; after
+which I was shown to the sleeping room specially set apart for
+new members. I was not left here more than an hour when a small
+bell rang, and one of the brothers entered the room and invited
+me to go to the family meeting; where I saw for the first time
+their mode of worshiping God in the dance. I thought it was an
+exciting exercise, and I should have been more pleased if they
+had had instrumental, instead of vocal music.</p>
+
+<p>"At first my meals were brought to me in my room, but after a
+few days I was invited to commence the work of regeneration and
+prepare for confession, that I might associate with the rest of
+the brothers. On making known my readiness to confess, I was
+taken to the private confession-room, and there recounted a
+brief history of my past life. This appeared rather to please
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_599" id="Page_599">[599]</a></span>the Elder, and he observed that I 'had not been very wicked.' I
+replied, 'No, I had not abounded in acts of crime and
+debauchery.' But the old man, to make sure I was not deceiving
+him, tried to frighten me, by telling me of individuals who had
+not made a full confession of their wickedness, and who could
+find no peace or pleasure until they came back and revealed all.
+He assured me moreover that no wicked person could continue
+there long without being found out. I was curious to know how
+such persons would be detected; so he took me to the window and
+pointed out the places where 'Mother Ann' had stationed four
+angels to watch over her children; and 'these angels,' he said,
+'always communicated any wickedness done there, or the presence
+of any wicked person among them.' 'But,' he continued, 'you can
+not understand these things; neither can you believe them, for
+you have not yet got faith enough.' I replied: 'I can not see
+the angels!' 'No,' said he, 'I can not see them with the eye of
+sense; but I can see them with the eye of faith. You must labor
+for faith: and when any thing troubles you that you can not
+understand or believe, come to me, and do not express doubts to
+any of the brethren.' The Elder then put on my eyes a pair of
+spiritual golden spectacles, to make me see spiritual things. I
+instinctively put up my hands to feel them, which made the old
+gentleman half laugh, and he said, 'Oh, you can not feel them;
+they will not incommode you, but will help you to see spiritual
+things.'</p>
+
+<p>"After this I was permitted to eat with the family and invited
+to attend their love-meetings. I was informed that I had perfect
+liberty to leave the village whenever I chose to do so; but that
+I was to receive no pay for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_600" id="Page_600">[600]</a></span>my services if I were to leave; I
+should be provided for, the same as if I were one of the oldest
+members, with food, clothing and lodgings, according to their
+rules.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">DAILY ROUTINE.</p>
+
+<p>"The hours of rising were five o'clock in the summer, and
+half-past five in the winter. The family all rose at the toll of
+the bell, and in less than ten minutes vacated the bed-rooms.
+The sisters then distributed themselves throughout the rooms,
+and made up all the beds, putting every thing in the most
+perfect order before breakfast. The brothers proceeded to their
+various employments, and made a commencement for the day. The
+cows were milked, and the horses were fed. At seven o'clock the
+bell rang for breakfast, but it was ten minutes after when we
+went to the tables. The brothers and sisters assembled each by
+themselves, in rooms appointed for the purpose; and at the sound
+of a small bell the doors of these rooms opened, and a
+procession of the family was formed in the hall, each individual
+being in his or her proper place, as they would be at table. The
+brothers came first, followed by the sisters, and the whole
+marched in solemn silence to the dining-room. The brothers and
+sisters took separate tables, on opposite sides of the room. All
+stood up until each one had arrived at his or her proper place,
+and then at a signal from the Elder at the head of the table,
+they all knelt down for about two minutes, and at another signal
+they all arose and commenced eating their breakfast. Each
+individual helped himself; which was easily done, as the tables
+were so arranged that between every four persons there was a
+supply of every article intended for the meal. At the conclusion
+they all arose and marched <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_601" id="Page_601">[601]</a></span>away from the tables in the same
+manner as they marched to them; and during the time of marching,
+eating, and re-marching, not one word was spoken, but the most
+perfect silence was preserved.</p>
+
+<p>"After breakfast all proceeded immediately to their respective
+employments, and continued industriously occupied until ten
+minutes to twelve o'clock, when the bell announced dinner.
+Farmers then left the field and mechanics their shops, all
+washed their hands, and formed procession again, and marched to
+dinner in the same way as to breakfast. Immediately after dinner
+they went to work again, (having no hour for resting), and
+continued steady at it until the bell announced supper. At
+supper the same routine was gone through as at the other meals,
+and all except the farmers went to work again. The farmers were
+supposed to be doing what were called 'chores,' which appeared
+to mean any little odd jobs in and about the stables and barns.
+At eight o'clock all work was ended for the day, and the family
+went to what they called a 'union meeting.' This meeting
+generally continued one hour, and then, at about nine o'clock,
+all retired to bed."</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">UNION MEETINGS.</p>
+
+<p>"The two Elders and the two Eldresses held their meetings in the
+Elders' room. The three Deacons and the three Deaconesses met in
+one of their rooms. The rest of the family, in groups of from
+six to eight brothers and sisters, met in other rooms. At these
+meetings it was customary for the seats to be arranged in two
+rows about four feet apart. The sisters sat in one row, and the
+brothers in the other, facing each other. The meetings were
+rather dull, as the members had nothing to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_602" id="Page_602">[602]</a></span>converse about save
+the family affairs; for those who troubled themselves about the
+things of the world, were not considered good Shakers. It was
+expected that in coming there we should leave the 'world' behind
+us. The principal subject of conversation was eating and
+drinking. One brother sometimes eulogized a sister whom he
+thought to be the best cook, and who could make the best
+'Johnny-cake.' At one meeting that I attended, there was a
+lively conversation about what we had for dinner; and by this
+means, it might be said, we enjoyed our dinner twice over.</p>
+
+<p>"I have thus given the routine for one day; and each week-day
+throughout the year was the same. The only variation was in the
+evening. Besides these union meetings, every alternate evening
+was devoted to dancing. Sundays also had a routine of their own,
+which I will not detail.</p>
+
+<p>"During the time I was with the Shakers, I never heard one of
+them read the Bible or pray in public. Each one was permitted to
+pray or let it alone as he pleased, and I believe there was very
+little praying among them. Believing as they did that all
+'worldly things' should be left in the 'world' behind them, they
+did not even read the ordinary literature of the day. Newspapers
+were only for the use of the Elders and Deacons. The routine I
+have described was continually going on; and it was their boast
+that they were then the same in their habits and manners as they
+were sixty years before. The furniture of the dwellings was of
+the same old-fashioned kind that the early Dutch settlers used;
+and every thing about them and their dwellings, I was taught,
+was originally designed in heaven, and the designs transmitted
+to them by angels. The plan of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_603" id="Page_603">[603]</a></span>their buildings, the style of
+their furniture, the pattern of their coats and pants, and the
+cut of their hair, is all regulated according to communications
+received from heaven by Mother Ann. I was gravely told by the
+first Elder, that the inhabitants of the other world were
+Shakers, and that they lived in Community the same as we did,
+but that they were more perfect.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">THE DANCING MEETINGS.</p>
+
+<p>"At half-past seven P.M. on the dancing days, all the members
+retired to their separate rooms, where they sat in solemn
+silence, just gazing at the stove, until the silver tones of a
+small tea-bell gave the signal for them to assemble in the large
+hall. Thither they proceeded in perfect order and solemn
+silence. Each had on thin dancing-shoes; and on entering the
+door of the hall they walked on tip-toe, and took up their
+positions as follows: the brothers formed a rank on the right,
+and the sisters on the left, facing each other, about five feet
+apart. After all were in their proper places the chief Elder
+stepped into the center of the space, and gave an exhortation
+for about five minutes, concluding with an invitation to them
+all to 'go forth, old men, young men and maidens, and worship
+God with all their might in the dance.' Accordingly they 'went
+forth,' the men stripping off their coats and remaining in their
+shirt-sleeves. First they formed a procession and marched around
+the room at double-quick time, while four brothers and four
+sisters stood in the center singing for them. After marching in
+this manner until they got a little warm, they commenced
+dancing, and continued it until they were all pretty well tired.
+During the dance the sisters kept on one side, and the brothers
+on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_604" id="Page_604">[604]</a></span>other, and not a word was spoken by any of them. After
+they appeared to have had enough of this exercise, the Elder
+gave the signal to stop, when immediately each one took his or
+her place in an oblong circle formed around the room, and all
+waited to see if any one had received a 'gift,' that is, an
+inspiration to do something odd. Then two of the sisters would
+commence whirling round like a top, with their eyes shut; and
+continued this motion for about fifteen minutes; when they
+suddenly stopped and resumed their places, as steady as if they
+had never stirred. During the 'whirl' the members stood round
+like statues, looking on in solemn silence.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">A MESSAGE FROM MOTHER ANN.</p>
+
+<p>"On some occasions when a sister had stopped her whirling, she
+would say, 'I have a communication to make;' when the head
+Eldress would step to her side and receive the communication,
+and then make known the nature of it to the company. The first
+message I heard was as follows: 'Mother Ann has sent two angels
+to inform us that a tribe of Indians has been round here two
+days, and want the brothers and sisters to take them in. They
+are outside the building there, looking in at the windows.' I
+shall never forget how I looked round at the windows, expecting
+to see the yellow faces, when this announcement was made; but I
+believe some of the old folks who eyed me, bit their lips and
+smiled. It caused no alarm to the rest, but the first Elder
+exhorted the brothers 'to take in the poor spirits and assist
+them to get salvation.' He afterward repeated more of what the
+angels had said, viz., 'that the Indians were a savage tribe who
+had all died before Columbus discovered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_605" id="Page_605">[605]</a></span>America, and had been
+wandering about ever since. Mother Ann wanted them to be
+received into the meeting to-morrow night.' After this we
+dispersed to our separate bed-rooms, with the hope of having a
+future entertainment from the Indians.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">INDIAN ORGIES.</p>
+
+<p>"The next dancing night we again assembled in the same manner as
+before, and went through the marching and dancing as usual;
+after which the hall doors were opened, and the Elder invited
+the Indians to come in. The doors were soon shut again, and one
+of the sisters (the same who received the original
+communication) informed us that she saw Indians all around and
+among the brothers and sisters. The Elder then urged upon the
+members the duty of 'taking them in.' Whereupon eight or nine
+sisters became possessed of the spirits of Indian squaws, and
+about six of the brethren became Indians. Then ensued a regular
+pow-wow, with whooping and yelling and strange antics, such as
+would require a Dickens to describe. The sisters and brothers
+squatted down on the floor together, Indian fashion, and the
+Elders and Eldresses endeavored to keep them asunder, telling
+the men they must be separated from the squaws, and otherwise
+instructing them in the rules of Shakerism. Some of the Indians
+then wanted some 'succotash,' which was soon brought them from
+the kitchen in two wooden dishes, and placed on the floor; when
+they commenced eating it with their fingers. These performances
+continued till about ten o'clock; then the chief Elder requested
+the Indians to go away, telling them they would find some one
+waiting to conduct them to the Shakers in the heavenly world. At
+this announcement <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_606" id="Page_606">[606]</a></span>the possessed men and women became themselves
+again, and all retired to rest.</p>
+
+<p>"The above was the first exhibition of the kind that I
+witnessed, but it was a very trifling affair to what I afterward
+saw. To enable you to understand these scenes, I must give you
+as near as I can, the ideas the Shakers have of the other world.
+As I gathered from conversations with the Elder, and from his
+teaching and preaching at the meetings, it is as follows: Heaven
+is a Shaker Community on a very large scale. Every thing in it
+is spiritual. Jesus Christ is the head Elder, and Mother Ann the
+head Eldress. The buildings are large and splendid, being all of
+white marble. There are large orchards with all kinds of fruit.
+There are also very large gardens laid out in splendid style,
+with beautiful rivers flowing through them; but all is
+spiritual. Outside of this heaven the spirits of the departed
+wander about on the surface of the earth (which is the Shaker
+hell), till they are converted to Shakerism. Spirits are sent
+out from the aforesaid heaven on missionary tours, to preach to
+the wandering ones until they profess the faith, and then they
+are admitted into the heavenly Community.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">SPIRITUAL PRESENTS.</p>
+
+<p>"At one of the meetings, after a due amount of marching and
+dancing, by which all the members had got pretty well excited,
+two or three sisters commenced whirling, which they continued to
+do for some time, and then stopped suddenly and revealed to us
+that Mother Ann was present at the meeting, and that she had
+brought a dozen baskets of spiritual fruit for her children;
+upon which the Elder invited all to go forth <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_607" id="Page_607">[607]</a></span>to the baskets in
+the center of the floor, and help themselves. Accordingly they
+all stepped forth and went through the various motions of taking
+fruit and eating it. You will wonder if I helped myself to the
+fruit, like the rest. No; I had not faith enough to see the
+baskets or the fruit; and you may think, perhaps, that I laughed
+at the scene; but in truth, I was so affected by the general
+gravity and the solemn faces I saw around me, that it was
+impossible for me to laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Other things as well as fruit were sometimes sent as presents,
+such as spiritual golden spectacles. These heavenly ornaments
+came in the same way as the fruit, and just as much could be
+seen of them. The first presents of this kind that were received
+during my residence there, came as follows: A sister whirled for
+some time; then stopped and informed the Eldress as usual that
+Mother Ann had sent a messenger with presents for some of her
+most faithful children. She then went through the action of
+handing the articles to the Eldress, at the same time mentioning
+what they were, and for whom. As near as I can remember, there
+was a pair of golden spectacles, a large eye-glass with a chain,
+and a casket of love for the Elder to distribute. The Eldress
+went through the act of putting the spectacles and chain upon
+the individuals they were intended for; and the Elder in like
+manner opened the casket and threw out the love by handsful,
+while all the members stretched out their hands to receive, and
+then pressed them to their bosoms. All this appeared to me very
+childish, and I could not help so expressing myself to the
+Elder, at the first opportunity that offered. He replied, 'that
+this was what he labored for, viz., to be a simple Shaker; that
+the proud and worldly, the so-called great men of this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_608" id="Page_608">[608]</a></span>world,
+must become as simple as they, as simple as little children,
+before they can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. They must suffer
+themselves to be called fools for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake.
+These were the crosses they had to bear.'</p>
+
+<p>"The Elder would sometimes kindly invite me to his room and ask
+me what I thought of the meeting last night. This was generally
+after those meetings at which there had been some great
+revelation from heaven, or some pow-wow with the spirits. I
+could only reply that I was much astonished, and that these
+things were altogether new to me. He would then tell me that I
+would see greater things than these. But I replied that it
+required more faith to believe them than I possessed. Then he
+would exhort me to 'labor for faith, and I would get it. He did
+not expect young believers to get faith all at once; although
+some got it faster than others.'</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">SPIRITUAL MUSIC AND BATHING.</p>
+
+<p>"On the second Sunday I spent with the Shakers, there was a
+curious exhibition, which I saw only once. After dinner all the
+members assembled in the hall and sang two songs; when the Elder
+informed them that it was a 'gift for them to march in
+procession, with their golden instruments playing as they
+marched, to the holy fountain, and wash away all the stains that
+they had contracted by sinful thoughts or feelings; for Mother
+was pleased to see her children pure and holy.' I looked around
+for the musical instruments, but as they were spiritual I could
+not see them. The procession marched two and two, into the yard
+and round the square, and came to a halt in the center. During
+the march each one made a sound with the mouth, to please him
+or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_609" id="Page_609">[609]</a></span>herself, and at the same time went through the motions of
+playing on some particular instrument, such as the Clarionet,
+French-horn, Trombone, Bass-drum, etc.; and such a noise was
+made, that I felt as if I had got among a band of lunatics. It
+appeared to me much more of a burlesque overture than any I ever
+heard performed by Christy's Minstrels. The yard was covered
+with grass, and a stick marked the center of the fountain.
+Another song was sung, and the Elder pointed to the spiritual
+fountain, at the same time observing, 'it could only be seen by
+those who had sufficient faith.' Most of the brethren then
+commenced going through the motions of washing the face and
+hands; but finally some of them tumbled themselves in all over;
+that is, they rolled on the grass, and went through many comical
+and fantastic capers. My room-mate, Mr. B., informed me that he
+had seen several such exhibitions during the time he had been
+living there.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">A SHAKER FUNERAL.</p>
+
+<p>"One of the sisters of a neighboring family died, and our family
+were notified to attend the funeral. On arriving at the place,
+we were shown into a room, and at a signal from a small bell, we
+were formed into a procession and marched to the large
+dancing-hall, at the entrance to which the corpse was laid out
+in a coffin, so as to be seen by all as they passed in. The
+company then formed in two grand divisions, the brothers on one
+side, and the sisters on the other, one division facing the
+other. The service commenced by singing; after which the funeral
+sermon was preached by the Elder. He set forth in as forcible a
+manner as he seemed capable of, the uncertainty of life, the
+character of the deceased <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_610" id="Page_610">[610]</a></span>sister, what a true and faithful
+child of Mother's she was, and how many excellent qualities she
+possessed. The head Eldress also gave her testimony of praise to
+the deceased, alluding to her patience and resignation while
+sick, and her desire to die and go to Mother. After a little
+more singing one of the sisters announced that the spirit of the
+deceased was present, and that she desired to return her thanks
+to the various sisters who waited upon her while she was sick;
+and named the different individuals who had been kindest to her.
+She had seen Mother Ann in heaven, and had been introduced to
+the brothers and sisters, and she gave a flattering account of
+the happiness enjoyed in the other world. Another sister joined
+in and corroborated these statements, and gave about the same
+version of the message. After another song the coffin was
+closed, put into a sleigh, and conveyed to the grave, and buried
+without further ceremony.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">A DAY OF SWEEPING AND SCRUBBING.</p>
+
+<p>"An order was received from Mother Ann that a day should be set
+apart for purification. I had no information of this great
+solemnity until the previous evening, when the Elder announced
+that to-morrow would be observed as a day for general
+purification. 'The brothers must clean their respective
+work-shops, by sweeping the walls, and removing every cobweb
+from the corners and under their work-benches, and wash the
+floors clean by scrubbing them with sand. By doing this they
+would remove all the devils and wicked spirits that might be
+lodging in the different buildings; for where cobwebs and dust
+were permitted to accumulate, there the evil spirits hide
+themselves. Mother had sent <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_611" id="Page_611">[611]</a></span>a message that there were evil
+spirits lodging about; and she wished them to be removed; and
+also that those members who had committed any wickedness, should
+confess it, and thus make both outside and inside clean.'</p>
+
+<p>"At early dawn next morning, the work commenced, and clean work
+was made in every building and room, from the grand hall down to
+the cow-house. At ten o'clock eight of the brothers, with the
+Elders at their head, commenced their journey of inspection
+through every field, garden, house, work-shop and pig-pen,
+chanting the following rhyme as they passed along:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'Awake from your slumbers, for the Lord of Hosts is going through the land!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He will sweep, He will clean his Holy Sanctuary!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Search ye your lamps! read and understand!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For the Lord of Hosts holds the lamp in his hand!'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">A REVIVAL IN HADES.</p>
+
+<p>"During my whole stay with the Shakers a revival was going on
+among the spirits in the invisible world. Information of it was
+first received by one of the families in Ohio, through a
+heavenly messenger. The news of the revival soon spread from
+Ohio to the families in New York and New England. It was caused
+as follows: George Washington and most of the Revolutionary
+fathers had, by some means, got converted, and were sent out on
+a mission to preach the gospel to the spirits who were wandering
+in darkness. Many of the wild Indian tribes were sent by them to
+the different Shaker Communities, to receive instruction in the
+gospel. One of the tribes came to Watervliet and was 'taken in,'
+as I have described.</p>
+
+<p>"At one of the Sunday meetings, when the several families were
+met for worship, one of the brothers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_612" id="Page_612">[612]</a></span>declared himself possessed
+of the spirit of George Washington; and made a speech informing
+us that Napoleon and all his Generals were present at our
+meeting, together with many of his own officers, who fought with
+him in the Revolution. These, as well as many more distinguished
+personages, were all Shakers in the other world, and had been
+sent to give information relative to the revival now going on.
+In a few minutes each of the persons present at the meeting,
+fell to representing some one of the great personages alluded
+to.</p>
+
+<p>"This revival commenced when I first went there; and during the
+four months I remained, much of the members' time was spent in
+such performances. It appeared to me, that whenever any of the
+brethren or sisters wanted to have some fun, they got possessed
+of spirits, and would go to cutting up capers; all of which were
+tolerated even during the hours of labor, because whatever they
+chose to do, was attributed to the spirits. When they became
+affected they were conveyed to the Elder's room; and sometimes
+he would have six or seven of them at once. The sisters who gave
+vent to their frolicsome feelings, were of course attended to by
+the Eldress. I might occupy great space if I were to go into the
+details of these spiritual performances; but there was so much
+similarity in them, that I must ask the reader to let the above
+suffice."</p></div>
+
+<p>We have omitted many paragraphs of this narrative, relating to matters
+generally known through Shaker publications and others, and many
+personal details; our principal object being to give a view of some of
+the Shaker manifestations which seem to have been the first stage of
+Modern Spiritualism.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_613" id="Page_613">[613]</a></span>The reader will notice that the date of these manifestations&mdash;the
+winter of 1842-3&mdash;co&iuml;ncides with the focal period of the Fourier
+excitement (which, as we have seen, lapsed into Swedenborgianism, as
+that did into Spiritualism); also that, on the larger scale, the seven
+years of manifestations and closed doors designated by Evans, from
+1837 to 1844, co&iuml;ncide with the epoch of Transcendentalism. In the
+times of the <i>Dial</i> there was a noticeable liking for Shakerism among
+the Transcendentalists; and some of their leaders have lately shown
+signs of preferring Shakerism to Fourierism. We mention these
+co&iuml;ncidences only as affording glimpses of connections and mysterious
+affinities, that we do not pretend to understand. Only we see that
+both forms of Socialism favored by the Transcendentalists&mdash;Shakerism
+and Fourierism&mdash;have contributed their whole volume to swell the flood
+of Spiritualism.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XLVI" id="CHAPTER_XLVI"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_614" id="Page_614">[614]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XLVI.</h3>
+
+<h4>THE ONEIDA COMMUNITY.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>Last of all, we must venture a sketch of the Association in the bosom
+of which, this history has been written and printed.</p>
+
+<p>The Oneida Community belongs to the class of religious Socialisms,
+and, so far as we know, is the only religious Community of American
+origin. Its founder and most of its members are descendants of New
+England Puritans, and were in early life converts and laborers in the
+Revivals of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches. As
+Unitarianism ripened into Transcendentalism at Boston, and
+Transcendentalism produced Brook Farm, so Orthodoxy ripened into
+Perfectionism at New Haven, and Perfectionism produced the Oneida
+Community.</p>
+
+<p>The story of the founder and foundations of the Oneida Community, told
+in the fewest possible words, is this:</p>
+
+<p>John Humphrey Noyes was born at Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1811. The
+great Finney Revival found him at twenty years of age, a college
+graduate, studying law, and sent him to study divinity, first at
+Andover and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_615" id="Page_615">[615]</a></span>afterward at New Haven. Much study of the Bible, under
+the instructions of Moses Stuart, Edward Robinson and Nathaniel
+Taylor, and under the continued and increasing influence of the
+Revival afflatus, soon landed him in a new experience and new views of
+the way of salvation, which took the name of Perfectionism. This was
+in February, 1834. The next twelve years he spent in studying and
+teaching salvation from sin; chiefly at Putney, the residence of his
+father and family. Gradually a little school of believers gathered
+around him. His first permanent associates were his mother, two
+sisters, and a brother. Then came the wives of himself and his
+brother, and the husbands of his two sisters. Then came George Cragin
+and his family from New York, and from time to time other families and
+individuals from various places. They built a chapel, and devoted much
+of their time to study, and much of their means to printing. So far,
+however, they were not in form or theory Socialists, but only
+Revivalists. In fact, during the whole period of the Fourier
+excitement, though they read the <i>Harbinger</i> and the <i>Present</i> and
+watched the movement with great interest, they kept their position as
+simple believers in Christianity, and steadfastly criticised
+Fourierism. Nevertheless during these same years they were gradually
+and almost unconsciously evolving their own social theory, and
+preparing for the trial of it. Though they rejected Fourierism, they
+drank copiously of the spirit of the <i>Harbinger</i> and of the
+Socialists; and have always acknowledged that they received a great
+impulse from Brook Farm. Thus the Oneida Community really issued from
+a conjunction between the Revivalism of Orthodoxy and the Socialism of
+Unitarianism. In 1846, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_616" id="Page_616">[616]</a></span>after the fire at Brook Farm, and when
+Fourierism was manifestly passing away, the little church at Putney
+began cautiously to experiment in Communism. In the fall of 1847, when
+Brook Farm was breaking up, the Putney Community was also breaking up,
+but in the agonies, not of death, but of birth. Putney conservatism
+expelled it, and a Perfectionist Community, just begun at Oneida under
+the influence of the Putney school, received it.</p>
+
+<p>The story of the Community since it thus assumed its present name and
+form, has been told in various Annual Reports, Hand-books, and even in
+the newspapers and Encyclop&aelig;dias, till it is in some sense public
+property. In the place of repeating it here, we will endeavor to give
+definite information on three points that are likely to be most
+interesting to the intelligent reader; viz: 1, the religious theory of
+the Community; 2, its social theory; and 3, its material results.</p>
+
+<p>As the early experiences of the Community were of two kinds, religious
+and social, so each of these experiences produced a book. The
+religious book, called <i>The Berean</i>, was printed at Putney in 1847,
+and consisted mainly of articles published in the periodicals of the
+Putney school during the previous twelve years. The socialistic book,
+called <i>Bible Communism</i>, was published in 1848, a few months after
+the settlement at Oneida, and was the frankest possible disclosure of
+the theory of entire Communism, for which the Community was then under
+persecution. Both of these books have long been out of print. Our best
+way to give a faithful representation of the religious and social
+theories of the Community in the shortest form, will be, to rehearse
+the contents of these books.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_617" id="Page_617">[617]</a></span><i>Religious Theory.</i></p>
+
+<p class="cen">[Table of Contents of <i>The Berean</i> slightly expanded.]</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Chapter I.</span> The Bible: showing that it is the accredited organ
+of the Kingdom of Heaven, and justifying faith in it by demonstrating,
+1, that Christ endorsed the Old Testament; and 2, that the writers of
+the New Testament were the official representatives of Christ, so that
+his credit is identified with theirs.</p>
+
+<p>II. Infidelity among Reformers: tracing the history of the recent
+quarrel with the Bible in this country.</p>
+
+<p>III. The Moral Character of Unbelief: showing that it is voluntary and
+criminal.</p>
+
+<p>IV. The Harmony of Moses and Christ.</p>
+
+<p>V. The Ultimate Ground of Faith: showing that while we are at first
+led into believing by the teachings of men and books, we attain final
+solid faith only by direct spiritual insight.</p>
+
+<p>VI. The Guide of Interpretation: showing that the ultimate interpreter
+of the Bible is not the church, as the Papists hold, or the
+philologists, as the Protestants hold, but the Spirit of Truth
+promised in John 14: 26.</p>
+
+<p>VII. Objections of Anti-Spiritualists: a criticism of Coleridge's
+assertion that all pretensions to sensible experience of the Spirit
+are absurd.</p>
+
+<p>VIII. The Faith once Delivered to the Saints: showing that Bible faith
+is always and everywhere faith in supernatural facts and sensible
+communications from God.</p>
+
+<p>IX. The Age of Spiritualism: showing that the world is full of
+symptoms of the coming of a new era of spiritual discovery.</p>
+
+<p>X. The Spiritual Nature of Man: showing that man <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_618" id="Page_618">[618]</a></span>has an invisible
+organization that is as substantial as his body.</p>
+
+<p>XI. Animal Magnetism: showing that the phenomena of Mesmerism are as
+incredible as the Bible miracles.</p>
+
+<p>XII. The Divine Nature: showing that God is dual, and that man, as
+male and female, is made in the image of God.</p>
+
+<p>XIII. Creation: an act of God's faith.</p>
+
+<p>XIV. The Origin of Evil: showing that Christ's theory was that evil
+comes from the Devil as good comes from God.</p>
+
+<p>XV. The Parable of the Sower: illustrating the preceding doctrine.</p>
+
+<p>XVI. Parentage of Sin and Holiness: illustrating the same doctrine.</p>
+
+<p>XVII. The Cause and the Cure: showing that all diseases of body and
+soul are traceable to diabolical influence; and that all rational
+medication and salvation must overcome this cause.</p>
+
+<p>XVIII. The Atonement: showing that Christ, in the sacrifice of
+himself, destroyed the power of the Devil.</p>
+
+<p>XIX. The Cross of Christ: Continuation of the preceding.</p>
+
+<p>XX. Bread of Life: showing that the eucharist symbolizes actual
+participation in that flesh and blood of Christ "which came down from
+heaven."</p>
+
+<p>XXI. The New Covenant: showing that a dispensation of grace commenced
+at the manifestation of Christ, entirely different from the preceding
+Jewish dispensation.</p>
+
+<p>XXII. Salvation from Sin: showing that this was the special promise
+and gift of the new dispensation.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_619" id="Page_619">[619]</a></span>XXIII. Perfectionism: defining the term as referring to God's
+righteousness, and not self-righteousness.</p>
+
+<p>XXIV. "He that Committeth Sin is of the Devil:" showing that this
+means what it says.</p>
+
+<p>XXV. Paul not Carnal: showing that he was an actual example of
+salvation from sin.</p>
+
+<p>XXVI. A Hint to Temperance Men: showing that the common interpretation
+of the seventh chapter of Romans, which refers the confession "When I
+would do good evil is present with me," etc., to Christian experience,
+exactly suits the drunkard, and is the greatest obstacle to all
+reform.</p>
+
+<p>XXVII. Paul's Views of Law: showing that while he was a champion of
+the law as a standard of righteousness, he had no faith in its power
+to secure its own fulfillment, but believed in the grace of Christ as
+the end of the law, saving men from sin, which the law could not do.</p>
+
+<p>XXVIII. Anti-Legality not Antinomianism: showing that the effectual
+government of God rules by grace and truth, and in displacing the law,
+fulfils the law.</p>
+
+<p>XXIX. Two Kinds of Antinomianism: showing that the worst kind is that
+which cleaves to the law of commandments, and neglects the law of the
+Spirit of life.</p>
+
+<p>XXX. The Second Birth: showing that this attainment includes salvation
+from sin, and was never experienced till the manifestation of Christ.</p>
+
+<p>XXXI. The Two-Fold Nature of the Second Birth: showing that the "water
+and spirit" which are the elements of it, are not material water and
+air, but truth and grace, or intellectual and spiritual influences.</p>
+
+<p>XXXII. Two Classes of Believers: showing that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_620" id="Page_620">[620]</a></span>there were in the
+Primitive Church two distinct grades of experience: one that of the
+carnal believers, called nepioi; the other that of the regenerate,
+called <i>teleioi</i>.</p>
+
+<p>XXXIII. The Spiritual Man: showing that a stable mind, a loving heart
+and an unquenchable desire of progress, are the characteristics of the
+<i>teleioi</i>.</p>
+
+<p>XXXIV. Spiritual Puberty: illustrating regeneration by the change of
+life which takes place at natural puberty.</p>
+
+<p>XXXV. The Power of Christ's Resurrection: showing that regeneration,
+i.e. salvation from sin, comes by faith in the resurrection of Christ,
+communicating to the believer the same power that raised Christ from
+the dead.</p>
+
+<p>XXXVI. An Outline of all Experience: describing four grades, viz., 1,
+the natural state; 2, the legal state; 3, the spiritual state; 4, the
+glorified state.</p>
+
+<p>XXXVII. The Way into the Holiest: showing that the life given by
+Christ has opened new access to God.</p>
+
+<p>XXXVIII. Christian Faith: showing how it differs from Jewish faith;
+and how it is to be experienced.</p>
+
+<p>XXXIX. Settlement with the Past: showing the Judaistic character of
+the experiences of popular modern saints, and appealing from them to
+the standards and examples of the Primitive Church.</p>
+
+<p>XL. The Second Coming of Christ: showing that Christ predicted, and
+that the Primitive Church expected, this event to take place within
+one generation from his first coming; that all the signs of its
+approach which Christ foretold, actually came to pass before the close
+of the apostolic age; consequently that simple faith is compelled to
+affirm that he did come at the time appointed, and the mistake about
+the matter has not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_621" id="Page_621">[621]</a></span>been in his predictions or the expectations of his
+disciples, but in the imaginations of the world as to the physical and
+public nature of the event.</p>
+
+<p>XLI. A Criticism of Stuart's Commentary on Romans 13: 11, and 2
+Thessalonians 2: 1-8: showing that the premature excitement of the
+Thessalonians, instead of disproving the theory that the Second Advent
+was near at that time, confirms it.</p>
+
+<p>XLII. "The Man of Sin:" showing that the diabolical power designated
+by this title, was already at work when the epistle to the
+Thessalonians was written; that Paul himself was withstanding it; and
+that on his departure it was fully manifested.</p>
+
+<p>XLIII. A Criticism of Robinson's Commentary on the 24th and 25th
+chapters of Matthew: showing that the Second Coming is the theme of
+discourse from the 29th verse of the 24th chapter to the 31st of the
+25th; and that then the prophecy passes to the subsequent reign of
+Christ and the general judgment.</p>
+
+<p>XLIV. A Criticism of the Rev. Messrs. Bush and Barnes's allegation
+that the Apostles were mistaken in their expectations of the Second
+Coming within their own lifetime.</p>
+
+<p>XLV. Date of the Apocalypse: showing that it was written before the
+destruction of Jerusalem.</p>
+
+<p>XLVI. Scope of the Apocalypse: showing that it relates to the same
+course of events as those predicted in the 24th and 25th of Matthew.</p>
+
+<p>XLVII. The Dispensation of the Fullness of Times: showing that, as the
+Second Advent with the first resurrection and judgment took place at
+the end of the times of the Jews, so there is to be a second
+resurrection and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_622" id="Page_622">[622]</a></span>final judgment at the end of the "times of the
+Gentiles," or in the "dispensation of the fullness of times."</p>
+
+<p>XLVIII. The Millennium: showing that the period designated by this
+term is past.</p>
+
+<p>XLIX. The Two Witnesses.</p>
+
+<p>L. The First Resurrection.</p>
+
+<p>LI. A Criticism of Bush's Theory of the Resurrection.</p>
+
+<p>LII. The Keys of Death and Hell.</p>
+
+<p>LIII. Objections Answered. The two last chapters are a continuation of
+the controversy with Bush.</p>
+
+<p>LIV. Criticism of Ballou's Theory of the Resurrection.</p>
+
+<p>LV. Connection of Regeneration with the Resurrection: showing that
+regeneration or salvation from sin is the incipient stage of the
+resurrection.</p>
+
+<p>LVI. The Second Advent to the Soul: showing that there was an
+intermediate coming of Christ in the Holy Spirit, between his first
+personal coming and his second.</p>
+
+<p>LVII. The Throne of David: showing that Christ became king of heaven
+and earth <i>de jure</i> and <i>de facto</i> at the end of the Jewish
+dispensation.</p>
+
+<p>LVIII. The Birthright of Israel: showing that the Jews are, by God's
+perpetual covenant, the royal nation.</p>
+
+<p>LIX. The Sabbath.</p>
+
+<p>LX. Baptism.</p>
+
+<p>LXI. Marriage.</p>
+
+<p>LXII. Apostolical Succession: a criticism of the Oxford tracts.</p>
+
+<p>LXIII. Puritan Puseyism.</p>
+
+<p>LXIV. Unity of the kingdom of God.</p>
+
+<p>LXV. Peace Principles.</p>
+
+<p>LXVI. The Primary Reform: showing that salvation from sin is the
+foundation needed by all other reforms.</p>
+
+<p>LXVII. Leadings of the Spirit: showing that true <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_623" id="Page_623">[623]</a></span>inspiration does not
+make a man a fanatic or a puppet.</p>
+
+<p>LXVIII. The Doctrine of Disunity: aimed against a theory that
+prevailed among Perfectionists, similar to Warren's Individual
+Sovereignty.</p>
+
+<p>LXIX. Fiery Darts Quenched: showing that the failings and apostasies
+of Perfectionists are no argument against the doctrine of salvation
+from sin.</p>
+
+<p>LXX. The Love of Life: showing that the anxiety about the body that is
+encouraged by doctors and hygienists, is the central lust of the
+flesh.</p>
+
+<p>LXXI. Abolition of Death: to come in this world, as the last result of
+Christ's victory over sin and the Devil.</p>
+
+<p>LXXII. Condensation of Life: showing that the unity for which Christ
+prayed in John 17: 21-23, is to be the element of the good time
+coming, reconstructing all things and abolishing Death.</p>
+
+<p>LXXIII. Principalities and Powers: referring all our experience to the
+invisible hosts that are contending over us.</p>
+
+<p>LXXIV. Our Relations to the Primitive Church: showing that the
+original organization instituted by Christ and the apostles, is
+accessible to us, and that our main business as reformers is, to open
+communication with that heavenly body.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><i>Social Theory.</i></p>
+
+<p class="cen">[Leading propositions of <i>Bible Communism</i> slightly condensed.]</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Chapter I.</span>&mdash;<i>Showing what is properly to be anticipated
+concerning the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven and its institutions on
+earth.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Proposition 1.</span>&mdash;The Bible predicts the coming of the Kingdom
+of Heaven on earth. Dan. 2: 44. Isa. 25: 6-9.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_624" id="Page_624">[624]</a></span>2.&mdash;The administration of the will of God in his kingdom on earth,
+will be the same as the administration of his will in heaven. Matt. 6:
+10. Eph. 1: 10.</p>
+
+<p>3.&mdash;In heaven God reigns over body, soul, and estate, without
+interference from human governments. Dan. 2: 44. 1 Cor. 15: 24, 25.
+Isa. 26: 13, 14, and 33: 22.</p>
+
+<p>4.&mdash;The institutions of the Kingdom of Heaven are of such a nature,
+that the general disclosure of them in the apostolic age would have
+been inconsistent with the continuance of the institutions of the
+world through the times of the Gentiles. They were not, therefore,
+brought out in detail on the surface of the Bible, but were disclosed
+verbally by Paul and others, to the interior part of the church. 1
+Cor. 2: 6. 2 Cor. 12: 4. John 16: 12, 13. Heb. 9: 5.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p><span class="sc">Chapter II.</span>&mdash;<i>Showing that Marriage is not an institution of
+the Kingdom of Heaven, and must give place to Communism.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Proposition 5.</span>&mdash;In the Kingdom of Heaven, the institution of
+marriage, which assigns the exclusive possession of one woman to one
+man, does not exist. Matt. 22: 23-30.</p>
+
+<p>6.&mdash;In the Kingdom of Heaven the intimate union of life and interest,
+which in the world is limited to pairs, extends through the whole body
+of believers; i.e. complex marriage takes the place of simple. John
+17: 21. Christ prayed that all believers might be one, even as he and
+the Father are one. His unity with the Father is defined in the words,
+"All mine are thine, and all thine are mine." Ver. 10. This perfect
+community of interests, then, will be the condition of all, when his
+prayer is answered. The universal unity of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_625" id="Page_625">[625]</a></span>members of Christ, is
+described in the same terms that are used to describe marriage unity.
+Compare 1 Cor. 12: 12-27, with Gen. 2: 24. See also 1 Cor. 6: 15-17,
+and Eph. 5: 30-32.</p>
+
+<p>7.&mdash;The effects of the effusion of the Holy Spirit on the day of
+Pentecost, present a practical commentary on Christ's prayer for the
+unity of believers, and a sample of the tendency of heavenly
+influences, which fully confirm the foregoing proposition. "All that
+believed were together and had all things common; and sold their
+possessions and goods, and parted them to all, as every man had need."
+"The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one
+soul; neither said any of them that aught of the things which he
+possessed was his own; but they had all things common." Acts 2: 44,
+45, and 4: 32. Here is unity like that of the Father and the Son: "All
+mine thine, and all thine mine."</p>
+
+<p>8.&mdash;Admitting that the Community principle of the day of Pentecost, in
+its actual operation at that time, extended only to material goods,
+yet we affirm that there is no intrinsic difference between property
+in persons and property in things; and that the same spirit which
+abolished exclusiveness in regard to money, would abolish, if
+circumstances allowed full scope to it, exclusiveness in regard to
+women and children. Paul expressly places property in women and
+property in goods in the same category, and speaks of them together,
+as ready to be abolished by the advent of the Kingdom of Heaven. "The
+time," says he, "is short; it remaineth that they that have wives be
+as though they had none; and they that buy as though they possessed
+not; for the fashion of this world passeth away." 1 Cor. 7: 29-31.</p>
+
+<p>9.&mdash;The abolishment of appropriation is involved in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_626" id="Page_626">[626]</a></span>the very nature
+of a true relation to Christ in the gospel. This we prove thus: The
+possessive feeling which expresses itself by the possessive pronoun
+<i>mine</i>, is the same in essence when it relates to persons, as when it
+relates to money or any other property. Amativeness and
+acquisitiveness are only different channels of one stream. They
+converge as we trace them to their source. Grammar will help us to
+ascertain their common center; for the possessive pronoun <i>mine</i>, is
+derived from the personal pronoun <i>I</i>; and so the possessive feeling,
+whether amative or acquisitive, flows from the personal feeling, that
+is, it is a branch of egotism. Now egotism is abolished by the gospel
+relation to Christ. The grand mystery of the gospel is vital union
+with Christ; the merging of self in his life; the extinguishment of
+the pronoun <i>I</i> at the spiritual center. Thus Paul says, "I live, yet
+not I, but Christ liveth in me." The grand distinction between the
+Christian and the unbeliever, between heaven and the world, is, that
+in one reigns the We-spirit, and in the other the I-spirit. From <i>I</i>
+comes <i>mine</i>, and from the I-spirit comes exclusive appropriation of
+money, women, etc. From <i>we</i> comes <i>ours</i>, and from the We-spirit
+comes universal community of interests.</p>
+
+<p>10.&mdash;The abolishment of exclusiveness is involved in the love-relation
+required between all believers by the express injunction of Christ and
+the apostles, and by the whole tenor of the New Testament. "The new
+commandment is, that we love one another," and that, not by pairs, as
+in the world, but <i>en masse</i>. We are required to love one another
+fervently. The fashion of the world forbids a man and woman who are
+otherwise appropriated, to love one another fervently. But if <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_627" id="Page_627">[627]</a></span>they
+obey Christ they must do this; and whoever would allow them to do
+this, and yet would forbid them (on any other ground than that of
+present expediency), to express their unity, would "strain at a gnat
+and swallow a camel;" for unity of hearts is as much more important
+than any external expression of it, as a camel is larger than a gnat.</p>
+
+<p>11.&mdash;The abolishment of social restrictions is involved in the
+anti-legality of the gospel. It is incompatible with the state of
+perfected freedom toward which Paul's gospel of "grace without law"
+leads, that man should be allowed and required to love in all
+directions, and yet be forbidden to express love except in one
+direction. In fact Paul says, with direct reference to sexual
+intercourse&mdash;"All things are lawful for me, but all things are not
+expedient; all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought
+under the power of any;" (1 Cor. 6: 12;) thus placing the restrictions
+which were necessary in the transition period on the basis, not of
+law, but of expediency and the demands of spiritual freedom, and
+leaving it fairly to be inferred that in the final state, when hostile
+surroundings and powers of bondage cease, all restrictions also will
+cease.</p>
+
+<p>12.&mdash;The abolishment of the marriage system is involved in Paul's
+doctrine of the end of ordinances. Marriage is one of the "ordinances
+of the worldly sanctuary." This is proved by the fact that it has no
+place in the resurrection. Paul expressly limits it to life in the
+flesh. Rom. 7: 2, 3. The assumption, therefore, that believers are
+dead to the world by the death of Christ (which authorized the
+abolishment of Jewish ordinances), legitimately makes an end of
+marriage. Col. 2: 20.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_628" id="Page_628">[628]</a></span>13.&mdash;The law of marriage is the same in kind with the Jewish law
+concerning meats and drinks and holy days, of which Paul said that
+they were "contrary to us, and were taken out of the way, being nailed
+to the cross." Col. 2: 14. The plea in favor of the worldly social
+system, that it is not arbitrary, but founded in nature, will not bear
+investigation. All experience testifies (the theory of the novels to
+the contrary notwithstanding), that sexual love is not naturally
+restricted to pairs. Second marriages are contrary to the one-love
+theory, and yet are often the happiest marriages. Men and women find
+universally (however the fact may be concealed), that their
+susceptibility to love is not burnt out by one honey-moon, or
+satisfied by one lover. On the contrary, the secret history of the
+human heart will bear out the assertion that it is capable of loving
+any number of times and any number of persons, and that the more it
+loves the more it can love. This is the law of nature, thrust out of
+sight and condemned by common consent, and yet secretly known to all.</p>
+
+<p>14.&mdash;The law of marriage "worketh wrath." 1. It provokes to secret
+adultery, actual or of the heart. 2. It ties together unmatched
+natures. 3. It sunders matched natures. 4. It gives to sexual appetite
+only a scanty and monotonous allowance, and so produces the natural
+vices of poverty, contraction of taste and stinginess or jealousy. 5.
+It makes no provision for the sexual appetite at the very time when
+that appetite is the strongest. By the custom of the world, marriage,
+in the average of cases, takes place at about the age of twenty-four;
+whereas puberty commences at the age of fourteen. For ten years,
+therefore, and that in the very flush of life, the sexual appetite is
+starved. This law of society <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_629" id="Page_629">[629]</a></span>bears hardest on females, because they
+have less opportunity of choosing their time of marriage than men.
+This discrepancy between the marriage system and nature, is one of the
+principal sources of the peculiar diseases of women, of prostitution,
+masturbation, and licentiousness in general.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p><span class="sc">Chapter III.</span>&mdash;<i>Showing that death is to be abolished, and
+that, to this end, there must be a restoration of true relations
+between the Sexes.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Proposition 15.</span>&mdash;The Kingdom of Heaven is destined to abolish
+death in this world. Rom. 8: 19-25. 1. Cor. 15: 24-26. Isa. 25: 8.</p>
+
+<p>16.&mdash;The abolition of death is to be the last triumph of the Kingdom
+of Heaven; and the subjection of all other powers to Christ must go
+before it. 1 Cor. 15: 24-26. Isa. 33: 22-24.</p>
+
+<p>17.&mdash;The restoration of true relations between the sexes is a matter
+second in importance only to the reconciliation of man to God. The
+distinction of male and female is that which makes man the image of
+God, i.e. the image of the Father and the Son. Gen. 1: 27. The
+relation of male and female was the first social relation. Gen. 2: 22.
+It is therefore the root of all other social relations. The
+derangement of this relation was the first result of the original
+breach with God. Gen. 3: 7; comp. 2: 25. Adam and Eve were, at the
+beginning, in open, fearless, spiritual fellowship, first with God,
+and secondly, with each other. Their transgression produced two
+corresponding alienations, viz., first, an alienation from God,
+indicated by their fear of meeting him and their hiding themselves
+among the trees of the garden; and secondly, an alienation from each
+other, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_630" id="Page_630">[630]</a></span>indicated by their shame at their nakedness and their hiding
+themselves from each other by clothing. These were the two great
+manifestations of original sin&mdash;the only manifestations presented to
+notice in the record of the apostacy. The first thing then to be done,
+in an attempt to redeem man and re&ouml;rganize society, is to bring about
+reconciliation with God; and the second thing is to bring about a true
+union of the sexes. In other words, religion is the first subject of
+interest, and sexual morality the second, in the great enterprise of
+establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.</p>
+
+<p>18.&mdash;We may criticise the system of the Fourierists, thus: The chain
+of evils which holds humanity in ruin, has four links, viz., 1st, a
+breach with God; (Gen. 3: 8;) 2d, a disruption of the sexes, involving
+a special curse on woman; (Gen. 3: 16;) 3d, the curse of oppressive
+labor, bearing specially on man; (Gen. 3: 17-19;) 4th, the reign of
+disease and death. (Gen. 3: 22-24.) These are all inextricably
+complicated with each other. The true scheme of redemption begins with
+reconciliation with God, proceeds first to a restoration of true
+relations between the sexes, then to a reform of the industrial
+system, and ends with victory over death. Fourierism has no eye to the
+final victory over death, defers attention to the religious question
+and the sexual question till some centuries hence, and confines itself
+to the rectifying of the industrial system. In other words, Fourierism
+neither begins at the beginning nor looks to the end of the chain, but
+fastens its whole interest on the third link, neglecting two that
+precede it, and ignoring that which follows it. The sin-system, the
+marriage-system, the work-system, and the death-system, are all one,
+and must be abolished together. Holiness, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_631" id="Page_631">[631]</a></span>free-love, association in
+labor, and immortality, constitute the chain of redemption, and must
+come together in their true order.</p>
+
+<p>19.&mdash;From what precedes, it is evident that any attempt to
+revolutionize sexual morality before settlement with God, is out of
+order. Holiness must go before free love. Bible Communists are not
+responsible for the proceedings of those who meddle with the sexual
+question, before they have laid the foundation of true faith and union
+with God.</p>
+
+<p>20.&mdash;Dividing the sexual relation into two branches, the amative and
+propagative, the amative or love-relation is first in importance, as
+it is in the order of nature. God made woman because "he saw it was
+not good for man to be alone;" (Gen. 2: 18); i.e., for social, not
+primarily for propagative, purposes. Eve was called Adam's
+"help-meet." In the whole of the specific account of the creation of
+woman, she is regarded as his companion, and her maternal office is
+not brought into view. Gen. 2: 18-25. Amativeness was necessarily the
+first social affection developed in the garden of Eden. The second
+commandment of the eternal law of love, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor
+as thyself," had amativeness for its first channel; for Eve was at
+first Adam's only neighbor. Propagation and the affections connected
+with it, did not commence their operation during the period of
+innocence. After the fall God said to the woman, "I will greatly
+multiply thy sorrow and thy conception;" from which it is to be
+inferred that in the original state, conception would have been
+comparatively infrequent.</p>
+
+<p>21.&mdash;The amative part of the sexual relation, separate from the
+propagative, is eminently favorable to life. It <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_632" id="Page_632">[632]</a></span>is not a source of
+life (as some would make it), but it is the first and best
+distributive of life. Adam and Eve, in their original state, derived
+their life from God. Gen. 2: 7. As God is a dual being, the Father and
+the Son, and man was made in his image, a dual life passed from God to
+man. Adam was the channel specially of the life of the Father, and Eve
+of the life of the Son. Amativeness was the natural agency of the
+distribution and mutual action of these two forms of life. In this
+primitive position of the sexes (which is their normal position in
+Christ), each reflects upon the other the love of God; each excites
+and develops the divine action in the other.</p>
+
+<p>22.&mdash;The propagative part of the sexual relation is in its nature the
+expensive department. 1. While amativeness keeps the capital stock of
+life circulating between two, propagation introduces a third partner.</p>
+
+<p>2. The propagative act is a drain on the life of man, and when
+habitual, produces disease. 3. The infirmities and vital expenses of
+woman during the long period of pregnancy, waste her constitution. 4.
+The awful agonies of child-birth heavily tax the life of woman. 5. The
+cares of the nursing period bear heavily on woman. 6. The cares of
+both parents, through the period of the childhood of their offspring,
+are many and burdensome. 7. The labor of man is greatly increased by
+the necessity of providing for children. A portion of these expenses
+would undoubtedly have been curtailed, if human nature had remained in
+its original integrity, and will be, when it is restored. But it is
+still self-evident that the birth of children, viewed either as a
+vital or a mechanical operation, is in its nature expensive; and the
+fact that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_633" id="Page_633">[633]</a></span>multiplied conception was imposed as a curse, indicates
+that it was so regarded by the Creator.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p><span class="sc">Chapter IV.</span>&mdash;<i>Showing how the Sexual Function is to be
+redeemed, and true relations between the sexes restored.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Proposition 23.</span>&mdash;The amative and propagative functions are
+distinct from each other, and may be separated practically. They are
+confounded in the world, both in the theories of physiologists and in
+universal practice. The amative function is regarded merely as a bait
+to the propagative, and is merged in it. But if amativeness is, as we
+have seen, the first and noblest of the social affections, and if the
+propagative part of the sexual relation was originally secondary, and
+became paramount by the subversion of order in the fall, we are bound
+to raise the amative office of the sexual organs into a distinct and
+paramount function. [Here follows a full exposition of the doctrine of
+self-control or Male Continence, which is an essential part of the
+Oneida theory, but may properly be omitted in this history.]</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p><span class="sc">Chapter V.</span>&mdash;<i>Showing that Shame, instead of being one of the
+prime virtues, is a part of original Sin and belongs to the Apostasy.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Proposition 24.</span>&mdash;Sexual shame was the consequence of the
+fall, and is factitious and irrational. Gen. 2: 25; compare 3: 7. Adam
+and Eve, while innocent, had no shame; little children have none;
+other animals have none.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p><span class="sc">Chapter VI.</span>&mdash;<i>Showing the bearings of the preceding views on
+Socialism, Political Economy, Manners and Customs, etc.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Proposition 25.</span>&mdash;The foregoing principles <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_634" id="Page_634">[634]</a></span>concerning the
+sexual relation, open the way for Association. 1. They furnish
+motives. They apply to larger partnerships the same attractions that
+draw and bind together pairs in the worldly partnership of marriage. A
+Community home in which each is married to all, and where love is
+honored and cultivated, will be as much more attractive than an
+ordinary home, as the Community out-numbers a pair. 2. These
+principles remove the principal obstructions in the way of
+Association. There is plenty of tendency to crossing love and
+adultery, even in the system of isolated households. Association
+increases this tendency. Amalgamation of interests, frequency of
+interview, and companionship in labor, inevitably give activity and
+intensity to the social attractions in which amativeness is the
+strongest element. The tendency to extra-matrimonial love will be
+proportioned to the condensation of interests produced by any given
+form of Association; that is, if the ordinary principles of
+exclusiveness are preserved, Association will be a worse school of
+temptation to unlawful love than the world is, in proportion to its
+social advantages. Love, in the exclusive form, has jealousy for its
+complement; and jealousy brings on strife and division. Association,
+therefore, if it retains one-love exclusiveness, contains the seeds of
+dissolution; and those seeds will be hastened to their harvest by the
+warmth of associate life. An Association of States with custom-house
+lines around each, is sure to be quarrelsome. The further States in
+that situation are apart, and the more their interests are isolated,
+the better. The only way to prevent smuggling and strife in a
+confederation of contiguous States, is to abolish custom-house lines
+from the interior, and declare free-trade and free transit,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_635" id="Page_635">[635]</a></span>collecting revenues and fostering home products by one custom-house
+line around the whole. This is the policy of the heavenly
+system&mdash;'that they <i>all</i> [not two and two] may be one.'</p>
+
+<p>26.&mdash;In vital society, strength will be increased and the necessity of
+labor diminished, till work will become sport, as it would have been
+in the original Eden state. Gen. 2: 15; compare 3: 17-19. Here we come
+to the field of the Fourierists&mdash;the third link of the chain of evil.
+And here we shall doubtless ultimately avail ourselves of many of the
+economical and industrial discoveries of Fourier. But as the
+fundamental principle of our system differs entirely from that of
+Fourier, (our foundation being his superstructure, and <i>vice versa</i>,)
+and as every system necessarily has its own complement of external
+arrangements, conformed to its own genius, we will pursue our
+investigations for the present independently, and with special
+reference to our peculiar principles.&mdash;Labor is sport or drudgery
+according to the proportion between strength and the work to be done.
+Work that overtasks a child, is easy to a man. The amount of work
+remaining the same, if man's strength were doubled, the result would
+be the same as if the amount of work were diminished one-half. To make
+labor sport, therefore, we must seek, first, increase of strength, and
+secondly, diminution of work: or, (as in the former problem relating
+to the curse on woman), first, enlargement of income, and secondly,
+diminution of expenses. Vital society secures both of these objects.
+It increases strength, by placing the individual in a vital
+organization, which is in communication with the source of life, and
+which distributes and circulates life with the highest activity; and
+at the same time, by its <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_636" id="Page_636">[636]</a></span>compound economies, it reduces the work to
+be done to a minimum.</p>
+
+<p>27.&mdash;In vital society labor will become attractive. Loving
+companionship in labor, and especially the mingling of the sexes,
+makes labor attractive. The present division of labor between the
+sexes separates them entirely. The woman keeps house, and the man
+labors abroad. Instead of this, in vital society men and women will
+mingle in both of their peculiar departments of work. It will be
+economically as well as spiritually profitable, to marry them in-doors
+and out, by day as well as by night. When the partition between the
+sexes is taken away, and man ceases to make woman a propagative
+drudge, when love takes the place of shame, and fashion follows nature
+in dress and business, men and women will be able to mingle in all
+their employments, as boys and girls mingle in their sports; and then
+labor will be attractive.</p>
+
+<p>28.&mdash;We can now see our way to victory over death. Reconciliation with
+God opens the way for the reconciliation of the sexes. Reconciliation
+of the sexes emancipates woman, and opens the way for vital society.
+Vital society increases strength, diminishes work, and makes labor
+attractive, thus removing the antecedents of death. First we abolish
+sin; then shame; then the curse on woman of exhausting child-bearing;
+then the curse on man of exhausting labor; and so we arrive regularly
+at the tree of life.</p>
+
+<br />
+
+<p><span class="sc">Chapter VII.</span>&mdash;<i>A concluding Caveat, that ought to be noted by
+every Reader of the foregoing Argument.</i></p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Proposition 29.</span>&mdash;The will of God is done in heaven, and of
+course will be done in his kingdom on earth, not merely by general
+obedience to constitutional principles, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_637" id="Page_637">[637]</a></span>but by specific obedience to
+the administration of his Spirit. The constitution of a nation is one
+thing, and the living administration of government is another.
+Ordinary theology directs attention chiefly, and almost exclusively,
+to the constitutional principles of God's government; and the same may
+be said of Fourierism, and all schemes of reform based on the
+development of "natural laws." But as loyal subjects of God, we must
+give and call attention to his actual administration; i.e., to his
+will directly manifested by his Spirit and the agents of his Spirit,
+viz., his officers and representatives. We must look to God, not only
+for a Constitution, but for Presidential outlook and counsel; for a
+cabinet and corps of officers; for national aims and plans; for
+direction, not only in regard to principles to be carried out, but in
+regard to time and circumstance in carrying them out. In other words,
+the men who are called to usher in the Kingdom of God, will be guided,
+not merely by theoretical truth, but by the Spirit of God and specific
+manifestations of his will and policy, as were Abraham, Moses, David,
+Jesus Christ, Paul, &amp;c. This will be called a fanatical principle,
+because it requires <i>bona fide</i> communication with the heavens, and
+displaces the sanctified maxim that the "age of miracles and
+inspiration is past." But it is clearly a Bible principle; and we must
+place it on high, above all others, as the palladium of conservatism
+in the introduction of the new social order.</p>
+
+<br />
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+<br />
+
+<p>Two expressions occur in the foregoing summaries which need some
+explanation; viz., in the first, the word <i>Spiritualist</i>; and in the
+second, the term <i>Free Love</i>. Without explanation, the modern reader
+might suppose <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_638" id="Page_638">[638]</a></span>these expressions to be used in the sense commonly
+attached to them at the present time. But if he will consider that the
+articles in <i>The Berean</i> were first published long before the birth of
+Modern Spiritualism, and that <i>Bible Communism</i> was published long
+before the birth of Free Love among Spiritualists, he will see that
+these expressions do not mean in the above documents, what they mean
+in popular usage, and do not in any way connect the Oneida Community
+with Modern Spiritualists, or with their system of Free Love. The
+simple truth is, that the Putney school invented the term
+<i>Spiritualist</i> to designate all believers in immediate communication
+with the spiritual world, referring at the time specially to
+Perfectionists and Revivalists, and marking the distinction between
+them and the legalists of the churches; and they invented the term
+<i>Free Love</i> to designate the social state of the Kingdom of Heaven as
+defined in <i>Bible Communism</i>. Afterward these terms were appropriated
+and specialized by the followers of Andrew Jackson Davis and Thomas L.
+Nichols. The Oneida Communists have for many years printed and
+re-printed in their various publications the following protest, which
+may fitly close this account of their religious and social theories:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">FREE LOVE.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">[From the <i>Hand-Book</i> of the Oneida Community.]</p>
+
+<p>"This terrible combination of two very good ideas&mdash;freedom and
+love&mdash;was first used by the writers of the Oneida Community
+about twenty-one years ago, and probably originated with them.
+It was however soon taken up by a very different class of
+speculators scattered about the country, and has come to be the
+name of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_639" id="Page_639">[639]</a></span>a form of socialism with which we have but little
+affinity. Still it is sometimes applied to our Communities; and
+as we are certainly responsible for starting it into
+circulation, it seems to be our duty to tell what meaning we
+attach to it, and in what sense we are willing to accept it as a
+designation of our social system.</p>
+
+<p>"The obvious and essential difference between marriage and
+licentious connections may be stated thus:</p>
+
+<p>"Marriage is permanent union. Licentiousness deals in temporary
+flirtations.</p>
+
+<p>"In marriage, Communism of property goes with Communism of
+persons. In licentiousness, love is paid for as hired labor.</p>
+
+<p>"Marriage makes a man responsible for the consequences of his
+acts of love to a woman. In licentiousness, a man imposes on a
+woman the heavy burdens of maternity, ruining perhaps her
+reputation and her health, and then goes his way without
+responsibility.</p>
+
+<p>"Marriage provides for the maintenance and education of
+children. Licentiousness ignores children as nuisances, and
+leaves them to chance.</p>
+
+<p>"Now in respect to every one of these points of difference
+between marriage and licentiousness, <i>we stand with marriage</i>.
+Free Love with us does <i>not</i> mean freedom to love to-day and
+leave to-morrow; nor freedom to take a woman's person and keep
+our property to ourselves; nor freedom to freight a woman with
+our offspring and send her down stream without care or help; nor
+freedom to beget children and leave them to the street and the
+poor-house. Our Communities are <i>families</i>, as distinctly
+bounded and separated from promiscuous society as ordinary
+households. The tie that binds us together is as permanent and
+sacred, to say the least, as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_640" id="Page_640">[640]</a></span>that of marriage, for it is our
+religion. We receive no members (except by deception or
+mistake), who do not give heart and hand to the family interest
+for life and forever. Community of property extends just as far
+as freedom of love. Every man's care and every dollar of the
+common property is pledged for the maintenance and protection of
+the women, and the education of the children of the Community.
+Bastardy, in any disastrous sense of the word, is simply
+impossible in such a social state. Whoever will take the trouble
+to follow our track from the beginning, will find no forsaken
+women or children by the way. In this respect we claim to be in
+advance of marriage and common civilization.</p>
+
+<p>"We are not sure how far the class of socialists called 'Free
+Lovers' would claim for themselves any thing like the above
+defense from the charge of reckless and cruel freedom; but our
+impression is that their position, scattered as they are,
+without organization or definite separation from surrounding
+society, makes it impossible for them to follow and care for the
+consequences of their freedom, and thus exposes them to the just
+charge of licentiousness. At all events their platform is
+entirely different from ours, and they must answer for
+themselves. <i>We</i> are not 'Free Lovers' in any sense that makes
+love less binding or responsible than it is in marriage."<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></p></div>
+
+<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_641" id="Page_641">[641]</a></span><i>Material Results.</i></p>
+
+<p>The concrete results of Communism at Oneida, have been made public
+from time to time in the <i>Circular</i>, the weekly paper of the
+Community. The "journal" columns of this sheet, in which are given the
+ups and downs of Community progress, with much of the gossip of its
+home life, would fill several volumes. Referring the inquisitive
+reader to these for details, we shall limit our present sketch to the
+main outlines:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>The Oneida Community has two hundred and two members, and two
+affiliated societies, one of forty members at Wallingford,
+Connecticut, and one of thirty-five members at Willow Place, on
+a detached part of the Oneida domain. This domain consists of
+six hundred and sixty-four acres of choice land, and three
+excellent water-powers. The manufacturing interest here created
+is valued at over $200,000. The Wallingford domain consists of
+two hundred and twenty-eight acres, with a water-power, a
+printing-office and a silk-factory. The three Community families
+(in all two hundred and seventy-seven persons) are financially
+and socially a unit.</p></div>
+
+<p>The main dwelling of the Community is a brick structure consisting of
+a center and two wings, the whole one hundred and eighty-seven feet in
+length, by seventy in breadth. It has towers at either end and
+irregular extensions reaching one hundred feet in the rear. This is
+the Community Home. It contains the chapel, library, reception-room,
+museum, principal drawing-rooms, and many private apartments. The
+other buildings of the group are the "old mansion," containing the
+kitchen and dining-room, the Tontine, which is a work-building, the
+fruit-house, the store, etc. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_642" id="Page_642">[642]</a></span>manufacturing buildings in
+connection with the water-powers are large, and mostly of brick. The
+organic principle of Communism in industry and domestic life, is seen
+in the common roof, the common table, and the daily meetings of all
+the members.</p>
+
+<p>The extent and variety of industrial operations at the Oneida
+Community may be seen in part by the following statistics from the
+report of last year, (1868.)</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="50%" summary="Industrial Operations">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="70%">No. of steel traps manufactured during the year,</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="30%">278,000.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">No. of packages of preserved fruits,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">104,458.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Amount of raw silk manufactured,</td>
+  <td class="tdr"> 4,664 lbs.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Iron cast at the foundry,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">227,000 do.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Lumber manufactured at saw-mill,</td>
+  <td class="tdr"> 305,000 feet.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Product of milk from the dairy,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">31,143 gallons.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Product of hay on the domain,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">300 tons.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Product of potatoes,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">800 bushels.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Product of strawberries,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">740 do.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Product of apples,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1,450 do.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Product of grapes,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">9,631 lbs.</td>  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>Stock on the farm, 93 cattle and 25 horses. Amount of teaming done,
+valued at $6,260.</p>
+
+<p>In addition to these, many branches of industry necessary for the
+convenience of the family are pursued, such as shoemaking, tailoring,
+dentistry, etc. The cash business of the Community during the year, as
+represented by its receipts and disbursements, was about $575,000.
+Amount paid for hired labor $34,000. Family expenses (exclusive of
+domestic labor by the members, teaching, and work in the printing
+office), $41,533.43.</p>
+
+<p>The amount of labor performed by the Community members during the
+year, was found to be approximately as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="50%" summary="Labor performed">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="60%">&nbsp;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_643" id="Page_643">[643]</a></span></td>
+  <td class="tdc" width="15%">Number.</td>
+  <td class="tdc" width="25%">Amount of labor<br /> per day.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Able-bodied men.</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">80</td>
+  <td class="tdl">7 hours</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Able-bodied women.</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">84</td>
+  <td class="tdl">6 hours 40 min.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Invalid and aged men.</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">6</td>
+  <td class="tdl">3 hours 40 min.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Boys.</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">4</td>
+  <td class="tdl">3 hours 40 min.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Invalid and aged women.</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">9</td>
+  <td class="tdl">1 hours 20 min.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Girls.</td>
+  <td class="tdrp">2</td>
+  <td class="tdl">1 hours 20 min.</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>This is exclusive of care of children, school-teaching, printing and
+editing the <i>Circular</i>, and much head-work in all departments.</p>
+
+<p>Taking 304 days for the working year, we have, as a product of the
+above figures, a total of 35,568 days' work at ten hours each.
+Supposing this labor to be paid at the rate of $1.50 per day, the
+aggregate sum for the year would be $53,352.00. By comparing this with
+the amount of family expenses, $41,533.43, we find, at the given rate
+of wages, a surplus of profit amounting to $11,818.57, or 33 cents
+profit for each person per day. This represents the saving which
+ordinary unskilled labor would make by means of the mere economy of
+Association. Were it possible for a skillful mechanic to live in
+co-operation with others, so that his wife and elder children could
+spend some time at productive labor, and his family could secure the
+economies of combined households, their wages at present rates would
+be more than double the cost of living. Labor in the Community being
+principally of the higher class, is proportionately rewarded, and in
+fact earns much more than $1.50 per day.</p>
+
+<p>The entire financial history of the Community in brief is the
+following: It commenced business at its present location in 1848, but
+did not adopt the practice of taking <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_644" id="Page_644">[644]</a></span>annual inventories till 1857. Of
+the period between these dates we can give but a general account. The
+Community in the course of that period had five or six branches with
+common interests, scattered in several States. The "Property
+Register," kept from the beginning, shows that the amount of property
+brought in by the members of all the Communities, up to January 1,
+1857, was $107,706.45. The amount held at Oneida at that date, as
+stated in the first regular inventory, was only $41,740. The branch
+Communities at Putney, Wallingford and elsewhere, at the same time had
+property valued at $25,532.22. So that the total assets of the
+associated Communities were $67,272.22, or $40,434.23 less than the
+amount brought in by the members. In other words between the years
+1848 and 1857, the associated Communities sunk (in round numbers)
+$40,000. Various causes may be assigned for this, such as
+inexperience, lack of established business, persecutions and
+extortions, the burning of the Community store, the sinking of the
+sloop Rebecca Ford in the Hudson River, the maintenance of an
+expensive printing family at Brooklyn, the publication of a free
+paper, etc.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of several years previous to 1857, the Community
+abandoned the policy of working in scattered detachments, and
+concentrated its forces at Oneida and Wallingford. From the first of
+January 1857, when its capital was $41,740, to the present time, the
+progress of its money-matters is recorded in the following statistics,
+drawn from its annual inventories:</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="30%" summary="Progress">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="60%">In 1857, net earnings,</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="40%">$5,470.11</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">In 1858, net earnings,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1,763.60</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">In 1859, net earnings,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">10,278.38</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">In 1860, net earnings,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">15,611.03</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">In 1861, net earnings,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">5,877.89</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">In 1862, net earnings,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">9,859.78</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">In 1863, net earnings,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">44.755.30</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">In 1864, net earnings,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">61,382.62</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">In 1865, net earnings,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">12,382.81</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">In 1866, net earnings,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">13,198.74</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_645" id="Page_645">[645]</a></span>Total net earnings in ten years, $180,580.26; being a yearly average
+income of $18,058.02, above all expenses. The succeeding inventories
+show the following result:</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="30%" summary="Progress">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="60%">Net earnings in 1867,</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="40%">$21,416.02.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">Net earnings in 1868,</td>
+  <td class="tdr">$55,100.83.</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p class="noin">being an average for the last two years of over $38,000 per annum.</p>
+
+<p>During the year 1869 the following steps forward have been taken: 1,
+an entire wing has been added to the brick Mansion House, for the use
+of the children; 2, apparatus for heating the whole by steam has been
+introduced; 3, a building has been erected for an Academy, and
+systematic home-education has commenced; 4, silk-weaving has been
+introduced at Willow Place; 5, the manufacture of silk-twist has been
+established at Wallingford; 6, the Communities at Oneida and
+Wallingford have been more thoroughly consolidated than heretofore; 7,
+this book on <i>American Socialisms</i> has been prepared at Oneida and
+printed at Wallingford.</p>
+
+<br />
+<hr style="width: 15%;" />
+<br />
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> We observe that the account of the Oneida Community given
+in the Supplement to Chambers' Encyclop&aelig;dia, begins thus:
+"<i>Perfectionists</i> or <i>Bible Communists</i>; popularly known as Free
+Lovers or preachers of Free Love." The whole article, covering several
+pages, is very careless in its geographical and other details, and not
+altogether reliable in its statements of the doctrines and morals of
+the Communists. As materials that get into Encyclop&aelig;dias may be
+presumed to be crystallizing for final history, it is to be hoped that
+the Messrs. Chambers will at least get this article corrected by some
+intelligent American, for future editions.</p></div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XLVII" id="CHAPTER_XLVII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_646" id="Page_646">[646]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XLVII.</h3>
+
+<h4>REVIEW AND RESULTS.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>Looking back now over the entire course of this history, we discover a
+remarkable similarity in the symptoms that manifested themselves in
+the transitory Communities, and almost entire unanimity in the
+witnesses who testify as to the causes of their failure. <span class="sc">General
+Depravity</span>, all say, is the villain of the whole story.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place Macdonald himself, after "seeing stern reality,"
+confesses that in his previous hopes of Socialism he "had imagined
+mankind better than they are."</p>
+
+<p>Then Owen, accounting for the failure at New Harmony, says, "he wanted
+honesty, and he got dishonesty; he wanted temperance, and instead he
+was continually troubled with the intemperate; he wanted cleanliness,
+and he found dirt," and so on.</p>
+
+<p>The Yellow Spring Community, though composed of "a very superior
+class," found in the short space of three months, that "self-love was
+a spirit that would not be exorcised. Individual happiness was the law
+of nature, and it could not be obliterated; and before a single year
+had passed, this law had scattered the members of that society which
+had come together so earnestly and under such favorable circumstances,
+back into the selfish world from which they came."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_647" id="Page_647">[647]</a></span>The trustees of the Nashoba Community, in abandoning Frances Wright's
+original plan of common property, acknowledge their conviction that
+such a system can not succeed "without the members composing it are
+superior beings. That which produces in the world only common-place
+jealousies and every-day squabbles, is sufficient to destroy a
+Community."</p>
+
+<p>The spokesman of the Haverstraw Community at first attributes their
+failure to the "dishonesty of the managers;" but afterward settles
+down into the more general complaint that they lacked "men and women
+of skillful industry, sober and honest, with a knowledge of themselves
+and a disposition to command and be commanded," and intimates that
+"the sole occupation of the men and women they had, was parade and
+talk."</p>
+
+<p>The historian of the Coxsackie Community says "they had many persons
+engaged in talking and law-making, who did not work at any useful
+employment. The consequences were, that after struggling on for
+between one and two years, the experiment came to an end. There were
+few good men to steer things right."</p>
+
+<p>Warren found that the friction that spoiled his experiments was "the
+want of common honesty."</p>
+
+<p>Ballou complained that "the timber he got together was not suitable
+for building a Community. The men and women that joined him were very
+enthusiastic and commenced with great zeal; their devotion to the
+cause seemed to be sincere; but they did not know themselves."</p>
+
+<p>At the meetings that dissolved the Northampton Community, "some spoke
+of the want of that harmony and brotherly feeling, which were
+indispensable to success; others spoke of the unwillingness to make
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_648" id="Page_648">[648]</a></span>sacrifices on the part of some of the members; also of the lack of
+industry and the right appropriation of time."</p>
+
+<p>Collins lived in a quarrel with a rival during nearly the whole life
+of his Community, and finally gave up the experiment from "a
+conviction that the theory of Communism could not be carried out in
+practice; that the attempt was premature, the time had not yet
+arrived, and the necessary conditions did not yet exist." His
+experience led him to the conclusion that "there is floating upon the
+surface of society, a body of restless, disappointed, jealous,
+indolent spirits, disgusted with our present social system, not
+because it enchains the masses to poverty, ignorance, vice, and
+endless servitude; but because they can not render it subservient to
+their private ends. Experience shows that this class stands ready to
+mount every new movement that promises ease, abundance, and individual
+freedom; and that when such an enterprise refuses to interpret license
+for freedom, and insists that every member shall make their strength,
+skill and talent, subservient to the movement, then the cry of tyranny
+and oppression is raised against those who advocate such industry and
+self-denial; then the enterprise must become a scape-goat, to bear the
+fickleness, indolence, selfishness, and envy of this class."</p>
+
+<p>The testimony in regard to the Sylvania Association is, that "young
+men wasted the good things at the commencement of the experiment; and
+besides victuals, dry-goods supplied by the Association were unequally
+obtained. Idle and greedy people find their way into such attempts,
+and soon show forth their character by burdening others with too much
+labor, and, in times of scarcity, supplying themselves with more than
+their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_649" id="Page_649">[649]</a></span>allowance of various necessaries, instead of taking less."</p>
+
+<p>The failure of the One Mentian Community is attributed to "ignorance
+and disagreements," and that of the Social Reform Unity to "lack of
+wisdom and general preparation."</p>
+
+<p>The Leraysville Phalanx went to pieces in a grumble about the
+management.</p>
+
+<p>Of the Clarkson Association a writer in the <i>Phalanx</i> says that they
+were "ignorant of Fourier's principles, and without plan or purpose,
+save to fly from the ills they had already experienced in
+civilization. Thus they assembled together such elements of discord,
+as naturally in a short time led to their dissolution."</p>
+
+<p>The Sodus Bay Socialists quarreled about religion, and when they broke
+up, some decamped in the night, with as much of the common property as
+they could lay hands on. Whereupon Macdonald sententiously
+remarks&mdash;"The fact that mankind do not like to have their faults and
+failings made public, will probably account for the difficulty in
+obtaining particulars of such experiments."</p>
+
+<p>The Bloomfield Association went to wreck in a quarrel about
+land-titles.</p>
+
+<p>Of the Jefferson County Association, Macdonald says, "After a few
+months, disagreements became general. Their means were totally
+inadequate; they were too ignorant of the principles of Association;
+were too much crowded together, and had too many idlers among them.
+There was bad management on the part of the officers, and some were
+suspected of dishonesty."</p>
+
+<p>The Moorhouse Union appears to have been almost wholly a gathering of
+worthless adventurers.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Moore, in his <i>Post Mortem</i> on the Marlboro <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_650" id="Page_650">[650]</a></span>Association, very
+delicately observes that "the failure of the experiment may be traced
+to the fact that the minds of its originators were not homogeneous."</p>
+
+<p>Macdonald, after studying the Prairie Home Community, says, "From all
+I saw I judged that it was too loosely put together, and that the
+members had not entire confidence in each other."</p>
+
+<p>The malcontent who gives an account of the Trumbull Phalanx says:
+"Some came with the idea that they could live in idleness at the
+expense of the purchasers of the estate, and these ideas they
+practically carried out; while others came with good hearts for the
+cause. There were one or two designing persons, who came with no other
+intent than to push themselves into situations in which they could
+impose upon their fellow members; and this, to a certain extent, they
+succeeded in doing." And again: "I think most persons came there for a
+mere shift. Their poverty and their quarreling about what they called
+religion (for there were many notions as to which was the right way to
+heaven), were great drawbacks to success."</p>
+
+<p>There were rival leaders in the Ohio Phalanx, and their respective
+parties quarreled about constitutions till they got into a lawsuit
+which broke them up. The member who gave the account of this
+Association says: "The most important causes of failure were said to
+be the deficiency of wealth, wisdom and goodness."</p>
+
+<p>The Clermont Phalanx had jealousies among its women that led to a
+lawsuit; and a difficulty with one of its leading members about
+land-titles.</p>
+
+<p>The story of the Alphadelphia Phalanx is briefly told thus: "The
+disagreement with Mr. Tubbs about a mill-race at the commencement of
+the experiment, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_651" id="Page_651">[651]</a></span>threw a damper on it, from which it never recovered.
+All lived in clover so long as a ton of sugar or any other such luxury
+lasted. The officers made bad bargains. Laborers became discouraged.
+In the winter some of the influential members went away temporarily,
+and thus left the real friends of the Association in the minority; and
+when they returned after two or three months absence, every thing was
+turned up-side-down. There was a manifest lack of good management and
+foresight. The old settlers accused the majority of this, and were
+themselves elected officers; but they managed no better, and finally
+broke up the concern."</p>
+
+<p>The Wisconsin Phalanx kept its quarrels below lawsuit point, but the
+leading member who gives account of it, says that the habit of the
+members was to "scold and work, and work and scold;" and that "they
+had among their number a few men of leading intellect who always
+doubted the success of the experiment, and hence determined to
+accumulate property individually by any and every means called fair in
+competitive society. These would occasionally gain some important
+positions in the society, and representing it in part at home and
+abroad, caused much trouble. By some they were accounted the principal
+cause of the final failure."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Daniels, a gentleman who saw the whole progress of the Wisconsin
+Phalanx, says that "the cause of its breaking up was speculation, the
+love of money and the want of love for Association. Their property
+becoming valuable, they sold it for the purpose of making money out of
+it."</p>
+
+<p>The North American was evidently shattered by secessions, resulting
+partly from religious dissensions and partly from differences about
+business.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_652" id="Page_652">[652]</a></span>Brook Farm alone is reported as harmonious to the end.</p>
+
+<p>It should be observed that the foregoing disclosures of disintegrating
+infirmities were generally made reluctantly, and are necessarily very
+imperfect. Large departments of dangerous passion are entirely
+ignored. For instance, in all the memoirs of the Owen and Fourier
+Associations, not a word is said on the "Woman Question!" Among all
+the disagreements and complaints, not a hint occurs of any jealousies
+and quarrels about love matters. In fact women are rarely mentioned;
+and the terrible passions connected with distinction of sex, which the
+Shakers, Rappites, Oneidians, and all the rest of the religious
+Communities have had so much trouble with, and have taken so much
+pains to provide for or against, are absolutely left out of sight.
+Owen, it is true, named marriage as one of the trinity of man's
+oppressors: and it is generally understood that Owenism and Fourierism
+both gave considerable latitude to affinities and divorces; but this
+makes it all the more strange that there was no trouble worth
+mentioning, in any of these Communities, about crossing love-claims.
+Can it be, we ask ourselves, that Owen had such conflicts with
+whiskey-tippling, but never a fight with the love-mania? that all
+through the Fourier experiments, men and women, young men and maidens,
+by scores and hundreds were tumbled together into unitary homes, and
+sometimes into log-cabins seventeen feet by twenty-five, and yet no
+sexual jostlings of any account disturbed the domestic circle? The
+only conclusion we can come to is, that some of the most important
+experiences of the transitory Communities have not been surrendered to
+history.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_653" id="Page_653">[653]</a></span>Nevertheless the troubles that do come to the surface show, as we have
+said, that human depravity is the dread "Dweller of the Threshold,"
+that lies in wait at every entrance to the mysteries of Socialism.</p>
+
+<br />
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+<br />
+
+<p>Shall we then turn back in despair, and give it up that Association on
+the large scale is impossible? This seems to have been the reaction of
+all the leading Fourierists. Greeley sums up the wisdom he gained from
+his socialistic experience in the following invective:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"A serious obstacle to the success of any socialistic experiment
+must always be confronted. I allude to the kind of persons who
+are naturally attracted to it. Along with many noble and lofty
+souls, whose impulses are purely philanthropic, and who are
+willing to labor and suffer reproach for any cause that promises
+to benefit mankind, there throng scores of whom the world is
+quite worthy&mdash;the conceited, the crotchety, the selfish, the
+headstrong, the pugnacious, the unappreciated, the played-out,
+the idle, and the good-for-nothing generally; who, finding
+themselves utterly out of place and at a discount in the world
+as it is, rashly conclude that they are exactly fitted for the
+world as it ought to be. These may have failed again and again,
+and been protested at every bank to which they have been
+presented; yet they are sure to jump into any new movement as if
+they had been born expressly to superintend and direct it,
+though they are morally certain to ruin whatever they lay their
+hands on. Destitute of means, of practical ability, of prudence,
+tact and common sense, they have such a wealth of assurance and
+self-confidence, that they clutch the responsible positions
+which the capable and worthy modestly shrink from; so
+responsibilities that would tax the ablest, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_654" id="Page_654">[654]</a></span>are mistakenly
+devolved on the blindest and least fit. Many an experiment is
+thus wrecked, when, engineered by its best members, it might
+have succeeded."</p></div>
+
+<p>Meeker gloomily concludes that "generally men are not prepared;
+Association is for the future."</p>
+
+<br />
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+<br />
+
+<p>And yet, to contradict these disheartening persuasions and forbid our
+settling into despair, we have a respectable series of successes that
+can not be ignored. Mr. Greeley recognizes them, though he hardly
+knows how to dispose of them. "The fact," he says, "stares us in the
+face that, while hundreds of banks and factories, and thousands of
+mercantile concerns managed by shrewd, strong men, have gone into
+bankruptcy and perished, Shaker Communities, established more than
+sixty years ago, upon a basis of little property and less worldly
+wisdom, are living and prosperous to-day. And their experience has
+been imitated by the German Communities at Economy, Zoar, the Society
+of Ebenezer, etc. Theory, however plausible, must respect the facts."</p>
+
+<p>Let us look again at these exceptional Associations that have not
+succumbed to the disorganizing power of general depravity. Jacobi's
+record of their duration and fortunes is worth recapitulating.
+Assuming that they are all still in existence, their stories may be
+epitomized as follows:</p>
+
+<p>Beizel's Community has lasted one hundred and fifty-six years; was at
+one time very rich; has money at interest yet; some of its grand old
+buildings are still standing.</p>
+
+<p>The Shaker Community, as a whole, is ninety-five years old; consists
+of eighteen large societies; many of them very wealthy.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_655" id="Page_655">[655]</a></span>Rapp's Community is sixty-five years old, and very wealthy.</p>
+
+<p>The Zoar Community is fifty-three years old, and wealthy.</p>
+
+<p>The Snowberger Community is forty-nine years old and "well off."</p>
+
+<p>The Ebenezer Community is twenty-three years old; and said to be the
+largest and richest Community in the United States.</p>
+
+<p>The Janson Community is twenty-three years old and wealthy.</p>
+
+<p>The Oneida Community (frequently quoted as belonging to this class) is
+twenty-one years old, and prosperous.</p>
+
+<p>The one feature which distinguishes these Communities from the
+transitory sort, is their religion; which in every case is of the
+earnest kind which comes by recognized afflatus, and controls all
+external arrangements.</p>
+
+<p>It seems then to be a fair induction from the facts before us that
+earnest religion does in some way modify human depravity so as to make
+continuous Association possible, and insure to it great material
+success. Or if it is doubted whether it does essentially change human
+nature, it certainly improves in some way the <i>conditions</i> of human
+nature in socialistic experiments. It is to be noted that Mr. Greeley
+and other experts in socialism claim that there <i>is</i> a class of "noble
+and lofty souls" who are prepared for close Association; but their
+attempts have constantly been frustrated by the throng of crotchety
+and selfish interlopers that jump on to their movements. Now it may be
+that the tests of earnest religion are just what are needed to keep a
+discrimination between the "noble and lofty souls" and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_656" id="Page_656">[656]</a></span>scamps of
+whom the Socialists complain. On the whole it seems probable that
+earnest religion does favorably modify both human depravity and its
+conditions, preparing some for Association by making them better, and
+shutting off others that would defeat the attempts of the best.
+Earnest men of one religious faith are more likely to be respectful to
+organized authority and to one another, than men of no religion or men
+of many religions held in indifference and mutual counteraction. And
+this quality of respect, predisposing to peace and subordination,
+however base it may be in the estimation of "Individual Sovereigns,"
+and however worthless it may be in ordinary circumstances, is
+certainly the indispensable element of success in close Association.</p>
+
+<p>The logic of our facts may be summed up thus: The non-religious party
+has tried Association under the lead of Owen, and failed; the
+semi-religious party has tried it under the lead of Fourier, and
+failed; the thoroughly religious party has not yet tried it; but
+sporadic experiments have been made by various religious sects, and so
+far as they have gone, they have indicated by their success, that
+earnest religion may be relied upon to carry Association through to
+the attainment of all its hopes. The world then must wait for this
+final trial; and the hope of the triumph of Association can not
+rationally be given up, till this trial has been made.</p>
+
+<p>The question for the future is, Will the Revivalists go forward into
+Socialism; or will the Socialists go forward into Revivalism? We do
+not expect any further advance, till one or the other of these things
+shall come to pass; and we do not expect overwhelming victory and
+peace till both shall come to pass.</p>
+
+<p>The best outlook for Socialism is in the direction of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_657" id="Page_657">[657]</a></span>the local
+churches. These are scattered every where, and under a powerful
+afflatus might easily be converted into Communities. In that case
+Communism would have the advantage of previous religion, previous
+acquaintance, and previous rudimental organizations, all assisting in
+the tremendous transition from the old world of selfishness, to the
+new world of common interest. We believe that a church that is capable
+of a genuine revival, could modulate into daily meetings, criticism,
+and all the self-denials of Communism, far more easily than any
+gathering by general proclamation for the sole purpose of founding a
+Community.</p>
+
+<p>If the churches can not be put into this work, we do not see how
+Socialism on a large scale is going to be propagated. Exceptional
+Associations may be formed here and there by careful selection and
+special good fortune; but how general society is to be resolved into
+Communities, without some such transformation of existing
+organizations, we do not pretend to foresee. Our hope is that churches
+of all denominations will by and by be quickened by the Pentecostal
+Spirit, and begin to grow and change, and finally, by a process as
+natural as the transformation of the chrysalis, burst forth into
+Communism.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="CHAPTER_XLVIII" id="CHAPTER_XLVIII"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_658" id="Page_658">[658]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XLVIII.</h3>
+
+<h4>DEDUCTIVE AND INDUCTIVE SOCIALISMS.<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h4>
+<br />
+
+<p>It is well for a theory to be subjected to the test of adverse
+criticism. Particularly in matters of contemporaneous history the
+public are interested to hear all sides. We have presented in this
+book our estimate of the French and English schools of Socialism; but
+as the reader may deem a Communist's judgment of the Phalansterian
+school necessarily defective, we are happy to insert here a
+communication from Mr. Brisbane himself, presenting a partizan's
+defence of Fourier. It was received and printed in the <i>Circular</i>,
+just as the last chapters of our history of Fourierism were preparing,</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">"FOURIER AND THE ATTEMPTS TO REALIZE HIS THEORY.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>To the Editor of the Circular</i>:</p>
+
+<p>"Will you allow me space in your journal to say that no
+practical trial, and no approach to one, has as yet been made of
+Fourier's theory of Social Organization. A trial of a theory
+supposes that the practical test is made in conformity with its
+principles; otherwise there is no trial. Let generous minds who
+are working for the social redemption of their race, be just to
+those who have labored conscientiously for this great end. Let
+them be just to Fourier, who, in silence during a long life
+strove to solve the great problem of the organization <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_659" id="Page_659">[659]</a></span>of
+society on a scientific basis, neglecting every thing else&mdash;the
+pursuit of fortune, the avenue to which was more than once open
+to him&mdash;and position and reputation in society.</p>
+
+<p>"Fourier says: There are certain <i>Laws of Organisation</i> in
+nature, which are the source of order and harmony in creation.
+These laws human reason must discover and apply in the
+organization of society, if a true social order is to be
+established on the earth. The moral forces in man, called
+sentiments, faculties, passions, etc., are framed or fashioned,
+and their action determined, in accordance with these laws. They
+tend naturally to act in conformity with them, and would do so,
+if not thwarted. If the Social Organization, which is the
+external medium in which these forces operate, is based on those
+laws, it will, it is evident, be adapted to the forces&mdash;to the
+nature of man. This will secure their true, natural and
+harmonious development, and with it the solution of the
+fundamental problem of social order and harmony. In organizing
+society on its true basis, begin, says Fourier, with Industry,
+which is the primary and material branch of the Social
+Organization. By the natural organization of Industry the
+productive labors of mankind will be <i>dignified and rendered
+attractive</i>; wealth will be increased ten-fold, so that
+abundance will be secured to all, and with abundance, the means
+of education and refinement, and of social equality and unity.
+When refinement and intelligence are rendered general, the
+superstructure of society will be built under the favorable
+circumstances which such a work requires.</p>
+
+<p>"Briefly stated, such is Fourier's view. In his works he
+describes in detail the plan of Industrial Organization. He
+explains the laws of organization in Nature <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_660" id="Page_660">[660]</a></span>(as he understands
+them), on which Industry is to be based. He takes special pains
+to give minute directions in relation to the subject, and warns
+those who may undertake the work of organization, to avoid
+mistakes&mdash;some of which he points out&mdash;that may easily be made,
+and would vitiate the undertaking.</p>
+
+<p>"The little Associations started in this country, of which you
+have given an account, had for their object the realization of
+Fourier's industrial system. Now, instead of avoiding the
+mistakes which he warned his followers against making, not one
+of those Associations realized <i>a single one of the conditions</i>
+which he laid down. Not one of them had the tenth, nor the
+twentieth part of the means and resources&mdash;pecuniary and
+scientific&mdash;necessary to carry out the organization he proposed.
+In a word, no trial, and no approach to a trial of Fourier's
+theory has been made. I do not say that his theory is true, or
+would succeed, if fairly tried. I simply affirm that <i>no trial</i>
+of it has been made; so that it is unjust to speak of it, as if
+it had been tested. With ample, that is, vast resources, and
+some years to prepare the domain, erect buildings, and make all
+necessary arrangements, so as to thoroughly prepare the field of
+operations before the members or operators entered, then with
+men of organizing capacity to test fairly the principles which
+he has laid down, a fair trial could be made.</p>
+
+<p>"I repeat, let us be just to those who have labored patiently
+and conscientiously for the social elevation of humanity.
+Fourier's was a great soul. To a powerful intellect he added
+nobility and goodness of heart. Clear, exact, strict and
+scientific in thought, he was at the same time kind and
+philanthropic in feeling. Impelled by noble motives, he devoted
+his intellect to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_661" id="Page_661">[661]</a></span>most important of works, to the discovery
+of the natural principles of social organization. Such a man
+deserves to be treated with profound respect. Infantile attempts
+to realize his ideas should not, in their failure, be charged
+upon him, covering him with the ridicule or folly attached to
+them. Let him stand on his Theory. That is his intellectual
+pedestal. Let those who undertake to judge him, study his
+Theory. When they overthrow that they will overthrow him.</p>
+
+<p>"I will close by stating my estimate of Fourier, which is the
+result of some reflection.</p>
+
+<p>"Social Science is a creation of the nineteenth century. It has
+been developed in a regular form in the present century, as was
+Astronomy, for example, in the sixteenth. Men have arisen almost
+simultaneously in different countries, who have conceived the
+possibility of such a science, and set themselves to work at it.
+Fourier took the lead. He began in 1798, and published his first
+work in 1806. Krause, in Germany, began to write in 1808. St.
+Simon, in France, in 1811. Owen, in England, at a later period
+still. Comte, a disciple of St Simon, began in 1824, I think.
+Fourier and Comte were the only minds that undertook to base
+Social Science on, and to deduce it from, universal laws, having
+their source in the infallible wisdom of the universe. Comte,
+after laying a broad foundation with the aid of all the known
+sciences; after seeking to determine the theory of each special
+science, and to construct a <i>Science of the Sciences</i> by which
+to guide himself, abandons his scientific construction (reared
+in his first work&mdash;"Positive Philosophy"), when he comes to
+elaborate his plan of practical organization. He deduces his
+plan of the Social Order of the future from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_662" id="Page_662">[662]</a></span>historical
+past, and especially from the Middle Age <i>regime</i>, guided in so
+doing by his own personal feelings and views. His Social system
+is consequently a compound of historical deduction and personal
+sentiment. It is, I think, without practical value. His
+scientific demonstration of the possibility and the necessity of
+Social Science is of <i>great value</i>, and will secure to him
+unbounded respect in the future. Fourier, at the outset of his
+labors, conceived the necessity of discovering the laws of order
+and harmony in the universe&mdash;Nature's plan and theory of
+organization&mdash;and of deducing from them <i>the Science of Social
+Organization</i>. Leaving aside all secondary considerations, he
+set about this great work. The discovery of the laws of order
+and organization in creation was his great end. The deduction of
+a Social Order from them was an accessory work. He claims to
+have succeeded; and claims for his plan of social organization
+no value outside of its conformity to Nature's laws. "I give no
+theory of my own," he says in a hundred places; "I
+<span class="fakesc">DEDUCE</span>. If I have deduced erroneously, let others
+establish the true deduction."</p>
+
+<p>"Social Science is a vast and complex science; it can not be
+discovered and constituted by the aid of empirical observation
+and reasoning: the <i>Inductive method</i> can not do its work here.
+The laws of order and organization in nature must be discovered,
+and from them the science must be deduced. In astronomy, in
+order to solve its higher and more abstruse problems, it is
+necessary to deduce from one of the great laws of Nature;
+namely, that of gravitation. It is more necessary still in the
+case of the involved problems of Social Science.</p>
+
+<p>"Now the merit of Fourier consists in having seen <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_663" id="Page_663">[663]</a></span>clearly this
+great truth; in having sought carefully to discover Nature's
+laws of organization; and in having deduced from them with the
+greatest patience and fidelity the organization of the Social
+System which he has elaborated. His organization of Industry and
+of Education are master-pieces of deductive thought.</p>
+
+<p>"If Fourier has failed, if he has not discovered the laws of
+natural organization, or has not deduced rightly from them, he
+has opened the way and pointed out the true path; he has shown
+<i>what must be done</i>, and furnished invaluable examples of the
+mode in which deduction must take place in Social organization.
+He has shown how the human mind is to create a Social Science,
+and effect the Social Reconstruction to which this science is to
+lead. If he went astray, and could not follow the difficult path
+he indicated, he has at least clearly described the ways and
+modes of proceeding. Others can now easily follow in his
+footsteps.</p>
+
+<p>"If we would compare the pioneers in Social Science to those in
+astronomy, I would say that Fourier is the Kepler of the new
+science. Possessing, like Kepler, a vast and bold genius, he
+has, by far-reaching intuition and close analytic thought,
+discovered some of the fundamental principles of Social Science,
+enough to place it on a scientific foundation, and to constitute
+it regularly, as did Kepler in astronomy. Auguste Comte appears
+to me to be the Tycho Brahe of Social Science: learned and
+patient, but not original, not a discoverer of new laws and
+principles. Other great minds will be required to complete the
+science. It will have its Galileo, its Newton, its Laplace, and
+even still more all-sided minds; for the science is far more
+complex and abstruse than that of astronomy; it is the crowning
+intellectual <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_664" id="Page_664">[664]</a></span>evolution, which human genius is to effect in its
+scientific career.</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="leftsig">Very truly yours,</span>    <span class="sc">A. Brisbane."</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>This endeavor by a leading Phalansterian to set us right in regard to
+the merits of Fourier, is generous to him, and doubtless well meant
+for us, but not altogether necessary. The foregoing history bears
+witness that we have not held Fourier responsible for the American
+experiments made in his name, and have not treated him with ridicule
+or disrespect on account of their failures. In our comments on the
+Sylvania Association we said:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p>"It is evident enough that this was not Fourierism. Indeed the
+Sylvanian who wrote the account of his Phalanx, frankly admits
+for himself and doubtless for his associates, that their doings
+had in them no semblance of Fourierism. But then the same may be
+said, without much modification, of all the experiments of the
+Fourier epoch. Fourier himself, would have utterly disowned
+every one of them.&nbsp;*&nbsp;*&nbsp;* Here then arises a distinction between
+Fourierism as a theory propounded by Fourier, and Fourierism as
+a practical movement administered in this country by Brisbane. *
+* * The value of Fourier's ideas is not determined, nor the hope
+of good from them foreclosed, merely by the disasters of these
+local experiments. And, to deal fairly all around, it must
+further be said, that it is not right to judge Brisbane by such
+experiments as that of the Sylvania Association. Let it be
+remembered that, with all his enthusiasm, he gave warning from
+time to time, in his publications, of the deficiencies and
+possible failures of these hybrid ventures; and was cautious
+enough to keep himself and his money out of them."</p></div>
+
+<p>We then proposed a distribution of criticism as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_665" id="Page_665">[665]</a></span>follows: "1. Fourier,
+though not responsible for Brisbane's administration, <i>was</i>
+responsible for tantalizing the world with a magnificent theory,
+without providing the means of translating it into practice. 2.
+Brisbane, though not altogether responsible for the inadequate
+attempts of the poor Sylvanians and the rest of the rabble volunteers,
+must be blamed for spending all his energy in drumming and recruiting;
+while, to insure success, he should have given at least half his time
+to drilling the soldiers and leading them in actual battle. 3. The
+rank and file as they were strictly volunteers, should have taken
+better care of themselves, and not been so ready to follow and even
+rush ahead of leaders, who were thus manifestly devoting themselves to
+theorizing and propagandism, without experience."</p>
+
+<p>These citations show, and a full reading of the text at page 247 and
+afterward, will show still more clearly, that we have not been
+inconsiderate in our treatment of the socialistic leaders.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Brisbane concludes his letter with an analysis of Fourier's claims
+as a Philosopher. He does not affirm that Fourier's theory is right,
+but only that he has pointed out the right way to discover a right
+theory. This, if true, is certainly a valuable service. Fourier's way,
+according to Mr. Brisbane, was to work by deduction, instead of
+induction. He first discovered certain fundamental laws of the
+universe; how he discovered them we are not told; but probably by
+intuitive assumption, as nothing is said of induction or proof in
+connection with them; then from these laws he deduced his social
+theory, without recurrence to observation or experiment. This,
+according to Brisbane and Fourier, is the way that all future
+discoverers in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_666" id="Page_666">[666]</a></span>Social Science must pursue. Is this the right way?</p>
+
+<p>The leaders of modern science say that sound theories in Astronomy and
+in every thing else are discovered by induction, and that deduction
+follows after, to apply and extend the principles established by
+induction. Let us hear one of them:</p>
+
+<div class="block"><p class="cen">[From the Introduction to Youmans' New Chemistry.]</p>
+
+<p>"The master minds of our race, by a course of toilsome research
+through thousands of years, gradually established the principles
+of mechanical force and motion. Facts were raised into
+generalities, and these into still higher generalizations, until
+at length the genius of <span class="sc">Newton</span> seized the great
+principle of attraction, which controls all bodies on the earth
+and in the heavens. He explained the mechanism and motions of
+the universe by the grandest induction of the human mind.</p>
+
+<p>"The mighty principle thus established, now became the first
+step of the deductive method. Leverrier, in the solitude of his
+study, reasoning downward from the universal law through
+planetary perturbation, proclaimed the existence, place and
+dimensions of a new and hitherto unknown planet in our solar
+system. He then called upon the astronomer to verify his
+deduction by the telescope. The observation was immediately
+made, the planet was discovered, and the immortal prediction of
+science was literally fulfilled. Thus induction discovers
+principles, while deduction applies them.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not by skillful conjecture that knowledge grows, or it
+would have ripened thousands of years ago. It was not till men
+had learned to submit their cherished speculations to the
+merciless and consuming ordeal of verification, that the great
+truths of nature began to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_667" id="Page_667">[667]</a></span>revealed. Kepler tells us that he
+made and rejected nineteen hypotheses of the motion of Mars
+before he established the true doctrine that it moves in an
+ellipse.</p>
+
+<p>"The ancient philosophers, disdaining nature, retired into the
+ideal world of pure meditation, and holding that the mind is the
+measure of the universe, they believed they could reason out all
+truths from the depths of the soul. They would not experiment:
+consequently they lacked the first conditions of science,
+observation, experiment and induction. Their mistake was perhaps
+natural, but it was an error that paralyzed the world. The first
+step of progress was impossible."</p></div>
+
+<p>If Youmans points the right way, Fourier, instead of being the Kepler
+of Social Science, was evidently one of the "ancient philosophers."</p>
+
+<p>We frankly avow that we are at issue with Mr. Brisbane on the main
+point that he makes for his master. We do not believe that cogitation
+without experiment is the right way to a true social theory. With us
+induction is first; deduction second; and verification by facts or the
+logic of events, always and everywhere the supreme check on both. For
+the sake of this principle we have been studying and bringing to light
+the lessons of American Socialisms. If Fourier and Brisbane are on the
+right track, we are on the wrong. Let science judge between us.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Brisbane thinks that social science is exceptional in its
+nature, too "vast and complex" to get help from observation and
+experiment. All science is vast and complex, reaching out into the
+unfathomable; but social science seems to us exceptional, if at all,
+as the field that lies nearest home and most open to observation and
+experiment. It is not like astronomy, looking <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_668" id="Page_668">[668]</a></span>away into the
+inaccessible regions of the universe, but like navigation or war,
+commanding us at our peril to study it in the immediate presence of
+its facts.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Brisbane insists that Fourier's theory has not had a practical
+trial: and we have said the same thing before him. Yet we must now say
+that in another sense it has had its trial. It was brought before the
+world with all the advantages that the most brilliant school of modern
+genius could give it; and it did not win the confidence of scientific
+men or of capitalists, because they saw, what Mr. Brisbane now
+confesses for it, that it came from the closet, and not from the world
+of facts. This nineteenth century, which has had thrift and faith
+enough to lay the Atlantic cable, would have accepted and realized
+Fourierism, if it had been a genuine product of induction. So that the
+reason why it never reached the stage of practical trial was, that it
+failed on the previous question of its scientific legitimacy. Mr.
+Brisbane himself, as a capitalist, never had confidence enough in it
+to risk his fortune on it. And poor as the actual experiments were,
+<i>human nature</i> had a trial in them, which convinced all rational
+observers, that if the numbers and means had been as great as Fourier
+required, the failures would have been swifter and worse.</p>
+
+<p>We insist that God's appointed way for man to seek the truth in all
+departments, and above all in Social Science, which is really the
+science of righteousness, is to combine and alternate thinking with
+experiment and practice, and constantly submit all theories, whether
+obtained by scientific investigation or by intuition and inspiration,
+to the consuming ordeal of practical verification. This is the law
+established by all the experience of modern science, and the law that
+every loyal disciple <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_669" id="Page_669">[669]</a></span>of inspiration will affirm and submit to. And
+according to this law, the Shakers and Rappites, whom Mr. Brisbane
+does not condescend to mention, are really the pioneers of modern
+Socialism, whose experiments deserve a great deal more study than all
+the speculations of the French schools. By way of offset to Mr.
+Brisbane's account of the development of sociology in the nineteenth
+century, we here repeat our historical theory. The great facts of
+modern Socialism are these: From 1776, the era of our national
+Revolution, the Shakers have been established in this country; first
+at two places in New York; then at four places in Massachusetts; at
+two in New Hampshire; two in Maine; one in Connecticut; and finally at
+two in Kentucky, and two in Ohio. In all these places prosperous
+religious Communism has been modestly and yet loudly preaching to the
+nation and to the world. New England and New York and the Great West
+have had actual Phalanxes before their eyes for nearly a century. And
+in all this time what has been acted on our American stage, has had
+England, France and Germany for its audience. The example of the
+Shakers has demonstrated, not merely that successful Communism is
+subjectively possible, but that this nation is free enough to let it
+grow. Who can doubt that this demonstration was known and watched in
+Germany from the beginning; and that it helped the successive
+experiments and emigrations of the Rappites, the Zoarites and the
+Ebenezers? These experiments, we have seen, were echoes of Shakerism,
+growing fainter and fainter, as the time-distance increased. Then the
+Shaker movement with its echoes was sounding also in England, when
+Robert Owen undertook to convert the world to Communism, and it is
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_670" id="Page_670">[670]</a></span>evident enough that he was really a far-off follower of the Rappites.
+France also had heard of Shakerism, before St. Simon or Fourier began
+to meditate and write Socialism. These men were nearly contemporaneous
+with Owen, and all three evidently obeyed a common impulse. That
+impulse was the sequel and certainly in part the effect of Shakerism.
+Thus it is no more than bare justice to say, that we are indebted to
+the Shakers more than to any or all other social architects of modern
+times. Their success has been the 'specie basis' that has upheld all
+the paper theories, and counteracted the failures, of the French and
+English schools. It is very doubtful whether Owenism or Fourierism
+would have ever existed, or if they had, whether they would have ever
+moved the practical American nation, if the facts of Shakerism had not
+existed before them and gone along with them. But to do complete
+justice we must go a step further. While we say that the Rappites, the
+Zoarites, the Ebenezers, the Owenites, and even the Fourierists are
+all echoes of the Shakers, we must also say that the Shakers are the
+far-off echoes of the <span class="sc">Primitive Christian Church</span>.</p>
+
+<p>What then has been Fourier's function? Surely his vast labors and
+their results have not been useless.</p>
+
+<p>His main achievement has been destruction. He was a merciless critic
+and scolder of the old civilization. His magnificent imaginations of
+good things to come have also served the purpose, in the general
+development of sociology, of what rhetoricians call <i>excitation</i>. But
+his theory of positive construction is, in our opinion, as worthless
+as the theories of St. Simon and Compte. And so many socialist
+thinkers have been fuddled by it, that it is at this moment the
+greatest obstruction to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_671" id="Page_671">[671]</a></span>healthy progress of Social Science.
+Practically it says to the world&mdash;"The experiments of the Shakers and
+other religious Communities, though successful, are unscientific and
+worthless; the experiments of the Fourierists that failed so
+miserably, were illegitimate and prove nothing; inductions from these
+or any other facts are useless; the only thing that can be done to
+realize true Association, is to put together eighteen hundred human
+beings on a domain three miles square, with a palace and outfit to
+match. Then you will see the equilibrium of the passions and
+spontaneous order and industry, insuring infinite success." As these
+conditions are well known to be impossible, because nobody believes in
+the promised equilibrium and success, the upshot of this teaching is
+despair. But the nineteenth century is not sitting at the feet of
+despair; and it will clear Fourierism out of its way.</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">The Inductive School of Socialism</span>, instead of thus shutting
+the gates of mercy on mankind, says to all: The enormous economies and
+advantages of combination, which you see in ten thousand joint-stock
+companies around you, and in the wealth of the Shakers and other
+successful Associations, and even the blessings of magnificent and
+permanent <span class="fakesc">HOMES</span>, which you do <i>not</i> see in those
+combinations, are prizes offered to <span class="fakesc">AGREEMENT</span>. They require
+no special number. If two or three of you shall agree, you can take
+those prizes; for by agreement and consequent success, two or three
+will soon become many. They require no special amount of capital. If
+you are poor, by combination you can become rich. Agreement can make
+its own fortune, and need not wait to be endowed. The blessing of
+heaven is upon it, and it can work its way from the lowest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_672" id="Page_672">[672]</a></span>poverty to
+all the wealth that Fourier taught his disciples to beg from
+capitalists.</p>
+
+<p>Thus demanding equilibrium of the passions and harmony at the outset,
+instead of looking for them as the miraculous result of getting
+together vast assemblages, we throw to the winds the limitations and
+impossible conditions of Fourierism. And the harmony we ask for as
+condition precedent, is not chimerical, but already exists. All the
+facts we have, indicate that it comes by religion; and the idea is
+evidently growing in the public mind that religion is the <i>only</i> bond
+of agreement sufficient for family Association. If any dislike this
+condition, we say: Seek agreement in some other way, till all doubt on
+this point shall be removed by abundant experiment. The lists are
+open. We promise nothing to non-religious attempts; but we promise all
+things to agreement, let it come as it may. If Paganism or infidelity
+or nothingarianism can produce the required agreement, they will win
+the prize. But on the other hand if it shall turn out in this great
+Olympic of the nineteenth century, that Christianity alone has the
+harmonizing power necessary to successful Association, then
+Christianity will at last get its crown.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a><hr />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_673" id="Page_673">[673]</a></span><br />
+
+<h3>INDEX.</h3>
+<br />
+
+<ul><li>Allen, John, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_536">536</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Alphadelphia Phalanx, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Andrews, Stephen Pearl, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_566">566</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Association, essential requisites of, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>its objects defined, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br /></li>
+
+<li>Baker, Rapp's successor, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Ballou, Adin, his sketch of Owen, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>founder of Hopedale, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li>
+  <li>book on Socialism, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li>
+  <li>Vice President at Boston Convention, <a href="#Page_514">514</a>;</li>
+  <li>complains of his timber, <a href="#Page_647">647</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Beecher, Dr., revivalist, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Beizel, Conrad, founder of the Ephrata Community, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Belding, Dr. L.C., founder of Leraysville Phalanx, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Bimeler, Joseph, founder of the Zoar Community, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Bloomfield Association, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Blue Springs Community, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Boyle, James, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Brisbane, Albert, introduces Fourierism, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>publications, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a>, <a href="#Page_560">560</a>;</li>
+  <li>edits column in <i>Tribune</i>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</li>
+  <li>specimen exposition, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</li>
+  <li>establishes the monthly <i>Phalanx</i>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</li>
+  <li>converts Brook Farm, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</li>
+  <li>lectures, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>;</li>
+  <li>represents American Association in Europe, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>;</li>
+  <li>toasts Greeley, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</li>
+  <li>contrasted with Fourier, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>;</li>
+  <li>relation to Ohio Phalanx, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>;</li>
+  <li>letter to a Cincinnati Convention, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>;</li>
+  <li>selects site of North American Phalanx, <a href="#Page_452">452</a>;</li>
+  <li>inspires A.J. Davis, <a href="#Page_566">566</a>;</li>
+  <li>responsibility, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_665">665</a>;</li>
+  <li>his letter on Fourierism, <a href="#Page_665">665</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Brocton Community, <a href="#Page_577">577</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>history and description of, by Oliver Dyer, <a href="#Page_578">578</a>;</li>
+  <li>members of, <a href="#Page_580">580</a>;</li>
+  <li>religious belief, <a href="#Page_580">580</a>;</li>
+  <li>Communism, <a href="#Page_581">581</a>;</li>
+  <li>Internal Respiration, <a href="#Page_581">581</a>;</li>
+  <li>doctrine of Love and Marriage, <a href="#Page_583">583</a>;</li>
+  <li>Sense of Chastity, <a href="#Page_583">583</a>;</li>
+  <li>domestic affairs, <a href="#Page_585">585</a>;</li>
+  <li>"Will it Succeed?" <a href="#Page_586">586</a>;</li>
+  <li>Swedenborgianism, its religion, <a href="#Page_589">589</a>;</li>
+  <li>views of Bible, <a href="#Page_593">593</a>;</li>
+  <li>land-mania, <a href="#Page_594">594</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Brook Farm, suggested by Dr. Channing, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>Emerson's reminiscences of, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li>
+  <li>its Transcendental origin, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li>
+  <li>its afflatus, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li>
+  <li>first notice of in the <i>Dial</i>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_674" id="Page_674">[674]</a></span></li>
+  <li>original constitution, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</li>
+  <li>conversion to Fourierism, <a href="#Page_512">512</a>;</li>
+  <li>new constitution, <a href="#Page_522">522</a>;</li>
+  <li>incorporation as a Phalanx, <a href="#Page_527">527</a>;</li>
+  <li>propagating Fourierism, <a href="#Page_529">529</a>;</li>
+  <li>under the lead of W.H. Channing, <a href="#Page_530">530</a>;</li>
+  <li>propagating Swedenborgianism, <a href="#Page_537">537</a>;</li>
+  <li>under the lead of John S. Dwight and Charles A. Dana, <a href="#Page_546">546</a>;</li>
+  <li>its Phalanstery destroyed by fire, <a href="#Page_551">551</a>;</li>
+  <li>dissolution, <a href="#Page_559">559</a>;</li>
+  <li>its end virtually the end of Fourierism, <a href="#Page_563">563</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Brooke, Dr. A., <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Brooke, Edward, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Buchanan, Dr., <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Bureau Co. Phalanx, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Bush, Prof., <a href="#Page_539">539</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Campbell, Dr. Alexander, debates with Owen, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Channings, their connection with Socialism, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_516">516</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Charming, Dr., suggests Brook Farm, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Channing, Wm. H., publishes the <i>Present</i>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>at Brook Farm, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li>
+  <li>speeches, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_533">533</a>;</li>
+  <li>address at N.A. Phalanx, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>;</li>
+  <li>letter to Cincinnati Convention, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>;</li>
+  <li>expounds Fourierism in Boston, <a href="#Page_513">513</a>;</li>
+  <li>opinion of Fourier, <a href="#Page_514">514</a>;</li>
+  <li>succeeds Brisbane, <a href="#Page_530">530</a>;</li>
+  <li>leads Brook Farm in its conversion to Fourierism, <a href="#Page_516">516</a>;</li>
+  <li>religion of, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_562">562</a>;</li>
+  <li>subscribes to the Raritan Bay Union, <a href="#Page_488">488</a>;</li>
+  <li>extols Swedenborg, <a href="#Page_544">544</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Chase, Warren, founder of Wisconsin Phalanx, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>letters from, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>;</li>
+  <li>on associative success, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Clarkson Phalanx, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Clermont Phalanx, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Columbian Phalanx, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Collins, John A., founder of the Skaneateles Community, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>his report of the Sodus Bay Phalanx, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Confederation of Associations, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Co-operative Society, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Co-operation not Socialism, <a href="#Page_564">564</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Coxsackie Community, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Curtis, Geo. Wm., at Brook Farm, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>writer for the <i>Harbinger</i>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;</li>
+  <li>what he says of Brook Farm's lack of history, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Dana, Chas. A., agent of Am. Un. of Associationists, <a href="#Page_535">535</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>mission of, <a href="#Page_533">533</a>;</li>
+  <li>address by, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>;</li>
+  <li>on Swedenborg, <a href="#Page_547">547</a>;</li>
+  <li>on Brocton Community, <a href="#Page_586">586</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Davis, A.J., his Harmonial Brotherhood, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>rival of Swedenborg, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_539">539</a>;</li>
+  <li>inspired by Brisbane and Bush, <a href="#Page_566">566</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Deductive and Inductive Socialisms, <a href="#Page_658">658</a>.</li>
+
+<li><i>Dial</i>, The, history of, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>extracts from, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_512">512</a>, <a href="#Page_513">513</a>, <a href="#Page_517">517</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Doherty, Hugh, writer for the <i>Harbinger</i>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>Swedenborgian Fourierite, <a href="#Page_542">542</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Draper, E.D., extinguishes Hopedale, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Dwight, John S., writer for the <i>Harbinger</i>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>on Swedenborg, <a href="#Page_546">546</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Ebenezer Community, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Edger, Henry, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_675" id="Page_675">[675]</a></span></li>
+
+<li>Edwards, Jonathan, father of revivals, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Emerson, R.W., his reminiscences of Brook Farm, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>attitude toward Brook Farm, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li>
+  <li>lecture on Swedenborg, <a href="#Page_543">543</a>;</li>
+  <li>prevails over W.H. Channing, <a href="#Page_562">562</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Ephrata, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Evans, Elder, <a href="#Page_566">566</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Finney, C.G., revivalist, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Flower, Richard, sells Harmony to Owen, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Forrestville Community, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Fourier, Charles, theoretical, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>had before him the example of the Shakers, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>;</li>
+  <li>birthday celebration, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</li>
+  <li>would disown the Phalanxes, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>;</li>
+  <li>contrasted with Brisbane, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>;</li>
+  <li>coupled with Swedenborg, <a href="#Page_545">545</a>;</li>
+  <li>criticism of, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_665">665</a>, <a href="#Page_670">670</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Fourierism, introduced by Brisbane and Greeley, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>preparation for, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</li>
+  <li>compared with Owenism, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>;</li>
+  <li>account keeping, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li>
+  <li>its dreams not confirmed by experience, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;</li>
+  <li>based on a township, <a href="#Page_510">510</a>;</li>
+  <li>must be made alive by Christ, <a href="#Page_518">518</a>;</li>
+  <li>co-incident with Swedenborgianism <a href="#Page_541">541</a>, <a href="#Page_546">546</a>;</li>
+  <li>gave its strength to Spiritualism, <a href="#Page_566">566</a>, <a href="#Page_613">613</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Franks, J.J., <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Franklin Community, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Fuller, Margaret, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>edits the <i>Dial</i>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Fundamentals of Socialism, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Garden Grove Community, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Ginal, Rev. George, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Godwin, Parke, expositor of Fourierism, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>social architects, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>;</li>
+  <li>address by, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</li>
+  <li>couples Fourier and Swedenborg, <a href="#Page_541">541</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Goose Pond Community, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Grant, E.P., letter from, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>founder and regent of Ohio Phalanx, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Gray, John, at N.A. Phalanx, <a href="#Page_478">478</a>, <a href="#Page_484">484</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Greeley, Horace, introduces Fourierism, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>acknowledges the success of the religious Communities, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li>
+  <li>treasurer of Sylvania Association, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</li>
+  <li>toasted by Brisbane, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</li>
+  <li>his position, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;</li>
+  <li>pledges his property to the cause, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li>
+  <li>relation to Ohio Phalanx, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>;</li>
+  <li>letter to Cincinnati Convention, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>;</li>
+  <li>address at N.A. Phalanx, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>;</li>
+  <li>offers a loan to N.A. Phalanx, <a href="#Page_501">501</a>;</li>
+  <li>controversy with Raymond, <a href="#Page_562">562</a>;</li>
+  <li>pronounces the Oneida Community a trade-success, <a href="#Page_510">510</a>;</li>
+  <li>summary of his socialistic experience, <a href="#Page_653">653</a>, <a href="#Page_655">655</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Greig, John, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>historian of Clarkson Phalanx, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Harmonists, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Harris, T.L., leader at Mountain Cove Community, <a href="#Page_573">573</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>Scott's estimate of, <a href="#Page_575">575</a>;</li>
+  <li>career, <a href="#Page_578">578</a>;</li>
+  <li>Universalist, <a href="#Page_593">593</a>;</li>
+  <li>Spiritualist, <a href="#Page_593">593</a>;</li>
+  <li>Swedenborgian, <a href="#Page_577">577</a>;</li>
+  <li>doctrine of respiration, <a href="#Page_590">590</a>;</li>
+  <li>leader at Brocton Community, <a href="#Page_577">577</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Haverstraw Community, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Hawthorne, Nathaniel, jilts Brook Farm, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_676" id="Page_676">[676]</a></span></li>
+
+<li>Hempel, J.C., book on Fourier and Swedenborg, <a href="#Page_545">545</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Hopedale, Ballou's exposition of, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>causes of failure.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Individual Sovereignty, a reaction from Owenism, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Integral Phalanx, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Iowa Pioneer Phalanx, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Jacobi's Synopsis, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li>
+
+<li>James, Henry, writer for the <i>Harbinger</i>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>Swedenborgian, <a href="#Page_546">546</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Janson, Erick, founder of Bishop Hill Colony, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Jansonists, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Jefferson Co. Phalanx, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Johnson, Q.A., <a href="#Page_166">166</a>; opposes Collins, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Joint-Stockism, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>; basis of, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Kendal Community, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>La Grange Phalanx, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Lane, Charles, on marriage, <a href="#Page_519">519</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Lazarus, M.E., writes for the <i>Harbinger</i>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>at N.A. Phalanx, <a href="#Page_481">481</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Lee, Ann, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_598">598</a>, <a href="#Page_599">599</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>communications from, <a href="#Page_603">603</a>, <a href="#Page_604">604</a>, <a href="#Page_606">606</a>, <a href="#Page_610">610</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Leet, H.N., his letters about the Mountain Cove Community, <a href="#Page_568">568</a>, <a href="#Page_569">569</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Leland, T.C., his letter on the volcanic region, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>lectures, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Leraysville Phalanx, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Literature of Fourierism, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Longley, Alcander, his perseverance, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>criticises Brisbane, <a href="#Page_496">496</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Loofbourrow, Wade, president of Clermont Phalanx, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Macdonald, A.J., account of him and his collections <a  href="#Page_1">1-9</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>visits New Harmony, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li>
+  <li>Prairie Home, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>;</li>
+  <li>N.A. Phalanx, <a href="#Page_473">473</a>, <a href="#Page_481">481</a>, <a href="#Page_485">485</a>;</li>
+  <li>meets Owen, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Marlboro Association, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.</li>
+
+<li>McKean Co. Association, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Meacham, Joseph, Shaker Elder, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Meeker, N.C., his letters from Trumbull Phalanx, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li><i>post mortem</i> on the N.A. Phalanx, <a href="#Page_499">499</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Metz, Christian, founder of the Ebenezers, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Miller's end of the world, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Mixville Association, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Modern Times, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Moorhouse Union, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Mormonism, origin of, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>afflatus, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Mountain Cove Community, <a href="#Page_568">568</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Nashoba, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li>
+
+<li>National experience, theory of, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Nettleton, revivalist, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li>
+
+<li>New Harmony, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li>
+
+<li>New Lanark, factories owned by Owen, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Nichols, Dr. T.L., inaugurates Free Love, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>connects Owenism with Spiritualism, <a href="#Page_566">566</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>North American Phalanx, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>Sears's history of first nine years, <a href="#Page_450">450</a>;</li>
+  <li>life at, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>;</li>
+  <li>Ripley's visit to, <a href="#Page_469">469</a>;</li>
+  <li>Neidharts' visit, <a href="#Page_471">471</a>;</li>
+  <li>Macdonald's first visit, <a href="#Page_473">473</a>;</li>
+  <li>second visit, <a href="#Page_481">481</a>;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_677" id="Page_677">[677]</a></span></li>
+  <li>third visit, <a href="#Page_485">485</a>;</li>
+  <li>Raritan Bay secession, <a href="#Page_487">487</a>;</li>
+  <li>religious controversy, <a href="#Page_489">489</a>;</li>
+  <li>burning of the mill, <a href="#Page_495">495</a>;</li>
+  <li>end, <a href="#Page_499">499</a>;</li>
+  <li>Meeker's <i>post mortem</i>, <a href="#Page_499">499</a>;</li>
+  <li>Hamilton's visit to the remains, <a href="#Page_508">508</a>;</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Northampton Association, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Noyes, John H., founder of Oneida Community, <a href="#Page_614">614</a><br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Ohio Phalanx, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Oneida Community, <a href="#Page_614">614</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>religious theory, <a href="#Page_617">617</a>;</li>
+  <li>social theory, <a href="#Page_623">623</a>;</li>
+  <li>material results <a href="#Page_641">641</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>One Mentian Community, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Ontario Union, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Orvis, John, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_536">536</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Owen, Robert, his American movement, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>extent of his labors, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li>
+  <li>founds New Harmony, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li>
+  <li>declaration of mental independence, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</li>
+  <li>debate with Alexander Campbell, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li>
+  <li>a spiritualist, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_565">565</a>;</li>
+  <li>founder of Yellow Springs Community, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li>
+  <li>trustee of Nashoba, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</li>
+  <li>father of American Socialism, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li>
+  <li>success at New Lanark, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li>
+  <li>Texas Scheme, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li>
+  <li>in Washington, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li>
+  <li>before Albany State Convention, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li>
+  <li>family, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li>
+  <li>his scheme compared with Fourier's, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Owen, Robert Dale, successor to Robert Owen, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>compares New Lanark with New Harmony, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li>
+  <li>trustee of Nashoba, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</li>
+  <li>edits the <i>Free Enquirer</i>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>;</li>
+  <li>publishes "Moral Physiology," <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li>
+  <li>career, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li>
+  <li>a patron of Spiritualism, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_565">565</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Peabody, Elizabeth P., essays in the <i>Dial</i>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>article on Fourierism, <a href="#Page_512">512</a>, <a href="#Page_517">517</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Peace Union Settlement, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Personnel of Fourierism, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li>
+
+<li><i>Phalanx</i>, the, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>writers for, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;</li>
+  <li>editors, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>;</li>
+  <li>succeeds the <i>Dial</i> and <i>Present</i>, <a href="#Page_517">517</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Plato, as practical as Fourier, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li>
+
+<li>Prairie Home Community, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Pratt, Minot, active at Brook Farm, <a href="#Page_515">515</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Pratt, John, his observations on Owen, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li>
+
+<li><i>Present</i>, the, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_516">516</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Rapp, George, founder of Harmony, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Rappites, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Raymond, H.J., associated with Greeley, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>controversy with Greeley, <a href="#Page_562">562</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Revivalism compared with Socialism, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</li>
+<li> an American production, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Ripley, George, the soul of Brook Farm, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>at Fourier festival, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</li>
+  <li>his description of the N.A. Phalanx, <a href="#Page_469">469</a>;</li>
+  <li>active in transforming Brook Farm, <a href="#Page_515">515</a>;</li>
+  <li>defends Swedenborg, <a href="#Page_549">549</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Roe, Daniel, Swedenborgian minister, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>fascinated by Owen, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Sargant, Owen's biographer, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Schetterly, H.R., founder of Alphadelphia Phalanx, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Sears, Charles, <a href="#Page_477">477</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>his history of the N.A. Phalanx, <a href="#Page_450">450</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Shakers, their principles, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_678" id="Page_678">[678]</a></span>
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>afflatus, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;</li>
+  <li>societies, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li>
+  <li>close their doors, <a href="#Page_596">596</a>;</li>
+  <li>precursors of Modern Spiritualism, <a href="#Page_597">597</a>, <a href="#Page_612">612</a>;</li>
+  <li>their conditions of receiving members, <a href="#Page_597">597</a>;</li>
+  <li>sights of spiritual things, <a href="#Page_599">599</a>;</li>
+  <li>daily routine, <a href="#Page_600">600</a>;</li>
+  <li>union meetings, <a href="#Page_601">601</a>;</li>
+  <li>dancing, <a href="#Page_603">603</a>;</li>
+  <li>whirling, <a href="#Page_604">604</a>;</li>
+  <li>taking in Indian spirits, <a href="#Page_604">604</a>;</li>
+  <li>Shaker hell, <a href="#Page_606">606</a>;</li>
+  <li>spiritual presents, <a href="#Page_606">606</a>;</li>
+  <li>spiritual music and bathing, <a href="#Page_608">608</a>;</li>
+  <li>funeral <a href="#Page_609">609</a>;</li>
+  <li>purification, <a href="#Page_610">610</a>;</li>
+  <li>Shaker revival in Hades, <a href="#Page_611">611</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Skaneateles Community, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Smolnikar, A.B., <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Snowbergers, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Social Architects, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Social Reform Unity, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Sodus Bay Phalanx, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Spiritualism, derived from Swedenborgianism, <a href="#Page_538">538</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>and from various Socialisms, <a href="#Page_565">565</a>, <a href="#Page_567">567</a>, <a href="#Page_613">613</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Spring Farm Association, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Stillman, E.A., <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li>
+
+<li>St. Simon, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Swedenborg, his doctrine of internal respiration, <a href="#Page_590">590</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Swedenborgianism, in the Owen movement, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>in the Fourier movement, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>;</li>
+  <li>at Brook Farm, <a href="#Page_538">538</a>;</li>
+  <li>the complement of Fourierism, <a href="#Page_539">539</a>, <a href="#Page_542">542</a>;</li>
+  <li>not favorable to Communism, <a href="#Page_589">589</a>, <a href="#Page_592">592</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Sylvania Association, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Time Store, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Transcendentalists, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li>
+
+<li><i>Tribune</i>, New York, Fourieristic phase of, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Trumbull Phalanx, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Tubbs, his quarrel, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Utopia, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Van Amringe, H.H., his letter <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>at Trumbull Phalanx, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>;</li>
+  <li>at Ohio Phalanx, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>;</li>
+  <li>works for Wisconsin Phalanx, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br /></li>
+
+<li>Warren, Josiah, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>on New Harmony, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li>
+  <li>founder of Modern Times, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_556">556</a>;</li>
+  <li>time store, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li>
+  <li>at Clermont Phalanx, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Washtenaw Phalanx, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Watson, A.M., <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Wattles, John O., at Prairie Home, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>at Clermont Phalanx, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>White, John, his letter, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Williams, John S., founder of Integral Phalanx, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Williams, Rev. Aaron, D.D., historian of Rappites, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li>
+
+<li>Wisconsin Phalanx, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>first fiscal statement <a href="#Page_418">418</a>;</li>
+  <li>second fiscal statement, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>;</li>
+  <li>third fiscal statement, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>;</li>
+  <li>fourth fiscal statement, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>;</li>
+  <li>history by a member <a href="#Page_440">440</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>Wright, Frances, helpmate of the Owens, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>visits Rappites and Shakers, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>;</li>
+  <li>founds Nashoba, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li>
+  <li>assists on <i>New Harmony Gazette</i> and <i>Free Enquirer</i>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>;</li>
+  <li>lectures, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li>
+  </ul>
+<br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Yellow Springs Community, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>Zoarites, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li>
+</ul>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<div class="tr">
+<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Typographical errors corrected in text:</p>
+<br />
+Page &nbsp;&nbsp;26: &nbsp;successfuly replaced with successfully<br />
+Page &nbsp;&nbsp;27: &nbsp;famlies replaced with families<br />
+Page &nbsp;&nbsp;44: &nbsp;accomodated replaced with accommodated<br />
+Page &nbsp;&nbsp;53: &nbsp;employes replaced with employees<br />
+Page &nbsp;&nbsp;59: &nbsp;probbly replaced with probably<br />
+Page &nbsp;&nbsp;69: &nbsp;aboved-named replaced with above-named<br />
+Page &nbsp;&nbsp;84: &nbsp;enthuiasm replaced with enthusiasm<br />
+Page &nbsp;&nbsp;88: &nbsp;excusionist replaced with exclusionist<br />
+Page &nbsp;&nbsp;91: &nbsp;'the sweets af Communism' replaced with 'the sweets of Communism'<br />
+Page 101: &nbsp;intrests replaced with interests<br />
+Page 118: &nbsp;supfiercial replaced with superficial<br />
+Page 138: &nbsp;Communites replaced with Communities<br />
+Page 173: &nbsp;embarassment replaced with embarrassment<br />
+Page 191: &nbsp;divison replaced with division<br />
+Page 201: &nbsp;peristence replaced with persistence<br />
+Page 203: &nbsp;constucting replaced with constructing<br />
+Page 221: &nbsp;occured replaced with occurred<br />
+Page 235: &nbsp;devolopment replaced with development<br />
+Page 253: &nbsp;Pensylvania replaced with Pennsylvania<br />
+Page 274: &nbsp;begining replaced with beginning<br />
+Page 283: &nbsp;boldy replaced with boldly<br />
+Page 305: &nbsp;'Some of the members were intelligent and moral people; put the majority were very inferior.'<br />
+          replaced with
+          'Some of the members were intelligent and moral people; but the majority were very inferior.'<br />
+Page 326: &nbsp;do'nt replaced with don't<br />
+Page 362: &nbsp;Madconald replaced with Macdonald<br />
+Page 364: &nbsp;asssignment replaced with assignment<br />
+Page 366: &nbsp;Februrary replaced with February<br />
+Page 418: &nbsp;'have alway failed' replaced with 'have always failed'<br />
+Page 460: &nbsp;determned replaced with determined<br />
+Page 531: &nbsp;affiiliated replaced with affiliated<br />
+Page 541: &nbsp;proceded replaced with proceeded<br />
+Page 554: &nbsp;probbly replaced with probably<br />
+Page 564: &nbsp;'We must must not, however' replaced with 'We must not, however,'<br />
+Page 569: &nbsp;'he will 'prent 'em' or or not' replaced with 'he will 'prent 'em' or not'<br />
+Page 575: &nbsp;unbiassed replaced with unbiased<br />
+Page 604: &nbsp;'and not a a word was spoken' replaced with 'and not a word was spoken'<br />
+Page 605: &nbsp;'such as would require a Dickens a describe' replaced with 'such as would require a Dickens to describe'<br />
+Page 627: &nbsp;sytem replaced with system<br />
+Page 636: &nbsp;divison replaced with division<br />
+Page 639: &nbsp;consequnces replaced with consequences<br />
+Page 645: &nbsp;per annnm. replaced with per annum.<br />
+<br />
+
+<p class="noin">Note that 'neat stock' (found on page 329) is a New
+England reference to dairy cattle that was commonly used
+in the 19th century.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF AMERICAN SOCIALISMS***</p>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, History of American Socialisms, by John
+Humphrey Noyes
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: History of American Socialisms
+
+
+Author: John Humphrey Noyes
+
+
+
+Release Date: March 26, 2011  [eBook #35687]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF AMERICAN SOCIALISMS***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Fritz Ohrenschall and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
++-----------------------------------------------------------+
+| Transcriber's Note:                                       |
+|                                                           |
+| Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original     |
+| document have been preserved.                             |
+|                                                           |
+| Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. For     |
+| a complete list, please see the end of this document.     |
+|                                                           |
++-----------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF AMERICAN SOCIALISMS.
+
+by
+
+JOHN HUMPHREY NOYES.
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+This is an exact reprint
+of the scarce 1870 edition
+
+This edition
+Limited to 500 Copies
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The object of this book is to help the study of Socialism by the
+inductive method. It is, first and chiefly, a collection of facts; and
+the attempts at interpretation and generalization which are
+interspersed, are secondary and not intentionally dogmatic.
+
+It is certainly high time that Socialists should begin to take lessons
+from experience; and for this purpose, that they should chasten their
+confidence in flattering theories, and turn their attention to actual
+events.
+
+This country has been from the beginning, and especially for the last
+forty years, a laboratory in which Socialisms of all kinds have been
+experimenting. It may safely be assumed that Providence has presided
+over the operations, and has taken care to make them instructive. The
+disasters of Owenism and Fourierism have not been in vain; the
+successes of the Shakers and Rappites have not been set before us for
+nothing. We may hope to learn something from every experiment.
+
+The author, having had unusual advantages for observing the
+Socialistic movements, and especial good fortune in obtaining
+collections of observations made by others, has deemed it his duty to
+devote a year to the preparation of this history.
+
+As no other systematic account of American Socialisms exists, the
+facts here collected, aside from any interpretation of them, may be
+valuable to the student of history, and entertaining to the general
+reader.
+
+The present issue may be considered a proof-sheet, as carefully
+corrected as it can be by individual, vigilance. It is hoped that it
+will call out from experts in Socialism and others, corrections and
+additions that will improve it for future editions.
+
+_Wallingford, Conn., December, 1869._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                                    PAGE
+
+        I. INTRODUCTION                                         1
+
+       II. BIRDS-EYE VIEW                                      10
+
+      III. THEORY OF NATIONAL EXPERIENCE                       21
+
+       IV. NEW HARMONY                                         30
+
+        V. INQUEST ON NEW HARMONY                              44
+
+       VI. YELLOW SPRINGS COMMUNITY                            59
+
+      VII. NASHOBA                                             66
+
+     VIII. SEVEN EPITAPHS                                      73
+
+       IX. OWEN'S GENERAL CAREER                               81
+
+        X. CONNECTING LINKS                                    93
+
+       XI. CHANNING'S BROOK FARM                              102
+
+      XII. HOPEDALE                                           119
+
+     XIII. THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES                          133
+
+      XIV. THE NORTHAMPTON ASSOCIATION                        154
+
+       XV. THE SKANEATELES COMMUNITY                          161
+
+      XVI. SOCIAL ARCHITECTS                                  181
+
+     XVII. FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIALISM                          193
+
+    XVIII. LITERATURE OF FOURIERISM                           200
+
+      XIX. THE PERSONNEL OF FOURIERISM                        211
+
+       XX. THE SYLVANIA ASSOCIATION                           233
+
+      XXI. OTHER PENNSYLVANIA EXPERIMENTS                     251
+
+     XXII. THE VOLCANIC DISTRICT                              267
+
+    XXIII. THE CLARKSON PHALANX                               278
+
+     XXIV. THE SODUS BAY PHALANX                              286
+
+      XXV. OTHER NEW YORK EXPERIMENTS                         296
+
+     XXVI. THE MARLBORO ASSOCIATION                           309
+
+    XXVII. PRAIRIE HOME COMMUNITY                             316
+
+   XXVIII. THE TRUMBULL PHALANX                               328
+
+     XXIX. THE OHIO PHALANX                                   354
+
+      XXX. THE CLERMONT PHALANX                               366
+
+     XXXI. THE INTEGRAL PHALANX                               377
+
+    XXXII. THE ALPHADELPHIA PHALANX                           388
+
+   XXXIII. LA GRANGE PHALANX                                  397
+
+    XXXIV. OTHER WESTERN EXPERIMENTS                          404
+
+     XXXV. THE WISCONSIN PHALANX                              411
+
+    XXXVI. THE NORTH AMERICAN PHALANX                         449
+
+   XXXVII. LIFE AT THE NORTH AMERICAN                         468
+
+  XXXVIII. END OF THE NORTH AMERICAN                          487
+
+    XXXIX. CONVERSION OF BROOK FARM                           512
+
+       XL. BROOK FARM AND FOURIERISM                          529
+
+      XLI. BROOK FARM AND SWEDENBORGIANISM                    537
+
+     XLII. THE END OF BROOK FARM                              551
+
+    XLIII. THE SPIRITUALIST COMMUNITIES                       564
+
+     XLIV. THE BROCTON COMMUNITY                              577
+
+      XLV. THE SHAKERS                                        595
+
+     XLVI. THE ONEIDA COMMUNITY                               614
+
+    XLVII. REVIEW AND RESULTS                                 646
+
+   XLVIII. TWO SCHOOLS OF SOCIALISM                           658
+
+
+
+
+AMERICAN SOCIALISMS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+Many years ago, when a branch of the Oneida Community lived at Willow
+Place in Brooklyn, near New York, a sombre pilgrim called there one
+day, asking for rest and conversation. His business proved to be the
+collecting of memoirs of socialistic experiments. We treated him
+hospitably, and gave him the information he sought about our
+Community. He repeated his visit several times in the course of some
+following years, and finally seemed to take a very friendly interest
+in our experiment. Thus we became acquainted with him, and also in a
+measure with the work he had undertaken, which was nothing less than a
+history of all the Associations and Communities that have lived and
+died in this country, within the last thirty or forty years.
+
+This man's name was A.J. Macdonald. We remember that he was a person
+of small stature, with black hair and sharp eyes. He had a benevolent
+air, but seemed a little sad. We imagined that the sad scenes he had
+encountered while looking after the stories of so many short-lived
+Communities, had given him a tinge of melancholy. He was indeed the
+"Old Mortality" of Socialism, wandering from grave to grave, patiently
+deciphering the epitaphs of defunct "Phalanxes." We learned from him
+that he was a Scotchman by birth, and a printer by trade; that he was
+an admirer and disciple of Owen, and came from the "old country" some
+ten years before, partly to see and follow the fortunes of his
+master's experiments in Socialism: but finding Owenism in ruins and
+Fourierism going to ruin, he took upon himself the task of making a
+book, that should give future generations the benefit of the lessons
+taught by these attempts and failures.
+
+His own attempt was a failure. He gathered a huge mass of materials,
+wrote his preface, and then died in New York of the cholera. Our
+record of his last visit is dated February, 1854.
+
+Ten years later our attention was turned to the project of writing a
+history of American Socialisms. Such a book seemed to be a want of the
+times. We remembered Macdonald, and wished that by some chance we
+could obtain his collections. But we had lost all traces of them, and
+the hope of recovering them from the chaos of the great city where he
+died, seemed chimerical. Nevertheless some of our associates, then in
+business on Broadway, commenced inquiring at the printing offices, and
+soon found acquaintances of Macdonald, who directed them to the
+residence of his brother-in-law in the city. There, to our joyful
+surprise, we found the collections we were in search of, lying useless
+except as mementos, and a gentleman in charge of them who was willing
+we should take them and use them as we pleased.
+
+On examining our treasure, we found it to be a pile of manuscripts, of
+letter-paper size and three inches thick, with printed scraps from
+newspapers and pamphlets interspersed. All was in the loosest state of
+disorder; but we strung the leaves together, paged them, and made an
+index of their contents. The book thus extemporized has been our
+companion, as the reader will see, in the ensuing history. The number
+of its pages is seven hundred and forty-seven. The index has the names
+of sixty-nine Associative experiments, beginning with Brook Farm and
+ending with the Shakers. The memoirs are of various lengths, from a
+mere mention to a narrative of nearly a hundred pages. Among them are
+notices of leading Socialists, such as Owen, Fourier, Frances Wright,
+&c. The collection was in no fit condition for publication; but it
+marked out a path for us, and gave us a mass of material that has been
+very serviceable, and probably could not elsewhere be found.
+
+The breadth and thoroughness of Macdonald's intention will be seen in
+the following circular which, in the prosecution of his enterprise, he
+sent to many leading Socialists.
+
+    PRINTED LETTER OF INQUIRY.
+
+                                        "_New York, March, 1851._
+
+    "I have been for some time engaged in collecting the necessary
+    materials for a book, to be entitled '_The Communities of the
+    United States_,' in which I propose giving a brief account of
+    all the social and co-operative experiments that have been made
+    in this country--their origin, principles, and progress; and,
+    particularly, the causes of their success or failure.
+
+    "I have reason to believe, from long experience among social
+    reformers, that such a work is needed, and will be both useful
+    and interesting. It will serve as a guide to all future
+    experiments, showing what has already been done; like a
+    light-house, pointing to the rocks on which so many have been
+    wrecked, or to the haven in which the few have found rest. It
+    will give facts and statistics to be depended upon, gathered
+    from the most authentic sources, and forming a collection of
+    interesting narratives. It will show the errors of enthusiasts,
+    and the triumphs of the cool-thinking; the disappointments of
+    the sanguine, and the dear-bought experience of many social
+    adventurers. It will give mankind an idea of the labor of body
+    and mind that has been expended to realize a better state of
+    society; to substitute a social and co-operative state for a
+    competitive one; a system of harmony, for one of discord.
+
+    "To insure the truthfulness of the work, I propose to gather
+    most of my information from individuals who have actually been
+    engaged in the experiments of which I treat. With this object in
+    view, I take the liberty to address you, asking your aid in
+    carrying out my plan. I request you to give me an account of the
+    experiment in which you were engaged at ----. For instance, I
+    require such information as the following questions would call
+    forth, viz:
+
+    "1. Who originated it, or how was it originated?
+
+    "2. What were its principles and objects?
+
+    "3. What were its means in land and money?
+
+    "4. Was all the property put into common stock?
+
+    "5. What was the number of persons in the Association?
+
+    "6. What were their trades, occupations and amount of skill?
+
+    "7. Their education, natural intelligence and morality?
+
+    "8. What religious belief, and if any, how preached and
+    practised?
+
+    "9. How were members admitted? was there any standard by which
+    to judge them, or any property qualification necessary?
+
+    "10. Was there a written or printed constitution or laws? if so
+    can you send me a copy?
+
+    "11. Were pledges, fines, oaths, or any coercive means used?
+
+    "12. When and where did the Association commence its experiment?
+    Please describe the locality; what dwellings and other
+    conveniences were upon it; how many persons it could
+    accommodate; how many persons lived on the spot; how much land
+    was cultivated; whether there were plenty of provisions; &c.,
+    &c.
+
+    "13. How was the land obtained? Was it free or mortgaged? Who
+    owned it?
+
+    "14. Were the new circumstances of the associates superior or
+    inferior to the circumstances they enjoyed previous to their
+    associating?
+
+    "15. Did they obtain aid from without?
+
+    "16. What particular person or persons took the lead?
+
+    "17. Who managed the receipts and expenditures, and were they
+    honestly managed?
+
+    "18. Did the associates agree or disagree, and in what?
+
+    "19. How long did they keep together?
+
+    "20. When and why did they break up? State the causes, direct
+    and indirect.
+
+    "21. If successful, what were the causes of success?
+
+    "Any other information relating to the experiment, that you may
+    consider useful and interesting, will be acceptable. By such
+    information you will confer a great favor, and materially assist
+    me in what I consider a good undertaking.
+
+    "The work I contemplate will form a neat 12mo. volume, of from
+    200 to 280 pages, such as Lyell's 'Tour in the United States,'
+    or Gorrie's 'Churches and Sects of the United States.' It will
+    be published in New York and London at the lowest possible
+    price, say, within one dollar; and it is my intention, if
+    possible, to illustrate the work with views of Communities now
+    in progress, or of localities rendered interesting by having
+    once been the battle grounds of the new system against the old.
+
+    "Please make known the above, and favor me with the names and
+    addresses of persons who would be willing to assist me with such
+    information as I require.
+
+    "Trusting that I shall receive the same kind aid from you that I
+    have already received from so many of my friends,
+
+                        "I remain, very respectfully, yours,
+
+                                           "A.J. MACDONALD."
+
+Among the manuscripts in Macdonald's collection are many that were
+evidently written in response to this circular. Many others were
+written by himself as journals or reports of his own visits to various
+Associations. We have reason to believe that he spent most of his time
+from his arrival in this country in 1842 till his death in 1854, in
+pilgrimages to every Community, and even to every grave of a
+Community, that he could hear of, far and near.
+
+He had done his work when he died. His collection is nearly exhaustive
+in the extent of its survey. Very few Associations of any note are
+overlooked. And he evidently considered it ready for the press; for
+most of his memoirs are endorsed with the word "_Complete_," and with
+some methodical directions to the printer. He had even provided the
+illustrations promised in his circular. Among his manuscripts are the
+following pictures:
+
+A pencil sketch and also a small wood engraving of the buildings of
+the North American Phalanx;
+
+A wood engraving of the first mansion house of the Oneida Community;
+
+A pencil sketch of the village of Modern Times;
+
+A view in water-colors of the domain and cabin of the Clermont
+Phalanx;
+
+A pencil sketch of the Zoar settlement;
+
+Four wood engravings of Shaker scenes; two of them representing
+dances; one, a kneeling scene; and one, a "Mountain meeting;" also a
+pencil sketch of Shaker dwellings at Watervliet;
+
+A portrait of Robert Owen in wood;
+
+A very pretty view of New Harmony in India ink;
+
+A wood-cut of one of Owen's imaginary palaces;
+
+Two portraits of Frances Wright in wood; one representing her as she
+was in her prime of beauty, and the other, as she was in old age;
+
+A fine steel engraving of Fourier.
+
+In the following preface, which was found among Macdonald's
+manuscripts, and which is dated a few months before his death, we
+have a last and sure signal that he considered his collection
+finished:
+
+
+    PREFACE TO THE BOOK THAT WAS NEVER PUBLISHED.
+
+    "I performed the task of collecting the materials which form
+    this volume, because I thought I was doing good. At one time,
+    sanguine in anticipating brilliant results from Communism, I
+    imagined mankind better than they are, and that they would
+    speedily practise those principles which I considered so true.
+    But the experience of years is now upon me; I have mingled with
+    'the world,' seen _stern reality_, and now am anxious to do as
+    much as in me lies, to make known to the many thousands who look
+    for a 'better state' than this on earth as well as in heaven,
+    the amount (as it were at a glance) of the labors which have
+    been and are now being performed in this country to realize that
+    'better state'. It may help to waken dreamers, to guide lost
+    wanderers, to convince skeptics, to re-assure the hopeful; it
+    may serve the uses of Statesmen and Philosophers, and interest
+    the general reader; but it is most desirable that it should
+    increase the charity of all those who may please to examine it,
+    when they see that it was for Humanity, in nearly all instances,
+    that these things were done.
+
+    "Of necessity the work is imperfect, because of the difficulty
+    in obtaining information on such subjects; but the attempt,
+    whatever may be its result, should not be put off, since there
+    is reason to believe that if not now collected, many particulars
+    of the various movements would be forever lost.
+
+    "It remains for a future historian to continue the labor which I
+    have thus superficially commenced; for the day has not yet
+    arrived when it can be said that Communism or Association has
+    ceased to exist; and it is possible yet, in the progress of
+    things, that man will endeavor to cure his social diseases by
+    some such means; and a future history may contain the results of
+    more important experiments than have ever yet been attempted.
+
+    "I here return my thanks to the fearless, confiding, and
+    disinterested friends, who so freely shared with me what little
+    they possessed, to assist in the completion of this work. I name
+    them not, but rejoice in their assistance.
+
+                                                 A.J. MACDONALD.
+
+    "_New York City, 1854._"
+
+The tone of this preface indicates that Macdonald was discouraged. The
+effect of his book, if he had lived to publish it, would have been to
+aggravate the re-action against Socialism which followed the collapse
+of Fourierism. We hope to make a better use of his materials.
+
+It should not be imagined that we are about to edit his work. A large
+part of his collections we shall omit, as irrelevant to our purpose.
+That part which we use will often be reconstructed and generally
+condensed. Much of our material will be obtained from other sources.
+The plan and theory of this history are our own, and widely different
+from any that Macdonald would have been willing to indorse. With these
+qualifications, we still acknowledge a large debt of gratitude to him
+and to the Providence that gave us his collections.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF THE EXPERIMENTS.
+
+
+A general survey of the Socialistic field will be useful, before
+entering on the memoirs of particular Associations; and for this
+purpose we will now spread before us the entire Index of Macdonald's
+collections, adding to it a schedule of the number of pages which he
+gave to the several Associations, and the dates of their beginning and
+ending, so far as we have been able to find them. Many of the
+transitory Associations, it will be seen, "made no sign" when they
+died. The continuous Communities, such as the Shakers, of course have
+no terminal date.
+
+INDEX OF MACDONALD'S COLLECTION.
+
+    Associations, &c.                        No. of Pages.     Dates.
+    Alphadelphia Phalanx                          7            1843-6.
+    Auxiliary Branch of the Association
+      of All Classes of All Nations               3            1836.
+    Blue Spring Community                         1            1826-7.
+    Brazilian Experiment                          1            1841.
+    Brook Farm                                   20            1842-7.
+    Brooke's Experiment                           5            1844.
+    Brotherhood of the Union                      1            1850-1.
+    Bureau Co. Phalanx                            1            1843.
+    Cincinnati Brotherhood                        5            1845-8.
+    Clarkson Industrial Association              11            1844.
+    Clermont Phalanx                             13            1844-7.
+    Colony of Bethel                             11            1852.
+    Columbian Phalanx                             1            1845.
+    Commonwealth Society                          1            1819.
+    Communia Working Men's League                 1            1850.
+    Convention at Boston of the Friends
+    of Association                                2            1843.
+    Convention in New York for organizing
+      an Industrial Congress                      1            1845.
+    Co-operating Society of Alleghany Co.         1            1825.
+    Coxsackie Community                           2            1826-7.
+    Davis' Harmonial Brotherhood                  2            1851.
+    Dunkers                                       4            1724.
+    Ebenezer Community                            5            1843.
+    Emigration Society, 2d Section                4            1843.
+    Forrestville Community                        1            1825.
+    Fourier, Life of                              3
+    Franklin Community                            1            1826.
+    Garden Grove                                  1            1848.
+    Goose Pond Community                          1            1843.
+    Grand Prairie Community                       2            1847.
+    Grand Prairie Harmonial Institute             8            1853.
+    Guatemala Experiment                          1            1843.
+    Haverstraw Community                          3            1826.
+    Hopedale Community                           13            1842.
+    Hunt's Experiment of Equality                12            1843-7.
+    Icaria                                       82            1849
+    Integral Phalanx                              5            1845.
+    Jefferson County Industrial Association       3            1843.
+    Kendal Community                              4            1826.
+    Lagrange Phalanx                              2            1843.
+    Leraysville Phalanx                           5            1844.
+    Macluria                                      7            1826.
+    Marlboro Association                         10            1841.
+    McKean County Association                     1            1843.
+    Modern Times                                  3            1851.
+    Moorhouse Union                               6            1843.
+    Moravians, or United Brethren                 9            1745.
+    Murray, Orson S.                              3
+    Nashoba                                      14            1825-8.
+    New Lanark                                   10            1799.
+    New Harmony                                  60            1825-7.
+    North American Phalanx                       38            1843-55.
+    Northampton Association                       7            1842.
+    Ohio Phalanx                                 11            1844-5.
+    Oneida Community                             27            1847.
+    One-mentian Community                         6            1843.
+    Ontario Phalanx                               1            1844.
+    Owen, Robert                                 25
+    Prairie Home Community                       23            1844.
+    Raritan Bay Union                             5            1853.
+    Sangamon Phalanx                              1            1845.
+    Shakers                                      93            1776.
+    Skaneateles Community                        18            1843-6.
+    Social Reform Unity                          23            1842.
+    Sodus Bay Phalanx                             3            1844.
+    Spiritual Community at Mountain Cove          3            1853.
+    Spring Farm Association                       3            1846-9.
+    St. Louis Reform Association                  1            1851.
+    Sylvania Association                         25            1843-5.
+    Trumbull Phalanx                             13            1844-7.
+    United Germans                                2            1827.
+    Venezuelan Experiment                        25            1844-6.
+    Warren, Josiah, Time Store &c.               11            1842.
+    Washtenaw Phalanx                             1            1843.
+    Wisconsin Phalanx                            21            1844-50.
+    Wright, Frances                               9
+    Wilkinson, Jemima, and her Community          5            1780.
+    Yellow Springs Community                      1            1825.
+    Zoar                                          8            1819.
+
+On general survey of the matter contained in this index, we may begin
+to sort it in the following manner:
+
+First we will lay aside the antique _religious_ Associations, such as
+the Dunkers, Moravians, Zoarites, &c. We count at least seven of
+these, which do not properly belong to the modern socialistic
+movement, or even to American life. Having their origin in the old
+world, and most of them in the last century, and remaining without
+change, they exist only on the outskirts of general society.
+
+Next we put out of account the _foreign_ Associations, such as the
+Brazilian and Venezuelan experiments. With these may be classed those
+of the Icarians and some others, which, though within the United
+States, are, or were, really colonies of foreigners. We see six of
+this sort in the index.
+
+Thirdly, we dismiss two or three Spiritualistic attempts that are
+named in the list; first, because they never attained to the dignity
+of Associations; and secondly, because they belonged to a later
+movement than that which Macdonald undertook to record. The social
+experiments of the Spiritualists should be treated by themselves, as
+the _sequelae_ of the Fourier excitement of Macdonald's time.
+
+The Associations that are left after these exclusions, naturally fall
+into two groups, viz.; those of the OWEN MOVEMENT, and those of the
+FOURIER MOVEMENT.
+
+Robert Owen came to this country and commenced his experiments in
+Communism in 1824. This was the beginning of a national excitement,
+which had a course somewhat like that of a religious revival or a
+political campaign. This movement seems to have culminated in 1826;
+and, grouped around or near that year, we find in Macdonald's list,
+the names of eleven Communities. These were not all strictly Owenite
+Communities, but probably all owed their birth to the general
+excitement that followed Owen's labors, and may therefore, properly be
+classified as belonging to the Owen movement.
+
+Fourierism was introduced into this country by Albert Brisbane and
+Horace Greeley in 1842, and then commenced another great national
+movement similar to that of Owenism, but far more universal and
+enthusiastic. We consider the year 1843 the focal period of this
+social revival; and around that year or following it within the
+forties, we find the main group of Macdonald's Associations.
+Thirty-four of the list may clearly be referred to this epoch. Many,
+and perhaps most of them, never undertook to carry into practice
+Fourier's theories in full; and some of them would disclaim all
+affiliation with Fourierism; but they all originated in a common
+excitement, and that excitement took its rise from the publications of
+Brisbane and Greeley.
+
+Confining ourselves, for the present, to these two groups of
+Associations, belonging respectively to the Owen movement of 1826 and
+the Fourier movement of 1843, we will now give a brief statistical
+account of each Association; i.e., all we can find in Macdonald's
+collection, on the following points: 1, Locality; 2, Number of
+members; 3, Amount of land; 4, Amount of debt; 5, Duration. We give
+the amount of land instead of any other measurement of capital,
+because all and more than all the capital of the Associations was
+generally invested in land, and because it is difficult to
+distinguish, in most cases, between the cash capital that was actually
+paid in, and that which was only subscribed or talked about.
+
+As to the reliability of these statistics, we can only say that we
+have patiently picked them out, one by one, like scattered bones, from
+Macdonald's heap. Though they may be faulty in some details, we are
+confident that the general idea they give of the attempts and
+experiences of American Socialists, will not be far from the truth.
+
+
+_Experiments of the Owen Epoch._
+
+Blue Spring Community; Indiana; no particulars, except that it lasted
+"but a short time."
+
+Co-operative Society; Pennsylvania; no particulars.
+
+Coxsackie Community; New York; capital "small;" "very much in debt;"
+duration between 1 and 2 years.
+
+Forrestville Community; Indiana; "over 60 members;" 325 acres of land;
+duration more than a year.
+
+Franklin Community; New York; no particulars.
+
+Haverstraw Community; New York; about 80 members; 120 acres; debt
+$12,000; duration 5 months.
+
+Kendal Community; Ohio; 200 members; 200 acres; duration about 2
+years.
+
+Macluria; Indiana; 1200 acres; duration about 2 years.
+
+New Harmony; Indiana; 900 members; 30,000 acres, worth $150,000;
+duration nearly 3 years.
+
+Nashoba; Tennessee; 15 members; 2,000 acres; duration about 3 years.
+
+Yellow Spring Community; Ohio; 75 to 100 families; duration 3 months.
+
+
+_Experiments of the Fourier Epoch._
+
+Alphadelphia Phalanx; Michigan; 400 or 500 members; 2814 acres;
+duration 2 years and 9 months.
+
+Brook Farm; Massachusetts; 115 members; 200 acres; duration 5 years.
+
+Brooke's experiment; Ohio; few members; no further particulars.
+
+Bureau Co. Phalanx; Illinois; small; no particulars.
+
+Clarkson Industrial Association; New York; 420 members; 2000 acres;
+duration from 6 to 9 months.
+
+Clermont Phalanx; Ohio; 120 members; 900 acres; debt $19,000; duration
+2 years or more.
+
+Columbian Phalanx; Ohio; no particulars.
+
+Garden Grove; Iowa; no particulars.
+
+Goose Pond Community; Pennsylvania; 60 members; duration a few months.
+
+Grand Prairie Community; Ohio; no particulars.
+
+Hopedale; Massachusetts; 200 members; 500 acres; duration not stated,
+but commonly reported to be 17 or 18 years.
+
+Integral Phalanx; Illinois; 30 families; 508 acres; duration 17
+months.
+
+Jefferson Co. Industrial Association; New York; 400 members; 1200
+acres of land; duration a few months.
+
+Lagrange Phalanx; Indiana; 1000 acres; no further particulars.
+
+Leraysville Phalanx; Pennsylvania; 40 members; 300 acres; duration 8
+months.
+
+Marlboro Association; Ohio; 24 members; had "a load of debt;" duration
+nearly 4 years.
+
+McKean Co. Association; Pennsylvania; 30,000 acres; no further
+particulars.
+
+Moorhouse Union; New York; 120 acres; duration "a few months."
+
+North American Phalanx; New Jersey; 112 members; 673 acres; debt
+$17,000; duration 12 years.
+
+Northampton Association; Massachusetts; 130 members; 500 acres of
+land; debt $40,000; duration 4 years.
+
+Ohio Phalanx; 100 members; 2,200 acres; deeply in debt; duration 10
+months.
+
+One-mentian (meaning probably one-mind) Community; Pennsylvania; 800
+acres; duration one year.
+
+Ontario Phalanx; New York; brief duration.
+
+Prairie Home Community; Ohio; 500 acres; debt broke it up; duration
+one year.
+
+Raritan Bay Union; New Jersey; few members; 268 acres.
+
+Sangamon Phalanx; Illinois; no particulars.
+
+Skaneateles Community; New York; 150 members; 354 acres; debt $10,000;
+duration 2-1/2 years.
+
+Social Reform Unity; Pennsylvania; 20 members; 2,000 acres; debt
+$2,400; duration about 10 months.
+
+Sodus Bay Phalanx; New York; 300 members; 1,400 acres; duration a
+"short time."
+
+Spring Farm Association; Wisconsin; 10 families; duration 3 years.
+
+Sylvania Association; Pennsylvania; 145 members; 2394 acres; debt
+$7,900; duration nearly 2 years.
+
+Trumbull Phalanx; Ohio; 1500 acres; duration 2-1/2 years.
+
+Washtenaw Phalanx; Michigan; no particulars.
+
+Wisconsin Phalanx; 32 families; 1,800 acres; duration 6 years.
+
+
+_Recapitulation and Comments._
+
+1. _Localities._ The Owen group were distributed among the States as
+follows: in Indiana, 4; in New York, 3; in Ohio, 2; in Pennsylvania,
+1; in Tennessee, 1.
+
+The Fourier group were located as follows: in Ohio, 8; in New York, 6;
+in Pennsylvania, 6; in Massachusetts, 3; in Illinois, 3; in New
+Jersey, 2; in Michigan, 2; in Wisconsin, 2; in Indiana, 1; in Iowa, 1.
+
+Indiana had the greatest number in the first group, and the least in
+the second.
+
+New England was not represented in the Owen group; and only by three
+Associations in the Fourier group; and those three were all in
+Massachusetts.
+
+The southern states were represented by only one Association--that of
+Nashoba, in the Owen group--and that was little more than an
+eleemosynary attempt of Frances Wright to civilize the negroes.
+
+The two groups combined were distributed as follows: in Ohio, 10; in
+New York, 9; in Pennsylvania, 7; in Indiana, 5; in Massachusetts, 3;
+in Illinois, 3; in New Jersey, 2; in Michigan, 2; in Wisconsin, 2; in
+Tennessee, 1; in Iowa, 1.
+
+2. _Number of members._ The figures in our epitome (reckoning five
+persons to a family when families are mentioned), give an aggregate of
+4,801 members: but these belong to only twenty-five Associations. The
+numbers of the remaining twenty are not definitely reported. The
+average of those reported is about 192 to an Association. Extending
+this average to the rest, we have a total of 8,641.
+
+The numbers belonging to single Associations vary from 15 to 900; but
+in a majority of cases they were between 100 and 200.
+
+3. _The amount of land_ reported is enormous. Averaging it as we did
+in the case of the number of members, we make a grand total of 136,586
+acres, or about 3,000 acres to each Association! This is too much for
+any probable average. We will leave out as exceptional, the 60,000
+acres reported as belonging to New Harmony and the McKean Co.
+Association. Then averaging as before, we have a grand total of 44,624
+acres, or about 1,000 acres to each Association.
+
+Judging by our own experience we incline to think that this fondness
+for land, which has been the habit of Socialists, had much to do with
+their failures. Farming is about the hardest and longest of all roads
+to fortune: and it is the kind of labor in which there is the most
+uncertainty as to modes and theories, and of course the largest chance
+for disputes and discords in such complex bodies as Associations.
+Moreover the lust for land leads off into the wilderness, "out west,"
+or into by-places, far away from railroads and markets; whereas
+Socialism, if it is really ahead of civilization, ought to keep near
+the centers of business, and at the front of the general march of
+improvement. We should have advised the Phalanxes to limit their
+land-investments to a minimum, and put their strength as soon as
+possible into some form of manufacture. Almost any kind of a factory
+would be better than a farm for a Community nursery. We find hardly a
+vestige of this policy in Macdonald's collections. The saw-mill is the
+only form of mechanism that figures much in his reports. It is really
+ludicrous to see how uniformly an old saw-mill turns up in connection
+with each Association, and how zealously the brethren made much of it;
+but that is about all they attempted in the line of manufacturing.
+Land, land, land, was evidently regarded by them as the mother of all
+gain and comfort. Considering how much they must have run in debt for
+land, and how little profit they got from it, we may say of them
+almost literally, that they were "wrecked by running aground."
+
+4. _Amount of debt._ Macdonald's reports on this point are few and
+indefinite. The sums owed are stated for only seven of the
+Associations. They vary from $1,000 to $40,000. Five other
+Associations are reported as "very much in debt," "deeply in debt,"
+&c. The exact indebtedness of these and of the remaining thirty-three,
+is probably beyond the reach of history. But we have reason to think
+that nearly all of them bought, to begin with, a great deal more land
+than they paid for. This was the fashion of the socialistic schools
+and of the times.
+
+5. _The duration_ of fourteen Associations is not reported; twelve
+lasted less than 1 year; two 1 year; four between 1 and 2 years; three
+2 years; four between 2 and 3 years; one between 3 and 4 years; one 4
+years; one 5 years; one 6 years; one 12 years, and one (it is said) 17
+years. All died young, and most of them before they were two years
+old.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THEORY OF NATIONAL EXPERIENCE.
+
+
+Now that our phenomena are fairly before us, a little speculation may
+be appropriate. One wants to know what position these experiments,
+which started so gaily and failed so soon, occupy in the history of
+this country and of the world; what relation they have to
+Christianity; what their meaning is in the great scheme of Providence.
+Students of Socialism and history must have some theory about their
+place and significance in the great whole of things. We have studied
+them somewhat in the circumspective way, and will devote a few pages
+to our theory about them. It will at least correct any impression that
+we intend to treat them disrespectfully.
+
+And first we keep in mind a clear and wide distinction between the
+Associations and the movements from which they sprung. The word
+_movement_ is very convenient, though very indefinite. We use it to
+designate the wide-spread excitements and discussions about Socialism
+which led to the experiments we have epitomized. In our last chapter
+we incidentally compared the socialistic movements of the Owen and
+Fourier epochs to religious revivals. We might now complete the idea,
+by comparing the Associations that issued from those movements, to
+churches that were organized in consequence of the revivals. A vast
+spiritual and intellectual excitement is one thing; and the
+_institutions_ that rise out of it are another. We must not judge the
+excitement by the institutions.
+
+We get but a very imperfect idea of the Owen and Fourier movements
+from the short-lived experiments whose remains are before us in
+Macdonald's collections. In the first place Macdonald, faithful as he
+was, did not discover all the experiments that were made during those
+movements. We remember some that are not named in his manuscripts. And
+in the next place the numbers engaged in the practical attempts were
+very small, in comparison with the masses that entered into the
+enthusiasm of the general movements and abandoned themselves to the
+idea of an impending social revolution. The eight thousand and six
+hundred that we found by averaging Macdonald's list, might probably be
+doubled to represent the census of the obscure unknown attempts, and
+then multiplied by ten to cover the outside multitudes that were
+converted to Socialism in the course of the Owen and Fourier revivals.
+
+Owen in 1824 stirred the very life of the nation with his appeals to
+Kings and Congresses, and his vast experiments at New Harmony. Think
+of his family of nine hundred members on a farm of thirty thousand
+acres! A magnificent beginning, that thrilled the world! The general
+movement was proportionate to this beginning; and though this great
+Community and all the little ones that followed it failed and
+disappeared in a few years, the movement did not cease. Owen and his
+followers--especially his son Robert Dale Owen and Frances
+Wright--continued to agitate the country with newspapers, public
+lectures, and "Fanny Wright societies," till their ideas actually got
+foot-hold and influence in the great Democratic party. The special
+enthusiasm for practical attempts at Association culminated in 1826,
+and afterwards subsided; but the excitement about Owen's ideas, which
+was really the Owen movement, reached its height after 1830; and the
+embers of it are in the heart of the nation to this day.
+
+On the other hand, Fourier (by proxy) started another national
+excitement in 1842. With young Brisbane for its cosmopolitan apostle,
+and a national newspaper, such as the _New York Tribune_ was, for its
+organ, this movement, like Owen's, could not be otherwise than
+national in its dimensions. We shall have occasion hereafter to show
+how vast and deep it was, and how poorly it is represented by the
+Phalanxes that figure in Macdonald's memoirs. Meanwhile let the reader
+consider that several of the men who were leaders in this excitement,
+were also leaders then and afterwards in the old Whig party; and he
+will have reason to conclude that Socialism, in its duplex form of
+Owenism and Fourierism, has touched and modified both of the
+party-sections and all departments of the national life.
+
+We must not think of the two great socialistic revivals as altogether
+heterogeneous and separate. Their partizans maintained theoretical
+opposition to each other; but after all the main idea of both was _the
+enlargement of home--the extension of family union beyond the little
+man-and-wife circle to large corporations_. In this idea the two
+movements were one; and this was the charming idea that caught the
+attention and stirred the enthusiasm of the American people. Owenism
+prepared the way for Fourierism. The same men, or at least the same
+sort of men that took part in the Owen movement, were afterward
+carried away by the Fourier enthusiasm. The two movements may,
+therefore, be regarded as one; and in that view, the period of the
+great American socialistic revival extends from 1824, through the
+final and overwhelming excitement of 1843, to the collapse of
+Fourierism after 1846.
+
+As a man who has passed through a series of passional excitements, is
+never the same being afterward, so we insist that these socialistic
+paroxysms have changed the heart of the nation; and that a yearning
+toward social reconstruction has become a part of the continuous,
+permanent, inner experience of the American people. The Communities
+and Phalanxes died almost as soon as they were born, and are now
+almost forgotten. But the spirit of Socialism remains in the life of
+the nation. It was discouraged and cast down by the failures of 1828
+and 1846, and thus it learned salutary caution and self-control. But
+it lives still, as a hope watching for the morning, in thousands and
+perhaps millions who never took part in any of the experiments, and
+who are neither Owenites nor Fourierites, but simply Socialists
+without theory--believers in the possibility of a scientific and
+heavenly reconstruction of society.
+
+Thus our theory harmonizes Owenism with Fourierism, and regards them
+both as working toward the same end in American history. Now we will
+go a step further and attempt the reconciling of still greater
+repugnances.
+
+Since the war of 1812-15, the line of socialistic excitements lies
+parallel with the line of religious Revivals. Each had its two great
+leaders, and its two epochs of enthusiasm. Nettleton and Finney were
+to Revivals, what Owen and Fourier were to Socialism. Nettleton
+prepared the way for Finney, though he was opposed to him, as Owen
+prepared the way for Fourier. The enthusiasm in both movements had the
+same progression. Nettleton's agitation, like Owen's, was moderate and
+somewhat local. Finney, like Fourier, swept the nation as with a
+tempest. The Revival periods were a little in advance of those of
+Socialism. Nettleton commenced his labors in 1817, while Owen entered
+the field in 1824. Finney was at the height of his power in 1831-3,
+while Fourier was carrying all before him in 1842-3. Thus the
+movements were to a certain extent alternate. Opposed as they were to
+each other theologically--one being a movement of Bible men, and the
+other of infidels and liberals--they could not be expected to hold
+public attention simultaneously. But looking at the whole period from
+the end of the war in 1815 to the end of Fourierism after 1846, and
+allowing Revivals a little precedence over Socialism, we find the two
+lines of excitement parallel, and their phenomena wonderfully similar.
+
+As we have shown that the socialistic movement was national, so, if it
+were necessary, we might here show that the Revival movement was
+national. There was a time between 1831 and 1834 when the American
+people came as near to a surrender of all to the Kingdom of Heaven, as
+they came in 1843 to a socialistic revolution. The Millennium seemed
+as near in 1831, as Fourier's Age of Harmony seemed in 1843. And the
+final effect of Revivals was a hope watching for the morning, which
+remains in the life of the nation, side by side, nay identical with,
+the great hope of Socialism.
+
+And these movements--Revivalism and Socialism--opposed to each other
+as they may seem, and as they have been in the creeds of their
+partizans, are closely related in their essential nature and objects,
+and manifestly belong together in the scheme of Providence, as they do
+in the history of this nation. They are to each other as inner to
+outer--as soul to body--as life to its surroundings. The Revivalists
+had for their great idea the regeneration of the soul. The great idea
+of the Socialists was the regeneration of society, which is the soul's
+environment. These ideas belong together, and are the complements of
+each other. Neither can be successfully embodied by men whose minds
+are not wide enough to accept them both.
+
+In fact these two ideas, which in modern times are so wide apart, were
+present together in original Christianity. When the Spirit of truth
+pricked three thousand men to the heart and converted them on the day
+of Pentecost, its next effect was to resolve them into one family and
+introduce Communism of property. Thus the greatest of all Revivals was
+also the great inauguration of Socialism.
+
+Undoubtedly the Socialists will think we make too much of the Revival
+movement; and the Revivalists will think we make too much of the
+Socialistic movement; and the politicians will think we make too much
+of both, in assigning them important places in American history. But
+we hold that a man's deepest experiences are those of religion and
+love; and these are just the experiences in respect to which he is
+most apt to be ashamed, and most inclined to be silent. So the nation
+says but little, and tries to think that it thinks but little, about
+its Revivals and its Socialisms; but they are nevertheless the deepest
+and most interesting passages of its history, and worth more study as
+determinatives of character and destiny, than all its politics and
+diplomacies, its money matters and its wars.
+
+Doubtless the Revivalists and Socialists despise each other, and
+perhaps both will despise us for imagining that they can be
+reconciled. But we will say what we believe; and that is, that they
+have both failed in their attempts to bring heaven on earth, _because_
+they despised each other, and would not put their two great ideas
+together. The Revivalists failed for want of regeneration of society,
+and the Socialists failed for want of regeneration of the heart.
+
+On the one hand the Revivalists needed daily meetings and continuous
+criticism to save and perfect their converts; and these things they
+could not have without a thorough reconstruction of domestic life.
+They tried the expedient of "protracted meetings," which was really a
+half-way attack on the fashion of the world; but society was too
+strong for them, and their half-measures broke down, as all
+half-measures must. What they needed was to convert their churches
+into unitary families, and put them into unitary homes, where daily
+meetings and continuous criticism are possible;--and behold, this is
+Socialism!
+
+On the other hand the Socialists, as often as they came together in
+actual attempts to realize their ideals, found that they were too
+selfish for close organization. The moan of Macdonald was, that after
+seeing the stern reality of the experiments, he lost hope, and was
+obliged to confess that he had "imagined mankind better than they
+are." This was the final confession of the leaders in the Associative
+experiments generally, from Owen to the last of the Fourierites; and
+this confession means, that Socialism needed for its complement,
+regeneration of the heart;--and behold, this is Revivalism!
+
+These discords and failures of the past surely have not been in vain.
+Perhaps Providence has carried forward its regenerative designs in two
+lines thus far, for the sake of the advantage of a "division of
+labor." While the Bible men have worked for the regeneration of the
+soul, the infidels and liberals have been busy on the problem of the
+reconstruction of society. Working apart and in enmity, perhaps they
+have accomplished more for final harmony than they could have done
+together. Even their failures when rightly interpreted, may turn to
+good account. They have both helped to plant in the heart of the
+nation an unfailing hope of the "good time coming." Their lines of
+labor, though we have called them parallel, must really be convergent;
+and we may hope that the next phase of national history will be that
+of Revivalism and Socialism harmonized, and working together for the
+Kingdom of Heaven.
+
+To complete our historical theory, we must mention in conclusion, one
+point of contrast between the Socialisms and the Revivals.
+
+_The Socialisms were imported from Europe; while the Revivals were
+American productions._
+
+Owen was an Englishman, and Fourier was a Frenchman; but Nettleton and
+Finney were both Americans--both natives of Connecticut.
+
+In the comparison we confine ourselves to the period since the war of
+1812, because the history of the general socialistic excitements in
+this country is limited to that period. But the Revivals have an
+anterior history, extending back into the earliest times of New
+England. The great American _system_ of Revivals, of which the
+Nettleton and Finney excitements were the continuation, was born in
+the first half of the last century, in central Massachusetts. Jonathan
+Edwards, whose life extended from 1703 to 1758, was the father of it.
+So that not only since the war of 1812, but before the Revolution of
+1776, we find Revivalism, _as a system_, strictly an American
+production.
+
+We call the Owen and Fourier movements, _American_ Socialisms, because
+they were national in their dimensions, and American life chiefly was
+the subject of them. But looking at what may be called the _male_
+element in the production of them, they were really European
+movements, propagated in this country. Nevertheless, if we take the
+view that Socialism and Revivalism are a unit in the design of
+Providence, one looking to the regeneration of externals and the other
+to the regeneration of internals, we may still call the entire
+movement American, as having Revivalism, which is American, for its
+inner life, though Socialism, the outer element, was imported from
+England and France.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+NEW HARMONY.
+
+
+American Socialisms, as we have defined them and grouped their
+experiments, may be called _non-religious_ Socialisms. Several
+religious Communities flourished in this country before Owen's
+attempts, and have continued to flourish here since the collapse of
+Fourierism. But they were originally colonies of foreigners, and never
+were directly connected with movements that could be called national.
+Owen was the first Socialist that stirred the enthusiasm of the whole
+American people; and he was the first, so far as we know, who tried
+the experiment of a non-religious Community. And the whole series of
+experiments belonging to the two great groups of the Owen and Fourier
+epochs, followed in his footsteps. The exclusion of theology was their
+distinction and their boast.
+
+Our programme, limited as it is by its title to these national
+Socialisms, does not strictly include the religious Communities. Yet
+those Communities have played indirectly a very important part in the
+drama of American Socialisms, and will require considerable incidental
+attention as we proceed.
+
+In attempting to make out from Macdonald's collection an outline of
+Owen's great experiment at New Harmony (which was the prototype of all
+the Owen and Fourier experiments), we find ourselves at the outset
+quite unexpectedly dealing with a striking example of the relation
+between the religious and non-religious Communities.
+
+Owen did not build the village of New Harmony, nor create the
+improvements which prepared his 30,000 acres for his family of nine
+hundred. He bought them outright from a previous religious Community;
+and it is doubtful whether he would have ever gathered his nine
+hundred and made his experiment, if he had not found a place prepared
+for him by a sect of Christian Communists.
+
+Macdonald was an admirer, we might almost say a worshiper, of Owen. He
+gloats over New Harmony as the very Mecca of his devotion. There he
+spent his first eighteen months in this country. The finest picture in
+his collection is an elaborate India-ink drawing of the village. But
+he scarcely mentions the Rappites who built it. No separate account of
+them, such as he gives of the Shakers and Moravians, can be found in
+his manuscripts. This is an unaccountable neglect; for their
+pre-occupation of New Harmony and their transactions with Owen, must
+have thrust them upon his notice; and their history is intrinsically
+as interesting, to say the least, as that of any of the religious
+Communities.
+
+A glance at the history of the Rappites is in many ways indispensable,
+as an introduction to an account of Owen's New Harmony. We must
+therefore address ourselves to the task which Macdonald neglected.
+
+
+THE HARMONISTS.
+
+In the first years of the present century, old Wuertemburg, a province
+always famous for its religious enthusiasms, was fermenting with
+excitement about the Millennium; and many of its enthusiasts were
+expecting the speedy personal advent of Christ. Among these George
+Rapp became a prominent preacher, and led forth a considerable sect
+into doctrines and ways that brought upon him and them severe
+persecutions. In 1803 he came to America to find a refuge for his
+flock. After due exploration he purchased 5000 acres of land in Butler
+Co., Pennsylvania, and commenced a settlement which he called Harmony.
+In the summer of 1804 two ship-loads of his disciples with their
+families--six hundred in all--came over the ocean and joined him. In
+1805 the Society was formally organized as a Christian Community, on
+the model of the Pentecostal church. For a time their fare was poor
+and their work was hard. An evil eye from their neighbors was upon
+them. But they lived down calumny and suspicion by well-doing, and
+soon made the wilderness blossom around them like the rose. In 1807
+they adopted the principle of celibacy; but in other respects they
+were far from being ascetics. Music, painting, sculpture, and other
+liberal arts flourished among them. Their museums and gardens were the
+wonder and delight of the region around them. In 1814, desiring warmer
+land and a better location for business, they sold all in Pennsylvania
+and removed to Indiana. On the banks of the Wabash they built a new
+village and again called it Harmony. Here they prospered more than
+ever, and their number increased to nearly a thousand. In 1824 they
+again became discontented with their location, on account of bad
+neighbors and malaria. Again they sold all, and returned to
+Pennsylvania; but not to their old home. They built their third and
+final village in Beaver Co, near Pittsburgh, and called it Economy.
+There they are to this day. They own railroads and oil wells and are
+reported to be millionaires of the unknown grade. In all their
+migrations from the old world to the new, from Pennsylvania to
+Indiana, and from Indiana back to Pennsylvania; in all their perils by
+persecutions, by false brethren, by pestilence, by poverty and wealth,
+their religion held them together, and their union gave them the
+strength that conquers prosperity. A notable example of what a hundred
+families can do when they have the wisdom of harmony, and fight the
+battle of life in a solid phalanx! A nobler "six hundred" than the
+famous dragoons of Balaklava!
+
+Such were the people who gave Robert Owen his first lessons in
+Communism, and sold him their home in Indiana. Ten of their best years
+they spent in building a village on the Wabash, not for themselves (as
+it turned out), but for a theater of the great infidel experiment.
+Rev. Aaron Williams, D.D., the historian to whom we are indebted for
+the facts of the above sketch, thus describes the negotiations and the
+transfer:
+
+"The Harmonists, when they began to think of returning to
+Pennsylvania, employed a certain Richard Flower, an Englishman, and a
+prominent member of an English settlement in their vicinity, to
+negotiate for a sale of their real estate, offering him five thousand
+dollars to find a purchaser. Flower went to England for this purpose,
+and hearing of Robert Owen's Community at New Lanark, he sought him
+out and succeeded in selling to him the town of Harmony, with all its
+houses, mills, factories and thirty thousand acres of land, for one
+hundred and fifty thousand dollars. This was an immense sacrifice; but
+they were determined to leave the country, and they submitted to the
+loss. Having in the meantime made a purchase of their present lands in
+Pennsylvania, on the Ohio river, they built a steamboat and removed in
+detachments to their new and final place of settlement."
+
+Thus Owen, the first experimenter in non-religious Association, had
+substantially the ready-made material conditions which Fourier and his
+followers considered indispensable to success.
+
+We proceed now to give a sketch of the Owen experiment chiefly in
+Macdonald's words. When our own language occurs it is generally a
+condensation of his.
+
+OWEN'S NEW HARMONY.
+
+"Robert Owen came to the United States in December 1824, to complete the
+purchase of the settlement at Harmony. Mr. Rapp had sent an agent to
+England to dispose of the property, and Mr. Owen fell in with him there.
+In the spring of 1825 Mr. Owen closed the bargain. The property
+consisted of about 30,000 acres of land; nearly 3,000 acres under
+cultivation by the society; 19 detached farms; 600 acres of improved
+land occupied by tenants; some fine orchards; eighteen acres of
+full-bearing vines; and the village, which was a regularly laid out
+town, with streets running at right angles to each other, and a public
+square, around which were large brick edifices, built by the Rappites
+for churches, schools, and other public purposes."
+
+We can form some idea of the size of the village from the fact which
+we learn from Mr. Williams, that the Rappites, while at Harmony,
+numbered one thousand souls. It does not appear from Macdonald's
+account that Owen and his Community made any important additions to
+the village.
+
+"On the departure of the Rappites, persons favorable to Mr. Owen's
+views came flocking to New Harmony (as it was thenceforth called) from
+all parts of the country. Tidings of the new social experiment spread
+far and wide; and, although it has been denied, yet it is undoubtedly
+true, that Mr. Owen in his public lectures invited the 'industrious
+and well disposed of all nations' to emigrate to New Harmony. The
+consequence was, that in the short space of six weeks from the
+commencement of the experiment, a population of eight hundred persons
+was drawn together, and in October 1825, the number had increased to
+nine hundred."
+
+As to the character of this population, Macdonald insists that it was
+"as good as it could be under the circumstances," and he gives the
+names of "many intelligent and benevolent individuals who were at
+various times residents at New Harmony." But he admits that there were
+some "black sheep" in the flock. "It is certain," he says, "that there
+was a proportion of needy and idle persons, who crowded in to avail
+themselves of Mr. Owen's liberal offer; and that they did their share
+of work more in the line of _destruction_ than _construction_."
+
+
+_Constitution No. 1._
+
+On the 27th of April 1825, Mr. Owen instituted a sort of provisional
+government. In an address to the people in New Harmony Hall, he
+informed them, "that he had bought that property, and had come there
+to introduce the practice of the new views; but he showed them the
+impossibility that persons educated as they were, should change at
+once from an irrational to a rational system of society, and the
+necessity for a 'half-way house,' in which to be prepared for the new
+system." Whereupon he tendered them a _Constitution_, of which we find
+no definite account, except that it was not fully Communistic, and was
+to hold the people in probationary training three years, under the
+title of the _Preliminary Society of New Harmony_. "After these
+proceedings Mr. Owen left New Harmony for Europe, and the Society was
+managed by the _Preliminary Committee_.(!)" We may imagine, each one
+for himself, what the nine hundred did while Mr. Owen was away.
+Macdonald compiled from the _New Harmony Gazette_ a very rapid but
+evidently defective account of the state of things in this important
+interval. He says nothing about the work on the 30,000 acres, but
+speaks of various minor businesses as "doing well." The only
+manufactures that appear to have "exceeded consumption" were those of
+soap and glue. A respectable apothecary "dispensed medicines without
+charge," and "the store supplied the inhabitants with all
+necessaries"--probably at Mr. Owen's expense. Education was considered
+"public property," and one hundred and thirty children were schooled,
+boarded and clothed from the public funds--probably at Mr. Owen's
+expense. Amusements flourished. The Society had a band of music;
+Tuesday evenings were appropriated to balls; Friday evenings to
+concerts--both in the old Rappite church. There was no provision for
+religious worship. Five military companies, "consisting of infantry,
+artillery, riflemen, veterans and fusileers," did duty from time to
+time on the public square.
+
+
+_Constitution No. 2._
+
+"Mr. Owen returned to New Harmony on the 12th of January, 1826, and
+soon after the members of the Preliminary Society held a convention,
+and adopted a constitution of a Community, entitled _The New Harmony
+Community of Equality_. Thus in less than a year, instead of three
+years as Mr. Owen had proposed, the 'half-way house' came to an end,
+and actual Communism commenced. A few of the members, who, on account
+of a difference of opinions, did not sign the new constitution, formed
+a second Community on the New Harmony estate about two miles from the
+town, in friendly connection with the first."
+
+The new government instituted by Mr. Owen, was to be in the hands of
+an _Executive Council_, subject at all times to the direction of the
+Community; and six gentlemen were appointed to this function. But
+Macdonald says: "Difficulties ensued in organizing the new Community.
+It appears that the plan of government by executive council would not
+work, and that the members were unanimous in calling upon Mr. Owen to
+take the sole management, judging from his experience that he was the
+only man who could do so. This call Mr. Owen accepted, and we learn
+that soon after general satisfaction and individual contentment took
+the place of suspense and uncertainty."
+
+This was in fact the inauguration of
+
+
+_Constitution No. 3._
+
+"In March the _Gazette_ says that under the indefatigable attention of
+Mr. Owen, order had been introduced into every department of
+business, and the farm presented a scene of active and steady
+industry. The Society was rapidly becoming a Community of Equality.
+The streets no longer exhibited groups of idle talkers, but each one
+was busily engaged in the occupation he had chosen. The public
+meetings, instead of being the arenas for contending orators, were
+changed into meetings of business, where consultations were held and
+measures adopted for the comfort of all the members of the Community.
+
+"In April there was a disturbance in the village on account of
+negotiations that were going on for securing the estate as private
+property. Some persons attempted to divide the town into several
+societies. Mr. Owen would not agree to this, and as he had the power,
+he made a selection, and by solemn examination constituted a _nucleus_
+of twenty-five men, which _nucleus_ was to admit members, Mr. Owen
+reserving the power to _veto_ every one admitted. There were to be
+three grades of members, viz., conditional members, probationary
+members, and persons on trial. (?) The Community was to be under the
+direction of Mr. Owen, until two-thirds of the members should think
+fit to govern themselves, provided the time was not less than twelve
+months."
+
+This may be called,
+
+
+_Constitution No. 4._
+
+In May a third Community had been formed; and the population was
+divided between No. 1, which was Mr. Owen's Community, No. 2, which
+was called Macluria, and No. 3, which was called _Feiba Peven_--a name
+designating in some mysterious way the latitude and longitude of New
+Harmony.
+
+"May 27. The immigration continued so steadily, that it became
+necessary for the Community to inform the friends of the new views
+that the accommodations were inadequate, and call upon them by
+advertisement not to come until further notice."
+
+
+_Constitution No. 5._
+
+"May 30. In consequence of a variety of troubles and disagreements,
+chiefly relating to the disposal of the property, a great meeting of
+the whole population was held, and it was decided to form four
+separate societies, each signing its own contract for such part of the
+property as it should purchase, and each managing its own affairs; but
+to trade with each other by paper money."
+
+Mr. Owen was now beginning to make sharp bargains with the independent
+Communities. Macdonald says, "He had lost money, and no doubt he tried
+to regain some of it, and used such means as he thought would prevent
+further loss."
+
+On the 4th of July Mr. Owen delivered his celebrated _Declaration of
+Mental Independence_, from which we give the following specimen:
+
+"I now declare to you and to the world, that Man, up to this hour, has
+been in all parts of the earth a slave to a Trinity of the most
+monstrous evils that could be combined to inflict mental and physical
+evil upon his whole race. I refer to Private or Individual Property,
+Absurd and Irrational systems of Religion, and Marriage founded on
+Individual Property, combined with some of these Irrational systems of
+Religion."
+
+"August 20. After Mr. Owen had given his usual address, it was
+unanimously agreed by the meeting that the entire population of New
+Harmony should meet three times a week in the Hall, for the purpose of
+being educated together. This practice was continued about six weeks,
+when Mr. Owen became sick and it was discontinued."
+
+
+_Constitution No. 6._
+
+"August 25. The people held a meeting at which they _abolished all
+officers_ then existing, and appointed three men as _dictators_."
+
+
+_Constitution No. 7._
+
+"Sept. 17. A large meeting of all the Societies and the whole
+population of the town took place at the Hall, for the purpose of
+considering a plan for the '_amelioration of the Society_, to improve
+the condition of the people, and make them more contented.' A message
+was received from Mr. Owen proposing to form a Community with as many
+as would join him, and put in all their property, save what might be
+thought necessary to reserve to help their friends; the government to
+consist of Robert Owen and four others of his choice, to be appointed
+by him every year; and not to be altered for five years. This movement
+of course nullified all previous organizations. Disagreements and
+jealousies ensued, and, as was the case on a former change being made,
+many persons left New Harmony.
+
+"Nov. 1. The _Gazette_ says: 'Eighteen months experience has proved to
+us, that the requisite qualifications for a permanent member of the
+Community of Common Property are, 1, Honesty of purpose; 2,
+Temperance; 3, Industry; 4, Carefulness; 5, Cleanliness; 6, Desire for
+knowledge; 7, A conviction of the fact that the character of man is
+formed for, and not by, himself.'
+
+"Nov. 8. Many persons leaving. The _Gazette_ shows how impossible it
+is for a Community of common property to exist, unless the members
+comprising it have acquired the genuine Community character.
+
+"Nov. 11. Mr. Owen reviewed the last six months' progress of the
+Community in a favorable light.
+
+"In December the use of ardent spirits was abolished.
+
+"Jan. 1827. Although there was an appearance of increased order and
+happiness, yet matters were drawing to a close. Owen was selling
+property to individuals; the greater part of the town was now resolved
+into individual lots; a grocery was established opposite the tavern;
+painted sign-boards began to be stuck up on the buildings, pointing out
+places of manufacture and trade; a sort of wax-figure-and-puppet-show
+was opened at one end of the boarding-house; and every thing was getting
+into the old style."
+
+It is useless to follow this wreck further. Everybody sees it must go
+down, and _why_ it must go down. It is like a great ship, wallowing
+helpless in the trough of a tempestuous sea, with nine hundred
+_passengers_, and no captain or organized crew! We skip to Macdonald's
+picture of the end.
+
+"June 18, 1827. The _Gazette_ advertised that Mr. Owen would meet the
+inhabitants of New Harmony and the neighborhood on the following
+Sunday, to bid them farewell. I find no account of this meeting, nor
+indeed of any further movements of Mr. Owen in the _Gazette_. After
+his departure the majority of the population also removed and
+scattered about the country. Those who remained returned to
+individualism, and settled as farmers and mechanics in the ordinary
+way. One portion of the estate was owned by Mr. Owen, and the other
+by Mr. Maclure. They sold, rented, or gave away the houses and lands,
+and their heirs and assigns have continued to do so to the present
+day."
+
+Fifteen years after the catastrophe Macdonald was at New Harmony,
+among the remains of the old Community population, and he says: "I was
+cautioned not to speak of Socialism, as the subject was unpopular. The
+advice was good; Socialism was unpopular, and with good reason. The
+people had been wearied and disappointed by it; had been filled full
+with theories, until they were nauseated, and had made such miserable
+attempts at practice, that they seemed ashamed of what they had been
+doing. An enthusiastic socialist would soon be cooled down at New
+Harmony."
+
+The strength of the reaction against Communism caused by Owen's
+failure, may be seen to this day in the sect devoted to "Individual
+Sovereignty." Josiah Warren, the leader of that sect, was a member of
+Owen's Community, and a witness of its confusions and downfall; from
+which he swung off into the extreme of anti-Communism. The village of
+"Modern Times," where all forms of social organization were scouted as
+unscientific, was the electric negative of New Harmony.
+
+Macdonald thus moralizes over his master's failure:
+
+"Mr. Owen said he wanted honesty of purpose, and he got dishonesty. He
+wanted temperance, and instead, he was continually troubled with the
+intemperate. He wanted industry, and he found idleness. He wanted
+cleanliness, and found dirt. He wanted carefulness, and found waste.
+He wanted to find desire for knowledge, but he found apathy. He wanted
+the principles of the formation of character understood, and he found
+them misunderstood. He wanted these good qualities combined in one
+and all the individuals of the Community, but he could not find them;
+neither could he find those who were self-sacrificing and enduring
+enough, to prepare and educate their children to possess these
+qualities. Thus it was proved that his principles were either entirely
+erroneous, or much in advance of the age in which he promulgated them.
+He seems to have forgotten, that if one and all the thousand persons
+assembled there, had possessed the qualities which he wished them to
+possess, there would have been no necessity for his vain exertions to
+form a Community; because there would of necessity be brotherly love,
+charity, industry and plenty. We want no more than these; and if this
+is the material to form Communities of, and we can not find it, we can
+not form Communities; and if we can not find parents who are ready and
+willing to educate their children, to give them these qualities for a
+Community life, then what hope is there of Communism in the future?"
+
+Almost the only redeeming feature in or near this whole scene of
+confusion--which might well be called New Discord instead of New
+Harmony--was the silent retreat of the Rappite thousand, which was so
+orderly that it almost escaped mention. Remembering their obscure
+achievements and their persistent success, we can still be sure that
+the _idea_ of Owen and his thousand was not a delusion, but an
+inspiration, that only needed wiser hearts, to become a happy
+reality.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+INQUEST ON NEW HARMONY.
+
+
+The only laudable object any one can have in rehearsing and studying
+the histories of the socialistic failures, is that of learning from
+them practical lessons for guidance in present and future experiments.
+With this in view, the great experiment at New Harmony is well worth
+faithful consideration. It was, as we have said, the first and most
+notable of the entire series of non-religious Communities. It had for
+its antecedent the vast reputation that Owen had gained by his success
+at New Lanark. He came to this country with the prestige of a reformer
+who had the confidence and patronage of Lords, Dukes and Sovereigns in
+the old world. His lectures were received with attention by large
+assemblies in our principal cities. At Washington he was accommodated
+by the Speaker and President with the Hall of Representatives, in
+which he delivered several lectures before the President, the
+President elect, all the judges of the Supreme Court, and a great
+number of members of Congress. He afterwards presented to the
+Government an expensive and elaborate model, with interior and working
+drawings, elevations, &c., of one of the magnificent communal edifices
+which he had projected. He had a large private fortune, and drew into
+his schemes other capitalists, so that his experiment had the
+advantage of unlimited wealth. That wealth, as we have seen, placed at
+his command unlimited land and a ready-made village. These attractions
+brought him men in unlimited numbers.
+
+How stupendous the revolution was that he contemplated as the result
+of his great gathering, is best seen in the famous words which he
+uttered in the public hall at New Harmony on the 4th of July, 1826. We
+have already quoted from this speech a paragraph (underscored and
+double-scored by Macdonald) about the awful Trinity of man's
+oppressors--"Private property, Irrational Religion, and Marriage." In
+the same vein he went on to say:
+
+"For nearly forty years have I been employed, heart and soul, day by
+day, almost without ceasing, in preparing the means and arranging the
+circumstances, to enable me to give the death-blow to the tyranny
+which, for unnumbered ages, has held the human mind spellbound in
+chains of such mysterious forms that no mortal has dared approach to
+set the suffering prisoner free! Nor has the fullness of time for the
+accomplishment of this great event, been completed until within this
+hour! Such has been the extraordinary course of events, that the
+Declaration of Political Independence in 1776, has produced its
+counterpart, the _Declaration of Mental Independence_ in 1826; the
+latter just half a century from the former.***
+
+"In furtherance of our great object we are preparing the means to
+bring up our children with industrious and useful habits, with
+national and of course rational ideas and views, with sincerity in all
+their proceedings; and to give them kind and affectionate feelings for
+each other, and charity, in the most extensive sense of the term, for
+all their fellow creatures.
+
+"By doing this, uniting our separate interests into one, by doing away
+with divided money transactions, by exchanging with each other our
+articles of produce on the basis of labor for equal labor, by looking
+forward to apply our surplus wealth to assist others to attain similar
+advantages, and by the abandonment of the use of spiritous liquors, we
+shall in a peculiar manner promote the object of every wise government
+and all really enlightened men.
+
+"And here we now are, as near perhaps as we can be in the center of
+the United States, even, as it were, like the little grain of mustard
+seed! But with these _Great Truths_ before us, with the practice of
+the social system, as soon as it shall be well understood among us,
+our principles will, I trust, spread from Community to Community, from
+State to State, from Continent to Continent, until this system and
+these _truths_ shall overshadow the whole earth, shedding fragrance
+and abundance, intelligence and happiness, upon all the sons of men!"
+
+Such were the antecedents and promises of the New Harmony experiment.
+The Professor appeared on the stage with a splendid reputation for
+previous thaumaturgy, with all the crucibles and chemicals around him
+that money could buy, with an audience before him that was gaping to
+see the last wonder of science: but on applying the flame that was to
+set all ablaze with happiness and glory, behold! the material prepared
+would not burn, but only sputtered and smoked; and the curtain had to
+come down upon a scene of confusion and disappointment!
+
+What was the difficulty? Where was the mistake? These are the
+questions that ought to be studied till they are fully answered; for
+scores and hundreds of just such experiments have been tried since,
+with the same disastrous results; and scores and hundreds will be
+tried hereafter, till we go back and hold a faithful inquest, and find
+a sure verdict, on this original failure.
+
+Let us hear, then, what has been, or can be said, by all sorts of
+judges, on the causes of Owen's failure, and learn what we can.
+
+Macdonald has an important chapter on this subject, from which we
+extract the following:
+
+"There is no doubt in my mind, that the absence of Robert Owen in the
+first year of the Community was one of the great causes of its
+failure; for he was naturally looked up to as the head, and his
+influence might have kept people together, at least so as to effect
+something similar to what had been effected at New Lanark. But with a
+people free as these were from a set religious creed, and consisting,
+as they did, of all nations and opinions, it is doubtful if even Mr.
+Owen, had he continued there all the time, could have kept them
+permanently together. No comparison can be made between that
+population and the Shakers, Rappites, or Zoarites, who are each of one
+religious faith, and, save the Shakers, of one nation.
+
+"Mr. Samson, of Cincinnati, was at New Harmony from the beginning to
+the end of the Community; he went there on the boat that took the last
+of the Rappites away. He says the cause of failure was a rogue, named
+Taylor, who insinuated himself into Mr. Owen's favor, and afterward
+swindled and deceived him in a variety of ways, among other things
+establishing a distillery, contrary to Mr. Owen's wishes and
+principles, and injurious to the Community.
+
+"Owen always held the property. He thought it would be ten or twelve
+years before the Community would fill up; but no sooner had the
+Rappites left, than the place was taken possession of by strangers
+from all parts, while Owen was absent in England and the place under
+the management of a committee. When Owen returned and found how things
+were going, he deemed it necessary to mike a change, and notices were
+published in all parts, telling people not to come there, as there
+were no accommodations for them; yet still they came, till at last
+Owen was compelled to have all the log-cabins that harbored them
+pulled down.
+
+"Taylor and Fauntleroy were Owen's associates. When Owen found out
+Taylor's rascality he resolved to abandon the partnership with him,
+which Taylor would only agree to upon Owen's giving him a large tract
+of land, upon which he proposed to form a Community of his own. The
+agreement was that he should have the land and _all upon it_. So on
+the night previous to the execution of the bargain, he had a large
+quantity of cattle and farm implements put upon the land, and he
+thereby came into possession of them! Instead of forming a Community,
+he built a distillery, and also set up a tan-yard in opposition to Mr.
+Owen!"
+
+In the _Free Enquirer_ of June 10th, 1829, there is an article by
+Robert Dale Owen on New Lanark and New Harmony, in which, after
+comparing the two places and showing the difference between them, he
+makes the following remark relative to the experiment at New Harmony:
+"There was not disinterested industry, there was not mutual
+confidence, there was not practical experience, there was not unison
+of action, because there was not unanimity of counsel: and these were
+the points of difference and dissension--the rocks on which the social
+bark struck and was wrecked."
+
+A letter in the _New Harmony Gazette_, of January 31, 1827, complains
+of the "slow progress of education in the Community--the heavy labor,
+and no recompense but _cold water_ and _inferior provisions_."
+
+Paul Brown, who wrote a book entitled "Twelve months at New Harmony,"
+among his many complaints says, "There was no such thing as real
+general _common stock_ brought into being in this place." He
+attributes all the troubles, to the anxiety about "_exclusive
+property_," principally on the part of Owen and his associates.
+Speaking of one of the secondary Societies, he says there were "class
+distinctions" in it; and Macluria or the School Society he condemns as
+being most aristocratical, "its few projectors being extremely
+wealthy."
+
+In the _New Moral World_ of October 12, 1839, there is an article on
+New Harmony, in which it is asserted that Mr. Owen was induced to
+purchase that place on the understanding that the Rappite population
+then residing there would remain, until he had gradually introduced
+other persons to acquire from them the systematic and orderly habits,
+as well as practical knowledge, which they had gained by many years of
+practice. But by the removal of Rapp and his followers, Mr. Owen was
+left with all the property on his hands, and he was thus compelled to
+get persons to come there to prevent things from going to ruin.
+
+Mr. Josiah Warren, in his "Practical Details of Equitable Commerce,"
+says: "Let us bear in mind that during the great experiments in New
+Harmony in 1825 and 1826, every thing went delightfully on, except
+pecuniary affairs! We should, no doubt, have succeeded but for
+property considerations. But then the experiments never would have
+been commenced but for property considerations. It was to annihilate
+social antagonism by a system of _common property_, that we undertook
+the experiments at all."
+
+Mr. Sargant, the English biographer of Owen, intimates several times
+that _religion_ was the first subject of discord at New Harmony. His
+own opinion of the cause of the catastrophe, he gives in the following
+words:
+
+"What were the causes of these failures? People will give different
+answers, according to the general sentiments they entertain. For
+myself I should say, that such experiments must fail, because it is
+impossible to mould to Communism the characters of men and women,
+formed by the present doctrines and practices of the world to intense
+individualism. I should indeed go further by stating my convictions,
+that even with persons brought up from childhood to act in common and
+live in common, it would be impossible to carry out a Communistic
+system, unless in a place utterly removed from contact with the world,
+or with the help of some powerful religious conviction. Mere
+benevolence, mere sentiments of universal philanthropy, are far too
+weak to bind the self-seeking affections of men."
+
+John Pratt, a Positivist, in a communication to _The Oneida Circular_,
+contributes the following philosophical observations:
+
+"Owen was a Scotch metaphysician of the old school. As such, he was a
+most excellent fault-finder and _disorganizer_. He could perceive and
+depict the existing discord, but knew not better than his
+contemporaries Shelley and Godwin, where to find the New Harmony. Like
+most men of the last generation he looked upon society as a
+manufactured product, and not as an organism endued with imperishable
+vitality and growth. Like them he attributed all the evils it endured
+to priests and politicians, whose immediate annihilation would be
+followed by immediate, everlasting and universal happiness. It would
+be astonishing if an experiment initiated by such a class of thinkers
+should succeed under the most favorable auspices. One word as to mere
+externals. Owen was a skeptic by training, and a cautious man of
+business by nature and nationality. He was professedly an entire
+convert to his own principles; yet set an example of distrust by
+holding on to his thirty thousand acres himself. This would do when
+dealing with starving Scotch peasantry, glad of the privilege of
+moderately remunerated labor, good food and clothing. Had he been a
+benevolent Southern planter he would have succeeded admirably with
+negro slaves, who would have been only too happy to accept any
+'Principles.' He had to do with people who had individual hopes and
+aspirations. The internal affinities of Owen's Commune were too weak
+to resist the attractions of the outer world. Had he brought his New
+Lanark disciples to New Harmony, the result would not have been
+different. Removed from the mechanical pressure of despair and want,
+his weakly cohered elements would quickly have crumbled away."
+
+Our chapter on New Harmony was submitted, soon after it was written,
+to an evening gathering of the Oneida Community, for the purpose of
+eliciting discussions that might throw light on the failure; and we
+take the liberty here to report some of the observations made on that
+occasion. They have the advantage of coming from persons who have had
+long experience in Community life.
+
+_E.H. Hamilton_ said--"My admiration is excited, to see a man who was
+prospering in business as Mr. Owen was, turn aside from the general
+drift of the world, toward social improvement. I have the impression
+that he was sincere. He risked his money on his theories to a certain
+extent. His attempt was a noble manifestation of humanity, so far as
+it goes. But he required other people to be what he was not himself.
+He complains of his followers, that they were not teachable. I do not
+think he was a teachable man. He got a glimpse of the truth, and of
+the possibilities of Communism; but he adopted certain ideas as to the
+way in which these results are to be obtained, and it seems to me, in
+regard to those ideas, he was not docile. It must be manifest to all
+candid minds, that all the improvement and civilization of the present
+time, go along with the development of Christianity; and I am led to
+wonder why a man with the discernment and honesty of Mr. Owen, was not
+more impressible to the truth in this direction. It seems to me he was
+as unreceptive to the truths of Christianity, as the people he got
+together at New Harmony were to his principles. His favorite dogma was
+that a man's character is formed for him, and not by himself. I
+suppose we might admit, in a certain sense, that a man's character is
+formed for him by the grace of God, or by evil spirits. But the notion
+that man is wholly the creature of external circumstances,
+irrespective of these influences, seems foolish and pig-headed."
+
+_H.J. Seymour._--"I should not object to Owen's doctrine of
+circumstances, if he would admit that the one great circumstance of a
+man's life is the possibility of finding out and doing the will of
+God, and getting into vital connection with him."
+
+_S.R. Leonard._--"The people Mr. Owen had to deal with in Scotland
+were of the servile class, employees in his cotton-factories, and were
+easily managed, compared with those he collected here in the United
+States. When he went to Indiana, and undertook to manage a family of a
+thousand democrats, he began to realize that he did not understand
+human nature, or the principles of Association."
+
+_T.R. Noyes._--"The novelty of Owen's ideas and his rejection of all
+religion, prevented him from drawing into his scheme the best class in
+this country. Probably for every honest man who went to New Harmony,
+there were several parasites ready to prey on him and his enterprise,
+because he offered them an easy life without religion. Even if he
+might have got on with simple-minded men and women like his Lanark
+operatives, it was out of the question with these greedy adventurers."
+
+_G.W. Hamilton._--"At the west I met some persons who claimed to be
+disciples of Owen. From what I saw of them, I should judge it would be
+very difficult to form a Community of such material. They were very
+strong in the doctrine that every man has a right to his own opinion;
+and declaimed loudly against the effect of religion upon people. They
+said the common ideas of God and duty operated a great deal worse upon
+the characters of men, than southern slavery. There is enough in such
+notions of independence, to break up any attempt at Communism."
+
+_F.W. Smith._--"I understand that Owen did not educate and appoint men
+as leaders and fathers, to take care of the society while he was
+crossing the ocean back and forth. He undertook to manage his own
+affairs, and at the same time to run this Community. Our experience
+has shown that it is necessary to have a father in a great family for
+daily and almost hourly advice. I should think it would be doubly
+necessary in such a Community as Owen collected, to have the wisest
+man always at his post."
+
+_C.A. Burt._--"There are only two ways of governing such an
+institution as a Community; it must be done either by law or by grace.
+Owen got a company together and abolished law, but did not establish
+grace; and so, necessarily failed."
+
+_L. Bolles._--"The popular idea is that Owen and his class of
+reformers had an ideal that was very beautiful and very perfect; that
+they had too much faith for their time--too much faith in humanity;
+that they were several hundred years in advance of their age; and that
+the world was not good enough to understand them and their beautiful
+ideas. That is the superficial view of these men. I think the truth
+is, they were not up to the times; that mankind, in point of real
+faith, were ahead of them. Their view that the evil in human nature is
+owing to outward surroundings, is an impeachment of the providence of
+God. It is the worst kind of unbelief. But they have taught us one
+great lesson; and that is, that good circumstances do _not_ make good
+men. I believe the circumstances of mankind are as good as Providence
+can make them, consistently with their own state of development and
+the well-being of their souls. Instead of seeking to sweep away
+existing governments and forms of outward things, we should thank God
+that he has given men institutions as good as they can bear. We know
+that he will give them better, as fast as they improve beyond those
+they have."
+
+_J.B. Herrick._--"Although the apparent effect of the failure of
+Owen's movement was to produce discouragement, still below all that
+discouragement there is, in the whole nation, generated in part by
+that movement, a hope watching for the morning. We have to thank Owen
+for so much, or rather to thank God, for using Owen to stimulate the
+public mind and bring it to that state in which it is able to receive
+and keep this hope for the future."
+
+_C.W. Underwood._--"Owen's experiment helped to demonstrate that there
+is no such thing as organization or unity without Christ and religion.
+But on the other hand we can see that Owen did much good. The churches
+were compelled to adopt many of his ideas. He certainly was the father
+of the infant-school system; and it is my impression that he started
+the reform-schools, houses of refuge, etc. He gave impulse, at any
+rate, to the present reformatory movements."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is noticeable, as a coincidence with our observations on the lust
+for land in a preceding chapter, that Owen succeeded admirably in a
+factory, and failed miserably on a farm. Whether his 30,000 acres had
+anything to do with his actual failure or not, they would probably
+have been the ruin of his Community, if it had not failed from other
+causes.
+
+We have reason to believe from many hints, that _whisky_ had
+considerable agency in the demoralization and destruction of New
+Harmony. The affair of Taylor's distillery is one significant fact.
+Here is another from Macdonald:
+
+"I was one day at the tan-yard, where Squire B. and some others were
+standing, talking around the stove. During the conversation Squire B.
+asked us if he had ever told us how he had served 'old Owen' in
+Community times. He then informed us that he came from Illinois to New
+Harmony, and that a man in Illinois was owing him, and asked him to
+take a barrel of whisky for the debt. He could not well get the money;
+so took the whisky. When it came to New Harmony he did not know where
+to put it, but finally hid it in his cellar. Not long after Mr. Owen
+found that the people still got whisky from some quarter, he could not
+tell where, though he did his best to find out. At last he suspected
+Squire B., and came right into his shop and accused him of it; on
+which Squire B. had to own that it was he who retailed the whisky. 'It
+was taken for a debt,' said he, 'and what else was I to do to get rid
+of it?' Mr. Owen turned round, and in his simple manner said, 'Ah, I
+see you do not understand the principles.' This story was finished
+with a hearty laugh at 'old Owen.' I could not laugh, but felt that
+such men as Squire B. really did not understand the principles; and no
+wonder there are failures, when such men as he thrust themselves in,
+and frustrate benevolent designs."
+
+It was too early for a Community, when this country was a "nation of
+drunkards," as it was in 1825.
+
+Owen's method of getting together the material of his Community, seems
+to us the most obvious _external_ cause of his failure. It was like
+advertising for a wife; and we never heard of any body's getting a
+good wife by advertising. A public invitation to "the industrious and
+well-disposed of all nations," to come on and take possession of
+30,000 acres of land and a ready-made village, leaving each one to
+judge as to his own industry and disposition, would insure a prompt
+gathering--and also a speedy scattering.
+
+This method, or something like it, has been tried in most of the
+non-religious experiments. The joint-stock principle, which many of
+them adopted, necessarily invites all who choose to buy stock. That
+principle may form organizations that are able to carry on the
+businesses of banks and railroads after a fashion; because such
+businesses require but little character, except zeal and ability for
+money-making. But a true Community, or even a semi-Community, like the
+Fourier Phalanxes, requires far higher qualifications in its members
+and managers.
+
+The socialistic theorizers all assume that Association is a step in
+advance of civilization. If that is true, we must assume also that the
+most advanced class of civilization is that which must take the step;
+and a discrimination of some sort will be required, to get that class
+into the work, and shut off the barbarians who would hinder it.
+
+Judging from all our experience and observation, we should say that
+the two most essential requisites for the formation of successful
+Communities, are _religious principle_ and _previous acquaintance_ of
+the members. Both of these were lacking in Owen's experiment. The
+advertising method of gathering necessarily ignores both.
+
+Owen, in his old age, became a Spiritualist, and in the light of his
+new experience confessed what seems to us the principal cause of his
+failure. Sargant, his biographer, referring to chapter and verse in
+his writings says:
+
+"He confessed that until he received the revelations of Spiritualism,
+he had been quite unaware of the necessity of good _spiritual
+conditions_ for forming the character of men. The physical, the
+intellectual, the moral, and the practical conditions, he had
+understood, and had known how to provide for; but the spiritual he had
+overlooked. _Yet this, as he now saw, was the most important of all in
+the future development of mankind._"
+
+In the same new light, Owen recognized the principal cause of all real
+success. Sargant continues:
+
+"Owen says, that in looking back on his past life, he can trace the
+finger of God directing his steps, preserving his life under imminent
+dangers, and impelling him onward on many occasions. It was under the
+immediate guidance of the Spirit of God, that during the inexperience
+of his youth, he accomplished much good for the world. The
+preservation of his life from the peculiar dangers of childhood, was
+owing to the monitions of this good Spirit. To this superior invisible
+aid he owed his appointment, at the age of seven years, to be usher in
+a school, before the monitorial system of teaching was thought of. To
+this he must ascribe his migration from an inaccessible Welsh county
+to London, and then to Stamford, and his ability to maintain himself
+without assistance from his friends. So he goes on recounting all the
+events of his life, great and small, and attributing them to the
+SPECIAL PROVIDENCE OF GOD."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+YELLOW SPRINGS COMMUNITY.
+
+
+The fame of New Harmony has of course overshadowed and obscured all
+other experiments that resulted from Owen's labors in this country. It
+is perhaps scarcely known at this day that a Community almost as
+brilliant as Brook Farm, was started by his personal efforts at
+Cincinnati, even before he commenced operations at New Harmony. The
+following sketch, clipped by Macdonald from some old newspaper (the
+name and date of which are missing), is not only pleasant reading, but
+bears internal marks of painstaking and truthfulness. It is a model
+memoir of the life and death of a non-religious Community; and would
+serve for many others, by changing a few names, as ministers do when
+they re-preach old funeral sermons. The moral at the close, inferring
+the impracticability of Communism, may probably be accepted as sound,
+if restricted to non-religious experiments. The general career of Owen
+is sketched correctly and in rather a masterly manner: and the
+interesting fact is brought to light, that the beginning of the Owen
+movement in this country was signalized by a conjunction with
+Swedenborgianism. The significance of this fact will appear more
+fully, when we come to the history of the marriage between Fourierism
+and Swedenborgianism, which afterwards took place at Brook Farm.
+
+
+MEMOIR.
+
+"The narrative here presented," says the unknown writer, "was prepared
+at the request of a minister who had looked in vain for any account of
+the Communities established by Robert Owen in this country. It is
+simply what it pretends to be, reminiscences by one who, while a
+youth, resided with his parents as a member of the Community at Yellow
+Springs. For some years together since his manhood, he has been
+associated with several of the leading men of that experiment, and has
+through them been informed in relation to both its outer and _inner_
+history. The article may contain some errors, as of dates and other
+matters unimportant to a just view of the Community; but the social
+picture will be correct. With the hope that it may convey a useful
+lesson, it is submitted to the reader.
+
+"Robert Owen, the projector of the Communities at Yellow Springs,
+Ohio, and New Harmony, Indiana, was the owner of extensive
+manufactories at New Lanark, Scotland. He was a man of considerable
+learning, much observation, and full of the love of his fellow men;
+though a disbeliever in Christianity. His skeptical views concerning
+the Bible were fully announced in the celebrated debate at Cincinnati
+between himself and Dr. Alexander Campbell. But whatever may have been
+his faith, he proved his philanthropy by a long life of beneficent
+works. At his manufactories in Scotland he established a system based
+on community of labor, which was crowned with the happiest effects.
+But it should be remembered that Owen himself was the owner of the
+works and controlled all things by a single mind. The system,
+therefore, was only a beneficent scheme of government by a
+manufacturer, for the good of himself and his operatives.
+
+"Full of zeal for the improvement of society, Owen conceived that he
+had discovered the cause of most of its evils in the laws of _meum et
+tuum_; and that a state of society where there is nothing _mine_ or
+_thine_, would be a paradise begun. He brooded upon the idea of a
+Community of property, and connected it with schemes for the
+improvement of society, until he was ready to sacrifice his own
+property and devote his heart and his life to his fellow men upon this
+basis. Too discreet to inaugurate the new system among the poorer
+classes of his own country, whom he found perverted by prejudice and
+warped by the artificial forms of society there, he resolved to
+proceed to the United States, and among the comparatively unperverted
+people, liberal institutions and cheap lands of the West, to establish
+Communities, founded upon common property, social equality, and the
+equal value of every man's labor.
+
+"About the year 1824 Owen arrived in Cincinnati. He brought with him a
+history of his labors at New Lanark; with glowing and not unjust
+accounts of the beneficent effects of his efforts there. He exhibited
+plans for his proposed Communities here; with model farms, gardens,
+vineyards, play-grounds, orchards, and all the internal and external
+appliances of the social paradise. At Cincinnati he soon found many
+congenial spirits, among the first of whom was Daniel Roe, minister of
+the "New Jerusalem Church," a society of the followers of Swedenborg.
+This society was composed of a very superior class of people. They
+were intelligent, liberal, generous, cultivated men and women--many
+of them wealthy and highly educated. They were apparently the best
+possible material to organize and sustain a Community, such as Owen
+proposed. Mr. Roe and many of his congregation became fascinated with
+Owen and his Communism; and together with others in the city and
+elsewhere, soon organized a Community and furnished the means for
+purchasing an appropriate site for its location. In the meantime Owen
+proceeded to Harmony, and, with others, purchased that place, with all
+its buildings, vineyards, and lands, from Rapp, who emigrated to
+Pennsylvania and established his people at Economy. It will only be
+added of Owen, that after having seen the New Harmonians fairly
+established, he returned to Scotland.
+
+"After careful consultation and selection, it was decided by the
+Cincinnati Community to purchase a domain at Yellow Springs, about
+seventy-five miles north of the city, [now the site of Antioch
+College] as the most eligible place for their purpose. It was really
+one of the most delightful regions in the whole West, and well worthy
+the residence of a people who had resolved to make many sacrifices for
+what they honestly believed to be a great social and moral
+reformation.
+
+"The Community, as finally organized consisted of seventy-five or one
+hundred families; and included professional men, teachers, merchants,
+mechanics, farmers, and a few common laborers. Its economy was nearly
+as follows:
+
+"The property was held in trust forever, in behalf of the members of
+the Community, by the original purchasers, and their chosen
+successors, to be designated from time to time by the voice of the
+Community. All additional property thereafter to be acquired, by
+labor, purchase, or otherwise, was to be added to the common stock,
+for the benefit of each and all. Schools were to be established, to
+teach all things useful (except religion). Opinion upon all subjects
+was free; and the present good of the whole Community was the standard
+of morals. The Sabbath was a day of rest and recreation, to be
+improved by walks, rides, plays, and pleasing exercises; and by public
+lectures. Dancing was instituted as a most valuable means of physical
+and social culture; and the ten-pin alley and other sources of
+amusement were open to all.
+
+"But although Christianity was wholly ignored in the system, there was
+no free-loveism or other looseness of morals allowed. In short, this
+Community began its career under the most favorable auspices; and if
+any men and women in the world could have succeeded, these should have
+done so. How they _did_ succeed, and how they did not, will now be
+shown.
+
+"For the first few weeks, all entered into the new system with a will.
+Service was the order of the day. Men who seldom or never before
+labored with their hands, devoted themselves to agriculture and the
+mechanic arts, with a zeal which was at least commendable, though not
+always according to knowledge. Ministers of the gospel guided the
+plough; called the swine to their corn, instead of sinners to
+repentance; and let patience have her perfect work over an unruly yoke
+of oxen. Merchants exchanged the yard-stick for the rake or
+pitch-fork. All appeared to labor cheerfully for the common weal.
+Among the women there was even more apparent self-sacrifice. Ladies
+who had seldom seen the inside of their own kitchens, went into that
+of the common eating-house (formerly a hotel), and made themselves
+useful among pots and kettles: and refined young ladies, who had all
+their lives been waited upon, took their turns in waiting upon others
+at the table. And several times a week all parties who chose mingled
+in the social dance, in the great dining-hall."
+
+But notwithstanding the apparent heartiness and cordiality of this
+auspicious opening, it was in the social atmosphere of the Community
+that the first cloud arose. Self-love was a spirit which would not be
+exorcised. It whispered to the lowly maidens, whose former position in
+society had cultivated the spirit of meekness--"You are as good as the
+formerly rich and fortunate; insist upon your equality." It reminded
+the favorites of former society of their lost superiority; and in
+spite of all rules, tinctured their words and actions with the love of
+self. Similar thoughts and feelings soon arose among the men; and
+though not so soon exhibited, they were none the less deep and strong.
+It is unnecessary to descend to details: suffice it to say, that at
+the end of three months--_three months!_--the leading minds in the
+Community were compelled to acknowledge to each other that the social
+life of the Community could not be bounded by a single circle. They
+therefore acquiesced, but reluctantly, in its division into many
+little circles. Still they hoped and many of them no doubt believed,
+that though social equality was a failure, community of property was
+not. But whether the law of _mine and thine_ is natural or incidental
+in human character, it soon began to develop its sway. The
+industrious, the skillful and the strong, saw the products of their
+labor enjoyed by the indolent, the unskilled, and the improvident; and
+self-love rose against benevolence. A band of musicians insisted that
+their brassy harmony was as necessary to the common happiness as
+bread and meat; and declined to enter the harvest field or the
+work-shop. A lecturer upon natural science insisted upon talking only,
+while others worked. Mechanics, whose day's labor brought two dollars
+into the common stock, insisted that they should, in justice, work
+only half as long as the agriculturist, whose day's work brought but
+one.
+
+"For a while, of course, these jealousies were only felt; but they
+soon began to be spoken also. It was useless to remind all parties
+that the common labor of all ministered to the prosperity of the
+Community. _Individual_ happiness was the law of nature, and it could
+not be obliterated; and before a single year had passed, this law had
+scattered the members of that society, which had come together so
+earnestly and under such favorable circumstances, back into the
+selfish world from which they came.
+
+"The writer of this sketch has since heard the history of that
+eventful year reviewed with honesty and earnestness by the best men
+and most intelligent parties of that unfortunate social experiment.
+They admitted the favorable circumstances which surrounded its
+commencement; the intelligence, devotion, and earnestness which were
+brought to the cause by its projectors; and its final, total failure.
+And they rested ever after in the belief that man, though disposed to
+philanthropy, is essentially selfish; and that a community of social
+equality and common property is impossible."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+NASHOBA.
+
+
+Macdonald erects a magniloquent monument over the remains of Nashoba,
+the experiment of Frances Wright. This woman, little known to the
+present generation, was really the spiritual helpmate and better-half
+of the Owens, in the socialistic revival of 1826. Our impression is,
+not only that she was the leading woman in the communistic movement of
+that period, but that she had a very important agency in starting two
+other movements, that have had far greater success, and are at this
+moment strong in public favor: viz., Anti-Slavery and Woman's Rights.
+If justice were done, we are confident her name would figure high with
+those of Lundy, Garrison, and John Brown on the one hand, and with
+those of Abby Kelly, Lucy Stone and Anna Dickinson on the other. She
+was indeed the pioneer of the "strong-minded women." We copy the most
+important parts of Macdonald's memoir of Nashoba:
+
+"This experiment was made in Shelby Co., Tennessee, by the celebrated
+Frances Wright. The objects were, to form a Community in which the
+negro slave should be educated and upraised to a level with the
+whites, and thus prepared for freedom; and to set an example, which,
+if carried out, would eventually abolish slavery in the Southern
+States; also to make a home for good and great men and women of all
+countries, who might there sympathize with each other in their love
+and labor for humanity. She invited congenial minds from every quarter
+of the globe to unite with her in the search for truth and the pursuit
+of rational happiness. Herself a native of Scotland, she became imbued
+with these philanthropic views through a knowledge of the sufferings
+of a great portion of mankind in many countries, and of the condition
+of the negro in the United States in particular.
+
+"She traveled extensively in the Southern States, and explained her
+views to many of the planters. It was during these travels that she
+visited the German settlement of Rappites at Harmony, on the Wabash
+river, and after examining the wonderful industry of that Community,
+she was struck with the appropriateness of their system of cooperation
+to the carrying out of her aspirations. She also visited some of the
+Shaker establishments then existing in the United States, but she
+thought unfavorably of them. She renewed her visits of the Rappites,
+and was present on the occasion of their removal from Harmony to
+Economy on the Ohio, where she continued her acquaintance with them,
+receiving valuable knowledge from their experience, and, as it were,
+witnessing a new village, with its fields, orchards, gardens,
+vineyards, flouring-mills and manufactories, rise out of the earth,
+beneath the hands of some eight hundred trained laborers."
+
+Here is another indication of the important part the Rappites played
+in the early history of Owenism. As they cleared the 30,000 acres and
+built the village which was the theatre of Owen's great experiment, so
+it is evident from the above account and from other hints, that their
+Communistic ideas and manner of living were systematically studied by
+the Owen school, before and after the purchase of New Harmony. Indeed
+it is more than intimated in a passage from the _New Moral World_
+quoted in our 5th chapter, that Owen depended on their assistance in
+commencing his Community, and attributed his failure to their
+premature removal. On the whole we may conclude that Owen learned all
+he really knew about practical Communism, and more than he was able to
+imitate, from the Rappites. They learned Communism from the New
+Testament and the day of Pentecost.
+
+"In the autumn of 1825 [when New Harmony was under full sail in the
+absence of Mr. Owen], Frances Wright purchased 2,000 acres of good and
+pleasant woodland, lying on both sides of the Wolf river in west
+Tennessee, about thirteen miles above Memphis. She then purchased
+several negro families, comprising fifteen able hands, and commenced
+her practical experiment."
+
+Her plan in brief was, to take slaves in large numbers from time to
+time (either by purchase, or by inducing benevolent planters to donate
+their negroes to the institution), and to prepare them for liberty by
+education, giving them half of what they produced, and making them pay
+their way and purchase their emancipation, if necessary, by their
+labor. The working of the negroes and the general management of the
+Community was to be in the hands of the philanthropic and wealthy
+whites associated with the lady-founder. The theory was benevolent;
+but practically the institution must have been a two-story
+commonwealth, somewhat like the old Grecian States which founded
+liberty on Helotism. Or we might define it as a Brook Farm _plus_ a
+negro basis. The trouble at Brook Farm, according to Hawthorne, was,
+that the amateurs who took part in that 'pic-nic,' did not like to
+serve as 'chambermaids to the cows.' This difficulty was provided
+against at Nashoba.
+
+"We are informed that Frances Wright found in her new occupation
+intense and ever-increasing interest. But ere long she was seized by
+severe and reiterated sickness, which compelled her to make a voyage
+to Europe for the recovery of her health. 'During her absence,' says
+her biographer, 'an intriguing individual had disorganized every thing
+on the estate, and effected the removal of persons of confidence. All
+her serious difficulties proceeded from her white assistants, and not
+from the blacks.'"
+
+In December of the following year, she made over the Nashoba estate to
+a board of trustees, by a deed commencing thus:
+
+"I, Frances Wright, do give the lands after specified, to General
+Lafayette, William Maclure, Robert Owen, Cadwallader Colden,
+Richardson Whitby, Robert Jennings, Robert Dale Owen, George Flower,
+Camilla Wright, and James Richardson, to be held by them and their
+associates and their successors in perpetual trust for the benefit of
+the negro race."
+
+By another deed she gave the slaves of Nashoba to the before-mentioned
+trustees: and by still another she gave them all her personal
+property.
+
+In her appeal to the public in connection with this transfer, she
+explains at length her views of reform, and her reasons for choosing
+the above-named trustees instead of the Emancipation or Colonization
+Societies; and in respect to education says: 'No difference will be
+made in the schools between the white children and the children of
+color, whether in education or any other advantage.' After further
+explanation of her plans she goes on to say:
+
+"'It will be seen that this establishment is founded on the principle
+of community property and labor: preserving every advantage to those
+desirous, not of accumulating money but of enjoying life and rendering
+services to their fellow-creatures; these fellow-creatures, that is,
+the blacks here admitted, requiting these services by services equal
+or greater, by filling occupations which their habits render easy, and
+which, to their guides and assistants, might be difficult or
+unpleasing.' [Here is the 'negro basis.']
+
+"'No life of idleness, however, is proposed to the whites. Those who
+cannot work must give an equivalent in property. Gardening or other
+cultivation of the soil, useful trades practiced in the society or
+taught in the school, the teaching of every branch of knowledge,
+tending the children, and nursing the sick, will present a choice of
+employment sufficiently extensive.'"
+
+In the course of another year trouble had come and Disorganization had
+begun.
+
+"In March, 1828, the trustees published a communication in the
+_Nashoba Gazette_, explaining the difficulties they had to contend
+with, and the causes why the experience of two years had modified the
+original plan of Frances Wright. They show the impossibility of a
+co-operative Community succeeding without the members composing it are
+superior beings; 'for,' say they, 'if there be introduced into such a
+society thoughts of evil and unkindness, feelings of intolerance and
+words of dissension, it can not prosper. That which produces in the
+world only common-place jealousies and every-day squabbles, is
+sufficient to destroy a Community.'
+
+"The society has admitted some members to labor, and others as
+boarders from whom no labor was required; and in this they confess
+their error, and now propose to admit those only who possess the funds
+for their support.
+
+"The trustees go on to say that 'they desire to express distinctly
+that they have deferred, for the present, the attempt to have a
+society of co-operative labor; and they claim for the association only
+the title of a Preliminary Social Community.'
+
+"After describing the moral qualifications of members, who may be
+admitted without regard to color, they propose that each one shall
+yearly throw $100 into the common fund for board alone, to be paid
+quarterly in advance. Each one was also to build for himself or
+herself a small brick house, with piazza, according to a regular plan,
+and upon a spot of ground selected for the purpose, near the center or
+the lands of Nashoba."
+
+This communication is signed by Frances Wright, Richardson Whitby,
+Camilla Wright Whitby, and Robert Dale Owen, as resident trustee, and
+is dated Feb. 1, 1828.
+
+"It is probable that success did not further attend the experiment,
+for Francis Wright abandoned it soon after, and in June following
+removed to New Harmony, where, in conjunction with William Owen, she
+assumed for a short time the management of the _New Harmony Gazette_,
+which then had its name altered to the _New Harmony and Nashoba
+Gazette or Free Enquirer_.
+
+"Her biographer says that she abandoned, though not without a
+struggle, the peaceful shades of Nashoba, leaving the property in the
+charge of an individual, who was to hold the negroes ready for
+removal to Hayti the year following. In relinquishing her experiment
+in favor of the race, she held herself equally pledged to the colored
+families under her charge, to the southern state in which she had been
+a resident citizen, and to the American community at large, to remove
+her dependents to a country free to their color. This she executed a
+year after."
+
+This Communistic experiment and failure was nearly simultaneous with
+that of New Harmony, and was the immediate antecedent of Frances
+Wright's famous lecturing-tour. In December 1828 she was raising
+whirlwinds of excitement by her eloquence in Baltimore, Philadelphia
+and New York; and soon after the _New Harmony Gazette_, under the
+title of _The Free Enquirer_, was removed to the latter city, where it
+was ably edited several years by Frances Wright and Robert Dale Owen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+SEVEN EPITAPHS.
+
+
+We have passed the most notable monuments of the Owen epoch, and come
+now to obscurer graves. Doubtless many of the little Communities that
+followed New Harmony, and in a small way repeated its fortunes, were
+buried without memorial. We have on Macdonald's list the names of only
+seven more, and their epitaphs are for the most part very brief. We
+may as well group them all in one chapter, and copy what Macdonald
+says about them, without comment.
+
+
+EPITAPH NO. I. CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY, 1825.
+
+"Located at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Founded on the principles of
+Robert Owen. Benjamin Bakewell, President; John Snyder, Treasurer;
+Magnus M. Murray, Secretary."
+
+
+EPITAPH NO. II. FRANKLIN COMMUNITY, 1826.
+
+"Located somewhere in New York. Had a printed Constitution; also a
+'preparatory school.' No further particulars."
+
+
+EPITAPH NO. III. BLUE SPRINGS COMMUNITY. 1826-7.
+
+"A gathering under the above title, existed for a short time near
+Bloomington, Ind. It was said [by somebody] to be 'harmonious and
+prosperous' as late as Jan. 1, 1827; but as I find no trace of it in
+my researches, it is fair to conclude that it is numbered with the
+dead, like others of its day."
+
+
+EPITAPH NO. IV. FORRESTVILLE COMMUNITY. (INDIANA.)
+
+"This Society was formed on the 16th day of December, 1825, of four
+families consisting of thirty-one persons. March 26, 1826, the
+constitution was printed. During the year their number increased to
+over sixty. The business was transacted by three trustees, to be
+elected annually, together with a secretary and treasurer. The
+principles were purely republican. They had no established religion,
+the constitution only requiring that all candidates should be of good
+moral character, sober and industrious. They declared that 'a baptist,
+a methodist, a universalist, a quaker, a calvinist, a deist, or any
+other _ist_, provided he or she is a genuine good moralist, are
+equally privileged and equally esteemed.' They occupied 325 acres of
+land, two saw-mills, one grist-mill, a carding machine, and a tannery,
+and carried on wagon-making, shoe-making, blacksmithing, coopering,
+agriculture, &c."
+
+
+EPITAPH NO. V. HAVERSTRAW COMMUNITY.
+
+"This Society was formed in the year 1826 by a Mr. Fay (an attorney),
+Jacob Peterson and George Houston of New York, and Robert L. Ginengs
+of Philadelphia. It is probable that it originated in consequence of
+the lectures which were at that time delivered by Robert Owen in this
+country.
+
+"The principles and objects of the Society, as far as I can learn,
+were to better the condition of themselves and their fellowmen, which
+they conceived could be done by living in Community, having all things
+in common, giving equal rights to each, and abolishing the terms 'mine
+and thine.'
+
+"They increased their numbers to eighty persons, including women and
+children, and purchased an estate at Haverstraw, two miles back from
+the Hudson river, on the west side, about thirty miles above Mew York.
+There were 120 acres of wood land, two mansion houses, twelve or
+fourteen out-buildings, one saw-mill, and a rolling and
+splitting-mill: and the estate had a noble stream of water running
+through it. The property was owned by a Major Suffrens of Haverstraw,
+who demanded $18,000 for it. On this sum $6,000 were paid, and bond
+and mortgage were given for the remainder. To raise the $6,000 and to
+defray other expenses, Jacob Peterson advanced $7,000; another
+individual $300; and others subscribed sums as low as $10. Money,
+land, and every thing else were held as common stock for the equal
+benefit of all the members.
+
+"Among the members, were persons of various trades and occupations,
+such as carpenters, cabinet-makers, tailors, shoe-makers and farmers.
+It was the general opinion that the society, as a whole, possessed a
+large amount of intelligence; and both men and women were of good
+moral character. I was acquainted with two or three persons who were
+engaged in this enterprise, and must say I never saw more just and
+honorable old men than they were when I knew them.
+
+"It appears that they formed a church among themselves, which they
+denominated the _Church of Reason_; and on Sundays they attended
+meetings, where lectures were delivered to them on Morals,
+Philosophy, Agriculture and various scientific subjects. They had no
+religious ceremonies or articles of faith.
+
+"They admitted members by ballot. The details of their rules and
+regulations were never printed. I have reason to believe that they had
+an abundance of laws and by-laws; and that they disagreed upon these,
+as well as upon other matters.
+
+"While the Community lasted, they were well supplied with the
+necessaries of life, and generally speaking their circumstances were
+by no means inferior to those they had left.
+
+"The splitting and rolling mill was not used, but farming and
+mechanical operations were carried on; and it is supposed (as in many
+other instances) that if the officers of the society had acted right,
+the experiment would have succeeded; but by some means the affairs
+soon became disorderly, and though so much money had originally been
+raised, and assistance was received from without, yet the experiment
+came to an end after a struggle of only five months.
+
+"An informant asserts that dishonesty of the managers and want of good
+measures were the causes of failure, and expresses himself thus: 'We
+wanted men and women of skillful industry, sober and honest, with a
+knowledge of themselves, and a disposition to command and be
+commanded, and not men and women whose sole occupation is parade and
+talk.'
+
+"In this experiment, like many others, several individuals suffered
+pecuniary loss. Those who had but a home, left it for Community, and
+of course were thrown back in their progress. Those who had money and
+invested there, lost it. Jacob Peterson, of New York, who advanced
+$7,000, never got more than $300 of it back, and even that was lost
+to him through the dishonesty of those with whom he did business."
+
+
+EPITAPH NO. VI. COXSACKIE COMMUNITY.
+
+"This experiment also was commenced in 1826, and members from the
+Haverstraw experiment joined it on the breaking up of their Society.
+
+"The principal actors in this attempt, were Samuel Underhill, John
+Norberry, Nathaniel Underhill, Wm. G. Macy, Jethro Macy and Jacob
+Peterson. The objects were the same as at Haverstraw, but in trying to
+carry them out they met with no better success. It appears that the
+capital was small, and the estate, which was located seven miles back
+from Coxsackie on the Hudson river, was very much in debt. From the
+little information I am enabled to gather concerning this attempt, I
+judge that they made many laws, that their laws were bad, and that
+they had many persons engaged in talking and law-making, who did not
+work at any useful employment. The consequences were, that after
+struggling on for a little more than a year, this experiment came to
+an end. One of my informants thus expresses himself about this
+failure: 'There were few good men to steer things right. We wanted men
+and women who would be willing to live in simple habitations, and on
+plain and simple diet; who would be contented with plain and simple
+clothing, and who would band together for each others' good. With such
+we might have succeeded; but such attempts can not succeed without
+such people.'
+
+"In this little conflict there were many sacrifices; but those who
+survived and were still imbued with the principles, emigrated to Ohio,
+to fight again with the old system of things."
+
+
+EPITAPH NO. VII. KENDAL COMMUNITY.
+
+"This was an attempt to carry out the views of Mr. Owen. It was
+located near Canton, Stark County, Ohio. The purchase of the property
+was made in June 1826, by a body of freeholders, whose farms were
+mortgaged for the first payment, and who, on account of the difficulty
+of realizing cash for their estates, were under some embarrassment in
+their operations, though the property was a great bargain."
+
+Of this enterprise in its early stage the _Western Courier_ (Dec.,
+1826,) thus speaks:
+
+"The Kendal Community is rapidly on the increase; a number of
+dwellings have been erected in addition to those previously built; yet
+the increase of families has been such that there is much
+inconvenience experienced for want of house-room. The members are now
+employed in erecting a building 170 by 33 feet, which is intended to
+be temporarily occupied as private dwellings, but ultimately as
+work-shops. This and other improvements for the convenience of the
+place, will soon be completed.
+
+"Kendal is pleasantly and advantageously situated for health. We are
+informed that there is not a sick person on the premises. Mechanics of
+various professions have joined the Community, and are now occupied in
+prosecuting the various branches of industry. They have a woolen
+factory in which many hands are employed. Everything appears to be
+going on prosperously and harmoniously. There is observed a bustling
+emulation among the members. They labor hard, and are probably not
+exempt from the cares and perplexities incident to all worldly
+undertakings; and what society or system can claim immunity from
+them? The question is, whether they may not be mitigated. Trouble we
+believe to be a divisible quantity; it may be softened by sympathy and
+intercourse, as pleasure may be increased by union and companionship.
+These advantages have already been experienced at the Kendal
+Community, and its members are even now in possession of that which
+the poet hath declared to be the sum total of human happiness, viz.,
+Health, Peace and Competence."
+
+"Several families from the Coxsackie Community," says Macdonald, "had
+joined Kendal when the above was written, and the remainder were to
+follow as soon as they were prepared. The Kendal Community then
+numbered about one bundled and fifty members including children. They
+were engaged in manufacturing woolen goods on a small scale, had a few
+hops, and did considerable business on the farm. They speak of their
+'_choice spirits_;' and anticipate assistance to carry out their
+plans, and prove the success of the social system beyond all
+contradiction, by the disposal of property and settlement of affairs
+at Coxsackie. In their enthusiasm they assert, 'that unaided, and with
+only their own resources and experience, and above all, with their
+little band of _invincible spirits_, who are tired of the old system
+and are determined to conquer or die, they _must_ succeed.' I conclude
+they did not conquer but died, for I can learn nothing further
+concerning them."
+
+A recent letter from Mr. John Harmon, of Ravenna, Ohio, who was a
+member of the Kendal Community, gives a more definite account of its
+failure, as follows:
+
+"Our Community progressed harmoniously and prosperously, so long as
+the members had their health and a hope of paying for their domain.
+But a summer-fever attacked us, and seven heads of families died,
+among whom were several of our most valued and useful members. At the
+same time the rich proprietors of whom we purchased our land urged us
+to pay; and we could not sell a part of it and give a good title,
+because we were not incorporated. So we were compelled to give up and
+disperse, losing what we had paid, which was about $7,000. But we
+formed friendships that were enduring, and the failure never for a
+moment weakened my faith in the value of Communism."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We group the three last Communities together, because they were
+evidently closely related by members passing from one to another, as
+the earlier ones successively failed. This habit of migrating from one
+Community to another is an interesting characteristic of the veterans
+of Socialism, which we shall meet with frequently hereafter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+OWEN'S GENERAL CAREER.
+
+
+Confining ourselves strictly to memoirs of Associations, we might
+leave Owen now and go on to the experiments of the Fourier school. But
+this would hardly be doing justice to the father of American
+Socialisms. We have exhibited his great failure; and we must stop long
+enough to acknowledge his great success, and say briefly what we think
+of his whole life and influence. Indeed such a review is necessary to
+a just estimate of the Owen movement in this country.
+
+We accept what he himself said about his early achievements, that he
+was under the guidance of the Spirit of God, and was carried along by
+a wonderful series of special providences in his first labors for the
+good of the working classes. The originality, wisdom and success of
+his doings at New Lanark were manifestly supernatural. His factory
+village was indeed a light to the world, that gave the nations a great
+lesson in practical beneficence; and shines still amid the darkness of
+money-making selfishness and industrial misery. The single fact that
+he continued the wages of his operatives when the embargo stopped his
+business, actually paying out $35,000 in four months, to men who had
+nothing to do but to oil his machinery and keep it clean, stamps him
+as a genius of an order higher than Napoleon. By this bold maneuver of
+benevolence he won the confidence of his men, so that he could manage
+them afterwards as he pleased; and then he went on to reform and
+educate them, till they became a wonder to the world and a crown of
+glory to himself. So far we have no doubt that he walked with
+inspiration and special providence.
+
+On the other hand, it is also manifest, that his inspiration and
+success, so far at least as practical attempts were concerned,
+deserted him afterwards, and that much of the latter part of his life
+was spent in disastrous attempts to establish Communism, without the
+necessary spiritual conditions. His whole career may be likened to
+that of the first Napoleon, whose "star" insured victory till he
+reached a certain crisis; after which he lost every battle, and sunk
+into final and overwhelming defeat.
+
+In both cases there was a turning-point which can be marked.
+Napoleon's star deserted him when he put away Josephine. Owen
+evidently lost his hold on practical success when he declared war
+against religion. In his labors at New Lanark he was not an active
+infidel. The Bible was in his schools. Religion was at least tolerated
+and respected. He there married the daughter of Mr. Dale, a preacher
+of the Independents, who was his best friend and counsellor through
+the early years of his success. But when his work at New Lanark became
+famous, and he rose to companionship with dukes and kings, he outgrew
+the modesty and practical wisdom of his early life, and undertook the
+task of Universal Reform. Then it was that he fell into the mistake of
+confounding the principles of the Bible with the character and
+pretensions of his ecclesiastical opposers, and so came into the false
+position of open hostility to religion. Christ was in a similar
+temptation when he found the Scribes and Pharisees arrayed against
+him, with the Old Testament for their vantage ground; but he had
+wisdom enough to keep his foothold on that vantage ground, and drive
+them off. His programme was, "Think not that I am come to destroy the
+law and the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill."
+Whereas Owen, at the turning-point of his career, abandoned the Bible
+with all its magazines of power to his enemies, and went off into a
+hopeless warfare with Christianity and with all God's past
+administrations. From that time fortune deserted him. The splendid
+success of New Lanark was followed by the terrible defeat at New
+Harmony. The declaration of war against all religion was between them.
+Such is our interpretation of his life; and something like this must
+have been his own interpretation, when he confessed in the light of
+his later experience, that by overlooking spiritual conditions, he had
+missed the most important of all the elements of human improvement.
+
+And yet we must not push our parallel too far. Owen, unlike Napoleon,
+never knew when he was beaten, and fought on thirty years after his
+Waterloo. It would be a great mistake to imagine that the failure of
+New Harmony and of the attempts that followed it, was the end of
+Owen's achievements and influence, even in this country. Providence
+does not so waste its preparations and inspirations. Let us see what
+was left, and what Owen did, after the disasters of 1826-7.
+
+In the first place the failure of his Community at New Harmony was not
+the failure of the _village_ which he bought of the Rappites. That
+was built of substantial brick and stone. The houses and a portion of
+the population which he gathered there, remained and have continued to
+be a flourishing and rather peculiar village till the present time.
+Several Communities that came over from England in after-years made
+New Harmony their rendezvous, either on their arrival or when they
+broke up. So Macdonald, with the enthusiasm of a true Socialist, on
+landing in this country in 1842 first sought out New Harmony. There he
+found Josiah Warren, the apostle of Individualism, returned from his
+wanderings and failures, to set up a "Time Store" in the old seat of
+Socialism. We remember also, that Dr. J.R. Buchanan, the
+anthropologist, was at New Harmony in 1842, when he astonished the
+world with his novel experiments in Mesmerism, which Robert Dale Owen
+reported in a famous letter to the _Evening Post_, and which gave
+impetus and respectability to the beginnings of modern Spiritualism.
+These facts and many others indicate that New Harmony continued to be
+a center and refuge of Socialists and innovators long after the
+failure of the Community. Notwithstanding the unpopularity of
+Communism which Macdonald says he found there, it is probably a
+semi-socialist village to this day, representing more or less the
+spirit of Robert Owen.
+
+In the next place, with all his failures, Owen was successful in
+producing a fine family; and though he himself returned to England
+after the disaster at New Harmony, he bequeathed all his children to
+this country. Macdonald, writing in 1842, says: "Mr. Owen's family all
+reside in New Harmony. There are four sons and one daughter; viz.,
+William Owen, who is a merchant and bank director; Robert Dale Owen,
+a lawyer and politician, who attends to the affairs of the Owen
+Estate; David Dale Owen, a practical geologist; Richard Owen, a
+practical farmer; and Mrs. Fauntleroy. The four brothers, with the
+wives and families of three of them, live together in one large
+mansion."
+
+Mr. Owen in his published journal says that "his eldest son Robert
+Dale Owen, after writing much that was excellent, was twice elected
+member of Congress, and carried the bill for establishing the
+Smithsonian Institute in Washington; that his second son, David Dale
+Owen, was professor of chemistry, mineralogy and geology, and had been
+employed by successive American governments as their accredited
+geologist; that his third son, Major Richard Owen, was a professor in
+a Kentucky Military College; and that his only daughter living in
+1851, was the widow of a distinguished American officer."
+
+Robert Dale Owen undoubtedly has been and is, the spiritual as well as
+natural successor of Robert Owen. Wiser and more moderate than his
+father, he has risen out of the wreck of New Harmony to high stations
+and great influence in this country. He was originally associated with
+Frances Wright in her experiment at Nashoba, her lecturing career, and
+her editorial labors in New York. At that time he partook of the
+anti-religious zeal of his father. Opposition to revivals was the
+specialty of his paper, the _Free Enquirer_. In those days, also, he
+published his "Moral Physiology," a little book teaching in plain
+terms a method of controlling propagation--_not_ "Male Continence."
+This bold issue, attributed by his enemies to licentious proclivities,
+was really part of the socialistic movement of the time; and
+indicated the drift of Owenism toward sexual freedom and the abolition
+of marriage.
+
+Robert Dale Owen originated and carried the law in Indiana giving to
+married women a right to property separate from their husbands; and
+the famous facilities of divorce in that State are attributed to his
+influence.
+
+He, like his father, turned toward Spiritualism, notwithstanding his
+non-religious antecedents. His report of Dr. Buchanan's experiments,
+and his books and magazine-articles demonstrating the reality of a
+world of spirits, have been the most respectable and influential
+auxiliaries to the modern system of necromancy. There is an air of
+respect for religion in many of his publications, and even a happy
+freedom of Bible quotation, which is not found in his father's
+writings. Perhaps the variation is due to the blood of his mother, who
+was the daughter of a Bible man and a preacher.
+
+So much Mr. Owen left behind. Let us now follow him in his after
+career. He bade farewell to New Harmony and returned to England in
+June 1828. Acknowledging no real defeat or loss of confidence in his
+principles, he went right on in the labors of his mission, as Apostle
+of Communism for the world, holding himself ready for the most distant
+service at a moment's warning. His policy was slightly changed,
+looking more toward moving the nations, and less toward local
+experiments. In April 1828, he was again in this country, settling his
+affairs at New Harmony, and preaching his gospel among the people.
+During this visit the challenge to debate passed between him and Rev.
+Alexander Campbell, and an arrangement was made for a theological
+duel. He returned to England in the summer, and in November of the
+same year (1828) sailed again for America on a scheme of obtaining
+from the Mexican government a vast territory in Texas on which to
+develop Communism. After finishing the negotiations in Mexico (which
+negotiations were never executed), he came to the United States, and
+in April 1829 met Alexander Campbell at Cincinnati in a debate which
+was then famous, though now forgotten. From Cincinnati he proceeded to
+Washington, where he established intimate relations with Martin Van
+Buren, then Secretary of State, and had an important interview with
+Andrew Jackson, the President, laboring with these dignitaries on
+behalf of national friendship and his new social system. In the summer
+of 1829 he returned to England, and for some years after was engaged
+in labors for the conversion of the English government, and in some
+local attempts to establish "Equitable Commerce," "Labor Exchange" and
+partial Communism, all of which failed. Here Mr. Sargant, his English
+biographer, gives up the pursuit of him, and slurs over the rest of
+his life as though it were passed in obscurity and dotage. Not so
+Macdonald. We learn from him that after Mr. Owen had exceeded the
+allotment of three-score years and ten, he twice crossed the ocean to
+this country. Let us follow the faithful record of the disciple. We
+condense from Macdonald:
+
+In September 1844, Mr. Owen arrived in New York and immediately
+published in the _Herald_ (Sept. 21) an address to the people of the
+United States proclaiming his mission "to effect in peace the greatest
+revolution ever yet made in human society." Fourierism was at that
+time in the ascendant. Mr. Owen called at the office of the _Phalanx_,
+the organ of Brisbane, and was received with distinction. In October
+he visited his family at New Harmony. On his way he stopped at the
+Ohio Phalanx. In December he went to Washington with Robert Dale Owen,
+who was then member of Congress. The party in power was less friendly
+than that of 1829, and refused him the use of the National Halls. He
+lectured, or advertised to lecture, in Concert Hall, Pennsylvania
+Avenue. "In March 1845," says Macdonald, "I had the pleasure of
+hearing him lecture at the Minerva rooms in New York, after which he
+lectured in Lowell and other places." In May he visited Brook Farm. In
+June he published a manifesto, appointing a World's Convention, to be
+held in New York in October; and soon after sailed for England.
+Stopping there scarcely long enough to turn round, he was in this
+country again in season to give a course of lectures preparatory to
+the October Convention. After that Convention (which Macdonald
+confesses was a trifling affair) he continued his labors in various
+places. On the 26th of October Macdonald met him on the street in
+Albany, and spent some time with him at his lodgings in much pleasant
+gossip about New Lanark. In November he called at Hopedale. Adin
+Ballou, in a published report of the visit, dashed off a sketch of him
+and his projects, which is so good a likeness that we copy it here:
+
+"Robert Owen is a remarkable character, in years nearly seventy-five:
+in knowledge and experience super-abundant; in benevolence of heart
+transcendental; in honesty without disguise; in philanthropy
+unlimited; in religion a skeptic; in theology a Pantheist: in
+metaphysics a necessarian circumstantialist; in morals a universal
+exclusionist; in general conduct a philosophic non-resistant; in
+socialism a Communist; in hope a terrestrial elysianist; in practical
+business a methodist; in deportment an unequivocal gentleman.**
+
+"Mr. Owen has vast schemes to develop, and vast hopes of speedy
+success in establishing a great model of the new social state; which
+will quite instantaneously, as he thinks, bring the human race into a
+terrestrial Paradise. He insists on obtaining a million of dollars to
+be expended in lands, buildings, machinery, conveniences and
+beautifications, for his model Community; all to be finished and in
+perfect order, before he introduces to their new home the
+well-selected population who are to inhabit it. He flatters himself he
+shall be able, by some means, to induce capitalists, or perhaps
+Congress, to furnish the capital for this object. We were obliged to
+shake an incredulous head and tell him frankly how groundless, in our
+judgment, all such splendid anticipations must prove. He took it in
+good part, and declared his confidence unshaken, and his hopes
+undiscourageable by any man's unbelief."
+
+The winter of 1845--6 Mr. Owen appears to have spent in the west,
+probably at New Harmony. In June 1846, he was again in Albany, and
+this time for an important purpose. The Convention appointed to frame
+a new Constitution for the State of New York was then in session. He
+obtained the use of the Assembly Chamber and an audience of the
+delegates; and gave them two lectures on "Human Rights and Progress,"
+and withal on their own duties. Macdonald was present, and speaks
+enthusiastically of his energy and dignity. After reminding the
+Convention of the importance of the work they were about, he went on
+to say that "all religious systems, Constitutions, Governments and
+Laws are and have been founded in _error_, and that error is the
+false supposition that _man forms his own character_. They were about
+to form another Constitution based upon that error, and ere long more
+Constitutions would have to be made and altered, and so on, until the
+truth that the _character of man is formed for him_ shall be
+recognized, and the system of society based upon that principle become
+national and universal." "After the lecture," says Macdonald, "I
+lunched with Mr. Owen at the house of Mr. Ames. We had conversation on
+New Harmony, London, &c. Mr. Ames having expressed a desire for a
+photograph of Mr. Owen, I accompanied them to a gallery at the
+Exchange where I parted with him--perhaps forever! He returned soon
+after to England where he remains till the present time." [1854.]
+
+Six times after he was fifty years old, and twice after he was
+seventy, he crossed the Atlantic and back in the service of Communism!
+Let us not say that all this wonderful activity was useless. Let us
+not call this man a driveller and a monomaniac. Let us rather
+acknowledge that he was receiving and distributing an inspiration
+unknown even to himself, that had a sure aim, and that is at this
+moment conquering the world. His hallucination was not in his
+expectations, but in his ideas of methods and times.
+
+Owen had not much theory. His main idea was Communism, and that he got
+from the Rappites. His persistent assertion that man's character is
+formed for him by his circumstances, was his nearest approach to
+original doctrine; and this he virtually abandoned when he came to
+appreciate spiritual conditions. The rest of his teaching is summed up
+in the old injunction, "Be good," which is the burden of all
+preaching.
+
+But theory was not his function. Nor yet even practice. His business
+was to seed the world, and especially this country, with an
+unquenchable desire and hope for Communism; and this he did
+effectually.
+
+We call him the Father of American Socialisms, because he took
+possession of this country first. Fourierism was a secondary infusion.
+His English practicality was more in unison with the Yankee spirit,
+than the theorizing of the French school. He himself claimed the
+Fourierites as working on his job, grading the track by their half-way
+schemes of joint-stock and guaranteeism for his Rational Communism.
+And in this he was not far wrong. Communism or nothing, is likely to
+be the final demand of the American people.
+
+The most conspicuous trait in all Owen's labors and journeyings is his
+indomitable perseverance. And this trait he transmitted to a large
+breed of American Socialists. Read again the letter of John Harmon at
+the close of our last chapter. He is now an old man, but his faith in
+Communism remains unshaken; it is failure-proof. See how the veterans
+of Haverstraw, when their Community fell in pieces, moved to
+Coxsackie, and when the Coxsackie Community broke up, migrated to Ohio
+and joined the Kendal Community; and perhaps when the Kendal Community
+failed, they joined another, and another; and probably never gave up
+the hope of a Community-home. We have met with many such
+wanderers--men and women who were spoiled for the world by once
+tasting or at least imagining the sweets of Communism, and would not
+be turned back by any number of failures. Alcander Longley is a fine
+specimen of this class. He has tried every kind of Association, from
+Co-operation to Communism, including Fourierism and the nameless
+combinations of Spiritualism; and is now hard at work in the farthest
+corner of Missouri on his sixth experiment, as enthusiastic as ever!
+J.J. Franks is a still finer specimen. He began with Owenism. When
+that failed he enlisted with the Fourierites. During their campaign he
+bought five-thousand acres of land in the mountains of Virginia for a
+prospective Association, the Constitution of which he prepared and
+printed, though the Association itself never came into being. When
+Fourierism failed he devoted himself to Protective Unions. For twenty
+years past he has been a faithful disciple and patron of the Oneida
+Community. In such examples we trace the image and spirit of Robert
+Owen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+CONNECTING LINKS.
+
+
+In the transition from Owenism to Fourierism and later socialist
+movements, we find that Josiah Warren fulfills the function of a
+modulating chord. As we have already said, after seeing the wreck of
+Communism at New Harmony, he went clear over to the extreme doctrine
+of "Individual Sovereignty," and continued working on that theme
+through the period of Fourierism, till he founded the famous village
+of Modern Times on Long Island, and there became the master-spirit of
+a school, which has developed at least three famous movements, that
+are in some sense alive yet, long after the Communities and Phalanxes
+have gone to their graves.
+
+Imprimis, Dr. Thomas L. Nichols was a fellow of the royal society of
+Individual Sovereigns, and an _habitue_ of Modern Times, when he
+published his "Esoteric Anthropology" in 1853, and issued his printed
+catalogue of names for the reciprocal use of affinity-hunters all over
+the country; whereby he inaugurated the system of "Free Love" or
+Individual Sovereignty in sexual intercourse, that prevailed among the
+Spiritualists. He afterwards fell into a reaction opposite to
+Warren's, and swung clear back into Roman Catholicism. But "though
+dead, he yet speaketh."
+
+Secondly, Stephen Pearl Andrews was publishing-partner of Josiah
+Warren in the propagandism of Individual Sovereignty; and built or
+undertook to build a notable edifice at Modern Times, when that
+village was in its glory. He subsequently distinguished himself by
+instituting, in connection with Nichols and others, a series of
+"Sociables" for the Individual Sovereigns in New York city, which were
+broken up by the conservatives. He is also understood to have
+originated a great spiritual or intellectual hierarchy, called the
+"Pantarchy," and a system of Universology, which is not yet published,
+but has long been on the eve of organizing science and revolutionizing
+the world. On the whole he may be regarded as the American rival of
+Comte, as A.J. Davis is of Swedenborg.
+
+Lastly, Henry Edger, the actual hierarch of Positivism, one of the ten
+apostles _de propaganda fide_ appointed by Comte, was called to his
+great work from Warren's school at Modern Times. He is still a
+resident of that village, and has attempted within a year or two to
+form a Positivist Community there, but without success.
+
+The genealogy from Owen to these modern movements may be traced thus:
+
+Owen begat New Harmony; New Harmony (by reaction) begat Individual
+Sovereignty; Individual Sovereignty begat Modern Times; Modern Times
+was the mother of Free Love, the Grand Pantarchy, and the American
+branch of French Positivism. Josiah Warren was the personal link next
+to Owen, and deserves special notice. Macdonald gives the following
+account of him:
+
+
+JOSIAH WARREN.
+
+"This gentleman was one of the members of Mr. Owen's Community at New
+Harmony in 1826, and from the experience gained there, he became
+convinced that there was an important error in Mr. Owen's principles,
+and that error was _combination_. It was then that he developed the
+doctrine of Individual Sovereignty, and devised the plan of Equitable
+Commerce, which he labored on incessantly for many years. He
+communicated his views on Labor Exchange to Mr. Owen, who endeavored
+to practice them in London upon a large scale, but failed, as Mr.
+Warren asserts, through not carrying out the principle of
+_Individuality_. A similar attempt was made in Philadelphia, but also
+failed for the same cause.
+
+"After the failure of the New Harmony Community, Mr. Warren went to
+Cincinnati, and there opened a Time Store, which continued in
+operation long enough, as he says, to demonstrate the truth of his
+principles. After this, in association with others, he commenced an
+experiment in Tuscarawas Co., Ohio; but in consequence of sickness it
+was abandoned. His next experiment was at Mount Vernon, Indiana, which
+was unsuccessful. After that he opened a Time Store in New Harmony,
+which he was carrying on when I became acquainted with him in 1842.
+
+"The following must suffice as a description of
+
+THE NEW HARMONY TIME STORE.
+
+"A portion of a room was divided off by a lattice-work, in which were
+many racks and shelves containing a variety of small articles. In the
+center of this lattice an opening was left, through which the
+store-keeper could hand goods and take pay. On the wall at the back of
+the store-keeper and facing the customer, hung a clock, and underneath
+it a dial. In other parts of the room were various articles, such as
+molasses, corn, buckets, dry-goods, etc. There was a board hanging on
+the wall conspicuous enough for all persons to see, on which were
+placed the bills that had been paid to wholesale merchants for all the
+articles in the store; also the orders of individuals for various
+things.
+
+"I entered the store one day, and walking up to the wicket, requested
+the store-keeper to serve me with some glue. I was immediately asked
+if I had a '_Labor note_,' and on my saying no, I was told that I must
+get some one's note. My object in going there was to inquire if Mr.
+Warren would exchange labor with me; but this abrupt reception scared
+me, and I hastily departed. However, upon my becoming further
+acquainted with Mr. Warren, we exchanged labor notes, and I traded a
+little at the Time Store in the following manner:
+
+"I made or procured a written labor note, promising so many hours
+labor at so much per hour. Mr. Warren had similar labor notes. I went
+to the Time Store with my note and my cash, and informed the keeper
+that I wanted, for instance, a few yards of Kentucky jean. As soon as
+he commenced conversation or business with me, he set the dial which
+was under the clock, and marked the _time_. He then attended to me,
+giving me what I wanted, and in return taking from me as much cash as
+he paid for the article to the wholesale merchant; and as much time
+out of my labor note as he spent for me, according to the dial, in the
+sale of the article. I believe five per cent. was added to the cash
+cost, to pay rent and cover incidental expenses. The change for the
+labor notes was in small tickets representing time by the five, ten,
+or fifteen minutes; so that if I presented a note representing an
+hour's labor, and he had been occupied only ten minutes in serving
+me, he would have to give me forty minutes in change. I have seen Mr.
+Warren with a large bundle of these notes, representing various kinds
+and quantities of labor, from mechanics and others in New Harmony and
+its vicinity. Each individual who gave a note, affixed his or her own
+price per hour for labor. Women charged as high, or nearly as high, as
+men; and sometimes unskillful hands overrated their services. I knew
+an instance where an individual issued too many of his notes, and they
+became depreciated in value. I was informed that these notes were
+refused at the Time Store. It was supposed that public opinion would
+regulate these things, and I have no doubt that in time it would. In
+this experiment Mr. Warren said he had demonstrated as much as he
+intended. But I heard him complain of the difficulties he had to
+contend with, and especially of the want of common honesty.
+
+"The Time Store existed about two years and a half, and was then
+discontinued. In 1844 Mr. Warren went to Cincinnati and lectured upon
+his principles. On the breaking up of the Clermont Phalanx and the
+Cincinnati Brotherhood, Mr. Warren went to the spot where both
+failures had taken place, and there found four families who were
+disposed to try 'Equitable Commerce.' With these and a few other
+friends he started a village which he called Utopia, where he
+published the _Peaceful Revolutionist_ for a time.
+
+"His next and last movement was at Modern Times, on Long Island, a few
+miles from New York, whither he came in 1851."
+
+From a copy of the _Peaceful Revolutionist_, published by Warren at
+Utopia in 1845, we take the first of the two following extracts. The
+second, relating to Modern Times, is from a newspaper article pasted
+into Macdonald's collection, without date, but probably printed in
+1853. These will give a sufficient idea of the reaction from New
+Harmony, which, on several important lines of influence, connects Owen
+with the present time.
+
+
+A PEEP INTO UTOPIA.
+
+From an editorial by J. Warren.
+
+"Throughout the whole of our operations at this village, everything
+has been conducted so nearly on the _Individual_ basis, that not one
+meeting for legislation has taken place. No organization, no delegated
+power, no constitutions, no laws or bye-laws, rules or regulations,
+but such as each individual makes for himself and his own business; no
+officers, no priests nor prophets have been resorted to; nothing of
+this kind has been in demand. We have had a few meetings, but they
+were for friendly conversation, for music, dancing or some other
+social and pleasant pastime. Not even a single lecture upon the
+principles upon which we were acting, has been given on the premises!
+It was not necessary; for, as a lady remarked, 'the subject once
+stated and understood, there is nothing left to talk about; all is
+action after that.'
+
+"I do not mean to be understood that all are of one mind. On the
+contrary, in a progressive state there is no demand for conformity. We
+build on _Individuality_; any difference between us confirms our
+position. Differences, therefore, like the admissible discords in
+music, are a valuable part of our harmony! It is only when the rights
+of persons or property are actually invaded that collisions arise.
+These rights being clearly defined and sanctioned by public opinion,
+and temptations to encroachments being withdrawn, we may then consider
+our great problem practically solved. With regard to mere difference
+of opinion in taste, convenience, economy, equality, or even right and
+wrong, good and bad, sanity and insanity--all must be left to the
+supreme decision of each _Individual_, whenever he can take on himself
+the _cost_ of his decisions; which he cannot do while his interests or
+movements are united or combined with others. It is in combination or
+close connection only, that compromise and conformity are required.
+Peace, harmony, ease, security, happiness, will be found only in
+_Individuality_."
+
+
+A PEEP INTO MODERN TIMES.
+
+Conversation between a Resident and a Reporter.
+
+"We are not Fourierites. We do not believe in Association. Association
+will have to answer for very many of the evils with which mankind are
+now afflicted. We are not Communists; we are not Mormons; we are not
+Non-Resistants. If a man steals my property or injures me, I will take
+good care to make myself square with him. We are Protestants, we are
+Liberals. We believe in the SOVEREIGNTY OF THE INDIVIDUAL. We protest
+against all laws which interfere with INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS--hence we are
+Protestants. We believe in perfect liberty of will and action--hence
+we are Liberals. We have no compacts with each other, save the compact
+of individual happiness; and we hold that every man and every woman
+has a perfect and inalienable right to do and perform, all and
+singular, just exactly as he or she may choose, now and hereafter.
+But, gentlemen, this liberty to act must only be exercised at the
+_entire cost_ of the individuals so acting. They have no right to tax
+the community for the consequences of their deeds."
+
+"Then you go back to nearly the first principles of government, and
+acknowledge the necessity of some controlling power other than
+individual will?"
+
+"Not much--not much. In the present depraved state of society
+generally, we--few in numbers--are forced by circumstances into
+courses of action not precisely compatible with our principles or with
+the intent of our organization, thus: we are a new colony; we can not
+produce all which we consume, and many of our members are forced to go
+out into the world to earn what people call money, so that we may
+purchase our groceries, &c. We are mostly mechanics--eastern men.
+There is not yet a sufficient home demand for our labor to give
+constant employment to all. When we increase in numerical strength,
+our tinsmiths and shoemakers and hatters and artisans of that grade
+will not only find work at home, but will manufacture goods for sale.
+That will bring us money. We shall establish a Labor Exchange, so that
+if my neighbor, the blacksmith, wants my assistance, and I in turn
+desire his services, there will be a scale to fix the terms of the
+exchange."
+
+"But this would disturb Individual Sovereignty."
+
+"I don't see it. No one will be _forced_ to barter his labor for
+another's. If parties don't like the terms, they can make their own.
+There are three acres of corn across the way--it is good corn--a good
+crop--it is mine. You see that man now at work in the field cutting
+and stacking it. His work as a farmer is not so valuable as mine as a
+mason. We exchange, and it is a mutual benefit. Corn is just as good a
+measure of value as coin. You should read the pamphlet we are getting
+out. It will come cheap. Andrews has published an excellent work on
+this subject of Individual Sovereignty."
+
+"Have you any schools?"
+
+"Schools? Ah! we only have a sort of primary affair for small
+children. It is supported by individual subscription. Each parent pays
+his proportion."
+
+"How about women?"
+
+"Well, in regard to the ladies, we let them do about as they please,
+and they generally please to do about right. Yes, _they_ like the idea
+of Individual Sovereignty. We give them plenty of amusement; we have
+social parties, music, dancing, and other sports. They are not all
+Bloomers: they wear such dresses as suit the individual taste,
+_provided they can get them_!"
+
+"And the _breeches_ sometimes, I suppose?"
+
+"Certainly they can _wear the breeches_ if they choose."
+
+"Do you hold to marriage?"
+
+"Oh, marriage! Well, folks ask no questions in regard to _that_ among
+us. We, or at least some of us, do not believe in life-partnerships,
+when the parties can not live happily. Every person here is supposed
+to know his or her own interests best. We don't interfere; there is no
+eaves-dropping, or prying behind the curtain. Those are good members
+of society, who are industrious and mind their own business. The
+individual is sovereign and independent, and all laws tending to
+restrict the liberty he or she should enjoy, are founded in error, and
+should not be regarded."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+CHANNING'S BROOK FARM.
+
+
+We are now on the confines of the Fourier movement. The time-focus
+changes from 1826 to 1843. As the period of our history thus
+approaches the present time, our resources become more ample and
+authentic. Henceforward we shall not confine ourselves so closely to
+Macdonald's materials as we have done. The printed literature of
+Fourierism is more abundant than that of Owenism; and while we shall
+still follow the catalogue of Associations which we gave from
+Macdonald in our third chapter, and shall appropriate all that is
+interesting in his memoirs, we shall also avail ourselves freely of
+various publications of the Fourierists themselves. A full set of
+their leading periodicals, (probably the only one in existence) was
+thrust upon us by the freak of a half-crazed literary gentleman,
+nearly at the very time when we had the good fortune to find
+Macdonald's collections. We shall hereafter refer most frequently to
+the files of _The Dial_, _The Present_, _The Phalanx_, _The
+Harbinger_, and _The Tribune_.
+
+In order to understand the Fourier movement, we must look at the
+preparations for it. This we have already been doing, in studying
+Owenism. But there were other preparations. Owenism was the
+socialistic prelude. We must now attend to what may be called the
+religious preparations.
+
+Owenism was limited and local, chiefly because it was thoroughly
+non-religious and even anti-religious. In order that Fourierism might
+sweep the nation, it was necessary that it should ally itself to some
+form of popular religion, and especially that it should penetrate the
+strongholds of religious New England.
+
+To prepare for this combination, a differentiation in the New England
+church was going on simultaneously with the career of Owenism. After
+the war of 1815, the division of Congregationalism into Orthodoxy and
+Unitarianism, commenced. Excluding from our minds the doctrinal and
+ecclesiastical quarrels that attended this division, it is easy to see
+that Providence, which is always on both sides of every fight, aimed
+at division of labor in this movement. One party was set to defend
+religion; the other liberty. One stood by the old faith, like the Jew;
+the other went off into free-thinking and the fine arts, like the
+Greek. One worked on regeneration of the heart; the other on culture
+of the external life. In short, one had for its function the carrying
+through of the Revival system; the other the development of Socialism.
+
+The royal men of these two "houses of Israel" were Dr. Beecher and Dr.
+Channing; and both left royal families, direct or collateral. The
+Beechers are leading the Orthodox to this day; and the Channings, the
+Unitarians. We all know what Dr. Beecher and his children have done
+for revivals. He was the pivotal man between Nettleton and Finney in
+the last generation, and his children are the standard-bearers of
+revival religion in the present. What the Channings have done for
+Socialism is not so well known, and this is what we must now bring to
+view.
+
+First and chief of all the experiments of the Fourier epoch was BROOK
+FARM. And yet Brook Farm in its original conception, was not a Fourier
+formation at all, but an American seedling. It was the child of New
+England Unitarianism. Dr. Channing himself was the suggester of it. So
+says Ralph Waldo Emerson. As this is an interesting point of history,
+we have culled from a newspaper report of Mr. Emerson's lecture on
+Brook Farm, the following summary, from which it appears that Dr.
+Channing was the pivotal man between old-fashioned Unitarianism and
+Transcendentalism, and the father of _The Dial_ and of Brook Farm:
+
+
+EMERSON'S REMINISCENCES OF BROOK FARM.
+
+"In the year 1840 Dr. Channing took counsel with Mr. George Ripley on
+the point if it were possible to bring cultivated, thoughtful people
+together, and make a society that deserved the name. He early talked
+with Dr. John Collins Warren on the same thing, who admitted the
+wisdom of the purpose, and undertook to make the experiment. Dr.
+Channing repaired to his house with these thoughts; he found a well
+chosen assembly of gentlemen; mutual greetings and introductions and
+chattings all around, and he was in the way of introducing the general
+purpose of the conversation, when a side-door opened, the whole
+company streamed in to an oyster supper with good wines, and so ended
+that attempt in Boston. Channing opened his mind then to Ripley, and
+invited a large party of ladies and gentlemen. I had the honor to be
+present. No important consequences of the attempt followed. Margaret
+Fuller, Ripley, Bronson and Hedge, and many others, gradually came
+together, but only in the way of students. But I think there prevailed
+at that time a general belief in the city that this was some concert
+of doctrinaires to establish certain opinions, or to inaugurate some
+movement in literature, philosophy, or religion, but of which these
+conspirators were quite innocent. It was no concert, but only two or
+three men and women, who read alone with some vivacity. Perhaps all of
+them were surprised at the rumor that they were a school or sect, but
+more especially at the name of 'Transcendentalism.' Nobody knows who
+first applied the name. These persons became in the common chance of
+society acquainted with each other, and the result was a strong
+friendship, exclusive in proportion to its heat.***
+
+"From that time, meetings were held with conversation--with very
+little form--from house to house. Yet the intelligent character and
+varied ability of the company gave it some notoriety, and perhaps
+awakened some curiosity as to its aims and results. But nothing more
+serious came of it for a long time. A modest quarterly journal called
+_The Dial_, under the editorship of Margaret Fuller, enjoyed its
+obscurity for four years, when it ended. Its papers were the
+contributions and work of friendship among a narrow circle of writers.
+Perhaps its writers were also its chief readers. But it had some noble
+papers; perhaps the best of Margaret Fuller's. It had some numbers
+highly important, because they contained papers by Theodore Parker.**
+
+"I said the only result of the conversations which Dr. Channing had
+was to initiate the little quarterly called _The Dial_; but they had a
+further consequence in the creation of the society called the "Brook
+Farm" in 1841. Many of these persons who had compared their notes
+around in the libraries of each other upon speculative matters, became
+impatient of speculation, and wished to put it into practice. Mr.
+George Ripley, with some of his associates, established a society, of
+which the principle was, that the members should be stockholders, and
+that while some deposited money others should be allowed to give their
+labor in different kinds as an equivalent for money. It contained very
+many interesting and agreeable persons. Mr. Curtis of New York, and
+his brother of English Oxford, were members of the family; from the
+first also was Theodore Parker; Mr. Morton of Plymouth--engaged in the
+fisheries--eccentric; he built a house upon the farm, and he and his
+family continued in it till the end; Margaret Fuller, with her joyous
+conversations and sympathies. Many persons gave character and
+attractiveness to the place. The farm consisted of 200 acres, and
+occupied some spot near Reedville camp of later years. In and around
+it, whether as members, boarders, or visitors, were remarkable persons
+for character, intellect and accomplishments. *** The Rev. Wm. H.
+Channing, now of London, student of Socialism in France and England,
+was a frequent sojourner here, and in perfect sympathy with the
+experiment.***
+
+"Brook Farm existed six or seven years, when the society broke up and
+the farm was sold, and all parties came out with a loss; some had
+spent on it the accumulations of years. At the moment all regarded it
+as a failure; but I do not think that all so regard it now, but
+probably as an important chapter in their experience, which has been
+of life-long value. What knowledge has it not afforded them! What
+personal power which the studies of character have given: what
+accumulated culture many members owe to it; what mutual pleasure they
+took of each other! A close union like that in a ship's cabin, of
+persons in various conditions; clergymen, young collegians, merchants,
+mechanics, farmers' sons and daughters, with men of rare opportunities
+and culture."
+
+Mr. Emerson's lecture is doubtless reliable on the main point for
+which we quote from it--the Unitarian and Channing-arian origin of
+Brook Farm--but certainly superficial in its view of the substantial
+character and final purpose of that Community. Brook Farm, though
+American and Unitarian in its origin, became afterward the chief
+representative and propagative organ of Fourierism, as we shall
+ultimately show. The very blossom of the experiment, by which it
+seeded the nation and perpetuated its species, was its periodical,
+_The Harbinger_, and this belonged entirely to the Fourieristic period
+of its career. Emerson dilates on _The Dial_, but does not allude to
+_The Harbinger_. In thus ignoring the public function by which Brook
+Farm was signally related to the great socialistic revival of 1843,
+and to the whole of American Socialism, Emerson misses what we
+conceive to be the main significance of the experiment, and indeed of
+Unitarianism itself.
+
+And here we may say, in passing, that this brilliant Community has a
+right to complain that its story should have to be told by aliens.
+Emerson, who was not a member of it, nor in sympathy with the
+socialistic movement to which it abandoned itself, has volunteered a
+lecture of reminiscences; and Hawthorne, who joined it only to jilt
+it, has given the world a poetico-sneering romance about it; and that
+is all the first-hand information we have, except what can be gleaned
+from obsolete periodicals. George William Curtis, though he was a
+member, coolly exclaims in _Harper's Magazine:_
+
+"Strangely enough, Hawthorne is likely to be the chief future
+authority upon 'the romantic episode' of Brook Farm. Those who had it
+at heart more than he, whose faith and energy were all devoted to its
+development, and many of whom have every ability to make a permanent
+record, have never done so, and it is already so much a thing of the
+past, that it will probably never be done."
+
+In the name of history we ask, Why has not George William Curtis
+himself made the permanent record? Why has not George Ripley taken the
+story out of the mouths of the sneerers? Brook Farm might tell its own
+story through him, for he _was_ Brook Farm. It was George Ripley who
+took into his heart the inspiration of Dr. Channing, and went to work
+like a hero to make a fact of it; while Emerson stood by smiling
+incredulity. It was Ripley who put on his frock and carted manure, and
+set Hawthorne shoveling, and did his best for years to keep work
+going, that the Community might pay as well as play. It was no
+"picnic" or "romantic episode" or chance meeting "in a ship's cabin"
+to him. His whole soul was bent on making a _home_ of it. If a man's
+first-born, in whom his heart is bound up, dies at six years old, that
+does not turn the whole affair into a joke. There were others of the
+same spirit, but Ripley was the center of them.
+
+Brook Farm came very near being a _religious_ Community. It inherited
+the spirit of Dr. Channing and of Transcendentalism. The inspiration
+in the midst of which it was born, was intensely literary, but also
+religious. The Brook Farmers refer to it as the "revival," the
+"_newness_," the "_renaissance_." There was evidently an afflatus on
+the men, and they wrote and acted as they were moved. _The Dial_ was
+the original organ of this afflatus, and contains many articles that
+are edifying to Christians of good digestion. It was published
+quarterly, and the four volumes of it (sixteen numbers) extended from
+July 1840 to April 1844.
+
+The first notice we find of Brook Farm is in connection with an
+article in the second volume of _The Dial_ (Oct. 1841), entitled, "_A
+Glimpse of Christ's Idea of Society_." The writer of this most devout
+essay was Miss Elizabeth P. Peabody, then and since a distinguished
+literary lady. She was evidently in full sympathy with the "newness"
+out of which Brook Farm issued. Margaret Fuller, one of the
+constituents of Brook Farm, was editress of _The Dial_, and thus
+sanctioned the essay. Its reference to Brook Farm is avowed in a note
+at the end, and in a subsequent article. The following extracts give
+us
+
+
+THE ORIGINAL IDEAL OF BROOK FARM.
+
+[From _The Dial_, Oct. 1841.]
+
+"While we acknowledge the natural growth, the good design, and the
+noble effects of the apostolic church, and wish we had it, in place of
+our own more formal ones, we should not do so small justice to the
+divine soul of Jesus of Nazareth, as to admit that it was a main
+purpose of his to found it, or that when it was founded it realized
+his idea of human society. Indeed we probably do injustice to the
+apostles themselves, in supposing that they considered their churches
+anything more than initiatory. Their language implies that they looked
+forward to a time when the uttermost parts of the earth should be
+inherited by their beloved master; and beyond this, when even the
+name, which is still above every name, should be lost in the glory of
+the Father, who is to be all in all.
+
+"Some persons, indeed, refer all this sort of language to another
+world; but this is gratuitously done. Both Jesus and the apostles
+speak of life as the same in both worlds. For themselves individually
+they could not but speak principally of another world; but they imply
+no more than that death is an accident, which would not prevent, but
+hasten the enjoyment of that divine life, which they were laboring to
+make possible to all men, in time as well as in eternity.***
+
+"The Kingdom of Heaven, as it lay in the clear spirit of Jesus of
+Nazareth, is rising again upon vision. Nay, this Kingdom begins to be
+seen not only in religious ecstasy, in moral vision, but in the light
+of common sense, and the human understanding. Social science begins to
+verify the prophecy of poetry. The time has come when men ask
+themselves what Jesus meant when he said, 'Inasmuch as ye have not
+done it unto the least of these little ones, ye have not done it unto
+me.'
+
+"No sooner is it surmised that the Kingdom of Heaven and the Christian
+Church are the same thing, and that this thing is not an association
+outside of society, but a reorganization of society itself, on those
+very principles of love to God and love to man, which Jesus Christ
+realized in his own daily life, than we perceive the day of judgment
+for society is come, and all the words of Christ are so many trumpets
+of doom. For before the judgment-seat of his sayings, how do our
+governments, our trades, our etiquettes, even our benevolent
+institutions and churches look? What church in Christendom, that
+numbers among its members a pauper or a negro, may stand the thunder
+of that one word, 'Inasmuch as ye have not done it to the least of
+these little ones, ye have not done it unto me?' And yet the church of
+Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven, has not come upon earth, according to
+our daily prayer, unless not only every church, but every trade, every
+form of social intercourse, every institution political or other, can
+abide this test.***
+
+"One would think from the tone of conservatives, that Jesus accepted
+the society around him, as an adequate framework for individual
+development into beauty and life, instead of calling his disciples
+'out of the world.' We maintain, on the other hand, that Christ
+desired to reorganize society, and went to a depth of principle and a
+magnificence of plan for this end, which has never been appreciated,
+except here and there, by an individual, still less been carried
+out.***
+
+"There _are_ men and women, who have dared to say to one another, Why
+not have our daily life organized on Christ's own idea? Why not begin
+to move the mountain of custom and convention? Perhaps Jesus's method
+of thought and life is the Savior--is Christianity! For each man to
+think and live on this method is perhaps the Second Coming of Christ.
+To do unto the little ones as we would do unto _him_, would be perhaps
+the reign of the Saints--the Kingdom of Heaven. We have hitherto heard
+of Christ by the hearing of the ear; now let us see him, let us be
+him, and see what will come of that. Let us communicate with each
+other and live.***
+
+"There have been some plans and experiments of Community attempted in
+this country, which, like those elsewhere, are interesting chiefly as
+indicating paths in which we should _not_ go. Some have failed because
+their philosophy of human nature was inadequate, and their
+establishments did not regard man as he is, with all the elements of
+devil and angel within his actual constitution. Brisbane has made a
+plan worthy of study in some of its features, but erring in the same
+manner. He does not go down into a sufficient spiritual depth, to lay
+foundations which may support his superstructure. Our imagination
+before we reflect, no less than our reason after reflection, rebels
+against this attempt to circumvent moral freedom, and imprison it in
+his Phalanx.**
+
+"_The_ church of Christ's Idea, world-embracing, can be founded on
+nothing short of faith in the universal man, as he comes out of the
+hands of the Creator, with no law over his liberty, but the Eternal
+Ideas that lie at the foundation of his Being. Are you a man? This is
+the only question that is to be asked of a member of human society.
+And the enounced laws of that society should be an elastic medium of
+these Ideas; providing for their everlasting unfolding into new forms
+of influence, so that the man of time should be the growth of
+eternity, consciously and manifestly.
+
+"To form such a society as this is a great problem, whose perfect
+solution will take all the ages of time; but let the Spirit of God
+move freely over the great deep of social existence, and a creative
+light will come at his word; and after that long evening in which we
+are living, the morning of the first day shall dawn on a Christian
+society.***
+
+"N.B. A Postscript to this Essay, giving an account of a specific
+attempt to realize its principles, will appear in the next number."
+
+Thus, according to this writer, Brook Farm, in its inception, was an
+effort to establish the kingdom of God on earth; that kingdom in which
+"the will of God shall be done as it is done in heaven;" a higher
+state than that of the apostolic church; worthy even to be called the
+Second Coming of Christ, and the beginning of the day of judgment! A
+high religious aim, surely! and much like that proposed by the Shakers
+and other successful Communities, that have the reputation of being
+fanatical.
+
+The reader will notice that Miss Peabody, on behalf of Brook Farm,
+disclaims Fourierism, which was then just beginning to be heard of
+through Brisbane's _Social Destiny of Man_, first published in 1840.
+
+In the next number of _The Dial_ Miss Peabody fulfills her promise of
+information about Brook Farm, in an article entitled, "_Plan of the
+West Roxbury Community_." Some extracts will give an idea of the first
+tottering steps of the infant enterprise:
+
+    THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION OF BROOK FARM.
+
+    [From _The Dial_, Jan. 1842.]
+
+    "In the last number of _The Dial_, were some remarks, under the
+    perhaps ambitious title of, 'A Glimpse of Christ's Idea of
+    Society;' in a note to which it was intimated, that in this
+    number would be given an account of an attempt to realize in
+    some degree this great Ideal, by a little company in the midst
+    of us, as yet without name or visible existence. The attempt is
+    made on a very small scale. A few individuals, who, unknown to
+    each other, under different disciplines of life, reacting from
+    different social evils, but aiming at the same object,--of
+    being wholly true to their natures as men and women--have been
+    made acquainted with one another, and have determined to become
+    the Faculty of the Embryo University.
+
+    "In order to live a religious and moral life worthy the name,
+    they feel it is necessary to come out in some degree from the
+    world, and to form themselves into a community of property, so
+    far as to exclude competition and the ordinary rules of trade;
+    while they reserve sufficient private property, or the means of
+    obtaining it, for all purposes of independence, and isolation at
+    will. They have bought a farm, in order to make agriculture the
+    basis of their life, it being the most direct and simple in
+    relation to nature. A true life, although it aims beyond the
+    highest star, is redolent of the healthy earth. The perfume of
+    clover lingers about it. The lowing of cattle is the natural
+    bass to the melody of human voices. [Here we have the old
+    farming hobby of the socialists.]***
+
+    "The plan of the Community, as an economy, is in brief this: for
+    all who have property to take stock, and receive a fixed
+    interest thereon: then to keep house or board in commons, as
+    they shall severally desire, at the cost of provisions purchased
+    at wholesale, or raised on the farm; and for all to labor in
+    community, and be paid at a certain rate an hour, choosing their
+    own number of hours, and their own kind of work. With the
+    results of this labor and their interest, they are to pay their
+    board, and also purchase whatever else they require at cost, at
+    the warehouses of the Community, which are to be filled by the
+    Community as such. To perfect this economy, in the course of
+    time they must have all trades and all modes of business carried
+    on among themselves, from the lowest mechanical trade, which
+    contributes to the health and comfort of life, to the finest
+    art, which adorns it with food or drapery for the mind.
+
+    "All labor, whether bodily or intellectual, is to be paid at the
+    same rate of wages; on the principle that as the labor becomes
+    merely bodily, it is a greater sacrifice to the individual
+    laborer to give his time to it; because time is desirable for
+    the cultivation of the intellectual, in exact proportion to
+    ignorance. Besides, intellectual labor involves in itself higher
+    pleasures, and is more its own reward, than bodily labor.***
+
+    "After becoming members of this Community, none will be engaged
+    merely in bodily labor. The hours of labor for the Association
+    will be limited by a general law, and can be curtailed at the
+    will of the individual still more; and means will be given to
+    all for intellectual improvement and for social intercourse,
+    calculated to refine and expand. The hours redeemed from labor
+    by community, will not be re-applied to the acquisition of
+    wealth, but to the production of intellectual goods. This
+    Community aims to be rich, not in the metallic representative of
+    wealth, but in the wealth itself, which money should represent;
+    namely, LEISURE TO LIVE IN ALL THE FACULTIES OF THE SOUL. As a
+    Community, it will traffic with the world at large, in the
+    products of agricultural labor; and it will sell education to as
+    many young persons as can be domesticated in the families, and
+    enter into the common life with their own children. In the end
+    it hopes to be enabled to provide, not only all the necessaries,
+    but all the elegances desirable for bodily and for spiritual
+    health: books, apparatus, collections for science, works of art,
+    means of beautiful amusement. These things are to be common to
+    all; and thus that object, which alone gilds and refines the
+    passion for individual accumulation, will no longer exist for
+    desire, and whenever the sordid passion appears, it will be seen
+    in its naked selfishness. In its ultimate success, the Community
+    will realize all the ends which selfishness seeks, but involved
+    in spiritual blessings, which only greatness of soul can aspire
+    after.
+
+    "And the requisitions on the individuals, it is believed, will
+    make this the order forever. The spiritual good will always be
+    the condition of the temporal. Every one must labor for the
+    Community in a reasonable degree, or not taste its benefits.***
+    Whoever is willing to receive from his fellow men that for which
+    he gives no equivalent, will stay away from its precincts
+    forever. But whoever shall surrender himself to its principles,
+    shall find that its yoke is easy and its burden light.
+    Everything can be said of it, in a degree, which Christ said of
+    his kingdom, and therefore it is believed that in some measure
+    it does embody his idea. For its gate of entrance is strait and
+    narrow. It is literally a pearl hidden in a field. Those only
+    who are willing to lose their life for its sake shall find it.
+    Its voice is that which sent the young man sorrowing away: 'Go
+    sell all thy goods and give to the poor, and then come and
+    follow me.' 'Seek first the kingdom of Heaven and its
+    righteousness, and all other things shall be added to you.'***
+
+    "There may be some persons at a distance, who will ask, To what
+    degree has this Community gone into operation? We can not answer
+    this with precision, but we have a right to say that it has
+    purchased the farm which some of its members cultivated for a
+    year with success, by way of trying their love and skill for
+    agricultural labor; that in the only house they are as yet rich
+    enough to own, is collected a large family, including several
+    boarding scholars, and that all work and study together. They
+    seem to be glad to know of all who desire to join them in the
+    spirit, that at any moment, when they are able to enlarge their
+    habitations, they may call together those that belong to them."
+
+Thus far it is evident that Brook Farm was not a Fourier formation.
+Whether the beginnings of the excitement about Fourierism may not have
+secretly affected Dr. Channing and the Transcendentalists, we can not
+say. Brisbane's first publication and Dr. Channing's first suggestion
+of a Community (according to Emerson) took place in the same
+year--1840. But Brook Farm, as reported by Miss Peabody, up to January
+1842 had nothing to do with Fourierism, but was an original Yankee
+attempt to embody Christianity as understood by Unitarians and
+Transcendentalists; having a constitution (written or unwritten)
+invented perhaps by Ripley, or suggested by the collective wisdom of
+the associates. Without any great scientific theory, it started as
+other Yankee experiments have done, with the purpose of feeling its
+way toward co-operation, by the light of experience and common sense;
+beginning cautiously, as was proper, with the general plan of
+joint-stock; but calling itself a Community, and evidently bewitched
+with the idea which is the essential charm of all Socialisms, that it
+is possible to combine many families into one great home. Moreover
+thus far there was no "advertising for a wife," no gathering by public
+proclamation. The two conditions of success which we named as primary
+in a previous chapter, viz., _religious principle_ and _previous
+acquaintance_, were apparently secured. The nucleus was small in
+number, and well knit together by mutual acquaintance and spiritual
+sympathy. In all this, Brook Farm was the opposite of New Harmony.
+
+If we take Rev. William H. Channing, nephew and successor of Dr.
+Channing, as the exponent of Brook Farm--which we may safely do, since
+Emerson says he was "a frequent sojourner there, and in perfect
+sympathy with the experiment"--we have evidence that the Community had
+not fallen into the ranks of Fourierism at a considerably later
+period. On the 15th of September 1843, Mr. Channing commenced
+publishing in New York a monthly Magazine called _The Present_, the
+main object of which was nearly the same as that of _The Dial_, viz.,
+the discussion of religious Socialism, as understood at Brook Farm and
+among the Transcendentalists; and in his third number (Nov. 15) he
+used language concerning Fourier, which _The Phalanx_, Brisbane's
+organ (then also just commencing), criticised as disrespectful and
+painfully offensive.
+
+From this indication, slight as it is, we may safely conclude that the
+amalgamation of Brook Farm and Fourierism had not taken place up to
+November 1843, which was more than two years after Miss Peabody's
+announcement of the birth of the Community. So far Brook Farm was
+American and religious, and stood related to the Fourier revival only
+as a preparation. So far it was _Channing's_ Brook Farm. Its story
+after it became _Fourier's_ Brook Farm will be reserved for the end of
+our history of Fourierism.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+HOPEDALE.
+
+
+This Community was another anticipation of Fourierism, put forth by
+Massachusetts. It was similar in many respects to Brook Farm, and in
+its origin nearly contemporaneous. It was intensely religious in its
+ideal. As Brook Farm was the blossom of Unitarianism, so Hopedale was
+the blossom of Universalism. Rev. Adin Ballou, the founder, was a
+relative of the Rev. Hosea Ballou, and thus a scion of the royal
+family of the Universalists. Milford, the site of the Community, was
+the scene of Dr. Whittemore's first ministerial labors.
+
+Hopedale held on its way through the Fourier revival, solitary and
+independent, and consequently never attained so much public
+distinction as Brook Farm and other Associations that affiliated
+themselves to Fourierism; but considered by itself as a Yankee attempt
+to solve the socialistic problem, it deserves more attention than any
+of them. Our judgment of it, after some study, may be summed up thus:
+As it came nearest to being a religious community, so it commenced
+earlier, lasted longer, and was really more scientific and sensible
+than any of the other experiments of the Fourier epoch.
+
+Brook Farm was talked about in 1840, but we find no evidence of its
+organization till the fall of 1841. Whereas Mr. Ballou's Community
+dates its first compact from January 1841; though it did not commence
+operations at Hopedale till April 1842.
+
+The North American Phalanx is reputed to have outlived all the other
+Associations of the Fourier epoch; but we find, on close examination
+of dates, that Hopedale not only was born before it, but lived after
+it. The North American commenced in 1843, and dissolved in 1855.
+Hopedale commenced in 1841, and lasted certainly till 1856 or 1857.
+Ballou published an elaborate exposition of it in the winter of
+1854-5, and at that time Hopedale was at its highest point of success
+and promise. We can not find the exact date of its dissolution, but it
+is reported to have attained its seventeenth year, which would carry
+it to 1858. Indeed it is said there is a shell of an organization
+there now, which has continued from the Community, having a President,
+Secretary, &c., and holding occasional meetings; but its principal
+function at present is the care of the village cemetery.
+
+As to the theory and constitutional merits of the Hopedale Community,
+the reader shall judge for himself. Here is an exposition published in
+tract form by Mr. Ballou in 1851, outlining the scheme which was fully
+elaborated in his subsequent book:
+
+    "The Hopedale Community, originally called Fraternal Community,
+    No. 1, was formed at Mendon, Massachusetts, January 28, 1841, by
+    about thirty individuals from different parts of the State. In
+    the course of that year they purchased what was called the
+    'Jones Farm,' _alias_ 'The Dale,' in Milford. This estate they
+    named HOPEDALE--joining the word 'Hope' to its ancient
+    designation, as significant of the great things they hoped for
+    from a very humble and unpropitious beginning. About the first
+    of April 1842, a part of the members took possession of their
+    farm and commenced operations under as many disadvantages as can
+    well be imagined. Their present domain (December 1, 1851),
+    including all the lands purchased at different times, contains
+    about 500 acres. Their village consists of about thirty new
+    dwelling-houses, three mechanic shops, with water-power,
+    carpentering and other machinery, a small chapel, used also for
+    the purposes of education, and the old domicile, with the barns
+    and out-buildings much improved. There are now at Hopedale some
+    thirty-six families, besides single persons, youth and children,
+    making in all a population of about 175 souls.
+
+    "It is often asked, What are the peculiarities, and what the
+    advantages of the Hopedale Community? Its leading peculiarities
+    are the following:
+
+    "1. It is a church of Christ (so far as any human organization
+    of professed Christians, within a particular locality, have the
+    right to claim that title), based on a simple declaration of
+    faith in the religion of Jesus Christ, as he taught and
+    exemplified it, according to the scriptures of the New
+    Testament, and of acknowledged subjection to all the moral
+    obligations of that religion. No person can be a member, who
+    does not cordially assent to this comprehensive declaration.
+    Having given sufficient evidence of truthfulness in making such
+    a profession, each individual is left to judge for him or
+    herself, with entire freedom, what abstract doctrines are
+    taught, and also what external religious rites are enjoined in
+    the religion of Christ. No precise theological dogmas,
+    ordinances or ceremonies are prescribed or prohibited. In such
+    matters all the members are free, with mutual love and
+    toleration, to follow their own highest convictions of truth and
+    religious duty, answerable only to the great Head of the true
+    Church Universal. But in practical Christianity this church is
+    precise and strict. There its essentials are specific. It
+    insists on supreme love to God and man--that love which 'worketh
+    no ill' to friend or foe. It enjoins total abstinence from all
+    God-contemning words and deeds; all unchastity; all intoxicating
+    beverages; all oath-taking; all slave-holding and pro-slavery
+    compromises; all war and preparations for war; all capital and
+    other vindictive punishments; all insurrectionary, seditious,
+    mobocratic and personal violence against any government,
+    society, family or individual; all voluntary participation in
+    any anti-Christian government, under promise of unqualified
+    support--whether by doing military service, commencing actions
+    at law, holding office, voting, petitioning for penal laws,
+    aiding a legal posse by injurious force, or asking public
+    interference for protection which can be given only by such
+    force; all resistance of evil with evil; in fine, from all
+    things known to be sinful against God or human nature. This is
+    its acknowledged obligatory righteousness. It does not expect
+    immediate and exact perfection of its members, but holds up this
+    practical Christian standard, that all may do their utmost to
+    reach it, and at least be made sensible of their shortcomings.
+    Such are the peculiarities of the Hopedale Community as a
+    church.
+
+    "2. It is a Civil State, a miniature Christian Republic,
+    existing within, peaceably subject to, and tolerated by the
+    governments of Massachusetts and the United States, but
+    otherwise a commonwealth complete within itself. Those
+    governments tax and control its property, according to their own
+    laws, returning less to it than they exact from it. It makes
+    them no criminals to punish, no disorders to repress, no paupers
+    to support, no burdens to bear. It asks of them no corporate
+    powers, no military or penal protection. It has its own
+    Constitution, laws, regulations and municipal police; its own
+    Legislative, Judiciary and Executive authorities; its own
+    educational system of operations; its own methods of aid and
+    relief; its own moral and religious safeguards; its own fire
+    insurance and savings institutions; its own internal
+    arrangements for the holding of property, the management of
+    industry, and the raising of revenue; in fact, all the elements
+    and organic constituents of a Christian Republic, on a miniature
+    scale. There is no Red Republicanism in it, because it eschews
+    blood; yet it is the seedling of the true Democratic and Social
+    Republic, wherein neither caste, color, sex nor age stands
+    proscribed, but every human being shares justly in 'Liberty,
+    Equality and Fraternity.' Such is The Hopedale Community as a
+    Civil State.
+
+    "3. It is a universal religious, moral, philanthropic, and
+    social reform Association. It is a Missionary Society, for the
+    promulgation of New Testament Christianity, the reformation of
+    the nominal church, and the conversion of the world. It is a
+    moral suasion Temperance Society on the teetotal basis. It is a
+    moral power Anti-Slavery Society, radical and without
+    compromise. It is a Peace Society on the only impregnable
+    foundation of Christian non-resistance. It is a sound
+    theoretical and practical Woman's Rights Association. It is a
+    Charitable Society for the relief of suffering humanity, to the
+    extent of its humble ability. It is an Educational Society,
+    preparing to act an important part in the training of the young.
+    It is a socialistic Community, successfully actualizing, as well
+    as promulgating, practical Christian Socialism--the only kind of
+    Socialism likely to establish a true social state on earth. The
+    members of this Community are not under the necessity of
+    importing from abroad any of these valuable reforms, or of
+    keeping up a distinct organization for each of them, or of
+    transporting themselves to other places in search of
+    sympathizers. Their own Newcastle can furnish coal for
+    home-consumption, and some to supply the wants of its neighbors.
+    Such is the Hopedale Community as a Universal Reform Association
+    on Christian principles.
+
+    "_What are its Advantages?_
+
+    "1. It affords a theoretical and practical illustration of the
+    way whereby all human beings, willing to adopt it, may become
+    individually and socially happy. It clearly sets forth the
+    principles to be received, the righteousness to be exemplified,
+    and the social arrangements to be entered into, in order to this
+    happiness. It is in itself a capital school for self-correction
+    and improvement. No where else on earth is there a more
+    explicit, understandable, practicable system of ways and means
+    for those who really desire to enter into usefulness, peace and
+    rational enjoyment. This will one day be seen and acknowledged
+    by multitudes who now know nothing of it, or knowing, despise
+    it, or conceding its excellence, are unwilling to bow to its
+    wholesome requisitions. 'Yet the willing and the obedient shall
+    eat the good of the land.'
+
+    "2. It guarantees to all its members and dependents employment,
+    at least adequate to a comfortable subsistence; relief in want,
+    sickness or distress; decent opportunities for religious, moral
+    and intellectual culture; an orderly, well regulated
+    neighborhood; fraternal counsel, fellowship and protection under
+    all circumstances; and a suitable sphere of individual
+    enterprise and responsibility, in which each one may, by due
+    self-exertion, elevate himself to the highest point of his
+    capabilities.
+
+    "3. It solves the problem which has so long puzzled Socialists,
+    the harmonization of just individual freedom with social
+    co-operation. Here exists a system of arrangements, simple and
+    effective, under which all capital, industry, trade, talent,
+    skill and peculiar gifts may freely operate and co-operate, with
+    no restrictions other than those which Christian morality every
+    where rightfully imposes, constantly to the advantage of each
+    and all. All may thrive together as individuals and as a
+    Community, without degrading or impoverishing any. This
+    excellent system of arrangements in its present completeness is
+    the result of various and wisely improved experiences.
+
+    "4. It affords a peaceful and congenial home for all
+    conscientious persons, of whatsoever religious sect, class or
+    description heretofore, who now embrace practical Christianity,
+    substantially as this Community holds it, and can no longer
+    fellowship the popular religionists and politicians. Such need
+    sympathy, co-operation and fraternal association, without undue
+    interference in relation to non-essential peculiarities. Here
+    they may find what they need. Here they may give and receive
+    strength by rational, liberal Christian union.
+
+    "5. It affords a most desirable opportunity for those who mean
+    to be practical Christians in the use of property, talent, skill
+    or productive industry, to invest them. Here those goods and
+    gifts may all be so employed as to benefit their possessors to
+    the full extent of justice, while at the same time they afford
+    aid to the less favored, help build up a social state free from
+    the evils of irreligion, ignorance, poverty and vice, promote
+    the regeneration of the race, and thus resolve themselves into
+    treasure laid up where neither moth, nor rust, nor thieves can
+    reach them. Here property is preeminently safe, useful and
+    beneficent. It is Christianized. So, in a good degree, are
+    talent, skill, and productive industry.
+
+    "6. It affords small scope, place or encouragement for the
+    unprincipled, corrupt, supremely selfish, proud, ambitious,
+    miserly, sordid, quarrelsome, brutal, violent, lawless, fickle,
+    high-flying, loaferish, idle, vicious, envious and
+    mischief-making. It is no paradise for such; unless they
+    voluntarily make it first a moral penitentiary. Such will hasten
+    to more congenial localities; thus making room for the upright,
+    useful and peaceable.
+
+    "7. It affords a beginning, a specimen and a presage of a new
+    and glorious social Christendom--a grand confederation of
+    similar Communities--a world ultimately regenerated and
+    Edenized. All this shall be in the forthcoming future.
+
+    "The Hopedale Community was born in obscurity, cradled in
+    poverty, trained in adversity, and has grown to a promising
+    childhood, under the Divine guardianship, in spite of numberless
+    detriments. The bold predictions of many who despised its puny
+    infancy have proved false. The fears of timid and compassionate
+    friends that it would certainly fail have been put to rest. Even
+    the repeated desertion of professed friends, disheartened by
+    its imperfections, or alienated by too heavy trials of their
+    patience, has scarcely retarded its progress. God willed
+    otherwise. It has still many defects to outgrow, much impurity
+    to put away, and a great deal of improvement to make--moral,
+    intellectual and physical. But it will prevail and triumph. The
+    Most High will be glorified in making it the parent of a
+    numerous progeny of practical Christian Communities. Write,
+    saith the Spirit, and let this prediction be registered against
+    the time to come, for it shall be fulfilled."
+
+In the large work subsequently published, Mr. Ballou goes over the
+whole ground of Socialism in a systematic and masterly manner. If the
+people of this country were not so bewitched with importations from
+England and France, that they can not look at home productions in this
+line, his scheme would command as much attention as Fourier's, and a
+great deal more than Owen's. The fact of practical failure is nothing
+against him in the comparison, as it is common to all of them.
+
+For a specimen, take the following: Mr. Ballou finds all man's wants,
+rights and duties in seven spheres, viz.: 1, Individuality; 2,
+Connubiality; 3, Consanguinity; 4, Congeniality; 5, Federality; 6,
+Humanity; 7, Universality. These correspond very nearly to the series
+of spheres tabulated by Comtists. On the basis of this philosophy of
+human nature, Mr. Ballou proposes, not a mere monotony of Phalanxes or
+Communities, all alike, but an ascending series of four distinct kinds
+of Communities, viz.: 1, The Parochial Community, which is nearly the
+same as a common parish church; 2, The Rural Community, which is a
+social body occupying a distinct territorial domain, but not
+otherwise consolidated; 3, The Joint-stock Community, consolidating
+capital and labor, and paying dividends and wages; of which Hopedale
+itself was a specimen; and 4, The Common-stock Community, holding
+property in common and paying no dividends or wages; which is
+Communism proper. Mr. Ballou provides elaborate Constitutional forms
+for all of these social states, and shows their harmonious relation to
+each other. Then he builds them up into larger combinations, viz.: 1,
+Communal Municipalities, consisting of two or more Communities, making
+a town or city; 2, Communal States; 3, Communal Nations; and lastly,
+"the grand Fraternity of Nations, represented by Senators in the
+Supreme Unitary Council." Moreover he embroiders on all this an
+ascending series of categories for individual character. Citizens of
+the great Republic are expected to arrange themselves in seven
+Circles, viz.: 1, The Adoptive Circle, consisting of members whose
+connections with the world preclude their joining any integral
+Community; 2, The Unitive Circle, consisting of those who join in
+building up Rural and Joint-stock Communities; 3, The Preceptive
+Circle, consisting of persons devoted to teaching in any of its
+branches; 4, The Communistic Circle, consisting of members of common
+stock Communities; 5, The Expansive Circle, consisting of persons
+devoted to extending the Republic, by founding new Communities; 6, The
+Charitive Circle, consisting of working philanthropists; and 7, The
+Parentive Circle, consisting of the most worthy and reliable
+counselors--the fathers and mothers in Israel.
+
+This is only a skeleton. In the book all is worked into harmonious
+beauty. All is founded on religion; all is deduced from the Bible. We
+confess that if it were our doom to attempt Community-building by
+paper programme, we should choose Adin Ballou's scheme in preference
+to any thing we have ever been able to find in the lucubrations of
+Fourier or Owen.
+
+To give an idea of the high religious tone of Mr. Ballou and his
+Community, we quote the following passage from his preface:
+
+    "Let each class of dissenting socialists stand aloof from our
+    Republic and experiment to their heart's content on their own
+    wiser systems. It is their right to do so uninjured, at their
+    own cost. It is desirable that they should do so, in order that
+    it may be demonstrated as soon as possible which the true social
+    system is. When the radically defective have failed, there will
+    be a harmonious concentration of all the true and good around
+    the Practical Christian Standard. Meantime the author confides
+    this Cause calmly to the guidance, guardianship and benediction
+    of God, even that Heavenly Father who once manifested his divine
+    excellency in Jesus Christ, and who ever manifests himself
+    through the Christ-Spirit to all upright souls. He sincerely
+    believes the movement to have been originated and thus far
+    supervised by that Holy Spirit. He is confident that
+    well-appointed ministering angels have watched over it, and will
+    never cease to do so. This strong confidence has sustained him
+    from the beginning, under all temporary discouragements, and now
+    animates him with unwavering hopes for the future. The Hopedale
+    Community, the first constituent body of the new social order,
+    commenced the settlement of its Domain in the spring of 1842,
+    very small in numbers and pecuniary resources. Its disadvantages
+    were so multiform and obvious, that most Associationists of that
+    period regarded it as little better than a desperate
+    undertaking, alike contracted in its social platform, its funds,
+    and other fundamental requisites of success. Yet it has lived
+    and flourished, while its supposed superiors have nearly all
+    perished. Such was the will of God; such his promise to its
+    founders; such their trust in him; such the realization of their
+    hopes; and such the recompense of their persevering toils. And
+    such is the benignant Providence which will bear the Practical
+    Christian Republic onward through all its struggles to the
+    actualization of its sublime destiny. Its citizens 'seek first
+    the kingdom of God and his righteousness.' Therefore will all
+    things needful be added unto them. Let the future demonstrate
+    whether such a faith and such expectations are the dreams of a
+    shallow visionary, or the divinely inspired, well-grounded
+    assurances of a rightly balanced religious mind."
+
+Let it not be thought that Ballou was a mere theorizer. Unlike Owen
+and Fourier, he worked as well as wrote. Originally a clergyman and a
+gentleman, he gave up his salary, and served in the ranks as a common
+laborer for his cause. In conversation with one who reported to us, he
+said, that often-times in the early days of Hopedale he would be so
+tired at his work in the ditch or on the mill-dam, that he would go to
+a neighboring haystack, and lie down on the sunny side of it, wishing
+that he might go to sleep and never wake again! Then he would
+recuperate and go back to his work. Nearly all the recreation he had
+in those days, was to go out occasionally into the neighborhood and
+preach a funeral sermon!
+
+And this, by the way, is a fit occasion to say that in our opinion
+there ought to be a prohibitory duty on the importation of socialistic
+theories, that have not been worked out, as well as written out, by
+the inventors themselves. It is certainly cruel to set vast numbers of
+simple people agog with Utopian projects that will cost them their
+all, while the inventors and promulgators do nothing but write and
+talk. What kind of a theory of chemistry can a man write without a
+laboratory? What if Napoleon had written out a programme for the
+battle of Austerlitz, and then left one of his aids-de-camp to
+superintend the actual fighting?
+
+It will be noticed that Mr. Ballou, in his expositions, carries his
+assurance that his system is all right, and his confidence of success,
+to the verge of presumption. In this he appears to have partaken of a
+spirit that is common to all the socialist inventors. Fourier, without
+a laboratory or an experiment, was as dogmatic and infallible as
+though he were an oracle of God; and Owen, after a hundred defeats,
+never doubted the perfection of his scheme, and never fairly confessed
+a failure. But in the end Ballou rises above these theorizers, even in
+this matter. Our informant says he manfully owns that Hopedale was a
+_total_ failure.
+
+As to the causes of the catastrophe, his account is the old story of
+general depravity. The timber he got together was not suitable for
+building a Community. The men and women that joined him were very
+enthusiastic, and commenced with great zeal; their devotion to the
+cause seemed to be sincere; but they did not know themselves.
+
+The following details, given by Mr. Ballou, of the actual proceedings
+which brought Hopedale to its end, are very instructive in regard to
+the operation of the joint-stock principle.
+
+Mr. Ballou was the first President of the Community; but was
+ultimately superseded by E.D. Draper. This gentleman came to Hopedale
+with great enthusiasm for the cause. He was not wealthy, but was a
+sharp, enterprising business man; and very soon became the managing
+spirit of the whole concern. He had a brother associated with him in
+business, who had no sympathy with the Community enterprise. With this
+brother Mr. Draper became deeply engaged in outside operations, which
+were very lucrative. They gained in wealth by these operations, while
+the inside interests were gradually falling into neglect and bad
+management. The result was that the Community sunk capital from year
+to year. Meanwhile Draper bought up three-fourths of the joint-stock,
+and so had the legal control in his own hands. At length he became
+dissatisfied with the way matters were tending, and went to Mr. Ballou
+and told him that "this thing must not go any further." Mr. Ballou
+asked him if that meant that the Community must come to an end. He
+replied, "Yes." "There was no other way," said Mr. Ballou, "but to
+submit to it." He then said to Mr. Draper that he had one condition to
+put to him; that was, that he should assume the responsibility of
+paying the debts. Mr. Draper consented; the debts were paid; and thus
+terminated the Hopedale experiment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES.
+
+
+We have said that Brook Farm came very near being a religious
+Community; and that Hopedale came still nearer. In this respect these
+two stand alone among the experiments of the Fourier epoch. Here
+therefore is the place to bring to view in some brief way for purposes
+of comparison, the series of strictly religious Communities that we
+have referred to heretofore as colonies of foreigners. The following
+account of them first published in the _Social Record_, has the
+authority and freshness of testimony by an eye-witness. Of course it
+must not be taken as a view of the exotic Communities at the present
+time, but only at its date.
+
+
+    JACOBI'S SYNOPSIS.
+
+    "During the last eight years I have visited all the Communities
+    in this country, except the Icarian and Oneida societies,
+    staying at each from six months to two years, to get thoroughly
+    acquainted with their practical workings. I will mention each
+    society according to its age:
+
+    "1. Conrad Beizel, a German, founded the colony of Ephrata,
+    eight miles from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1713. There were at
+    times some thousands of members. The Bible was their guide;
+    they had all things in common; lived strictly a life of
+    celibacy; increased in numbers, and became very rich. Conrad was
+    at the head of the whole; he was the sun from which all others
+    received the rays of life and animation. He lived to a very old
+    age, but it was with him as with all other men; his sun was not
+    standing in the zenith all the time, but went down in the
+    afternoon. His rays had not power enough to warm up thousands of
+    members, as in younger days: he as the head became old and
+    lifeless, and the members began to leave. He appointed a very
+    amiable man as his successor, but he could not stop the
+    emigration. The property is now in the hands of trustees who
+    belong to the world, and gives an income of about $1200 a year.
+    Perhaps there are now twelve or fifteen members. Some of the
+    grand old buildings are yet standing. This was the first
+    Community in America.
+
+    "2. Ann Lee, an English woman, came to this country in 1774, and
+    founded the Shaker societies. I have visited four, and lived in
+    two. In point of order, neatness, regularity and economy, they
+    are far in advance of all the other societies. They are from
+    nearly all the civilized nations of the globe, and this is one
+    reason for their great temporal success. Other Communities do
+    not prosper as well, because they are composed too much of one
+    nation. In Ann Lee's time, and even some time after her
+    departure, they had many spiritual gifts, as never a body of
+    people after Christ's time has had; and they were of such a
+    nature as Christ said should be among his true followers; but
+    they have now lost them, so far as they are essential and
+    beneficial. The ministry is the head. Too much attention is
+    given to outward rules, that set up the ministers and elders as
+    patterns, and keep all minds on the same plane. While limited by
+    these rules there will be no progress, and their noble
+    institutions will become dead letters.
+
+    "3. George Rapp, a German, founded a society in the first
+    quarter of this century. After several removals they settled at
+    Economy, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, eighteen miles from
+    Pittsburg. They are all Germans; live strictly a life of
+    celibacy; take the Bible as their guide, as Rapp understood it.
+    They numbered about eighteen hundred in their best times, but
+    are now reduced to about three hundred, and most of them are far
+    advanced in years. They are very rich and industrious. Rapp was
+    their leader and head, and kept the society in prosperous motion
+    so long as he was able to exercise his influence; but as he
+    advanced in years and his mental strength and activity
+    diminished, the members fell off. He is dead; and his successor,
+    Mr. Baker, is advanced in years. They are next to the Shakers in
+    point of neatness and temporal prosperity; but unlike them in
+    being strict Bible-believers, and otherwise differing in their
+    religious views.
+
+    "4. Joseph Bimeler, a German, in 1816 founded the colony of
+    Zoar, in Tuscorora County, Ohio, twelve miles from New
+    Philadelphia, with about eight hundred of his German friends.
+    They are Bible believers in somewhat liberal style. Bimeler was
+    the main engine; he had to do all the thinking, preaching and
+    pulling the rest along. While he had strength all went on
+    seemingly very well; but as his strength began to fail the whole
+    concern went on slowly. I arrived the week after his death. The
+    members looked like a flock of sheep who had lost their
+    shepherd. Bimeler appointed a well-meaning man for his
+    successor, but as he was not Bimeler, he could not put his
+    engine before the train. Every member pushed forward or pulled
+    back just as he thought proper; and their thinking was a poor
+    affair, as they were not used to it. They live married or not,
+    just as they choose; are well off, a good moral people, and
+    number about five hundred.
+
+    "5. Samuel Snowberger, an American, founded a society in 1820 at
+    Snowhill, Pennsylvania, twenty miles from Harrisburg. He took
+    Ephrata as his pattern in every respect. The Snowbergers believe
+    in the Bible as explained in Beizel's writings. They are well
+    off, and number about thirty. [This society should be considered
+    an offshoot of No. 1.]
+
+    "6. Christian Metz, a German, with his followers, founded a
+    society eight miles from Buffalo, New York, in 1846. They called
+    themselves the inspired people, and their colony Ebenezer. They
+    believe in the Bible, as it is explained through their mediums.
+    Metz and one of the sisters have been mediums more than thirty
+    years, through whom one spirit speaks and writes. This spirit
+    guides the society in spiritual and temporal matters, and they
+    have never been disappointed in his counsels for their welfare.
+    They have been led by this spirit for more than a century in
+    Germany. They permit marriage, when, after application has been
+    made, the spirit consents to it; but the parties have to go
+    through some public mortification. In 1851 they had some
+    thousands of members. They have now removed to Iowa, where they
+    have 30,000 acres of land. This is the largest and richest
+    Community in the United States. One member brought in $100,000,
+    others $60,000, $40,000, $20,000, etc. They are an intelligent
+    and very kind people, and live in little comfortable cottages,
+    not having unitary houses as the other societies. They are not
+    anxious to get members, and none are received except by the
+    consent of the controlling spirit. They have a printing-press
+    for their own use, but do not publish any books.
+
+    "7. Erick Janson, a Swede, and his friends started a colony at
+    Bishop Hill, Illinois, in 1846, and now number about eight
+    hundred. They are Bible-believers according to their
+    explanations. They believe that a life of celibacy is more
+    adapted to develop the inner man, but marriage is not forbidden.
+    Their minds are not closed against liberal progress, when they
+    are convinced of the truth and usefulness of it. They began in
+    very poor circumstances, but are now well off, and not anxious
+    to get members; do not publish any books about their colony.
+    Janson died eight years ago. They have no head; but the people
+    select their preachers and trustees, who superintend the
+    different branches of business. They are kept in office as long
+    as the majority think proper. I am living there now.
+
+    "_August 26 1858._                                A. JACOBI."
+
+The connection between religion of some kind and success in these
+Communities, has come to be generally recognized, even among the old
+friends of non-religious Association. Thus Horace Greeley, in his
+"Recollections of a Busy Life," says:
+
+"That there have been--nay, are--decided successes in practical
+Socialism, is undeniable; but they all have that Communistic basis
+which seems to me irrational and calculated to prove fatal.***
+
+"I can easily account for the failure of Communism at New Harmony, and
+in several other experiments; I can not so easily account for its
+successes. Yet the fact stares us in the face that, while hundreds of
+banks and factories, and thousands of mercantile concerns, managed by
+shrewd, strong men, have gone into bankruptcy and perished, Shaker
+Communities, established more than sixty years ago, upon a basis of
+little property and less worldly wisdom, are living and prosperous
+to-day. And their experience has been imitated by the German
+Communities at Economy, Zoar, the Society of Ebenezer, &c., &c.
+Theory, however plausible, must respect the facts.***
+
+"Religion often makes practicable that which were else impossible, and
+divine love triumphs where human science is baffled. Thus I interpret
+the past successes and failures of Socialism.
+
+"With a firm and deep religious basis, any Socialistic scheme may
+succeed, though vicious in organization and at war with human nature,
+as I deem Shaker Communism and the antagonist or 'Free Love' Community
+of Perfectionists at Oneida. Without a basis of religious sympathy and
+religious aspiration, it will always be difficult, though I judge not
+impossible."
+
+Also Charles A. Dana, in old times a Fourierist and withal a Brook
+Farmer, now chief of _The New York Sun_, says in an editorial on the
+Brocton Association (May 1 1869):
+
+"Communities based upon peculiar religious views, have generally
+succeeded. The Shakers and the Oneida Community are conspicuous
+illustrations of this fact; while the failure of the various attempts
+made by the disciples of Fourier, Owen, and others, who have not had
+the support of religious fanaticism, proves that without this great
+force the most brilliant social theories are of little avail."
+
+It used to be said in the days of Slavery, that religious negroes were
+worth more in the market than the non-religious. Thus religion,
+considered as a working force in human nature, has long had a
+recognized commercial value. The logic of events seems now to be
+giving it a definite socialistic value. American experience certainly
+tends to the conclusion that religious men can hold together longer
+and accomplish more in close Association, than men without religion.
+
+But with this theory how shall we account for the failure of Brook
+Farm and Hopedale? They certainly had, as we have seen, much of the
+"fanaticism" of the Shakers and other successful Communities--at least
+in their expressed ideals. Evidently some peculiar species of
+religion, or some other condition than religion, is necessary to
+insure success. To discover the truth in this matter, let us take the
+best example of success we can find, and see what other principle
+besides religion is most prominent in it.
+
+The Shakers evidently stand highest on the list of successful
+Communities. Religion is their first principle; what is their second?
+Clearly the exclusion of marriage, or in other words, the subjection
+of the sexual relation to the Communistic principle. Here we have our
+clue; let us follow it. Can any example of success be found where this
+second condition is not present? We need not look for precisely the
+Shaker treatment of the sexual relation in other examples. Our
+question is simply this: Has any attempt at close Association ever
+succeeded, which took marriage into it substantially as it exists in
+ordinary society? Reviewing Jacobi's list, which includes all the
+Communities commonly reported to be successful, we find the following
+facts:
+
+1. The Communists of Ephrata live strictly a life of celibacy.
+
+2. The Rappites live strictly a life of celibacy; though Williams says
+they did not adopt this principle till 1807, which was four years
+after their settlement in Pennsylvania.
+
+3. The Zoarites marry or not as they choose, according to Jacobi; but
+Macdonald, who also visited them, says: "At their first organization
+marriage was strictly forbidden, not from any religious scruples as to
+its propriety, but as an indispensable matter of economy. They were
+too poor to rear children, and for years their little town presented
+the anomaly of a village without a single child to be seen or heard
+within its limits. Though this regulation has been for years removed,
+as no longer necessary, their settlement still retains much of its old
+character in this respect."
+
+4. The Snowbergers, taking Ephrata as their pattern, adhere strictly
+to celibacy.
+
+5. The Ebenezers, according to Jacobi, permit marriage, when their
+guiding spirit consents to it; but the parties have to go through some
+public mortification. Another account of the Ebenezers says: "They
+marry and are given in marriage; but what will be regarded as most
+extraordinary, they are practically Malthusians when the economy of
+their organization demands it. We have been told that when they
+contemplated emigration to this country, in view of their then
+condition and what they must encounter in fixing a new home, they
+concluded there should be no increase of their population by births
+for a given number of years; and the regulation was strictly adhered
+to."
+
+6. The Jansonists believe that a life of celibacy is more adapted to
+develop the life of the inner man; but marriage is not forbidden.
+
+Thus in all these Societies Communism evidently is stronger than
+marriage familism. The control over the sexual relation varies in
+stringency. The Shakers and perhaps the Ephratists exclude familism
+with religious horror; the Rappites give it no place, but their
+repugnance is less conspicuous; the Zoarites have no conscience
+against it, but exclude it from motives of economy; the Ebenezers
+excluded it only in the early stages of their growth, but long enough
+to show that they held it in subjection to Communism. The Jansonists
+favor celibacy; but do not prohibit marriage. The decreasing ratio of
+control corresponds very nearly to the series of dates at which these
+Communities commenced. The Ephratists settled in this country in 1713;
+the Shakers in 1774; the Rappites in 1804; the Zoarites in 1816; the
+Ebenezers in 1846; and the Jansonists in 1846. Thus there seems to be
+a tendency to departure from the stringent anti-familism of the
+Shakers, as one type of Communism after another is sent here from the
+Old World. Whether there is a complete correspondence of the fortunes
+of these several Communities to the strength of their anti-familism,
+is an interesting question which we are not prepared to answer. Only
+it is manifest that the Shakers, who discard the radix of old society
+with the greatest vehemence, and are most jealous for Communism as the
+prime unit of organization, have prospered most, and are making the
+longest and strongest mark on the history of Socialism. And in
+general it seems probable from the fact of success attending these
+forms of Communism to the exclusion of all others, that there is some
+rational connection between their control of the sexual relation and
+their prosperity.
+
+The only case that we have heard of as bearing against the hypothesis
+of such a connection, is that of the French colony of Icarians. We
+have seen their example appealed to as proof that Communism may exist
+without religion, and _with_ marriage. Our accounts, however, of this
+Society in its present state are very meager. The original Icarian
+Community, founded by Cabet at Nauvoo, not only tolerated but required
+marriage; and as it soon came to an end, its fate helps the
+anti-marriage theory. The present Society of Icarians is only a
+fragment of that Community--about sixty persons out of three hundred
+and sixty-five. Whether it retained its original constitution after
+separating from its founder, and how far it can fairly claim to be a
+success, we know not. All our other facts would lead us to expect that
+it will either subordinate the sexual relation to the Communistic, or
+that it will not long keep its Communism.
+
+Of course we shall not be understood as propounding the theory that
+the negative or Shaker method of disposing of marriage and the sexual
+relation, is the only one that can subordinate familism to Communism.
+The Oneida Communists claim that their control over amativeness and
+philoprogenitiveness, the two elements of familism, is carried much
+farther than that of the Shakers; inasmuch as they make those passions
+serve Communism, instead of opposing it, as they do under suppression.
+They dissolve the old dual unit of society, but take the constituent
+elements of it all back into Communism. The only reason why we do not
+name the Oneida Community among the examples of the connection between
+anti-marriage and success, is that we do not consider it old enough to
+be pronounced successful.
+
+Let us now go back to Brook Farm and Hopedale, and see how they stood
+in relation to marriage.
+
+We find nothing that indicates any attempt on the part of Brook Farm
+to meddle with the marriage relation. In the days of its original
+simplicity, it seems not to have thought of such a thing. It finally
+became a Fourier Phalanx, and of course came into more or less
+sympathy with the _expectations_ of radical social changes which
+Fourier encouraged. But it was always the policy of the _Harbinger_,
+the _Tribune_, and all the organs of Fourierism, to indignantly
+protest their innocence of any _present_ disloyalty to marriage. And
+yet we find in the _Dial_ (January 1844), an article about Brook Farm
+by Charles Lane, which shows in the following significant passage,
+that there was serious thinking among the Transcendentalists, as to
+the possibility of a clash between old familism and the larger style
+of life in the Phalanx:
+
+"The great problem of socialism now is, whether the existence of the
+marital family is compatible with that of the universal family, which
+the term 'Community' signifies. The maternal instinct, as hitherto
+educated, has declared itself so strongly in favor of the separate
+fireside, that Association, which appears so beautiful to the young
+and unattached soul, has yet accomplished little progress in the
+affections of that important section of the human race--the mothers.
+With fathers, the feeling in favor of the separate family is
+certainly less strong; but there is an undefinable tie, a sort of
+magnetic rapport, an invisible, inseverable, umbilical cord between
+the mother and child, which in most cases circumscribes her desires
+and ambition to her own immediate family. All the accepted adages and
+wise saws of society, all the precepts of morality, all the sanctions
+of theology, have for ages been employed to confirm this feeling. This
+is the chief corner-stone of present society; and to this maternal
+instinct have, till very lately, our most heartfelt appeals been made
+for the progress of the human race, by means of a deeper and more
+vital education. Pestalozzi and his most enlightened disciples are
+distinguished by this sentiment. And are we all at once to abandon, to
+deny, to destroy this supposed stronghold of virtue? Is it questioned
+whether the family arrangement of mankind is to be preserved? Is it
+discovered that the sanctuary, till now deemed the holiest on earth,
+is to be invaded by intermeddling skepticism, and its altars
+sacrilegiously destroyed by the rude hand of innovating progress? Here
+'social science' must be brought to issue. The question of Association
+and of marriage are one. If, as we have been popularly led to believe,
+the individual or separate family is in the true order of Providence,
+then the associative life is a false effort. If the associative life
+is true, then is the separate family a false arrangement. By the
+maternal feeling it appears to be decided, that the co-existence of
+both is incompatible, is impossible. So also say some religious sects.
+Social science ventures to assert their harmony. This is the grand
+problem now remaining to be solved, for at least the enlightening, if
+not for the vital elevation of humanity. That the affections can be
+divided, or bent with equal ardor on two objects, so opposed as
+universal and individual love, may at least be rationally doubted.
+History has not yet exhibited such phenomena in an associate body, and
+scarcely perhaps in any individual. The monasteries and convents,
+which have existed in all ages, have been maintained solely by the
+annihilation of that peculiar affection on which the separate family
+is based. The Shaker families, in which the two sexes are not entirely
+dissociated, can yet only maintain their union by forbidding and
+preventing the growth of personal affection other than that of a
+spiritual character. And this in fact is not personal in the sense of
+individual, but ever a manifestation of universal affection. Spite of
+the speculations of hopeful bachelors and aesthetic spinsters, there is
+somewhat in the marriage bond which is found to counteract the
+universal nature of the affections, to a degree tending at least to
+make the considerate pause, before they assert that, by any social
+arrangements whatever, the two can be blended into one harmony. The
+general condition of married persons at this time is some evidence of
+the existence of such a doubt in their minds. Were they as convinced
+as the unmarried of the beauty and truth of associate life, the
+demonstration would be now presented. But might it not be enforced
+that the two family ideas really neutralize each other? Is it not
+quite certain that the human heart can not be set in two places? that
+man can not worship at two altars? It is only the determination to do
+what parents consider the best for themselves and their families,
+which renders the o'er populous world such a wilderness of self-hood
+as it is. Destroy this feeling, they say, and you prohibit every
+motive to exertion. Much truth is there in this affirmation. For to
+them, no other motive remains, nor indeed to any one else, save that
+of the universal good, which does not permit the building up of
+supposed self-good, and therefore forecloses all possibility of an
+individual family.
+
+"These observations, of course, equally apply to all the associative
+attempts, now attracting so much public attention; and perhaps most
+especially to such as have more of Fourier's designs than are
+observable at Brook Farm. The slight allusion in all the writers of
+the 'Phalansterian' class, to the subject of marriage, is rather
+remarkable. They are acute and eloquent in deploring Woman's oppressed
+and degraded position in past and present times, but are almost silent
+as to the future."
+
+So much for Brook Farm. Hopedale was thoroughly conservative in
+relation to marriage. The following is an extract from its
+Constitution:
+
+    "ARTICLE VIII. Sec. 1. Marriage, being one of the most important
+    and sacred of human relationships, ought to be guarded against
+    caprice and abuse by the highest wisdom which is available.
+    Therefore within the membership of this republic and the
+    dependencies thereof, marriage is specially commended to the
+    care of the Preceptive and Parentive circles. They are hereby
+    designated as the confidential counselors of all members and
+    dependents who may desire their mediation in cases of
+    matrimonial negotiation, contract or controversy; and shall be
+    held preeminently responsible for the prudent and faithful
+    discharge of their duties. But no person decidedly averse to
+    their interposition shall be considered under imperative
+    obligation to solicit or accept it. And it shall be considered
+    the perpetual duty of the Preceptive and Parentive Circles to
+    enlighten the public mind relative to the requisites of true
+    matrimony, and to elevate the marriage institution within this
+    Republic to the highest possible plane of purity and happiness.
+
+    "Sec. 2. Marriage shall always be solemnized in the presence of
+    two or more witnesses, by the distinct acknowledgment of the
+    parties before some member of the Preceptive, or of the
+    Parentive Circle, selected to preside on the occasion. And it
+    shall be the imperative duty of the member so presiding, to see
+    that every such marriage be recorded within ten days thereafter,
+    in the Registry of the Community to which one or both of them
+    shall at the time belong.
+
+    "Sec. 3. Divorce from the bonds of matrimony shall never be
+    allowable within the membership of this Republic, except for
+    adultery conclusively proved against the accused party. But
+    separations for other sufficient reasons may be sanctioned, with
+    the distinct understanding that neither party shall be at
+    liberty to marry again during the natural lifetime of the
+    other."
+
+On this text Mr. Ballou comments in his book to the extent of thirty
+pages, and occupies as many more with the severest criticisms of
+"Noyesism" and other forms of sexual innovation.
+
+The facts we have found stand thus: All the successful Communities,
+besides being religious, exercise control, more or less stringent,
+over the sexual relation; and this principle is most prominent in
+those that are most successful. But Brook Farm and Hopedale did not
+attempt any such control.
+
+We incline therefore to the conclusion that the Massachusetts
+Socialisms were weak, not altogether for want of religion, but because
+they were too conservative in regard to marriage, and thus could not
+digest and assimilate their material. Or in more general terms, the
+conclusion toward which our facts and reflections point is, first,
+that religion, not as a mere doctrine, but as an _afflatus_ having in
+itself a tendency to make many into one, is the first essential of
+successful Communism; and, secondly, that the _afflatus_ must be
+strong enough to decompose the old family unit and make Communism the
+home-center.
+
+We will conclude with some observations that seem necessary to
+complete our view of the religious Communities.
+
+When we speak of these societies as successful, this must not be
+understood in any absolute sense. Their success is evidently a thing
+of _degrees_. All of them appear to have been very successful at some
+period of their career in _making money_; which fact indicates plainly
+enough, that the theories of Owen and Fourier about "compound
+economies" and "combined industry," are not moonshine, but practical
+verities. We may consider it proved by abundant experiment, that it is
+easy for harmonious Associations to get a living, and to grow rich.
+But in other respects these religious Communities have had various
+fortunes. The oldest of them, Beizel's Colony of Ephrata, in its early
+days numbered its thousands; but in 1858 it had dwindled down to
+twelve or fifteen members. So the Rappites in their best time numbered
+from eight hundred to a thousand; but are now reduced to two or three
+hundred old people. This can hardly be called success, even if the
+money holds out. On the other hand, the Shakers appear to have kept
+their numbers good, as well as increased in wealth, for nearly a
+century; though Jacobi represents them as now at a stand-still. The
+rest of the Communities in his list, dating from 1816 to 1846, are
+perhaps not old enough to be pronounced permanently successful.
+Whether they are dwindling, like the Beizelites and Rappites, or at a
+stand-still, like the Shakers, or in a period of vigor and growth,
+Jacobi does not say; and we have no means of ascertaining. It is
+proper, however, to call them all successful in a relative sense; that
+is, as compared with the non-religious experiments. They have held
+together and made money for long periods; which is a success that the
+Owen and Fourier Communities have not attained.
+
+If required here to define absolute success, we should say that at the
+lowest it includes not merely self-support, but also self-perpetuation.
+And this attainment is nearly precluded by the ascetic method of
+treating the sexual relation. The adoption of foreign children can not
+be a reliable substitute for home-propagation. The highest ideal of a
+successful Community requires that it should be a complete nursery of
+human beings, doing for them all that the old family home has done, and
+a great deal more. Scientific propagation and universal culture should
+be its ends, and money-making only its means.
+
+The causes of the comparative success which the ascetic Communities
+have attained, we have found in their religious principles and their
+freedom from marriage. Jacobi seems disposed to give special
+prominence to _leadership_, as a cause of success. He evidently
+attributes the decline of the Beizelites, the Rappites and the
+Zoarites, to the old age and death of their founders. But something
+more than skillful leadership is necessary to account for the success
+of the Shakers. They had their greatest expansion after the death of
+Ann Lee. Jacobi recognizes, in his account of the Ebenezers, another
+centralizing and controlling influence, cooperating with leadership,
+which has probably had more to do with the success of all the
+religious Communities than leadership or anything else; viz.,
+_inspiration_. He says of the Ebenezers:
+
+"They call themselves the inspired people. They believe in the Bible,
+as it is explained through their mediums. Metz, the founder, and one
+of the sisters, have been mediums more than thirty years, through whom
+_one_ spirit speaks and writes. This spirit guides the society in
+spiritual and temporal matters, and they have never been disappointed
+in his counsels for their welfare. They have been led by this spirit
+for more than a century in Germany. No members are received except by
+the consent of this controlling spirit."
+
+Something like this must be true of all the Communities in Jacobi's
+list. This is what we mean by _afflatus_. Indeed, this is what we mean
+by _religion_, when we connect the success of Communities with their
+religion. Mere doctrines and forms without afflatus are not religion,
+and have no more power to organize successful Communities, than the
+theories of Owen and Fourier.
+
+Personal leadership has undoubtedly played a great part in connection
+with afflatus, in gathering and guiding the religious Communities.
+Afflatus requires personal mediums; and probably success depends on
+the due adjustment of the proportion between afflatus and medium. As
+afflatus is the permanent element, and personal leadership the
+transitory, it is likely that in the cases of the dwindling
+Communities, leadership has been too strong and afflatus too weak. A
+very great man, as medium of a feeble afflatus, may belittle a
+Community while he holds it together, and insure its dwindling away
+after his death. On the other hand, we see in the case of the Shakers,
+a strong afflatus, with an ordinary illiterate woman for its first
+medium; and the result is success continuing and increasing after her
+death.
+
+It is probably true, nevertheless, that an afflatus which is strong
+enough to make a strong man its medium _and keep him under_, will
+attain the greatest success; or in other words, that the greater the
+medium the better, other things being equal.
+
+In all cases of afflatus continuing after the death of the first
+medium, there seems to be an alternation of experience between
+afflatus and personal leadership, somewhat like that of the Primitive
+Christian Church. In that case, there was first an afflatus
+concentrated on a strong leader; then after the death of the leader, a
+distributed afflatus for a considerable period following the day of
+Pentecost; and finally another concentration of the afflatus on a
+strong leader in the person of Paul, who was the final organizer.
+
+Compare with this the experience of the Shakers. The afflatus (issuing
+from a combination of the Quaker principality with the "French
+Prophets") had Ann Lee for its first medium, and worked in the
+concentrated form during her life. After her death, there was a short
+interregnum of distributed inspiration. Finally the afflatus
+concentrated on another leader; and this time it was a man, Elder
+Meacham, who proved to be the final organizer. Each step of this
+progress is seen in the following brief history of Shakerism, from the
+American Cyclopaedia:
+
+"The idea of a community of property, and of Shaker families or
+unitary households, was first broached by Mother Ann, who formed her
+little family into a model after which the general organizations of
+the Shaker order, as they now exist, have been arranged. She died in
+1784. In 1787 Joseph Meacham, formerly a Baptist preacher, but who had
+been one of Mother Ann's first converts at Watervliet, collected her
+adherents in a settlement at New Lebanon, and introduced both
+principles, together probably with some others not to be found in the
+revelations of their foundress. Within five years, under the efficient
+administration of Meacham, eleven Shaker settlements were founded,
+viz.: at New Lebanon, New York, which has always been regarded as the
+parent Society; at Watervliet, New York; at Hancock, Tyringham,
+Harvard, and Shirley, Massachusetts; at Enfield, Connecticut
+(Meacham's native town); at Canterbury and Enfield, New Hampshire; and
+at Alfred and New Gloucester, Maine."
+
+Going beyond the Communities for examples (as the principles of growth
+are the same in all spiritual organizations), we may in like manner
+compare the development of Mormonism with that of Christianity. Joseph
+Smith was the first medium. After his death came a period of
+distributed inspiration. Finally the afflatus concentrated on Brigham
+Young as its second medium, and he has organized Mormonism.
+
+For a still greater example, look at the Bonaparte dynasty. It can not
+be doubted that there is a persistent afflatus connected with that
+power. It was concentrated on the first Napoleon. After his deposal
+and death there was a long interregnum; but the afflatus was only
+distributed, not extinguished. At length it concentrated again on the
+present Napoleon; and he proves to be great in diplomacy and
+organization, as the first Napoleon was in war.
+
+We have said that the general conclusion toward which our facts and
+reflections point, is, first, that religion, not as a mere doctrine,
+but as an afflatus, is the first essential to successful Communism;
+and secondly, that the afflatus must be strong enough to make
+Communism the home-center. We may now add (if the law we have just
+enunciated is reliable), that the afflatus must also be strong enough
+to prevail over personal leadership in its mediums, and be able, when
+one leader dies, to find and use another.
+
+We must note however that this law of apparent transfer does not
+necessarily imply real change of leadership. In the case of
+Christianity, its adherents assume that the first leader was not
+displaced, but only transferred from the visible to the invisible
+sphere, and thus continued to be the administrative medium of the
+original afflatus. And something like this, we understand, is claimed
+by the Shakers in regard to Ann Lee.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE NORTHAMPTON ASSOCIATION.
+
+
+This Community, though its site was in a region where Jonathan Edwards
+and Revivalism reigned a hundred years before, could hardly be called
+religious. It seems to have represented a class sometimes called
+"Nothingarians." But like Brook Farm and Hopedale, it was an
+independent Yankee attempt to regenerate society, and a forerunner of
+Fourierism.
+
+Massachusetts, the center of New England, the mother of school systems
+and factory systems, of Faneuil Hall revolutions and Anti-Slavery
+revolutions, of Liberalism, Literature, and Social Science, appears to
+have anticipated the advent of Fourierism, and to have prepared herself
+for or against the rush of French ideas, by throwing out three
+experiments of her own on her three avenues of approach:--Unitarianism,
+Universalism, and Nothingarianism.
+
+The following neat account of the Northampton Community, is copied
+from a feminine manuscript in Macdonald's collection, on which he
+wrote in pencil:
+
+"_By Mrs. Judson, for me, through G.W. Benson, Williamsburg, February
+14 1853._"
+
+MEMOIR.
+
+"The Northampton Association of Education and Industry had its origin
+in the aspiration of a few individuals for a better and purer state of
+society--for freedom from the trammels of sect and bigotry, and an
+opportunity of carrying out their principles, socially, religiously,
+and otherwise, without restraint from the prevailing practices of the
+world around.
+
+"The projectors of this enterprise were Messrs. David Mack, Samuel L.
+Hill, George W. Benson and William Adam. These, with several others
+who were induced to unite with them, in all ten persons, held their
+first meeting April 8 1842, organized the Association, and adopted a
+preamble, constitution and by-laws.
+
+"This little band formed the nucleus, around which a large number soon
+clustered, all thinking, intelligent persons; all, or nearly all,
+seeing and feeling the imperfections of existing society, and seeking
+a purer, more free and elevated position as regards religion,
+politics, business, &c. It would not be true to say that _all_ the
+members of the Community were imbued with the true spirit of reform;
+but the leading minds were sincere reformers, earnest, truthful souls,
+sincerely desiring to advance the cause of truth and liberty. Some
+were young persons, attracted thither by friends, or coming there to
+seek employment on the same terms as members, and afterwards applying
+for full membership.
+
+"The Association was located about two and a half miles from the
+village and center of business of Northampton. The estate consisted of
+five hundred acres of land, a good water-privilege, a silk factory
+four stories in height, six dwelling-houses, a saw-mill and other
+property, all valued at about $31,000. This estate was formerly owned
+by the Northampton Silk Company; afterwards by J. Conant & Co., who
+sold it to the persons who originated the Association. The amount of
+stock paid in was $20,000. This left a debt of $11,000 upon the
+Community, which, in the enthusiasm of the new enterprise, they
+expected soon to pay by additions to their capital stock, and by the
+profits of labor. But by the withdrawal of members holding stock, and
+also by some further purchases of property, this debt was afterwards
+increased to nearly four times its original amount, and no progress
+was made toward its liquidation during the continuance of the
+Association.
+
+"Labor was remunerated equally; both sexes and all occupations
+receiving the same compensation.
+
+"It could not be expected that so many persons, bound by no pledges or
+'Articles of Faith,' should agree in all things. They were never asked
+when applying for membership, 'Do you believe so and so?' On the
+contrary, a good life and worthy motives were the only tests by which
+they were judged. Of course it was necessary, before they could be
+admitted, to decide the question, 'Can they be useful to the
+Association?'
+
+"The accommodations for families were extremely limited, and many
+times serious inconvenience was experienced, in consequence of small
+and few apartments. For the most part it was cheerfully sustained; at
+least, so long as there was any hope of success--that is, of paying
+the debts, and obtaining a livelihood. Most of the members had been
+accustomed to good, spacious houses, and every facility for
+comfortable living.
+
+"To obviate the difficulty of procuring suitable tenements for
+separate families, a community family was instituted, occupying a part
+of the silk-factory. Two stories of this building were appropriated to
+the use of such as chose to live at a common table and participate in
+the labor of the family. This also formed the home of young persons
+who were unconnected with families.
+
+"There was always plenty of food, and no one suffered for the
+necessaries or comforts of life. All were satisfied with simplicity,
+both in diet and dress.
+
+"At the first annual meeting, held January 18 1843, some important
+changes were made in the management of the affairs of the Association,
+and a new 'Preamble and Articles of Association,' tending toward
+consolidation and communism, were adopted for the year. This step was
+the occasion of dissatisfaction to some of the stockholders--to one in
+particular, and probably led to his withdrawal, before the expiration
+of the year.
+
+"Previous to this time some of the early members had become
+dissatisfied with life in a Community, and had withdrawn from all
+connection with it. They were persons who had been pleased with the
+avowed objects and principles of the Association, and with the persons
+composing it, and also looked upon it as a profitable investment of
+money. Of course in this they were disappointed, and they had no
+principles which would induce them to make sacrifices for the cause.
+
+"A department of education was organized, in which it was designed to
+unite study with labor, on the ground that no education is complete
+which does not combine physical with mental development. Mr. Adam was
+the first director of that department, and was an able and efficient
+teacher. He was succeeded by Mr. Mack and his wife, who were persons
+of much experience in teaching, and of superior attainments. A
+boarding-school was opened under their auspices, and several pupils
+were received from abroad, who pursued the same course as those
+belonging to the Association.
+
+"In the course of the third year a subscription was opened, for the
+purpose of relieving the necessities of the Association; and people
+interested in the object of Social Reform were solicited to invest
+money in this enterprise, no subscription to be binding unless the sum
+of $25,000 was raised. This sum never was subscribed, and of course no
+assistance was obtained in that way.
+
+"Many troubles were constantly growing out of the pecuniary
+difficulties in which the Community was involved. Many sacrifices were
+demanded, and much hard labor was required, and those whose hearts
+were not in the work withdrew.
+
+"As might be inferred from what has been said, there was no religious
+creed, and no particular form of religious worship enjoined. A meeting
+was sustained on the first day of the week most of the time while the
+Association existed, in which various subjects were discussed, and all
+had the right and an opportunity of expressing their opinions or
+personal feelings. Of course a great variety of views and sentiments
+were introduced. As the religious sentiment is strong in most minds,
+this introduction of every phase of religious belief was very
+exciting, producing in some dissatisfaction; in others, the shaking of
+all their preconceived views; and probably resulting in greater
+liberality and more charitable feelings in all.
+
+"The carrying out of different religious views was, perhaps, the
+occasion of more disagreement than any other subject: the more liberal
+party advocating the propriety and utility of amusements, such as
+card-playing, dancing, and the like; while others, owing perhaps to
+early education, which had taught them to look upon such things as
+sinful, now thought them detrimental and wholly improper, especially
+in the impoverished state of the Community. This disagreement operated
+to general disadvantage; as in consequence of it several worthy people
+and valuable members withdrew.
+
+"There was also a difference of opinion many times with regard to the
+management of business, which was principally in the hands of the
+trustees, viz., the President, Secretary, and Treasurer, and it is
+believed was honestly conducted.
+
+"The whole number of persons ever resident there, as nearly as can be
+ascertained, was two hundred and twenty; while probably the number of
+actual members at any one time did not exceed one hundred and thirty.
+
+"With regard to the dissolution of this organization, which took place
+November 1 1846, I can only quote from the official records. 'There
+being no business before the meeting, there was a general conversation
+among the members about the business prospects of the Association, and
+many were of the opinion that it was best to dissolve; as we were
+deeply in debt, and there was no prospect of any more stock being
+taken up, which was the only thing that could relieve us, as our
+earnings were not large, and those members who had left us, whose
+stock was due, were calling for it. Some spoke of the want of that
+harmony and brotherly feeling which were indispensable to the success
+of such an enterprise. Others spoke of the unwillingness to make
+sacrifices on the part of some of the members; also, of the lack of
+industry and the right appropriation of time.' At a subsequent meeting
+the Executive Council stated that 'in view of all the circumstances of
+the Association, they had decided upon a dissolution of the several
+departments as at present organized, and should proceed to close the
+affairs of the Association as soon as practicable.' So the Association
+ceased to exist.
+
+"The spirit which prompted it can never die; and though, in the
+carrying out of the principles which led to its organization, a
+failure has been experienced, yet the spirit of good-will and
+benevolence, that all-embracing charity, which led them to receive
+among them some unworthy and unprofitable members, still lives and is
+developing itself in other situations and by other means.
+
+"It is impossible to give a complete history of this Community--its
+changes--its trials--its failure, and in some respects, perhaps, its
+success. Much happiness was experienced there--much of trial and
+discipline. No doubt it had its influence on the surrounding world,
+leading them to greater liberality and Christian forbearance. It was a
+great innovation on the established order of things in the whole
+region, and was at first looked upon with horror and distrust. These
+prejudices in a great measure subsided, and gave way to a feeling of
+comparative respect. With other similar undertakings that have been
+abandoned, it has done its work; and may it be found that its
+influence has been for good and not for evil."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE SKANEATELES COMMUNITY.
+
+
+A wonderful year was 1843. Father Miller's prophetic calculations had
+created a vast expectation that it would be the year of the final
+conflagration. His confident followers had their ascension-robes
+ready; and outside multitudes saw the approach of that year with an
+uneasy impression that the advent of Christ, or something equally
+awful, was about to make an end of the world.
+
+And indeed tremendous events did come in 1843. If Father Miller and
+his followers had been discerning and humble enough to have accepted a
+spiritual fulfillment of their prophecies, they might have escaped the
+mortification of a total mistake as to the time. The events that came
+were these:
+
+The Anti-slavery movement, which for twelve years had been gathering
+into itself all minor reforms and firing the northern heart for
+revolution, came to its climax in the summer of 1843, in a rush of one
+hundred National Conventions! At the same time Brisbane had every
+thing ready for his great socialistic movement, and in the autumn of
+1843 the flood of Fourierism broke upon the country. Anti-slavery was
+destructive; Fourierism professed to be constructive. Both were
+rampant against existing civilization. Perhaps it will be found that
+in the junction and triumphant sweep of these forces, the old world,
+in an important sense, did come to an end.
+
+In 1843 Massachusetts, the great mother of notions, threw out in the
+face of impending Fourierism her fourth and last socialistic
+experiment. There was a mania abroad, that made common Yankees as
+confident of their ability to achieve new social machinery and save
+the world, as though they were Owens or Fouriers. The Unitarians at
+Brook Farm, the Universalists at Hopedale, and the Nothingarians at
+Northampton, had tried their hands at Community-building in 1841--2,
+and were in the full glory of success. It was time for Anti-slavery,
+the last and most vigorous of Massachusetts nurslings, to enter the
+socialistic field. This time, as if to make sure of out-flanking the
+French invasion, the post for the experiment was taken at Skaneateles
+(a town forty miles west of the present site of the Oneida Community),
+thus extending the Massachusetts line from Boston to Central New York.
+
+John A. Collins, the founder of the Skaneateles Community, was a
+Boston man, and had been a working Abolitionist up to the summer of
+1843. He was in fact the General Agent of the Massachusetts
+Anti-slavery Society, and in that capacity had superintended the one
+hundred National Conventions ordered by the Society for that year.
+During the latter part of this service he had turned his own attention
+and that of the Conventions he managed, so much toward his private
+schemes of Association, that he had not the face to claim his salary
+as Anti-slavery agent. His way was to get up a rousing Anti-slavery
+Convention, and conclude it by calling a socialistic Convention, to
+be held on the spot immediately after it. At the close of the campaign
+he resigned, and the Anti-slavery Board gave him the following
+certificate of character:
+
+"Voted, That the Board, in accepting the resignation of John A.
+Collins, tender him their sincerest thanks, and take this occasion to
+bear the most cordial testimony to the zeal and disinterestedness with
+which, at a great crisis, he threw himself a willing offering on the
+altar of the Anti-slavery cause, as well as to the energy and rare
+ability with which for four years he has discharged the duties of
+their General Agent; and in parting, offer him their best wishes for
+his future happiness and success."
+
+In October Mr. Collins bought at Skaneateles a farm of three hundred
+and fifty acres for $15,000, paying $5,000 down, and giving back a
+mortgage for the remainder. There was a good stone farm-house with
+barns and other buildings on the place. Mr. Collins gave a general
+invitation to join. One hundred and fifty responded to the call, and
+on the first of January 1844 the Community was under way, and the
+first number of its organ, _The Communitist_, was given to the world.
+
+The only document we find disclosing the fundamental principles of
+this Community is the following--which however was not ventilated in
+the _Communitist_, but found its way to the public through the
+_Skaneateles Columbian_, a neighboring paper. We copy _verbatim_:
+
+    _Articles of Belief and Disbelief, and Creed prepared and read
+    by John A. Collins, November 19, 1843._
+
+    "BELOVED FRIENDS: By your consent and advice, I am called upon
+    to make choice of those among you to aid me in establishing in
+    this place, a Community of property and interest, by which we
+    may be brought into love relations, through which, plenty and
+    intelligence may be ultimately secured to all the inhabitants of
+    this globe. To accomplish this great work there are but very
+    few, in consequence of their original organization, structure of
+    mind, education, habits and preconceived opinions, who are at
+    the present time adapted to work out this great problem of human
+    redemption. All who come together for this purpose, should be
+    united in thought and feeling on certain fundamental principles;
+    for without this, a Community of property would be but a farce.
+    Therefore it may be said with great propriety that the success
+    of the experiment will depend upon the wisdom exhibited in the
+    choice of the materials as agents for its accomplishment.
+
+    "Without going into the detail of the principles upon which this
+    Community is to be established, I will state briefly a few of
+    the fundamental principles which I regard as essential to be
+    assented to by every applicant for admission:
+
+    "1. RELIGION.--A disbelief in any special revelation of God to
+    man, touching his will, and thereby binding upon man as
+    authority in any arbitrary sense; that all forms of worship
+    should cease; that all religions of every age and nation, have
+    their origin in the same great falsehood, viz., God's special
+    Providences; that while we admire the precepts attributed to
+    Jesus of Nazareth, we do not regard them as binding because
+    uttered by him, but because they are true in themselves, and
+    best adapted to promote the happiness of the race: therefore we
+    regard the Sabbath as other days; the organized church as
+    adapted to produce strife and contention rather than love and
+    peace; the clergy as an imposition; the bible as no authority;
+    miracles as unphilosphical; and salvation from sin, or from
+    punishment in a future world, through a crucified God, as a
+    remnant of heathenism.
+
+    "2. GOVERNMENTS.--A disbelief in the rightful existence of all
+    governments based upon physical force; that they are organized
+    bands of bandits, whose authority is to be disregarded:
+    therefore we will not vote under such governments, or petition
+    to them, but demand them to disband; do no military duty; pay no
+    personal or property taxes; sit upon no juries; and never appeal
+    to the law for a redress of grievances, but use all peaceful and
+    moral means to secure their complete destruction.
+
+    "3. That there is to be no individual property, but all goods
+    shall be held in common; that the idea of mine and thine, as
+    regards the earth and its products, as now understood in the
+    exclusive sense, is to be disregarded and set aside; therefore,
+    when we unite, we will throw into the common treasury all the
+    property which is regarded as belonging to us, and forever after
+    yield up our individual claim and ownership in it; that no
+    compensation shall be demanded for our labor, if we should ever
+    leave.
+
+    "4. MARRIAGE.--[Orthodox as usual on this head.] That we regard
+    marriage as a true relation, growing out of the nature of
+    things--repudiating licentiousness, concubinage, adultery,
+    bigamy and polygamy; that marriage is designed for the happiness
+    of the parties and to promote love and virtue; that when such
+    parties have outlived their affections and can not longer
+    contribute to each other's happiness, the sooner the separation
+    takes place the better; and such separation shall not be a
+    barrier to the parties in again uniting with any one, when they
+    shall consider their happiness can be promoted thereby; that
+    parents are in duty bound to educate their children in habits of
+    virtue and love and industry; and that they are bound to unite
+    with the Community.
+
+    "5. EDUCATION OF CHILDREN.--That the Community owes to the
+    children a duty to secure them a virtuous education, and watch
+    over them with parental care.
+
+    "6. DIETETICS.--That a vegetable and fruit diet is essential to
+    the health of the body, and purity of the mind, and the
+    happiness of society; therefore, the killing and eating of
+    animals is essentially wrong, and should be renounced as soon as
+    possible, together with the use of all narcotics and stimulants.
+
+    "7. That all applicants shall, at the discretion of the
+    Community, be put upon probation of three or six months.
+
+    "8. Any person who shall force himself or herself upon the
+    Community, who has received no invitation from the Community, or
+    who does not assent to the views above enumerated, shall not be
+    treated or considered as a member of the Community; no work
+    shall be assigned to him or her if solicited, while at the same
+    time, he or she shall be regarded with the same kindness as all
+    or any other strangers--shall be furnished with food and
+    clothing; that if at any time any one shall dissent from any or
+    all of the principles above, he ought at once, in justice to
+    himself, to the Community, and to the world, to leave the
+    Association. To these views we hereby affix our respective
+    signatures.
+
+    "Assented to by all, except Q.A. Johnson, of Syracuse; J.
+    Josephine Johnson, do.; William Kennedy, do.; Solomon Johnson,
+    of Martinsburgh; and William C. Besson, of Lynn, Massachusetts."
+
+This was too strong, and had to be repudiated the next spring by the
+following editorial in the _Communitist_:
+
+    "CREEDS.--Our friends abroad require us to say a few words under
+    this head.
+
+    "We repudiate all creeds, sects, and parties, in whatever shape
+    or form they may present themselves. Our principles are as broad
+    as the universe, and as liberal as the elements that surround
+    us. They forbid the adoption and maintenance of any creed,
+    constitution, rules of faith, declarations of belief and
+    disbelief, touching any or all subjects; leaving each individual
+    free to think, believe and disbelieve, as he or she may be moved
+    by knowledge, habit, or spontaneous impulses. Belief and
+    disbelief are founded upon some kind of evidence, which may be
+    satisfactory to the individual to-day, but which other or better
+    evidence may change to-morrow. We estimate the man by his acts
+    rather than by his peculiar belief. We say to all, Believe what
+    you may, but act as well as you can.
+
+    "These principles do not deny to any one the right to draw out
+    his peculiar views--his belief and disbelief--on paper, and
+    present them for the consideration and adoption of others. Nor
+    do we deny the fact that such a thing has been done even with
+    us. But we are happy to inform all our friends and the world at
+    large, that such a document was not fully assented to and was
+    never adopted by the Community; and that the authors were among
+    the first to discover the error and retrace the step. The
+    document, with all proceedings under it, or relating thereto,
+    has long since been abolished and repudiated by unanimous
+    consent; and we now feel ourselves to be much wiser and better
+    than when we commenced."
+
+It will be noticed that there was a party in the Community, headed by
+Q.A. Johnson, who saw the error of the creed before Collins did, and
+refused to sign it. This Johnson and his party made much trouble for
+Collins; and the whole plot of the Community-drama turns on the
+struggle between these two men, as the reader will see in the sequel.
+
+Macdonald says, "A calamitous error was made in the deeding of the
+property. It appears that Mr. Collins, who purchased the property, and
+whose experiment it really was, permitted the name of another man
+[Q.A.J.] to be inserted in the deed, as a trustee, in connection with
+his own. He did this to avoid even the suspicion of selfishness. But
+his confidence was misplaced; as the individual alluded to
+subsequently acted both selfishly and dishonestly. Mr. Collins and his
+friends had to contend with the opposition of this person and one or
+two others during a great portion of the time."
+
+Mr. Finch, an Owenite, writing to the _New Moral World_, August 16,
+1845, says:
+
+Mr. Collins held to no-government or non-resistance principles: and
+while he claimed for the Community the right to receive and reject
+members, he refused to appeal to the government to aid him in
+expelling imposters, intruders and unruly members; which virtually
+amounted to throwing the doors wide open for the reception of all
+kinds of worthless characters. In consequence of his efforts to
+reduce that principle to practice, the Community soon swarmed with an
+indolent, unprincipled and selfish class of 'reformers,' as they
+termed themselves; one of whom, a lawyer [Q.A.J.], got half the estate
+into his own hands, and well-nigh ruined the concern. Mr. Collins,
+from his experience, at length became convinced of his errors as to
+these new-fangled Yankee notions, and has now abandoned them,
+recovered the property, got rid of the worthless and dissatisfied
+members, restored the society to peace and harmony, and they are now
+employed in forming a new Constitution for the society, in agreement
+with the knowledge they have all gained by the last two years'
+experience.
+
+    "Owing to the dissensions that arose from their defective
+    organization at the first, a considerable number of the
+    residents have either been dismissed, or have withdrawn from the
+    place. The population, therefore, at present numbers only eleven
+    adult male members, eight female, and seven children. The whole
+    number of members, male and female, labor most industriously
+    from six till six; and having large orders for their saw-mill
+    and turning shop, they work them night and day, with two sets of
+    men, working each twelve hours--the saw-mill and turning shop
+    being their principal sources of revenue."
+
+_The Communitist_, September 18, 1845, about two years after the
+commencement of the Community, and eight months before its end, gives
+the following picture of its experiences and prospects, from the
+lively pen of Mr. Collins:
+
+"Most happy are we to inform our readers and the friends of Community in
+general, that our prospects of success are now cheering. The dark
+clouds which so long hung over our movement, and at times threatened not
+only to destroy its peace, but its existence, have at last disappeared.
+We now have a clear sky, and the genial rays of a brilliant sun once
+more are radiating upon us. Our past experience, though grievous, will
+be of great service to us in our future progress, and will no doubt
+ultimately work out the fruits of unity, industry, abundance,
+intelligence and progress. It has taught us how far we may, in safety to
+our enterprise, advance; that some important steps may be taken, of the
+practicability of which we had doubts; and others, in the success of
+which we had but little faith, have proved both safe and expedient. Our
+previous convictions have been confirmed, that all is not gold that
+glitters; that not all who are most clamorous for reform are competent
+to become successful agents for its accomplishment; that there is
+floating upon the surface of society, a body of restless, disappointed,
+jealous, indolent spirits, disgusted with our present social system, not
+because it enchains the masses to poverty, ignorance, vice and endless
+servitude; but because they could not render it subservient to their
+private ends. Experience has convinced us that this class stands ready
+to mount every new movement that promises ease, abundance, and
+individual freedom; and that when such an enterprise refuses to
+interpret license for freedom, and insists that members shall make their
+strength, skill and talent subservient to the movement, then the cry of
+tyranny and oppression is raised against those who advocate such
+industry and self-denial; then the enterprise must become a scape-goat,
+to bear the fickleness, indolence, selfishness and envy of this class.
+But the above is not the only class of minds that our cause convened.
+From the great, noble, and disinterested principles which it embraces,
+from the high hopes which it inspires for progress, reform and, in a
+word, for human redemption, it has called many true reformers, genuine
+philanthropists, men and women of strong hands, brave hearts and
+vigorous minds.
+
+"Our enterprise, the most radical and reformatory in its profession,
+gathers these two extremes of character, from motives diametrically
+opposite. When these are brought together, it is reasonable to expect
+that, like an acid and alkali, they will effervesce, or, like the two
+opposite poles of a battery, will repel each other. For the last year
+it has been the principal object of the Community to rid itself of its
+cumbersome material, knowing that its very existence hinged upon this
+point. In this it has been successful. Much of this material was hired
+to go at an expense little if any short of three thousand dollars.
+People will marvel at this. But the Community, in its world-wide
+philanthropy, cast to the winds its power to expel unruly and
+turbulent members, which gave our quondam would-be-called 'Reformers,'
+an opportunity to reduce to practice, their real principles. In this
+winnowing process it would be somewhat remarkable if much good wheat
+had not been carried off with the chaff.
+
+"Communities and Associations, in their commencement too heavily
+charged with an impracticable, inexperienced, self-sufficient, gaseous
+class of mind, have generally exploded before they were conscious of
+the combustible material they embraced, or had acquired strength or
+experience sufficient to guard themselves against those elements which
+threaten their destruction. With a small crew well acclimated, we
+have doubled the cape, and are now upon a smooth sea, heading for the
+port of Communism.
+
+"The problem of social reform must be solved by its own members; by
+those possessed of living faith, indomitable perseverance, unflinching
+devotion and undying energy. The vicious, the sick, the infirm, the
+indolent, can not at present be serviceable to our cause. Community
+should neither be regarded in the light of a poor-house nor hospital.
+Our object is not so much to give a home to the poor, as to
+demonstrate to them their own power and resources, and thereby
+ultimately to destroy poverty. We make money no condition of
+membership; but poverty alone is not a sufficient qualification to
+secure admission. Stability of character, industrious habits, physical
+energy, moral strength, mental force, and benevolent feelings, are
+characteristics indispensable to a valuable Communist. A Community of
+such members has an inexhaustible mine of wealth, though not in
+possession of one dollar. Do not understand by this that we reject
+either men or money, simply because they happen to be united. The more
+wealth a good member brings, the better. It is, however, the smallest
+of all qualifications, in and of itself. There should be at first as
+few non-producers as possible. Single men and women and small families
+are best adapted to our condition and circumstances. In the
+commencement, the less children the better. It would be desirable to
+have none but the children born on the domain. Then they would grow up
+with an undivided Community feeling. Through the agency of such is our
+cause to be successfully carried forward. A man with a large family of
+non-producing children, must possess extraordinary powers, to justify
+his admission."
+
+Macdonald thus concludes the tale: "After the experiment had
+progressed between two and three years, Mr. Collins became convinced
+that he and his fellow members could not carry out in practice the
+Community idea. He resolved to abandon the attempt; and calling the
+members together, explained to them his feelings on the subject. He
+resigned the deed of the property into their hands, and soon after
+departed from Skaneateles, like one who had lost his nearest and
+dearest friend. Most of the members left soon after, and the Community
+quietly dissolved.
+
+"This experiment did not fail through pecuniary embarrassment. The
+property was worth twice as much when the Community dissolved, as it
+was at first; and was much more than sufficient to pay all debts. So
+it may be truly said, that this experiment was given up through a
+conviction in the mind of the originator, that the theory of the
+Community could not be carried out in practice--that the attempt was
+premature, and the necessary conditions did not yet exist. The
+Community ended in May 1846."
+
+Mr. Collins subsequently acknowledged in the public prints his
+abandonment of the schemes of philanthropy and social improvement in
+which he had been conspicuous; and returned, as a socialistic paper
+expressed it, "to the decencies and respectabilities of orthodox
+Whiggery."
+
+For side-lights to this general sketch which we have collected from
+Macdonald, Finch and Collins, we have consulted the files of the
+_Phalanx_ and the _Harbinger_. The following is all we find:
+
+_The Phalanx_, September 7, 1844, mentions that the _Communitist_ has
+reached its seventh number--has been enlarged and improved--has changed
+its terms from _gratis_ to $1.00 per year in advance--congratulates the
+Community on this improvement, but criticises its fundamental principle
+of Communism.
+
+_The Harbinger_, September 14, 1845, quotes a Rochester paper as
+saying that "the Skaneateles concern has been sifted again and again
+of its chaff or wheat, we hardly know which, until, from a very wild
+republic, it appears verging toward a sober monarchy; i.e., toward the
+unresisted sway of a single mind." On this the _Harbinger_ remarks:
+
+"The Skaneateles Community, so far from being a Fourier institution,
+has been in open and bitter hostility with that system; no man has
+taken stronger ground against the Fourier movement than its founder,
+Mr. John Collins; and although of late it has somewhat softened in its
+opposition to the views of Fourier, it is no more in unison with them
+than it is with the doctrines of the Presbyterian Church, or the
+'domestic arrangements' of South Carolina. We understand that Mr.
+Collins has essentially modified his ideas in regard to a true social
+order, since he commenced at Skaneateles; that he finds many
+principles to which he was attached in theory, untenable in practice;
+and that learning wisdom by experience, he is now aiming at results
+which are more practicable in their nature, than those which he had
+deeply at heart in the commencement. But with the most friendly
+feelings toward Mr. Collins and the Skaneateles Community, we declare
+that it has no connection with Association on the plan of Fourier; it
+is strictly speaking a Community of property--a system which we reject
+as the grave of liberty; though incomparably superior to the system
+of violence and fraud which is upheld in the existing order of
+society."
+
+In the _Harbinger_ of September 27, 1845, Mr. Ripley writes in
+friendly terms of the brightening prospects of the Skaneateles
+Community; objects to its Communistic principles and its hostility to
+religion; with these exceptions thinks well of it and wishes it
+success.
+
+In the _Harbinger_ of November 20, 1847, a year and more after the
+decease of the Community, an enthusiastic Associationist says that
+several defunct Phalanxes--the Skaneateles among the rest--"are not
+dead, but only asleep; and will wake up by and by to new and superior
+life!"
+
+Several members of the Oneida Community had more or less personal
+knowledge of the Skaneateles experiment. At our request they have
+written what they remember; which we present in conclusion, as the
+nearest we can get to an "inside view."
+
+
+RECOLLECTIONS OF H.J. SEYMOUR.
+
+"My acquaintance with the Skaneateles Community was limited to what I
+gathered under the following circumstances: John A. Collins lectured
+on Association in Westmoreland, near where I lived, in 1843. His
+eloquence had some effect on my father and his family, and on me among
+the rest. In the fall, when the Community started, my father sent my
+brother, then eighteen years old, with a wagon and yoke of oxen, to
+the Community. He remained there till nearly the middle of winter,
+when he returned home, ostensibly by invitation of my mother, who had
+become alarmed by the reports and evidences of the infidelity of
+Collins and his associates; but I am inclined to think my brother was
+ready to leave, having satisfied his aspirations for that kind of
+Communism. The next summer I made a call of a few hours at the
+Community in company with my mother; but most of my information about
+it is derived from my brother.
+
+"He spoke of Collins as full of fiery zeal, and a kind of fussy
+officiousness in business, but lacking in good judgment. To figure
+abroad as a lecturer was thought to be his appropriate sphere. The
+other most prominent leader was Q.A. Johnson of Syracuse. I have heard
+him represented as a long-headed, tonguey lawyer. The question to be
+settled soon after my brother's arrival, was, on which of the falls
+the saw-mill and machine-shop should be built. Collins said it should
+be on one; Johnson said it should be on the other; and the dispute
+waxed warm between them. I judge, from what my brother told me, that
+the conflict between these two men and their partisans raged through
+nearly the whole life of the Community, and was finally ended only by
+the withdrawal of Johnson, in consideration of a pretty round sum of
+money.
+
+"My brother did not make a practice of attending their evening
+meetings, for the reason that he was one of the hard workers and could
+not afford it; as there was an amount of disputing going on that was
+very wearisome to the flesh.
+
+"The question of diet was one about which the Community was greatly
+exercised. And there seems to have been an inner circle, among whom
+the dietetic furor worked with special violence. For the purpose of
+living what they considered a strictly natural life, they betook
+themselves to an exclusive diet of boiled wheat, and built themselves
+a shanty in the woods; hoping to secure long life and happiness by
+thus getting nearer to nature."
+
+
+RECOLLECTIONS OF E.L. HATCH.
+
+"I visited the Skaneateles Community twice, partly on business, and
+partly by request of a neighbor who was about to join, and wished me
+to join with him. I was received pleasantly and treated well. The
+first time, they gave me a cup of tea and bread and butter for supper.
+I told them I wished to fare as the rest did. They said it was usual
+for them to give visitors what they were accustomed to; but they were
+looking forward to some reform in this respect. In the morning I
+noticed that some poured milk on their plates, laid a slice of bread
+in it, and cut it into mouthfuls before eating. Some used molasses
+instead of milk. There was not much of the home-feeling there. Every
+one seemed to be setting an example, and trying to bring all the
+others to it. The second time I was there I discovered there were two
+parties. One man remarked to another on seeing meat on the table, that
+he 'guessed they had been to some grave-yard.' The other said he 'did
+not eat dead creatures.' After supper I was standing near some men in
+the sitting-room, when one said to another, 'How high is your God?'
+The answer was, 'About as high as my head.' The first, putting his
+hand up to his breast, said, 'Mine is so high.' I concluded they were
+infidels."
+
+
+RECOLLECTIONS OF L. VANVELZER.
+
+"I attended a Convention of Associationists held near the Skaneateles
+Community in 1845, and became very much interested in the principles
+set forth by John A. Collins and his friends. There was much
+excitement at that time all through the country in regard to
+Association. Quite a number came from Boston and joined the
+Skaneateles Community. Johnson and Collins seemed to be the two
+leading spirits, Collins was a strong advocate of infidel principles,
+and was very intolerant to all religious sects; while Johnson
+advocated religious principles and general toleration. In becoming
+acquainted with these two men, I was naturally drawn toward Johnson;
+this created jealousy between them. Mrs. Vanvelzer and myself talked a
+great deal about selling out and going there; but before we had made
+any practical move, I began to see that there was not any unity among
+them, but on the contrary a great deal of bickering and back-biting. I
+became disgusted with the whole affair. But my wife did not see things
+as I did at that time. She was determined to go, and did go. At the
+expiration of three or four weeks I went to see her, and found she was
+becoming dissatisfied. In consequence of her joining them, there had
+been a regular quarrel between the two parties, and it resulted in a
+rupture. They had a meeting that lasted nearly all night; Johnson and
+his party standing up for Mrs. Vanvelzer, and Collins and his party
+against her. Some went so far as to threaten Johnson's life. This
+state of things went on until they broke up, which was only a short
+time after Mrs. Vanvelzer left."
+
+
+RECOLLECTIONS OF MRS. S. VANVELZER.
+
+"In the winter of 1845 Mr. Collins and others associated with him
+lectured in Baldwinsville, where I then resided. My husband was
+interested in their teachings, and invited them to our house, where I
+had more or less conversation with them. They set forth their scheme
+in glowing colors, and professed that the doings of the day of
+Pentecost were their foundation; and withal they flattered me
+considerably, telling me I was just the woman to go to the Community
+and help carry out their principles and build up a home for humanity.
+
+"Well, I went; but I was disappointed. Nothing was as represented; but
+back-biting, evil-thinking, and quarreling were the order of the day.
+They set two tables in the same dining-room; one provided with
+ordinary food, though rather sparingly; the other with boiled wheat,
+rice and Graham mush, without salt or seasoning of any kind. They kept
+butter, sugar and milk under lock and key, and in fact almost every
+thing else. They had amusements, such as dancing, card-playing,
+checkers, etc. There were some 'affinity' affairs among them, which
+caused considerable gossiping. I remained there three weeks, and came
+away disgusted; but firm in the belief that Christian Communism would
+be carried out sometime."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Allen and Orvis, the lecturing missionaries of Fourierism sent out by
+Brook Farm in 1847, passed through Central New York in the course of
+their tour, and in their reports of their experiences to the
+_Harbinger_, thus bewailed the disastrous effects of Collins's
+experiment:
+
+"In Syracuse our meetings were almost a failure. Collins's Skaneateles
+'Hunt of Harmony,' or fight to conquer a peace, his infidelity, his
+disastrous failure after making such an outcry in behalf of a better
+order of society, and the ignorance of the people, who have not
+intelligence enough to discriminate between a true Constructive
+Reform, and the No-God, No-Government, No-Marriage, No-Money, No-Meat,
+No-Salt, No-Pepper system of Community, but think that Collins was a
+'Furyite' just like ourselves, has closed the ears of the people in
+this neighborhood against our words."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+SOCIAL ARCHITECTS.
+
+
+Thus far we have been disposing of the preludes of Fourierism. Before
+commencing the memoirs of the regular PHALANXES (which is the proper
+name of the Fourier Associations), we will devote a chapter or two to
+general views of Fourierism, as compared with other forms of
+Socialism, and as it was practically developed in this country.
+
+Parke Godwin was one of the earliest and ablest of the American
+expositors of Fourierism; second only, perhaps, to Albert Brisbane. In
+his "_Popular View of the Doctrines of Charles Fourier_" (an octavo
+pamphlet of 120 pages published in 1844), he has a chapter on "Social
+Architects," in which he proposes the following classification:
+
+    "These daring and original spirits arrange themselves in three
+    classes; the merely Theoretical; the simply Practical; and the
+    Theoretico-Practical combined. In other words, the Social
+    Architects whom we propose to consider, may be described as
+    those who ideally plan the new structure of society; those who
+    set immediately to work to make a new structure, without any
+    very large and comprehensive plan; and those who have both
+    devised a plan and attempted its actual execution.
+
+    "I. The Theoretical class is one which is most numerous, but
+    whose claims are the least worthy of attention. [Under this
+    head, Mr. Godwin mentions Plato, Sir Thomas More and Harrington,
+    and discusses their imaginative projects--the Republic, Utopia
+    and Oceana.]
+
+    "II. The Practical Architects of Society, or the Communities
+    instituted to exemplify a more perfect state of social life.
+    [The Essenes, Moravians, Shakers and Rappites are mentioned
+    under this head.]
+
+    "III. The Theoretico-Practical Architects of Society, or those
+    who have combined the enunciation of general principles of
+    social organization with actual experiments, of whom the best
+    representatives are St. Simon, Robert Owen and Charles Fourier.
+    This class will extend the basis of our inquiries, and demand a
+    more elaborate consideration."
+
+This classification, if it had not gone beyond the popular pamphlet in
+which it was started, might have been left without criticism. But it
+is substantially reproduced in the New American Cyclopaedia under the
+head of "Socialism," and thus has become a standard doctrine. We will
+therefore point out what we conceive to be its errors, and indicate a
+truer classification.
+
+In the first place, from the account of St. Simon and Fourier which
+Mr. Godwin himself gives immediately after the last of his three
+headings, it is clear that they did _not_ belong to the
+theoretico-practical class. St. Simon undertook to perfect himself in
+all knowledge, and for this purpose experimented in many things, good
+and bad; but it does not appear that he ever tried his hand at
+Communism or Association of any kind. He published a book called "New
+Christianity," of which Godwin says:
+
+"It was an attempt to show, what had been often before attempted, that
+the spirit and practice of religion were not at one; that there was a
+wide chasm separating the revelation from the commentary, the text
+from the gloss, the Master from the Disciples. Nothing could have been
+more forcible than its attacks on the existing church, in which the
+Pope and Luther received an equal share of the blows. He convicted
+both parties of errors without number, and heresies the most
+monstrous. But he did not carry the same vigor into the development of
+the positive portions of his thought. He ceased to be logical, that he
+might be sentimental. Yet the truth which he insisted on was a great
+one--perhaps the greatest, _viz._, that the fundamental principle in
+the constitution of society, should be Love. Christ teaches all men,
+he says, that they are brothers; that humanity is one; that the true
+life of the individual is in the bosom of his race; and that the
+highest law of his being is the law of progress."
+
+On the basis of this sentimentalism, St. Simon appealed most
+eloquently to all classes to unite--to march as one man--to inscribe
+on their banners, "Paradise on earth is before us!" but Godwin says:
+
+"Alas! the magnanimous spirit which could utter these thrilling words
+was not destined to see their realization. The long process of
+starvation finally brought St. Simon to his end; but in the sufferings
+of death, as in the agony of life, his mind retained its calmness and
+sympathy, and he perished with these words of sublime confidence and
+hope on his lips: 'The future is ours!'
+
+"The few devoted friends who stood round that deathbed, took up the
+words, and began the work of propagation. The doctrine rapidly spread;
+it received a more precise and comprehensive development under the
+expositions of Bazard and Enfantan; and a few years saw a new family,
+which was also a new church, gathered at Menilmontant. On its banner
+was inscribed, 'To each, according to his capacity, and to each
+capacity according to its work.' Its government took the form of a
+religious hierarchy, and its main political principle was the
+abolition of inheritance.
+
+"It was evident that a society so constituted could not long be held
+together. Made up of enthusiasts, without definite principles of
+organization, trusting to feeling and not to science, its members soon
+began to quarrel, and the latter days of its existence were stained by
+disgusting license. St. Simon was one of the noblest spirits, but an
+unfit leader of any enterprise. He saw all things, says a friendly
+critic, through his heart. In this was his weakness; he wanted head;
+he wanted precise notions; he vainly hoped to reconstruct society by a
+sentiment; he laid the foundations of his house on sand."
+
+
+What is there in all this that entitles St. Simon to a place among the
+theoretico-practicals? How does it appear that he "combined the
+enunciation of general principles of social organization with actual
+experiments?" His followers tried to do something; but St. Simon
+himself, according to this account, did absolutely nothing but write
+and talk; and far from being a theoretico-practical, was not even
+theoretical, but only sentimental!
+
+Fourier was theoretical enough. But we look in vain through Mr.
+Godwin's account of him for any signs of the practical. He meditated
+much and wrote many books, and that is all. He was a student and a
+recluse to the end of his career. Instead of engaging in any practical
+attempt to realize his social theories, he quarreled with the only
+experiment that was made by his disciples during his life. Godwin
+says:
+
+    "A joint-stock company was formed in 1832, to realize the new
+    theory of Association; and one gentleman, M. Baudet Dulary,
+    member of parliament for the county of Seine and Oise, bought an
+    estate, which cost him five hundred thousand francs (one hundred
+    thousand dollars), for the express purpose of putting the theory
+    into practice. Operations were actually commenced; but for want
+    of sufficient capital to erect buildings and stock the farm, the
+    whole operation was paralyzed; and notwithstanding the natural
+    cause of cessation, the simple fact of stopping short after
+    having commenced operations, made a very unfavorable impression
+    upon the public mind. Success is the only criterion with the
+    indolent and indifferent, who do not take the trouble to reason
+    on circumstances and accidental difficulties.
+
+    "Fourier was very much vexed at the precipitation of his
+    partisans, who were too impatient to wait until sufficient means
+    had been obtained. They argued that the fact of having commenced
+    operations would attract the attention of capitalists, and
+    insure the necessary funds. He begged them to beware of
+    precipitation; told them how he had been deceived himself in
+    having to wait more than twenty years for a simple hearing,
+    which, from the importance of his discovery, he had fully
+    expected to obtain immediately. All his entreaties were in vain.
+    They told him he had not obtained a hearing sooner because he
+    was not accustomed to the duplicity of the world; and confident
+    in their own judgment, commenced without hesitation, and were
+    taught, at the expense of their own imprudence, to appreciate
+    more correctly the sluggish indifference of an ignorant public."
+
+Not only did Fourier thus wholly abstain from practical experiments
+himself and discourage those of others during his lifetime, but he
+condemned in advance all the experiments that have since been made in
+his name. He set the conditions of a legitimate experiment so high,
+that it has been thus far impossible to make a fair trial of
+Fourierism, and probably always will be. How Mr. Godwin could imagine
+him to be one of the theoretico-practicals, we do not understand. His
+system seems to us to have been as thoroughly separate from
+experiment, as it was possible for him to make it; and in that sense,
+as far removed from the modern standards of science, as the east is
+from the west. It can be defended only as a theory that came by
+inspiration or intuition, and therefore needs no experiment.
+Considered simply as the result of human lucubrations, it belongs with
+the _a priori_ theories of the ancient world, of which Youmans says:
+"The old philosophers, disdaining nature, retired into the ideal world
+of pure meditation, and holding that the mind is the measure of the
+universe, they believed they could reason out all truths from the
+depths of the soul."
+
+Owen, Mr. Godwin's third example, was really a theoretico-practical
+man; i.e. he attempted to carry his theories into practice--with what
+success we have seen. Instead of classing St. Simon and Fourier with
+him, we should name Ballou and Cabet as his proper compeers.
+
+Another error of Mr. Godwin is, in representing Plato as merely
+theoretical; meaning that the Republic, like the Utopia and Oceana,
+was "sketched as an exercise of the imagination or reason, rather than
+as a plan for actual experiment." It is recorded of Plato in the
+American Cyclopaedia, that "he made a journey to Syracuse in the vain
+hope of realizing, through the new-crowned younger Dionysius, his
+ideal Republic." Thus, though he never made an actual experiment, he
+wished and intended to do so; which is quite as much as St. Simon and
+Fourier ever did.
+
+Mr. Godwin seems also to underrate the Practical Architects: i.e.
+those that we have called the successful Communities. It is hardly
+fair to represent them as merely practical. The Shakers certainly have
+a theory which is printed in a book; and there is no reason to doubt
+that such thinkers as Rapp, and Bimeler of the Zoarites, and the
+German nobleman that led the Ebenezers, had socialistic ideas which
+they either worked by or worked out in their practical operations, and
+which would compare favorably at least with the sentimentalisms of the
+first French school. If St. Simon and Owen and Fourier are to be
+called the theoretico-practicals, such workers as Ann Lee, Elder
+Meacham, Rapp, and Bimeler ought at least to be called the
+practico-theoreticals.
+
+Indeed these Practical Architects, who have actually given the world
+examples of successful Communism, have certainly contributed more to
+the great socialistic movement of modern times, than they have credit
+for in Godwin's classification, or in public opinion. We called
+attention, in the course of our sketch of the Owen movement, to the
+fact that Owen and his disciples studied the social economy of the
+Rappites, and were not only indebted to them for the village in which
+they made their great experiment, but leaned on them for practical
+ideas and hopes of success. These facts came to us at the first
+without our seeking them. But since then we have watched occasionally,
+in our readings of the socialistic journals and books, for indications
+that the Fourierist movement was affected in the same way by the
+silent successful examples; and we have been surprised to see how
+constantly the Shakers, Ebenezers &c., are referred to as
+illustrations of the possibilities and benefits of close Association.
+We will give a few examples of what we have found.
+
+_The Dial_, which was the nurse of Brook Farm and of the beginnings of
+Fourierism in this country, has two articles devoted to the Shakers.
+One of them entitled "A Day with the Shakers," is an elaborate and
+very favorable exhibition of their doctrines and manner of life. It
+concludes with the following observation:
+
+"The world as yet but slightingly appreciates the domestic and humane
+virtues of this recluse people; and we feel that in a record of
+attempts for the actualization of a better life, their designs and
+economies should not be omitted, especially as, during their first
+half century, they have had remarkable success."
+
+The other article, entitled the "Millennial Church," is a flattering
+review of a Shaker book. In it occurs the following paragraph:
+
+"It is interesting to observe, that while Fourier in France was
+speculating on the attainment of many advantages by union, these
+people have, at home, actually attained them. Fourier has the merit of
+beautiful words and theories; and their importation from a foreign
+land is made a subject for exultation by a large and excellent portion
+of our public; but the Shakers have the superior merit of excellent
+actions and practices; unappreciated, perhaps, because they are not
+exotic. 'Attractive Industry and Moral Harmony,' on which Fourier
+dwells so promisingly, have long characterized the Shakers, whose
+plans have always in view the passing of each individual into his or
+her right position, and of providing suitable, pleasant, and
+profitable employment for every one."
+
+Miss Peabody, in the article entitled "Christ's Idea of Society," from
+which we quoted in a former chapter, thus refers to the practical
+Communities:
+
+"The temporary success of the Hernhutters, the Moravians, the Shakers,
+and even the Rappites, has cleared away difficulties and solved
+problems of social science. It has been made plain that the material
+goods of life, 'the life that now is,' are not to be sacrificed (as by
+the anchorite) in doing fuller justice to the social principle. It has
+been proved, that with the same degree of labor, there is no way to
+compare with that of working in a Community, banded by some sufficient
+Idea to animate the will of the laborers. A greater quantity of wealth
+is procured with fewer hours of toil, and without any degradation of
+the laborer. All these Communities have demonstrated what the
+practical Dr. Franklin said, that if every one worked bodily three
+hours daily, there would be no necessity of any one's working more
+than three hours."
+
+A writer in _The Tribune_ (1845) at the end of a glowing account of
+the Ebenezers, says:
+
+"The labor they have accomplished and the improvements they have made
+are surprising; it speaks well for the superior efficiency of combined
+effort over isolated and individual effort. A gentleman who
+accompanied me, and who has seen the whole western part of this State
+settled, observed that they had made more improvements in two years,
+than were made in our most flourishing villages when first settled, in
+five or six."
+
+In _The Harbinger_ (1845) Mr. Brisbane gives an account of his visit
+to the same settlement, and concludes as follows:
+
+    "It is amazing to see the work which these people have
+    accomplished in two years; they have cleared large fields, and
+    brought them under cultivation; they have built, I should judge,
+    forty comfortable houses, handsomely finished and painted white;
+    many are quite large. They have the frame-work for quite an
+    additional number prepared; they are putting up a large woolen
+    manufactory, which is partly finished; they have six or eight
+    large barns filled with their crops, and others erecting, and
+    some minor branches of manufactures. I was amazed at the work
+    accomplished in less than two years. It testifies powerfully in
+    favor of combined effort."
+
+But enough for specimens. Such references to the works of the
+Practical Architects are scattered everywhere in socialistic
+literature. The conclusion toward which they lead is, that the
+successful religious Communities, silent and unconspicuous as they
+are, have been, after all, the specie-basis of the entire socialistic
+movement of modern times. A glimmering of this idea seems to have
+been in Mr. Godwin's mind, when he wrote the following:
+
+    "If, in spite of their ignorance, their mistakes, their
+    imperfections, and their despotisms, the worst of these
+    societies, which have adopted, with more or less favor, unitary
+    principles, have succeeded in accumulating immeasurable wealth,
+    what might have been done by a Community having a right
+    principle of organization and composed of intellectual and
+    upright men? Accordingly the discovery of such a principle has
+    become an object of earnest investigation on the part of some of
+    the most acute and disinterested men the world ever saw. This
+    inquiry has given rise to our third division, called
+    theoretico-practical architects of society."
+
+The great facts of modern Socialism are these: From 1776--the era of
+our national Revolution--the Shakers have been established in this
+country; first at two places in New York; then at four places in
+Massachusetts; at two in New Hampshire; two in Maine; one in
+Connecticut; and finally at two in Kentucky, and two in Ohio. In all
+these places prosperous religious Communism has been modestly and yet
+loudly preaching to the nation and the world. New England and New York
+and the great West have had actual Phalanxes before their eyes for
+nearly a century. And in all this time what has been acted on our
+American stage, has had England, France and Germany for its audience.
+The example of the Shakers has demonstrated, not merely that
+successful Communism is subjectively possible, but that this nation is
+free enough to let it grow. Who can doubt that this demonstration was
+known and watched in Germany from the beginning; and that it helped
+the successive experiments and emigrations of the Rappites, the
+Zoarites and the Ebenezers? These experiments, we have seen, were
+echoes of Shakerism, growing fainter and fainter, as the time-distance
+increased. Then the Shaker movement with its echoes was sounding also
+in England, when Robert Owen undertook to convert the world to
+Communism; and it is evident enough that he was really a far-off
+follower of the Rappites. France also had heard of Shakerism, before
+St. Simon or Fourier began to meditate and write Socialism. These men
+were nearly contemporaneous with Owen, and all three evidently obeyed
+a common impulse. That impulse was the sequel and certainly in part
+the effect of Shakerism. Thus it is no more than bare justice to say,
+that we are indebted to the Shakers more than to any or all other
+Social Architects of modern times. Their success has been the solid
+capital that has upheld all the paper theories, and counteracted the
+failures, of the French and English schools. It is very doubtful
+whether Owenism or Fourierism would have ever existed, or if they had,
+whether they would have ever moved the practical American nation, if
+the facts of Shakerism had not existed before them, and gone along
+with them.
+
+But to do complete justice we must go a step further. While we say
+that the Rappites, the Zoarites, the Ebenezers, the Owenites, and even
+the Fourierites are all echoes of the Shakers, we must also
+acknowledge that the Shakers are the far-off echoes of the PRIMITIVE
+CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIALISM.
+
+
+The main idea on which Owen and Fourier worked was the same. Both
+proposed to reconstruct society by gathering large numbers into
+unitary dwellings. Owen had as clear sense of the compound economies
+of Association as Fourier had, and discoursed as eloquently, if not as
+scientifically, on the beauties and blessings of combined industry.
+Both elaborated plans for vast buildings, which they proposed to
+substitute for ordinary family dwellings. Owen's communal edifice was
+to be a great hollow square, somewhat like a city block. Fourier's
+phalanstery, on the other hand, was to be a central palace with two
+wings. In like manner their plans of reconstructing society differed
+in details, but the main idea of combination in large households was
+the same.
+
+What they undertook to do may be illustrated by the history of
+bee-keeping. The usual way in this business is to provide hives that
+will hold only a few quarts of bees each, and so compel new
+generations to swarm and find new homes. But it has always been a
+problem among ingenious apiarians, how to construct compound hives,
+that will prevent the necessity of swarming, and either allow a single
+swarm to increase indefinitely, or induce many swarms to live
+together in contiguous apartments. We remember there was an invention
+of this kind that had quite a run about the time of the Fourier
+excitement. It was not very successful; and yet the idea seems not
+altogether chimerical; for it is known that wild bees, in certain
+situations, as in large hollow trees and in cavities among rocks, do
+actually accumulate their numbers and honey from generation to
+generation. Owen and Fourier, like the apiarian inventors (who are
+proverbially unpractical), undertook to construct, each in his own
+way, great compound hives for human beings; and they had the example
+of the Shakers (who may be considered the wild bees in the
+illustration) to countenance their schemes.
+
+The difference of their methods was this: Owen's plan was based on
+_Communism_; Fourier's plan was based on the _Joint-stock_ principle.
+Both of these modes of combination exist abundantly in common society.
+Every family is a little example of Communism; and every working
+partnership is an example of Joint-stockism. Communism creates homes;
+Joint-stockism manages business. Perhaps national idiosyncracies had
+something to do with the choice of principles in these two cases.
+_Home_ is an English word for an English idea. It is said there is no
+equivalent word in the French language. Owen, the Englishman, chose
+the home principle. Fourier, the Frenchman, chose the business
+principle.
+
+These two principles, as they exist in the world, are not
+antagonistic, but reciprocal. Home is the center from which men go
+forth to business; and business is the field from which they go home
+with the spoil. Home is the charm and stimulus of business; and
+business provides material for the comfort and beauty of home. This
+is the present practical relation between Communism and Joint-stockism
+every-where. And these two principles, thus working together, have had
+a wonderful expansion in modern times. Every body knows what progress
+has been made in Joint-stockism, from the old-fashioned simple
+partnership, to the thousands of corporations, small and great, that
+now do the work of the world. But Communism has had similar progress,
+from the little family circle, to the thousands of benevolent
+institutions that are now striving to make a home of the world. Every
+hospital and free school and public library that is comforting and
+civilizing mankind, is an extension of the free, loving element, that
+is the charm of home. And it is becoming more and more the fashion for
+men to spend the best part of their lives in accumulating millions by
+Joint-stockism, and at last lay their treasures at the feet of
+Communism, by endowing great public institutions of mercy or
+education.
+
+As these two principles are thus expanding side by side, the question
+arises, Which on the whole is prevailing and destined to prevail? and
+that means, which is primary in the order of truth, and which is
+secondary? The two great socialistic inventors seem to have taken
+opposite sides on this question. Owen believed that the grand advance
+which the world is about to make, will be into Communism. Fourier as
+confidently believed that civilization will ripen into universal
+Joint-stockism. In all cases of reciprocal dualism, there is
+manifestly a tendency to mutual absorption, coalescence and unity.
+Where shall we end? in Owenism or Fourierism? Or will a combination of
+both keep its place in the world hereafter, as it has done hitherto?
+and if so which will be primary and which secondary, and how will
+they be harmonized? We do not propose to answer these questions, but
+only to help the study of them, as we proceed with our history.
+
+A few facts, however, may be mentioned in passing, which lead toward
+some solution of them. One is, that the changes which are going on in
+the laws of marriage, are in the direction of Joint-stockism. The
+increase of woman's independence and separate property, is manifestly
+introducing Fourierism into the family circle, which is the oldest
+sanctuary of Communism. But over against this is the fact, that all
+the successful attempts at Socialism go in the other direction, toward
+Communism. Providence has presented Shakerism, which is Communism in
+the concrete, and Owenism, which is Communism in theory, to the
+attention of this country at advance of Fourierism; and there are many
+signs that the third great socialistic movement, which many believe to
+be impending, will be a returning wave of Communism. All these facts
+together might be interpreted as indicating that Joint-Stockism is
+devouring the institutions of the past, while Communism is seizing the
+institutions of the future.
+
+It must not be forgotten that, in representing Owen as the exponent of
+Communism, and Fourier as the exponent of Joint-stockism, we refer to
+their theoretical principles, and not at all to the experiments that
+have been made in their name. Those experiments were invariably
+compromises, and nearly all alike. We doubt whether there was ever an
+Owen Community that attempted unconditional Communism, even of worldly
+goods. Certainly Owen himself never got beyond provisional
+experiments, in which he held on to his land. And on the other hand,
+we doubt whether there was ever a Fourier Association that came any
+where near carrying out Joint-stockism, into all the minutiae of
+account-keeping which pure Fourierism requires. When we leave theories
+and attempt actual combinations, it is a matter of course that we
+should communize as far as we dare; that is, as far as we can trust
+each other; and beyond that manage things as well as we can by some
+kind of Joint-stockism. Experiments therefore always fall into a
+combination of Owenism and Fourierism.
+
+If we could find out the metaphysical bases of the two principles
+represented respectively by Owen and Fourier, perhaps we should see
+that these practical combinations of them are, after all,
+scientifically legitimate. Let us search a little in this direction.
+
+Our view is, that unity of _life_ is the basis of Communism; and
+distinction of _persons_ is the basis of Joint-stockism. Property
+belongs to life, and so far as you and I have consciously one life, we
+must hold our goods in common; but so far as distinct personalities
+prevail, we must have separate properties. This statement of course
+raises the old question of the Trinitarian controversy, viz., whether
+two or more persons can have absolutely the same life--which we will
+not now stop to discuss. All we need to say is that, according to our
+theory, if there is no such thing as unity of life between a plurality
+of persons, then there is no basis for Communism.
+
+But the Communism which we find in families is certainly based on the
+assumption, right or wrong, that there is actual unity of life between
+husband and wife, and between parents and children. The common law of
+England and of most other countries recognizes only a unit in the
+male and female head of every family. The Bible declares man and wife
+to be "one flesh." Sexual intercourse is generally supposed to be a
+symbol of more complete unity in the interior life; and children are
+supposed to be branches of the one life of their parents. This theory
+is evidently the basis of family Communism.
+
+So also the basis of Bible Communism is the theory that in Christ,
+believers become spiritually one; and the law, "Thou shalt love thy
+neighbor as thyself," is founded on the assumption that "thy neighbor"
+is, or should be, a part of "thyself."
+
+In this view we can reduce Communism and Joint-stockism to one
+principle. The object of both is to secure property to life. Communism
+looks after the rights of the unitary life--call it _afflatus_ if you
+please--which organizes families and spiritual corporations.
+Joint-stockism attends to the rights of individuals. Both these forms
+of life have rights; and as all true rights can certainly be
+harmonized, Communism and Joint-stockism should find a way to work
+together. But the question returns after all, Which is primary and
+which is secondary? and so we are in the old quarrel again. Our
+opinion, however, is, that the long quarrel between afflatus and
+personality will be decided in favor of afflatus, and that personality
+will pass into the secondary position in the ages to come.
+
+Practically, Communism is a thing of degrees. With a small amount of
+vital unity, Communism is possible only in the limited sphere of
+familism. With more unity, public institutions of harmony and
+benevolence make their appearance. With another degree of unity,
+Communism of external property becomes possible, as among the Shakers.
+With still higher degrees, Communism may be introduced into the
+sexual and propagative relations. And in all these cases the
+correlative principle of Joint-stockism necessarily takes charge of
+all property that Communism leaves outside.
+
+Other differences of theory, besides this fundamental contrast of
+Communism and Joint-stockism, have been insisted upon by the
+respective partizans of Owen and Fourier; but they are less important,
+and we shall leave them to be exhibited incidentally in our memoirs of
+the Phalanxes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+LITERATURE OF FOURIERISM.
+
+
+The exposition of Fourierism in this country commenced with the
+publication of the "_Social Destiny of Man_," by Albert Brisbane, in
+1840. It is very probable that the excitement propagated by this book,
+turned the thoughts of Dr. Channing and the Transcendentalists toward
+Association, and led to the Massachusetts experiments which we have
+reported. Other influences prepared the way. Religious Liberalism and
+Anti-slavery were revolutionizing the world of thought, and
+predisposing all lively minds to the boldest innovations. But it is
+evident that the positive scheme of reconstructing society came from
+France through Brisbane. Brook Farm, Hopedale, the Northampton
+Community and the Skaneateles Community struck out, each on an
+independent theory of social architecture; but they all obeyed a
+common impulse; and that impulse, so far as it came by literature, is
+traceable to Brisbane's importation and translation of the writings of
+Charles Fourier.
+
+The second notable movement, preparatory to the great Fourier revival
+of 1843, was the opening of the _New York Tribune_ to the teachings of
+Brisbane and the Socialists. That paper was in its first volume, but
+already popular and ascending towards its zenith of rivalry with the
+_Herald_, when one morning in the spring of 1842, it appeared with the
+following caption at the top of one of its columns:
+
+    "ASSOCIATION; OR, PRINCIPLES OF A TRUE ORGANIZATION OF SOCIETY.
+
+    "This column has been purchased by the Advocates of Association,
+    in order to lay their principles before the public. Its
+    editorship is entirely distinct from that of the _Tribune_."
+
+By this contrivance, which might be called a paper within a paper,
+Brisbane became the independent editor of a small daily, with all the
+_Tribune's_ subscribers for his readers; and yet that journal could
+not be held responsible for his inculcations. It was known, however,
+that Horace Greeley, the editor-in-chief, was much in sympathy with
+Fourierism; so that Brisbane had the help of his popularity; though
+the stock-company of the _Tribune_ was not implicated. Whether the
+_Tribune_ lifted Fourierism or Fourierism lifted the _Tribune_, may be
+a matter of doubt; but we are inclined to think the paper had the best
+of the bargain; as it grew steadily afterward to its present
+dimensions, and all the more merrily for the _Herald's_ long
+persistence in calling it "our Fourierite cotemporary;" while
+Fourierism, after a year or two of glory, waned and disappeared.
+
+Brisbane edited his column with ability for more than a year. Our file
+(which is defective), extends from March 28, 1842, to May 28, 1843. At
+first the socialistic articles appeared twice a week; after August
+1842, three times a week; and during the latter part of the series,
+every day.
+
+This was Brisbane's great opportunity, and he improved it. All the
+popularities of Fourierism--"Attractive Industry," "Compound
+Economies," "Democracy of Association," "Equilibrium of the
+Passions"--were set before the _Tribune's_ vast public from day to
+day, with the art and zest of a young lawyer pleading before a court
+already in his favor. Interspersed with these topics were notices of
+socialistic meetings, reports of Fourier festivals, toasts and
+speeches at celebrations of Fourier's birthday, and all the usual
+stimulants of a growing popular cause. The rich were enticed; the poor
+were encouraged; the laboring classes were aroused; objections were
+answered; prejudices were annihilated; scoffing papers were silenced;
+the religious foundations of Fourierism were triumphantly exhibited.
+To show how gloriously things were going, it would be announced on one
+day that "Mr. Bennett has promised us the insertion of an article in
+this day's _Herald_, in vindication of our doctrines;" on the next,
+that "_The Democratic_ and _Boston Quarterly Reviews_, are publishing
+a series of articles on the system from the pen of A. Brisbane;" on
+the next, that "we have obtained a large Hall, seventy-seven feet deep
+by twenty-five feet wide, in Broadway, for the purpose of holding
+meetings and delivering lectures."
+
+Perhaps the reader would like to see a specimen of Brisbane's
+expositions. The following is the substance of one of his articles in
+the _Tribune_, dated March, 1842; subject--"Means of making a
+Practical Trial:"
+
+    "Before answering the question, How can Association be realized?
+    we will remark that we do not propose any sudden transformation
+    of the present system of society, but only a regular and gradual
+    substitution of a new order by local changes or replacement.
+    One Association must be started, and others will follow, without
+    overthrowing any true institutions in state or church, such as
+    universal suffrage or religious worship.
+
+    "If a few rich could be interested in the subject, a stock
+    company could be formed among them with a capital of four or
+    five hundred thousand dollars, which would be sufficient. Their
+    money would be safe: for the lands, edifices, flocks, &c., of
+    the Association, would be mortgaged to secure it. The sum which
+    is required to build a small railroad, a steamship, to start an
+    insurance company or a bank, would establish an Association.
+    Could not such a sum be raised?
+
+    "A practical trial of Association might be made by appropriation
+    from a State Legislature. Millions are now spent in constructing
+    canals and railroads that scarcely pay for repairs. Would it
+    endanger the constitution, injure the cause of democracy, or
+    shock the consciences of politicians, if a Legislature were to
+    advance for an Association, half a million of dollars secured by
+    mortgage on its lands and personal estate? We fear very much
+    that it might, and therefore not much is to be hoped from that
+    source.
+
+    "The truth of Association and attractive industry could also be
+    proved by children. A little Association or an industrial or
+    agricultural institution might be established with four hundred
+    children from the ages of five to fifteen. Various lighter
+    branches of agriculture and the mechanical arts, with little
+    tools and implements adapted to different ages, which are the
+    delight of children, could be prosecuted. These useful
+    occupations could, if organized according to a system which we
+    shall later explain, be rendered more pleasing and attractive
+    than are their plays at present. Such an Association would prove
+    the possibility of attractive industry, and that children could
+    support themselves by their own labor, and obtain at the same
+    time a superior industrial and scientific education. The
+    Smithsonian bequest might be applied to such a purpose, as could
+    have been Girard's noble donation, which has been so shamefully
+    mismanaged.
+
+    "The most easy plan, perhaps, for starting an Association would
+    be to induce four hundred persons to unite, and take each $1,000
+    worth of stock, which would form a capital of $400,000. With
+    this sum, an Association could be established, which could be
+    made to guarantee to every person a comfortable room in it and
+    board for life, as interest upon the investment of $1,000; so
+    that whatever reverses might happen to those forming the
+    Association, they would always be certain of having two great
+    essentials of existence--a dwelling to cover them, and a table
+    at which to sit. Let us explain how this could be effected.
+
+    "The stockholders would receive one-quarter of the total product
+    or profits of the Association; or if they preferred, they would
+    receive a fixed interest of eight per cent. At the time of a
+    general division of profits at the end of the year, the
+    stockholders would first receive their interest, and the balance
+    would be paid over to those who performed the labor. A slight
+    deviation would in this respect take place from the general law
+    of Association, which is to give one-quarter of the profits to
+    capital, whatever they may be; but additional inducements of
+    security should be held out to those who organize the first
+    Association.
+
+    "The investment of $1,000 would yield $80 annual interest. With
+    this sum the Association must guarantee a person a dwelling and
+    living; and this could be done. The edifice could be built for
+    $150,000, the interest upon which, at 10 per cent., would be
+    $15,000. Divide this sum by 400, which is the number of persons,
+    and we have $37.50 per annum, for each person as rent. Some of
+    the apartments would consist of several rooms, and rent for
+    $100, others for $90, others for $80, and so on in a descending
+    ratio, so that about one-half of the rooms could be rented at
+    $20 per annum. A person wishing to live at the cheapest rates
+    would have, after paying his rent, $60 left. As the Association
+    would raise all its fruit, grain, vegetables, cattle, &c., and
+    as it would economize immensely in fuel, number of cooks, and
+    every thing else, it could furnish the cheapest priced board at
+    $60 per annum, the second at $100, and the third at $150. Thus a
+    person who invested $1,000 would be certain of a comfortable
+    room and board for his interest, if he lived economically, and
+    would have whatever he might produce by his labor in addition.
+    He would live, besides, in an elegant edifice surrounded by
+    beautiful fields and gardens.
+
+    "If one-half of the persons taking stock did not wish to enter
+    the Association at first, but to continue their business in the
+    world, reserving the chance of so doing later, they could do so.
+    Experienced and intelligent agriculturists and mechanics would
+    be found to take their places; the buildings would be gradually
+    enlarged, and those who remained out could enter later as they
+    wished. They would receive, however, in the mean time their
+    interest in cash upon their capital. A family with two or three
+    children could enter upon taking from $2,000 to $2,500 worth of
+    stock.
+
+    "We have not space to enter into full details, but we can say
+    that the advantages and economies of combination and Association
+    are so immense, that if four hundred persons would unite, with a
+    capital of $1,000 each, they could establish an Association in
+    which they could produce, by means of economical machinery and
+    other facilities, four times as much by their labor as people do
+    at present, and live far cheaper and better than they now can;
+    or which, in age or in case of misfortune, would always secure
+    them a comfortable home.
+
+    "There are multitudes of persons who could easily withdraw
+    $1,000 from their business and invest it in an establishment of
+    this kind, and secure themselves against any reverses which may
+    later overtake them. In our societies, with their constantly
+    recurring revulsions and ruin, would they not be wise in so
+    doing?"
+
+With this specimen, we trust the imagination of the reader will be
+able to make out an adequate picture of Brisbane's long work in the
+_Tribune_. That work immediately preceded the rush of Young America
+into the Fourier experiments. He was beating the drum from March 1842
+till May 1843; and in the summer of '43, Phalanxes by the dozen were
+on the march for the new world of wealth and harmony.
+
+On the fifth of October 1843, Brisbane entered upon his third
+advance-movement by establishing in New York City, an independent
+paper called THE PHALANX, devoted to the doctrines of Fourier, and
+edited by himself and Osborne Macdaniel. It professed to be a monthly,
+but was published irregularly the latter part of its time. The volume
+we have consists of twenty-three numbers, the first of which is dated
+October 5, 1843, and the last May 28, 1845. In the first number
+Brisbane gives the following condensed statement of practical
+experiments then existing or contemplated, which may be considered the
+results of his previous labors, and especially of his fourteen months
+_reveille_ in the _Tribune_:
+
+    "In Massachusetts, already there are three small Associations,
+    viz., the Roxbury Community near Boston, founded by the Rev.
+    George Ripley; the Hopedale Community, founded by the Rev. Adin
+    Ballou; and the Northampton Community, founded by Prof. Adam and
+    others. These Associations, or Communities, as they are called,
+    differ in many respects from the system of Fourier, but they
+    accept some of his fundamental practical principles, such as
+    joint-stock property in real and movable estate, unity of
+    interests, and united domestic arrangements, instead of living
+    in separate houses with separate interests. None of them have
+    community of property. They have been founded within the last
+    three years, and two of them at least, under the inspiration of
+    Fourier's doctrine.
+
+    "In the state of New York, there are two established on a larger
+    scale than those in Massachusetts: the Jefferson County
+    Industrial Association, at Watertown, founded by A.M. Watson,
+    Esq.; and another in Herkimer and Hamilton Counties (on the
+    line), called the Moorhouse Union, and founded by Mr. Moorhouse.
+    A larger Association, to be called the Ontario Phalanx, is now
+    organizing at Rochester, Monroe County.
+
+    "In Pennsylvania there are several: the principal one is the
+    Sylvan in Pike County, which has been formed by warm friends of
+    the cause from the cities of New York and Albany; Thomas W.
+    Whitley, President, and Horace Greeley, Treasurer. In the same
+    county there is another small Association, called the Social
+    Unity, formed principally of mechanics from New York and
+    Brooklyn. There is a large Association of Germans in McKean
+    County, Pennsylvania, commenced by the Rev. George Ginal of
+    Philadelphia. They own a very extensive tract of land, over
+    30,000 acres we are informed, and are progressing prosperously:
+    the shares, which were originally $100, have been sold and are
+    now held at $200 or more. At Pittsburg steps are taking to
+    establish another.
+
+    "A small Association has been commenced in Bureau County,
+    Illinois, and preparations are making to establish another in
+    Lagrange County, Indiana, which will probably be done this fall,
+    upon quite an extensive scale, as many of the most influential
+    and worthy inhabitants of that section are deeply interested in
+    the cause.
+
+    "In Michigan the doctrine has spread quite widely. An excellent
+    little, paper called _The Future_, devoted exclusively to the
+    cause, published monthly, has been established at Ann Arbor,
+    where an Association is projected to be called the Washtenaw
+    Phalanx.
+
+    "In New Jersey an Association, projected upon a larger scale
+    than any yet started, has just been commenced in Monmouth
+    County: it is to be called the North American Phalanx, and has
+    been undertaken by a company of enterprising gentlemen of the
+    city of Albany.
+
+    "Quite a large number of practical trials are talked of in
+    various sections of the United States, and it is probable that
+    in the course of the next year, numbers will spring into
+    existence. These trials are upon so small a scale, and are
+    commenced with such limited means, that they exhibit but a few
+    of the features of the system. They are, however, very important
+    commencements, and are small beginnings of a reform in some of
+    the most important arrangements of the present social order;
+    particularly its system of isolated households or separate
+    families, its conflicts of interest, and its uncombined and
+    incoherent system of labor."
+
+The most important result of Brisbane's eighteen month's labor in the
+_Phalanx_ was the conversion of Brook Farm to Fourierism. William H.
+Channing's magazine, the _Present_, which commenced nearly at the same
+time with the _Phalanx_, closed its career at the end of seven months,
+and its subscription list was transferred to Brisbane. In the course
+of a year after this, Brook Farm confessed Fourierism, changed its
+constitution, assumed the title of the _Brook Farm Phalanx_, and on
+the 14th of June 1845 commenced publishing the _Harbinger_, as the
+successor of the _Phalanx_ and the heir of its subscription list. So
+that Brisbane's fourth advance was the transfer of the literary
+responsibilities of his cause to Brook Farm. This was a great move. A
+more brilliant attorney could not have been found. The concentrated
+genius of Unitarianism and Transcendentalism was at Brook Farm. It was
+the school that trained most of the writers who have created the
+newspaper and magazine literature of the present time. Their work on
+the _Harbinger_ was their first drill. Fourierism was their first case
+in court. The _Harbinger_ was published weekly, and extended to seven
+and a half semi-annual volumes, five of which were edited and printed
+at Brook Farm, and the last two and a half at New York, but by Brook
+Farm men. Its issues at Brook Farm extend from June 14, 1845 to
+October 30, 1847; and at New York from November 6, 1847 to February
+10, 1849. The _Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_ together cover a period of
+more than five years.
+
+Other periodicals of a more provincial character, and of course a
+great variety of books and pamphlets, were among the issues of the
+Fourier movement; but the main vertebrae of its literature were the
+publications of which we have given account--Brisbane's _Social
+Destiny of Man_, his daily column in the _Tribune_, the monthly
+_Phalanx_, and the weekly _Harbinger_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE PERSONNEL OF FOURIERISM.
+
+
+Albert Brisbane of course was the central man of the brilliant group
+that imported and popularized Fourierism. But the reader will be
+interested to see a full tableau of the persons who were prominent in
+this movement. We will bring them to view by presenting, first, a list
+of the contributors to the _Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_, and secondly, a
+condensed report of one of the National Conventions of the
+Fourierists.
+
+The indexes of the _Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_ (eight volumes in all),
+have at their heads the names of the principal contributors; and their
+initials, in connection with the articles in the indexes, enable us to
+give the number of articles written by each contributor. Thus the
+reader will see at a glance, not only the leading men of the movement,
+but proximately the proportion of influence, or at least of
+literature, that each contributed. Several of the names on this list
+are now of world-wide fame, and many of them have attained eminence
+as historians, essayists, poets, journalists or artists. A few of them
+have reached the van in politics, and gained public station.
+
+WRITERS FOR THE PHALANX AND HARBINGER.
+
+    Names.                           No. of articles.
+    John Allen,                             2
+    Stephen Pearl Andrews,                  1
+    Albert Brisbane,                       56
+    Geo. H. Calvert,                        1
+    Wm. E. Channing,                        1
+    Wm. F. Channing,                        1
+    Wm. H. Channing,                       39
+    Otis Clapp,                             1
+    J. Freeman Clarke,                      1
+    Joseph J. Cooke,                       10
+    Christopher P. Cranch,                  9
+    George W. Curtis,                      10
+    Charles A. Dana,                      248
+    Hugh Doherty,                          11
+    A.J.H. Duganne,                         3
+    John S. Dwight,                       324
+    George G. Foster,                       7
+    Edward Giles,                           3
+    Parke Godwin,                         152
+    E.P. Grant,                             4
+    Horace Greeley,                         2
+    Frederic H. Hedge,                      1
+    T.W. Higginson,                        10
+    E. Ives, Jr.,                           3
+    Henry James,                           32
+    Wm. H. Kimball,                         1
+    Marx E. Lazarus,                       52
+    James Russell Lowell,                   2
+    Osborne Macdaniel,                     47
+    Wm. H. Mueller,                          2
+    C. Neidhardt,                           1
+    D.S. Oliphant,                          1
+    John Orvis,                            23
+    Jean M. Palisse,                       16
+    E.W. Parkman,                           1
+    Mary Spencer Pease,                     1
+    J.H. Pulte,                             1
+    George Ripley,                        315
+    Samuel D. Robbins,                      1
+    Lewis W. Ryckman,                       5
+    J.A. Saxton,                            1
+    James Sellers,                          3
+    Francis G. Shaw,                      131
+    Miss E.A. Starr,                        5
+    W.W. Story,                            14
+    Edmund Tweedy,                          7
+    John G. Whittier,                       1
+    J.J. Garth Wilkinson,                  12
+
+Most of these writers were in the prime of youth, and Socialism was
+their first love. It would be interesting to trace their several
+careers in after time, when acquaintance with "stern reality" put
+another face on their early dream, and turned them aside to other
+pursuits. Certain it is, that the socialistic revival, barren as it
+was in direct fruit, fertilized in many ways the genius of these men,
+and through them the intellect of the nation.
+
+
+NATIONAL CONVENTION.
+
+Report from _The Phalanx_ condensed.
+
+Pursuant to a call published in the _Phalanx_ and other papers, a
+Convention of Associationists assembled on Thursday morning, the 4th
+of April, 1844, at Clinton Hall, in the city of New York.
+
+The following gentlemen were appointed officers of the Convention:
+
+             _President_, George Ripley.
+
+                 _Vice Presidents_,
+
+     A.B. Smolnikar,   Parke Godwin,  Horace Greeley,
+     Charles A. Dana,  A. Brisbane,   Alonzo M. Watson.
+
+                   _Secretaries_,
+
+         Osborne Macdaniel,       D.S. Oliphant.
+
+        _Committee on the Roll and Finance._
+
+    John Allen, James P. Decker, Nathan Comstock, Jr.
+
+                _Business Committee._
+
+     L.W. Ryckman,    John Allen,      Osborne Macdaniel,
+     George Ripley,   Horace Greeley,  Albert Brisbane,
+     Parke Godwin,    James Kay,       Charles A. Dana,
+     W.H. Channing,   A.M. Watson,     Solyman Brown.
+
+Before proceeding to business, the secretary read letters addressed to
+the Convention by a number of societies and individuals in different
+parts of the United States. The style of these letters may be seen in
+a few brief extracts. E.P. Grant wrote:
+
+"The day is speedily coming when justice will be done to Fourier and
+his doctrines; when monuments will rise from ten thousand hills,
+surmounted by his statue in colossal proportions, gazing upon a happy
+people, whose God will be truly the Lord, because they will live in
+spontaneous obedience to his eternal laws."
+
+John White and others wrote:
+
+"We behold in the science of associated industry, a new social
+edifice, of matchless and indescribable beauty, and true architectural
+symmetry! Surely, it must be no other than that 'house not made with
+hands, eternal in the heavens;' for its foundation is justice, and the
+superstructure, praise; in every department of which dwell peace and
+smiling plenty, and whose walls are every where inscribed with
+manifold representations of that highest Divine attribute--love."
+
+H.H. Van Amringe wrote:
+
+"Certainly all creation is a reflex of the mind of the Deity, and we
+cannot hesitate to believe that all the works of Divine wisdom are
+connected, as Fourier teaches, by laws of groups and series of groups.
+To discover these, as observers of nature discover and combine the
+harmonies of astronomy, geology, botany and chemistry, should be our
+aim; and this noble and heavenly employment, while it banishes want
+and misery from our present life--destroying the spiritual death and
+hell which now reign--will, under the Providence of the most High,
+open to us admission into the Kingdom of the Messiah, that the will of
+our Father may be done on earth as it is done in heaven."
+
+And so on. After the reading of the letters, Wm. H. Channing, on
+behalf of the business committee, introduced a series of resolutions,
+prefacing them with a speech in the following vein:
+
+"It is but giving voice to what is working in the hearts of those now
+present, and of thousands whose sympathies are at this moment with us
+over our whole land, to say this is a religious meeting. Our end is to
+do God's will, not our own; to obey the command of Providence, not to
+follow the leadings of human fancies. We stand to-day, as we believe,
+amid the dawn of a new era of humanity; and as from a Pisgah look down
+upon a promised land."
+
+The resolutions (occupying nearly two pages of the _Phalanx_) commence
+with a long preamble of four _Whereases_ about the designs of God in
+regard to universal unity, the call of Christendom and especially of
+the United States to forward these designs, the dreadful state of the
+world, &c., &c. The third resolution proposes Association on Fourier's
+principles of Joint-stockism, Guaranteeism, Combined Industry, Series
+and Groups, &c., as the panacea of human woes. The fourth resolution
+protests against "rash and fragmentary attempts," and advises
+Associationists not to undertake practical operations till they have
+secured the right sort of men and women and plenty of capital. The
+fifth resolution recommends that Associationists concentrate their
+efforts on experiments already commenced, in preference to undertaking
+new enterprises. The sixth resolution betrays a little distrust of
+Fourier, and an inclination to keep a certain independence of him--a
+symptom that the Brook Farm and Unitarian element prevailed in the
+business committee. They say:
+
+"We do not receive all the parts of his theories which in the
+publications of the Fourier school are denominated 'conjectural,'
+because Fourier gives them as speculations, because we do not in all
+respects understand his meaning, and because there are parts which
+individually we reject; and we hold ourselves not only free, but in
+duty bound, to seek and obey truth wherever revealed, in the word of
+God, the reason of humanity, and the order of nature. For these
+reasons we do not call ourselves Fourierists; but desire to be always
+publicly designated as the Associationists of the United States of
+America."
+
+It must be borne in mind, in order to understand this _caveat_, that
+the courtship between the Massachusetts Socialists and the Brisbane
+propagandists, though very warm, had not yet proceeded to coalescence.
+Brook Farm was not yet a "Phalanx," The _Harbinger_ was yet _in
+futuro_. And Fourier's latitudinarian speculations about marriage and
+sexual matters, made a difficulty for men of Puritan blood, that was
+not yet disposed of. In fact this difficulty always made a jar in the
+family of American Fourierists, and probably helped on their disasters
+and hastened their dissolution.
+
+The seventh resolution proposes that measures be taken for forming a
+National Confederation of Associations. The eighth resolution
+expresses a wish for concert of action with the Associationists of
+Europe, and says:
+
+"For this end we hereby appoint Albert Brisbane, representative from
+this body, to confer with them as to the best modes of mutual
+cooperation. And we assure our brethren in Europe that the
+disinterestedness, ability and perseverance with which our
+representative has devoted himself to the promulgation of the doctrine
+of Association in the United States, entitle him to their most
+cordial confidence. Through him we extend to them, with joy and trust,
+the right hand of fellowship; and may heaven soon bless all nations
+with a compact of perpetual peace."
+
+The ninth and last resolution appoints the following gentlemen as an
+executive committee to edit the _Phalanx_, and to do many other things
+for carrying into effect the objects of the Convention:
+
+  Horace Greeley,   Parke Godwin,     James P. Decker,
+  Frederick Grain,  Albert Brisbane,  Wm. H Channing,
+  Edward Giles,     Chas. J. Hempel,  Osborne Macdaniel,
+  Rufus Dawes,      D.S. Oliphant,    Pierre Maroncelli,
+               of the City of New York.
+
+  Solyman Brown, Leraysville Phalanx, Bradford County,
+    Pennsylvania.
+
+  George Ripley, Brook Farm Association, West Roxbury,
+    Massachusetts.
+
+  Alonzo M. Watson, Jefferson County Industrial Association, New
+    York.
+
+  E.P. Grant, Ohio Phalanx, Belmont County, Ohio.
+
+  John White, Cincinnati Phalanx, Cincinnati, Ohio.
+
+  Nathan Starks, North American Phalanx, Monmouth County, New
+    Jersey.
+
+On the second evening of the Convention, Parke Godwin, on behalf of
+the business committee, reported a long address to the people of the
+United States. It is a powerful presentation of all the common-places
+of Fourierism: the defects of present society; organization of the
+townships into joint-stock companies; central unitary mansions and
+workshops; division of labor according to the law of groups and
+series; distribution of profit in the proportion of five-twelfths to
+labor, four-twelfths to capital, and three-twelfths to talent, &c. We
+quote the eloquent and pious conclusion, as a specimen of the whole:
+
+    "An important branch of the divine mission of our Savior Jesus
+    Christ, was to establish the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth. He
+    announced incessantly the practical reign of Divine wisdom and
+    love among all men: and it was a chief aim of all his struggles
+    and teachings to prepare the minds of men for this glorious
+    consummation. He proclaimed the universal brotherhood of
+    mankind; he insisted upon universal justice, and he predicted
+    the triumphs of universal unity. 'Thou shall love,' he said,'the
+    Lord thy God with all thy mind and all thy heart, and all thy
+    soul, and thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments
+    hang all the law and the prophets.' Again: 'If ye love not one
+    another, how can ye be my disciples?' 'I have loved you, that
+    you also may love one another.' 'Ye are all one, as I and my
+    father are one.' Again: he taught us to ask in daily prayer of
+    our Heavenly Father, 'Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on
+    earth as it is in heaven.' Aye, it must be done, actually
+    executed in all the details of life! And again, in the same
+    spirit his disciple said, 'Little children, love one another.'
+    'If you love not man, whom you have seen, how can you love God
+    whom you have not seen?' And in regard to the form which this
+    love should take, the apostle Paul says, 'As the body is one, so
+    also is Christ. For by one spirit we are all baptized into one
+    body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,' &c. 'That there should be
+    no schism (disunity) in the body, but that the members should
+    have the same care one for another; and if one member suffer,
+    all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all
+    the members rejoice with it.' 'Ye are members one of another.'
+
+    "These Divine truths must be translated into actual life. Our
+    relations to each other as men, our business relations among
+    others, must all be instituted according to this law of highest
+    wisdom and love. In Association alone can we find the
+    fulfillment of this duty; and therefore we again insist that
+    Association is the duty of every branch of the universal church.
+    Let its views of points of doctrines be what they may; let it
+    hold to any creed as to the nature of man, or the attributes of
+    God, or the offices of Christ; we say that it can not fully and
+    practically embody the spirit of Christianity out of an
+    organization like that which we have described. It may exhibit,
+    with more or less fidelity, some tenet of a creed, or even some
+    phase of virtue; but it can possess only a type and shadow of
+    that universal unity which is the destiny of the church. But let
+    the church adopt true associative organization, and the
+    blessings so long promised it will be fulfilled. Fourier, among
+    the last words that he wrote, describing the triumph of
+    universal Association, exclaims, 'These are the days of mercy
+    promised in the words of the Redeemer, Blessed are they which do
+    hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be
+    filled.' It is verily in harmony, in Associative unity, that God
+    will manifest to us the immensity of his providence, and that
+    the Savior will come according to his word, in 'all the glory of
+    his Father:' it is the Kingdom of Heaven that comes to us in
+    this terrestrial world; it is the reign of Christ; he has
+    conquered evil. _Christus regnat, vincit, imperat._ Then will
+    the Cross have accomplished its two-fold destiny, that of
+    consolation during the reign of sin, and that of universal
+    banner, when human reason shall have accomplished the task
+    imposed upon it by the Creator. 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of
+    God and his righteousness'--the harmony of the passions in
+    associative unity. Then will the banner of the Cross display
+    with glory its device, the augury of victory, _In Hoc Signo
+    Vinces_; for then it will have conquered evil, conquered the
+    gates of hell, conquered false philosophy and national indigence
+    and spurious civilization; _et portae inferi non prevalebunt_.
+
+    "To the free and Christian people of the United States, then, we
+    commend the principle of Association; we ask that it be fairly
+    sifted; we do not shrink from the most thorough investigation.
+    The peculiar history of this nation convinces us that it has
+    been prepared by Providence for the working out of glorious
+    issues. Its position, its people, its free institutions, all
+    prepare it for the manifestation of a true social order. Its
+    wealth of territory, its distance from the political influences
+    of older and corrupter nations, and above all the general
+    intelligence of its people, alike contribute to fit it for that
+    noble union of freemen which we call Association. That peculiar
+    constitution of government, which, for the first time in the
+    world's career, was established by our Fathers; that signal fact
+    of our national motto, _E Pluribus Unum_, many individuals
+    united in one whole; that beautiful arrangement for combining
+    the most perfect independence of the separate members with
+    complete harmony and strength in the federal heart--is a rude
+    outline and type of the more scientific and more beautiful
+    arrangement which we would introduce into all the relations of
+    man to man. We would give our theory of state rights an
+    application to individual rights. We would bind trade to trade,
+    neighborhood to neighborhood, man to man, by the ties of
+    interest and affection which bind our larger aggregations called
+    States; only we would make the ties holier and more
+    indissoluble. There is nothing impossible in this; there is
+    nothing unpractical! We, who are represented in this Convention
+    have pledged our sleepless energies to its accomplishment. It
+    may cost time, it may cost trouble, it may expose us to
+    misconception and even to abuse; but it must be done. We know
+    that we stand on sure and positive grounds; we know that a
+    better time must come; we know that the hope and heart of
+    humanity is with us--that justice, truth and goodness are with
+    us; we feel that God is with us, and we do not fear the anger of
+    man. _The future is ours--the future is ours._ Our practical
+    plans may seem insignificant, but our moral aim is the grandest
+    that ever elevated human thought. We want the love and wisdom of
+    the Highest to make their daily abode with us; we wish to see
+    all mankind happy and good; we desire to emancipate the human
+    body and the human soul; we long for unity between man and man
+    in true society, between man and nature by the cultivation of
+    the earth, and between man and God, in universal joy and
+    religion."
+
+After this address, Mr. Ripley of Brook Farm made a speech, and Mr.
+Solyman Brown of the Leraysville Phalanx recited "a very beautiful
+pastoral, entitled, A Vision of the Future." Here occurred a little
+episode that brought our old friends of the Owenite wing of Socialism
+on the scene; not, however, altogether harmonically. The report says:
+
+"A delegation of English Socialists, from a society in this city,
+presented itself. The gentlemen composing the delegation, demanded
+seats as members of the Convention. The call of the Convention was
+read, and they were asked if they could unite with the Convention
+according to the terms of the call, as 'friends of Association based
+on the principles of Charles Fourier.' This they said they could not
+do, as they differed with the partisans of Fourier in fundamental
+principles, and particularly in regard to religion and property. They
+held to community of property, and did not accept our views of a
+Providential and Divine social order. They were informed that the
+objects of the Convention were of a special and business character,
+and that a controversy and discussion of principles could not be
+entered into. Their claim to sit as members of the Convention was
+therefore denied: but they were allowed freely to express their
+opinions, and treated with the utmost courtesy, without reply."
+
+Many "admirable addresses" continued to be delivered; among which one
+of Mr. Channing's is mentioned, and one of Charles A. Dana's is
+reported in full. He spoke as the representative of Brook Farm. We
+cull a few broken paragraphs:
+
+"As a member of the oldest Association in the United States, I deem it
+my duty to make some remarks on the practical results of the system.
+We have an Association at Brook Farm, of which I now speak from my own
+experience. We have there abolished domestic servitude. This
+institution of domestic servitude was one of the first considerations;
+it gave one of the first impulses to the movement at Brook Farm. It
+seemed that a continuance in the relations which it established, could
+not possibly be submitted to. It was a deadly sin--a thing to be
+escaped from. Accordingly it was escaped from, and we have now for
+three years lived at Brook Farm and have carried on all the business
+of life without it. At Brook Farm they are all servants of each other;
+no man is master. We do freely, from the love of it, with joy and
+thankfulness, those duties which are usually discharged by domestics.
+The man who performs one of these duties--he who digs a ditch or
+executes any other repulsive work, is not at the foot of the social
+scale; he is at the head of it. Again we have in Association
+established a natural system of education; a system of education which
+does justice to every one; where the children of the poor receive the
+integral development of all their faculties, as far as the means of
+Association in its present condition will permit. Here we claim to
+have made an advance upon civilized society.
+
+"Again, we are able already, not only to assign to manual labor its
+just rank and dignity in the scale of human occupations, but to insure
+to it its just reward. And here also, I think, we may humbly claim
+that we have made some advance upon civilized society. In the best
+society that has ever been in this world, with very small exceptions,
+labor has never had its just reward. Every where the gain is to the
+pocket of the employer. He makes the money. The laborer toils for him
+and is his servant. The interest of the laborer is not consulted in
+the arrangements of industry; but the whole tendency of industry is
+perpetually to disgrace the laborer, to grind him down and reduce his
+wages, and to render deceit and fraud almost necessary for him. And
+all for the benefit of whom? For the benefit of our excellent
+monopolists, our excellent companies, our excellent employers. The
+stream all runs into their pockets, and not one little rill is
+suffered to run into the pockets of those who do the work. Now in
+Association already we have changed all this; we have established a
+true relation between labor and the people, whereby the labor is done,
+not entirely for the benefit of the capitalist, as it is in civilized
+society, but for the mutual benefit of the laborer and the capitalist.
+We are able to distribute the results and advantages which accrue from
+labor in a joint ratio.
+
+"These, then, very briefly and imperfectly stated, are the practical,
+actual results already attained. In the first place we have abolished
+domestic servitude; in the second place, we have secured thorough
+education for all; and in the third place, we have established justice
+to the laborer, and ennobled industry.*** Two or three years ago we
+began our movement at Brook Farm, and propounded these few simple
+propositions, which I say are here proven. All declared it to be a
+scheme of fanaticism. There was universal skepticism. No one believed
+it possible that men could live together in such relations. Society,
+it was said, had always lived in a state of competition and strife
+between man and man; and when told that it was possible to live
+otherwise, no one received the proposition except with scorn and
+ridicule. But in the experience of two or three years, we maintain
+that we have by actual facts, by practical demonstration, proven this,
+viz.: that harmonious relations, relations of love and not of
+selfishness and mutual conflict, relations of truth and not of
+falsehood, relations of justice and not of injustice, are possible
+between man and man."
+
+At noon on Saturday the last resolution was adopted, and the
+Convention was about to adjourn, when Mr. Channing rose and addressed
+the assembly, as follows:
+
+"Mr. President and brother Associationists: We began our meeting with
+calling to mind, as in the presence of God, our solemn privileges and
+responsibilities. We can not part without invoking for ourselves, each
+other, our friends everywhere, and our race, a blessing. It this cause
+in which we are engaged, is one of mere human device, the emanation of
+folly and self, may it utterly fail; it will then utterly fail. But
+if, as we believe, it is of God, and, making allowance for human
+limitations, is in harmony with the Divine will, may it go on, as thus
+it must, conquering and to conquer. Those of us who are active in this
+movement have met, and will meet with suspicion and abuse. It is well!
+well that critical eyes should probe the schemes of Association to the
+core, and if they are evil, lay bare their hidden poison; well that in
+this fiery ordeal the sap of our personal vanities and weaknesses
+should be consumed. We need be anxious but on one account; and that is
+lest we be unworthy of this sublime reform. Who are we, that we should
+have the honor of giving our lives to this grandest of all possible
+human endeavors, the establishment of universal unity, of the reign of
+heaven on earth? Truly 'out of the mouths of babes and sucklings has
+the Lord ordained strength.' Kings and holy men have desired to see
+the things we see, and have not been able. Let our desire be, that our
+imperfections, our unfaithfulness, do not hinder the progress of love
+and truth and joy."
+
+The Convention then united in prayer, and parted with the benediction,
+"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward
+men."
+
+But this was not the end. That last day of the Convention was also the
+anniversary of Fourier's birthday, and in the evening the members held
+a festival at the Apollo Saloon. "The repast was plain and simple, but
+the intellectual feast and the social communion were delightful." The
+regular toasts, announced and probably prepared by Mr. Channing, were
+to the memory of Fourier, and to each of the twelve passions which,
+according to Fourier, constitute the active forces of human nature.
+"Soul-stirring speeches" followed each toast. Mr. Dana responded to
+the toast for friendship, and at the close of his speech Mr. Macdaniel
+proposed that the toast be repeated with clasped hands. "This
+proposition was instantly accepted, and with a burst of enthusiasm
+every man rose, and locking hands all round the table, the toast was
+repeated by the whole company, producing an electric thrill of emotion
+through every nerve."
+
+Mr. Godwin compared the present prospects of Association to the tokens
+of approaching land which cheered the drooping spirits of the crew of
+Columbus. The friends from Brook Farm were the birds, and those from
+other places the flowers that floated on the waves.
+
+Mr. Ripley said, "Our friend has compared us to birds. Well, it is
+true we have a good deal of singing, though not a great deal to eat;
+and we have very small nests. (Laughter.) Our most appropriate emblem
+is the not very beautiful or magnificent, but the very useful and
+respectable barn-yard fowl! for we all have to scratch for a living!
+
+"Mr. Brisbane pronounced an enthusiastic and hearty tribute of his
+gratitude, esteem and respect for Horace Greeley, for the manly,
+independent, and generous support he had given to the cause from its
+infancy to the present day; and closed by saying--
+
+"He (Mr. Greeley), has done for us what we never could have done. He
+has created the cause on this continent. He has done the work of a
+century. Well then, I will give [as a toast], 'One Continent and One
+Man!'"
+
+Mr. Greeley returned his grateful thanks for what he said was the
+extravagant eulogium of his partial friend, and continued:
+
+"When I took up this cause, I knew that I went in the teeth of many of
+my patrons, in the teeth of prejudices of the great mass, in the teeth
+of religious prejudices; for I confess I had a great many more
+clergymen on my list before, than I have now, as I am sorry to say,
+for had they kept on, I think I could have done them a little good.
+(Laughter.) But in the face of all this, in the face of constant
+advices, 'Don't have any thing to do with that Mr. Brisbane,' I went
+on. 'Oh!' said many of my friends, 'consider your position--consider
+your influence.' 'Well,' said I, 'I shall endeavor to do so, but I
+must try to do some good in the meantime, or else what is the use of
+the influence.' (Cheers.) And thus I have gone on, pursuing a manly
+and at the same time a circumspect course, treading wantonly on no
+man's prejudice, telling on the contrary, universal man, I will defer
+to your prejudices, as far as I can consistently with duty; but when
+duty leads me, you must excuse my stepping on your corn, if it be in
+the way." (Cheers.)
+
+And so they went on with toasts and speeches and letters from
+distinguished outsiders--one, by the way, from Archbishop Hughes,
+courteously declining an invitation to attend--till the twelve
+o'clock bell warned them of the advent of holy time, and so they
+separated.
+
+A notable thing in this great demonstration was the intense
+_religious_ element that pervaded it. The Convention was opened and
+closed with prayers and Christian doxologies. The letters and
+addresses abounded in quotations from scripture, always laboring to
+identify Fourierism with Christianity. Even the jollities of the
+festival at the Apollo Saloon could not commence till a blessing had
+been asked.
+
+These manifestations of religious feeling were mainly due to the
+presence of the Massachusetts men, and especially to the zeal of
+William H. Channing. He never forgot his religion in his enthusiasm
+for Socialism.
+
+It would be easy to ridicule the fervor and assurance of the actors in
+this enthusiastic drama, by comparing their hopes and predictions with
+the results. But for our part we hold that the hopes and predictions
+were true, and the results were liars. Mistakes were made as to the
+time and manner of the blessings foreseen, as they have been made many
+times before and since: but the inspiration did not lie.
+
+We have had a long succession of such enthusiasms in this country.
+First of all and mother of all, was the series of Revivals under
+Edwards, Nettleton and Finney, in every paroxysm of which the
+Millennium seemed to be at the door. Then came Perfectionism,
+rapturously affirming that the Millennium had already begun. Then came
+Millerism, reproducing all the excitements and hopes that agitated the
+Primitive Church just before the Second Advent. Very nearly coincident
+with the crisis of this last enthusiasm in 1843, came this Fourier
+revival, with the same confident predictions of the coming of
+Christ's kingdom, and the same mistakes as to time and manner. Since
+then Spiritualism has gone through the same experience of brilliant
+prophecies and practical failures. We hold that all these enthusiasms
+are manifestations, in varied phase, of one great afflatus, that takes
+its time for fulfillment more leisurely than suits the ardor of its
+mediums, but inspires them with heart-prophecies of the good time
+coming, that are true and sure.
+
+
+HORACE GREELEY'S POSITION.
+
+The reader will observe that in the final passage of compliments
+between Messrs. Brisbane and Greeley at the Apollo festival, there is
+a clear answer to the question, Who was next in rank after Brisbane in
+the propagation of Fourierism in this country? As there is much
+confusion in the public memory on this important point in the
+_personnel_ of Fourierism, we will here make a note of the principal
+facts in the Fourieristic history of the _Tribune_:
+
+A prominent New England journal in an elaborate obituary on the late
+Henry J. Raymond, after mentioning that he was an efficient assistant
+of Mr. Greeley on the _Tribune_, from the commencement of that paper
+in 1841 till he withdrew and took service on the _Courier and
+Enquirer_, went on to say:
+
+"It was at the time of Mr. Raymond's withdrawal from it, that the
+_Tribune_, which was speedily joined by George Ripley and Charles A.
+Dana, fresh from Brook Farm, had its Fourieristic phase."
+
+The mistakes in this paragraph are remarkable, and ought not to be
+allowed any chance of getting into history.
+
+In the first place Ripley and Dana did not thus immediately succeed
+Raymond on the _Tribune_. The American Cyclopaedia says that Raymond
+left the _Tribune_ and joined Webb on the _Courier and Enquirer_ in
+1843. But Ripley and Dana retained their connection with Brook Farm
+till October 30, 1847, and continued to edit the _Harbinger_ in New
+York till February 10, 1849, as we know by the files of that paper in
+our possession. They could not have joined the _Tribune_ before the
+first of these dates, and probably did not till after the last; so
+that there was an interval of from three to six years between
+Raymond's leaving and their joining the _Tribune_.
+
+But the most important error of the above quoted paragraph is its
+implication that the "Fourieristic phase" of the _Tribune_ was after
+Raymond left it, and was owing to the advent of Ripley and Dana "fresh
+from Brook Farm." The truth is, that the _Tribune_ had become the
+organ of Mr. Brisbane, the importer of Fourierism, in March 1842, less
+than a year from its commencement (which was on April 10, 1841); and
+of course had its "Fourieristic phase" while Raymond was employed on
+it, and in fact before Ripley and Dana had been converted to
+Fourierism. Brook Farm, be it ever remembered, was originally an
+independent Yankee experiment, started in 1841 by the suggestion of
+Dr. Channing, and did not accept Fourierism till the winter of 1843-4.
+During the entire period of Brisbane's promulgations in the _Tribune_,
+which lasted more than a year, and which manifestly caused the great
+Fourier excitement of 1843, Brook Farm had nothing to do with
+Fourierism, except as it was being carried away with the rest of the
+world, by Brisbane and the _Tribune_. Thus it is certain that Ripley
+and Dana did not bring Fourierism into the _Tribune_, but on the
+contrary received Fourierism from the _Tribune_, during the very
+period when Raymond was assisting Greeley. When they joined the
+_Tribune_ in 1847-9, Fourierism was in the last stages of defeat, and
+the most that they or Greeley or any body else did for it after that,
+was to help its retreat into decent oblivion.
+
+The obituary writer probably fell into these mistakes by imagining
+that the controversy between Greeley and Raymond, which occurred in
+1846, while Raymond was employed on the _Courier and Enquirer_, was
+the principal "Fourieristic phase" of the _Tribune_. But this was
+really an after-affair, in which Greeley fought on the defensive as
+the rear-guard of Fourierism in its failing fortunes; and even this
+controversy took place before Brook Farm broke up; so that Ripley and
+Dana had nothing to do with it.
+
+The credit or responsibility for the original promulgation of
+Fourierism through the _Tribune_, of course does not belong to Mr.
+Raymond; though he was at the time (1842) Mr. Greeley's assistant. But
+neither must it be put upon Messrs. Ripley and Dana. It belongs
+exclusively to Horace Greeley. He clearly was Brisbane's other and
+better half in the propagation of Fourierism. For practical devotion,
+we judge that he deserves even the _first_ place on the roll of honor.
+We doubt whether Brisbane himself ever pledged his property to
+Association, as Greeley did in the following address, published in the
+_Harbinger_, October 25, 1845:
+
+    "As one Associationist who has given his efforts and means freely
+    to the cause, I feel that I have a right to speak frankly. I know
+    that the great number of our believers are far from wealthy; yet
+    I know that there is wealth enough in our ranks, if it were but
+    devoted to it, to give an instant and resistless influence to the
+    cause. A few thousand dollars subscribed to the stock of each
+    existing Association would in most cases extinguish the mortgages
+    on its property, provide it with machinery and materials, and
+    render its industry immediately productive and profitable. Then
+    manufacturing invention and skill would fearlessly take up their
+    abode with our infant colonies; labor and thrift would flow
+    thither, and a new and brighter era would dawn upon them. Fellow
+    Associationists! _I_ shall do whatever I can for the promotion of
+    our common cause; to it whatever I have or may hereafter acquire
+    of pecuniary ability is devoted: may I not hope for a like
+    devotion from you?
+
+                                                      "H.G."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE SYLVANIA ASSOCIATION.
+
+
+This was the first of the PHALANXES. The North American was the last.
+These two had the distinction of metropolitan origin; both being
+colonies sent forth by the socialistic schools of New York and Albany.
+The North American appears to have been Mr. Brisbane's _protege_, if
+he had any. Mr. Greeley seems to have attached himself to the
+Sylvania. His name is on its list of officers, and he gives an account
+of it in his "Recollections," as one of the two Phalanxes that issued
+from New York City. In the following sketch we give the rose-color
+first, and the shady side afterward. Indeed this will be our general
+method of making up the memoirs of the Phalanxes.
+
+The first number of Brisbane's paper, the _Phalanx_, (October 5, 1843)
+gives the following account of the Sylvania:
+
+    "This Association has been formed by warm friends of the cause
+    from the cities of New York and Albany. Thomas W. Whitley is
+    President, and Horace Greeley, Treasurer. Operations were
+    commenced in May last, and have already proved incontestably the
+    great advantages of Association; having thus far more than
+    fulfilled the most sanguine hopes of success of those engaged
+    in the enterprise. Temporary buildings have been erected, and
+    the foundation laid of a large edifice; a great deal of land has
+    been cleared, and a saw- and grist-mill on the premises when
+    purchased, have been put in excellent repair; several branches
+    of industry, shoe-making particularly, have been established,
+    and the whole concern is now in full operation. Upwards of one
+    hundred and fifty persons, men, women and children, are on the
+    domain, all contented and happy, and much gratified with their
+    new mode of life, which is new to most of the members as a
+    country residence, as well as an associated household; for
+    nearly all the mechanics formerly resided in cities, New York
+    and Albany principally. In future numbers we will give more
+    detailed accounts of this enterprising little Association. The
+    following is a description of its location and soil:
+
+    "The Sylvania domain consists of 2,300 acres of arable land,
+    situated in the township of Lackawaxen, County of Pike, State of
+    Pennsylvania. It lies on the Delaware river, at the mouth of the
+    Lackawaxen creek, fourteen miles from Milford, about eighty-five
+    miles in a straight line west by north of New York City (by
+    stage route ninety-four, and by New York and Erie Railroad to
+    Middletown, one hundred and ten miles; seventy-four of which are
+    now traversed by railroad). The railroad will certainly be
+    carried to Port Jervis, on the Delaware, only fifteen miles
+    below the domain; certainly if the Legislature of the State will
+    permit. The Delaware and Hudson Canal now passes up the Delaware
+    directly across from the domain, affording an unbroken water
+    communication with New York City; and the turnpike from Milford,
+    Pennsylvania, to Owego, New York, bounds on the south the lands
+    of the Association, and crosses the Delaware by a bridge about
+    one mile from the dwellings. The domain may be said, not very
+    precisely, to be bounded by the Delaware on the north, the
+    Lackawaxen on the west, the Shoholy on the east, and the
+    turnpike on the south.
+
+    "The soil of the domain is a deep loam, well calculated for
+    tillage and grazing. About one hundred acres had been cleared
+    before the Association took possession of it; the remainder is
+    thinly covered with the primitive forest; the larger trees
+    having been cut off of a good part of it for timber. Much of it
+    can be cleared at a cost of six dollars per acre. Abundance of
+    timber remains on it for all purposes of the Association. The
+    land lies in gentle sloping ridges, with valleys between, and
+    wide, level tables at the top. The general inclination is to the
+    east and south. There are very few acres which can not be plowed
+    after clearing.
+
+    "Application for membership, to be made (by letter, post paid),
+    to Thomas W. Whitley, Esq., President, or to Horace Greeley,
+    Esq., New York."
+
+The Executive officers issued a pamphlet soon after the commencement
+of operations, from which we extract the following:
+
+    "This Association was formed early in 1843, by a few citizens of
+    New York, mainly mechanics, who, deeply impressed with the
+    present defective, vice-engendering and ruinous system of
+    society, with the wasteful complication of its isolated
+    households, its destructive competition and anarchy in industry,
+    its constraint of millions to idleness and consequent dependence
+    or famine for want of employment, and its failure to secure
+    education and development to the children growing up all around
+    and among us in ignorance and vice, were impelled to immediate
+    and energetic action in resistance to these manifold and mighty
+    evils. Having earnestly studied the system of industrial
+    organization and social reform propounded by Charles Fourier,
+    and been led to recognize in it a beneficent, expensive and
+    practical plan for the melioration of the condition of man and
+    his moral and intellectual elevation, they most heartily adopted
+    that system as the basis and guide of their operations. Holding
+    meetings from time to time, and through the press informing the
+    public of their enterprise and its objects, their numbers
+    steadily increased; their organization was perfected;
+    explorations with a view to the selection of a domain were
+    directed and made; and in the last week of April a location was
+    finally determined on and its purchase effected. During the
+    first week in May, a pioneer division of some forty persons
+    entered upon the possession and improvement of the land. Their
+    number has since been increased to nearly sixty, of whom over
+    forty are men, generally young or in the prime of life, and all
+    recognizing labor as the true and noble destiny on earth. The
+    Sylvania Association is the first attempt in North America to
+    realize in practice the vast economies, intellectual advantages
+    and such enjoyments resulting from Fourier's system.
+
+    "Any person may become a stockholder by subscribing for not less
+    than one share ($25); but the council, having as yet its
+    head-quarters in New York, is necessarily entrusted with power
+    to determine at what time and in what order subscribers and
+    their families can be admitted to resident membership on the
+    domain. Those who are judged best calculated to facilitate the
+    progress of the enterprise must be preferred; those with large
+    families unable to labor must await the construction of
+    buildings for their proper accommodation; while such as shall,
+    on critical inquiry, be found of unfit moral character or
+    debasing habits, can not be admitted at all. This, however, will
+    nowise interfere with their ownership in the domain; they will
+    be promptly paid the dividends on their stock, whenever
+    declared, the same as resident members.
+
+    "The enterprise here undertaken, however humble in its origin,
+    commends itself to the respect of the skeptical and the generous
+    cooperation of the philanthropic. Its consequences, should
+    success (as we can not doubt it will) crown our exertions, must
+    be far-reaching, beneficent, unbounded. It aims at no
+    aggrandizement of individuals, no upbuilding or overthrow of
+    sect or party, but at the founding of a new, more trustful, more
+    benignant relationship between capital and labor, removing
+    discord, jealousy and hatred, and replacing them by concord,
+    confidence and mutual advantage. The end aimed at is the
+    emancipation of the mass; of the depressed toiling millions, the
+    slaves of necessity and wretchedness, of hunger and constrained
+    idleness, of ignorance, drunkenness and vice; and their
+    elevation to independence, moral and intellectual development;
+    in short, to a true and hopeful manhood. This enterprise now
+    appeals to the lovers of the human race for aid; not for
+    praises, votes or alms, but for cooperation in rendering its
+    triumph signal and speedy. It asks of the opulent and the
+    generous, subscriptions to its stock, in order that its lands
+    may be promptly cleared and improved, its buildings erected,
+    &c.; as they must be far more slowly, if the resident members
+    must devote their energies at once and henceforth to the
+    providing, under the most unfavorable circumstances, of the
+    entire means of their own subsistence. Subscriptions are
+    solicited, at the office of the Association, 25 Pine street,
+    third story.
+
+    "THOS. W. WHITLEY, President; J.D. PIERSON, Vice President;
+    HORACE GREELEY, Treasurer; J.T.S. SMITH, Secretary."
+
+After this discourse, the pamphlet presents a constitution, by-laws,
+bill of rights, &c., which are not essentially different from scores
+of joint-stock documents which we find, not only in the records of the
+Fourier epoch, but scattered all along back through the times of
+Owenism. The truth is, the paper constitutions of nearly all the
+American experiments, show that the experimenters fell to work, only
+under the _impulse_, not under the _instructions_, of the European
+masters. Yankee tinkering is visible in all of them. They all are shy,
+on the one hand, of Owen's flat Communism (as indeed Owen himself
+was,) and on the other, of Fourier's impracticable account-keeping and
+venturesome theories of "passional equilibrium." The result is, that
+they are all very much alike, and may all be classed together as
+attempts to solve the problem, How to construct a _home_ on the
+joint-stock principle; which is much like the problem, How to eat your
+cake and keep it too.
+
+For the shady side, Macdonald gives us a Dialogue which, he says, was
+written by a gentleman who was a member of the Sylvania Association
+from beginning to end. It is not very artistic, but shrewd and
+interesting. We print it without important alteration. The curious
+reader will find entertainment in comparing its descriptions of the
+Sylvania domain with those given in the official documents above. In
+this case as in many others, views taken before and after trial, are
+as different as summer and winter landscapes.
+
+
+TALK ABOUT THE SYLVANIA ASSOCIATION.
+
+_B._--Good morning, Mr. A. I perceive you are busy among your papers.
+I hope we do not disturb you?
+
+_A._--Not in the least, sir. I am much pleased to meet you.
+
+_B._--I wish to introduce to you my friend Mr. C. He is anxious to
+learn something concerning the experiment in which you were engaged in
+Pike County, Pennsylvania, and I presumed that you would be willing to
+furnish him with the desired information.
+
+_A._--I suppose, Mr. C., like many others, you are doubtful about the
+correctness of the reports you have heard concerning these
+Associations.
+
+_C._--Yes, sir: but I am endeavoring to discover the truth, and
+particularly in relation to the causes which produce so many failures.
+I find thus far in my investigations, that the difficulties which all
+Associations have to contend with, are very similar in their
+character. Pray, sir, how and where did the Sylvania Association
+originate?
+
+_A._--It originated partly in New York City and partly in Albany, in
+the winter of 1842-3. We first held meetings in Albany, and agitated
+the subject of Socialism till we formed an Association. Our original
+object was to read and explain the doctrines of Charles Fourier, the
+French Socialist; to have lectures delivered, and arouse public
+attention to the consideration of those social questions which
+appeared to us, in our new-born zeal, to have an important bearing
+upon the present, and more especially upon the future welfare of the
+human family. In this we partly succeeded, and had arrived at the
+point where it appeared necessary for us to think of practically
+carrying out those splendid views which we had hitherto been dreaming
+and talking about. Hearing of a similar movement going on in New York
+City, we communicated with them and ascertained that they thought
+precisely as we did concerning immediate and practical operations.
+After several communications the two bodies united, with a
+determination to vent their enthusiasm upon the land. Our New York
+friends appointed a committee of three persons to select a desirable
+location, and report at the next meeting of the Society.
+
+_C._--What were the qualifications of the men who were appointed to
+select the location? I think this very important.
+
+_A._--One was a landscape painter, another an industrious cooper, and
+the third was a homoeopathic doctor!
+
+_C._--And not a farmer among them! Well, this must have been a great
+mistake. At what season did they go to examine the country?
+
+_A._--I think it was in March; I am sure it was before the snow was
+off the ground.
+
+_C._--How unhappy are the working classes in having so little
+patience. Every thing they attempt seems to fail because they will not
+wait the right time. Had you any capitalists among you?
+
+_A._--No; they were principally working people, brought up to a city
+life.
+
+_C._--But you encouraged capitalists to join your society?
+
+_A._--Our constitution provided for them as well as laborers. We
+wished to combine capital and labor, according to the theory laid down
+by Charles Fourier.
+
+_C._--Was his theory the society's practice?
+
+_A._--No; there was infinite difference between his theory and our
+practice. This is generally the case in such movements, and invariably
+produces disappointment and unhappiness.
+
+_C._--Does this not result from ignorance of the principles, or a want
+of faith in them?
+
+_A._--To some extent it does. If human beings were passive bodies, and
+we could place them just where we pleased, we might so arrange them
+that their actions would be harmonious. But they are not so. We are
+active beings; and the Sylvanians were not only very active, but were
+collected from a variety of situations least likely to produce
+harmonious beings. If we knew mathematically the laws which regulate
+the actions of human beings, it is possible we might place all men in
+true relation to each other.
+
+_C._--Working people seem to know no patience other than that of
+enduring the everlasting toil to which they are brought up. But about
+the committee which you say consisted of an artist, mechanic and a
+doctor; what report did they make concerning the land?
+
+_A._--They reported favorably of a section of land in Pike County,
+Pennsylvania, consisting of about 2,394 acres, partly wooded with
+yellow pine and small oak trees, with a soil of yellow loam without
+lime. It was well watered, had an undulating surface, and was said to
+be elevated fifteen hundred feet above the Hudson river. To reach it
+from New York and Albany, we had to take our things first to Rondout
+on the Hudson, and thence by canal to Lackawanna; then five miles up
+hill on a bad stony road. [In the description on p. 234 the canal is
+said to be "_directly across from the domain_."] There was plenty of
+stone for building purposes lying all over the land. The soil being
+covered with snow, the committee did not see it, but from the small
+size of the trees, they probably judged it would be easily cleared,
+which would be a great advantage to city-choppers. Nine thousand
+dollars was the price demanded for this place, and the society
+concluded to take it.
+
+_C._--What improvements were upon it, and what were the conditions of
+sale?
+
+_A._--There were about thirty acres planted with rye, which grain, I
+understood, had been successively planted upon it for six years
+without any manure. This was taken as a proof of the strength of the
+soil; but when we reaped, we were compelled to rake for ten yards on
+each side of the spot where we intended to make the bundle, before we
+had sufficient to tie together. There were three old houses on the
+place; a good barn and cow-shed; a grist-mill without machinery, with
+a good stream for water-power; an old saw-mill, with a very
+indifferent water-wheel. These, together with several skeletons of
+what had once been horses, constituted the stock and improvements. We
+were to pay $1,000 down in cash; the owner was to put in $1,000 as
+stock, and the balance was to be paid by annual instalments.
+
+_C._--How much stock did the members take?
+
+_A._--To state the exact amount would be somewhat difficult; for some
+who subscribed liberally at first, withdrew their subscriptions, while
+others increased them. On examining my papers, I reckon that in Albany
+there were about $4,500 subscribed in money and useful articles for
+mechanical and other purposes. In New York I should estimate that
+about $6,000 were subscribed in like proportions.
+
+_C._--When did the members proceed to the domain, and how did they
+progress there?
+
+_A._--They left New York and Albany for the domain about the beginning
+of May; and I find from a table I kept of the number of persons, with
+their ages, sex and occupations, that in the following August there
+were on the place twenty-eight married men, twenty-seven married
+women, twenty-four single young men, six single young women, and
+fifty-one children; making a total of one hundred and thirty-six
+individuals. These had to be closely packed in three very indifferent
+two-story frame houses. The upper story of the grist-mill was devoted
+to as many as could sleep there. These arrangements very soon brought
+trouble. Children with every variety of temper and habits, were
+brought in close contact, without any previous training to prepare
+them for it. Parents, each with his or her peculiar character and mode
+of educating children, long used to very different accommodations,
+were brought here and literally compelled to live like a herd of
+animals. Some thought their children would be taken and cared for by
+the society, as its own family; while others claimed and practiced the
+right to procure for their children all the little indulgences they
+had been used to. Thus jealousies and ill-feelings were created, and
+in place of that self-sacrifice and zealous support of the
+constitution and officers, to which they were all pledged (I have no
+doubt by some in ignorance), there was a total disregard of all
+discipline, and a determination in each to have the biggest share of
+all things going, except hard labor, which was very unpopular with a
+certain class. Aside from the above, had we been carefully selected
+from families in each city, and had we been found capable of giving up
+our individual preferences to accomplish the glorious object we had in
+view, what had we to experiment upon? In my opinion, a barren
+wilderness; not giving the slightest prospect that it would ever
+generously yield a return for the great sacrifices we were making upon
+it. The land was cold and sterile, apparently incapable of supporting
+the stunted pines which looked like a vast collection of barbers'
+poles upon its surface. I will give you one or two illustrations of
+the quality of the soil: We cut and cleared four and a half acres of
+what we thought might be productive soil; and after having plowed and
+cross-plowed it, we sowed it with buckwheat. When the crop was drawn
+into the barn and threshed, it yielded eleven and a-half bushels.
+Again, we toiled hard, clearing the brush and picking up the stones
+from seventeen acres of new land: we plowed it three different ways,
+and then sowed and harrowed it with great care. When the product was
+reaped and threshed, it did not yield more than the quantity of seed
+planted. Such experiences as these made me look upon the whole
+operation as a suicidal affair, blasting forever the hopes and
+aspirations of the few noble spirits who tried so hard to establish in
+practice, the vision they had seen for years.
+
+_C._--How long did the Association remain on the place?
+
+_A._--About a year and a half, and then it was abandoned as rapidly as
+it was settled.
+
+_C._--They made improvements while there. What were they, and who got
+them when the society left?
+
+_A._--We cleared over one hundred acres and fenced it in; built a
+large frame-house forty feet by forty, three stories high; also a
+two-story carpenter's-shop, and a new wagon-house. We repaired the dam
+and saw-mill, and made other improvements which I can not now
+particularize. These improvements went to the original owner, who had
+already received two thousand dollars on the purchase; and (as he
+expressed it) he generously agreed to take the land back, with the
+improvements, and release the trustees from all further obligations!
+
+_C._--It appears to me that your society, like many others, lacked a
+sufficient amount of intelligence, or they never would have sent such
+a committee to select a domain; and after the domain was selected,
+sent so many persons to live upon it so soon. Your means were totally
+inadequate to carry out the undertaking, and you had by far too many
+children upon the domain. There should have been no children sent
+there, until ample means had been secured for their care and education
+under the superintendence of competent persons.
+
+_A._--It is difficult to get any but married men and women to endure
+the hardships consequent on such an experiment. Single young men,
+unless under some military control, have not the perseverance of
+married men.
+
+_C._--But the children! What have you to say of them?
+
+_A._--I am not capable of debating that question just now; but I am
+satisfied that a very different course from the one we tried must be
+pursued. Better land and more capital must be obtained, and a greater
+degree of intelligence and subordination must pervade the people,
+before a Community can be successful.
+
+Macdonald moralizes as usual on the failure. The following is the
+substance of his funeral sermon:
+
+    "There were too many children on the place, their number being
+    fifty-one to eighty-five adults. Some persons went there very
+    poor, in fact without anything, and came away in a better
+    condition; while others took all they could with them, and came
+    back poor. Young men, it is stated, wasted the good things at
+    the commencement of the experiment; and besides victuals,
+    dry-goods supplied by the Association were unequally obtained.
+    Idle and greedy people find their way into such attempts, and
+    soon show forth their character by burdening others with too
+    much labor, and, in times of scarcity, supplying themselves with
+    more than their allowance of various articles, instead of taking
+    less.
+
+    "Where such a failure as this occurs, many persons are apt to
+    throw the blame upon particular individuals as well as on the
+    principles; but in this case, I believe, nearly all connected
+    with it agree that the inferior land and location was the
+    fundamental cause of ill success.
+
+    "It was a loss to nearly all engaged in it. Those who subscribed
+    and did not go, lost their shares; and those who subscribed and
+    did go, lost their valuable time as well as their shares. The
+    sufferers were in error, and were led into the experiment by
+    others, who were likewise in error. Working men left their
+    situations, some good and some bad, and, in their enthusiasm,
+    expected, not only to improve their own condition, but the
+    condition of mankind. They fought the fight and were defeated.
+    Some were so badly wounded that it took them many years to
+    recover; while others, more fortunate, speedily regained their
+    former positions, and now thrive well in the world again. The
+    capital expended on this experiment was estimated at $14,000."
+
+The exact date at which the Sylvania dissolved is not given in
+Macdonald's papers, but the _Phalanx_ of August 10, 1844, indicates in
+the following paragraph, that it was dying at that time:
+
+    "We are requested to state that the Sylvania Association, having
+    become satisfied of its inability to contend successfully
+    against an ungrateful soil and ungenial climate, which
+    unfortunately characterize the domain on which it settled, has
+    determined on a dissolution. Other reasons also influence this
+    step, but these, and the fact that the domain is located in a
+    thinly inhabited region, cut off almost entirely from a market
+    for its surplus productions, are the prominent reasons. A
+    grievous mistake was made by those engaged in this enterprise,
+    in the selection of a domain; but as a report on the matter is
+    forthcoming, we shall say no more at present."
+
+It is evident enough that this was not Fourierism. Indeed, Mr. A., the
+respondent in the Dialogue, frankly admits, for himself and doubtless
+for his associates, that their doings had in them no semblance of
+Fourierism. But then the same may be said, without much modification,
+of all the experiments of the Fourier epoch. Fourier himself would
+have utterly disowned every one of them. We have seen that he
+vehemently protested against an experiment in France, which had a cash
+basis of one hundred thousand dollars, and the advantage of his own
+possible presence and administration. Much more would he have refused
+responsibility for the whole brood of unscientific and starveling
+"picnics," that followed Brisbane's excitations.
+
+Here then arises a distinction between Fourierism as a theory
+propounded by Fourier, and Fourierism as a practical movement
+administered in this country by Brisbane and Greeley. The constitution
+of a country is one thing; the government is another. Fourier
+furnished constitutional principles; Brisbane was the working
+President of the administration. We must not judge Fourier's theory by
+Brisbane's execution. We can not conclude or safely imagine, from the
+actual events under Brisbane's administration, what would have been
+the course of things, if Fourier himself had been President of the
+American movement. It might have been worse; or it might have been
+better. It certainly would not have been the same; for Brisbane was a
+very different man from Fourier. For one thing, Fourier was
+practically a cautious man; while Brisbane was a young enthusiast.
+Again, Fourier was a poor man and a worker; while Brisbane was a
+capitalist. Our impression also is, that Fourier was more religious
+than Brisbane. From these differences we might conjecture, that
+Fourier would not have succeeded so well as Brisbane did, in getting
+up a vast and swift excitement; but would have conducted his
+operations to a safer end. At all events, it is unfair to judge the
+French theory by the American movement under Brisbane. The value of
+Fourier's ideas is not determined, nor the hope of good from them
+foreclosed, merely by the disasters of these local experiments.
+
+And, to deal fairly all round, it must further be said, that it is not
+right to judge Brisbane by such experiments as that of the Sylvania
+Association. Let it be remembered that, with all his enthusiasm, he
+gave warning from time to time in his publications of the
+deficiencies and possible failures of these hybrid ventures; and was
+cautious enough to keep himself and his money out of them. We have not
+found his name in connection with any of the experiments, except the
+North American Phalanx; and he appears never to have been a member
+even of that; but only was recommended for its presidency by the
+Fourier Association of New York, which was a sort of mother to it.
+
+What then shall we say of the rank-and-file that formed themselves
+into Phalanxes and marched into the wilderness to the music of
+Fourierism? Multitudes of them, like the poor Sylvanians, lost their
+all in the battle. To them it was no mere matter of theory or pleasant
+propagandism, but a miserable "Bull Run." And surely there was a great
+mistake somewhere. Who was responsible for the enormous miscalculation
+of times, and forces, and capabilities of human nature, that is
+manifest in the universal disaster of the experiments? Shall we clear
+the generals, and leave the poor soldiers to be called volunteer
+fools, without the comfort even of being in good company?
+
+After looking the whole case over again, we propose the following
+distribution of criticism:
+
+1. Fourier, though not responsible for Brisbane's administration, was
+responsible for tantalizing the world with a magnificent theory,
+without providing the means of translating it into practice. Christ
+and Paul did no such thing. They kept their theory in the back-ground,
+and laid out their strength mainly on execution. The mistake of all
+"our incomparable masters" of the French school, seems to have been in
+imagining that a supreme genius is required for developing a theory,
+but the experimenting and execution may be left to second-rate men.
+One would think that the example of their first Napoleon might have
+taught them, that the place of the supreme genius is at the head of
+the army of execution and in the front of the battle with facts.
+
+2. Brisbane, though not altogether responsible for the inadequate
+attempts of the poor Sylvanians and the rest of the rabble volunteers,
+must be blamed for spending all his energy in drumming and recruiting;
+while, to insure success, he should have given at least half his time
+to drilling the soldiers and leading them in actual battle. One
+example of Fourierism, carried through to splendid realization, would
+have done infinitely more for the cause in the long run, than all his
+translations and publications. As Fourier's fault was devotion to
+theory, Brisbane's fault was devotion to propagandism.
+
+3. The rank-and-file, as they were strictly volunteers, should have
+taken better care of themselves, and not been so ready to follow and
+even rush ahead of leaders, who were thus manifestly devoting
+themselves to theorizing and propagandism without experience.
+
+It may be a consolation to all concerned--officers, privates, and
+far-off spectators of the great "Bull Run" of Fourierism--that the
+cause of Socialism has outlived that battle, and has learned from it,
+not despair, but wisdom. We have found by it at least _what can not be
+done_. As Owenism, with all its disasters, prepared the way for
+Fourierism, so we may hope that Fourierism, with all its disasters,
+has prepared the way for a third and perhaps final socialistic
+movement. Every lesson of the past will enter into the triumph of the
+future.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+OTHER PENNSYLVANIA EXPERIMENTS.
+
+
+Our memoirs of the Phalanxes and other contemporary Associations, may
+as well be arranged according to the States in which they were
+located. We have already disposed of the Sylvania, which was the most
+interesting of the experiments in Pennsylvania during the Fourier
+epoch. Our accounts of the remaining half-dozen are not long. The
+whole of them may be dispatched at a sitting.
+
+
+THE PEACE UNION SETTLEMENT.
+
+This was a Community founded by Andreas Bernardus Smolnikar, whose
+name we saw among the Vice Presidents of the National Convention.
+Macdonald says nothing of it; but the _Phalanx_ of April 1844, has the
+following paragraph:
+
+"This colony of Germans is situated in Limestown township, Warren
+County, Pennsylvania; it is founded upon somewhat peculiar views and
+associative principles, by Andreas Bernardus Smolnikar, who was
+Professor of Biblical Study and Criticism in Austria, and perceiving
+by the signs of the times compared with prophecies of the Bible, that
+the time was at hand for the foundation of the universal peace which
+was promised to all nations, and feeling called to undertake a
+mission to aid in carrying out the great work thus disclosed to him,
+he came to America. In the years 1838 and 1842, he published at
+Philadelphia five volumes in explanation of his views; and gathering
+around him a body of his countrymen, during the last summer he
+commenced with them the Peace Union Settlement, on a tract of fertile
+wild land of 10,000 acres, which had been purchased."
+
+That is all we find. Smolnikar begun, but, we suppose, was not able to
+finish. In 1845 he was wandering about the country, professing to be
+the "Ambassador extraordinary of Christ, and Apostle of his peace." He
+called on us at Putney; but we heard nothing of his Community.
+
+
+THE MCKEAN COUNTY ASSOCIATION.
+
+The _Phalanx_, in its first number (October 1843), announced this
+experiment among many others, in the following terms:
+
+"There is a large Association of Germans in McKean County,
+Pennsylvania, commenced by the Rev. George Ginal of Philadelphia. They
+own a very extensive tract of land, over thirty thousand acres we are
+informed, and are progressing prosperously. The shares, which were
+originally $100, have been sold and are now held at $200 or more."
+
+This is the first and the last we hear of the Rev. George Ginal and
+his thirty thousand acres.
+
+
+THE ONE-MENTIAN COMMUNITY.
+
+The name of this Community, Macdonald says, was derived from
+Scripture; probably from the expression of Paul, "Be of one mind."
+_The New Moral World_ claimed it as an Owenite Association, "with a
+constitution slightly altered from Owen's outline of rational society,
+i.e., made a little more theological." It originated at Paterson, New
+Jersey, but the sect of One-Mentianists appears to have had branches
+in Newark, New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and other cities. The
+prominent men were Dr. Humbert and Messrs. Horner, Scott, and Hudson.
+
+The _Regenerator_ of February 12, 1844, published a long epistle from
+John Hooper, a member of the One-Mentian Community, giving an account
+in rather stilted style, of its origin, state and prospects. We quote
+the most important paragraphs:
+
+"In the beginning of last year a few humble but sincere persons
+resolved to raise the standard of human liberty, and though limited
+indeed in their means, yet such as they could sacrifice they
+contributed for that purpose; believing that the tree being once
+planted, other generous spirits, filled with the same sympathy,
+enlightened by the same knowledge, and kindled by the same resolve,
+would, from time to time step forward, unite in the same holy cause,
+and nurture this tree, until its redeeming unction shall shed a
+kindred halo through the length and breadth of the land. Having made
+this resolve, they looked not behind them, but freely contributed of
+their hard-earned means, and purchased eight hundred acres of fertile
+wood-land, in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Their zeal perhaps
+overpacing their judgment, they located upon their domain several
+families before organizing sufficient means for their support, which
+necessarily produced much privation and disappointment, and which
+placed men and women, good and true, in a position to which human
+nature never ought to be exposed. But their undying faith in the
+truth and grandeur of social Community, strengthened them in their
+endeavor to overcome their disasters, and they have passed the fiery
+ordeal chastened and purified. Do I censure their want of foresight?
+Do I regret this trial? Oh, no! It but the more forcibly confirms me
+in my persuasion of the practicability of our system. It but the more
+clearly shows how persons united in a good and just cause, can and
+will surmount unequaled privations, withering disappointments, and
+unimagined difficulties, if their impulse be as pure as their object
+is sacred and magnificent. It shows, too, most clearly, how the
+humblest in society can work out their redemption, when true to one
+another. And moreover, it is a security that blessings so dearly
+purchased, will be guarded by as judicious watchfulness and jealous
+care, as the labor was severe and trying in producing them.
+
+"But the land has been bought, and better still, it is paid for; and
+the Society stands at this moment free from debt. We have no interest
+nor rent to pay, no mortgage to dread; but we are free and
+unincumbered. The land is good, as can be testified by several persons
+in the city of New York, who well know it, and who are willing to bear
+witness of this fact to any who may or have questioned it. About
+sixteen acres of this land are cleared and cultivated. We have
+implements, some stock, and some machinery. But what is better than
+all, we have honest hearts, clear heads, and hardy limbs, which have
+passed the severest tests, battling with the huge forest, struggling
+with the hitherto sterile glebe, fostering the generous seed, that
+they may build suffering humanity a home. Who after this can be so
+cold as not to bid them good speed? Who so ungenerous as to speak to
+their disparagement? Who so niggardly as to withhold from them their
+mite? Having a fine water-power on their domain, they are yearning for
+the creation of a mill, which, at a small cost, can and will be soon
+accomplished," etc.
+
+Macdonald reports the progress and _finale_ of this experiment, with
+some wholesome criticisms, as follows:
+
+    "The committee appointed to select a domain, chose the location
+    when the ground was covered with snow. The land was wild and
+    well timbered, but the region is said to be cold. Some of the
+    soil is good, but generally it is very rocky and barren. The
+    society paid five hundred dollars for some six or seven hundred
+    acres, Cheap enough, one would say; but it turned out to be dear
+    enough.
+
+    "Enthusiasm drove between thirty and forty persons out to the
+    spot, and they commenced work under very unfavorable
+    circumstances. The accommodations were very inferior, there
+    being at first only one log cabin on the place; and what was
+    worse, there was an insufficiency of food, both for men and
+    animals. The members cleared forty acres of land and made other
+    improvements; and for the number of persons collected, and the
+    length of time spent on the place, the work performed is said to
+    have been immense.
+
+    "As the land was paid for and assistance was being rendered by
+    the various branches of the society, there were great
+    anticipations of success. But it appears that an individual from
+    Philadelphia visited the place, constituted himself a committee
+    of inspection, and reported unfavorably to the Philadelphia
+    branch; which quenched the Philadelphia ardor in the cause. A
+    committee was sent on from the New York branch, and they
+    likewise reported unfavorably of the domain. This speedily
+    caused the dissolution of the Community.
+
+    "The parties located on the domain reluctantly abandoned it, and
+    returned again to the cities. I am informed that one of the
+    members still lives on the place, and probably holds it as his
+    own. Who has got the deeds, it seems difficult to determine.
+
+    "This failure, like many others, is ascribed to ignorance.
+    Disagreements of course took place; and one between Mr. Hudson
+    and the New York branch, caused that gentleman to leave the
+    One-Mentian, and start another Community a few miles distant.
+    This probably broke up the One-Mentian. It lasted scarcely a
+    year."
+
+
+THE SOCIAL REFORM UNITY.
+
+"This Association," says Macdonald, "originated in Brooklyn, Long
+Island, among some mechanics and others, who were stimulated to make a
+practical attempt at social reform, through the labors of Albert
+Brisbane and Horace Greeley. Business was dull and the times were
+hard; so that working-men were mostly unemployed, and many of them
+were glad to try any apparently reasonable plan for bettering their
+condition."
+
+Mr. C.H. Little and Mr. Mackenzie were the leading men in this
+experiment. They framed and printed a very elaborate constitution; but
+as Macdonald says they never made any use of it, we omit it. One or
+two curiosities in it, however, deserve to be rescued from oblivion.
+
+The 14th article provides that "The treasury of the Unity shall
+consist of a suitable metallic safe, secured by seven different locks,
+the keys of which shall be deposited in the keeping and care of the
+following officers, to wit: one with the president of the Unity, one
+with the president of the Advisory Council, one with the secretary
+general, one with the accountant general, one with the agent general,
+one with the arbiter general, and one with the reporter general. The
+monies in said treasury to be drawn out only by authority of an order
+from the Executive Council, signed by all the members of the same in
+session at the time of the drawing of such order, and counter-signed
+by the president of the Unity. All such monies thus drawn shall be
+committed to the care and disposal of the Executive Council."
+
+The 62d Article says, "The question or subject of the dissolution of
+this Unity shall never be entertained, admitted or discussed in any of
+the meetings of the same."
+
+"Land was offered to the society by a Mr. Wood, in Pike County,
+Pennsylvania, at $1.25 per acre, and the cheapness of it appears to
+have been the chief inducement to accepting it. They agreed to take
+two thousand acres at the above rate, but only paid down $100. The
+remainder was to be paid in installments within a certain period.
+
+"A pioneer band was formed of about twenty persons, who went on to the
+property: their only capital being their subscriptions of $50 each.
+The journey thither was difficult, owing to the bad roads and the
+ruggedness of the country.
+
+"The domain was well-timbered land near the foot of a mountain range,
+and was thickly covered with stones and boulders. A half acre had been
+cleared for a garden by a previous settler. A small house with about
+four rooms, a saw-mill, a yoke of oxen, some pigs, poultry, etc.,
+were on the place; but the accommodations and provisions were
+altogether insufficient, and the circumstances very unpleasant for so
+many persons, and especially at such a season of the year; for it was
+about the middle of November when they went on the ground.
+
+"At the commencement of their labors they made no use of their
+constitution and laws to regulate their conduct, intending to use them
+when they had made some progress on their domain, and had prepared it
+for a greater number of persons. All worked as they could, and with an
+enthusiasm worthy of a great cause, and all shared in common whatever
+there was to share. They commenced clearing land, building bridges
+over the 'runs,' gathering up the boulders, and improving the
+habitation. But going on to an uncultivated place like that, without
+ample means to obtain the provisions they required, and at such a
+season, seems to me to have been a very imprudent step; and so the
+sequel proved.
+
+"None of the leading men were agriculturists; and although it may be
+quite true that the soil under the boulders was excellent, yet a band
+of poor mechanics, without capital, must have been sadly deluded, if
+they supposed that they could support themselves and prepare a home
+for others on such a spot as that; unless, indeed, mankind can live on
+wood and stone.
+
+"They depended upon external support from the Brooklyn Society, and
+expected it to continue until they were firmly established on the
+domain. In this they were totally disappointed; the promised aid never
+came; and indeed the subscriptions ceased entirely on the departure of
+the pioneers to the place of experiment.
+
+"They continued struggling manfully with the rocks, wood, climate and
+other opposing circumstances, for about ten months; and agreed pretty
+well till near the close, when the legislating and chafing increased,
+as the means decreased.
+
+"Occasionally a new member would arrive, and a little foreign
+assistance would be obtained. But this did not amount to much; and
+finally it was thought best to abandon the enterprise. Want of capital
+was the only cause assigned by the Community for its failure; but
+there was evidently also want of wisdom and general preparation."
+
+
+GOOSE-POND COMMUNITY.
+
+It was mentioned at the close of the account of the One-Mentian
+Community, that a Mr. Hudson seceded and started another Association.
+That Association took the domain left by the Social Reform Unity. The
+locality was called "Goose Pond," and hence the name of this
+Community. About sixty persons were engaged in it. After an existence
+of a few months it failed.
+
+
+THE LERAYSVILLE PHALANX.
+
+Several notices of this Association occur in The _Phalanx_, from which
+we quote as follows:
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, February 5, 1844.]
+
+    "An Industrial Association, which promises to realize
+    immediately the advantages of united interests, and ultimately
+    all the immense economies and blessings of a true, brotherly
+    social order, is now in progress of organization near the
+    village of Leraysville, town of Pike, county of Bradford, in the
+    State of Pennsylvania.
+
+    "Nearly fifty thousand dollars have been subscribed to its
+    stock, and a constitution nearly identical with that of the
+    North American Phalanx, has received the signatures of a number
+    of heads of families and others, who are preparing to commence
+    operations early in the spring. Thus the books are fairly open
+    for subscription to the capital stock, only a few thousand
+    dollars more of cash capital being needed for the first year's
+    expenditures.
+
+    "About fifteen hundred acres of land have already been secured
+    for the domain, consisting of adjacent farms in a good state of
+    cultivation, well fenced and watered, and as productive as any
+    tract of equal dimensions in its vicinity.
+
+    "As Dr. Lemuel C. Belding, the active projector of this
+    enterprise, and several other gentlemen who have united their
+    farms to form the domain, are members of the New Jerusalem
+    church, it may be fairly presumed that the Leraysville Phalanx
+    will be owned mostly by members of that religious connection;
+    although other persons desirous of living in charity with their
+    neighbors, will by no means be excluded, but on the contrary be
+    freely admitted to the common privileges of membership.
+
+    "We are very much pleased with this little Phalanx, which is
+    just starting into existence. Rev. Dr. Belding, the clergyman at
+    the head of it, is a man of sound judgment, great practical
+    energy, and clear views--not merely a theologian, talking only
+    of abstract faith and future salvation. He knows that 'work is
+    worship;' that order, economy and justice must exist on earth in
+    the practical affairs of men, as they do wherever God's laws are
+    carried out; and that if men would pray in _deed_, as they do in
+    _word_, those principles would soon be realized in this world.
+
+    "He enjoys the confidence of the people around him, and unites
+    with them practically in the enterprise, setting an example by
+    putting in his own land and other property, and doing his share
+    of the LABOR."
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_ March 1, 1844.]
+
+    "We learn that this Association is proceeding with its
+    organization under favorable auspices. The most interesting
+    practical step that has been taken is, throwing down the
+    division fences of the farms which have been united to form the
+    domain. How significant a fact is this! The barricades of
+    selfishness and isolation are overthrown!
+
+    "Buried deep in the mountains of Pennsylvania, in a secluded,
+    and as is said, beautiful valley, some honest farmers are living
+    on their separate farms. In general they are thrifty; but they
+    feel sensibly many evils and disadvantages to which they are
+    subjected. The doctrines of Association reach them, and as
+    intelligent, sincere minded men, they come together and discuss
+    their merits. They are satisfied of their truth, and that they
+    can live together as brethren with united interests, far better
+    than they can separated, under the old system of divided and
+    conflicting interests. They resolve to carry out their
+    convictions, and to form an Association. Now how is this to be
+    done? Simply by uniting their farms, and forming of them one
+    domain. They do not sacrifice any interest in their property;
+    the tenure of it only is changed. Instead of owning the acres
+    themselves, they own the shares of stock which represent the
+    acres, and the individual and collective interests are at once
+    united. They are now joint-partners in a noble domain, and the
+    interest of each is the interest of all, and the interest of all
+    the interest of each. From unity of interests at once springs
+    unity of feeling and unity of design; and the first sign is a
+    destructive one; they throw down the old land-marks of
+    division. The next will be constructive; they will build them a
+    large and comfortable edifice in which they can reside in true
+    social relations.
+
+    "Now what do we gather from this? Plainly that the social
+    transformation from isolation to Association, is a simple and
+    easy thing, a peaceful and a practical thing, which neither
+    violates any right nor disturbs any order.
+
+    "We understand that as soon as the spring opens, the Leraysville
+    Phalanx is to be joined by a number of enterprising men and
+    skillful mechanics from this city and other places."
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, April 1, 1844.]
+
+    "The cash resources of the Phalanx, in addition to its local
+    trade, will consist of sales of cattle, horses, boots, shoes,
+    saddles and harness, woolen goods, hats, books of its own
+    manufacture, paper, umbrellas, stockings, gloves, clothing,
+    cabinet-wares, piano fortes, tin-ware, nursery-trees, carriages,
+    bedsteads, chairs, oil-paintings and other productions of skill
+    and art, together with the receipts from pupils in the schools
+    and boarders from abroad, residing on the domain.
+
+    "It need not be concealed that the intention of the founders of
+    the Leraysville Association, is to keep up, if possible, a
+    prevailing New Church influence in the Phalanx, in order that
+    its schools may be conducted consistently with the views of that
+    religious connection."
+
+                                  SOLYMAN BROWN, General Agent.
+                                         13 Park Place, New York.
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, September 7, 1844.]
+
+    "We have received a paper containing an oration delivered on the
+    Fourth of July, by Dr. Solyman Brown, late of this city, at the
+    Leraysville Phalanx, which institution he has joined."
+
+So far the _Phalanx_ carries us pleasantly; but here it leaves us.
+Macdonald tells the unpleasant part of the story thus:
+
+    "There were about forty men, women and children in the
+    Association. Among them were seven farmers, two or three
+    carpenters, one cabinet maker, two or three shoemakers, one
+    cooper, one lawyer, and several doctors of physic and divinity,
+    together with some young men who made themselves generally
+    useful. The majority of the members were Swedenborgians, and Dr.
+    Belding was their preacher.
+
+    "The land (about three hundred acres) and other property
+    belonged to Dr. Belding, his sons, his brother, and other
+    relatives. It was held as stock, at a valuation made by the
+    owners.
+
+    "In addition to the families who were thus related, and who
+    owned the property, individuals from distant places were induced
+    to go there; but for these outsiders the accommodations were not
+    very good. Each of the seven persons owning the land had
+    comfortable homesteads on which they lived, the estimated value
+    of which gave them controlling power and influence. But the
+    associates from a distance (some even from the State of Maine)
+    were compelled to board with Dr. Belding and others, until the
+    associative buildings could be constructed--which in fact was
+    never done. No doubt these invidious arrangements produced
+    disagreements, which led to a speedy dissolution. The outsiders
+    very soon became discontented with the management, conceiving
+    that those who held the most stock, i.e., the original owners
+    of the soil, after receiving aid from without, endeavored so to
+    rule as to turn all to their own advantage.
+
+    "The circumstances of the property owners were improved by what
+    was done on the place; but the associates from a distance, whose
+    money and labor were expended in cultivating the land and in
+    rearing new buildings, were not so fortunate. Their money
+    speedily vanished, and their labor was not remunerated. The land
+    and the buildings remained, and the owners enjoyed the
+    improvements. The whole affair came to an end in about eight
+    months."
+
+We hope the reader will not fail to notice how powerfully the
+land-mania raged among these Associations. Let us recapitulate. The
+Pennsylvania Associations, including the Sylvania, are credited with
+real estate as follows:
+
+                                                   Acres.
+    The Sylvania Association had                    2,394
+    The Peace Union Settlement "                   10,000
+    The McKean Co. Association "                   30,000
+    The Social Reform Unity    "                    2,000
+    The Goose-Pond Community   "                    2,000
+    The Leraysville Phalanx    "                    1,500
+    The One-Mentian Community  "                      800
+                                                   ------
+    Total for the seven Associations               48,694
+
+It is to be observed that Northern Pennsylvania, where all these
+Associations were located, is a paradise of cheap lands. Three great
+chains of mountains and not less than eight high ridges run through
+the State, and spread themselves abroad in this wild region. Any one
+who has passed over the Erie railroad can judge of the situation. It
+is evident from the description of the soil of the above domains, as
+well as from the prices paid for them, that they were, almost without
+exception, mountain deserts, cold, rocky and remote from the world of
+business. The Sylvania domain in Pike County, was elevated 1,500 feet
+above the Hudson river. Its soil was "yellow loam," that would barely
+support stunted pines and scrub-oaks; price, four dollars per acre.
+Smolnikar's Peace Union Settlement was on the ridges of Warren County,
+a very wild region. The Rev. George Ginal's 30,000 acres were among
+the mountains of McKean County, which adjoins Warren, and is still
+wilder. The Social Reform Unity was located in Pike County, near the
+site of the Sylvania. Its domain was thickly covered with stones and
+boulders; price, one dollar and a quarter per acre. The Goose Pond
+Community succeeded to this domain of the Social Reform Unity, with
+its stones and boulders. The Leraysville Association appears to have
+occupied some respectable land; but the _Phalanx_ speaks of it as
+"deep buried in the mountains of Pennsylvania." The One-Mentian
+Community, like the Sylvania, selected its domain while covered with
+snow; the soil is described as wild, cold, rocky and barren; price,
+five hundred dollars for seven or eight hundred acres, or about
+sixty-five cents per acre.
+
+Such were the domains on which the Fourier enthusiasm vented itself.
+An illusion, like the _mirages_ of the desert, seems to have prevailed
+among the Socialists, cheating the hungry mechanics of the cities with
+the fancy, that, if they could combine and obtain vast tracts of land,
+no matter where or how poor, their fortunes were made. Whereas it is
+well known to the wise that the more of worthless land a man has the
+poorer he is, if he pays taxes on it, or pays any attention to it;
+and that agriculture anyhow is a long and very uncertain road to
+wealth.
+
+We can not but think that Fourier is mainly responsible for this
+_mirage_. He is always talking in grand style about vast
+domains--three miles square, we believe, was his standard--and his
+illustrations of attractive industry are generally delicious pictures
+of fruit-raising and romantic agriculture. He had no scruple in
+assigning a series of twelve groups of amateur laborers to raising
+twelve varieties of the Bergamot pear! And his staunch disciples are
+always full of these charming impracticable ruralities.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+THE VOLCANIC DISTRICT.
+
+
+Western New York was the region that responded most vigorously to the
+gospel of Fourierism, proclaimed by Brisbane, Greeley, Godwin and the
+Brook Farmers.
+
+Taking Rochester for a center, and a line of fifty miles for radius,
+we strike a circle that includes the birth-places of nearly all the
+wonderful excitements of the last forty years. At Palmyra, in Wayne
+County, twenty-five miles east of Rochester, Joseph Smith in 1823 was
+visited by the Angel Moroni, and instructed about the golden plates
+from which the book of Mormon was copied; and there he began the
+gathering which grew to be a nation and settled Utah. Batavia, about
+thirty miles west of Rochester, was the scene of Morgan's abduction in
+1820; which event started the great Anti-Masonic excitement, that
+spread through the country and changed the politics of the nation. At
+Acadia, in Wayne County, adjoining Palmyra, the Fox family first heard
+the mysterious noises which were afterward known as the "Rochester
+rappings," and were the beginning of the miracles of modern
+Spiritualism. The Rochester region has also been famous for its
+Revivals, and borders on what Hepworth Dixon has celebrated as the
+"Burnt District."
+
+In this same remarkable region around Rochester, occurred the greatest
+Fourier excitement in America. T.C. Leland, writing from that city in
+April 1844, thus described the enthusiasm: "I attended the socialistic
+Convention at Batavia. The turn-out was astonishing. Nearly every town
+in Genesee County was well represented. Many came from five to twelve
+miles on foot. Indeed all western New York is in a deep, a shaking
+agitation on this subject. Nine Associations are now contemplated
+within fifty miles of this city. From the astonishing rush of
+applications for membership in these Associations, I have no
+hesitation in saying that twenty thousand persons, west of the
+longitude of Rochester in this State, is a low estimate of those who
+are now ready and willing, nay anxious, to take their place in
+associative unity."
+
+Mr. Brisbane traveled and lectured in this excited region a few months
+before Mr. Leland wrote the above. The following is his report to the
+_Phalanx_:
+
+    "It will no doubt be gratifying to those who take an interest in
+    the great idea of a Social Reform, to learn that it is spreading
+    very generally through the State of New York. I have visited
+    lately the central and western parts of the State, and have been
+    surprised to see that the principles of a reform, based upon
+    Association and unity of interests, have found their way into
+    almost every part of the country, and the farmers are beginning
+    to see the truth and greatness of a system of dignified and
+    attractive industry, and the advantages of Association, such as
+    its economy, its superior means of education, and the guaranty
+    it offers against the indirect and legalized spoliation by those
+    intermediate classes who now live upon their labor.
+
+    "The conviction that Association will realize Christianity
+    practically upon earth, which never can be done in the present
+    system of society, with its injustice, frauds, distrust, and the
+    conflict and opposition of all interests, is taking hold of many
+    minds and attracting them strongly to it. There is a very
+    earnest desire on the part of a great number of sincere minds to
+    see that duplicity which now exists between theory and practice
+    in the religious world, done away with; and where this desire is
+    accompanied with intelligence, Association is plainly seen to be
+    the means. It is beginning to be perceived that a great social
+    reformation must take place, and a new social order be
+    established, before Christianity can descend upon earth with its
+    love, its peace, its brotherhood and charity. The noble doctrine
+    propounded by Fourier, is gaining valuable disciples among this
+    class of persons.
+
+    "I lectured at Utica, Syracuse, Seneca Falls, and Rochester, and
+    although the weather was very unfavorable, the audiences were
+    large. At Rochester I attended a convention of the friends of
+    Association, interested in the establishment of the Ontario
+    Phalanx. Men of intelligence, energy and strong convictions, are
+    at the head of this enterprise, and it will probably soon be
+    carried into operation. A very heavy subscription to the stock
+    can be obtained in Rochester and the vicinity, in productive
+    farms and city real estate, for the purpose of organizing this
+    Association; but, owing to the scarcity of money, it is
+    difficult to obtain the cash capital requisite to commence
+    operations. From the perseverance and determination of the men
+    at the head of the undertaking, it is presumed, however, that
+    this difficulty will be overcome. Those persons in the western
+    part of the State of New York, who wish to enter an
+    Association, can not be too strongly recommended to unite with
+    the Ontario Phalanx.
+
+    "It is very advisable that the friends of the cause should not
+    start small Associations. If they are commenced with inadequate
+    means, and without men who know how to organize them, they may
+    result in failures, which will cast reproach upon the
+    principles. The American people are so impelled to realize in
+    practice any idea which strikes them as true and advantageous,
+    that it will of course be useless to preach moderation in
+    organizing Associations; still I would urgently recommend to
+    individuals, for their own interest, to avoid small and
+    fragmental undertakings, and unite with the largest one in their
+    section of the country.
+
+    "Four gentlemen from Rochester and its vicinity will be engaged
+    this winter in propagating the principles of Association by
+    lectures etc., in western New York. At Rochester they have
+    commenced the publication of tracts upon Association, which we
+    trust will be extensively circulated. That city is becoming an
+    important center of propagation, and will, we believe, exercise
+    a very great influence, as it is situated in a flourishing
+    region of country, inhabited by a very intelligent population.
+
+    "It must be deeply gratifying to the friends of Association to
+    see the unexampled rapidity with which our principles are
+    spreading throughout this vast country. Would it not seem that
+    this very general response to, and acceptance of, an entirely
+    new and radically reforming doctrine by intelligent and
+    practical men, prove that there is something in it harmonizing
+    perfectly with the ideas of truth, justice, economy and order,
+    and those higher sentiments implanted in the soul of man,
+    which, although so smothered at present, are awakened when the
+    correspondences in doctrine or practice are presented to them
+    clearly and understandingly?
+
+    "The name of Fourier is now heard from the Atlantic to the
+    Mississippi; from the remotest parts of Wisconsin and Louisiana
+    responsive echoes reach us, heralding the spread of the great
+    principles of universal Association; and this important work has
+    been accomplished in a few years, and mainly within two years,
+    since Horace Greeley, Esq., the editor of the _Tribune_, with
+    unprecedented courage and liberality, opened the columns of his
+    widely-circulated journal to a fair exposition of this subject.
+    What will the next ten years bring forth?"
+
+Mr. John Greig of Rochester, a participator in this socialistic
+excitement and in the experiments that went with it, contributed the
+following sketch of its beginnings to Macdonald's collection of
+manuscripts:
+
+    "We in western New York received an account of the views and
+    discoveries of (the to-be-illustrious) Fourier, through the
+    writings of Brisbane, Greeley, Godwin and the earnest lectures
+    of T.C. Leland. Those ideas fell upon willing ears and hearts
+    then (1843), and thousands flocked from all quarters to hear,
+    believe, and participate in the first movement.
+
+    "This excitement gathered itself into a settled purpose at a
+    convention held in Rochester in August 1843, which was attended
+    by several hundred delegates from the city and neighboring towns
+    and villages. A great deal of discussion ensued as a matter of
+    course, and some little amount of business was done. The nucleus
+    of a society was formed, and committees for several purposes
+    were appointed to sit in permanence, and call together future
+    conventions for further discussions.
+
+    "I was one of the Vice Presidents of that convention, and took a
+    decided interest in the whole movement. As there existed from
+    the very beginning of the discussions some diversity of opinion
+    on several points of doctrine and expediency, there arose at
+    least four different Associations out of the constituents of
+    said convention. Those who were most determined to follow as
+    near the letter of Fourier as possible, were led off chiefly by
+    Dr. Theller (of 'Canadian Patriot' notoriety), Thomas Pond (a
+    Quaker), Samuel Porter of Holly, and several others of less
+    note, including the writer hereof. They located at Clarkson, in
+    Monroe County. The other branches established themselves at
+    Sodus Bay in Wayne County, at Hopewell near Canandaigua in
+    Ontario County, at North Bloomfield in Ontario County, and at
+    Mixville in Alleghany County."
+
+The Associations that thus radiated from Rochester, hold a place of
+peculiar interest in the history of the Fourier movement, from the
+fact that they made the first, and, we believe, the only practical
+attempt, to organize a _Confederation_ of Associations. The National
+Convention, as we have seen, recommended general Confederation; and
+its executive committee afterward, through Parke Godwin, made
+suggestions in the _Phalanx_ tending in the same direction. The
+movement, however, came to nothing, and at the subsequent National
+Convention in October, was formally abandoned. But the Rochester group
+of Associations, attracted together by their common origin, actually
+formed a league, called the "American Industrial Union," and a Council
+of their delegates held a session of two days at the domain of the
+North Bloomfield Association, commencing on the 15th of May, 1844. The
+_Phalanx_ has an interesting report of the doings of this Confederate
+Council, from which we give below a liberal extract, showing how
+heartily these western New Yorkers abandoned themselves to the spirit
+of genuine Fourierism:
+
+    FROM THE REPORT OF THE SESSION OF THE INDUSTRIAL UNION.
+
+    "_Resolved_, That it be recommended to the several institutions
+    composing this Confederacy to adopt, as far as possible, the
+    practice of mutual exchanges between each other; and that they
+    should immediately take such measures as will enable them to
+    become the commercial agents of the producing classes in the
+    sections of the country where the Associations are respectively
+    located.
+
+    _Classification of Industry._
+
+    "_Resolved_, That in the opinion of the council, the first step
+    towards organization should be an arrangement of the different
+    branches of agricultural, mechanical and domestic work, in the
+    classes of necessity, usefulness and attractiveness. The exact
+    category in which an occupation shall be placed, will be
+    influenced more or less by local circumstances, and is, at best,
+    somewhat conjectural. It will be indicated, however, with
+    certainty, by observation and experience. In the meantime, the
+    council take the liberty to express an opinion, that to the
+
+    _Class of Necessity._
+
+    belong, among others, the following, viz.: ditching, masonry,
+    work in woolen and cotton factories, quarrying stone,
+    brickmaking, burning lime and coal, getting out manure, baking,
+    washing, ironing, cooking, tanning and currier business,
+    night-sawing and other night work, blacksmithing, care of
+    children and the sick, care of dairy, flouring, hauling seine,
+    casting, chopping wood, and cutting timber.
+
+    _Class of Usefulness._
+
+    "All mechanical trades not mentioned in the class of necessity;
+    agriculture, school-teaching, book-keeping, time of directors
+    while in session, other officers acting in an official capacity,
+    engineering, surveying and mapping, store-keeping, gardening,
+    rearing silk-worms, care of stock, horticulture, teaching music,
+    housekeepers (not cooks), teaming.
+
+    _Class of Attractiveness._
+
+    "Cultivation of flowers, cultivation of fruit, portrait-and
+    landscape-painting, vine-dressing, poultry-keeping, care of
+    bees, embellishing public grounds.
+
+    _Groups and Series._
+
+    "The Council recommend to the different Associations the
+    following plan for the organization of groups and series, viz.:
+
+    "1. Ascertain, for example, the whole number of members who will
+    attach themselves to, or at any time take part in, the
+    agricultural line. From this number, organize as many groups as
+    the business of the line will admit.
+
+    "2. We recommend the numbers 30, 24, 18, as the maximum rank of
+    the classes of necessity, usefulness and attractiveness.
+
+    "The series should then be numbered in the order in which they
+    are formed, and the groups in the same manner, beginning 1, 2,
+    3, &c., for each series.
+
+    "Mechanical series can be organized, embracing all the
+    different trades employed by the Association, in the same
+    manner; and if the groups can not be filled up at once with
+    adults, we would recommend to the institutions to fill them
+    sufficiently for the purpose of organization, with apprentices.
+
+    "Each group should have a foreman, whose business it should be
+    to keep correct accounts of time, superintend and direct the
+    performance of work, and maintain an oversight of
+    working-dresses, etc.
+
+    "There should be one individual elected as superintendent of the
+    series, whose business it should be to confer with the farming
+    committee of the board, and inform the different foremen of
+    groups, of the work to be done, and inspect the same afterwards.
+
+    "The council is thoroughly satisfied that all the labor of an
+    Association should be performed by groups and series, and
+    although the combined order can not be fully established at
+    once, the adoption of this arrangement will avoid incoherence,
+    and be calculated to impress on each member a sense of his
+    personal responsibility.
+
+    _Time and Rank._
+
+    "The time, rank and occupation should be noted daily, and
+    oftener, if a change of employment is made. The sum of the
+    products of the daily time of each individual, as multiplied by
+    his daily rank, should be carried to the time-ledger, weekly or
+    monthly, to his or her credit. Each of the several amounts,
+    whether performed in the classes of necessity, usefulness, or
+    attractiveness, will thus be made to bear an equal proportion to
+    the value of the services rendered.
+
+                                          A.M. WATSON, President.
+    E.A. STILLMAN, Secretary."
+
+The reader may be curious to see how these instructions were carried
+out in actual account-keeping. Fortunately the _Phalanx_ furnishes a
+specimen of what, we suppose, may be called, unmitigated Fourierism.
+
+"The following tables," says a subsequent report, "exhibit the mode of
+keeping the account of a group at the Clarkson domain. The total
+number of hours that each individual has been employed during the
+week, is multiplied by the degree in the scale of rank, which gives an
+equation of rank and time of the whole group. At Clarkson, for every
+thousand of the quotient, each member is allowed to draw on his
+account for necessaries, to the value of seventy-five cents:
+
+SERIES OF TAILORESSES--GROUP NO. I.
+
+_Maximum Rank 25._
+
+  -----+-------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+--------
+   1844|             |    |    |    |    |    |    |Total|Hours
+   Rank|             | Mo.|Tue.| We.|Thu.|Fri.|Sat.|hours|& rank.
+  -----+-------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+--------
+   20  | M. Weed,    |  6 | 10 |  3 | -- | -- |  5 |  24 |  480
+   25  | J. Peabody, | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 |  62 | 1550
+   20  | S. Clark,   | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |  8 | -- |  48 |  960
+   25  | E. Clark,   |  2 | 10 | 10 |Sick| -- | -- |  22 |  550
+   18  | H. Lee,     |  6 |  4 | 10 |  6 |  4 |  4 |  34 |  612
+   15  | J. Folsom,  |  3 |  3 |  2 |  6 |  5 |  3 |  22 |  330
+   12  | Eliza Mann, |  4 |  4 |  2 |  2 |  6 |  4 |  22 |  264
+  -----+-------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+--------
+
+The above is a true account of the time and rank of the whole group,
+working under my direction for the past week.
+
+                                          JULIA PEABODY. Foreman.
+
+     Entered on the books of the Association, by
+                                               WM. SEAVER, Clerk.
+  _Clarkson Domain, July 6, 1844._
+
+SERIES OF WORKERS IN WOOD--GROUP NO II.
+
+_Maximum Rank 30._
+
+  -----+----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+--------
+   1844|                |    |    |    |    |    |    |Total|Hours
+   Rank|                | Mo.|Tue.| We.|Thu.|Fri.|Sat.|hours|& rank.
+  -----+----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+--------
+   24  | Chas. Odell,   | 10 |  9 | 10 | 10 |  8 |  9 |  56 | 1344
+   30  | John Allen,    | 10 | 10 |  2 |  6 | 10 |  8 |  46 | 1380
+   20  | Jas. Smith,    |Sick| -- | -- | -- | -- |  3 |   3 | 120
+   30  | Wm. Allen,     | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |  62 | 1860
+   30  | Jas. Griffith, | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |  60 | 1800
+  -----+----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+--------
+
+The above is a true account of the time and rank of the whole group,
+working under my direction for the past week.
+
+                                         JAMES GRIFFITH, Foreman.
+
+       Entered on the books of the Association, by
+                                               WM. SEAVER, Clerk.
+  _Clarkson Domain, July 6, 1844._"
+
+For the sake of keeping in view the various religious influences that
+entered into the Fourier movement, it is worth noting here that Edwin
+A. Stillman, the Secretary of the Union, was one of the early
+Perfectionists; intimately associated with the writer of this history
+at New Haven in 1835. We judge from the frequent occurrence of his
+official reports in the _Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_, that he was the
+working center of the socialist revival at Rochester, and of the
+incipient confederacy of Associations that issued therefrom. In like
+manner James Boyle, another New Haven Perfectionist, was a very busy
+writer and lecturer among the Socialists of New England in the
+excitements 1842-3, and was a member of the Northampton Community.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+THE CLARKSON PHALANX.
+
+
+This Association appears to have been the first and most important of
+the Confederated Phalanxes. Mr. John Greig (before referred to) is its
+historian, whose account we here present with few alterations:
+
+    "Our Association commenced at Clarkson on the shore of Lake
+    Ontario, in the county of Monroe, about thirty miles from
+    Rochester, in February 1844. We adopted a constitution and
+    bye-laws, but I am sorry to say that I have not a copy of them.
+    The reason why no copies have been preserved is, that after a
+    year's experience in the associative life, we all became so wise
+    (or smart, as the phrase is), that we thought we could make much
+    better constitutions, and ceased to value the old ones.
+
+    "We had no property qualifications. All male and female members
+    over eighteen years of age were voters upon all important
+    matters, excepting the investment and outlay of capital. No
+    religious or political tests were required. The chief principle
+    upon which we endeavored to found our Association, was to
+    establish justice and judgment in our little earth at Clarkson
+    domain, and as much further as possible.
+
+    "Our means were ample; but, as it proved, unavailable. The
+    beginning and ending of our troubles was this--and let all
+    readers consider it--we were without the pale and protection of
+    law, for want of incorporation. Consequently we could do no
+    business, could not buy or sell land or other property, could
+    not sue or be sued, could neither make ourselves responsible,
+    nor compel others to become so; and as a majority of us were
+    never able to adopt the dreamy abstractions of non-resistance
+    and no-law, we were unable to live and prosper in that kingdom
+    of smoke 'above the world.'
+
+    "The members, in different proportions, had placed in the hands
+    of trustees, after the manner of religious societies in this
+    State, ninety-five thousand dollars worth of choice landed
+    property, to be sold, turned into cash, and invested in Clarkson
+    domain. We purchased of a Mr. Richmond Church and others, over
+    two thousand acres of first-rate land, all on trust, excepting
+    twenty acres bought for cash. The rise in value of our large
+    purchase since our dispersion, has exceeded fifty thousand
+    dollars. We probably took on to the domain some ten thousand
+    dollars worth of goods and chattels.
+
+    "Our property was not considered common stock; we only
+    recognized a common cause. Our agreement gave capital to labor
+    for less than half of the world's present interest, and gave to
+    labor its full reward, according to merit, that is, skill,
+    strength, and time; establishing 'Do as you would be done by'
+    first; and attending to the questions of brotherhood afterward,
+    such as home for life, respect, comfort, and all needful or
+    desirable things to the old, the infant, the disabled, etc. This
+    was the extent of our Communism. Our company stock was divided
+    into twenty-five dollar shares. About one-third of the members
+    owned none at all at first, although their rights were
+    considered equal; and that point, be it said to the glory of the
+    domain, was never mooted and scarcely mentioned.
+
+    "We commenced our new life at Clarkson in March, April and May,
+    1844; building our temporary, and enlarging our established,
+    houses, and beginning to marshal our forces of toil. In April we
+    'numbered Israel,' and found we were four hundred and twenty
+    souls, as happy and joyous a family as ever thronged to an
+    Independence dinner. If, in our fiscal affairs we were not
+    Communists, in our moral and social feelings we were a house not
+    divided against itself.
+
+    "In relation to education, natural intelligence, and morality, I
+    candidly think we were a little above the average of common
+    citizens at large in the State, and no more. Trades and
+    occupations were multiform. Our doctor and minister were
+    academical scholars merely. We had one ripe merchant (a great
+    rogue, too), some first-rate mechanics of all the substantial
+    trades, and a noble lot of common farmers.
+
+    "As for religion, we had seventy-four praying Christians,
+    including all the sects in America, excepting Millerites and
+    Mormons. We had one Catholic family (Dr. Theller's), one
+    Presbyterian clergyman, and one Universalist. One of our first
+    trustees was a Quaker. We had one Atheist, several Deists, and
+    in short a general assortment; but of Nothingarians, none; for
+    being free for the first time in our lives, we spoke out, one
+    and all, and found that every body did believe something. All
+    the gospels were preached in harmony and good fellowship. We
+    early got up a committee on preaching the gospel, placing one of
+    each known denomination upon said committee, including a Deist,
+    who being a liberal soul, and no bigot in his infidelity, was
+    chosen chairman on the gospel; and allow him modestly to say, he
+    did acquit himself to the entire satisfaction of his more
+    fortunate brethren in the faith. One word about our Atheist--our
+    poor unfortunate Atheist; he was beloved by every soul on the
+    domain, and was an intimate friend of our orthodox minister. We
+    had no difficulties on the score of religion, and had we
+    remained, we should have been nearer to love to God and love to
+    man, than we are now, scattered as we are, broadcast over the
+    continent. For membership, we required a decent character--no
+    more. No oaths nor fines were required. Honorable pledges were
+    given and generally kept.
+
+    "Our domain was located at the mouth of Sandy Creek, on Lake
+    Ontario. It was a slightly rolling plain, and the best soil in
+    the world. On account of so much water (Lake, Bay and Creek), it
+    was rather unhealthy, but would improve in time by cultivation.
+    We had one good flour-mill, two saw-mills, one machine-shop,
+    some good farm buildings and barns, and about half a mile in
+    length of temporary rows of board buildings; a dry goods store
+    for a portion of the time, and over 400 acres of land, under
+    fair cultivation. At one period of our career, we had about four
+    hundred sheep, forty cows, twenty-five span of horses, twelve
+    yoke of oxen, swine, guinea fowls, barn fowls, geese, ducks,
+    bees, etc., etc., in great abundance. We cultivated several
+    acres of vegetable garden, reaped one hundred acres of wheat,
+    and had corn, potatoes, peas, etc., to a large amount--I should
+    think seventy-five acres. We had abundance of pasture, and must
+    have cut two hundred tons of hay. Of wild berries there must
+    have been gathered hundreds of bushels.
+
+    "Our regularly elected officers managed the receipts and
+    expenditures; and they were, I believe, honestly managed up to a
+    certain time.
+
+    "The four hundred and twenty members kept together until the
+    autumn of the first year, and then were forced to break up and
+    divide property, having but little to sustain themselves,
+    because our capital was wrongfully tied up, in the hands of
+    trustees: this course having been pursued by advice of certain
+    great lawyers, who, when our legal troubles commenced, appeared
+    in the courts against us. No purchasers could be found to buy
+    the lands in the hands of the trustees; so we had come to a dead
+    lock, and were obliged to break up or down, as the fact may be
+    estimated. The associates did not disagree at all save in one
+    thing, and that was, as to these bad property arrangements,
+    which compelled them to break up. They staid or went by lots
+    cast. Two hundred persons staid on the domain some four months
+    longer, and then, the hope of a legal foundation having entirely
+    died out, the whole matter was necessarily thrown into the court
+    of Chancery, and the lawyers, as usual, took the avails of the
+    hard earnings of the disappointed members.
+
+    "The regularly organized Association kept together nearly one
+    year. A remnant of the band remained after the court of chancery
+    had adjudged a transfer of the estate back into the hands of the
+    original owners. That remnant tried every little scheme and new
+    contrivance that imagination could devise (except Fourierism),
+    to stick together in a joint-stock capacity for a year longer or
+    so, and then broke and ran all over the world, proclaiming
+    Fourierism a failure. The Heavens may fall, and Fourier's
+    industrial science may fail; but it must be tried first; till
+    then it can not fail.
+
+    "In short the reason why the attempt at Clarkson failed, and the
+    only reason, was, that the founders missed the entrance door,
+    viz., a legal foundation; by which they would have made friends
+    with the old world, and begun the new in a constructive way,
+    obtaining the right men and plenty of the 'mammon of
+    unrighteousness.' They should have got incorporated under a
+    general law like our manufacturing law, and obtained a suitable
+    domain of at least 5760 acres of land or three miles square, and
+    should have built and furnished a sufficient portion of a
+    phalanstery to accommodate at least 400 persons, at the outset
+    of organization. I boldly pronounce all partial attempts, short
+    of such a beginning, a waste, and worse than a waste, of time
+    and brain, blood and muscle, soul and body.
+
+                                                     JOHN GREIG."
+
+A writer in the _Phalanx_ (July 1844), viewing things from a
+standpoint a little further off than Mr. Greig's, gave the following
+more probable account of the Clarkson failure:
+
+    "The original founders of this Association, no doubt actuated by
+    good motives, but lacking discretion, held out such a brilliant
+    prospect of comfort and pleasure in the very infancy of the
+    movement, that hundreds, without any correct appreciation of the
+    difficulties to be undergone by a pioneer band, rushed upon the
+    ground, expecting at once to realize the heaven they so ardently
+    desired, and which the eloquent words of the lecturers had
+    warranted them to hope for. Thus, ignorant of Association,
+    possessed, for the most part, of little capital, without
+    adequate shelter from the inclemency of the weather, or even a
+    sufficient store of the most common articles of food, without
+    plan, and I had almost said, without purpose, save to fly from
+    the ills they had already experienced in civilization, they
+    assembled together such elements of discord as naturally in a
+    short time led to their dissolution."
+
+One feature of Mr. Greig's entertaining sketch deserves notice in
+passing, viz., his cheerful boast of the multiplicity of religions in
+the Clarkson Association, and the wonderful harmony that prevailed
+among them. The meaning of the boast undoubtedly is, that religious
+belief was so completely a secondary and insignificant matter, that it
+did not prevent peaceful family relations, even between the atheists
+and the orthodox. This kind of harmony is often spoken of in the
+accounts of other Associations, and seems to have been a general
+characteristic, or at least a _desideratum_, of the Owen and Fourier
+schools. It is this harmonious indifference, which we refer to when we
+speak of the Associations of those schools as _non-religious_.
+
+The primary Massachusetts Communities, however, were hardly so free
+from religious limitations, though they issued from the sects commonly
+called liberal. The Brook Farmers, we have seen, covered the National
+Convention all over with the mantle of piety, insisting that they were
+at work as devout Christians, and that Fourierism, as they held it,
+was Christianity. And Hopedale was even more zealous for Christianity
+than Brook Farm. Collins's Community at Skaneateles, on the other
+hand, went clear over to exclusive anti-religion; and actually barred
+out by its original creed, all kinds of Christians, tolerating nobody
+but sound Atheists and Deists.
+
+The Northampton Association, which we have termed Nothingarian, seems
+to have invented the happy medium of the Clarkson platform, and in
+that respect may be regarded as the prototype of the whole class of
+Fourier Associations. The mixture of religions, however, at
+Northampton, was not so harmonious as at Clarkson. The historian of
+the Northampton Community says: "The carrying out of different
+religious views was perhaps the occasion of more disagreement than any
+other subject; and this disagreement, operated to general
+disadvantage, as in consequence of it several valuable members
+withdrew." We shall meet with similar disagreements and disasters in
+the Sodus Bay Phalanx and other Associations, to be reported
+hereafter. So that it does not seem altogether safe to huddle a great
+variety of contradictory religions together in close Association,
+notwithstanding the apparent results in the Clarkson case. And it
+occurs, as a natural suggestion, that possibly the Clarkson
+Association did not last long enough to fairly test the results of a
+general mixture of religions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE SODUS BAY PHALANX.
+
+
+This Association originated about the same time as the Clarkson
+Association (February 1844), and in the same place (Rochester). The
+following description of its domain is from the _Herald of Freedom_:
+
+"We have at this place about 1,400 acres of choice land, three hundred
+of which are under improvement. It borders on Sodus Bay, the best
+harbor on Lake Ontario, and for beauty of scenery, is not surpassed by
+any tract in the State. We have on the domain two streams of water,
+which can both be used for propelling machinery. We number at present
+about three hundred men, women and children. The buildings on the
+place were nearly enough to accommodate the whole, the place having
+formerly been occupied by the Shakers, who had erected good buildings
+for their own accommodation."
+
+The editor of the _Phalanx_ visited this Association in the autumn of
+1844, and wrote of it as follows:
+
+"The advantages of the location seemed to us very rare, and it was
+with great pain that we discovered that the internal condition, of the
+Phalanx was not encouraging. We did not find that unity of purpose,
+without which a small and imperfectly provided Association can not be
+held together until it has attained the necessary perfection in its
+mechanism. At the commencement, as it appeared to us, there was not
+sufficient caution in the admission of members. A large number of
+persons were received without proper qualification, either in
+character or industrial abilities. Sickness unfortunately soon arose
+in the new Phalanx, and increased the confusion which resulted from a
+want of unity of feeling and systematic organization. Religious
+differences, pressed in an intolerant manner on both sides, had at the
+time of our visit produced entire uncertainty as to future operations,
+and carried disorder to its height. We left the domain with the
+conviction, which reflection has strengthened, that without an entire
+reorganization under more efficient leaders, the Association must fall
+entirely to pieces; a fact which is greatly to be deplored on account
+of the cause in general, as well as on account of the excellence of
+the location, and the real worth of several individuals who have
+passed unshaken through such trying circumstances. We have, however,
+in the case of this Phalanx, a striking example of the folly of
+undertaking practical Association without sufficient means, and
+without men of proper character. No other advantages can compensate
+for the want of these."
+
+Nearly a year later (September 1845), a member of the Sodus Bay
+Phalanx wrote to the _Harbinger_ in the following dubious vein:
+
+"We have only about twelve or fifteen adult males, and we believe we
+may safely say (from the amount of labor performed the present
+season), not many unprofitable ones. We have learned wisdom from the
+many difficulties and privations of last year, and there is now
+evidently a settled and determined will to succeed in our enterprise.
+There is, however, a debt which is very discouraging; $7,000 principal
+(besides $2,450 interest), which will come due next spring, and an
+ability on our part of paying no more than the interest."
+
+About the beginning of 1846 John A. Collins of the Skaneateles
+Community, visited Sodus Bay, and sent to his paper, the
+_Communitist_, the following mournful report:
+
+    "Experience has taught them that but little confidence can be
+    placed on calculations which are predicated upon a
+    newly-organized, or more properly disorganized, body of
+    heterogeneous materials, during the first and second years of
+    its existence. There is not the least doubt, but that an
+    energetic and efficient individual, with sufficient capital to
+    erect with the least possible delay the saw-mill, lath, shingle,
+    broom-handle, tub and pail, fork and hoe-handle, last, and
+    general turning machinery, and employ as many first-class
+    workmen as the business would require, could in three years, pay
+    both principal and interest, and have the entire farm and
+    several thousand dollars besides. But an Association composed of
+    inexperienced, restless, indolent, feeble and selfish
+    individuals, would perish beneath the pressure of interest, ere
+    they could construct their mills, get their machinery in
+    operation, and become organized and systematized, so that all
+    things could be carried forward with that system and perfection
+    which characterize isolation and the older established
+    Communities.
+
+    "But had not capital stepped forth to crush this movement, other
+    elements equally poisonous and deadly were introduced, which
+    would have sealed its ruin. A great portion of its members were
+    brought together, not by a strong feeling or sympathy for the
+    poor, noble philanthropy, or self-denying enthusiasm, but by the
+    most narrow selfishness. Add to this, that bane of all that is
+    meek, pure, noble and peaceful, religious bigotry was carried in
+    and incorporated into the constitution of the Phalanx. Soon the
+    body was divided into the religious and liberal portions, both
+    of which carried their views, we think, to extremes.
+
+    "We were present at a business meeting, in the early part of the
+    fall of 1844. Each party, it seemed, felt bound to oppose the
+    wishes, plans and movements of the other. We advised the more
+    liberal portion of the society quietly to withdraw, and allow
+    the other party to succeed if it possibly could. But they did
+    not feel at liberty to do so; and soon after the religious body
+    left, taking with them what of their property they could find,
+    leaving those who remained (the liberal portion of the society),
+    comparatively destitute. They felt determined to succeed, and
+    nobly have they combated, to the present time, the hostile
+    elements which have warred against them with terrible force.
+    United in sympathy and feeling, they re-organized last spring;
+    but the interest was too much for them to meet, and now there is
+    no prospect of their remaining as an Association longer than the
+    approaching April. Could those now upon the domain purchase
+    three or four hundred acres of the land, we have not the least
+    doubt but that they would succeed, and ultimately come into
+    possession of the valuable wood-land adjoining. But this is
+    impossible. In the evening all the adults convened together, and
+    at their earnest request, we spoke for the space of an hour or
+    more upon the signs of the times, the evidences of social
+    progress, and the various minor difficulties that the pioneers
+    in this movement must necessarily have to experience; proving to
+    the satisfaction of most of them, we think, that Fourier's plan
+    of distributing wealth, was both arbitrary and superficial; that
+    it was a useless effort to unite two opposite and hostile
+    elements, which have no more affinity for each other than water
+    and oil, or fire and gunpowder; that inasmuch as individual and
+    separate interests are the cause or occasion of nearly all the
+    crime, poverty, and suffering in civilized society, it follows
+    that the cause and occasion must be removed, ere the effects
+    will disappear. Still the difference between Communists and
+    Associationists is not so great, that they should be opposed and
+    alienated. It should be our object to see the points of
+    agreement, rather than seek for points of disagreement. In the
+    former we have been too active and earnest. Association is a
+    great school for Communism. It will develop the false, and point
+    out the good.
+
+    "As we left this interesting spot the following morning, it was
+    painful to think that those men and women, who for nearly two
+    years had struggled against great odds, with their
+    philanthropic, manly and heroic spirit, with all their
+    enthusiasm, zeal and confidence in the beauty and practicability
+    of the principles of social co-operation, must soon be dispersed
+    and thrown back again, to act upon the selfish and beggarly
+    principles of strife and competition."
+
+Macdonald ends the story in his usual sombre style as follows:
+
+    "This experiment was a total failure. I have been unable to
+    gather many particulars concerning its last days, and those I
+    have obtained are of a very unfavorable character.
+
+    "The chief cause of failure was religious difference. Persons of
+    various religious creeds could not agree. There were some among
+    them who thought it no sin to labor on the Sabbath, and others
+    who looked upon it as an outrage, which the Phalanx should take
+    action to prevent. A committee was appointed to settle such
+    differences, but in this they failed. Sickness was another of
+    their troubles. They were severely afflicted with typhoid
+    erysipelas, and at one time forty-nine of their members were
+    upon the sick list.
+
+    "After laboring a year or two under these difficulties, there
+    was a hasty and disorderly retreat. It is said that each
+    individual helped himself to the movable property, and that some
+    decamped in the night, leaving the remains of the Phalanx to be
+    disposed of in any way which the last men might choose. The fact
+    that mankind do not like to have their faults and failings made
+    public, will probably account for the difficulty in obtaining
+    particulars of such experiments as the Sodus Bay Phalanx."
+
+Allen and Orvis, the lecturing missionaries of Brook Farm, in that
+same letter from which we quoted some time since a maledictory
+paragraph on the memory of the Skaneateles Community, mention also the
+bad odor of the defunct confederated Phalanxes of Western New York, in
+the following disrespectful terms. Their letter is dated at Rochester,
+September 1847:
+
+"The prospect for meetings in this city is less favorable than that of
+any place where we have previously visited. It is the nest wherein was
+hatched that anomalous brood of birds, called the 'Sodus Bay Phalanx,'
+'The Clarkson Phalanx,' the 'Bloomfield Phalanx,' and the 'Ontario
+Union.' The very name of Association is odious with the public, and
+the unfortunate people who went into these movements in such mad
+haste, have been ridiculed till endurance is no longer possible, and
+they have slunk away from the sight and knowledge of their neighbors."
+
+The experience of the Sodus Bay Phalanx in regard to religion,
+suggests reflections. Let us improve the opportunity to study some of
+the practical relations of religion to Association.
+
+The object and end of Association in all its forms, as we have
+frequently said, is to gather men, women and children into larger and
+more permanent HOMES than those established by marriage. The
+advantages of partnership, incorporation and cooperation have become
+so manifest in modern affairs, that an unspeakable longing has arisen
+in the very heart of civilization for the extension of those
+advantages to the dearest of all human interests--family affairs--the
+business of home. The charm that drew the western New Yorkers together
+in such rushing multitudes, was simply the prospect of home on the
+large scale, which indeed is heaven.
+
+Now if we consider the laws which govern the formation of homes on the
+small scale, we shall be likely to get some wisdom in regard to their
+formation on the large scale.
+
+And in the first place, it is evident that homes formed by the
+conjunction of pairs in the usual way, are not all harmonious--perhaps
+we might say, are not generally harmonious. Families quarrel and break
+up, as well as Associations; and if husbands and wives were as free to
+separate as the members of Association are, possibly marriage would
+not make much better show than Socialism has made. Human nature, as we
+have seen it in the Communities and Phalanxes--discordant,
+centrifugal--is the same in marriage. Now, as experience has developed
+something like a code of rules that govern prudent people in venturing
+on marriage, our true way is to study that code, and apply it as far
+as possible to the vastly greater venture of Association.
+
+Fourier's dream that two or three thousand discordant centrifugal
+individuals in one great home, would fall, by natural gravitation,
+into a balance of passions, and realize a harmony unattainable on the
+small scale of familism, has not been confirmed by experience, and
+seems to us the wildest opposite of truth. We should expect, _a
+priori_, that with discordant materials, the greater the formation,
+the worse would be the hell: and this is just what has been proved by
+all the experiments. Let us go back, then, and study the rules of
+harmony in the formation of common families.
+
+Probably there is not one among those rules so familiar and so
+universally approved by the prudent, as that which advises men and
+women not to marry without agreement in religion This rule has nothing
+to do with bigotry. It does not look at the supposed truth or
+falsehood of different religious creeds. It simply says: Let the
+Catholic marry the Catholic; the Orthodox, the Orthodox; the Deist,
+the Deist; the Nothingarian, the Nothingarian; but don't match these
+discords together, if you wish for family peace. Now this is the
+precept which the Fourier Associations, as we see, deliberately
+violated; and yet they expected peace, and complained dreadfully
+because they did not get it! There is latent quarrel enough in the
+religious opposition of a single pair, to spoil a family; and yet
+these Socialists ventured on hundred-fold complications of such
+oppositions, with a heroism that would be sublime, if it were not
+desperately unwise.
+
+It is useless to say that religion is an affair of the inner man and
+need not disturb external relations. It did disturb the external
+relations of the Socialists at Sodus Bay, and could not do otherwise.
+They quarreled about the Sabbath. It did disturb the external
+relations of the Northampton Socialists. They quarreled about
+amusements. Religion always extends from the inner man to such
+external things.
+
+It is useless to say, as Collins evidently wished to insinuate, that
+the bigoted sort of religionists, those of the orthodox order, were
+alone to blame. In the first place this is not true. All the witnesses
+say, Collins among the rest, that both parties pushed and hooked. And
+in the next place, if it were true, it would only show the importance
+of excluding the orthodox from Associations, and the value of the rule
+that forbids marrying religious discords.
+
+Even Collins, with all his liberality, had originally too much good
+sense to attempt Association in the promiscuous way of the
+Fourierists. His first idea was to make his Community a sort of
+close-communion church of infidelity; and, as it turned out, this was
+his brightest idea; for in abandoning it he succumbed to his more
+religious rival, Johnson, and admitted quarreling and weakness that
+ruined the enterprise. His advice also to the liberal party at Sodus
+Bay to withdraw, shows that his judgment was opposed to the
+heterogeneous mixtures that were popular among the Fourierists.
+
+On the whole it seems to us that it should be considered settled by
+reason and experience, that the rule we have found governing the
+prudential theory of marriage on the small scale, should be
+transferred to the theory of Association, which is really marriage on
+the large scale. Better not marry at all, than marry a religious
+quarrel. Better have no religion, than have a dozen different
+religions, as they had at Clarkson. If you mean to found a Community
+for peace and permanence, first of all find associates that agree with
+you in religion, or at least in no-religion, and if possible bar out
+all others. Remember that all the successful Communities are
+harmonious, and the basis of their harmony is unity in religion. If
+you think you can find a way to secure harmony in no-religion, try it.
+But don't be so foolish as to enter on the tremendous responsibilities
+of Community-building, with a complication of religious quarrels
+lurking in your material.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+OTHER NEW YORK EXPERIMENTS.
+
+
+The next on the list of the Confederated Associations of western New
+York, was
+
+THE BLOOMFIELD ASSOCIATION.
+
+We have but meager accounts of this experiment. Macdonald does not
+mention it. The _Phalanx_ of June 15, 1844, says that it commenced
+operations on the 15th of March in that year, on a domain of about
+five hundred acres, mostly improved land, situated one mile east of
+Honeoye Falls, in the Counties of Monroe, Livingston and Ontario; that
+it was in debt for its land about $11,000, and had $35,000 of its
+subscriptions actually paid in; that it had one hundred and
+forty-eight resident members, and a large number more expecting to
+join, as soon as employment could be found for them. Two or three
+allusions to this Association occur afterward in the _Phalanx_,
+congratulating it on its prospects, and mentioning good reports of its
+progress. Finally in the _Harbinger_, volume 1, page 247, we find a
+letter from E.D. Wight and E.A. Stillman, dated August 20, 1845,
+defending the Association against newspaper charges, and asserting its
+continued prosperity; but giving us the following peep into a
+complication of troubles, that probably brought it to its end shortly
+afterwards:
+
+    "We are not fully satisfied with the tenor by which our real
+    estate, under the existing laws, is obliged to be held.
+    Conveyances, pursuant to legal advice, were made originally by
+    the owners of each particular parcel, to the committee of
+    finance, in trust for the stockholders and members; and a power
+    was executed by the stockholders to the committee, by which,
+    under certain regulations, they were to have authority to sell
+    and convey the same. The absurdity of the Statute of Trusts
+    never having been licked into shape by judicial decisions, a
+    close and unavailing search has since been instituted for the
+    fugitive legal title.
+
+    "Some counselors, learned in the law, find it in the committee
+    of finance, as representatives of the Association; others have
+    discovered that it is vested in them as individuals; others
+    still, of equal eminence, and equally intent on arriving at a
+    true solution, find perhaps that it is in the committee and
+    stockholders jointly; while there are those who profess to find
+    it in neither of these parties, but in the persons of whom the
+    property was purchased, and to whom has been paid its full
+    valuation!
+
+    "In order to educe order out of this confusion of opinions, and
+    to enable us to acquire, if possible, a less objectionable
+    title, it has been proposed to petition the Chancellor for a
+    sale, as a title from the court would be free from doubt."
+
+If this may be considered the end (as it probably was), it shows that
+the Bloomfield Association died, as the Clarkson did, in a quarrel
+about its titles, and in the hands of the lawyers.
+
+
+THE ONTARIO UNION.
+
+"This Association" says the _Phalanx_ of June 1844, "commenced
+operations about two weeks since, in Hopewell, Ontario County, five
+miles from Canandaigua. They have purchased the mills and farm
+formerly owned by Judge Bates, consisting of one hundred and fifty
+acres of land, a flouring mill with five run of burr stones, and
+saw-mill, at $16,000. They have secured by subscription, about one
+hundred and thirty acres of land in the immediate vicinity, which they
+are now working. To meet their liabilities for the original purchase,
+I am informed they have already a subscription which they believe can
+be relied on, amounting to over $40,000. They have now upon the domain
+about seventy-five members. This institution has been able already to
+commence such branches of industry as will produce an immediate
+return, and as a consequence, will avoid the necessity of living upon
+their capital. There is danger that their enthusiasm will get the
+better of their judgment in admitting members too fast."
+
+The editor of the _Phalanx_ visited this Association among others, in
+the fall of 1844, and gave the following cheerful account of it:
+
+    "The whole number of resident members is one hundred and fifty;
+    fifty of whom are men, and upward of sixty children. We were
+    greatly pleased with the earnest spirit which seemed to pervade
+    this little Community. We thought we perceived among them a
+    really religious devotion to the great cause in which they have
+    embarked. This gave an unspeakable charm to their rude,
+    temporary dwellings, and lent a grace to their plain manners,
+    far above any superficial elegance. We have no doubt that they
+    will succeed in establishing a state of society higher even than
+    they themselves anticipate. Of their pecuniary success their
+    present condition gives good assurance. We should think that,
+    with ordinary prudence, it was entirely certain."
+
+We find nothing after this in the _Phalanx_ about this Association.
+Macdonald merely mentions a few such items as the date, place, etc.,
+and concludes with the following terse epitaph: "It effected but
+little, and was of brief duration. No further particulars."
+
+
+THE MIXVILLE ASSOCIATION
+
+was one of the group that radiated from Rochester, according to Mr.
+Greig; but we can find no account of it anywhere, except that it had
+not commenced operations at the time of the session of the
+Confederated Council; though a delegate from it was a member of that
+Council. How long it lived, or whether it lived at all, does not
+appear.
+
+
+THE JEFFERSON COUNTY PHALANX.
+
+This Association, though not properly a member of the group that
+radiated from Rochester, and somewhat remote from western New York,
+was named among the confederated Associations, and sent a delegate to
+the Bloomfield Council. Three notices of it occur in the _Phalanx_,
+which we here present.
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_ October 5, 1843.]
+
+    "This Association has been commenced through the efforts,
+    principally, of A.M. Watson, Esq., the President, who for some
+    years past has been engaged in advocating and disseminating the
+    principles of Association in Watertown and that section of the
+    State. There are over three hundred persons now on the domain,
+    which consists of twelve or fifteen hundred acres of superior
+    land, finely watered, and situated within two or three miles of
+    Watertown. It is composed of several farms, put in by farmers,
+    who have taken stock for their lands, and joined the
+    Association. Very little cash capital has been paid in; the
+    enterprise was undertaken with the subscription of property,
+    real estate, provisions, tools, implements, &c., brought in by
+    the members, who were principally farmers and mechanics in the
+    neighborhood; and the result is an interesting proof of what can
+    be done by union and combined effort among the producing
+    classes. Different branches of manufactures have been
+    established, contracts for building in Watertown have been
+    taken, and an organization of labor into groups or squads, with
+    their foremen or leaders, has been made to some extent. The
+    agricultural department is prosecuted with vigor, and when last
+    heard from, the Association was flourishing. We hope from this
+    Association that perseverance and constancy--for it of course
+    has many difficulties to contend with--which will insure
+    success, and give another proof of the truth of the great
+    principles of combined effort and united interests."
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, November 4, 1843.]
+
+    "The following statement from the _Black River Journal_ of
+    October 6th, exhibits the affairs of the Jefferson County
+    Association in a gratifying light, and shows that so far it has
+    been extremely prosperous and successful. The fact alone of a
+    profit having been made, whether much or little, affords a
+    strong proof of the advantages of associated effort, for we
+    apprehend that either farmers or mechanics working separately,
+    would generally find it difficult to show a balance in their
+    favor upon the settlement of their accounts. But a net profit of
+    nearly thirteen thousand dollars, or twenty-five per cent. upon
+    the capital invested, for the first six months that a small
+    Association has been in operation, under circumstances by no
+    means the most favorable, is striking and incontestable evidence
+    of real prosperity. Before a great while we shall have many such
+    cases to record."
+
+    ABSTRACT OF SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT.
+
+    The first Semi-Annual Report of the property, expenditures and
+    proceeds of labor of the Jefferson County Industrial
+    Association, was submitted to a meeting of the stockholders on
+    Monday the 2d inst.
+
+    Since the organization of the Association in
+    April last, the real and personal property
+    acquired by purchase and subscription, has
+    reached the amount of                         $54,832.10
+
+    This is subject to reduction by the amount
+    of subscribed property applied to the
+    purchase of real estate                         5,458.28
+                                                    --------
+    Total property on hand                                  $49,373.82
+
+    The aggregate product of the several
+    departments of business, to Sept. 23d         $20,301.67
+
+    Expense of same, including all purchases
+    of goods and supplies                           7,331.95
+                                                    --------
+    Net proceeds                                            $12,969.72
+
+    Of this has been expended in improvement of
+    buildings, making a brick-yard, and preparing
+    summer fallows                                            1,365.00
+                                                            ----------
+    Balance on hand                                         $11,604.72
+
+    This balance consists of agricultural products in store, brick
+    manufactured and now on hand, proceeds of jobbing contracts,
+    earnings of mechanics' shops, etc.
+
+    Published by order of the President and Board of Directors.
+
+    _Report of A.M. Watson to the Confederate Council, May 15,
+    1844._
+
+    "The Jefferson County Association has made its first annual
+    statement, by which it appears that capital in that institution
+    will receive a fraction over six per cent. interest. Owing to
+    inattention to the principles of Association, and a defective
+    and incomplete organization of industry into groups and series,
+    as well as to the fact that in the commencement much time is
+    lost, labor in this institution fails to obtain its fair
+    remuneration. Another circumstance which has operated to the
+    disadvantage of labor, is, that no allowance has been made in
+    its favor, in the annual settlement, for working dresses. These
+    facts are conclusive, to my mind, that the disadvantages of
+    improper or inadequate organization in all institutions, will be
+    even more injurious to labor than to capital.
+
+    "This institution commenced operations without the investment of
+    much, if any, cash capital, and they now are somewhat
+    embarrassed for want of such means. A subscription to their
+    stock of two thousand dollars in cash, or a loan of that amount
+    for a reasonable time, for which good security could be given,
+    would, in my opinion, place them in a situation to carry on a
+    very profitable business the ensuing year. If this obstacle can
+    be surmounted, I know of no institution of better promise than
+    this. This would seem to be but a small matter; but when the
+    fact is considered that they are located in the midst of a
+    community which sympathizes but little in the movement, while
+    many exert themselves to increase the embarrassment by decrying
+    their responsibility, it will readily be seen that their
+    situation is unenviable. Their responsibility, when compared
+    with that of most business concerns in the country, is more real
+    than that of a majority of business men who are considered
+    perfectly solvent. Considering the difficulties and
+    embarrassments through which they have already struggled, I have
+    strong confidence in their ultimate success. The whole number of
+    members will not vary much at this time, from one hundred and
+    fifty. They have reduced, by sale, their lands to about eight
+    hundred acres, and I refer you to the annual report for further
+    information as to their liabilities."
+
+We perceive in the depressed tone of this report, as well as in the
+reduction of numbers and land which it exhibits, that decline had
+begun and failure was impending. Nothing more is said in the _Phalanx_
+about this Association, except that it sent a delegate to a
+socialistic convention that met in New York City on the 7th of
+October, 1844. We have to fall back, as usual, on Macdonald, for the
+summing-up and final moral. He says:
+
+    "After a few months, disagreements among the members became
+    general. Their means were totally inadequate; they were too
+    ignorant of the principles of Association; were too much crowded
+    together, and had too many idlers among them. There was bad
+    management on the part of the officers, and some were suspected
+    of dishonesty. As times grew better, many of those who joined on
+    account of hard times, got employment and left; and many more
+    thought they could do better in the world again, and did the
+    same thing. The only aid they could get in their difficulties,
+    was from stock subscriptions, and that was not much. Men who
+    invested actual property sustained heavy losses. One farmer who
+    involved his farm, lost nearly all he possessed. After existing
+    about twelve months the land was sold to pay the debts, and the
+    Association disbanded."
+
+
+THE MOORHOUSE UNION
+
+is mentioned in the first number of the _Phalanx_, October 1843, as
+one among the many Associations just starting at that time. Macdonald
+gives the following account of it:
+
+    "This experiment originated in the offer of a grant of land by
+    A.K. Moorhouse, of Moorhouseville, Hamilton County, New York,
+    who owned 60,000 acres of land in the counties of Hamilton,
+    Herkimer and Saratoga. As most of this land was situated in what
+    is called the 'wilderness of New York,' he could find few
+    persons who were willing to purchase and settle the inhospitable
+    wild. Under these circumstances he offered to the Socialists as
+    much of 10,000 acres as they might clear in three years, hoping
+    that an Association would build up a village and form a nucleus
+    around which individuals and Associations might settle and
+    purchase his lands.
+
+    "The offer was accepted by an Association formed in New York
+    City, and several capitalists promised to take stock in the
+    enterprise; but none was ever paid for. In May 1843, Mr.
+    Moorhouse arrived at Piseco from New York, with a company of
+    pioneers, who were soon followed by others, and the work
+    commenced. The locality chosen at Lake Piseco was situated about
+    five miles from Lake Pleasant, the county seat, a village of
+    eight or nine houses and a court-house. On the arrival of the
+    party it was found that Mr. Moorhouse had made some
+    improvements, which he was willing to exchange for $2,000 of
+    stock in the Association. This was agreed to. He also engaged to
+    furnish provisions, tools etc., and take his pay in stock. The
+    land on which the Association commenced its labors was a gift
+    from Mr. Moorhouse; but the improvements which consisted of 120
+    acres of cleared land with a few buildings, was accepted as
+    stock at the above valuation.
+
+    "The money, property and labor were put into common stock. Labor
+    was rated at fifty cents per day, no matter of what kind. A
+    store was kept on the premises, in which articles were sold at
+    prime cost, with an allowance for transportation, &c. By the
+    constitution the members were entitled to scrip representing the
+    excess of wages over the amount of goods received from the
+    store; or, in other words, laborers became stockholders in
+    proportion to that excess. No dividends were to be declared for
+    the first five years.
+
+    "The persons thus congregated to carry out the principles of
+    Association [number not stated], belonged to a variety of
+    occupations; but it appears that but few of them were adapted to
+    the wants of the Community. Some of the members were intelligent
+    and moral people; but the majority were very inferior. No
+    property qualifications were necessary to admission. It appears
+    that members were obtained by an agent, who took
+    indiscriminately all he could get. The most common religious
+    belief among them was Methodist; but a large proportion of them
+    did not profess any religion, and some were what is commonly
+    called infidels.
+
+    "Though the persons congregated here had left but humble homes
+    and poor circumstances generally, yet the circumstances now
+    surrounding them were worse than those they had left, and as a
+    natural consequence there was a deterioration of character. Not
+    having formed any organization in the city, as is customary in
+    such experiments, they received no aid from without; and the
+    want of this aid does not appear to have insured success, as
+    some enthusiastic Socialists have imagined that it would; but on
+    the contrary a most signal failure ensued.
+
+    "The leading persons were Mr. Moorhouse and a relative of his
+    named Brown. The former furnished every thing and turned it in
+    as stock. The latter kept the store and the accounts. The
+    members do not appear to have been acquainted with the mode in
+    which either the store or books were kept.
+
+    "At the commencement, when they were sufficiently supplied from
+    the store, they agreed tolerably well; but during the latter
+    period of the experiment, when Mr. Moorhouse began to be slack
+    in buying things for the members, there was a good deal of
+    disagreement. The store was nearly always empty, and when
+    anything was brought into it, there was a general scramble to
+    see who should get the most. This, as a matter of course,
+    produced much jealousy and quarreling. All kinds of suspicions
+    were afloat, and it was generally reported that the executive,
+    including the store-keeper, fared better than the rest.
+
+    "Some work was done, and some improvements were made upon the
+    land. Rye and potatoes were planted, and probably consumed. The
+    experiment existed a few months, and then by degrees died away."
+
+The following from a person who took part in the experiment, will give
+the reader a nearer view of the causes of the failure:
+
+    "The population congregated at Piseco was composed of all
+    nations, characters and conditions; a motley group of
+    ill-assorted materials, as inexperienced as it was
+    heterogeneous. We had some specimens of the raw material of
+    human nature, and some of New York manufacture spoiled in the
+    making. There were philosophers and philanthropists, bankrupt
+    merchants and broken-down grocery-keepers; officers who had
+    retired from the Texan army on half-pay; and some who had
+    retired from situations in the New York ten-pin alleys. There
+    were all kinds of ideas, notions, theories, and whims; all kinds
+    of religions; and some persons without any. There was no
+    unanimity of purpose, or congeniality of disposition; but there
+    was plenty of discussion, and an abundance of variety, which is
+    called the spice of life. This spice however constituted the
+    greater part of the fare, as we sometimes had scarcely anything
+    else to eat.
+
+    "At first we were pretty well off for provisions; but soon the
+    supplies began to be reduced; and in November the list of
+    luxuries and necessaries commenced with rye and ended with
+    potatoes, with nothing between! As the supplies were cut off,
+    the number of members decreased. They were starved out. But of
+    course the starving process was slower in those cases where the
+    individuals had not the means of transportation back to the
+    white settlements. When I left the 'promised land' in March
+    1844, there were only six families remaining. I had determined
+    to see it out; but the state of things was so bad, and the
+    prospects ditto, that I could stand it no longer. I thought the
+    whole would soon fall into the hands of Mr. Moorhouse, and I
+    could not afford to spend any more time in a cause so hopeless.
+    I had given nine months' time, was half starved, got no pay, had
+    worn out my clothes, and had my best coat borrowed without
+    leave, by a man who went to New York some time before. This I
+    thought might suffice for one experiment. I left the place less
+    sanguine than when I went there that Associations could succeed
+    without capital and without a good selection of members. Yet my
+    belief was as firm as ever in the coming abolition of
+    conflicting interests, and the final harmonious reconstruction
+    of society."
+
+Here ends the history of the Fourier Associations in the State of New
+York. The Ohio experiments come next.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE MARLBORO ASSOCIATION.
+
+
+As in New England, so in Ohio, the general socialistic excitement of
+1841 and afterwards, gave rise to several experiments that had nothing
+to do with Fourier's peculiar philosophy. We begin with one of these
+indigenous productions.
+
+Mrs. Esther Ann Lukens, a member of the Marlboro Community, answered
+Macdonald's inquiries about its history. We copy the greater part of
+her story:
+
+    _Mrs. Lukens's Narrative._
+
+    "The Marlboro Community seems, as I think of it, to have had its
+    existence so entirely in dreams of human advancement and the
+    generous wish to promote it, and also in ignorance of all but
+    the better part of human nature, that it is hard to speak of it
+    as a _bona fide_ portion of our plodding work-a-day world.
+
+    "It was originated by a few generous and ardent spirits, who
+    were disgusted with the oppressive and antagonistic conditions
+    of ordinary labor and commerce. The only remedy they saw, was a
+    return to the apostolic manner of living--that of 'having all
+    things common.'
+
+    "The Association was first talked of and its principles
+    generally discussed in Clinton County, some years before
+    anything was done. Many in all parts of Ohio participated in
+    this discussion, and warmly urged the scheme; but only a few
+    were found who were hopeful and courageous enough to dare the
+    final experiment.
+
+    "The gathering commenced in 1841 on the farm of Mr. E. Brooke,
+    and consisted at first of his family and a few other persons.
+    Gradually the number increased, and another farm was added by
+    the free gift of Dr. A. Brooke, or rather by his resigning all
+    right and title to it as an individual, and delivering it over
+    to the joint ownership of the great family.
+
+    "As may be supposed, the majority of those who gathered around
+    this nucleus, were without property, and very slenderly gifted
+    with the talent of acquiring it, but thoroughly honest,
+    philanthropic, warmly social, and willing to perform what
+    appeared to them the right amount of labor belonging to freemen
+    in a right state of society. They forgot in a few instances,
+    that this right state did not exist, but was only dreamed about,
+    and had yet to be realized by more than common labor with the
+    hands.
+
+    "The Community had but little property of any value but land,
+    and that was in an uncultivated, half-wild state. There were a
+    few hundred dollars in hand; I can not say how many; but
+    certainly not half the amount required for purchases that seemed
+    immediately necessary. There was a good house and barn on each
+    farm, each house capable of accommodating comfortably three
+    families, besides three small tenant houses of logs, capable of
+    accommodating one family each. There were also on the premises
+    four or five horses and a few cattle and sheep.
+
+    "It became necessary, as the numbers increased, to purchase the
+    farm intervening between the one first owned by E. Brooke, and
+    the one given by Dr. A. Brooke, both for convenience in passing
+    and repassing, and for the reason that more land was needed to
+    give employment to all. The owner asked an exorbitant price,
+    knowing our necessities; but it was paid, or rather promised,
+    and so a load of debt was contracted.
+
+    "The members generally were eminently moral and intellectual. As
+    to religious belief, they were what people called, and perhaps
+    justly, Free-thinkers. In our conferences for purposes of
+    improvement and domestic counsel, which were held on Sundays,
+    religion, as a distinct obligation, was never mentioned.
+
+    "Provisions were easily procured. One of the farms had a large
+    orchard, and our living was confined to the plainest vegetable
+    diet; so that much time was left for social and mental
+    improvement. All will join with me in saying that love and good
+    fellowship reigned paramount; so that all enjoyed good care
+    during sickness, and kindly sympathy at all times.
+
+    "About a year and a-half after its foundation, the Community
+    sustained a great loss by the death of one of its most efficient
+    and ardent supporters, Joseph Lukens. It was after this period
+    that a constitution or form of Association was framed, and many
+    persons were admitted who had different views of property and
+    the basis of rights, from what were generally held at the
+    beginning.
+
+    "The existence of the Community, from first to last, was nearly
+    four years. If I should say there was perfect unanimity of
+    feeling to the last, it would not be true. Yet there were no
+    quarrels, and all discussions among us were temperate and kind.
+    As to our breaking up, there was no cause for it clear to my
+    mind, except the complicated state of the business concerns, the
+    amount of debt contracted, and the feeling that each one would
+    work with more energy, for a time at least, if thrown upon his
+    own resources, with plenty of elbow-room and nothing to distract
+    his attention."
+
+Mr. Thomas Moore, also a member of this Community, gave his opinion of
+the cause of its decease in a separate paper, as follows:
+
+    _Mr. Moore's Post Mortem._
+
+    "The failure of this experiment may be traced to the fact that
+    the minds of its originators were not homogeneous. They all
+    agreed that in a properly organized Community, there should be
+    no buying and selling between the members, but that each should
+    share the common products according to his necessity. But while
+    Dr. A. Brooke held that this principle should govern our conduct
+    in our interchange with the whole world, the others believed it
+    right for any number of individuals to separate themselves from
+    the surrounding world, and from themselves into a distinct
+    Community; and while they had every thing free among themselves,
+    continue to traffic in the common way with those outside. And
+    again, while many believed they were prepared to enter into a
+    Community of this kind, Mr. Edward Brooke had his doubts,
+    fearing that the time had not yet arrived when any considerable
+    number of individuals could live together on these principles;
+    that though some might be prompted to enter into such relations
+    through principles of humanity and pure benevolence, others
+    would come in from motives altogether selfish; and that discord
+    would be the result. Dr. A. Brooke, not being willing to be
+    confined in any Community that did not embrace the whole world,
+    stepped out at the start, but left the Community in possession
+    of his property during his life; believing that to be as long as
+    he had any right to dispose of it. But Edward Brooke yielded to
+    the views of others, and went on with the Community.
+
+    "For some time the members who came in from abroad added nothing
+    of consequence to the common stock. Some manifested by their
+    conduct that their objects were selfish, and being disappointed,
+    left again. Others, who perhaps entered from purer motives, also
+    became dissatisfied for various reasons and left; and so the
+    Community fluctuated for some time. At length three families
+    were admitted as members, who had property invested in farms,
+    and who were to sell the farms and devote the proceeds to the
+    common stock. Two of these, after having tried community life a
+    year, concluded to leave before they had sold their farms; and
+    the third, not being able to sell, there was a lack of capital
+    to profitably employ the members; and the consequence was, there
+    was not quite enough produced to support the Community.
+    Discovering this to be the case, several of the persons who
+    originally owned the property became dissatisfied; and although
+    according to the principles of the Community they had no greater
+    interest in that property than any other members, yet it was no
+    less a fact that they had donated it nearly all (excepting Dr.
+    A. Brooke's lease), and that now they would like to have it
+    back. This placed the true Socialists in delicate circumstances.
+    Being without pecuniary means of their own, they could not
+    exercise the power that had voluntarily been placed in their
+    hands, to control these dissatisfied ones, so as to cause them,
+    against their will, to leave their property in the hands of the
+    Community. The property was freely yielded up, though with the
+    utmost regret. My opinion therefore is that the experiment
+    failed at the time it did, through lack of faith in those who
+    had the funds, and lack of funds in those who had the faith."
+
+Dr. A. Brooke, who devoted his land to the Marlboro Community, but
+stepped out himself, because he would not be confined to anything less
+than Communism with the world, afterwards tried a little experiment of
+his own, which failed and left no history. Macdonald visited him in
+1844, and reports some curious things about him, which may give the
+reader an idea of what was probably the most radical type of Communism
+that was developed in the Socialistic revival of 1841-3.
+
+"Dr. Brooke" says Macdonald, "was a tall, thin man, with gray hair,
+and beard quite unshaven. His face reminded me of the ancient
+Philosophers. His only clothing was a shirt and pantaloons; nothing
+else on either body, head, or feet. He invited us into his comfortable
+parlor, which was neatly furnished and had a good supply of books and
+papers. Our breakfast consisted of cold baked apples, cold corn bread,
+and I think potatoes.
+
+"We questioned him much concerning his strange notions, and in the
+course of conversation I remarked, that such men as Robert Owen,
+Charles Fourier, Josiah Warren and others, had each a certain number
+of fundamental principles, upon which to base their theories, and I
+wished to understand definitely what fundamental principles he had,
+and how many of them. He replied that he had only one principle, and
+that was to do what he considered right. He said he attended the sick
+whenever he was called upon, for which he made no charge. When he
+wanted anything which he knew one of his neighbors could supply, he
+sent to that neighbor for it. He shewed me a brick out-building at the
+back of his cottage, which he said had been put up for him by masons
+in the vicinity. He made it known that he wanted such work done, and
+no less than five men came to do it for him."
+
+Macdonald adds the following story:
+
+    "I remember when in Cincinnati, one Sunday afternoon at a
+    Fourier meeting I heard Mr. Benjamin Urner read a letter from
+    Dr. A. Brooke to some hardware merchants in Cincinnati (the
+    Brothers Donaldson in Main street, I believe), telling them that
+    his necessities required a variety of agricultural tools, such
+    as a plow, harrow, axes, etc., and requesting that they might be
+    sent on to him. He stated that he had given up the use of money,
+    that he gave his professional services free of cost to those
+    whose necessities demanded them, and for any thing his
+    necessities required he applied to those whom he thought able to
+    give. Mr. Urner stated that this strange individual had been the
+    post-master of the place where he now lived, but that he had
+    given up the office so that he might not have to use money. He
+    also informed us that the hardware merchants very kindly sent on
+    the articles to Dr. Brooke free of cost; which announcement gave
+    great satisfaction to the meeting."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+PRAIRIE HOME COMMUNITY.
+
+
+This Association (another indigenous production) with several like
+attempts, originated with Mr. John O. Wattles, Valentine Nicholson and
+others, who, after attending a socialistic convention in New York in
+1843, lectured on Association at various places on their way back to
+the West. Orson S. Murray, the editor of the _Regenerator_, was also
+interested in this Community, and was on his way with his printing
+establishment to join it and publish his paper under its auspices,
+when he was wrecked on Lake Erie, and lost nearly every thing but his
+life.
+
+Prairie Home is a beautiful location near West Liberty in Logan
+County, Ohio. The domain consisted of over five hundred acres; half of
+which on the hills was well-timbered, and the remainder was in fine
+rich fields stretching across the prairie.
+
+The members numbered about one hundred and thirty, nearly all of whom
+were born and bred in the West. Of foreigners there were only two
+Englishmen and one German. Most of the members were agriculturists.
+Many of them had been Hicksite Quakers. A few were from other sects,
+and some from no sect at all. There were but few children.
+
+A few months before the dissolution of this Community Macdonald
+visited it, and staid several days. His gossiping report of what he
+saw and heard gives as good an inside view of the transitory species
+of Associations as any we find in his collections. We quote the most
+of it:
+
+    _Macdonald's visit at Prairie Home._
+
+    "On arriving at West Liberty I inquired eagerly for the
+    Community; but when very coldly and doubtfully told that it was
+    somewhere down the Urbana road, and seeing that folks in the
+    town did not seem to know or care much where it was, my ardor
+    sensibly abated, and I began to doubt whether it was much of an
+    affair after all; but I pushed on, anxious at once to see the
+    place.
+
+    "On reaching the spot where I was told I should find the
+    Community, I turned off from the main road up a lane, and soon
+    met a gaunt-looking individual, rough but very polite, having
+    the look of a Quaker, which I afterwards found he was. He spoke
+    kindly to me, and directed me where to go. There was a two-story
+    frame house at the entrance of the lane, which belonged to the
+    Community; also a log cabin at the other corner of the lane.
+    After walking a short distance I arrived at another two-story
+    frame house, opposite to which was a large flour-mill on a
+    little stream, and an old saw-mill, looking very rough. At the
+    door of the dwelling-house there was a group of women and girls,
+    picking wool; and as it was just noon, many men came in from
+    various parts of the farm to take their dinner. At the back of
+    the house there was a long shed, with a rough table down the
+    center, and planks for seats on each side, on which thirty or
+    forty people sat. I was kindly received by them, and invited to
+    dinner; and a good dinner it was, consisting of coarse brown
+    bread piled up in broken lumps, dishes of large potatoes
+    unpeeled, some potato-soup, and a supply of melons for a second
+    course.
+
+    "I sat beside a Dr. Hard, who noticed that I took a little salt
+    with my potatoes, and remarked to me that if I abstained from
+    it, I would have my taste much more perfect. There was but
+    little salt on the table, and I saw no person touch it. There
+    was no animal food of any kind except milk, which one or two of
+    them used. They all appeared to eat heartily. The women waited
+    upon the table, but the variety of dishes being small, each
+    person so attended to himself that waiting was rendered almost
+    unnecessary. All displayed a rude politeness.
+
+    "After dinner I fell in with a cabinet-maker, a young man from
+    Bond street, London, and had quite a chat with him; also an
+    elderly man from England, John Wood by name, who was acquainted
+    with the socialistic movement in that country. I then went to
+    see the man work the saw-mill, and was much pleased with his
+    apparent interest and industry.
+
+    "Not finding the acquaintance I was in search of at this place,
+    and hearing that he was at another Community or branch of
+    Prairie Home, about nine miles distant in a northerly direction
+    (which they called the Upper Domain or Highland Home or
+    Zanesfield), I determined to see him that night, and after
+    obtaining necessary information I started on my journey.
+
+    "The walk was long, and it was dark before I reached the
+    Community farm. At length the friendly bow-wow of a dog told of
+    the habitable dwelling, and soon I was in the comfortable and
+    pretty looking farm house at Highland Home. This Community
+    consisted of only ten or twelve persons. Here I found my friend,
+    and after a wholesome Grahamite supper of corn-bread, apple-pie
+    and milk, I had a long conversation with him and others on
+    Community matters. I put many questions to them, all of which
+    were answered satisfactorily. Here is a specimen of our
+    dialogue:
+
+    "Do you make laws? No. Does the majority govern the minority?
+    No. Have you any delegated power? No. Any kind of government?
+    No. Do you express opinions and principles as a body? No. Have
+    you any form of society or test for admission of members? No. Do
+    you assist runaway slaves? Yes. Must you be Grahamites? No. Do
+    you object to religionists? No. What are the terms of admission?
+    The land is free to all; let those who want, come and use it.
+    Any particular trades? No. Can persons take their earnings away
+    with them when they leave? Yes.
+
+    "Their leading principle, they repeatedly told me, was to
+    endeavor to practice the golden rule, 'Do as you would be done
+    by.'
+
+    "The next morning I took a walk round the farm. It was a nice
+    place, and appeared to have been well kept formerly, but now
+    there was some disorder. The workmen appeared to be without
+    clear ideas of the duties they were to perform. It seemed as if
+    they had not made up their minds what they could do, or what
+    they intended to do. Some of them were feeble-looking men, and
+    in conversation with them I ascertained that several, both here
+    and at Prairie Home, had adopted the present mode of Grahamite
+    living to improve their health.
+
+    "Phrenology seemed to be pretty generally understood, and I was
+    surprised to hear rude-looking men, almost ragged, ploughing,
+    fence-making, and in like employments, converse so freely upon
+    Phrenology, Physiology, Magnetism, Hydropathy, &c. The
+    _Phrenological Journal_ was taken by several of them.
+
+    "I visited a neighboring farm, said to belong to the Community,
+    the residence, I believe, of Horton Brown, with whom I had an
+    interesting conversation on religion and Community matters. He
+    said they took the golden rule as their guide, 'Do unto others
+    as ye would have others do unto you.' I reminded him that even
+    the golden rule was subject to individual interpretation, and
+    might be misinterpreted.
+
+    "_Saturday, August 25, 1844._--I noticed several persons here
+    were sick with various complaints, and those who were not sick
+    labored very leisurely. During the day four men arrived from
+    Indiana to see the place and 'join the Community;' but there
+    were no accommodations for them. They reported quite a stir in
+    Indiana in regard to the Community.
+
+    "In the afternoon my friend was ready to return to Cincinnati,
+    whither he was going to try and induce his family to come to
+    Zanesfield. We walked to Prairie Home that evening. At night we
+    were directed to sleep at the two-story frame house at the
+    entrance of the lane. At that place there seemed to be much
+    confusion; too many people and too many idlers among them. The
+    young women were most industrious, attending to the supper table
+    and the provisions in a very steady, business-like manner; but
+    the young men were mostly lounging about doing nothing. At
+    bed-time there were too many persons for each to be accommodated
+    with a bed; so the females all went up stairs and slept as they
+    could; and the males slept below, all spread out in rows upon
+    the floor. This was unpleasant, and as the sequel proved, could
+    not long be endured.
+
+    "_Prairie Home, Sunday, August 26._--In the morning, there was a
+    social meeting of all the members. The weather was too wet and
+    cold for them to meet on the hills, as was intended; so they
+    adjourned to the flour-mill, and seated themselves as best they
+    could, on chairs and planks, men and women all together. Such a
+    meeting as this was quite a novel sight for me. There was no
+    chairman, no secretary and no constitution or by-laws to
+    preserve order. Yet I never saw a more orderly meeting. The
+    discussions seemed chiefly relating to agricultural matters. One
+    man rose and stated that there was certain plowing to be done on
+    the following day, and if it was thought best by the brothers
+    and sisters, he would do it. Another rose and said he would
+    volunteer to do the plowing if the first one pleased, and he
+    might do something else. There appeared to be some competition
+    in respect to what each should do, and yet a strong
+    non-resistant principle was manifest, which seemed to smooth
+    over any difficulty. There was some talk about money and the
+    lease of the property, and several persons spoke, both male and
+    female, apparently just as the spirit moved them. At the close
+    of the meeting some singing was attempted, but it was very poor
+    indeed. The folks scattered to the houses for dinner, and as
+    usual took a pretty good supply of the potatoes, potato-soup,
+    brown bread, apples and apple butter, together with large
+    quantities of melons of various kinds.
+
+    "Owing to the cold weather the people were all huddled together
+    inside the houses. The rooms were too small, and many of the
+    young men were compelled to sleep in the mill. Altogether there
+    were too many persons brought together for the scanty
+    accommodations of the place.
+
+    "_Monday, August 27._--The wind blew hard, and threw down a
+    large stack of hay. It was interesting to see the rapidity with
+    which a group of volunteers put it in order again. The party
+    seemed to act with perfect union.
+
+    "Several persons arrived to join the Community; among the rest a
+    farmer and his family in a large wagon, with a lot of household
+    stuff.
+
+    "I watched several men at work in different places, and to one
+    party I could not help expressing myself thus: 'If you fail, I
+    will give it up; for never did I see men work so well or so
+    brotherly with each other.' But all were not thus industrious;
+    for I saw some who merely crawled about (probably sick), just
+    looking on like myself, at any thing which fell in their way.
+    There was evident disorder, showing a transition state toward
+    either harmony or anarchy. I am sorry to say, it too soon proved
+    to be the latter.
+
+    "After dinner some one suggested having a meeting to talk about
+    a plow. With some little exertion they managed to get ten or
+    twelve men together. Then they sat down and reasoned with each
+    other at great length. But it was very uneconomical, I thought,
+    to bring so many persons together from their work, to talk so
+    much about so small a matter. A plow had to be repaired; some
+    one must and did volunteer to go to the town with it; he wanted
+    money to pay for it; there was no money; he must take a bag of
+    corn or wheat, and trade that off to pay for the repairs; a
+    wagon had to be got out; two horses put to it, and a journey of
+    some miles made, and nearly a day of time expended about such a
+    trifling job.
+
+    "I went to see the saw-mill at work; found one or two men
+    engaged at it. They were working for customers, and got a
+    certain portion of the lumber for what they sawed. I then went
+    into an old log cabin and found my acquaintance, the
+    cabinet-maker. On my inquiring how he liked Community, he told
+    me the following story: He came from London to find friends in
+    Indiana, and brought with him a fine chest of tools. On his
+    arrival, he found his friends about to start for Community; so
+    he came with them. He brought his tools with him, but left them
+    at Zanesfield, and came down here. The folks at Zanesfield,
+    wanting a plane, a saw and chisels, and knowing that his box was
+    there, having no key, actually broke open the box, and under the
+    influence of the common-property idea, helped themselves to the
+    tools, and spoiled them by using them on rough work. He had got
+    his chest away from there. He said he had no objection to their
+    using the tools, if they knew how and did not spoil them. I saw
+    one or two large chisels with pieces chipped out of them and
+    planes nicked by nails, all innocently and ignorantly done by
+    the brothers, who scarcely saw any wrong in it.
+
+    "It was interesting to see the groups of unshaven men. There
+    were men between forty and fifty years of age, who had shaved
+    all their lives before, but now they let their beards grow, and
+    looked ferocious. The young men looked well, and some of them
+    rather handsome, with their soft beards and hair uncut; but the
+    elderly ones did certainly look ugly. There was a German of a
+    thin, gaunt figure, about fifty years of age, with a large,
+    stubby, gray beard, and an ill-tempered countenance.
+
+    "John Wood, the Englishman, a pretty good specimen, blunt,
+    open-hearted and independent, had got three pigs in a pen, which
+    he fed and took care of. They were the only animals on the
+    place, except the horses. But exercising his rights, he said,
+    'If the rest of them did not want meat, he _did_--for he liked a
+    bit o'meat.'
+
+    "I was informed that all the animals on the place, when the
+    Community took possession of the domain, were allowed to go
+    where they pleased; or those who wanted them were free to take
+    them.
+
+    "Before the meeting on Sunday, groups of men stood round the
+    house talking; some two or three of them, including John Wood
+    and the Dutchman (as he was called) were cleaning themselves up
+    a bit; and John had blackened and polished his boots; after
+    which he carefully put the blacking and brushes away. Out came
+    the Dutchman and looked round for the same utensils. Not seeing
+    them, he asked the Englishman for the 'prushes.' So John brings
+    them out and hands them to him. Whereupon the Dutchman marches
+    to the front of the porch, and in wrathful style, with the
+    brushes uplifted in his hand, he addresses the assembled crowd:
+    'He-ar! lookee he-ar! Do you call dis Community? Is dis common
+    property? See he-ar! I ask him for de prushes to placken mine
+    poots, and he give me de prushes, and _not give me de
+    placking_!' This was said with great excitement. 'He never saw
+    such community as dat; he could not understand; he tought every
+    ting was to be common to all!' But John Wood good-humoredly
+    explained that he had bought a box of blacking for himself, and
+    if he gave it to every one who wanted to black boots, he would
+    very soon be without any; so he shut it up for his own use, and
+    those who wanted blacking must buy it for themselves.
+
+    "I noticed there was some carelessness with the farm tools.
+    There was a small shed in which all the scythes, hoes, axes,
+    &c., were supposed to be deposited when not in use. But they
+    were not always returned there. It appeared that these tools
+    were used indiscriminately by any one and every one, so that one
+    day a man would have one ax or scythe, and the next day another.
+    This was evidently not agreeable in practice; for every
+    working-man well knows that he forms attachments for certain
+    tools, as much as he does for friends, and his hand and heart
+    get used to them, as it were, so that he can use them better
+    than he can strange ones.
+
+    "With these few notices of failings, I must say I never saw a
+    better-hearted or more industrious set of fellows. They appeared
+    to struggle hard to effect something, yet it seemed evident that
+    something was lacking among them to make things work well. It
+    might have been organized laws, or government of some kind; it
+    might have been a definite bond of union, or a prominent leader.
+    It is certain there was some power or influence needed, to
+    direct the force mustered there, and make it work economically
+    and harmoniously.
+
+    "People kept coming and going, and were ready to do something;
+    but there was nobody to tell them what to do, and they did not
+    know what to do themselves. They had to eat, drink and sleep;
+    and they expected to obtain the means of doing so; but they
+    seemed not to reflect who was going to supply these means, or
+    where they were to come from. Some seemed greedy and reckless,
+    eating all the time, cutting melons out of the garden and from
+    among the corn, eating them and throwing the peels and seeds
+    about the foot-paths and door-ways.
+
+    "There was an abundance of fine corn on the domain, abundance of
+    melons of all kinds, and, I believe, plenty of apples at the
+    upper Community. Much provision had been brought and sent there
+    by farmers who had entered into the spirit of the cause. For
+    instance there were some wagon-loads of potatoes and apples
+    sent, as well as quantities of unbolted wheat meal, of which the
+    bread was made.
+
+    "On my asking about the idlers, the reply was, 'Oh! they will
+    not stop here long; it is uncongenial to lazy people to be among
+    industrious ones; and for their living, it don't cost much more
+    than fifty cents per week, and they can surely earn that.'
+
+    "At the Sunday meeting before mentioned, the enthusiasm of some
+    was great. One man said he left his home in Indiana; he had a
+    house there, which he thought at first to reserve in case of
+    accident; but he finally concluded that if he had any thing to
+    fall back upon, he could not give his heart and soul to the
+    cause as he wanted to; so he gave up every thing he possessed,
+    and put it into Community. Others did the same, while some had
+    reserved property to fall back upon. Some said they had lands
+    which they would put into the Community, if they could get rid
+    of them; but the times were so hard that there was much scarcity
+    of money, and the lands would not sell.
+
+    "From all I saw I judged that the Community was too loosely put
+    together, and that they had not entire confidence in each other;
+    and I left them with forebodings.
+
+    "The experiment lasted scarcely a year. On the 25th of October,
+    about two months after my visit, they had a meeting to talk over
+    their affairs. More than three thousand dollars had been paid on
+    the property; but the land owner was pressed with a mortgage,
+    and so pressed them. One man sold his farm and got part of the
+    required sum ready to pay. Others who owned farms could not sell
+    them; and the consequence was, that according to agreement they
+    were obliged to give up the papers; so they surrendered the
+    domain and all upon it, into the hands of the original
+    proprietor.
+
+    "The members then scattered in various directions. Several were
+    considerable losers by the attempt, while many had nothing to
+    lose. At the present time I learn that there are men and women
+    of that Community who are still ready with hands and means to
+    try the good work again. The cause of failure assigned by the
+    Communists was their not owning the land they settled upon; but
+    I think it very doubtful whether they could have kept together
+    if the land had been free; for as I have before said, there was
+    something else wanted to make harmony in labor."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+THE TRUMBULL PHALANX.
+
+
+This experiment originated among the Socialist enthusiasts of
+Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Its domain at Braceville, Trumbull County,
+Ohio, was selected and a commencement was made in the spring of 1844.
+From this date till its failure in the latter part of 1847, we find in
+the _Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_ some sixteen notices of it, long and
+short, from which we are to gather its history. We will quote the
+salient parts of these notices; and so let the friends of the
+experiment speak for themselves. The rose-color of their
+representations will be corrected by the ultimate facts. This was one
+of the three most notable experiments in the Fourier epoch--the North
+American and the Wisconsin Phalanxes being the other two.
+
+    [From a letter of Mr. Jehu Brainerd, June 29, 1844.]
+
+    "The location which this society has chosen, is a very beautiful
+    one and is situated in the north-west quarter of Braceville
+    township, eight miles west of Warren, and five miles north of
+    Newton Falls.
+
+    "The domain was purchased of Mr. Eli Barnum, at twelve dollars
+    per acre, and consists of two hundred and eighty acres of the
+    choicest land, about half of which is under good cultivation.
+    There is a valuable and durable mill privilege on the domain,
+    valued at three thousand six hundred dollars; and at the time
+    the purchase was made, there were in successful operation, a
+    grist-mill with two run of stones, an oil-mill, saw-mill, double
+    carding-machine, and cloth-dressing works.
+
+    "The principal buildings on the domain are a large two story
+    brick house, grist-mill and oil-mill, very large, substantial,
+    and entirely new, framed and well painted, and a large barn; the
+    other buildings, though sufficient for present accommodation,
+    are old and somewhat decayed.
+
+    "There has been already subscribed in real estate stock, most of
+    which is within two miles and less of the domain, nine hundred
+    and fifty-seven acres of land, mostly improved farms, which were
+    valued (including neat stock, grain, &c.) at sixteen thousand
+    one hundred and fifty dollars. Five hundred dollars cash capital
+    has also been subscribed and paid in; and about six hundred
+    dollars in lathes, tools, machinery, &c., including one hundred
+    thousand feet of lumber, have been received.
+
+    "There are thirty-five families now belonging to the
+    Association, in all one hundred and forty persons; of this
+    number forty-three are males over twenty-one years of age. Until
+    accommodations can be prepared on the domain, some of the
+    families will reside on the farms subscribed as stock. It is the
+    intention to commence an edifice of brick this present summer,
+    and extend it from time to time, as the increase of members may
+    require, or the funds of the society admit. For present
+    necessity, temporary buildings are erected."
+
+    [From a letter of N.C. Meeker, August 10, 1844.]
+
+    "The number of persons belonging to the Phalanx is about two
+    hundred; some reside on the domain proper; others on more
+    distant farms belonging to the Phalanx. Indeed as regards room,
+    they are much crowded, residing in loose sheds. Nevertheless, on
+    no consideration would they exchange present conditions for
+    former ones. More convenient residences are to be erected
+    forthwith, but it is not contemplated to erect the Phalanstery
+    or final edifice for a year or so, or until they are possessed
+    of sufficient means. Then the magnificent palace of the Combined
+    Order will equally shame the temples of antiquity and the
+    card-houses of modern days.
+
+    "For the present year hard work and few of the attractions of
+    Association are expected. Almost everything is unfitted for the
+    use of Associations, being too insignificant, or characteristic
+    of present society; made to sell rather than to use. The members
+    of the Trumbull Phalanx, knowing how to work truly, and fully
+    understanding that it is a gigantic labor to overturn the
+    despair which has been accumulating so long in men's bosoms,
+    have nerved themselves manfully, showing the true dignity of
+    human nature.
+
+    "Labor is partially organized by the instituting of groups, and
+    to much advantage. Boys who were idle and unproductive, have
+    become producers, and a very fine garden is the work of their
+    hands. They are under the charge of a proper person, who permits
+    them to choose their foreman from among themselves, and at
+    certain hours, in grounds laid out for the purpose, to engage in
+    sports. Even the men themselves, at the close of the work, find
+    agreeable and salutary exercise in a game of ball. Some going to
+    school, earn six or seven shillings a week, and where they work
+    in the brick-yard, from three to four shillings a day. These
+    sums are not final wages, but _permits_; for when a dividend is
+    declared there will be an additional remuneration.
+
+    "On the Sabbath I attended their social meeting, in which those
+    of all persuasions participated. The liberal views and kindly
+    feelings manifested by the various speakers were such as I had
+    never heard before. They spoke of the near relations they
+    sustained to each other, and of the many blessings they look to
+    receive in the future; meanwhile the present unity gave them an
+    idea of heaven. One spirit of joy and gladness seemed to animate
+    them, viz; that they had escaped from the wants, cares, and
+    temptations of civilization, and instead were placed where
+    public good is the same as individual good; hence nothing save
+    pre-conceived prejudices, fast giving away, prevent their loving
+    their neighbors as themselves. This is the spirit of
+    Christianity. Their position calls for union. No good can arise
+    from divers sects; no good ever did arise. They will all unite,
+    Presbyterians, Disciples, Baptists, Methodists, and all; and if
+    any name be needed, under that of Unionism. After meeting the
+    sacrament was administered; then followed a Bible-class, and
+    singing exercises closed the day. [It would seem from this
+    description, that the religion of the Trumbull was more orthodox
+    than any we have found in other Phalanxes.]
+
+    "Those not accustomed to view the progress of combined labor
+    will be astonished to see aggregates. A vast brick-kiln is
+    raised in a short time; a touch plants a field of corn, and a
+    few weeks turns a forest into a farm. Only a few of such results
+    can be seen now; but enough has been done at this Phalanx since
+    last spring, to give one an idea of the vast results which will
+    arise in the days of the new industrial world. Seating myself
+    in the venerable orchard, with the temporary dwellings on the
+    opposite side, the joiners at their benches in their open shops
+    under the green boughs, and hearing on every side the sound of
+    industry, the roll of wheels in the mills, and merry voices, I
+    could not help exclaiming mentally: Indeed my eyes see men
+    making haste to free the slave of all names, nations and
+    tongues, and my ears hear them driving, thick and fast, nails
+    into the coffin of despotism. I can but look on the
+    establishment of this Phalanx as a step of as much importance as
+    any which secured our political independence; and much greater
+    than that which gained the Magna Charta, the foundation of
+    English liberty.
+
+    "But as yet there is nothing clearly demonstrated save by faith.
+    That which remains to be seen is, whether families can be made
+    to associate in peace, enjoying the profits as well as pleasures
+    arising from public tables, granaries, store-houses, libraries,
+    schools, gardens, walks and fountains; or, briefer, whether a
+    man will be willing that he and his neighbor should be happy
+    together. Are men forever to be such consummate fools as to
+    neglect even the colossal profits of Association? Am I to be
+    astonished by hearing sensible men declare, because mankind have
+    been the victims of false relations, that these things are
+    impracticable? No, no! We have been shown by the Columbus of the
+    new industrial world how to solve the problem of the egg, and a
+    few caravels have adventured across the unknown ocean, and are
+    now, at the dawn of a new day, drawing nigh unto strange shores,
+    covered with green, and loading the breeze with the fragrance of
+    unseen flowers.
+
+                                              "NATHAN C. MEEKER."
+
+    [From an official letter to a Convention of Associations in New
+    York, signed by B. Robins and H.N. Jones, President and
+    Secretary of the Trumbull Phalanx, dated October 1, 1844.]
+
+    "We should have sent a delegate to your Convention or written
+    sooner, were not the assistance of all of our members daily
+    demanded, as also all our time, in the building up of Humanity's
+    Home. In common with the inhabitants of the region round about
+    (it is supposed on account of the dry season), we have had many
+    cases of fever and ague, a disease which has not been known here
+    for many years. This has prevented our executing various plans
+    for organization, etc., which we are now entering upon. And now,
+    with each day, we have abundant cause to hope for a joyous
+    future. We have harmony within and sympathy without; and being
+    persuaded that these are sure indications of success, we toil
+    on, 'heart within and God o'erhead.'
+
+    "Further, our pecuniary prospects brighten. Late arrangements
+    add to our means of paying our debt, which is light; and
+    accumulations of landed estate make us quite secure.
+    Nevertheless we feel that we are in the transition period, using
+    varied and noble elements not the most skillfully, and that we
+    need more than man's wisdom to guide us.
+
+    "The union of the Associations we look upon as a great and noble
+    idea, without which the chain of universal unity were
+    incomplete. When we shall have emerged from the sea of
+    civilization, so that we can do our own breathing, we shall be
+    able to cooperate with our friends throughout the world, as
+    members of the grand Phalanx. Meanwhile our hearts will be with
+    you, urging you not to falter in the work in which all the noble
+    and healthy spirit of the age is engaged.
+
+    "Accompanying is a copy of our constitution. Our number is over
+    two hundred. We have 1,500 acres of land, half under
+    cultivation, and a capital stock of $100,000. The branches of
+    industry are sufficiently varied, but mostly agricultural."
+
+    [Letter to the Pittsburg _Spirit of the Age_, July 1845.]
+
+    "I have just returned from a visit to the Trumbull Phalanx, and
+    I can but express my astonishment at the condition in which I
+    found the Association. I had never heard much of this Phalanx,
+    and what little had been said, gave me no very favorable opinion
+    of either location or people, and in consequence I went there
+    somewhat prejudiced against them. I was pleased, however, to
+    find that they have a beautiful and romantic domain, a rich
+    soil, with all the natural and artificial advantages they can
+    desire. The domain consists of eleven hundred acres in all. The
+    total cost of the real estate of the Phalanx is $18,428; on
+    which they have paid $8,239, leaving a debt of $10,189. The
+    payments are remarkably easy; on the principal, $1,000 are to be
+    paid in September next, and the same sum in April 1846, and
+    $1,133 in April 1847, and the same sum annually thereafter. They
+    apprehend no difficulty in meeting their engagements. Should
+    they even fail in making the first payments, they will be
+    indulged by their creditor. From this it will be seen that the
+    pecuniary condition of the Trumbull Phalanx is encouraging.
+
+    "The Phalanx has fee simple titles to many tracts of land, and a
+    house in Warren, with which they will secure capitalists who
+    choose to invest money, for the purpose of establishing some
+    branches of manufacturing.
+
+    "There are about two hundred and fifty people on the domain at
+    present, and weekly arrivals of new members. The greater
+    portion of them are able-bodied men, who are industrious and
+    devoted to the cause in which they are engaged. The ladies
+    perform their duties in this pioneer movement in a manner
+    deserving great praise. The educational department of the
+    Phalanx is well organized. The children from eight to fourteen
+    attend a manual-labor school, which is now in successful
+    operation. The advantages of Association are realized in the
+    boarding department. The cost per week for men, women and
+    children, is not more than forty cents.
+
+    "They soon expect to manufacture their own clothing. Carders,
+    cloth-dressers, weavers etc., are now at work. These branches
+    will be a source of profit to the Association. A good
+    flouring-mill with two run of stone is now in operation, which
+    more than supplies the bread-stuffs. They expect shortly to have
+    four run of stone, when this branch will be of immense profit to
+    the Association. The mill draws the custom of the neighborhood
+    for a number of miles around. Two saw-mills are now in
+    operation, which cut six hundred thousand feet per year, worth
+    at least $3,000. The lumber is principally sent to Akron. A
+    shingle-machine now in operation, will yield a revenue of $3,000
+    or $4,000 per annum. Machinery for making wooden bowls has been
+    erected, which will also yield a revenue of about $3,000. An
+    ashery will yield the present season about $500. The
+    blacksmiths, shoemakers, and other branches are doing well. A
+    wagon-shop is in progress of erection, and a tan-yard will be
+    sunk and a house built, the second story of which is intended
+    for a shoe-shop.
+
+    "_Crops_: thirty acres of wheat, fifty acres of oats, seventy
+    acres of corn, twelve acres of potatoes, five acres of English
+    turnips, ten acres of buckwheat, five acres of garden truck,
+    one and a half acres of broom corn. There are five hundred young
+    peach trees in the nursery; two hundred apple trees in the old
+    orchard; (fruit killed this year). _Live Stock_: forty-five
+    cows, twelve horses, five yoke of oxen, twenty-five head of
+    cattle.
+
+    "From the above hasty sketch (for I can not find time to speak
+    of this flourishing Association as I should), it will be seen
+    that it stands firm. Under all the disadvantages of a new
+    movement, the members live together, in perfect harmony; and
+    what is gratifying, Mr. Van Amringe is there, cheering them on
+    in the great cause by his eloquence, and setting them an example
+    of devotion to the good of humanity.
+
+                                                          J.D.T."
+
+
+    [Editorial in the _Harbinger_ August 23 1845.]
+
+    "TRUMBULL PHALANX.--We rejoice to learn by a letter just
+    received from a member of this promising Association, that they
+    are going forward with strength and hope, determined to make a
+    full experiment of the great principles which they have
+    espoused. Have patience, brothers, for a short season; shrink
+    not under the toils of the pioneer; let nothing daunt your
+    courage, nor cloud your cheerfulness; and soon you will joy with
+    the 'joy of harvest.' A few years will present the beautiful
+    spectacle of prosperous, harmonic, happy Phalanxes, dotting the
+    broad prairies of the West, spreading over its luxuriant
+    valleys, and radiating light to the whole land that is now in
+    'darkness and the shadow of death.' The whole American people
+    will yet see that the organization of industry is the great
+    problem of the age; that the spirit of democracy must expand in
+    universal unity; that cooperation in labor and union of
+    interest alone can realize the freedom and equality which have
+    been made the basis of our national institutions.
+
+    "We trust that our friends at the Trumbull Phalanx will let us
+    hear from them again at an early date. We shall always be glad
+    to circulate any intelligence with which they may favor us. Here
+    is what they say of their present condition: 'Our crops are now
+    coming in; oats are excellent, wheat and rye are about average,
+    while our corn will be superior. We are thankful that we shall
+    raise enough to carry us through the year; for we know what it
+    is to buy every thing. We are certain of success, certain that
+    the great principles of Association are to be carried out by us;
+    if not on one piece of ground, then on another. Literally we
+    constitute a Phalanx, a Phalanx which can not be broken, let
+    what will oppose. And this you are authorized to say in any
+    place or manner.'"
+
+    [Letter of N.C. Meeker to the _Pittsburg Journal_.]
+
+                         "_Trumbull Phalanx, September 13, 1845._
+
+    "R.M. RIDDLE--Sir: I have the pleasure of informing the public,
+    through the columns of the _Commercial Journal_, that we
+    consider the success of our Association as entirely certain. We
+    have made our fall payment of five hundred dollars, and, what is
+    perhaps more encouraging, we are at this moment engaged in
+    industrial operations which yield us thirty dollars cash, each
+    week. The waters are now rising, and in a few days, in addition
+    to these works which are now in operation, we shall add as much
+    more to the above revenue. The Trumbull Phalanx may now be
+    considered as an entirely successful enterprise.
+
+    "Our crops will be enough to carry us through. Last year we
+    paid over a thousand dollars for provisions. We have sixty-five
+    acres of corn, fifty-five of oats, twenty-four of buckwheat,
+    thirty of wheat, twenty of rye, twelve of potatoes, and two of
+    broom-corn. Our corn, owing to the excellent soil and superior
+    skill of the foreman of the farming department, is the best in
+    all this region of country. Thus we have already one of the
+    great advantages of Association, in securing the services of the
+    most able and scientific, not for individual, selfish good, but
+    for public good. We are fortunate, also, that we shall be able
+    to keep all our stock of fifty cows, etc., and not be obliged to
+    drive them off or kill them, as the farmers do around us, for we
+    have nearly fodder enough from our grains alone. Thus we are
+    placed in a situation for building up an Association, for
+    establishing a perfect organization of industry by means of the
+    groups and series, and in education by the monitorial
+    manual-labor system, and shall demonstrate that order, and not
+    civilization, is heaven's first law.
+
+    "Some eight or ten families have lately left us, one-fourth
+    because they had been in the habit of living on better food (so
+    they said), but the remainder because they were averse to our
+    carrying out the principles of Association as far as we thought
+    they ought to be carried. On leaving, they received in return
+    whatever they asked of us. They who enter Association ought
+    first to study themselves, and learn which stage of Association
+    they are fitted for, the transitional or the perfect. If they
+    are willing to endure privations, to eat coarse food, sometimes
+    with no meat, but with milk for a substitute (this is a glorious
+    resort for the Grahamites), to live on friendly terms with an
+    old hat or coat, rather than have the society run in debt, and
+    to have patience when many things go wrong, and are willing to
+    work long and late to make them go right, they may consider
+    themselves fitted for the transition-period. But if they sigh
+    for the flesh-pots and leeks and onions of civilization, feel
+    melancholy with a patch on their back, and growl because they
+    can not have eggs and honey and warm biscuit and butter for
+    breakfast, they had better stay where they are, and wait for the
+    advent of perfect industrial Association. I am thus trifling in
+    contrast; for there is nothing so serious, hearty, and I might
+    add, sublime, as the building up of a Phalanx, making and seeing
+    it grow day by day, and anticipating what fruits we shall enjoy
+    when a few years are past. Why, the heart of man has never yet
+    conceived what are the to-be results of the equilibrial
+    development of all the powers and faculties of man. It is like
+    endeavoring to comprehend the nature and pursuits of a spiritual
+    and superior race of beings.
+
+    "We are prepared to receive members who are desirous of uniting
+    their interests with us, and of becoming truly devoted to the
+    cause of industrial Association.
+
+                                 "Yours truly,     N.C. MEEKER."
+
+    [From a letter to the _Tribune_, September 29, 1846.]
+
+    "The progress made by the Trumbull Phalanx is doing great good.
+    People begin to say, 'If they could hang together under such bad
+    circumstances for so long a time, and no difficulties occur,
+    what must we hope for, now that they are pecuniarily
+    independent?' You have heard, I presume, that the Pittsburghers
+    have furnished money enough to place that Association out of
+    debt. I may be over-sanguine, but I feel confident of their
+    complete success. I fear our Eastern friends have not sufficient
+    faith in our efforts. Well, I trust we may disappoint them. The
+    Trumbull, so far as means amount to any thing, stands first of
+    any Phalanx in the United States; and as to harmony among the
+    members, I can only say that there has been no difficulty yet.
+
+                                      "Yours truly,       J.D.S."
+
+    [From the _Harbinger_, January 2, 1847.]
+
+    "We have received the following gratifying account of the
+    Trumbull Phalanx. Every attempt of the kind here described,
+    though not to be regarded as an experiment of a model Phalanx,
+    is in the highest degree interesting, as showing the advantages
+    of combined industry and social union. Go forward,
+    strong-hearted brothers, assured that every step you take is
+    bringing us nearer the wished-for goal, when the redemption of
+    humanity shall be fully realized. This is what they say:
+
+    "'We are getting along well. Our Pittsburg friends have lately
+    sent us two thousand dollars, and are to send more during the
+    winter. We are also adding to our numbers. We have an abundance
+    to eat of our own raising; but aside from this, our mill brings
+    sufficient for our support. We have put up a power-loom at our
+    upper works, and are about prepared to produce thereby
+    sufficient to clothe us. Hence, by uniting capital, labor and
+    skill in two mechanical branches, we secure, with ordinary
+    industry, what no equal number of families in civilization can
+    be said to possess entirely, a sufficient amount of food and
+    clothing. And these are items which practical men know how to
+    value; and we know how to value them too, because they are the
+    results of our own efforts.
+
+    "'We have two schools, one belonging to the district, that is, a
+    State or public school, and the other to the Phalanx, both
+    taught by persons who are members. In the latter school, among
+    other improvements, there are classes in Phonography and
+    Phonotopy, learning the new systems embraced by the writing and
+    printing reformation, the progress of which is highly
+    satisfactory.
+
+    "'On the whole, we feel that our success is ensured beyond an
+    earthly doubt. Not but that we have yet to pass through trying
+    scenes. But we have encountered so many difficulties that we are
+    not apprehensive but that we are prepared to meet others equally
+    as great. Indeed we feel that if we had known at the
+    commencement what fiery trials were to surround us, we should
+    have hesitated to enter upon the enterprise. Now, being fairly
+    in, we will brave it through, and we think you may look to see
+    us grow with each year, adding knowledge to wealth, and
+    industrious habits to religious precepts and elevated
+    sentiments, till we shall be prepared to enter upon the combined
+    order, and, with our co-partners, who are now breast and heart
+    with us, lead the kingdoms of the earth into the regions of
+    light, liberty and love.'"
+
+    [From the _Pittsburg Post_, January 1847.]
+
+    "TRUMBULL PHALANX.--Several Pittsburgers have joined the
+    above-named Association: and a sufficient amount of money has
+    been contributed to place it upon a solid foundation. It is
+    pecuniarily independent, as we are informed; and the members are
+    full of faith in complete success. Several letters have been
+    received by persons in this city from resident members of the
+    Phalanx. We should like to have one of them for publication, to
+    show the feelings which pervade those who are working out the
+    problem of social unity. They write in substance, 'The
+    Association is prosperous, and we are all happy.'
+
+    "The Trumbull Phalanx is now in its third or fourth year, and so
+    far has met with but few of the difficulties anticipated by the
+    friends or enemies of the cause. The progress has been slow, it
+    is true, owing to a variety of causes, the principal one of
+    which has been removed, viz.: debt. Much sickness existed on the
+    domain during the last season, but no fears are felt for the
+    future, as to the general health of the neighborhood."
+
+    [From a letter of C. Woodhouse, July 3, 1847.]
+
+    "This Phalanx has been in existence nearly four years, and has
+    encountered many difficulties and submitted to many privations.
+    Difficulties still exist and privations are not now few or
+    small; but so great is the change for the better in less than
+    four years, that they are fully impressed with the promise of
+    success. At no time, indeed, have they met with as many
+    difficulties as the lonely settler in a new country meets with;
+    for in all their poverty they have been in pleasant company and
+    have aided one another. They are now surrounded by all the
+    necessaries and some of the comforts of life. Each family has a
+    convenient dwelling, and so far as I can judge from a short
+    visit, they enjoy the good of their labor, with no one to molest
+    or make them afraid. Several branches of mechanical industry are
+    carried on there, but agriculture is the staff on which they
+    principally lean. Their land is very good, and of their thousand
+    acres, over three hundred are improved. Their stock--horses,
+    cattle and cows--look very well, as the farmers say. The
+    improvements and condition of the domain bespeak thrift,
+    industry and practical skill. The Trumbullites are workers. I
+    saw no dainty-fingered theorists there. When such do come, I am
+    informed, they do not stay long. Work is the order of the day.
+    They would be glad of more leisure; but at this stage of the
+    enterprise they put forth all their powers to redeem themselves
+    from debt, and make such improvements as will conduce to this
+    end and at the same time add to their comforts. Not a cent is
+    expended in display or for knicknacks. The President lives in a
+    log house and drives team on the business of the Association.
+    Whatever politicians may say to the contrary, I think he is the
+    only veritable 'log-cabin President' the whole land can show."
+
+    [From a letter of the Women of the Trumbull Phalanx to the Women
+    of the Boston Union of Associationists, July 15, 1847.]
+
+    "It is plain that our efforts must be different from yours.
+    Yours is the part to arouse the idle and indifferent by your
+    conversation, and by contributing funds to sustain and aid
+    publications. Ours is the part to organize ourselves in all the
+    affairs of life, in the best manner that our imperfect
+    institution will permit; and, not least, to have faith in our
+    own efforts. In this last particular we are sometimes deficient,
+    for it is impossible for us with our imperfect and limited
+    capacities, clearly and fully to foresee what faith and
+    confidence in God's providence can accomplish. We have been
+    brought hither through doubts and dangers, and through the
+    shadows of the future we have no guide save where duty points
+    the way.
+
+    "Our trials lie in the commonest walks. To forego conveniences,
+    to live poorly, dress homely, to listen calmly, reply mildly,
+    and wait patiently, are what we must become familiar with. True,
+    these are requirements by no means uncommon; but imperfect
+    beings like ourselves are apt to imagine that they alone are
+    called upon to endure. Yet, perhaps, we enjoy no less than the
+    most of our sex; nay, we are in truth, sisters the world round;
+    if one suffers, all suffer, no matter whether she tends her
+    husband's dogs amidst the Polar snows, or mounts her consort's
+    funeral pile upon the banks of the Ganges. Together we weep,
+    together we rejoice. We rise, we fall together.
+
+    "It would afford us much pleasure could we be associated
+    together. Could all the women fitted to engage in Social Reform
+    be located on one domain, one can not imagine the immense
+    changes that would ensue. We pray that we, or at least our
+    children, may live to see the day when kindred souls shall be
+    permitted to cooperate in a sphere sufficiently extensive to
+    call forth all our powers."
+
+    (From a letter of N.C. Meeker, August 11, 1847.)
+
+    "Our progress and prosperity are still continued. By this we
+    only mean that whatever we secure is by overcoming many
+    difficulties. Our triumphs, humble though they be, are achieved
+    in the same manner that the poet or the sculptor or the chemist
+    achieves his, by labor, by application; and we believe that to
+    produce the most useful and beautiful things, the most labor and
+    pains are necessary.
+
+    "Our present difficulties are, first, want of a sufficient
+    number to enable us to establish independent groups, as Fourier
+    has laid down. The present arrangement is as though we were all
+    in one group; what is earned by the body is divided among
+    individuals according to the amount of labor expended by each.
+    Were our branches of business fewer (for we carry on almost
+    every branch of industry necessary to support us) we could
+    organize with less danger of interruption, which at present
+    must be incessant; yet, at the same time there would be less
+    choice of employment. Our number is about two hundred and fifty,
+    and that of laboring men not far from fifty. This want of a
+    greater number is by no means a serious difficulty; still, one
+    we wish were corrected by an addition of scientific and
+    industrious men, with some capital.
+
+    "Again, when the season is wet, we have the fever and ague among
+    us to some extent, though previous to our locating here the
+    place was healthy. Whether it will be healthy in future we of
+    course can not determine, but see no reason why it may not. The
+    ague is by no means dangerous, but it is quite disagreeable, and
+    during its continuance, is quite discouraging. Upon the approach
+    of cold weather it disappears, and we recover, feeling as strong
+    and hopeful as ever. Other diseases do not visit us, and the
+    mortality of the place is low, averaging thus far, almost four
+    years, less than two annually, and these were children. We are
+    convinced, however, that all cause of the ague may be removed by
+    a little outlay, which of course we shall make.
+
+    "These are our chief incumbrances at present; others have
+    existed equally discouraging, and have been surmounted. The time
+    was when our very existence for a period longer than a few
+    months, was exceedingly doubtful. Two or three heavy payments
+    remained due, and our creditor was pressing. Now we shall not
+    owe him a cent till next April. By the assistance of our
+    Pittsburg friends and Mr. Van Amringe, we have been put in this
+    situation. About half of our debt of about $7,000 is paid. All
+    honor to Englishmen (William Bayle in particular), who have
+    thus set an example to the 'sons of '76.'"
+
+    [From a report of a Socialist Convention at Boston, October
+    1847.]
+
+    "The condition and prospects of the experiments now in progress
+    in this country, especially the North American, Trumbull and
+    Wisconsin Phalanxes, were discussed. Mr. Cooke has lately
+    visited all these Associations, and brings back a large amount
+    of interesting information. The situation of the North American
+    is decidedly hopeful; as to the other two, his impressions were
+    of a less sanguine tone than letters which have been recently
+    published in the _Harbinger_ and _Tribune_. Yet it is not time
+    to despair."
+
+The reader will hardly be prepared for the next news we have about the
+Trumbull; but we have seen before that Associations are apt to take
+sudden turns.
+
+    [Letter to the _Harbinger_ announcing failure.]
+
+                           "_Braceville, Ohio, December 3, 1847._
+
+    _To the Editors of the Harbinger_,
+
+    "GENTLEMEN: You and your readers have no doubt heard before this
+    of the dissolution of this Association, and the report is but
+    too true; we have fallen. But we wish civilization to know that
+    in our fall we have not broken our necks. We have indeed caught
+    a few pretty bad scratches; but all our limbs are yet sound, and
+    we mean to pick ourselves up again. We will try and try again.
+    The infant has to fall several times before he can walk; but
+    that does not discourage him, and he succeeds; nor shall we be
+    so easily discouraged.
+
+    "Some errors, not intentional though fatal, have been committed
+    here; we see them now, and will endeavor to avoid them. I
+    believe that it may be said of us with truth, that our failure
+    is a triumph. Our fervent love for Association is not quenched;
+    we are not dispersed; we are not discouraged; we are not even
+    scared. We know our own position. What we have done we have done
+    deliberately and intentionally, and we think we know also what
+    we have to do. There are, however, difficulties in our way: we
+    are aware of them. We may not succeed in reorganizing here as we
+    wish to do; but if we fail, we will try elsewhere. There is yet
+    room in this western world. We will first offer ourselves, our
+    experience, our energies, and whatever means are left us, to our
+    sister Associations. We think we are worth accepting; but if
+    they have the inhumanity to refuse, we will try to build a new
+    hive somewhere else, in the woods or on the prairies. God will
+    not drive us from his own earth. He has lent it to all men; and
+    we are men, and men of good intentions, of no sinister motives.
+    Our rights are as good in his eyes as those of our brothers.
+
+    "We do not deem it necessary here to give a detailed account of
+    our affairs and circumstances. It will be sufficient to say
+    that, however unfavorable they may be at present, we do not
+    consider our position as desperate. We think we know the remedy;
+    and we intend to use our best exertions to effect a cure. It may
+    be proper also to state that we have not in any manner infringed
+    our charter.
+
+    "I do not write in an official capacity, but I am authorized to
+    say, gentlemen, that if you can conveniently, and will, as soon
+    as practicable, give this communication an insertion in the
+    _Harbinger_, you will serve the cause, and oblige your brothers
+    of the late Trumbull Phalanx.
+
+                                                          G.M.M."
+
+After this decease, an attempt was made to resuscitate the
+Association; as will be seen in the following paragraphs:
+
+    [From a letter in the _Harbinger_, May 27, 1848.]
+
+    "With improvident philanthropy, the Phalanx had admitted too
+    indiscriminately; so that the society was rather an asylum for
+    the needy, sick and disabled, than a nucleus of efficient
+    members, carrying out with all their powers and energies, a
+    system on which they honestly rely for restoring their race to
+    elevation and happiness. They also had accepted unprofitable
+    capital, producing absolutely nothing, upon which they were
+    paying interest upon interest. All this weighed most heavily on
+    the efficient members. They made up their minds to break up
+    altogether.
+
+    "A new society has been organized, which has bought at auction,
+    and very low, the domain with all its improvements. We, the new
+    society, purpose to work on the following foundation: Our object
+    is to try the system of Fourier, so far as it is in our power,
+    with our limited means, etc."
+
+    [From a letter in the _Harbinger_, July 15, 1848.]
+
+    "With respect to our little society here, we wish at present to
+    say only that it is going on with alacrity and great hopes of
+    success. We are prepared for a few additional members with the
+    requisite qualifications; but we do not think it expedient to do
+    or say much to induce any body to come on until we see how we
+    shall fare through what is called the sickly season. To the
+    present date, however, we may sum up our condition in these
+    three words: We are healthy, busy and happy."
+
+    This is the last we find about the new organization. So we
+    conclude it soon passed away. As it is best to hear all sides,
+    we will conclude this account with some extracts from a
+    grumbling letter, which we find among Macdonald's manuscripts.
+
+    [Account by a Malcontent.]
+
+    "A great portion of the land was swampy, so much so that it
+    could not be cultivated. It laid low, and had a creek running
+    through it, which at times overflowed, and caused a great deal
+    of sickness to the inhabitants of the place. The disease was
+    mostly fever and ague; and this was so bad, that three-fourths
+    of the people, both old and young, were shaking with it for
+    months together. Through the public prints, persons favorable to
+    the Association were invited to join, which had the effect of
+    drawing many of the usual mixed characters from various parts of
+    the country. Some came with the idea that they could live in
+    idleness at the expense of the purchasers of the estate, and
+    these ideas they practically carried out; whilst others came
+    with good hearts for the cause. There were one or two designing
+    persons, who came with no other intent than to push themselves
+    into situations in which they could impose upon their fellow
+    members; and this, to a certain extent, they succeeded in doing.
+
+    "When the people first assembled, there was not sufficient house
+    room to accommodate them, and they were huddled together like
+    brutes; but they built some log cabins, and then tried to
+    establish some kind of order, by rules and regulations. One of
+    their laws was, that all persons before becoming members must
+    pay twenty-five dollars each. Some did pay this, but the
+    majority had not the money to pay. I think most persons came
+    there for a mere shift. Their poverty and their quarrelling
+    about what they called religion (for there were many notions
+    about which was the right way to heaven), were great drawbacks
+    to success. Nearly all the business was carried on by barter,
+    there was so little money. Labor was counted by the hour, and
+    was booked to each individual. Booking was about all the pay
+    they ever got. At the breaking up, some of the members had due
+    to them for labor and stock, five or six hundred dollars; and
+    some of them did not receive as many cents.
+
+    "To give an idea of the state of things, I may mention that
+    there was a shrewd Yankee there, who established a
+    boarding-house and pretended to accommodate boarders at very
+    reasonable charges. He was poor, but he made many shifts to get
+    something for his boarders to eat, though it was but very
+    little. There was seldom any butter, cheese, or animal food upon
+    the table, and what he called coffee was made of burnt bread. He
+    had no bedding for the boarders; they had to provide it for
+    themselves if they could; if not, they had to sleep on the
+    floor. For this board he charged $1.62 per week, while it was
+    proved that the cost per week for each individual was not more
+    than twenty cents. This man professed to be a doctor, (though I
+    believe he really knew no more of medicine than any other person
+    there); and as there were so many persons sick with the ague, he
+    got plenty of work. Previous to the breaking up, he brought in
+    his bills to the patients (whom he had never benefited),
+    charging them from ten to thirty dollars each, and some even
+    higher. But the people being very poor, he did not succeed in
+    recovering much of what he called his 'just dues;' though by
+    threats of the law he scared some of them out of a trifle. There
+    was another keen fellow, a preacher and lawyer, who got into
+    office as secretary and treasurer, and kept the accounts. When
+    there was any money he had the management of it; and I believe
+    he knew perfectly well how to use it for his own advantage,
+    which many of the members felt to their sorrow. The property was
+    supposed to have been held by stockholders. Those who had the
+    management of things know best how it was finally disposed of.
+    For my part I think this was the most unsatisfactory experiment
+    attempted in the West.
+
+                          "J.M., member of the Trumbull Phalanx."
+
+What a story of passion and suffering can be traced in this broken
+material! Study it. Think of the great hope at the beginning; the
+heroism of the long struggle; the bitterness of the end. This human
+group was made up of husbands and wives, parents and children,
+brothers and sisters, friends and lovers, and had two hundred hearts,
+longing for blessedness. Plodding on their weary march of life,
+Association rises before them like the _mirage_ of the desert. They
+see in the vague distance, magnificent palaces, green fields, golden
+harvests, sparkling fountains, abundance of rest and romance; in one
+word, HOME--which also is HEAVEN. They rush like the thirsty caravan
+to realize their vision. And now the scene changes. Instead of
+reaching palaces, they find themselves huddled together in loose
+sheds--thirty-five families trying to live in dwellings built for one.
+They left the world to escape from want and care and temptation; and
+behold, these hungry wolves follow them in fiercer packs than ever.
+The gloom of debt is over them from the beginning. Again and again
+they are on the brink of bankruptcy. It is a constant question and
+doubt whether they will "SUCCEED," which means, whether they will
+barely keep soul and body together, and pacify their creditors. But
+they cheer one another on. "They _must_ succeed; they _will_ succeed;
+they _are_ already succeeding!" These words they say over and over to
+themselves, and shout them to the public. Still debt hangs over them.
+They get a subsidy from outside friends. But the deficit increases.
+Meanwhile disease persecutes them. All through the sultry months which
+should have been their working time, they lie idle in their loose
+sheds, or where they can find a place, sweating and shivering in
+misery and despair. Human parasites gather about them, like vultures
+scenting prey from afar. Their own passions torment them. They are
+cursed with suspicion and the evil eye. They quarrel about religion.
+They quarrel about their food. They dispute about carrying out their
+principles. Eight or ten families desert. The rest worry on through
+the long years. Foes watch them with cruel exultation. Friends shout
+to them, "Hold on a little longer!" They hold on just as long as they
+can, insisting that they are successful, or are just going to be, till
+the last. Then comes the "break up;" and who can tell the agonies of
+that great corporate death!
+
+If the reader is willing to peer into the darkest depths of this
+suffering, let him read again and consider well that suppressed wail
+of the women where they speak of the "polar snows" and the "funeral
+pile;" and let him think of all that is meant when the men say, "If we
+had known at the commencement what fiery trials were to surround us,
+we should have hesitated to enter on the enterprise. _But now being
+fairly in, we will brave it_ _through!_" See how pathetically these
+soldiers of despair, with defeat in full view, offer themselves to
+other Associations, and take comfort in the assurance that God will
+not drive them from the earth! See how the heroes of the "forlorn
+hope," after defeat has come, turn again and reorganize, refusing to
+surrender! The end came at last, but left no record.
+
+This is not comedy, but direst tragedy. God forbid that we should
+ridicule it, or think of it with any feeling but saddest sympathy. We
+ourselves are thoroughly acquainted with these heights and depths.
+These men and women seem to us like brothers and sisters. We could
+easily weep with them and for them, if it would do any good. But the
+better way is to learn what such sufferings teach, and hasten to find
+and show the true path, which these pilgrims missed; that so their
+illusions may not be repeated forever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+THE OHIO PHALANX.
+
+
+This Association, originally called the American Phalanx, commenced
+with a very ambitious programme and flattering prospects; but it did
+not last so long as many of its contemporaries. It belonged to the
+Pittsburg group of experiments. The founder of it was E.P. Grant. Mr.
+Van Amringe was one of its leaders, whom we saw busy at the Trumbull.
+The first announcement of it we find in the third number of the
+_Phalanx_, as follows:
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, December 5, 1843.]
+
+    "GRAND MOVEMENT IN THE WEST.--The friends of Association in Ohio
+    and other portions of the West, have undertaken the organization
+    of a Phalanx upon quite an extended scale. They have secured a
+    magnificent tract of land on the Ohio, have framed a
+    constitution, and taken preliminary steps to make an early
+    commencement.
+
+    The projectors say: "We feel pleasure in announcing that the
+    American Phalanx has contracted for about two thousand acres of
+    land in Belmont County, Ohio, known as the Pultney farm, lying
+    along the Ohio river, seven or eight miles below Wheeling; and
+    that sufficient means are already pledged to remove all doubts
+    as to the formation of an Association, as soon as the domain
+    can be prepared for the reception of the members. The land has
+    been purchased of Col. J.S. Shriver, of Wheeling, Virginia, at
+    thirty dollars per acre, payable at the pleasure of the
+    Association, in sums not less than $5,000. The payment of six
+    per cent. interest semi-annually, is secured by a lien on the
+    land.
+
+    "The tract selected is two and a-half miles in length from north
+    to south, and of somewhat irregular breadth, by reason of the
+    curvatures of the Ohio river, which forms its eastern boundary.
+    It contains six hundred acres of bottom land, all cleared and
+    under cultivation; the residue is hill land of a fertility truly
+    surprising and indeed incredible to persons unacquainted with
+    the hills of that particular neighborhood. Of the hill lands,
+    about two hundred and fifty acres are cleared, and about three
+    hundred acres more have been partially cleared, so as to answer
+    imperfectly for sheep pasture. The residue is for the most part
+    well-timbered.
+
+    "There are upon the premises two frame dwelling-houses, and ten
+    log houses, mostly with shingle roofs; none of them, however,
+    are of much value, except for temporary purposes.
+
+    "The domain is singularly beautiful, as well as fertile; and
+    when it is considered, in connection with the advantages already
+    enumerated, that it is situated on one of the greatest
+    thoroughfares in the world, the charming Ohio, along which from
+    six to ten steamboats pass every day for eight or nine months in
+    the year; that it is immediately accessible to several large
+    markets, and a multitude of small ones; and that it is within
+    seven miles of that great public improvement, the National Road,
+    leading through the heart of the Western States, we think we
+    are authorized to affirm that the broad territory of our country
+    furnishes but few localities more favorable for an experiment in
+    Association, than that which has been secured by the American
+    Phalanx.
+
+    "From eighty to one hundred laborers are expected to be upon the
+    ground early in the spring, and it is hoped that in the fall a
+    magnificent edifice or Phalanstery, on Fourier's plan, will be
+    commenced, and will progress rapidly, until it shall be of
+    sufficient extent to accommodate one hundred families.
+
+    "Our object can not be more intelligibly explained than by
+    stating that it is proposed to organize an industrial army,
+    which, instead of ravaging and desolating the earth, like the
+    armies of civilization, shall clothe it luxuriantly and
+    beautifully with supplies for human wants; to distribute this
+    army into platoons, companies, battalions, regiments, in which
+    promotion and rewards shall depend, not upon success in
+    spreading ruin and woe, but upon energy and efficiency in
+    diffusing comfort and happiness; in short, to invest labor the
+    creator, with the dignity which has so long impiously crowned
+    labor the destroyer and the murderer, so that men shall vie with
+    each other, not in devastation and carnage, but in usefulness to
+    the race."
+
+Applicants for admission or stock were referred to E.P. Grant, A.
+Brisbane, H. Greeley and others.
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, February 5, 1844.]
+
+    "E.P. Grant, Esq., of Canton, Ohio, a gentleman of high
+    standing, superior talents, and indefatigable energy, who is at
+    the head of the movement to establish the American Phalanx,
+    which is to be located on the banks of the beautiful Ohio,
+    informs us by letter, that 'the prospect is truly cheering;
+    even that greatest of wants, capital, is likely to be abundantly
+    supplied. There will indeed be some deficiency during the
+    ensuing spring and summer; but the amount already pledged to be
+    paid by the end of the first year, is not, I think, less than
+    $40,000, and by the end of the second year, probably not less
+    than $100,000; and these amounts, from present appearances, can
+    be almost indefinitely increased. Besides, the proposed
+    associates are devoted and determined, resenting the intimation
+    of possible failure, as a reflection unworthy of their zeal.'"
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, March 1, 1844.]
+
+    "The Ohio Phalanx (heretofore called the American), is now
+    definitely constituted, and the first pioneers are already upon
+    the domain. More will follow in a few days to assist in making
+    preliminary preparations. A larger company will be added in
+    March, and by the end of May the Phalanx is expected to consist
+    of 120 resident members, of whom the greater part will be adult
+    males. They will be received from time to time as rapidly as
+    temporary accommodations can be provided. The prospects of the
+    Phalanx are cheering beyond the most sanguine anticipations of
+    its friends.
+
+                                                     E.P. GRANT."
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, July 13, 1844.]
+
+    "Our friends of the Ohio Phalanx appear to have celebrated the
+    Fourth of July with much hilarity and enthusiasm. About ten
+    o'clock the members of the Association with their guests, were
+    seated beneath the shade of spreading trees, near the dwelling;
+    when Mr. Grant, the President, announced briefly the object of
+    the assemblage and the order to be observed, which was, first,
+    prayer by Dr. Rawson, then an address by Mr. Van Amringe, in
+    which the present condition of society, its inevitable
+    tendencies and results, were contrasted with the social system
+    as delineated by Fourier. It is not doing full justice to the
+    orator to say merely that his address was interesting and able.
+    It was lucid, cogent, religious and highly impressive. This
+    portion of the festival was closed by prayer and benediction by
+    Rev. J.P. Stewart, and adjournment for dinner. After a good and
+    plentiful repast, the social party resumed their seats for the
+    purpose of hearing (rather than drinking) toasts and whatsoever
+    might be said thereupon."
+
+The topics of the regular toasts were, _The day we celebrate_; _The
+memory of Fourier_; _The Associationists of Pittsburg_; and so on
+through a long string. The volunteer toasters liberally complimented
+each other and the socialistic leaders generally, not forgetting
+Horace Greeley. Somebody in the name of the Phalanx gave the
+following:
+
+"_The Bible_, the book of languages, the book of ideas, the book of
+life. May its pages be the delight of Associationists, and its
+precepts practiced by the whole world."
+
+Our next quotation hints that something like a dissolution and
+reorganization had taken place.
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, May 3, 1845.]
+
+    "We notice in a recent number of the _Pittsburg Chronicle_, an
+    article from the pen of James D. Thornburg, on the present
+    condition of the Ohio Phalanx, from which it appears that the
+    report of its failure which has gone the rounds of the papers,
+    is premature; and that although it has suffered embarrassment
+    and difficulties from various causes, it is still in operation
+    under new arrangements that authorize the hope of its ultimate
+    success. We know nothing of the internal obstacles of which Mr.
+    Thornburg speaks, and have no means of forming an opinion on the
+    merits of the questions which, it would seem, have given rise to
+    divided counsels and inefficient action. For the founder of the
+    Ohio Phalanx, E.P. Grant, we cherish the most unqualified
+    respect, believing him to be fitted as few men are, by his
+    talents, energy and scientific knowledge, for the station of
+    leader of the great enterprise, which demands no less courage
+    and practical vigor, than wisdom and magnanimity.
+
+    "We learn from Mr. Thornburg's statement that to those who chose
+    to leave the Phalanx, it was proposed to give thirty-three per
+    cent. on their investments, which is all they could be entitled
+    to, in case of a forfeiture of the title to the domain, in which
+    case all the improvements, buildings, crops in ground, etc.,
+    would be a total loss to the members. But there is no
+    depreciation in the stock, when these improvements are
+    estimated. The rent has been reduced to one-half the former
+    amount. The proprietor is expected to furnish a large number of
+    sheep, the profits of which, it is believed, will be nearly or
+    quite sufficient to pay the rent. At the end of two years,
+    $30,000 in bonds, mortgages, etc., is to be raised, for which
+    the Phalanx will receive a fee-simple title to the domain. A
+    large share of the balance will be invested in stock, and
+    whatever may remain will be apportioned in payments at two and
+    a-half per cent. interest, and fixed at a date so remote that no
+    difficulty will result. There are buildings on the domain
+    sufficient for the accommodation of forty families, in addition
+    to a number of rooms suitable for single persons. The movable
+    property on the domain is at present worth three thousand
+    dollars.
+
+    "In view of all the facts in the case, as set forth by Mr.
+    Thornburg, we see no reason to dissent from the conclusion which
+    he unhesitatingly expresses, that the future success of the
+    Phalanx is certain. We trust that we have not been inspired with
+    too flattering hopes by the earnestness of our wishes. For we
+    acknowledge that we have always regarded the magnificent
+    material resources of this Phalanx with the brightest
+    anticipations; we have looked to it with confiding trust, for
+    the commencement of a model Association; and we can not now
+    permit ourselves to believe that any disastrous circumstance
+    will prevent the realization of the high hopes which prompted
+    its founders to engage in their glorious enterprise.
+
+    "The causes of difficulty in the Ohio Phalanx, as stated in the
+    article before us, are as follows: Want of experience; too much
+    enthusiasm; unproductive members; want of means. These causes
+    must always produce difficulty and discouragement; and at the
+    same time, can scarcely be avoided in the commencement of every
+    attempt at Association.
+
+    "The harmonies of the combined order are not to be arrived at in
+    a day or a year. Even with the noblest intentions, great
+    mistakes in the beginning are inevitable, and many obstacles of
+    a formidable character are incident to the very nature of the
+    undertaking. A want of sufficient means must cripple the most
+    strenuous industry. Ample capital is essential for a complete
+    organization, for the necessary machinery and fixtures, for the
+    ordinary conveniences, to say nothing of the elegancies of the
+    household order; and this in the commencement can scarcely ever
+    be obtained. Restriction, retrenchment, more or less confusion,
+    are the necessary consequences; and these in their turn beget a
+    spirit of impatience and discontent in all but the heroic; and
+    few men are heroes. The transition from the compulsory industry
+    of civilization to the voluntary, but not yet attractive,
+    industry of Association, is not favorable to the highest
+    industrial effects. Men who have been accustomed to shirk labor
+    under the feeling that they had poor pay for hard work, will not
+    be transformed suddenly into kings of industry by the atmosphere
+    of a Phalanx. There will be more or less loafing, a good deal of
+    exertion unwisely applied, a certain waste of strength in random
+    and unsystematic efforts, and a want of the business-like
+    precision and force which makes every blow tell, and tell in the
+    right place. Under these circumstances many will grow uneasy, at
+    length become discouraged, and perhaps prove false to their
+    early love. But all these, we are fully persuaded, are merely
+    temporary evils. They will soon pass away. They are like the
+    thin mists of the valley, which precede, but do not prevent, the
+    rising of the sun. The principles of Association are founded on
+    the eternal laws of justice and truth; they present the only
+    remedy for the appalling confusion and discord of the present
+    social state; they are capable of being carried into practice by
+    just such men and women as we daily meet in the usual walks of
+    life; and as firmly as we believe in a Universal Providence, so
+    sure we are that their practical accomplishment is destined to
+    bless humanity with ages of abundance, harmony, and joy,
+    surpassing the most enthusiastic dream."
+
+    [Editorial in the _Harbinger_, June, 14, 1845.]
+
+    "We learn from a personal interview with Mr. Thornburg, whose
+    letter on the Ohio Phalanx was alluded to in a recent number of
+    the _Phalanx_, that the affairs of that Association wear a very
+    promising aspect, and that there can be no reasonable doubt of
+    its success. He gives a very favorable description of the soil
+    and general resources of the domain, and from all that we have
+    learned of its character, we believe there are few localities at
+    the West better adapted for the purposes of an experimental
+    Association on a large scale. We sincerely hope that our friends
+    in that vicinity will concentrate their efforts on the Ohio
+    Phalanx, and not attempt to multiply Associations, which,
+    without abundant capital and devoted and experienced men, will,
+    almost to a certainty, prove unsuccessful. The true policy for
+    all friends of Associative movements, is to combine their
+    resources, and give an example of a well-organized Phalanx, in
+    complete and harmonic operation. This will do more for the cause
+    than any announcement of theories, however sound and eloquent,
+    or ten thousand abortive attempts begun in enthusiasm and
+    forsaken in despair."
+
+    [From the correspondence of the _Harbinger_, July 19, 1845,
+    announcing the final dissolution.]
+
+    "On the 24th of June last, the Ohio Phalanx again dissolved. The
+    reason is the want of funds. Since the former dissolution they
+    have obtained no accession of numbers or capital worth
+    considering. The members, I presume, will now disperse. They all
+    retain, I believe, their sentiments in favor of Association; but
+    they have not the means to go on."
+
+Macdonald contributes the following summary, to close the account:
+
+    [From the Journal of a Resident Member of the Ohio Phalanx.]
+
+    "At the commencement of the experiment there was general
+    good-humor among the members. There seemed to be plenty of
+    means, and there was much profusion and waste. There was no
+    visible organization according to Fourier, most of the members
+    being inexperienced in Association. They were too much crowded
+    together, had no school nor reading-room, and the younger
+    members, as might be expected, were at first somewhat unruly.
+    The character of the Association had more of a sedate and
+    religious tone, than a lively or social one. There was too much
+    discussion about Christian union, etc., and too little practical
+    industry and business talent. No weekly or monthly accounts were
+    rendered.
+
+    "About ten months after the commencement of the Association, a
+    partial scarcity of provisions took place, and other
+    difficulties occurred, which may in part be attributed to
+    neglect in keeping the accounts. At this juncture Mr. Van
+    Amringe started on a lecturing tour in aid of the Association;
+    and the Phalanx had a meeting at which Mr. Grant, who was then
+    regent, stated that between $7,000 and $8,000 had been expended
+    since they came together; but no accounts were shown giving the
+    particulars of this expenditure. From the difficult position in
+    which the Phalanx was placed, Mr. Grant advised the breaking-up
+    of the concern, which was agreed to, with two or three
+    dissentients. [This was probably the first dissolution, referred
+    to in a previous extract from the _Harbinger_.]
+
+    "On December 26 a new constitution was proposed which caused
+    much discontent and confusion; and with the commencement of 1845
+    more disagreements took place, some in relation to the social
+    amusements of the people, and some regarding the debts of the
+    Phalanx, the empty treasury, the depreciation of stock, Mr. Van
+    Amringe's possession of the lease of the property, and the bad
+    prospect there was for raising the interest upon the cost of the
+    domain, which was about $4,140, or six per cent. on $69,000, the
+    price of twenty-two hundred acres.
+
+    "On January 20th, 1845, another attempt at re-organization was
+    made by persons who had full confidence in the management of Mr.
+    Grant, and on February 28th still another re-organization was
+    considered. On March 10th a general meeting of the Phalanx took
+    place. Three constitutions were read, and the third (attributed,
+    I believe, to Mr. Van Amringe), was adopted by a majority of
+    one. After this there was a meeting of the minority, and the
+    constitution of Mr. Grant was adopted with some slight
+    alterations. Difficulties now took place between the two
+    parties, which led to a suit at law by one of the members
+    against the Ohio Phalanx. [These fluctuations remind us of the
+    experience of New Harmony in its last days.]
+
+    "In such manner did the Association progress until August 27,
+    1845, when it was whispered about, that the Phalanx was defunct,
+    although no notification to that effect was given to the
+    members. Colonel Shriver, who held the mortgage on the property,
+    took alarm at the state of affairs, and placed an agent on the
+    premises to look after his interests. This agent employed
+    persons to work the farm, and the members had to shift for
+    themselves as best they could. Col. S. proposed an assignment of
+    the whole property over to him, requiring entire possession by
+    the 1st of October. This was assented to, though the value of
+    the property was more than enough to cover every claim.
+
+    "On September 9th advertisements were issued for the public sale
+    of the whole property, and on the 17th of that month the sale
+    took place before two or three hundred persons. After this the
+    members dispersed, and the Ohio Phalanx was at an end. The lease
+    of the property had been made out in the name of Mr. Grant for
+    the Phalanx. It was afterward given up to him by Mr. Van
+    Amringe, who had possession of it, and by Mr. Grant was returned
+    to Colonel Shriver.
+
+    "Much space might be occupied in endeavoring to show the right
+    and the wrong of these parties and proceedings, which to the
+    reader would be quite unprofitable. The broad results we have
+    before us, viz., that certain supposed-to-be great and important
+    principles were tried in practice, and through a variety of
+    causes failed. The most important causes of failure were said to
+    be the deficiency of wealth, wisdom, and goodness; or if not
+    these, the fallacy of the principles."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+THE CLERMONT PHALANX.
+
+
+This Association originated in Cincinnati. An enthusiastic convention
+of Socialists was held in that city on the 22d of February, 1844, at
+which interesting letters were read from Horace Greeley, Albert
+Brisbane, and Wm. H. Channing, and much discussion of various
+practical projects ensued. A committee was appointed to find a
+suitable domain; and at a second meeting on the 14th of March, the
+society adopted a constitution, elected officers, and opened books for
+subscription of stock. Mr. Wade Loofbourrow, a gentleman of capital
+and enterprise, took the lead in these proceedings, and was chosen
+president of the future Phalanx. A domain of nine hundred acres was
+soon selected and purchased on the banks of the Ohio, in Clermont
+County, about thirty miles above Cincinnati. On the 9th of May a large
+party of the members proceeded from Cincinnati on a steamer chartered
+for the occasion, to take possession of the domain with appropriate
+ceremonies, and leave a pioneer band to commence operations. Macdonald
+accompanied this party, and gives the following account of the
+excursion:
+
+    "There were about one hundred and thirty of us. The weather was
+    beautiful, but cool, and the scenery on the river was splendid
+    in its spring dress. The various parties brought their
+    provisions with them, and toward noon the whole of it was
+    collected and spread upon the table by the waiters, for all to
+    have an equal chance. But alas for equality! On the meal being
+    ready, a rush was made into the cabin, and in a few minutes all
+    the seats were filled. In a few minutes more the provisions had
+    all disappeared, and many persons who were not in the first
+    rush, had to go hungry. I lost my dinner that day; but improved
+    the opportunity to observe and criticise the ferocity of the
+    Fourieristic appetite. We reached the domain about two o'clock
+    P.M., and marched on shore in procession, with a band of music
+    in front, leading the way up a road cut in the high clay bank;
+    and then formed a mass meeting, at which we had praying, music
+    and speech-making. I strolled out with a friend and examined the
+    purchase, and we came to the conclusion that it was a splendid
+    domain. A strip of rich bottom-land, about a quarter of a mile
+    wide, was backed by gently rolling hills, well timbered all
+    over. Nine or ten acres were cleared, sufficient for present
+    use. Here then was all that could be desired, hill and plain,
+    rich soil, fine scenery, plenty of first-rate timber, a
+    maple-sugar camp, a good commercial situation, convenient to the
+    best market in the West, with a river running past that would
+    float any kind of boat or raft; and with steamboats passing and
+    repassing at all hours of the day and night, to convey
+    passengers or goods to any point between New Orleans and
+    Pittsburg. Here was wood for fuel, clay and stone to make
+    habitations, and a rich soil to grow food. What more could be
+    asked from nature? Yet, how soon all this was found
+    insufficient!
+
+    "The land was obtained on credit; the price was $20,000. One
+    thousand was to be paid down, and the rest in installments at
+    stated periods. The first installment was paid; enthusiasm
+    triumphed; and now for the beginning! On my return to the
+    landing, I found a band of sturdy men commencing operations as
+    pioneers. They were clearing a portion of the wood away with
+    their axes, and preparing for building temporary houses, the
+    materials for which they brought with them. A temporary tent was
+    put up, and it would surprise any one to hear how many things
+    were going to be done.
+
+    "We left the domain on our return at about five P.M., and I
+    noticed that the president, Mr. Loofbourrow, and the secretary,
+    Mr. Green, remained with the workmen. There were about a dozen
+    persons left, consisting, I believe, of carpenters, choppers and
+    shoemakers. They all seemed in good spirits, and cheered merrily
+    on our departure."
+
+A second similar excursion of Socialists from Cincinnati came off on
+the 4th of July following, which also Macdonald attended, and reports
+as follows:
+
+    "We left Cincinnati triumphantly to the sound of martial music,
+    and took our journey up the river in fine spirits, the young
+    people dancing in the cabin as we proceeded. We arrived at the
+    Clermont Phalanx about one o'clock. On landing, we formed a
+    procession and marched to a new frame building, which was being
+    erected for a mill. Here an oration was delivered by a Mr.
+    Whitly, who, I noticed, had the Bible open before him. After
+    this we formed a procession again and marched to a lot of rough
+    tables enclosed within a line of ropes, where we stood and took
+    a cold collation. After this the folks enjoyed themselves with
+    music and dancing, and I took a walk about the place to see what
+    progress had been made since my last visit. The frame building
+    before mentioned was the only one in actual progress. A
+    steam-boiler had been obtained, and preparations had been made
+    to build other houses. A temporary house had been erected to
+    accommodate the families then on the domain, amounting as I was
+    informed, to about one hundred and twenty persons. This building
+    was made exactly in the manner of the cabin of a Western
+    steamboat; i.e., there was one long narrow room the length of
+    the house, and little rooms like state-rooms arranged on either
+    side. Each little room had one little window, like a port-hole;
+    and was intended to accommodate a man and his wife, or two
+    single men temporarily. It was at once apparent that the persons
+    living there were in circumstances inferior to what they had
+    been used to; and were enduring it well, while the enthusiastic
+    spirit held out. But it seldom lasts long. It is said that
+    people will endure these deprivations for the sake of what is
+    soon to come. But experience shows that the endurance is
+    generally brief, and that if they are able, they soon return to
+    the circumstances to which they have been accustomed. They
+    either find that their patience is insufficient for the task, or
+    that being in inferior circumstances, _they_ are becoming
+    inferior. Be the cause what it may, the result is nearly always
+    the same. This Association had been on the ground only a few
+    months; but I was told that disagreements had already commenced.
+    The persons brought together were strangers to each other, of
+    many different trades and habits, and discord was the result, as
+    might have been anticipated. From one of the shoemakers I
+    gained considerable information as to their state and
+    prospects. In the afternoon we returned to the city."
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, May 3, 1845.]
+
+    "We are glad to learn by the following notice, taken from a
+    Cincinnati paper, that the _Clermont Phalanx_ still lives, and
+    is in a fair way of going on successfully. We have received no
+    account of it lately, and as the last that we had was not very
+    flattering in respect to its pecuniary condition, we should not
+    have been surprised to hear of its dissolution. The indiscretion
+    of starting Associations without sufficient means and a proper
+    selection of persons, has been shown to be disastrous in some
+    other cases, and that we should fear for the fate of this one
+    was quite natural. But if our Clermont friends can, by their
+    devotion, energy and self-sacrificing spirit, overcome the
+    trying difficulties of a pioneer state, rude and imperfect as it
+    must be, they will deserve and will receive an abundant reward.
+    We bid them God speed! They say:
+
+    "'The pioneer band, with their friends, took possession of the
+    domain on the 9th day of May last year, since which time we have
+    been engaged in cultivating our land, clearing away the forest,
+    and erecting buildings of various kinds for the use of the
+    Phalanx.
+
+    "'The amount of capital stock paid in is about $10,000; $3,000
+    of which has been paid for the domain. We have a stock of
+    cattle, hogs and sheep, and sufficient teams and agricultural
+    utensils of various kinds; also a steam saw- and grist-mill.
+    Shoe, brush, tin and tailor's shops are in active operation.
+    There are on the ground thirty-five able-bodied men, with a
+    sufficient number of women and children.
+
+    "'When we first entered on our domain, there were no buildings
+    of any description, except three log-cabins, which were occupied
+    by tenants. We have since erected a building for a saw- and
+    grist-mill, a frame building forty by thirty feet, two stories
+    high, and another, one story high, eighty by thirty-six feet,
+    and one thirty-six by thirty feet, together with a kitchen,
+    wash-house, etc. These buildings are of course slightly built,
+    being temporary. We have also commenced a brick building eighty
+    by thirty feet, three stories high, which is ready for the roof;
+    all the timbers are sawed for that purpose; and we expect soon
+    to put them on.
+
+    "'There are about two thousand cords of wood chopped, part of
+    which is on the bank of the river. There are thirty acres of
+    wheat in the ground, in excellent condition, and it is intended
+    to put in good spring crops. We are also preparing to plant
+    large orchards this spring, Mr. A.H. Ernst having made us the
+    noble donation of one thousand selected fruit-trees.'"
+
+    [From the _Harbinger_, June 14, 1845.]
+
+    "George Sampson, Secretary of the Phalanx, says, in an address
+    soliciting funds: 'The members of the Association have the
+    satisfaction of announcing that they have just paid off this
+    year's installment due for their domain, amounting to $4,505,
+    and have also advanced nearly $1,000 on their next year's
+    payment. With increased zeal and confidence we now look forward
+    to certain success.'"
+
+    [Letter from a member, in the _Harbinger_, October 4, 1845.]
+
+                        "_Clermont Phalanx, September 13, 1845._"
+
+    "I am pleased to have to inform you, that we are improving since
+    you were among us. We have had an accession of members, three
+    single men, and two with families. One of them attends the
+    saw-mill, which he understands, and the others are carpenters
+    and joiners, whom we much needed.
+
+    "We are now hard at work on our large brick edifice. We are
+    fitting up a large dining-hall in the rear of it, with kitchen,
+    wash-house, bakery, etc. We think we shall get into it in about
+    five weeks from this time. We now all sit down to the Phalanx
+    table, and have done so for about six weeks, and all goes on
+    harmoniously. How much better is this system than for each
+    family to have their own table, their own dining-room, kitchen,
+    etc. We have admitted several other members, who have not yet
+    arrived. We have applications before us from several members of
+    the Ohio Phalanx. How much I regret that these people were
+    compelled to abandon so beautiful a location as Pultney Bottom,
+    merely for want of money to carry on their operations. Their
+    experience is the same as ours. Though their movement failed,
+    they have become confirmed Associationists; they know that
+    living together is practicable; that the Phalanstery is man's
+    true home; and the only one in which he can enjoy all the
+    blessings of earthly existence, without those evils which flesh
+    is heir to in false civilization."
+
+Macdonald concludes his account with the following observations:
+
+    "The Phalanx continued to progress, or to exist, till the fall
+    of 1846, when it was finally abandoned. During its existence
+    various circumstances concurred to hasten its termination; among
+    them the following: Stock to the amount of $17,000 was
+    subscribed, but scarcely $6,000 of it was ever paid;
+    consequently the Association could not meet its liabilities. An
+    installment of $3,000 had been paid at the purchase of the
+    property, but as the after installments could not be met, a
+    portion of the land had to be sold to pay for the rest. A little
+    jealousy, originating among the female portion of the Community,
+    eventually led to a law-suit on the part of one of the male
+    members against the Association, and caused them some trouble. I
+    have it also on good authority, that an important difficulty
+    took place between Mr. Loofbourrow and the Phalanx, relative to
+    the deed of the property which he held for the Phalanx.
+
+    "At one time there were about eighty persons on the domain,
+    exclusive of children. They were of various trades and
+    professions, and of various religious beliefs. There was no
+    common religious standard among them.
+
+    "Some of the friends of this experiment say it failed from two
+    causes, viz., the want of means and the want of men; while
+    others attribute the failure to jealousy and the law-suit, and
+    also to losses they sustained by flood."
+
+The fifth volume of the _Harbinger_ has a letter from one who had been
+a member of the Clermont Phalanx, giving a curious account of certain
+ghosts of Associations that flitted about the Clermont domain, after
+the decease of the original Phalanx. Here is what it says:
+
+    [Letter in the _Harbinger_, October 2, 1847.]
+
+    "It was well known that our frail bark would strand about a year
+    ago. I need not say from what cause, as the history of one such
+    institution is the history of all; but it is commonly said and
+    believed that it was owing to our large indebtedness on our
+    landed property. Persons of large discriminating powers need not
+    inquire how and why such debt was contracted; suffice it to
+    say, it was done, and under such burden the Clermont Phalanx
+    went down about the first of November, 1856. The property of the
+    concern was delivered up to our esteemed friends, B. Urner and
+    C. Donaldson of Cincinnati, who disposed of the land in such a
+    way as to let it fall into the hands of our friends of the
+    Community school, of which John O. Wattles, John P. Cornell and
+    Hiram S. Gilmore are conspicuous members, and who seem to have
+    all the pecuniary means and talents for carrying on a grand and
+    notable plan of reform. They are now putting up a small
+    Community building, spaciously suited for six families, which
+    for beauty, convenience and durability, probably is not
+    surpassed in the western country.
+
+    "Of the old members of the Clermont, many returned again to the
+    city where the institution was first started, but a goodly
+    number still remain about the old domain, making various
+    movements for a re-organization. After the break-up, a deep
+    impression seemed to pervade the whole of us that something had
+    been wrong at the outset, in not securing individually a
+    permanent place _to be_, and then procuring the things _to be
+    with_. Had that been the case, a permanent and happy home would
+    have been here for us ere this time. But I will add with
+    gratitude that such is the case now. We have a home! We have a
+    place to be! After various plans for uniting our energies in the
+    purchase of a small tract of land, we were visited during the
+    past summer by Mr. Josiah Warren of New Harmony, Indiana, who
+    laid before us his plan for the use of property, in the
+    rudimental re-organization of society. Mr. Warren is a man of no
+    ordinary talents. In his investigations of human character his
+    experience has been of the most rigorous kind, having begun with
+    Mr. Owen in 1825, and been actively engaged ever since; and
+    being an ingenious mechanic and artist, an inventor of several
+    kinds of printing-presses and a new method of stereotyping and
+    engraving, and an excellent musician, and combining withal a
+    character to do instead of say, gives us confidence in him as a
+    man. His plan was taken up by one of our former members, who has
+    an excellent tract of land lying on the bank of the Ohio river,
+    within less than a mile of the old domain. He has had it
+    surveyed into lots, and sells to such of us as wish to join in
+    the cause. An extensive brick-yard is in operation, stone is
+    being quarried and lumber hauled on the ground, and buildings
+    are about to go up 'with a perfect rush.' Mr. Warren will have a
+    press upon the ground in a few weeks that will tell something.
+    So you see we have a home, we have a place. But by no means is
+    the cause at rest. We call upon philanthropists and all men who
+    have means to invest for the cause of Association, to come and
+    see us, and understand our situation, our means and our
+    intentions. We are ready to receive capital in many forms, but
+    not to hold it as our own. The donor only becomes the lender,
+    and must maintain a strict control over every thing he
+    possesses. [Here Warren's Individual Sovereignty protrudes.]
+    Farms and farming utensils, mechanical tools, etc., can be
+    received only to be used and not abused; and in the language of
+    the 'Poughkeepsie seer,' of whose work we have lately received a
+    number of copies, this all may be done without seriously
+    depreciating the capital or riches of one person in society. On
+    the contrary, it will enrich and advance all to honor and
+    happiness."
+
+Here we come upon the trail of two old acquaintances. John O. Wattles
+was one of the founders of the Prairie Home Community. It seems from
+the above, that after the failure of that experiment, he set up his
+tent among the _debris_ of the Clermont Phalanx. And Josiah Warren
+came from the failure of his New Harmony Time-store to the same
+favored or haunted spot, and there started his Utopia. These
+intersections of the wandering Socialists are intricate and
+interesting. Note also that the ideas of the "Poughkeepsie seer," A.J.
+Davis, whose star was then only just above the horizon, had found
+their way to this queer mixture of all sorts of Socialists.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+THE INTEGRAL PHALANX.
+
+
+This Association was founded in the early part of 1845 by John S.
+Williams of Cincinnati, who is spoken of by the _Phalanx_, as one of
+the most active adherents of Fourierism in the West. It settled first
+in Ohio, and afterwards in Illinois.
+
+    [From the _Ohio State Journal_, June 14, 1845.]
+
+    "An Association of citizens of Ohio, calling themselves the
+    'Integral Phalanx,' have recently purchased the valuable
+    property of Mr. Abner Enoch, near Middletown, Butler County, in
+    this State, known by the name of Manchester Mills, twenty-three
+    miles north of Cincinnati, on the Miami Canal. This property
+    embraces about nine hundred acres of the most fertile land in
+    Ohio, or perhaps in the world; six hundred acres of which lie in
+    one body, and are now in the highest state of cultivation,
+    according to the usual mode of farming; three hundred acres in
+    wood and timber land. There are now in operation on the place a
+    large flouring-mill, saw-mill, lath-factory and shingle-cutter,
+    with water-power which is abundantly sufficient to propel all
+    necessary machinery that the company may choose to put in
+    operation. The property is estimated to be worth $75,000, but
+    was sold to the Phalanx for $45,000. As Mr. Enoch is himself an
+    Associationist and a devoted friend of the cause, the terms of
+    sale were made still more favorable, by the subscription, on the
+    part of Mr. Enoch, of $25,000 of purchase money, as capital
+    stock of the Phalanx. Entire possession of the domain is to be
+    given as soon as existing contracts of the proprietor are
+    completed.
+
+    "Arrangements are already made for the vigorous prosecution of
+    the plans of the Phalanx. A press is to be established on the
+    domain, devoted to the science of industrial Association
+    generally, and the interests of the Integral Phalanx
+    particularly. Competent agents are appointed to lecture on the
+    science, and receive subscriptions of stock and membership; and
+    it is contemplated to erect, as soon as possible, one wing of a
+    unitary edifice, large enough to accommodate sixty-four
+    families, more than one-half of which number are already in the
+    Association."
+
+    [From the _Harbinger_, July 19, 1845.]
+
+    "We have received the first number of a new paper, entitled, the
+    '_Plowshare and Pruning-Hook_,' which the Integral Phalanx
+    proposes to publish semi-monthly at the rate of one dollar per
+    year.
+
+    "The reasons presented for the establishment of the Integral
+    Phalanx are to our minds quite conclusive, and we feel great
+    confidence that its affairs will be managed with the wisdom and
+    fidelity which will insure success. We earnestly desire to
+    witness a fair and full experiment of Association in the West.
+    The physical advantages which are there enjoyed, are far too
+    great to be lost. With the fertility of the soil, the ease with
+    which it is cultivated, the abundance of water-power, and the
+    comparative mildness of the climate, a very few years of
+    judicious and energetic industry would place an Association in
+    the West in possession of immense material resources. They could
+    not fail to accumulate wealth rapidly. They could live in great
+    measure within themselves, without being compelled to sustain
+    embarrassing relations with civilization; and with the requisite
+    moral qualities and scientific knowledge, the great problem of
+    social harmony would approximate, at least, toward a solution.
+    We trust this will be done by the Integral Phalanx. And to
+    insure this, our friends in Ohio should not be eager to
+    encourage new experiments, but to concentrate their capital and
+    talent, as far as possible, on that Association which bids fair
+    to accomplish the work proposed. The advantages possessed by the
+    Integral Phalanx will be seen from the following statement in
+    their paper:
+
+    "'To say that our prospects are not good, would be to say what
+    we do not believe; or to say that the Phalanx, so far, is not
+    composed of the right kind of materials, would be to affect a
+    false modesty we desire not to possess. One reason why our
+    materials are superior is, that young Phalanxes generally are
+    known to be in doubtful, difficult circumstances, and therefore
+    the inducement to rush into such movements merely from the
+    pressure of the evils of civilization, without a full
+    convincement of the good of Association, is not so great as it
+    was. We are composed of men whose reflective organs,
+    particularly that of caution, seem to be largely developed. We
+    believe in moving slowly, cautiously, safely; giving our Phalanx
+    time to grow well, that permanence may be the result. The
+    members already enrolled on the books of the _Phalanx_, are, in
+    their individual capacities, the owners of property to an amount
+    exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, clear of all
+    incumbrances; and they are all persons of industrial energy and
+    skill, fully capable of compelling the elements of earth, air
+    and water, to yield them abundant contributions for that
+    harmonic unity with which their souls are deeply inspired. In
+    view of all these advantages we can, with full confidence,
+    invite the accession of numbers and capital, and assure them of
+    a safe investment in the Integral Phalanx.'"
+
+    [From the _Harbinger_, August 16, 1845.]
+
+    "We have received the second number of the _Plowshare and
+    Pruning-Hook_. Besides a variety of interesting articles on the
+    subject of Association, this number contains the pledges and
+    rules of the Integral Phalanx, together with an explanation of
+    some parts of the instrument, which have been supposed to be
+    rather obscure. It is an elaborate document, exhibiting the
+    fruits of deep reflection, and aiming at the application of
+    scientific principles to the present condition of Association.
+    We do not feel ourselves called on to criticise it; as every
+    written code for the government of a Phalanx must necessarily be
+    imperfect, of the nature of a compromise, adapted to special
+    exigences, and taking its character, in a great measure, from
+    the local or personal circumstances of the Association for which
+    it is intended. In a complete and orderly arrangement of groups
+    and series, with attractive industry fully organized, with a
+    sufficient variety of character for the harmonious development
+    of the primary inherent passions of our nature, and a
+    corresponding abundance of material resources, we conceive that
+    few written laws would be necessary; everything would be
+    regulated with spontaneous precision by the pervading common
+    sense of the Phalanx; and the law written on the heart, the
+    great and holy law of attraction, would supersede all others.
+    But for this blessed condition the time is not yet. Years may be
+    required, before we shall see the first red streaks of its
+    dawning. Meanwhile, we must make the wisest provisional
+    arrangements in our power. And no constitution recognizing the
+    principles of distributive justice and the laws of universal
+    unity, will be altogether defective; while time and experience
+    will suggest the necessary improvements.
+
+    "Three attorneys-at-law have left that profession and joined the
+    Integral Phalanx, not, as they say, that they could not make a
+    living, if they would stick to it and do their share of the
+    dirty work, but because by doing so they must sacrifice their
+    consciences, as the practice of the law, in many instances, is
+    but stealing under another name. They are elevating themselves
+    by learning honest and useful trades, so as to become producers
+    in Association. A wise resolution."
+
+Here comes a sudden turn in the story of this Phalanx, for which the
+previous assurances of caution and prosperity had not prepared us, and
+of which we can find no detailed account. We skip from Ohio to
+Illinois, with no explanation except the dark hints of trouble,
+defeat, and partial dissolution, contained in the following document.
+The Sangamon Phalanx, which seems to have taken in the Integral (or
+was taken in by it), is one of the Associations of which we have no
+account either from Macdonald or the Fourier Journals.
+
+    [From the New York _Tribune_.]
+
+                                "_Home of the Integral Phalanx, }
+                       Sangamon Co., Illinois, Oct. 20, 1845._" }
+
+    "_To the Editor of the New York Tribune_:
+
+    "We wish to apprise the friends of Association that the Integral
+    Phalanx, having for the space of one year wandered like Noah's
+    dove, finding no resting place for the sole of its foot, has at
+    length found a habitation. A union was formed on the 16th of
+    October inst., between it and the Sangamon Association; or
+    rather the Sangamon Association was merged in the Integral
+    Phalanx; its members having abandoned its name and constitution,
+    and become members of the Integral Phalanx, by placing their
+    signatures to its pledges and rules: the Phalanx adopting their
+    domain as its home. We were defeated, and we now believe, very
+    fortunately for us, in securing a location in Ohio. We have,
+    during the time of our wanderings, gained some experience which
+    we could not otherwise have gained, and without which we were
+    not prepared to settle down upon a location. Our members have
+    been tried. We now know what kind of stuff they are made of.
+    Those who have abandoned us in consequence of our difficulties,
+    were 'with us, but not of us,' and would have been a hindrance
+    to our efforts. They who are continually hankering after the
+    'flesh-pots of Egypt,' and are ready to abandon the cause upon
+    the first appearance of difficulties, had better stay out of
+    Association. If they will embark in the cause, every Association
+    should pray for difficulties sufficient to drive them out. We
+    need not only clear heads, but also true hearts. We are by no
+    means sorry for the difficulties which we have encountered, and
+    all we fear is that we have not yet had sufficient difficulties
+    to try our souls, and show the principles by which we are
+    actuated.
+
+    "We have now a domain embracing five hundred and eight acres of
+    as good land as can be found within the limits of Uncle Sam's
+    dominions, fourteen miles southwest from Springfield, the
+    capital of the State, and in what is considered the best county
+    and wealthiest portion of the State. This domain can be extended
+    to any desired limit by purchase of adjoining lands at cheap
+    rates. We have, however, at present, sufficient land for our
+    purposes. It consists of high rolling prairie and woodlands
+    adjoining, which can not be excelled in the State, for beauty of
+    scenery and richness of soil, covered with a luxuriant growth of
+    timber, of almost every description, oak, hickory, sugar-maple,
+    walnut, etc. The land is well watered, lying upon Lick Creek,
+    with springs in abundance, and excellent well-water at the depth
+    of twenty feet. The land, under proper cultivation, will produce
+    one hundred bushels of corn to the acre, and every thing else in
+    proportion. There are five or six comfortable buildings upon the
+    property; and a temporary frame-building, commenced by the
+    Sangamon Association (intended, when finished, to be three
+    hundred and sixty feet by twenty-four), is now being erected for
+    the accommodation of families.
+
+    "The whole domain is in every particular admirably adapted to
+    the industrial development of the Phalanx. The railroad
+    connecting Springfield with the Illinois river, runs within two
+    miles of the domain. There is a steam saw- and flouring-mill
+    within a few yards of our present eastern boundary, which we can
+    secure on fair terms, and shall purchase, as we shall need it
+    immediately.
+
+    "But we will not occupy more time with description, as those who
+    feel sufficiently interested, will visit us and examine for
+    themselves. We 'owe no man,' and although we are called infidels
+    by those who know not what constitutes either infidelity or
+    religion, we intend to obey at least this injunction of Holy
+    Writ. The Sangamon Association had been progressing slowly,
+    prudently and cautiously, determined not to involve themselves
+    in pecuniary difficulties; and this was one great inducement to
+    our union with them. We want those whose 'bump of caution' is
+    fully developed. Our knowledge of the progressive movement of
+    other Associations has taught us a lesson which we will try not
+    to forget. We are convinced that we can never succeed with an
+    onerous debt upon us. We trust those who attempt it may be more
+    successful than we could hope to be.
+
+    "We are also convinced that we can not advance one step toward
+    associative unity, while in a state of anarchy and confusion,
+    and that such a state of things must be avoided. We will
+    therefore not attempt even a unitary subsistence, until we have
+    the number necessary to enable us to organize upon scientific
+    principles, and in accordance with Fourier's admirable plan of
+    industrial organization. The Phalanx will have a store-house,
+    from which all the families can be supplied at wholesale prices,
+    and have it charged to their account. It is better that the
+    different families should remain separate for five years, than
+    to bring them together under circumstances worse than
+    civilization. Such a course will unavoidably create confusion
+    and dissatisfaction, and we venture the assertion that it has
+    done so in every instance where it has been attempted. Under our
+    rules of progress, it will be seen that until we are prepared to
+    organize, we shall go upon the system of hired labor. We pay to
+    each individual a full compensation for all assistance rendered
+    in labor or other services, and charge him a fair price for what
+    he receives from the Phalanx; the balance of earnings, after
+    deducting the amount of what he receives, to be credited to him
+    as stock, to draw interest as capital. To capital, whether it be
+    money or property put in at a fair price, we allow ten per cent.
+    compound interest. This plan will be pursued until our edifice
+    is finished and we have about four hundred persons, ready to
+    form a temporary organization. Fourier teaches us that this
+    number is necessary, and if he has taught the truth of the
+    science, it is worse than folly to pursue a course contrary to
+    his instructions. If there is any one who understands the
+    science better than Fourier did himself, we hope he will make
+    the necessary corrections and send us word. We intend to follow
+    Fourier's instructions until we find they are wrong; then we
+    will abandon them.
+
+    "As to an attempt to organize groups and series until we have
+    the requisite number, have gone through a proper system of
+    training, and erected an edifice sufficient for the
+    accommodation of about four hundred persons, every feature of
+    our Rules of Progress forbids it. We believe that the effort
+    will place every Phalanx that attempts it, in a situation worse
+    than civilization itself. The distance between civilization and
+    Association can not be passed at one leap. There must
+    necessarily be a transition period; and any set of rules or
+    constitution (hampered and destroyed by a set of by-laws),
+    intended for the government of a Phalanx, during the transition
+    period, and which have no analogical reference to the human
+    form, will be worse than useless. They will be an impediment
+    instead of an assistance to the progressive movement of a
+    Phalanx. The child can not leap to manhood in a day nor a month,
+    and unless there is a system of training suited to the different
+    states through which he must pass in his progress to manhood,
+    his energies can never be developed. If Associations will
+    violate every scientific principle taught by Fourier, pay no
+    regard to analogy, and attempt organisms of groups and series
+    before any preparation is made for it, and then run into anarchy
+    and confusion, and become disgusted with their efforts, we hope
+    they will have the honesty to take the blame upon themselves,
+    and not charge it to the science of Association.
+
+    "We are ready at all times to give information of our situation
+    and progress, and we pledge ourselves to give a true and correct
+    statement of the actual situation of the Phalanx. We pledge
+    ourselves that there shall not be found a variance between our
+    written or published statements, and the statements appearing
+    upon our records. Those of our members now upon the ground are
+    composed principally of the former members of the Sangamon
+    Association. We expect a number of our members from Ohio this
+    fall, and many more of them in the spring. We have applications
+    for information and membership from different directions, and
+    expect large accession in numbers and capital during the coming
+    year. We can extend our domain to suit our own convenience, as,
+    in this land of prairies and pure atmosphere, we are not hemmed
+    in by civilization to the same extent as Socialists in other
+    States. We have elbow-room, and there is no danger of treading
+    on each other's toes and then fighting about it.
+
+    "The _Plowshare and Pruning-Hook_ will be continued from its
+    second number, and published from the home of the Integral
+    Phalanx in a few weeks, as soon as a press can be procured.
+
+                                 "SECRETARY OF INTEGRAL PHALANX."
+
+Here all information in the _Harbinger_ about the Integral comes to an
+end, and Macdonald breaks off short with, "No further particulars."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+THE ALPHADELPHIA PHALANX.
+
+
+This Association was commenced in the winter of 1843-4, principally by
+the exertions of Dr. H.R. Schetterly of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a
+disciple of Brisbane and the _Tribune_. The _Phalanx_ of February 5,
+1844, publishes its prospectus, from which we take the following
+paragraph:
+
+"Notice is hereby given, that a Fourier industrial Association, called
+the Alphadelphia Phalanx, has been formed in this State, under the
+most flattering prospects. A constitution has been adopted and signed,
+and a domain selected on the Kalamazoo river, which seems to possess
+all the advantages that could be desired. It is extremely probable
+(judging from the information possessed), that only half the
+applicants can be received into one Association, because the number
+will be too great: and if such should be the case, two Associations
+will doubtless be formed; for such is the enthusiasm in the West that
+people will not suffer themselves to be disappointed."
+
+    [From the _Phalanx_, March 1, 1844.]
+
+    "THE ALPHADELPHIA ASSOCIATION.--We have received the
+    constitution of this Association, a notice of the formation of
+    which was contained in our last. In most respects the
+    constitution is similar to that of the North American Phalanx.
+    It will be seen by the description of the domain selected, which
+    we publish below, that the location is extremely favorable. The
+    establishment of this Association in Michigan is but a pioneer
+    movement, which we have no doubt will soon be followed by the
+    formation of many others. Our friends are already numerous in
+    that State, and the interest in Association is rapidly growing
+    there, as it is throughout the West generally. The West, we
+    think, will soon become the grand theater of action, and ere
+    long Associations will spring up so rapidly that we shall
+    scarcely be able to chronicle them. The people, the farmers and
+    mechanics particularly, have only to understand the leading
+    principles of our doctrines, to admire and approve of them; and
+    it would therefore be no matter of surprise to see in a short
+    time their general and simultaneous adoption. Indeed, the social
+    transformation from a state of isolation with all its poverty
+    and miseries, to a state of Association with its immense
+    advantages and prosperity, may be much nearer and proceed more
+    rapidly than we now imagine. The signs are many and cheering."
+
+
+    _History and Description of the Alphadelphia Association._
+
+    "In consequence of a call of a convention published in the
+    _Primitive Expounder_, fifty-six persons assembled in the
+    school-house at the head of Clark's lake, on the fourteenth day
+    of December last, from the Counties of Oakland, Wayne,
+    Washtenaw, Genesee, Jackson, Eaton, Calhoun and Kalamazoo, in
+    the State of Michigan; and after a laborious session of three
+    days, from morning to midnight, adopted the skeleton of a
+    constitution, which was referred to a committee of three,
+    composed of Dr. H.R. Schetterly, Rev. James Billings and
+    Franklin Pierce, Esq., for revision and amendment. A committee
+    consisting of Dr. Schetterly, John Curtis and William Grant, was
+    also elected to view three places, designated by the convention
+    as possessing the requisite qualifications for a domain. The
+    convention then adjourned to meet again at Bellevue, Eaton
+    County, on the third day of January, to receive the reports of
+    said committees, to choose a domain from those reported on by
+    the committee on location, and to revise, perfect and adopt said
+    constitution. This adjourned convention met on the day
+    appointed, and selected a location in the town of Comstock,
+    Kalamazoo County, whose advantages are described by the
+    committee on location, in the following terms:
+
+    "The Kalamazoo river, a large and beautiful stream, nine rods
+    wide, and five feet deep in the middle, flows through the
+    domain. The mansion and manufactories will stand on a beautiful
+    plain, descending gradually toward the bank of the river, which
+    is about twelve feet high. There is a spring, pouring out about
+    a barrel of pure water per minute, half a mile from the place
+    where the mansion and manufactories will stand. Cobble-stone
+    more than sufficient for foundations and building a dam, and
+    easily accessible, are found on the domain; and sand and clay,
+    of which excellent brick have been made, are also abundant. The
+    soil of the domain is exceedingly fertile, and of great variety,
+    consisting of prairie, oak openings, and timbered and
+    bottom-land along the river. About three thousand acres of it
+    have been tendered to our Association, as stock to be appraised
+    at the cash value, nine hundred of which are under cultivation,
+    fit for the plow; and nearly all the remainder has been offered
+    in exchange for other improved lands belonging to members at a
+    distance, who wish to invest their property in our Association."
+
+    [Letter from H.R. Schetterly.]
+
+                                     "_Ann Arbor, May 20, 1844._"
+
+    "GENTLEMEN:--Your readers will no doubt be pleased to learn
+    every important movement in industrial Association; and
+    therefore I send you an account of the present condition of the
+    Alphadelphia Association, to the organization of which all my
+    time has been devoted since the beginning of last December.
+
+    "The Association held its first annual meeting on the second
+    Wednesday in March, and at the close of a session of four days,
+    during which its constitution and by-laws were perfected, and
+    about eleven hundred persons, including children and adults,
+    admitted to membership, adjourned to meet on the domain on the
+    first of May. Its officers repaired immediately to the place
+    selected last winter for the domain, and after overcoming great
+    difficulties, secured the deeds of 2,814 acres of land, (927 of
+    which is under cultivation), at a cost of $32,000. This gives us
+    perfect control over an immense water-power; and our land-debt
+    is only $5,776 (the greater portion of the land having been
+    invested as stock), to be paid out of a proposed capital of
+    $240,000, $14,000 of which is to be paid in cash during the
+    summer and autumn. More land adjoining the domain has since been
+    tendered as stock; but we have as much as we can use at present,
+    and do not wish to increase our taxes and diminish our first
+    annual dividend too much. It will all come in as soon as wanted.
+    At our last meeting the number of members was increased to
+    upwards of 1,300, and more than one hundred applicants were
+    rejected, because there seemed to be no end, and we became
+    almost frightened at the number. Among our members are five
+    mill-wrights, six machinists, furnacemen, printers,
+    manufacturers of cloth, paper, etc., and almost every other kind
+    of mechanics you can mention, besides farmers in abundance.
+
+    "Farming and gardening were commenced on the domain about the
+    middle of April, and two weeks since, when I came away, there
+    were seventy-one adult male and more than half that number of
+    adult female laborers on the ground, and more constantly
+    arriving. We shall not however be able to accommodate more than
+    about 200 resident members this season.
+
+    "There is much talk about the formation of other Associations in
+    this State (Michigan), and I am well convinced that others will
+    be formed next winter. The fact is, men have lost all confidence
+    in each other, and those who have studied the theory of
+    Association, are desirous of escaping from the present
+    hollow-hearted state of civilized society, in which fraud and
+    heartless competition grind the more noble-minded of our
+    citizens to the dust.
+
+    "The Alphadelphia Association will not commence building its
+    mansion this season; but several groups have been organized to
+    erect a two-story wooden building, five hundred and twenty-three
+    feet long, including the wings, which will be finished the
+    coming Fall, so as to answer for dwellings till we can build a
+    mansion, and afterwards may be converted into a silk
+    establishment or shops. The principal pursuit this year, besides
+    putting up this building, will be farming and preparing for
+    erecting a furnace, saw-mill, machine-shop, etc. We have more
+    than one hundred thousand feet of lumber on hand; and a
+    saw-mill, which we took as stock, is running day and night.
+
+    "I do not see any obstacle to our future prosperity. Our farmers
+    have plenty of wheat on the ground. We have teams, provisions,
+    all we ought to desire on the domain; and best of all, since the
+    location of the buildings has been decided, we are perfectly
+    united, and have never yet had an angry discussion on any
+    subject. We have religious meetings twice a week, and preaching
+    at least once, and shall have schools very soon. If God be for
+    us, of which we have sufficient evidence, who can prevail
+    against us?
+
+    "Our domain is certainly unrivaled in its advantages in
+    Michigan, possessing every kind of soil that can be found in the
+    State. Our people are moral, religious, and industrious, having
+    been actually engaged in manual labor, with few exceptions, all
+    their days. The place where the mansion and out-houses will
+    stand, is a most beautiful level plain, of nearly two miles in
+    extent, that wants no grading, and can be irrigated by a
+    constant stream of water flowing from a lake. Between it and the
+    river is another plain, twelve feet lower, on which our
+    manufactories may be set in any desirable position. Our
+    mill-race is half dug by nature, and can be finished, according
+    to the estimate of the State engineer, for eighteen hundred
+    dollars, giving five and a-half feet fall without a dam, which
+    may be raised by a grant from the Legislature, adding three feet
+    more, and affording water-power sufficient to drive fifty pair
+    of mill-stones. A very large spring, brought nearly a mile in
+    pipes, will rise nearly fifty feet at our mansion. The Central
+    railroad runs across our domain. We have a great abundance of
+    first-rate timber, and land as rich as any in the State.
+
+    "Our constitution is liberal, and secures the fullest individual
+    freedom and independence. While capital is fully protected in
+    its rights and guaranteed in its interests, it is not allowed to
+    exercise an undue control, or in the least degree encroach on
+    personal liberty, even if this too common tendency could
+    possibly manifest itself in Association. As we proceed I will
+    inform you of our progress.
+
+                                               H.R. SCHETTERLY."
+
+The _Harbinger_ of January 17, 1846, mentions the Alphadelphia as
+still existing and in hopeful condition; but we find no further notice
+of it in that quarter. Macdonald tells the following story of its
+fortunes and failure, the substance of which he obtained from Dr.
+Schetterly:
+
+    "At the commencement a disagreement took place between a Mr.
+    Tubbs and the rest of the members. Mr. Tubbs wanted to have the
+    buildings located on the land he had owned; but the Association
+    would not agree to that, because the digging of a mill-race on
+    the side of the river proposed by Mr. Tubbs would have cost
+    nearly $18,000; whereas on the railroad side of the river, which
+    was supposed to be a much better building-place, the race would
+    have cost only $1,800. The consequence was that all but Mr.
+    Tubbs voted for the railroad side, and Mr. Tubbs left, no doubt
+    in disgust, at the same time cautioning every person against
+    investing property in the Phalanx. This disagreement at the
+    commencement of the experiment threw a damper on it, from which
+    it never entirely recovered.
+
+    "There were a number of ordinary farm-houses on the domain, and
+    a beginning of a Phalanstery seventy feet long was erected to
+    accommodate those who resided there the first winter. The rooms
+    were comfortable but small. A large frame-house was also begun.
+    During the warm weather a number of persons lived in a large
+    board shanty.
+
+    "The members of the Association were mostly farmers, though
+    there were builders, shoemakers, tailors, blacksmiths and
+    printers, and one editor; all tolerably skillful and generally
+    well informed; though but few could write for the paper called
+    the _Tocsin_, which was published there. The morality of the
+    members is said to have been good, with one exception. A school
+    was carried on part of the time, and they had an exchange of
+    some seventy periodicals and newspapers. No religious tests were
+    required in the admission of members. They had preaching by one
+    of the printers, or by any person who came along, without asking
+    about his creed.
+
+    "All lived in clover so long as a ton of sugar or any other such
+    luxury lasted; but before provisions could be raised, these
+    luxuries were all consumed, and most of the members had to
+    subsist afterward on coarser fare than they were accustomed to.
+    No money was paid in, and the members who owned property abroad
+    could not sell it. The officers made bad bargains in selling
+    some farms that lay outside the domain. Laborers became
+    discouraged and some left; but many held on longer than they
+    otherwise would have done, because a hundred acres of beautiful
+    wheat greeted them in the fields. In the winter some of the
+    influential members went away temporarily, and thus left the
+    real friends of the Association in the minority; and when they
+    returned after two or three months absence, every thing was
+    turned up-side-down. There was a manifest lack of good
+    management and foresight. The old settlers accused the majority
+    of this, and were themselves elected officers; but it appears
+    that they managed no better, and finally broke up the concern."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+LA GRANGE PHALANX.
+
+
+The first notice of this Association is the following announcement in
+the _Phalanx_, October 5, 1843:
+
+"Preparations are making to establish an Association in La Grange
+County, Indiana, which will probably be done this fall, upon quite an
+extensive scale, as many of the most influential and worthy
+inhabitants of that section are deeply interested in the cause."
+
+    [From a letter of W.S. Prentise, Secretary of the La Grange
+    Phalanx, published in the Phalanx, February 5, 1844.]
+
+    "We have now about thirty families, and I believe might have
+    fifty, if we had room for them. We have in preparation and
+    nearly completed, a building large enough to accommodate our
+    present members. They will all be settled and ready to commence
+    business in the spring. They leave their former homes and take
+    possession of their rooms as fast as they are completed. The
+    building, including a house erected before we began by the owner
+    of a part of our estate, is one hundred and ninety-two feet
+    long, two stories high, divided so as to give each family from
+    twelve to sixteen feet front and twenty-six feet depth, making a
+    front room and one or two bed-rooms. One hundred and twenty feet
+    of this building is entirely new. We commenced it in September,
+    and have had lumber, brick and lime to haul from five to twelve
+    miles. All these materials can be hereafter furnished on our
+    domain. Notwithstanding the disadvantages and waste attendant on
+    hasty action without previous plan, we shall have our tenements
+    at least as cheap again as they would cost separately. Our farm
+    consists of about fifteen hundred acres of excellent land, four
+    hundred of which is improved, about three hundred of rich
+    meadow, with a stream running through it, falling twelve feet,
+    and making a good water-power. We are about forty miles from
+    Fort Wayne, on the Wabash and Erie canal. Our land, including
+    one large new house and three large new barns, and a saw-mill in
+    operation, cost us about $8.00 per acre. It was put in as stock,
+    at $10.31 for improved, and $2.68 for unimproved. We have about
+    one hundred head of cattle, two hundred sheep, and horse and ox
+    teams enough for all purposes: also farming tools in abundance;
+    and in fact every thing necessary to carry on such branches of
+    business as we intend to undertake at present, except money.
+    This property was put in as stock, at its cash value; cows at
+    $10.00, sheep $1.50, horses $50.00, wheat fifty cents, corn
+    twenty-five cents.
+
+    "We shall have about one hundred and fifty persons when all are
+    assembled; probably about half of this number will be children.
+    Our school will commence in a few days. We have a charter from
+    the Legislature, one provision of which, inserted by ourselves,
+    is, that we shall never, as a society, contract a debt. We are
+    located in Springfield, La Grange County, Indiana. The nearest
+    post-office is Mongoquinong. We think our location a good one.
+    Our members are seventy-three of them practical farmers, and
+    the rest mechanics, teachers, etc. We shall not commence
+    building our main edifice at present. When our dwelling rooms,
+    now in progress, are completed, and such work-shops as are
+    necessary to accommodate our mechanics, we shall stop building
+    until more capital flows in, either from abroad or from our own
+    labors. It is a pity that the mechanics of the city and farmers
+    of the country could not be united. They would do far better
+    together than separate. We have two of the best physicians in
+    the country in our number."
+
+    [From the _Harbinger_, July 4, 1846.]
+
+    "LA GRANGE PHALANX.--This Association has been in operation some
+    two years, and has been incorporated since the first of June,
+    1845. It commenced on the sure principle of incurring no debts,
+    which it has adhered to, with the exception of some fifteen
+    hundred dollars yet due on its domain. We find in the _True
+    Tocsin_ a statement of the operations of this Association for
+    the last fifteen months, and of its present condition, by Mr.
+    Anderson, its Secretary, from which we make the following
+    extracts:
+
+    "_Annual Statement of the condition of La Grange Phalanx, on the
+    1st day of April, 1846._
+
+    "Total valuation of the real and personal estate
+    of the Phalanx, including book accounts, due from
+    members and others                                   $19,861.61
+    Deduct capital stock.                     $14,668.39
+      "    debts                                1,128.82  15,797.21
+                                                         ----------
+    Total product for fifteen months previous to
+      the above date                                      $4,064.40
+
+    Being a net increase of property on hand (since our settlement
+    on the 1st of January, 1845), of $1,535.63, the balance of the
+    total product above having been consumed (namely, $2,531.72) in
+    the shape of rent, tuition, fuel, food and clothing. The above
+    product forms a dividend to labor of sixty-one cents eight mills
+    per day of ten hours, and to the capital stock four and
+    eleven-twelfths per cent. per annum.
+
+    "Our domain at present consists of ten hundred and forty-five
+    acres of good land, watered by living springs. The land is about
+    one-half prairie, the balance openings, well timbered. We have
+    four hundred and ninety-two acres improved, and two hundred and
+    fifty acres of meadow. The improvements in buildings are three
+    barns, some out-houses, blacksmith's-shop, and a dwelling house
+    large enough to accommodate sixteen families; besides a
+    school-room twenty-six by thirty-six feet, and a dining-room of
+    the same size. All our land is within fences. We consider our
+    condition bids fair for the realization of at least a share of
+    happiness, even upon the earth.
+
+    "The rule by which this Association makes dividends to capital
+    is as follows: When labor shall receive seventy-five cents per
+    day of ten hours at average or common farming labor, then
+    capital shall receive six per cent. per annum, and in that
+    ratio, be the dividend what it may; in other words, an
+    investment of one hundred dollars for one year will receive the
+    same amount which might be paid to eight days average labor.
+
+    "There are now ten families of us at this place, busily engaged
+    in agriculture. We are rather destitute of mechanics, and would
+    be very much pleased to have a good blacksmith and shoemaker, of
+    good moral character and steady habits, and withal
+    Associationists, join our number.
+
+    "Since our commencement in the fall of 1843, our school has been
+    in active operation up to the present time, with the exception
+    of some few vacations. It is our most sincere desire to have the
+    very best instruction in school, which our means will enable us
+    to procure."
+
+The _Harbinger_ adds: "The preamble to the constitution of this little
+band of pioneers in the cause of human elevation, shows that their
+enterprise is animated by the highest purposes. We trust that they
+will not be disheartened by any discouragements or obstacles. These
+must of necessity be many; but it should be borne in mind that they
+can not be equal to the burdens which the selfishness and antagonism
+of the existing order of things lay upon every one who toils through
+its routine. The poorest Association affords a sphere of purer, more
+honest, and heartier life than the best society that we know of in the
+civilized world. Let our friends persevere; they are on the right
+track, and whatever mistakes they may make, we do not doubt that they
+will succeed in establishing for themselves and their children a
+society of united interests."
+
+    [Communication in the _Harbinger_.]
+
+                                   _Springfield, June, 14, 1846._
+
+    "We hope our humble effort here to establish a Phalanx, will in
+    due time be crowned with success. Our prospects since we got our
+    charter have been very cheering, notwithstanding the
+    difficulties attendant upon so weak an attempt to form a
+    nucleus, around which we expect to see truth and happiness
+    assembled in perpetual union, and that too at no very distant
+    period. Our numbers have lately been increased by some members
+    from the Alphadelphia Association, whose faith has outlived that
+    of others in the attempt to establish an Association at that
+    place.
+
+    "Agriculture has been our main and almost only employment since
+    we came together. We have ten hundred and forty-five acres of
+    excellent land, four hundred and ninety-two acres of which are
+    improved, and two hundred and fifty acres of it are natural
+    meadow. We are preparing this fall to sow three hundred acres of
+    wheat. Our domain is as yet destitute of water-power except on a
+    very limited scale. Our location in other respects is all that
+    could be wished. We have a very fine orchard of peach-and
+    apple-trees, set out mostly a year ago last spring, and many of
+    the trees will soon bear, they having been moved from orchards
+    which were set out for the use of families on different points
+    of what we now call our domain. We shall have this season a
+    considerable quantity of apples and peaches from old trees which
+    have not been moved. The wheat crop promises to be very abundant
+    in this part of the country. Oats and corn are rather backward
+    on account of the late dry weather. We have at present on the
+    ground one hundred and forty acres of wheat, fifty-two acres of
+    oats, thirty-eight acres of corn, besides buckwheat, potatoes,
+    beans, squashes, pumpkins, melons and what not.
+
+                                   "WILLIAM ANDERSON, Secretary."
+
+Macdonald gives the following meager account of the decease of this
+Phalanx:
+
+    "A person named Jones owned nearly one-half of the stock, and it
+    appears that his influence was such that he managed trading and
+    money matters all in his own way, whether he was an officer or
+    not. This gave great dissatisfaction to the members, and has
+    been assigned as the chief cause of their failure. They
+    possessed about one thousand acres of land, with plenty of
+    buildings of all kinds. The members were mostly farmers,
+    tolerably moral, but lacking in enterprise and science. They
+    maintained schools and preaching in abundance, and lived as well
+    as western farmers commonly do. But they fully proved that,
+    though hard labor is important in such experiments, yet without
+    the right kind of genius to guide, mere labor is vain."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+OTHER WESTERN EXPERIMENTS.
+
+
+A half dozen obscure Associations, begun or contemplated in the
+Western States, will be disposed of together in this chapter; and then
+all that will remain of the experiments on our list, will be the
+famous trio with which we propose to conclude our history of American
+Fourierism--the Wisconsin, the North American and the Brook Farm
+Phalanxes.
+
+One of the experiments mentioned by Macdonald, but about which he
+gives very little information, was
+
+
+THE COLUMBIAN PHALANX.
+
+This Association turns up twice in the pages of the _Harbinger_; but
+we can not ascertain when it started, how long it lasted, nor even
+where it was located, except that it was in Franklin County, Ohio.
+Nevertheless it crowed cheerily in its time, as the following
+paragraphs testify:
+
+    [Letter to the _Harbinger_, August 15, 1845.]
+
+    "It is reported all through the country, and currently within
+    thirty miles of the location, that the Columbian Phalanx have
+    disbanded and broken up; and that those who remain are in a
+    constant state of discontent and bickering, owing to want of
+    food and comforts of life. Now, sir, having visited this spot,
+    and viewed for myself, I can safely say, that in no one thing is
+    this true. In fact only one family has left, and it is supposed
+    that they can't stay away; while five families are now entering
+    or about to enter, from Beverly, Morgan County, all of good,
+    substantial character. As good a state of harmony exists in the
+    Phalanx as could possibly be expected in so incipient a state.
+    On Saturday last, having the required number of families
+    (thirty-two), they went into an inceptive organization; and all
+    feel that at no time have the prospects been as fair as at this
+    moment. In proof of this, it need only be stated, that they are
+    about four thousand dollars ahead of their payments, and no
+    interest due till spring, with no other debts that they are not
+    able to meet. They have one hundred and thirty-seven acres of
+    wheat, and thirteen of rye, all of a most excellent quality,
+    decidedly the best that I have seen this year; not more than ten
+    or fifteen acres at all injured. On a part of it they calculate
+    to get twenty-five bushels to the acre. They have one hundred
+    and fifty acres of corn, much better than the corn generally in
+    Franklin County; one hundred acres of oats, all of the largest
+    kind; fifteen acres of potatoes, in the most flourishing
+    condition; four acres of beans; five acres of vines; besides
+    forty acres of pumpkins! (won't they have pies!) one acre of
+    sweet potatoes; ten thousand cabbage plants; and are preparing
+    ground for five acres of turnips; six acres of buckwheat; five
+    acres of flax, and ten acres of garden. I had the pleasure of
+    taking dinner with them to-day at the public table, furnished as
+    comfortably as we generally find. They have provisions enough
+    growing to supply three times their number, and they are
+    calculating on a large increase this season. They are fully
+    satisfied of the validity of their deed, which they are soon to
+    secure."
+
+    [A letter from a Member, in the _Harbinger_.]
+
+                           "_Columbian Phalanx, October 4, 1845._
+
+    "If I have said aught in high-toned language of our future
+    prospects, preserve it as truth, sacred as Holy Writ. We are in
+    a prosperous condition. The little difficulties which beset us
+    for a time, arising from lack of means, and which the world
+    magnified into destruction and death, have been dissipated.
+
+    "Our crops of grain are the very best in the State of Ohio, a
+    very severe drought having prevailed in the north of the State.
+    We could, if we wished, sell all our corn on the ground. We have
+    one hundred and fifty acres, every acre of which will yield one
+    hundred bushels. We have cut one hundred acres of good oats.
+    Potatoes, pumpkins, melons, etc., are also good. We are now
+    getting out stuff to build a flouring-mill in Zanesville, for a
+    Mr. Beaumont; two small groups of seven persons each, make
+    twenty-five dollars per day at the job. We have the best hewed
+    timber that ever came to Zanesville; and it is used in all the
+    mills and bridges in this region. We have purchased fixtures for
+    a new steam saw-mill, with two saws and a circulator, and
+    various other small machinery, all entirely new, which we shall
+    get into operation soon. Plenty to eat, drink, and wear, with
+    three hundred dollars per week coming in, all from our own
+    industry, imparts to us a tone of feeling of a quite different
+    zest, to an abundance obtained in any other way. The world has
+    watched with anxious solicitude our capacity to survive alone.
+    Now that we have gained shore, we find extended to us the right
+    hand of the capitalist and the laboring man; they beg
+    permission to join our band.
+
+    "You are already aware, no doubt, that the Beverly Association
+    has joined us. The Integral having failed to obtain the location
+    they had selected, some of the members have united their efforts
+    with us. Tell Mr. W., of Alleghany, to come here; tell him for
+    me that all danger is out of the question. Please by all means
+    tell Mr. M. to come here; tell him what I have written. Tell H.,
+    of Beaver, to come and see us, and say to him that you have
+    always failed in depicting the comforts and pleasures of
+    Association. And in fine, say to all the Associationists in
+    Pittsburg, that we are doing well, even better than we ourselves
+    ever expected; and if they wish to know more and judge for
+    themselves, let them come and see us.
+
+                                                   Yours, J.R.W."
+
+These are all the memorials that remain of the Columbian Phalanx.
+Another experiment of some note and enterprise, but with scanty
+history, was
+
+
+THE SPRING FARM ASSOCIATION, WISCONSIN.
+
+"In the year 1845," says Macdonald, "there was quite an excitement in
+the quiet little village of Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, on the subject
+of Fourier Association, stimulated by the energetic mind of Dr. P.
+Cady of Ohio. Meetings were held and Socialism was discussed, until
+ten families agreed to attempt an Association somewhere in the wilds
+of Sheboygan County. In making a selection of a suitable place, they
+divided into two parties, the one wishing to settle on the shore of
+Lake Michigan, and the other about twenty miles from the lake and six
+miles from any habitation. So strong were the opinions and prejudices
+of each, that the tents were pitched in both places. The following
+brief account relates to the one which was commenced in February,
+1846, on Government land about twenty miles from the lake shore, and
+was named 'Spring Farm' from the lovely springs of water which were
+found there. (The other company was less successful.) The objects
+proposed to be carried out by this little band, were 'Union, Equal
+Rights, and Social Guaranties.'
+
+"The pecuniary means, to begin with, amounted to only $1,000, put in
+as joint stock. The members consisted of six families, including ten
+children. Among them were farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters and
+joiners. They were tolerably intelligent, and with religious opinions
+various and free. They possessed an unfinished two-story frame
+building, twenty feet by thirty. They cultivated thirty acres of the
+prairie, and a small opening in the timber; but they appear to have
+made very little progress; though they worked in company for three
+years."
+
+One of the members thus answered Macdonald's questions concerning the
+general course and results of the experiment:
+
+    "Mr. B.C. Trowbridge was generally looked up to as leader of the
+    society. The land was bought of Government by individual
+    resident members. We had nothing to boast of in improvements;
+    they were only anticipated. We obtained no aid from without;
+    what we did not provide for ourselves, we went without. The
+    frost cut off our crops the second year, and left us short of
+    provisions. We were not troubled with dishonest management, and
+    generally agreed in all our affairs. We dissolved by mutual
+    agreement. The reasons of failure were poverty, diversity of
+    habits and dispositions, and disappointments through failure of
+    harvest. Though we failed in this attempt, yet it has left an
+    indelible impression on the minds of one-half the members at
+    least, that a harmonious Association in some form is the way,
+    and the only way, that the human mind can be fully and properly
+    developed; and the general belief is, that community of property
+    is the most practicable form."
+
+
+THE BUREAU COUNTY PHALANX.
+
+In the first number of the _Phalanx_, October 5, 1843, it is mentioned
+that a small Association had been commenced in Bureau County,
+Illinois. Macdonald repeats the mention, and adds, "No further
+particulars."
+
+
+THE WASHTENAW PHALANX
+
+was projected at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a monthly paper called the
+_Future_, was started in connection with it; but it appears to have
+failed before it got fairly into operation; as the _Phalanx_ barely
+refers to it once, and Macdonald dismisses it as a mere abortive
+excitement.
+
+
+GARDEN GROVE COMMUNITY, IOWA,
+
+was projected by D. Roberts, W. Davis, and others. The plan was to
+settle a colony of the "right sort" on contiguous lots, each family
+with its separate farm and dwelling, but all having a common
+pleasure-ground, dancing-hall, lecture-room and seminary. What came of
+it is not known.
+
+
+THE IOWA PIONEER PHALANX
+
+is mentioned twice in the _Phalanx_, as a Fourierist colony about to
+emigrate from Jefferson County, New York, to Iowa. It issued a paper;
+but whether it ever emigrated or what became of it, does not appear.
+
+If there were any more of these feeble experiments--as there may have
+been many--they escaped the sharp eyes of Macdonald and the
+_Harbinger_, and left no memorials.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+THE WISCONSIN PHALANX.
+
+
+This was one of the most conspicuous experiments of the Fourier epoch.
+The notices of it in the _Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_ are quite
+voluminous. We shall have to curtail them as much as possible, and
+still our patchwork will be a long one. The Wisconsin had the
+advantage of most other Phalanxes in the skill of its spokesman. Mr.
+Warren Chase, a gentleman at present well known among Spiritualists,
+was its founder and principal manager. Most of the important
+communications relating to it in the socialistic Journals and other
+papers, were from his ready pen. We will do our best to save all that
+is most valuable in them, while we omit what seems to be irrelevant or
+repetitious. It may be understood that we are indebted to the
+_Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_ for nearly all our quotations from other
+papers.
+
+    [From the _Green Bay Republican_, April 30, 1844.]
+
+    "WISCONSIN PHALANX.--We have just been informed by the agent of
+    the above Association, that the _locale_ has been chosen, and
+    ten sections of the finest land in the Territory entered at the
+    Green Bay Land Office. The location is on a small stream near
+    Green Lake, Marquette county. The teams conveying the requisite
+    implements, will start in a week, and the improvements will be
+    commenced immediately. We are in favor of Fourier's plan of
+    Association, although we very much fear that it will be
+    unsuccessful on account of the selfishness of mankind, this
+    being the principal obstacle to be overcome: yet we are pleased
+    to see the commendable zeal manifested by the members of the
+    Wisconsin Phalanx, who are mostly leading and influential
+    citizens of Racine County. The feasibility of Association will
+    now be tested in such a manner that the question will be
+    decided, at least so far as Wisconsin is concerned."
+
+    [From a letter in the _Southport Telegraph_,]
+
+                               _Wisconsin Phalanx, May 27, 1844._
+
+    "We left Southport on Monday, the 20th inst., and arrived on the
+    proposed domain, without accident, on Saturday last at five
+    o'clock P.M. This morning (Monday) the first business was to
+    divide into two companies, one for finding the survey stakes,
+    and the other for setting up the tent on the ground designed for
+    building and gardening purposes. Eight men, with ox-teams and
+    cattle, arrived between nine and ten A.M. After dinner the
+    members all met in the tent and proceeded to a regular
+    organization, Mr. Chase being in the chair and Mr. Rounds
+    Secretary.
+
+    "A prayer was offered, expressing thanks for our safe protection
+    and arrival, and invoking the Divine blessing for our future
+    peace and prosperity. The list of resident members was called
+    (nineteen in number), and they divided themselves into two
+    series, viz., agricultural and mechanical (each appointing a
+    foreman), with a miscellaneous group of laborers, under the
+    supervision of the resident directors.
+
+    "A letter was read by request of the members, from Peter
+    Johnson, a member of the board of directors, relating to the
+    proper conduct of the members in their general deportment, and
+    reminding them of their obligations to their Creator.
+
+    "The agricultural series are to commence plowing and planting
+    to-morrow, and the mechanical to excavate a cellar and prepare
+    for the erection of a frame building, twenty-two feet by twenty,
+    which is designed as a central wing for a building twenty-two
+    feet by one hundred and twenty. There are nineteen men and one
+    boy now on the domain. The stock consists of fifty-four head of
+    cattle, large and small, including eight yoke of oxen and three
+    span of horses. More men are expected during the week, and
+    others are preparing to come this summer. Families will be here
+    as the building can be sufficiently advanced to accommodate
+    them.
+
+    "A few words in regard to the domain: There is a stream which,
+    from its clearness, we have denominated Crystal Creek; it has
+    sufficient fall and water supplied by springs, for one or two
+    mill-seats. It runs over a bed of lime-stone, which abounds
+    here, and can be had convenient for fences and building. There
+    is a good supply of prairie and timber. Every member is well
+    pleased with the location, and also the arrangements for
+    business. Up to this time no discordant note has sounded in our
+    company.
+
+    "We have begun without a debt, which is a source of great
+    satisfaction to each member; and we are certain of success,
+    provided that the same union prevails which has hitherto, and
+    the company incur no debt by loan or otherwise, in the
+    transaction of business. We expect to be prepared this summer or
+    fall to issue the prospectus of a paper to be published on the
+    ground.
+
+                                              "GEO. H. STEBBINS."
+
+    [From a letter of Warren Chase.]
+
+                       "_Wisconsin Phalanx, September, 12, 1844._
+
+    "Our first company, consisting of about twenty men, arrived here
+    and commenced improvements on the 27th of May last. We put in
+    about twenty acres of spring crops, mostly potatoes, buckwheat,
+    turnips, etc., and have now one hundred acres of winter wheat in
+    the ground. We have erected three buildings (designed for wings
+    to a large one to be erected this fall), in which there are
+    about twenty families snugly stored, yet comfortable and happy
+    and busy, comprising in all about eighty persons, men, women,
+    and children. We have also erected a saw-mill, which will be
+    ready to run in a few days, after which we shall proceed to
+    erect better dwellings. We do all our cooking in one kitchen,
+    and all eat at one table. All our labor (excepting a part of
+    female labor, on which there is a reduction), is for the present
+    deemed in the class of usefulness, and every member works as
+    well as possible where he or she is most needed, under the
+    general superintendence of the directors. We adhere strictly to
+    our constitution and by-laws, and adopt as fast as possible the
+    system of Fourier. We have organized our groups and series in a
+    simple manner, and thus far every thing goes admirably, and much
+    better than we could have expected in our embryo state. We have
+    regular meetings for business and social purposes, by which
+    means we keep a harmony of feeling and concert of action. We
+    have a Sunday-school, Bible-class, and Divine service every
+    Sabbath by different denominations, who occupy the Hall (as we
+    have but one) alternately; and all is harmony in that
+    department, although we have many members of different religious
+    societies. They all seem determined to lay aside metaphysical
+    differences, and make a united social effort, founded on the
+    fundamental principles of religion.
+
+                                                  "WARREN CHASE."
+
+    [From a letter in the _Ohio American_, August, 1845.]
+
+    "I wish, through the medium of your columns, to correct a
+    statement which has been going the rounds of the newspapers in
+    this vicinity and in other parts, that the Wisconsin Phalanx has
+    failed and dispersed. I am prepared to state, upon the authority
+    of a letter from their Secretary, dated July 31, 1845, that the
+    report is entirely without foundation. They have never been in a
+    more prosperous condition, and the utmost harmony prevails. They
+    are moving forward under a charter; own two thousand acres of
+    fine land, with water-power; twenty-nine yoke of oxen,
+    thirty-seven cows, and a corresponding amount of other stock,
+    such as horses, hogs, sheep, etc.; are putting in four hundred
+    acres of wheat this fall; have just harvested one hundred acres
+    of the best of wheat, fifty-seven acres of oats, and other
+    grains in proportion. They have been organized a little more
+    than a year, and embrace in their number about thirty families.
+
+    "One very favorable feature in this institution is, that they
+    are entirely out of debt, and intend to remain so; they do not
+    owe, and are determined never to owe, a single dollar. An
+    excellent free school is provided for all the members; and as
+    they have no idle gentlemen or ladies to support, all have time
+    to receive a good education."
+
+    [From a letter of Warren Chase.]
+
+                          "_Wisconsin Phalanx, August, 13, 1845._
+
+    "We are Associationists of the Fourier school, and intend to
+    reduce his system to practice as fast as possible, consistently
+    with our situation. We number at this time about one hundred and
+    eighty souls, being the entire population of the congressional
+    township. We are under the township government, organized
+    similar to the system in New York. Our town was set off and
+    organized last winter by the Legislature, at which time the
+    Association was also incorporated as a joint-stock company by a
+    charter, which is our constitution. We had a post-office and
+    weekly mail within forty days after our commencement. Thus far
+    we have obtained all we have asked for.
+
+    "We have religious meetings and Sabbath-schools, conducted by
+    members of some half-a-dozen different denominations of
+    Christians, with whom creeds and modes of faith are of minor
+    importance compared with religion. All are protected, and all is
+    harmony in that department. We have had no deaths and very
+    little sickness. No physician, no lawyer or preacher, yet
+    resides among us; but we expect a physician soon, whose interest
+    will not conflict with ours, and whose presence will
+    consequently not increase disease. In politics we are about
+    equally divided, and vote accordingly; but generally believe
+    both parties culpable for many of the political evils of the
+    day.
+
+    "The Phalanx has a title from Government to fourteen hundred and
+    forty acres of land, on which there is one of the best of
+    water-powers, a saw-mill in operation and a grist-mill
+    building; six hundred and forty acres under improvement, four
+    hundred of which is now seeding to winter wheat. We raised about
+    fifteen hundred bushels the past season, which is sufficient for
+    our next year's bread; have about seventy acres of corn on the
+    ground, which looks well, and other crops in proportion. We have
+    an abundance of cattle, horses, crops and provisions for the
+    wants of our present numbers, and physical energy enough to
+    obtain more. Thus, you see, we are tolerably independent; and we
+    intend to remain so, as we admit none as members who have not
+    sufficient funds to invest in stock, or sufficient physical
+    strength, to warrant their not being a burden to the society. We
+    have one dwelling-house nearly finished, in which reside twenty
+    families, with a long hall conducting to the dining-room, where
+    all who are able, dine together. We intend next summer to erect
+    another for twenty families more, with a hall conducting to
+    another dining-room, supplied from the same cook-room. We have
+    one school constantly, but have as yet been unable to do much
+    toward improving that department, and had hoped to see something
+    in the _Harbinger_ which would be a guide in this branch of our
+    organization. We look to the Brook Farm Phalanx for instruction
+    in this branch, and hope to see it in the _Harbinger_ for the
+    benefit of ourselves and other Associations.
+
+    "We have a well-regulated system of grouping our laborers, but
+    have not yet organized the series. We have no difficulty in any
+    department of our business, and thus far more than our most
+    sanguine expectations have been realized. We commenced with a
+    determination to avoid all debts, and have thus far adhered to
+    our resolution; for we believed debts would disband more
+    Associations than any other one cause; and thus far, I believe
+    it has, more than all other causes put together.
+
+                                                  "WARREN CHASE."
+
+    From the Annual Statement of the Condition and Progress of the
+    Wisconsin Phalanx, for the fiscal year ending December 1, 1845.
+
+    "The four great evils with which the world is afflicted,
+    intoxication, lawsuits, quarreling, and profane swearing, never
+    have, and with the present character and prevailing habits of
+    our members, never can, find admittance into our society. There
+    is but a very small proportion of the tattling, backbiting and
+    criticisms on character, usually found in neighborhoods of as
+    many families. Perfect harmony and concert of action prevail
+    among the members of the various churches, and each individual
+    seems to lay aside creeds, and strive for the fundamental
+    principles of religion. Many have cultivated the social feeling
+    by the study and practice of vocal and instrumental music. In
+    this there is a constant progress visible. Our young gentlemen
+    and ladies have occasionally engaged in cotillions, especially
+    on wedding occasions, of which we have had three the past
+    summer.
+
+    "Our convenience for schools, their diminished expense, &c., is
+    known only to those acquainted with Association. We have done
+    but little in perfecting this branch of our new organization;
+    but having erected a school-house, we are prepared to commence
+    our course of moral, physical and intellectual education. For
+    want of a convenient place, we have not yet opened our
+    reading-room or library, but intend to do so during the present
+    month.
+
+    "The family circle and secret domestic relations are not
+    intruded on by Association; each family may gather around its
+    family altar, secluded and alone, or mingle with neighbors
+    without exposure to wet or cold. In our social and domestic
+    arrangements we have approximated as far toward the plan of
+    Fourier, as the difficulties incident to a new organization in
+    an uncultivated country would permit. Owing to our infant
+    condition and wish to live within our means, our public table
+    has not been furnished as elegantly as might be desirable to an
+    epicurean taste. From the somewhat detached nature of our
+    dwellings, and the consequent inconveniencies attendant on all
+    dining at one table, permission was given to such families as
+    chose, to be furnished with provisions and cook their own board.
+    But one family has availed itself of this privilege.
+
+    "In the various departments of physical labor, we have
+    accomplished much more than could have been done by the same
+    persons in the isolated condition. We have broken and brought
+    under cultivation, three hundred and twenty-five acres of land;
+    have sown four hundred acres to winter wheat; harvested the
+    hundred acres which we had on the ground last fall; plowed one
+    hundred and seventy acres for crops the ensuing spring; raised
+    sixty acres of corn, twenty of potatoes, twenty of buckwheat,
+    and thirty of peas, beans, roots, etc.; built five miles of
+    fence; cut four hundred tons of hay; and expended a large amount
+    of labor in teaming, building sheds, taking care of stock, etc.
+
+    "We have nearly finished the long building commenced last year
+    (two hundred and eight feet by thirty-two), making comfortable
+    residences for twenty families; built a stone school-house,
+    twenty by thirty; a dining-room eighteen by thirty; finished one
+    of the twenty-by-thirty dwellings built last year; expended
+    about two hundred days' labor digging a race and foundation for
+    a grist-mill thirty by forty, three stories high, and for a
+    shop twenty by twenty-five, one story, with stone basements to
+    both, and erected frames for the same; built a wash-house sixty
+    by twenty-two; a hen house eleven by thirty, of sun-dried brick;
+    an ash-house ten by twenty, of the same material; kept one man
+    employed in the saw-mill, one drawing logs, one in the
+    blacksmith shop, one shoe-making, and most of the time two about
+    the kitchen.
+
+    "The estimated value of our property on hand is $27,725.22,
+    wholly unincumbered; and we are free from debt, except about
+    $600 due to members, who have advanced cash for the purchase of
+    provisions and land. But to balance this, we have over $1,000
+    coming from members, on stock subscriptions not yet due.
+
+    "The whole number of hours' labor performed by the members
+    during the past year, reduced to the class of usefulness, is
+    102,760; number expended in cooking, etc., and deducted for the
+    board of members, 21,170; number remaining after deducting for
+    board, 81,590, to which the amount due to labor is divided. In
+    this statement the washing is not taken into account, families
+    having done their own.
+
+    "Whole number of weeks board charged members (including children
+    graduated to adults) forty-two hundred and thirty-four. Cost of
+    board per week for each person, forty-four cents for provisions,
+    and five hours labor.
+
+    "Whole amount of property on hand, as per invoice, $27,725.22.
+    Cost of property and stock issued up to December 1, $19,589.18.
+    Increase the past year, being the product of labor, etc.,
+    $8,136.04; one-fourth of which, or $2,034.01, is credited to
+    capital, being twelve per cent. per annum on stock, for the
+    average time invested; and three-fourths, or $6,102.03 to labor,
+    being seven and one-half cents per hour.
+
+    "The property on hand consists of the following items:
+
+    1,553 acres of land, at $3.00            $4,659.00
+    Agricultural improvements                 1,522.47
+    Mechanical improvements                   8,405.00
+    Personal property                        10,314.01
+    Advanced members in board, etc.           2,824.74
+                                             ---------
+        Amount                              $27,725.22
+
+                                         "W. CHASE, _President_."
+
+    [From a letter of Warren Chase,]
+
+                              _Wisconsin Phalanx, March 3, 1846._
+
+    "Since our December statement, our course and progress has been
+    undeviatingly onward toward the goal. We have added eighty acres
+    to our land, making one thousand six hundred and thirty-three
+    acres free of incumbrance. We are preparing to raise eight
+    hundred acres of crops the coming season, finish our grist-mill,
+    and build some temporary residences, etc. We have admitted but
+    one family since the 1st of December, although we have had many
+    applications. In this department of our organization, as well as
+    in that of contracting debts, we are profiting by the experience
+    of many Associations who preceded or started with us.
+
+    "We pretend to have considerable knowledge of the serial law,
+    but we are not yet prepared, mentally or physically, to adopt it
+    in our industrial operations. We have something in operation
+    which approaches about as near to it as the rude hut does to the
+    palace. Even this is better than none, and saves us from the
+    merciless peltings of the storm.
+
+    "Success with us is no longer a matter of doubt. Our questions
+    to be settled are, How far and how fast can we adopt and put in
+    practice the system and principle which we believe to be true,
+    without endangering or retarding our ultimate object. We feel
+    and know that our condition and prospects are truly cheering,
+    and to the friends of the cause we can say, Come on, not to join
+    us, but to form other Associations; for we can not receive
+    one-tenth of those who apply for admission. Nothing but the
+    general principles of Association are lawful tender with us.
+    Money will not buy admission for those who have no faith in the
+    principles, but who merely believe, as most of our neighbors do,
+    that we shall get rich; this is not a ruling principle here.
+    With our material, our means, and the principles of eternal
+    truth on our side, success is neither doubtful nor surprising.
+
+    "We expect at our next annual statement, to be able to represent
+    ourselves as a minimum Association of forty families, not fully
+    organized on Fourier's plan, but approaching to, and preparing
+    for it.
+
+                                                       W. CHASE."
+
+    From the Annual Statement of the Condition and Progress of the
+    Wisconsin Phalanx, for the fiscal year ending December 7, 1846.
+
+    "The study and adoption of the principles of industrial
+    Association, have here, as elsewhere, led all reflecting minds
+    to acknowledge the principles of Christianity, and to seek
+    through those principles the elevation of man to his true
+    condition, a state of harmony with himself, with nature and with
+    God. The Society have religious preaching of some kind almost
+    every Sabbath, but not uniformly of that high order of talent
+    which they are prepared to appreciate.
+
+    "The educational department is not yet regulated as it is
+    designed to be; the Society have been too busily engaged in
+    making such improvements as were required to supply the
+    necessaries of life, to devote the means and labor necessary to
+    prepare such buildings as are required. We have not yet
+    established our reading-room and library, more for the want of
+    room, than for a lack of materials.
+
+    "The social intercourse between the members has ever been
+    conducted with a high-toned moral feeling, which repudiates the
+    slanderous suspicions of those enemies of the system, who
+    pretend that the constant social intercourse will corrupt the
+    morals of the members; the tendency is directly the reverse.
+
+    "We have now one hundred and eighty resident members; one
+    hundred and one males, seventy-nine females; fifty-six males and
+    thirty-seven females over the age of twenty-one years. About
+    eighty have boarded at a public table during the past year, at a
+    cost of fifty cents per week and two and a half hours' labor;
+    whole cost sixty-three cents. The others, most of the time, have
+    had their provisions charged to them, and done their own cooking
+    in their respective families, although their apartments are very
+    inconvenient for that purpose. Most of the families choose this
+    mode of living, more from previous habits of domestic
+    arrangement and convenience, than from economy. We have resident
+    on the domain, thirty-six families and thirty single persons;
+    fifteen families and thirty single persons board at the public
+    table: twenty-one families board by themselves, and the
+    remaining five single persons board with them.
+
+    "Four families have left during the past year, and one returned
+    that had previously left. One left to commence a new
+    Association: one, after a few weeks' residence, because the
+    children did not like; and two to seek other business more
+    congenial with their feelings than hard work. The Society has
+    increased its numbers the past year about twenty, which is not
+    one-fourth of the applicants. The want of room has prevented us
+    from admitting more.
+
+    "There has been 96,297 hours' medium class labor performed
+    during the past year (mostly by males), which, owing to the
+    extremely low appraisal of property, and the disadvantage of
+    having a new farm to work on, has paid but five cents per hour,
+    and six per cent. per annum on capital.
+
+    "The amount of property in joint-stock, as per valuation, is
+    $30,609.04; whole amount of liabilities, $1,095.33. The net
+    product or income for the past year is $6,341.84, one-fourth of
+    which being credited to capital, makes the six per cent.; and
+    three-fourths to labor, makes the five cents per hour. We have,
+    as yet, no machinery in operation except a saw-mill, but have a
+    grist-mill nearly ready to commence grinding. Our wheat crop
+    came in very light, which, together with the large amount of
+    labor necessarily expended in temporary sheds and fences, which
+    are not estimated of any value, makes our dividend much less
+    than it will be when we can construct more permanent works. We
+    have also many unfinished works, which do not yet afford us
+    either income or convenience, but which will tell favorably on
+    our future balance-sheets.
+
+    "The Society has advanced to the members during the past year
+    $3,293, mostly in provisions and such necessary clothing as
+    could be procured.
+
+    "The following schedule shows in what the property of the
+    Society consists, and its valuation:
+
+    1,713 acres of land, at $3.00              $5,139.00
+    Agricultural improvements                   3,206.00
+    Agricultural products                       4,806.76
+    Shops, dwellings, and out-houses            6,963.61
+    Mills, mill-race and dam                    5,112.90
+    Cattle, horses, sheep, hogs, &c.            3,098.45
+    Farming tools, &c.                          1,199.36
+    Mechanical tools, &c.                         367.26
+    Other personal property                       715.70
+                                              ----------
+        Amount                                $30,609.04
+
+                                           "W. CHASE, President."
+
+In the _Harbinger_ of March 27, 1847, there is a letter from Warren
+Chase giving eighteen elaborate reasons why the Fourierists throughout
+the country should concentrate on the Wisconsin, and make it a great
+model Phalanx; which we omit.
+
+    [From a letter of Warren Chase.]
+
+                             "_Wisconsin Phalanx, June 28, 1847._
+
+    "We have now been a little more than three years in operation,
+    and my most sanguine expectations have been more than realized.
+    We have about one hundred and seventy persons, who, with the
+    exception of three or four families, are contented and happy,
+    and more attached to this home than to any they ever had before.
+    Those three or four belong to the restless, discontented
+    spirits, who are not satisfied with any condition of life, but
+    are always seeking something new. The Phalanx will soon be in a
+    condition to adopt the policy of purchasing the amount of stock
+    which any member may have invested, whenever he shall wish to
+    leave. As soon as this can be done without embarrassing our
+    business, we shall have surmounted the last obstacle to our
+    onward progress. We have applications for admission constantly
+    before us, but seldom admit one. We require larger amounts to be
+    invested now when there is no risk, than we did at first when
+    the risk was great. We have borne the heat and burden of the
+    day, and now begin to reap the fruits of our labor. We also must
+    know that an applicant is devoted to the cause, ready to endure
+    for it hardships, privations and persecution, if necessary, and
+    that he is not induced to apply because he sees our physical or
+    pecuniary prosperity. We shall admit such as, in our view, are
+    in all respects prepared for Association and can be useful to
+    themselves and us; but none but practical workingmen need apply,
+    for idlers can not live here. They seem to be out of their
+    element, and look sick and lean. If no accident befalls us, we
+    shall declare a cash dividend at our next annual settlement.
+
+                                                      "W. CHASE."
+
+    [From a letter in the New York _Tribune_.]
+
+                             "_Wisconsin Phalanx, July 20, 1847._
+
+    "I have been visiting this Association several days, looking
+    into its resources, both physical and moral. Its physical
+    resources are abundant. In a moral aspect there is much here to
+    encourage. The people, ninety of whom are adults, are generally
+    quite intelligent, and possess a good development of the moral
+    and social faculties. They are earnest inquirers after truth,
+    and seem aware of the harmony of thought and feeling that must
+    prevail to insure prosperity. They receive thirty or forty
+    different publications, which are thoroughly perused. The
+    females are excellent women, and the children, about eighty,
+    are most promising in every respect. They are not yet well
+    situated for carrying into effect all the indispensable agencies
+    of true mental development, but they are not idle on this
+    momentous subject. They have an excellent school for the
+    children, and the young men and women are cultivating music. Two
+    or three among them are adepts in this beautiful art. While
+    writing, I hear good music by well-trained voices, with the
+    Harmonist accompaniment.
+
+    "I do believe something in human improvement and enjoyment will
+    soon be presented at Ceresco, that will charm all visitors, and
+    prove a conclusive argument against the skepticism of the world
+    as to the capability of the race to rise above the social evils
+    that afflict mankind, and to attain a mental elevation which few
+    have yet hoped for. I expect to see here a garden in which shall
+    be represented all that is most beautiful in the vegetable
+    kingdom. I expect to see here a library and reading-room, neatly
+    and plentifully furnished, to which rejoicing hundreds will
+    resort for instruction and amusement. I expect to see here a
+    laboratory, where the chemist will unfold the operations of
+    nature, and teach the most profitable mode of applying
+    agricultural labor. I expect to see here interesting cabinets,
+    where the mineral and animal kingdoms will be presented in
+    miniature. And I expect to see all the arts cultivated, and
+    every thing beautiful and grand generally appreciated.
+
+                                                           HINE."
+
+On which the editor of the _Tribune_ observes: "We trust the remark
+will be taken in good part, that the writers of letters from these
+Associative experiments are too apt to blend what they desire or hope
+to see, with what they actually do see."
+
+    [From a letter of J.J. Cooke in the _Tribune_.]
+
+                           "_Wisconsin Phalanx, August 28, 1847._
+
+    "_Editor of the New York Tribune_:
+
+    "DEAR SIR: I have just perused in your paper, a letter from Mr.
+    Hine, dated at this place. Believing that the letter is
+    calculated to leave an erroneous impression on the mind of the
+    reader, as to the true condition of this Association, I deem it
+    to be my duty to notice it, for the reason of the importance of
+    the subject, and the necessity of true knowledge in reference to
+    correct action.
+
+    "It is now twelve days since I arrived here, with the intention
+    of making a visit sufficiently long to arrive at something like
+    a critical knowledge of the experiment now in progress in this
+    place. As you justly remark in your comments on Mr. Hine's
+    letter, 'the writers of letters from these associative
+    experiments are too apt to blend what they desire or hope to
+    see, with what they actually do see.' So far as such a course
+    might tend to induce premature and ill-advised attempts at
+    practical Association, it should be regarded as a serious evil,
+    and as such, should, if possible, be remedied. I presume no one
+    here would advise the commencement of any Association, to pass
+    through the same trials which they themselves have experienced.
+    I have asked many of the members this question, 'Do you think
+    that the reports and letters which have been published
+    respecting your Association, have been so written as to leave a
+    correct impression of your real existing condition on the mind
+    of the reader?' The answer has invariably been, 'No.'"
+
+    The writer then criticises the water-power, climate, etc., and
+    proceeds to say:
+
+    "The probability now is, that corn will be almost a total
+    failure. 'Their present tenements,' says Mr. Hine, 'are such as
+    haste and limited means forced them to erect.' This is
+    undoubtedly true, and I will also add, that they are such as few
+    at the East would be contented to live in. With the exception of
+    the flouring-mill, blacksmith's-shop and carpenter's-shop, there
+    are no arrangements for mechanical industry. This is not
+    surprising, in view of the small means in their possession. 'In
+    a moral aspect,' Mr. Hine says, 'there is much to encourage.' It
+    would not be incorrect to say, that there is also something to
+    fear. The most unpleasant feelings which I have experienced
+    since I have been here, have been caused by the want of neatness
+    around the dwellings, which seems to be inconsistent with the
+    individual character of the members with whom I have become
+    acquainted. This they state to be owing to their struggles for
+    the necessaries of life; but I have freely told them that I
+    considered it inexcusable, and calculated to have an injurious
+    influence upon themselves and upon their children. 'They are
+    earnest inquirers after truth,' says Mr. Hine, 'and seem aware
+    of the harmony of thought and feeling that must prevail, in
+    order to insure prosperity.' This I only object to so far as it
+    is calculated to produce the impression that such harmony really
+    exists. That there is a difference of feeling upon, at least,
+    one important point, I know. This is in reference to the course
+    to be pursued in relation to the erection of dwellings. I
+    believe that a large majority are in favor of building only in
+    reference to a combined dwelling; but there are some who think
+    that this generation are not prepared for it, and who wish to
+    erect comfortable dwellings for isolated households. A portion
+    of the members go out to labor for hire; some, in order to
+    procure those necessaries which the means of the Association
+    have been inadequate to provide; and others, for want of
+    occupation in their peculiar branches of industry. Mr. Hine
+    says, 'They have an excellent school for the children.' I had
+    thought that the proper education of the children was a want
+    here, and members have spoken of it as such. They have no public
+    library or reading-room for social re-union, excepting the
+    school-room; and no room which is convenient for such purposes.
+    There are no Associational guarantees in reference to sickness
+    or disability in the charter (which is the constitution) of this
+    Phalanx.
+
+    "From the above statement, you can judge somewhat of the present
+    foundation of Mr. Hine's hopes of 'soon' seeing the realization
+    of the beautiful picture which he has drawn.
+
+                                                JOSEPH J. COOKE."
+
+In the _Harbinger_ of January 8, 1848, Warren Chase replied to Mr.
+Cooke's criticisms, admitting the general truth of them, but insisting
+that it is unfair to judge the Association by eastern standards. In
+conclusion he says:
+
+    "There is a difference of opinion in regard to board, which,
+    under the law of freedom and attraction, works no harm. Most of
+    our families cook their board in their rooms from choice under
+    present circumstances; some because they use no meat and do not
+    choose to sit at a table plentifully supplied with beef, pork
+    and mutton: others because they choose to have their children
+    sit at the table with them, to regulate their diet, etc., which
+    our circumstances will not yet permit at our public table;
+    others because they want to ask a blessing, etc.; and others
+    because their manner of cooking and habits of living have become
+    so fixed as to have sufficient influence to require their
+    continuance. Some of our members think all these difficulties
+    can not be speedily removed, and that cheap and comfortable
+    dwellings, should be built, adapted to our circumstances, with a
+    unitary work-house, bakery and dairy, by which the burdens
+    should be removed as fast as possible, and the minds prepared by
+    combined effort, co-operative labor, and equitable distribution,
+    for the combined dwelling and unitary living, with its variety
+    of tables to satisfy all tastes. Others think our devotion to
+    the cause ought to induce us to forego all these attachments and
+    prejudices, and board at one table and improve it, building none
+    but unitary dwellings adapted to a unitary table. We pursue both
+    ways in our living with perfect freedom, and probably shall in
+    our building; for attraction is the only law whose force we
+    acknowledge in these matters. We have passed one more important
+    point in our progress since I last wrote you. We have adopted
+    the policy to refund all investments to any member when he
+    chooses to leave.
+
+                                                       W. CHASE."
+
+    [From a letter of Warren Chase.]
+
+                           "_Wisconsin Phalanx, August 21, 1847._
+
+    "We are in the enjoyment of an excellent state of health, owing
+    in part to our healthy location, and in part to the diet and
+    regimen of our members. There is a prevailing tendency here to
+    abandon the use of animal food; it has been slowly, but steadily
+    increasing for some time, and has been aided some by those
+    excellent and interesting articles from the pen of Dr. Lazarus
+    on 'Cannibalism.' When we have to resort to any medical
+    treatment, hydropathy is the system, and the _Water-cure
+    Journal_ very good authority. Our society will soon evince
+    symptoms of two conditions of Associative life, viz.: physical
+    health and material wealth. By wealth I do not mean burdensome
+    property, but an ample supply of the necessaries of life, which
+    is real wealth.
+
+    "I fully believe that nine out of ten organizations and attempts
+    at Association would finally succeed, even with small means and
+    few members, if they would adhere strictly to the following
+    conditions:
+
+    "First, keep free from debt, and live within their means;
+    Second, not attempt too much in the commencement.
+
+    "Great changes require a slow movement. All pioneers should
+    remember to be constructive, and not merely destructive; not to
+    tear down faster than they can substitute something better.
+    Every failure of Association which has come to my knowledge, has
+    been in consequence of disregarding these conditions; they have
+    all been in debt, and depended on stock subscriptions to relieve
+    them; and they have attempted too much. Having, in most cases,
+    torn down the isolated household and family altar (or table),
+    before they had even science enough to draft a plan of a
+    Phalanstery or describe a unitary household, they seemed in some
+    cases to imagine that the true social science, when once
+    discovered, would furnish them, like the lamp of Aladdin, with
+    all things wished for. They have awakened from their dreams; and
+    now is the time for practical attempts, to start with, first,
+    the joint-stock property, the large farm or township, the common
+    home and joint property of all the members; second, cooperative
+    labor and the equitable distribution of products, the large
+    fields, large pastures, large gardens, large dairies, large
+    fruit orchards, etc., with their mills, mechanic shops, stores,
+    common wash-houses, bake-houses, baths, libraries, lectures,
+    cabinets, etc.; third, educational organization, including all,
+    both children and adults, and through that the adoption of the
+    serial law, organization of groups and series; (at this point
+    labor, without reference to the pay, will begin to be
+    attractive;) fourth, the Phalansterian order, unitary living. As
+    this is the greatest step, it requires the most time, most
+    capital, and most mental preparation, especially for persons
+    accustomed to country life. In most cases many years will be
+    required for the adoption of the second of these conditions, and
+    more for the third, and still more for the fourth. Hence the
+    necessity of commencing, if the present generation is to realize
+    much from the discovery of the science.
+
+    "Let no person construe these remarks to indicate an advanced
+    state of Association for the Wisconsin Phalanx. We have taken
+    the first step, which required but little time, and are now
+    barely commencing the second. We have spent three years, and
+    judging from our progress thus far, it will doubtless take us
+    from five to ten more to get far enough in the second to
+    commence the third. We have made many blunders for the want of
+    precedents, and in consequence of having more zeal than
+    knowledge. Among the most serious blunders was an attempt at
+    unitary living, without any of the surrounding circumstances
+    being adapted to it. With this view we built, at a cost of more
+    than $3,000, a long double front building, which can not be
+    ventilated, and is very uncomfortable and extremely
+    inconvenient for families to live in and do their cooking. But
+    in this, bad as it is, some twenty of our families are still
+    compelled to live, and will be for some time to come. This, with
+    some other mistakes, will be to us a total loss, for the want of
+    more knowledge to commence with. But these are trifling in
+    comparison with the importance of our object and the result for
+    a series of years. No true Associationist has been discouraged
+    by these trials and losses; but we have a few among us who never
+    were Associationists, and who are waiting a favorable
+    opportunity to return to civilization; and we are waiting a
+    favorable opportunity to admit such as we want to fill their
+    places.
+
+                                                       W. CHASE."
+
+    From the Annual Statement of the Condition and Progress of the
+    Wisconsin Phalanx, for the fiscal year ending December 6, 1847.
+
+    "The number of resident members is one hundred and fifty-seven;
+    eighty-four males and seventy-three females. Thirty-two males
+    and thirty-nine females are under twenty-one years, fifty-two
+    males and thirty-four females over twenty-one years, and
+    eighteen persons above the age of twenty-one unmarried. The
+    whole number of resident families is thirty-two. We have
+    resident with us who are not members, one family and four single
+    persons. Four families and two single persons have left during
+    the year, the stock of all of whom has been purchased, except of
+    one family, and a single person; the former intends returning,
+    and the latter owns but $25.00.
+
+    "The number of hours' labor performed during the year, reduced
+    to the medium class, is 93,446. The whole amount of property at
+    the appraisal is $32,564.18. The net profits of the year are
+    $9,029.73; which gives a dividend to stock of nearly 7-3/4 per
+    cent., and 7-3/10 cents per hour to labor.
+
+    "The Phalanx has purchased and cancelled during the year $2,000
+    of stock; we have also, by the assistance of our mill (which has
+    been in operation since June), and from our available products,
+    paid off the incumbrance of $1,095.33 with which we commenced
+    the year; made our mechanical and agricultural improvements, and
+    advanced to members, in rent, provisions, clothing, cash, etc.,
+    $5,237.07. The annexed schedule specifies the kinds and
+    valuation of the property on hand:
+
+    1,713 acres of land at $3.00             $5,139.00
+    Agricultural improvements                 3,509.77
+    Agricultural products                     5,244.16
+    Mechanical improvements                  12,520.00
+    Live stock                                2,983.50
+    Farm and garden tools                     1,219.77
+    Mechanical tools                            380.56
+    Personal property, miscellaneous          1,567.42
+                                            ----------
+        Amount                              $32,564.18
+
+                                       "BENJ. WRIGHT, President."
+
+In June, 1848, Warren Chase sent a letter to the _Boston
+Investigator_, complaining of the _Harbinger's_ indifference to the
+interests of the Wisconsin Phalanx; and another writer in the
+_Investigator_ suggested that this indifference was on account of the
+irreligious character of the Phalanx; all of which the _Harbinger_
+denied. To the charge of irreligion, a member of the Phalanx
+indignantly replied in the _Harbinger_, as follows:
+
+    "Some of us are and have been Methodists, Baptists,
+    Presbyterians, Congregationalists, etc. Others have never been
+    members of any church, but (with a very few exceptions) very
+    readily admit the authenticity and moral value of the
+    Scriptures. The ten commandments are the sum, substance and
+    foundation of all true law. Add to this the gospel law of love,
+    and you have a code of laws worthy of the adoption and practice
+    of any man or set of men, and upon which Associationists must
+    base themselves, or they can never succeed. There are many
+    rules, doctrines and interpretations of Scripture among the (so
+    denominated) Orthodox churches, that any man of common sense can
+    not assent to. Even they can not agree among themselves; for
+    instance the Old and New School Presbyterians, the Baptists,
+    Methodists, etc. If this difference of faith and opinion is
+    infidelity or irreligion, we to a man are infidels and
+    irreligious; but if faith in the principles and morality of the
+    Bible is the test, I deny the charge. I can scarcely name an
+    individual here that dissents from them.
+
+    "I have been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for
+    about twenty years, and a Methodist local preacher for over
+    three years, and am now Secretary of the Association. I
+    therefore should know somewhat about this matter."
+
+    [From the New York _Tribune_, July, 1848.]
+
+    "WISCONSIN PHALANX.--Having lately seen running around the
+    papers a statement that the last remaining 'Fourier
+    Association,' somewhere in Illinois, had just given up the
+    ghost, we gladly give place to the following extracts from a
+    private letter we have just received from a former fellow
+    citizen, who participated in two of the earlier attempts
+    (Sylvania and Leraysville) to establish something that
+    ultimately would or might become an Association after the idea
+    of Fourier. After the second failure he attached himself to the
+    communistic undertaking near Skaneateles, New York, and when
+    this too ran aground, he went back perforce to the cut-throat
+    system of civilized competition. But this had become unendurably
+    hateful to him, and he soon struck off for Ceresco, and became a
+    member of the Wisconsin Phalanx at that place, whereof he has
+    now for some months been a resident. Of this Association he
+    writes:
+
+    "I have worked in the various groups side by side with the
+    members, and I have never seen a more persevering, practical,
+    matter-of-fact body of people in any such movement. Since I came
+    here last fall, I see a great improvement, both externally and
+    internally. Mr. Van Amringe, the energetic herald of national
+    and social reform, did a good work by his lectures here last
+    winter; and the meetings statedly held for intellectual and
+    social improvement, have an excellent effect. All now indicates
+    unity and fraternity. The Phalanx has erected and enclosed a new
+    unitary dwelling, one hundred feet long, two stories high, with
+    a spacious kitchen, belfry, etc. They have burnt a lime-kiln,
+    and are burning a brick-kiln of one hundred thousand bricks as
+    an experiment, and they bid fair to be first-rate. All this has
+    been accomplished this spring in addition to their agricultural
+    and horticultural operations. Their water-power is small, being
+    supplied from springs, which the drought of the last three
+    seasons has sensibly affected. In adding to their machinery,
+    they will have to resort to steam.
+
+    "The location is healthy and pleasant. The atmosphere is
+    uniformly pure, and a good breeze is generally blowing. I doubt
+    whether another site could be found combining so many natural
+    advantages. I have visited nearly all the associative
+    experiments in the country, and I like this the best. I think
+    it already beyond the possibility of failure.
+
+                                                            D.S."
+
+Mr. Van Amringe spent considerable time at Ceresco, and sent several
+elaborate articles in favor of the Phalanx to the _Harbinger_. One of
+the members wrote to him as follows:
+
+    "Since you left here a great change has taken place in the
+    feelings and tastes of the members, and that too for the better.
+    You will recollect the black and dirty appearance of the
+    buildings, and the wood-work inside scrubbed until it had the
+    appearance of a dirty white. About the first of May they made a
+    grand rally to alter the appearance of things. The long building
+    was white-washed inside and out, and the wood-work of nearly all
+    the houses has been painted. The school-house has been
+    white-washed and painted, the windows white, the panels of the
+    wood-work a light yellow, carvings around a light blue, the
+    seats and desks a light blue; this has made a great change in
+    its appearance. You will recollect the frame of a new building
+    that stood looking so distressed; about as much more was added
+    to it, and all covered and neatly painted. The corridor is now
+    finished; a handsome good kitchen has been put up in the rear of
+    the old one, with a bakery underneath; a beautiful cupola is on
+    the top, in which is placed a small bell, weighing one hundred
+    and two pounds, about the size of a steamboat bell; it can be
+    heard on the prairie. The blinds in the cupola windows are
+    painted green. Were you to see the place now you would be
+    surprised, and agreeably so, too. Some four or five have left
+    since spring; new members have been taken in their stead, and a
+    good exchange, I think, has been made. Two or three tailors,
+    and the same number of shoemakers, are expected shortly."
+
+    From the Annual Statement of the Condition and progress of the
+    Wisconsin Phalanx, for the fiscal year ending December 4, 1848.
+
+    "Religious meetings are sustained by us every Sabbath, in which
+    the largest liberty is extended to all in the search for truth.
+    In the educational department we do no more than sustain a
+    common school; but are waiting, anxiously waiting, for the time
+    when our condition will justify a more extended operation. In
+    the absence of a reading-room and library, one of our greatest
+    facilities for knowledge and general information is afforded by
+    a great number and variety of newspapers and periodical
+    publications, an interchange of which gives advantages in
+    advance of the isolated family. The number of resident members
+    is one hundred and twenty, viz.: sixty-three males and
+    fifty-seven females. The number of resident families is
+    twenty-nine. We have resident with us, who are not members, one
+    family and twelve single persons. Six families and three single
+    persons have left during the year, a part of whose stock we have
+    purchased. We have lost by death the past year seven persons,
+    viz.: one married lady (by consumption), one child two years of
+    age, and five infants. The health of the members has been good,
+    with the exception of a few cases of remittent and billious
+    fevers. The Phalanx has sustained a public boarding-house the
+    past year, at which the majority of the members have boarded at
+    a cost not exceeding seventy-five cents per week. The remaining
+    families board at their own apartments.
+
+    "The number of hours' labor performed during the year, reduced
+    to the medium class, is 97,036. The whole amount of property at
+    the appraisal, is $33,527.77. The net profits of the year are,
+    $8,077.02; which gives a dividend to stock of 6-1/4 per cent.,
+    and 6-1/4 cents per hour to labor. The annexed schedule
+    specifies the kinds and valuation of property on hand:
+
+    Real estate 1,793 acres at $3.00            $5,379.00
+    Live Stock                                   3,117.00
+    Mechanical tools                             1,866.34
+    Farming tools                                1,250.75
+    Mechanical improvements                     14,655.00
+    Agricultural improvements                    2,298.90
+         "       products                        3,161.56
+    Garden products                              1,006.13
+    Miscellaneous property                         793.09
+                                              -----------
+    Total amount                               $33,527.77
+
+                                           "S. BATES, President."
+
+The following anonymous summary, well written and evidently authentic,
+is taken from Macdonald's collection:
+
+    [History of the Wisconsin Phalanx, by a member.]
+
+    "In the winter of 1843-4 there was considerable excitement in
+    the village of Southport, Wisconsin (now Kenosha City), on the
+    subject of Association. The subject was taken up with much
+    feeling and interest at the village lyceum and in various public
+    meetings. Among the advocates of Association were a few persons
+    who determined in the spring of 1844 to make a practical
+    experiment. For that purpose a constitution was drawn up, and a
+    voluntary Association formed, which styled itself 'The Wisconsin
+    Phalanx.' As the movement began to ripen into action, the
+    friends fell off, and the circle narrowed down from about
+    seventy to twenty persons. This little band was composed mostly
+    of men with small means, sturdy constitutions, below the middle
+    age, and full of energy; men who had been poor, and had learned
+    early to buffet with the antagonisms of civilization; not highly
+    cultivated in the social and intellectual faculties, but more so
+    in the moral and industrial.
+
+    "They raised about $1,000 in money, which they sent to the
+    land-office at Green Bay, and entered a tract of land selected
+    by their committee, in a congressional township in the
+    north-west corner of Fond du Lac County, a township six miles
+    square, without a single inhabitant, and with no settlement
+    within twenty miles, except a few scattered families about Green
+    Lake.
+
+    "With teams, stock, tents, and implements of husbandry and
+    mechanism, they repaired to this spot in the latter part of May
+    1844, a distance of about one hundred and twenty-five miles from
+    their homes, and commenced building and breaking up land, etc.
+    They did not erect a log house, but split out of the tough burr
+    and white oak of the 'openings,' shingles, clapboards, floors,
+    frames and all the materials of a house, and soon prepared a
+    shelter. Their families were then moved on. Late in the fall a
+    saw-mill was built, and every thing prepared as well as could be
+    for the winter. Their dwellings would have been unendurable at
+    other times and under other circumstances; but at this time
+    zeal, energy, excitement and hope kept them from complaining.
+    Their land, which was subsequently increased to 1,800 acres,
+    mostly at $1.25 per acre, consisted of 'openings,' prairie and
+    timber, well watered, and with several small water-powers on the
+    tract; a fertile soil, with as healthy a climate as could be
+    found in the Western States.
+
+    "It was agreed to name the new town Ceresco, and a post-office
+    was applied for under that name, and obtained. One of the
+    members always held the office of post-master, until the
+    administration of General Taylor, when the office was removed
+    about three-quarters of a mile to a rival village. In the winter
+    of 1844-5, the Association asked the Legislature to organize
+    their town, which was readily done under the adopted name. A few
+    settlers had by this time moved into the town (which, owing to
+    the large proportion of prairie, was not rapidly settled), and
+    in the spring they held their election. Every officer chosen was
+    a member of the society, and as they were required to elect
+    Justices and had no need of any, they chose the three oldest
+    men. From that time until the dissolution of the society nearly
+    every town-office of importance was filled by its members. They
+    had also one of their members in both Constitutional Conventions
+    of the State, and three in the State Senate for one term of two
+    sessions. Subsequently one of their members was a candidate for
+    Governor, receiving more votes in his town than both of the
+    other candidates together; but only a small vote in the State,
+    as he was the free-soil candidate.
+
+    "The Association drew up and prepared a charter or act of
+    incorporation upon which they agreed, and applied to the
+    Legislature for its passage; which was granted; and thus they
+    became a body corporate and politic, known in the land as the
+    'Wisconsin Phalanx.' All the business was done in accordance
+    with and under this charter, until the property was divided and
+    the whole affair closed up. One clause in the charter prohibited
+    the sale of the land. This was subsequently altered at the
+    society's request, in an amendatory act in the session of
+    1849-50, for the purpose of allowing them to divide their
+    property.
+
+    "In the spring of 1845, after their organization under the
+    charter, they had considerable accession to their numbers, and
+    might have had greater; but were very careful about admitting
+    new members, and erred very much in making a property
+    qualification. About this time (1845) a question of policy arose
+    among the members, the decision of which is supposed by many
+    good judges to have been the principal cause of the ultimate
+    division and dissolution; it was, whether the dwellings should
+    be built in unitary blocks adapted to a common boarding-house,
+    or in isolated style, adapted to the separate family and single
+    living. It was decided by a small majority to pursue the unitary
+    plan, and this policy was persisted in until there was a
+    division of property. Whether this was the cause of failure or
+    not, it induced many of the best members to leave; and although
+    it might have been the true policy under other circumstances and
+    for other persons, in this case it was evidently wrong, for the
+    members were not socially developed sufficiently to maintain
+    such close relations. Notwithstanding this, they continued to
+    increase slowly, rejecting many more applicants than they
+    admitted; and often rejecting the better and admitting the
+    worse, because the worse had the property qualifications. In
+    this way they increased to the maximum of thirty-three families.
+    They had no pecuniary difficulties, for they kept mostly out of
+    debt.
+
+    "It was a great reading Community; often averaging as many as
+    five or six regular newspapers to a family, and these constantly
+    exchanging with each other. They were not religious, but mostly
+    rather skeptical, except a few elderly orthodox persons. [This
+    hardly agrees with the statement and protest on the 436th page.]
+
+    "They were very industrious, and had many discussions and warm
+    arguments about work, manners, progress, etc.; but still they
+    continued to work and scold, and scold and work, with much
+    energy, and to much effect. They raised one season ten thousand
+    bushels of wheat, and much other grain; had about seven hundred
+    acres under cultivation; but committed a great error in
+    cultivating four hundred acres on the school lands adjoining
+    their own, because it lay a little better for a large field.
+    They had subsequently to remove their fences and leave that
+    land, for they did not wish to buy it.
+
+    "Their charter elections were annual, and were often warmly
+    contested, and turned mainly on the question of unitary or
+    isolated households; but they never went beyond words in their
+    contentions.
+
+    "They were all temperance men and women: no ardent spirits were
+    kept or sold for the first four years in the township, and never
+    on the domain, while it was held as joint-stock.
+
+    "Their system of labor and pay was somewhat complicated, and
+    never could be satisfactorily arranged. The farmers and
+    mechanics were always jealous of each other, and could not be
+    brought to feel near enough to work on and divide the profits at
+    the end of the year; but as they ever hoped to get over this
+    difficulty, they said but very little about it. In their system
+    of labor they formed groups for each kind of work; each group,
+    when consisting of three or more, choosing its own foreman, who
+    kept the account of the time worked by each member, and reported
+    weekly to a meeting of all the members, which regulated the
+    average; and then the Secretary copied it; and at the end of the
+    fiscal year each person drew, on his labor account, his
+    proportion of the three-fourths of the increase and products
+    which was allotted to labor, and on his stock shares, his
+    proportion of the one-fourth that was divided to stock. The
+    amount so divided was ascertained by an annual appraisal of all
+    the property, thus ascertaining the rise or increase in value,
+    as well as the product of labor. The dividend to capital was,
+    however, usually considered too large and disproportionate.
+
+    "The books and accounts were accurately kept by the Secretary,
+    and most of the individual transactions passed through this
+    form, thus leaving all accounts in the hands of a disinterested
+    person, open to inspection at all times, and bringing about an
+    annual settlement which avoided many difficulties incident to
+    civilization.
+
+    "The table of the Community, when kept as a public
+    boarding-house, where the families and visitors or travelers
+    were mostly seated, was set with plain but substantial food,
+    much like the tables of farmers in newly settled agricultural
+    States; but it often incurred the ridicule of loafers and
+    epicures, who travel much and fare better with strangers than at
+    home.
+
+    "They had among their number a few men of leading intellect who
+    always doubted the success of the experiment, and hence
+    determined to accumulate property individually by any and every
+    means called fair in competitive society. These would
+    occasionally gain some important positions in the society, and
+    representing it in part at home and abroad, caused much trouble.
+    By some they were accounted the principal cause of the final
+    failure.
+
+    "In the summer and fall of 1849 it became evident that a
+    dissolution and division was inevitable, and plans for doing it
+    within themselves, without recourse to courts of law, were
+    finally got up, and they determined to have it done by their
+    legal advisers as other business was done. At the annual
+    election in December 1849, the officers were elected with a view
+    to that particular business. They had already sold much of the
+    personal property and cancelled much of the stock. The highest
+    amount of stock ever issued was about $33,000, and this was
+    reduced by the sale of personal property up to January 1850, to
+    about $23,000; soon after which the charter was amended,
+    allowing the sale of real estate and the discontinuance of
+    annual settlement, schools, etc.
+
+    "In April 1850 they fixed on an appraisal of their lands in
+    small lots (having some of them cut into village and farm lots),
+    and commenced selling at public sale for stock, making the
+    appraisal the minimum, and leaving any lands open to entry,
+    after they had been offered publicly. During the summer of 1850
+    most of the lands were sold and most of the stock cancelled in
+    this way, under an arrangement by which each stockholder should
+    receive his proportional share of any surplus, or make up any
+    deficiency. Most of the members bought either farming lands or
+    village lots and became permanent inhabitants, thus continuing
+    the society and its influences to a considerable extent. They
+    divided about eight per cent. above par on the stock.
+
+    "Thus commenced, flourished and decayed this attempt at
+    industrial Association. It never attempted to follow Fourier or
+    any other teacher, but rather to strike out a path for itself.
+    It failed because its leading minds became satisfied that under
+    existing circumstances no important progress could be made,
+    rather than from a want of faith in the ultimate practicability
+    of Association.
+
+    "Many of the members regretted the dissolution, while others who
+    had gained property and become established in business through
+    the reputation of the Phalanx for credit and punctuality, seemed
+    to care very little about it. Being absorbed in the world-wide
+    spirit of speculation, and having their minds thus occupied,
+    they forgot the necessity for a social change, which once
+    appeared to them so important."
+
+The writer of the foregoing was probably one of the leading members.
+In a paragraph preceding the account he says that the Wisconsin
+Phalanx had these three peculiarities, viz:
+
+"1. The same individual who was the principal originator and organizer
+of it, was also the one, who, throughout the experiment, had the
+entire confidence of the members and stockholders; and finally did
+nearly all the business in the closing up of its affairs.
+
+"2. At the division of its property, it paid a premium on its stock,
+instead of sustaining a loss.
+
+"3. Neither the Association nor any of its members ever had a lawsuit
+of any kind during its existence, or at its close.
+
+"The truth is," he adds, "this attempt was pecuniarily successful; but
+socially, a failure."
+
+Macdonald concludes with the following note: "Mr. Daniels, a gentleman
+who saw the whole progress of the Wisconsin Phalanx, says that the
+cause of its breaking up was speculation; the love of money and the
+want of love for Association. Their property becoming valuable, they
+sold it for the purpose of making money out of it."
+
+This explanation of the mystery of the failure agrees with the hints
+at the conclusion of the previous account.
+
+On the whole, the coroner's verdict in this case must be--'DIED, not
+by any of the common diseases of Associations, such as poverty,
+dissension, lack of wisdom, morality or religion, but by deliberate
+suicide, for reasons not fully disclosed.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+THE NORTH AMERICAN PHALANX.
+
+
+This was the test-experiment on which Fourierism practically staked
+its all in this country. Brisbane was busy in its beginnings; Greeley
+was Vice-President and stockholder. Its ambitious name and its
+location near New York City helped to set it apart as the model
+Phalanx. It was managed with great ability, and on the whole was more
+successful both in business and duration, than any other Fourier
+Association. It not only saw all the Phalanxes die around it, but it
+outlasted the _Harbinger_ that blew the trumpet for them; and fought
+on, after the battle was given up. Indeed it outlived our friend
+Macdonald, the 'Old Mortality' of Socialism. Three times he visited
+it; and the record of his last visit, which was written in the year of
+his death, 1854, and was probably the last of his literary labors,
+closes with an acknowledgement of the continuance and prosperity of
+the North American. We shall have to give several chapters to this
+important experiment. We will begin with a semi-official expose of its
+foundations.
+
+    A History of the first nine years of the North American Phalanx,
+    written by its practical chief, Mr. Charles Sears, at the
+    request of Macdonald; dated December, 1852.
+
+
+    "Prior to the spring of 1843, Mr. Albert Brisbane had been
+    publishing, principally in the New York _Tribune_, a series of
+    articles on the subject of social science. He had also published
+    his larger work on Association, which was followed by his
+    pamphlet containing a summary of the doctrines of a new form of
+    society, and the outline of a project to found a practical
+    Association, to be called the North American Phalanx.
+
+    "There was nominally a central organization in the city of New
+    York, and affiliated societies were invited to co-operate by
+    subscribing the means of endowing the proposed Phalanx, and
+    furnishing the persons to engage personally in the enterprise.
+    It was proposed to raise about four hundred thousand dollars,
+    thus making the attempt with adequate means to establish the
+    conditions of attractive industry.
+
+    "The essays and books above mentioned had a wide circulation,
+    and many were captivated with the glowing pictures of a new life
+    thus presented; others were attracted by the economies of the
+    combined order which were demonstrated; still others were
+    inspired by the hopes of personal distinction in the brilliant
+    career thus opened to their ambition; others again, were
+    profoundly impressed by Fourier's sublime annunciation of the
+    general destinies of globes and humanities; that progressive
+    development through careers, characterized all movement and all
+    forms; that in all departments of creation, the law of the
+    series was the method observed in distributing harmonies;
+    consequently, that human society and human activity, to be in
+    harmony with the universe of relations, can not be an exception
+    to the great law of the series; consequently, that the existing
+    order of civilization and the societies that preceded it are but
+    phases in the growth of the race, and having subserved their
+    more active uses, become bases of further development.
+
+    "Among those who became interested in the idea of social
+    progress, were a few persons in Albany, New York, who from
+    reading and interchange of views, were induced to unite in an
+    organization for the purpose of deliberately and methodically
+    investigating the doctrines of a new social order as announced
+    by Fourier, deeming these doctrines worthy of the most profound
+    and serious consideration.
+
+    "This body, after several preliminary meetings, formally adopted
+    rules of organization on the 6th of April, 1843, and the
+    declaration of their objects is in the following words: 'We, the
+    undersigned, for the purpose of investigating Fourier's theory
+    of social reform as expounded by Albert Brisbane, and if deemed
+    expedient, of co-operating with like organizations elsewhere, do
+    associate, with the ulterior view of organizing and founding an
+    industrial and commercial Phalanx.'
+
+    "Proceeding in this direction, the body assumed the name of 'The
+    Albany Branch of the North American Phalanx;' opened a
+    correspondence with Messrs. Brisbane, Greeley, Godwin, Channing,
+    Ripley and others; had lectures of criticism on existing
+    institutions and in exposition of the doctrines of the proposed
+    new order.
+
+    "During the summer practical measures were so matured, that a
+    commission was appointed to explore the country, more
+    particularly in the vicinity of New York and of Philadelphia,
+    for a suitable domain upon which to commence the foundation of
+    new social institutions. Mr. Brisbane was the delegate on the
+    part of the New York friends, and Mr. Allen Worden on the part
+    of the Albany Branch. A site was selected in Monmouth County,
+    New Jersey, about forty miles south of New York; and on the 12th
+    day of August, 1843, pursuant to public notice, a convention was
+    held in the Albany Exchange, at which the North American Phalanx
+    was organized by adopting a constitution, and subscribing to a
+    covenant to invest in the capital stock.
+
+    "At this convention were delegates from New York, Catskill,
+    Troy, Brook Farm Association, and the Albany Branch; and when
+    the real work of paying money and elevating life to the effort
+    of social organization was to be done, about a dozen subscribers
+    were found equal to the work, ten of whom finally co-operated
+    personally in the new life, with an aggregate subscription of
+    eight thousand dollars. This by common consent was the absolute
+    minimum of men and means; and, contrasted with the large
+    expectations and claims originally stated, was indeed a great
+    falling-off; but the few who had committed themselves with
+    entire faith to the movement, went forward, determined to do
+    what they could to make a worthy commencement, hoping that with
+    their own families and such others as would from time to time be
+    induced to co-operate, the germs of new institutions might
+    fairly be planted.
+
+    "Accordingly in the month of September, 1843, a few families
+    took possession of the domain, occupying to over-fullness the
+    two farm-houses on the place, and commenced building a temporary
+    house, forty feet by eighty, of two stories, for the
+    accommodation of those who were to come the following spring.
+
+    "During the year 1844 the population numbered about ninety
+    persons, including at one period nearly forty children under the
+    age of sixteen years. Crops were planted, teams and implements
+    purchased, the building of shops and mills was commenced,
+    measures of business and organization were discussed, the
+    construction of social doctrines debated, personal claims
+    canvassed, and thus the business of life was going on at full
+    tide; and now also commenced the real development of character.
+
+    "Hitherto there had been no settled science of society. Fourier,
+    the man of profound insight, announced the law of progress and
+    indicated the new forms that society would take. People accepted
+    the new ideas gladly, and would as gladly institute new forms;
+    but there was a lack of well-defined views on the precise work
+    to be done. Besides, education tended strongly to confirm in
+    most minds the force of existing institutions, and after
+    attaining to middle age, and even before this period, the
+    character usually becomes quite fixed; so that to break up
+    habitudes, relinquish prejudices, sunder ties, and to adopt new
+    modes of action, accept of modified results, and re-adjust
+    themselves to new relations, was a difficult, and to the many,
+    almost impossible work, as is proved by the fact that, of the
+    thirty or forty similar attempts at associated life within the
+    past ten years in this country, only the North American Phalanx
+    now [1852] remains. Nor did this Association escape the
+    inevitable consequences of bringing together a body of grown-up
+    people with their families, many of whom came reluctantly, and
+    whose characters were formed under other influences.
+
+    "Personal difficulties occurred as a matter of course, but
+    these were commonly overruled by a healthy sentiment of
+    self-respect. Parties also began to form, but they were not
+    fully developed until the first annual settlement and
+    distribution of profits was attempted. Then, however, they took
+    a variety of forms according to the interest or ambition of the
+    partisans; though two principal views characterized the more
+    permanent and clearly defined party divisions; one party
+    contending for authority, enforced with stringent rules and
+    final appeal to the dictation of the chief officer; the other
+    party standing out for organization and distribution of
+    authority. The former would centralize power and make
+    administration despotic, claiming that thus only could order be
+    maintained; the latter claimed that to do this, would be merely
+    to repeat the institutions of civilization; that Association
+    thus controlled would be devoid of corporate life, would be
+    dependent upon individuals, and quite artificial; whereas what
+    we wanted was a wholly different order, viz., the
+    enfranchisement of the individual; order through the natural
+    method of the series; institutions that would be instinct with
+    the life that is organic, from the sum of the series, down to
+    the last subdivision of the group. The strife to maintain these
+    several views was long and vigorous; and it would scarcely be an
+    exaggeration to say that our days were spent in labor and our
+    nights in legislation, for the first five years of our
+    associative life. The question at issue was vital. It was
+    whether the infant Association should or should not have new
+    institutions; whether it should be Civilizee or Phalansterian;
+    whether it should be a mere joint-stock corporation such as had
+    been before, or whether the new form of industrial organization
+    indicated by Fourier should be initiated. In the contest
+    between the two principles of civilized joint-stock Association,
+    and of the Phalansterian or Serial organization, the latter
+    ultimately prevailed; and in this triumph of the idea of the
+    natural organic forms of society through the method of the
+    series, we see distinctly the development of the germ of the
+    Phalanx. For when we have a true principle evolved, however
+    insignificant the development may be, the results, although
+    limited by the smallness of the development, will nevertheless
+    be right in kind. It is perhaps important, to the end that the
+    results of our experience be rightly comprehended, to indicate
+    the essential features of the order of society that is to
+    succeed present disorder, and wherein it differs from other
+    social forms.
+
+    "A fundamental feature is, that we deny the bald atheism that
+    asserts human nature to be a melancholy failure and unworthy of
+    respect or trust, and therefore to be treated as an alien and
+    convict. On the contrary, we hold that, instead of chains, man
+    requires freedom; instead of checks, he requires development;
+    instead of artificial order through coercion, he requires the
+    Divine harmony that comes through counterpoise. Hence society is
+    bound by its own highest interests, by the obligation it owes to
+    its every member, to make organic provision for the entire
+    circle of human wants, for the entire range of human activity;
+    so that the individual shall be emancipated from the servitude
+    of nature, from personal domination, from social tyrannies; and
+    that thus fully enfranchised and guaranteed by the whole force
+    of society, into all freedoms and the endowment of all rights
+    pertaining to manhood, he may fulfill his own destiny, in
+    accordance with the laws written in his own organization.
+
+    "In the Phalanx, then, we have, in the sphere of production, the
+    relation of employer and employed stricken out of the category
+    of relations, not merely as in the simple joint-stock
+    corporations, by substituting for the individual employer the
+    still more despotic and irresistible corporate employer; but by
+    every one becoming his own employer, doing that which he is best
+    qualified by endowment to do, receiving for his labor precisely
+    his share of the product, as nearly as it can be determined
+    while there is no scientific unit of value.
+
+    "In the sphere of circulation or currency, we have a
+    representative of all the wealth produced, so that every one
+    shall have issued to him for all his production, the abstract or
+    protean form of value, which is convertible into every other
+    form of value; in commerce or exchanges, reducing this from a
+    speculation as now, to a function; employing only the necessary
+    force to make distributions; and exchanging products or values
+    on the basis of cost.
+
+    "In the sphere of social relations, we have freedom to form ties
+    according to affinities of character.
+
+    "In the sphere of education, we establish the natural method,
+    not through the exaltation into professorships of this, that or
+    other notable persons, but through a body of institutions
+    reposing upon industry, and having organic vitality. Commencing
+    with the nursery, we make, through the living corporation,
+    through adequately endowed institutions that fail not, provision
+    for the entire life of the child, from the cradle upward;
+    initiating him step by step, not into nominal, ostensible
+    education apart from his life, but into the real business of
+    life, the actual production and distribution of wealth, the
+    science of accounts and the administration of affairs; and
+    providing that, through uses, the science that lies back of uses
+    shall be acquired; so theory and practice, the application of
+    science to the pursuits of life shall, through daily use, become
+    as familiar as the mother tongue; and thus place our children at
+    maturity in the ranks of manhood and womanhood, competent to all
+    the duties and activities of life, that they may be qualified by
+    endowment to perform.
+
+    "In the sphere of administration, we have a graduated hierarchy
+    of orders, from the simple chief of a group, or supervisor of a
+    single function, up to the unitary administration of the globe.
+
+    "In the sphere of religion, we have religious life as contrasted
+    with the profession of a religious faith. The intellect requires
+    to be satisfied as well as the affections, and is so with the
+    scientific and therefore universal formula, that the religious
+    element in man is the passion of unity; that is, that all the
+    powers of the soul shall attain to true equilibrium, and act
+    normally in accordance with Divine law, so that human life in
+    all its powers and activities shall be in harmonious relations
+    with nature, with itself, and with the supreme center of life.
+
+    "Of course we speak of the success of an idea, and only expect
+    realization through gradual development. It is obvious also that
+    such realization can be attained only through organization;
+    because, unaided, the individual makes but scanty conquests over
+    nature, and but feeble opposition to social usurpations.
+
+    "The principle, then, of the Serial Organization being
+    established, the whole future course of the Association, in
+    respect to its merely industrial institutions, was plain, viz.:
+    to develop and mature the serial form.
+
+    "Not that the old questions did not arise subsequently; on the
+    contrary on the admission of new members from time to time, they
+    did arise and have discussion anew; but the contest had been
+    virtually decided. The Association had pronounced with such
+    emphasis in favor of the organization of labor upon the basis of
+    co-operative efforts, joint-stock property, and unity of
+    interests, that those holding adverse views gradually withdrew;
+    and the harmony of the Association was never afterward in
+    serious jeopardy.
+
+    "During the later as well as earlier years of our associated
+    life, the question of preference of modes of realization came
+    under discussion in the Phalansterian school, one party
+    advocating the measure of obtaining large means, and so fully
+    endowing the Phalanx with all the external conditions of
+    attractive industry, and then introducing gradually a body of
+    select associates. The North American Phalanx, as represented in
+    the conventions of the school, held to the view that new social
+    institutions, new forms into which the life of a people shall
+    flow, can not be determined by merely external conditions and
+    the elaboration of a theory of life and organization, but are
+    matters of growth.
+
+    "Our view is that the true Divine growth of the social, as of
+    the individual man, is the progressive development of a germ;
+    and while we would not in the slightest degree oppose a
+    scientific organization upon a large scale, it is our preference
+    to pursue a more progressive mode, to make a more immediately
+    practical and controllable attempt.
+
+    "The call of to-day we understand to be for evidence, First: Of
+    the possibility of harmony in Association; Second: That by
+    associated effort, and the control of machinery, the laborer
+    may command the means, not only of comfort and the necessaries
+    of life, but also of education and refinement; Third: that the
+    nature of the relations we would establish are essentially those
+    of religious justice.
+
+    "The possibility of establishing true social relations,
+    increased production, and the embodiment of the religious
+    sentiment, are, if we read the signs aright, the points upon
+    which the question of Association now hinges in the public mind.
+
+    "Because, First: Man's capacity for these relations is doubted;
+    Because, Second: Production is an essential and permanent
+    condition of life, and means of progress; Because, Third: It is
+    apprehended that the religious element is not sufficiently
+    regarded and provided for in Association.
+
+    "Demonstrate that capacity, prove that men by their own efforts
+    may command all the means of life, show in institutions the
+    truly religious nature of the movement and the relations that
+    are to obtain, and the public will be gained to the idea of
+    Association.
+
+    "Another question still has been pressed upon us offensively by
+    the advocates of existing institutions, as though their life
+    were pure and their institutions perfect, while no terms of
+    opprobrium could sufficiently characterize the depravity of the
+    Socialists; and this question is that of the marriage relation.
+    Upon this question a form of society that is so notoriously
+    rotten as existing civilization is, a society that has marriage
+    and prostitution as complementary facts of its relations of the
+    sexes, a society which establishes professorships of abortion,
+    which methodizes infanticide, which outlaws woman, might at
+    least assume the show of modesty, might treat with common
+    candor any and all who are seeking the Divine law of marriage.
+    Instead, therefore, of recognizing its right to defame us, we
+    put that society upon its defense, and say to it, Come out of
+    your infidelities, and your crimes, and your pretenses; seek out
+    the law of righteousness, and deal justly with woman.
+    Nevertheless this is a question in which we, in common with
+    others, have a profound interest; it is a question which has by
+    no means escaped consideration among us, and we perhaps owe it
+    to ourselves to state our position.
+
+    "What the true law of relationship of the sexes is, we as a body
+    do not pretend to determine. Here, as elsewhere, individual
+    opinion is free; but there are certain conditions, as we think,
+    clearly indicated, which are necessary to the proper
+    consideration of the question; and our view is that it is one
+    that must be determined mainly by woman herself. When she shall
+    be fully enfranchised, fully endowed with her rights, so that
+    she shall no longer be dependent on marriage for position, no
+    longer be regarded as a pensioner, but as a constituent of the
+    State; in a single phrase, when society shall, independently of
+    other considerations than that of inherent right, assure to
+    woman social position and pecuniary independence, so that she
+    can legislate on a footing of equality, then she may announce
+    the law of the sexual relations. But this can only occur in
+    organized society; society in which there is a complete circle
+    of fraternal institutions that have public acceptance; can only
+    occur when science enters the domain of human society, and
+    determines relations, as it now does in astronomy or physic.
+
+    "We therefore say to civilization, You have no adequate solution
+    of this problem that is convulsing you, and in which every form
+    of private and public protest against the actual condition is
+    expressing itself. Besides this we claim what can not be claimed
+    for any similar number of people in civilization, viz., that we
+    have been here over nine years, with an average population of
+    nearly one hundred persons of both sexes and all ages, and,
+    judged by the existing standard of morals, we are above reproach
+    on this question.
+
+    "Thus we have proceeded, disposing of our primary legislation,
+    demonstrating to general acceptance the rectitude of our awards
+    and distributions of profit, determining questions of social
+    doctrine, perfecting methods of order, and developing our
+    industry, with a fair measure of success. In this latter respect
+    the following statistics will indicate partially the progress we
+    have made.
+
+    "We commenced in 1843, as before mentioned, with a dozen
+    subscribers, and an aggregate subscription of $8,000. On the
+    30th of November, 1844, upon our first settlement, our property
+    amounted in round numbers to $28,000; of which we owed in
+    capital stock and balances due members, say, $18,000. The
+    remainder was debt incurred in purchasing the land, $9,000;
+    implements, etc., $1,000; total, $10,000.
+
+    "Our population at this period, including members and
+    applicants, was nearly as follows: Men, thirty-two; women,
+    nineteen; children of both sexes under sixteen years,
+    twenty-six; making an aggregate of seventy-seven. At one period
+    thereafter our numbers were reduced to about sixty-five persons.
+
+    "On the 30th of November, 1852, our property was estimated at
+    $80,000, held as follows: capital stock and balances of account
+    due members, say, $62,800; permanent debt, $12,103; floating
+    debt, $5,097; total, $80,000. Dividing this sum by 673, the
+    number of acres, the entire cost of our property is $119 per
+    acre.
+
+    "At this period our population of members and applicants is as
+    follows: men, forty-eight; women, thirty-seven; adults,
+    eighty-five; children under sixteen years, twenty-seven; making
+    an aggregate of one hundred and twelve.
+
+    "Dividing the sum of property by this number, we have an average
+    investment for each man, woman and child, of over $700, or for
+    each family of five persons, say, $3,600. Dividing the sum of
+    our permanent debt by the number of our population, the average
+    to each person is, say, $107.
+
+    "For the purpose of comparing the pecuniary results of our
+    industry to the individual, with like pursuits elsewhere, we
+    make the following exhibition: In the year 1844 the average
+    earnings of adults, besides their board, was three dollars and
+    eighty cents a month, and the dividend for the use of capital
+    was 4.7 per cent.
+
+    1845. Earnings of labor was          $8.21 per month.
+                   of capital              05.1 per cent.
+
+    1846. Earnings of labor               2.73 per month.
+                   of capital              04.4 per cent.
+
+    1847. Earnings of labor              12.02 per month.
+                   of capital              05.6 per cent.
+
+    1848. Earnings of labor              14.10 per month.
+                   of capital              05.7 per cent.
+
+    1849. Earnings of labor              13.58 per month.
+                   of capital              05.6 per cent.
+
+    1850. Earnings of labor              13.58 per month.
+                   of capital             05.52 per cent.
+
+    1851. Earnings of labor              14.59 per month.
+                   of capital             04.84 per cent.
+
+    "It is to be noted that when we took possession of our domain,
+    the land was in a reduced condition; and upon our improvements
+    we have made no profit excepting subsequent increased revenue,
+    they having been valued at cost. Also that our labors were
+    mainly agricultural until within the last three years, when
+    milling was successfully introduced. We have, it is true,
+    carried on various mechanical branches for our own purposes,
+    such as building, smith-work, tin-work, shoe-making, etc.; but
+    for purposes of revenue, we have not to much extent succeeded in
+    introducing mechanical branches of industry.
+
+    "Furthermore, we divide our profits upon the following general
+    principles: For labors that are necessary, but repulsive or
+    exhausting, we award the highest rates; for such as are useful,
+    but less repugnant or taxing, a relatively smaller award is
+    made; and for the more agreeable pursuits, a still smaller rate
+    is allowed.
+
+    "Thus observing this general formula in our classification of
+    labor, viz.: the necessary, the useful, and the agreeable; and
+    also awarding to the individual, first, for his labor, secondly,
+    for the talent displayed in the use of means, or in adaptation
+    of means to ends, wise administration, etc., and thirdly, for
+    the use of his capital; it will be perceived that we make our
+    award upon a widely different basis from the current method. We
+    have a theory of awards, a scientific reason for our
+    classification of labor and our awards to individuals; and one
+    of the consequences is that women earn more, relatively, among
+    us than in existing society.
+
+    "In matters of education we have hitherto done little else than
+    keep, as we might, the common district school, introducing,
+    however, improved methods of instruction. Other interests have
+    pressed upon us; other questions clamored for solution. We were
+    to determine whether or not we could associate in all the labors
+    of life; and if yea, then whether we could sufficiently command
+    the material means of life, until we should have established
+    institutions that would supersede the necessity of strenuous
+    personal effort. It will be understood that this work has been
+    sufficiently arduous, and consequently that our children, being
+    too feeble in point of numbers to assert their rights, have been
+    pushed aside."
+
+Here follows a labored disquisition on the possibilities of serial
+education, which we omit, as the substance of it can be found in the
+standard expositions of Fourierism.
+
+    "If now we are asked, what questions we have determined, what
+    results we may fairly claim to have accomplished through our
+    nine years of associated life and efforts at organization, we
+    may answer in brief, that so far as the members of this body are
+    concerned, we meet the universal demand of this day with
+    institutions which guarantee the rights of labor and the
+    products thereof, of education, and a home, and social culture.
+    This is not a mere declaration of abstract rights that we claim
+    to make, but we establish our members in the possession and
+    enjoyment of these rights; and we venture to claim that, so far
+    as the comforts of home, private rights and social privileges
+    are concerned, our actual life is greatly in advance of that of
+    any mixed population under the institutions of existing
+    civilization, either in town or country. We claim, so far as
+    with our small number we could do, to have organized labor
+    through voluntary Association, upon the principle of unity of
+    interests; so reconciling the hitherto hostile parties of
+    laborer and capitalist; so settling the world-old, world-wide
+    quarrel, growing out of antagonistic interests among men; that
+    is, we have organized the production and distribution of wealth
+    in agricultural and domestic labor, and in some branches of
+    mechanics and manufactures, and thus have abolished the servile
+    character of labor, and the servile relation of employer and
+    employed. And it is precisely in the point where failure was
+    most confidently predicted, viz., in domestic labor, that we
+    have most fully succeeded, because mainly, as we suppose, in the
+    larger numbers attached to this industry we had the conditions
+    of carrying out more fully the serial method of organization.
+
+    "In distributing the profits of industry we have adopted a law
+    of equitable proportion, so that when the facts are presented,
+    we have initiated the measure of attaining to practical justice,
+    or in the formula of Fourier, 'equitable distribution of
+    profits.' We claim also that we guarantee the sale of the
+    products of industry; that is, we secure the means of converting
+    any and every form of product or fruit of labor at the cost
+    thereof, into any other form also at cost. For all our labor is
+    paid for in a domestic currency. In other words, when value is
+    produced, a representative of that value is issued to the
+    producer; and only so far as there is the production of value,
+    is there any issue of the representative of value; so that
+    property and currency are always equal, and thus we solve the
+    problem of banking and currency; thus we have in practical
+    operation, what Proudhon vainly attempted to introduce into
+    France; what Kellogg proposed to introduce under governmental
+    sanction in this country; what Warren proposes to accomplish by
+    his labor notes and exchanges at cost.
+
+    "We might state other facts, but let this suffice for the
+    present; and we will only say in conclusion, that when the
+    organization of our educational series shall be completed, as we
+    hope to see it, we shall thus have established as a body a
+    measurably complete circle of fraternal institutions, in which
+    social and private rights are guaranteed; we shall then fairly
+    have closed the first cycle of our societary life and efforts,
+    fairly have laid the germs of living institutions, of the
+    corporations which have perpetual life, which gather all
+    knowledges, which husband all experiences, and into the keeping
+    of which we commit all material interests, and which only need a
+    healthy development to change without injustice, to absorb
+    without violence, the discords of existing society, and to
+    unfold, as naturally as the chrysalis unfolds into a form of
+    beauty, a new and higher order of human society.
+
+    "To carry on this work we need additional means to endow our
+    agricultural, our educational, our milling and other interests,
+    and to build additional tenements; and above all we need
+    additional numbers of people who are willing to work for an
+    idea; men and women who are competent to establish or conduct
+    successfully some branch of profitable industry; who understand
+    the social movement; who will come among us with worthy motives,
+    and with settled purpose of fraternal co-operation; who can
+    appreciate the labor, the conditions of life, the worth of the
+    institutions we have and propose to have, in contrast with the
+    chances of private gain accompanied by the prevailing disorder,
+    the denial of right, and the ever-increasing oppressions of
+    existing civilization.
+
+    "The views of members and applicants upon the foregoing
+    statement are expressed by the position of their signatures
+    affixed below:
+
+    _Aye._
+
+    H.T. Stone,           Eugenia Thomson,           E.L. Holmes,
+    Lucius Eaton,         Leemon Stockwell,          Gertrude Sears,
+    Alcander Longley,     R.N. Stockwell,            E.A. Angell,
+    Herman Schetter,      A.P. French,               J. Bucklin,
+    W.A. French,          Nathaniel H. Colson,       L.E. Bucklin,
+    John Ash, Jr.,        John French,               Edwin D. Sayre,
+    John H. Steel,        Mary E.F. Grey,            O.S. Holmes,
+    Phebe T. Drew,        Althea Sears,              John V. Sears,
+    John Gray,            H. Bell Munday,            P. French,
+    Robert J. Smith,      Caroline M. Hathaway,      M.A. Martin,
+    J.R. Vanderburgh,     Anna E. Hathaway,          L. French,
+    James Renshaw,        Anne Guillauden,           Z. King, Jr.,
+    J.G. Drew,            L. Munday,                 D.H. King,
+    S. Martin,            Chloe Sears,               A.J. Lanotte,
+    Joseph T. French,     James Renshaw, Jr.,        W.K. Prentice,
+    N.H. Stockwell,       Emile Guillauden, Jr.,     Julia Bucklin,
+    Chas. G. French,      Ellen M. Stockwell,        ---- Maynet.
+
+    _Nay._
+
+    "Geo. Perry believes that difficulty arises from the
+      selfishness, class-interest and personal ambition, of Class
+      No. 1 and 2; also, last and not least, absence of uniformity
+      of attractions.
+
+    "J.R. Coleman endorses the above sentiments. James Warren, do.
+      H.N. Coleman, do.
+
+    "M. Hammond has very reluctantly concluded that the difficulty
+      is in the Institution and not in the members."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+LIFE AT THE NORTH AMERICAN PHALANX.
+
+
+The following pictures from the files of the _Harbinger_, with the
+subsequent reports of Macdonald's three visits, give a tolerable view
+of life at the North American in its early and its latter days.
+
+    [Fourth of July (1845) at the Phalanx.]
+
+    "As soon as the moisture was off the grass, a group went down to
+    the beautiful meadows to spread the hay; and the right good
+    will, quickness, and thoroughness with which they completed
+    their task, certainly illustrated the attractiveness of combined
+    industry. Others meanwhile were gathering for dinner the
+    vegetables, of which, by the consent of the whole neighborhood,
+    they have a supply unsurpassed in early maturity and excellence;
+    and still others were busy in the various branches of domestic
+    labor.
+
+    "And now, the guests from New York and the country around having
+    come in, and the hour for the meeting being at hand, the bell
+    sounded, and men, women and children assembled in a walnut grove
+    near the house, where a semicircle of seats had been arranged in
+    the cool shade. Here addresses were given by William H. Channing
+    and Horace Greeley, illustrating the position that Association
+    is the truly consistent embodiment in practice of the professed
+    principles of our nation.
+
+    "After some hour and a half thus spent, the company adjourned to
+    the house, where a table had been spread the whole length of the
+    hall, and partook of a most abundant and excellent dinner, in
+    which the hospitable sisters of the Phalanx had most
+    satisfactorily proved their faith by their works. Good cold
+    water was the only beverage, thanks to the temperance of the
+    members. A few toasts and short speeches seasoned the feast.
+
+    "And now once again, the afternoon being somewhat advanced, the
+    demand for variety was gratified by a summons to the hay-field.
+    Every rake and fork were in requisition; a merrier group never
+    raked and pitched; never was a meadow more dexterously cleared;
+    and it was not long before there was a demand that the right to
+    labor should be honored by fresh work, which the chief of the
+    group lamented he could not at the moment gratify. To close the
+    festivities the young people formed in a dance, which was
+    prolonged till midnight. And so ended this truly cheerful and
+    friendly holiday."
+
+    [George Ripley's visit to the Phalanx.]
+
+                                                 _May, 14, 1846._
+
+    "Arriving about dinner time at the Mansion, we received a
+    cordial welcome from our friends, and were soon seated at their
+    hospitable table, and were made to feel at once that we were at
+    home, and in the midst of those to whom we were bound by strong
+    ties. How could it be otherwise? It was a meeting of those whose
+    lives were devoted to one interest, who had chosen the lot of
+    pioneers in a great social reform, and who had been content to
+    endure sacrifices for the realization of ideas that were more
+    sacred than life itself. Then, too, the similarity of pursuits,
+    of the whole mode of life in our infant Associations, produces a
+    similarity of feeling, of manners, and I could almost fancy,
+    even of expression of countenance. I have often heard strangers
+    remark upon the cheerfulness and elasticity of spirit which
+    struck them on visiting our little Association at Brook Farm;
+    and here I found the same thing so strongly displayed, that in
+    conversing with our new friends, it seemed as if they were the
+    same that I had left at home, or rather that I had been side by
+    side with them for months or years, instead of meeting them
+    to-day for the first time. I did not need any formal
+    introduction to make me feel acquainted, and I flatter myself
+    that there was as little reserve cherished on their part.
+
+    "After dinner we were kindly attended by our friend Mr. Sears
+    over this beautiful, I may truly say, enchanting domain. I had
+    often heard it spoken of in terms of high commendation; but I
+    must confess, I was not prepared to find an estate combining so
+    many picturesque attractions with such rare agricultural
+    capabilities.
+
+    "Our friends here have no doubt been singularly fortunate in
+    procuring so valuable a domain as the scene of their experiment,
+    and I see nothing which, with industry and perseverance, can
+    create a doubt of their triumphant success, and that at no very
+    distant day.
+
+    "I was highly gratified with the appearance of the children, and
+    the provision that is made for their education, physical as well
+    as intellectual. I found them in a very neat school-room, under
+    the intelligent care of Mrs. B., who is devoting herself to
+    this department with a noble zeal and the most pleasing results.
+    It is seldom that young people in common society have such ample
+    arrangements for their culture, or give evidence of such a
+    healthy desire for improvement.
+
+    "This Association has not been free from difficulties. It has
+    had to contend with the want of sufficient capital, and has
+    experienced some embarrassment on that account. It has also
+    suffered from the discouragement of some of its members--a
+    result always to be expected in every new enterprise, and by no
+    means formidable in the long run--and discontent has produced
+    depression. Happily, the disaffected have retired from the
+    premises, and with few, if any, exceptions, the present members
+    are heartily devoted to the movement, with strong faith in the
+    cause and in each other, and determined to deserve success, even
+    if they do not gain it. Their prospects, however, are now
+    bright, and with patient industry and internal harmony they must
+    soon transform their magnificent domain into a most attractive
+    home for the associative household. May God prosper them!"
+
+    [N.C. Neidhart's visit to the Phalanx.]
+
+                                                  _July 4, 1847._
+
+    "It is impossible for me to describe the deep impression which
+    the life and genial countenances of our brethren have made upon
+    us. Although not belonging to what are very unjustly called the
+    higher classes, I discovered more true refinement, that which is
+    based upon humanitary feeling, than is generally found among
+    those of greater pretensions. There is a serene, earnest love
+    about them all, indicating a determination on their part to
+    abide the issue of the great experiment in which they are
+    engaged.
+
+    "After a fatiguing walk over the domain, I found their simple
+    but refreshing supper very inviting. Here we saw for the first
+    time the women assembled, of whom we had only caught occasional
+    glimpses before. They appeared to be a genial band, with happy,
+    smiling countenances, full of health and spirits. Such deep and
+    earnest eyes, it seemed to me, I had never seen before. Most of
+    the younger girls had wreaths of evergreen and flowers wound
+    around their hair, and some also around their persons in the
+    form of scarfs, which became them admirably.
+
+    "After tea we resorted to the reading-room, where are to be
+    found on files all the progressive and reformatory, as well as
+    the best agricultural, papers of the Union, such as the _New
+    York Tribune_, _Practical Christian_, _Young America_,
+    _Harbinger_, etc. There is also the commencement of a small
+    library.
+
+    "Only one thing was wanting to enliven the evening, and that was
+    music. They possess, I believe, a guitar, flutes, and other
+    instruments, but the time necessary for their cultivation seems
+    to be wanting. The want of this so necessary accompaniment of
+    universal harmony, was made up to us by some delightful hours
+    which we spent in the parlor of Mrs. B., who showed us some of
+    her beautiful drawings, and in whose intelligent society we
+    spent the evening. This lady was formerly a member of the
+    Clermont Phalanx, Ohio. I was sorry there was not time enough to
+    receive from her an account of the causes of the disbandment of
+    this society. She must certainly have been satisfied of the
+    superiority of associated life, to encourage her to join
+    immediately another.
+
+    "It was my good fortune (notwithstanding the large number of
+    visitors), to obtain a nice sleeping-room, from which I was
+    sorry to see I had driven some obliging member of the Phalanx.
+    The orderly simplicity of this room was quite pleasing. It
+    enabled us to form some judgment of the order which pervaded the
+    Community.
+
+    "Next morning we took an early breakfast, and accompanied by Mr.
+    Wheeler, a member of the society, we wandered over the whole
+    domain. On our way home we struck across Brisbane Hill, where
+    they intend to erect the future Phalansterian house on a more
+    improved and extensive plan.
+
+    "There is religious worship here every Sunday, in which all
+    those who feel disposed may join. The members of the society
+    adhere to different religious persuasions, but do not seem to
+    care much for the outward forms of religion.
+
+    "As far as I could learn, the health of the Phalanx has been
+    generally very good. They have lost, however, several children
+    by different diseases. During the prevalence of the small-pox in
+    the Community, the superiority of the combined order over the
+    isolated household was most clearly manifested. Quite lately
+    they have constructed a bathing-house. The water is good, but
+    must contain more or less iron, as the whole country is full of
+    it."
+
+    _Macdonald's first visit to the Phalanx._
+
+                                                 _October, 1851._
+
+    "It was dark when I arrived at the Phalanstery. Lights shone
+    through the trees from the windows of several large buildings,
+    the sight of which sent a cheering glow through me, and as I
+    approached, I inwardly fancied that what I saw was part of an
+    early dream. The glancing lights, the sounds of voices, and the
+    notes of music, while all nature around was dark and still, had
+    a strange effect, and I almost believed that this was a
+    Community where people were really happy.
+
+    "I entered and inquired for Mr. Bucklin, whose name had been
+    given me. At the end of a long hall I found a small
+    reading-room, with four or five strange-looking beings sitting
+    around a table reading newspapers. They all appeared eccentric,
+    not alone because they were unshaven and unshorn, but from the
+    peculiar look of their eyes and form of their faces. Mr.
+    Bucklin, a kind man, came to me, glancing as if he anticipated
+    something important. I explained my business, and he sat down
+    beside me; but though I attempted conversation, he had very
+    little to say. He inquired if I wished for supper, and on my
+    assenting, he left me for a few minutes and then returned, and
+    very soon after he led me out to another building. We passed
+    through a passage and up a short flight of steps into a very
+    handsome room, capable, I understood, of accommodating two
+    hundred persons at dinner. It had a small gallery or balcony at
+    one end of it, and six windows on either side. It was furnished
+    with two rows of tables and chairs, each table large enough for
+    ten or twelve persons to dine at. There were three bright lamps
+    suspended from the ceiling. At one end of the room the chairs
+    and tables had been removed, and several ladies and gentlemen
+    were dancing cotillions to the music of a violin, played by an
+    amateur in the gallery. At the other end of the room there was a
+    doorway leading to the kitchen, and near this my supper was
+    laid, very nice and tidy. Mr. Bucklin introduced me to Mr.
+    Holmes, a gentleman who had lived in the Skaneateles and
+    Trumbull experiments; and Mr. Holmes introduced me to Mr.
+    Williston, who gave me some of the details of the early days of
+    the North American Phalanx, during which he sometimes lived in
+    high style, and sometimes was almost starved. He told of the
+    tricks which the young members played upon the old members, many
+    of whom had left.
+
+    "On looking at the dancers I perceived that several of the
+    females were dressed in the new costume, which is no more than
+    shortening the frock and wearing trowsers the same as men. There
+    were three or four young women, and three or four children so
+    dressed. I had not thought much of this dress before, but was
+    now favorably impressed by it, when I contrasted it with the
+    long dresses of some of the dancers. This style is decidedly
+    superior, I think, for any kind of active employment. The dress
+    seems exceedingly simple. The frocks were worn about the same
+    length as the Highland _kilt_, ending a little above the knee;
+    the trowsers were straight, and both were made of plain
+    material. Afterward I saw some of the ladies in superior suits
+    of this fashion, looking very elegant.
+
+    "Mr. Holmes shewed me to my bed, which was in the top of another
+    building. It was a spacious garret with four cots in it, one in
+    each corner. There were two windows, one of which appeared to be
+    always open, and at that window a young man was sleeping,
+    although the weather was very wet. The mattress I had was
+    excellent, and I slept well; but the accommodations were rather
+    rude, there being no chairs or pegs to hang the clothes upon.
+    The young men threw their clothes upon the floor. There was no
+    carpet, but the floor seemed very clean.
+
+    "It rained hard all night, and the morning continued wet and
+    unpleasant. I rose about seven, and washed in a passage-way
+    leading from the sleeping-rooms, where I found water well
+    supplied; passed rows of small sleeping-rooms, and went out for
+    a stroll. The morning was too unpleasant for walking much, but I
+    examined the houses, and found them to be large framed
+    buildings, the largest of the two having been but recently
+    built. It formed two sides of a square, and had a porch in front
+    and on part of the back. It appeared as if the portion of it
+    which was complete was but a wing of a more extensive design,
+    intended to be carried out at some future time. The oldest
+    building reminded me of one of the Rappite buildings in New
+    Harmony, excepting that it was built of wood and theirs of
+    brick. It formed a parallelogram, two stories high, with large
+    garrets at the top. A hall ran nearly the whole length of the
+    building, and terminated in a small room which is used as a
+    library, and to which is joined the office. Apartments were
+    ranged on either side of the hall up stairs. All the rooms
+    appeared to be bed-rooms, and were in use. The new building was
+    more commodious. There were well furnished sitting-rooms on
+    either side of the principal entrance. The dining-hall, which I
+    have before mentioned, was in the rear of this. Up stairs the
+    rooms were ranged in a similar manner to the old building, and
+    appeared to be very comfortable. I was informed that they were
+    soon to be heated by steam. All these apartments were rented to
+    the members at various prices, according to the relative
+    superiority of each room.
+
+    "As the bell at the end of the building rang a second time for
+    breakfast, I followed some of the members into the room, and on
+    entering took my seat at the table nearest the door. I afterward
+    learned that this was the vegetarian table, and also that it was
+    customary for each person always to occupy the same seat at his
+    meals. The tables were well supplied with excellent, wholesome
+    food, and I think the majority of the members took tea and
+    coffee and ate meat. Young men and women waited upon the tables,
+    and seemed active and agreeable. An easy freedom and a
+    harmonious feeling seemed to prevail.
+
+    "On leaving the room I was introduced to Mr. Sears, who, I
+    ascertained, was what they called the 'leading mind.' He was
+    rather tall, of a nervous temperament, the sensitive
+    predominating, and was easy and affable. On my informing him of
+    the object of my visit, he very kindly led me to his office and
+    showed me several papers, which gave me every information I
+    required. He introduced me to Mr. Renshaw, a gentleman who had
+    been in the Ohio Phalanx. Mr. Renshaw was engaged in the
+    blacksmith-shop; looked quite a philosopher, so far as form of
+    head and length of beard and hair was concerned; but he had a
+    little too much of the sanguine in his temperament to be cool at
+    all times. He very rapidly asked me the object of my book: what
+    good would it do? what was it for? and seemed disposed to knock
+    down some imaginary wrong, before he had any clear idea of what
+    it was. I explained, and together with Mr. Sears, had a short
+    controversy with him, which had a softening tendency, though it
+    did not lead to perfect agreement. Mr. Sears contended that
+    Community experiments failed because the accounts were not
+    clearly and faithfully kept; but Mr. Renshaw maintained that
+    they all failed for want of means, and that the public
+    impression that the members always disagreed was quite
+    erroneous. At dinner I found a much larger crowd of persons in
+    the room than at breakfast. I was introduced to several members,
+    and among them to Mr. French, a gentleman who had once been a
+    Universalist preacher. He was very kind, and gave me some
+    information relative to the Jefferson County Industrial
+    Association.
+
+    "I also made the acquaintance of Mr. John Gray, a gentleman who
+    had lived five years among the Shakers, and who was still a
+    Shaker in appearance. Mr. Gray is an Englishman, as would
+    readily be perceived by his peculiar speech; but with his
+    English he had gotten a little mixture of the 'down east,' where
+    he had lately been living. Mr. Gray was very fluent of speech,
+    and what he said to me would almost fill a volume. He spoke
+    chiefly of his Shaker experience, and of the time he had spent
+    among the Socialists of England. He said it was his intention to
+    visit other Communities in the United States, and gain all the
+    experience he could among them, and then return to England and
+    make it known. He was a dyer by trade (on which account he was
+    much valued by the Shakers), and was very useful in taking care
+    of swine. He spoke forcibly of the evils of celibacy among the
+    Shakers, and of their strict regulations. He preferred living in
+    the North American Phalanx, feeling more freedom, and knowing
+    that he could go away when he pleased without difficulty. He
+    thought the wages too low. Reckoning, for instance, that he
+    earned about 90 cts. per day for ten hours labor, he got in cash
+    every two weeks three-fourths of it, the remaining fourth going
+    to the Phalanx as capital. Out of these wages he had to pay
+    $1.50 per week for board, and $12 a year rent, besides extras;
+    but he had a very snug little room, and lived well. He thought
+    single men and women could do better there than married ones;
+    but either could do better, so far as making money was the
+    object, in the outer world. He decidedly preferred the single
+    family and isolated cottage arrangement. I made allowances for
+    Mr. Gray's opinions, when I remembered that he had been living
+    five years among the Shakers, and but four months at the North
+    American, whose regulations about capital and interest he was
+    not very clear upon.
+
+    "I had a conversation with a lady who had lived two years at
+    Hopedale. She was intelligent, but very sanguine; well-spoken
+    and agreeable, but had too much enthusiasm. She described to me
+    the early days of Hopedale and its present condition. She did
+    not like it, but preferred the North American and its more
+    unitary arrangements. She thought that the single-cottage system
+    was wrong, and that woman would never attain her true position
+    in such circumstances. She had a great opinion of woman's
+    abilities and capacities for improvement; was sorry that the
+    Phalanx had such a bombastic name; had once been very sanguine,
+    but was now chastened down; believed that the North American
+    could not be called an experiment on Fourier's plan; the
+    necessary elements were not there, and never had been, and no
+    experiment had ever been attempted with such material as Fourier
+    proposed; until that is done, we can not say the system is
+    false, etc.
+
+    "After supper I had conversation with several persons on Mr.
+    Warren's plan of 'Equitable Commerce.' Most of them were well
+    disposed toward his views of 'individuality,' but not toward his
+    'cost principle,' many believing the difficulties of estimating
+    the cost of many things not to be overcome; the details in
+    carrying out the system would be too trifling and fine-drawn.
+    Conversation turned upon the Sabbath. Some thought it would be
+    good to have periodical meetings for reading or lecturing, and
+    others thought it best to have nothing periodical, but leave
+    every thing and every body to act in a natural manner, such as
+    eating when you are hungry, drinking when you are thirsty, and
+    resting when you are tired; let the child play when it is so
+    inclined, and teach it when it demands to be taught. There were
+    all kinds of opinions among them regarding society and its
+    progress. My Shaker friend thought that society was progressing
+    'first-rate' by means of Odd-Fellowship, Freemasonry, benevolent
+    associations, railroads, steamboats, and especially all kinds of
+    large manufactories, without such little attempts as these of
+    the North American to regenerate mankind.
+
+    "I might speculate on this strange mixture of minds, but prefer
+    that the reader should take the facts and philosophize for
+    himself. Here were persons who, for many years, had tried many
+    schemes of social re-organization in various parts of the
+    country, brought together not from a personal knowledge and
+    attraction for each other, but through a common love of the
+    social principles, which like a pleasant dream attracted them to
+    this, the last surviving of that extensive series of experiments
+    which commenced in this country about the year 1843.
+
+    "I retired to my cot about ten o'clock, and passed a restless
+    night. The weather was warm and wet, and continued so in the
+    morning. Rose at five o'clock and took breakfast with Dr.
+    Lazarus and the stage-driver, and at a quarter to six we left
+    the Phalanx in their neat little stage.
+
+    "During the journey to Keyport the Doctor seemed to be full of
+    Association, and made frequent allusions to that state in which
+    all things would be right, and man would hold his true position;
+    thought it wrong to cut down trees, to clear land, to raise
+    corn, to fatten pigs to eat, when, if the forest was left alone,
+    we could live on the native deer, which would be much better
+    food for man; he would have fruit-trees remain where they are
+    found naturally; and he would have many other things done which
+    the world would deem crazy nonsense."
+
+    _Macdonald's second visit to the Phalanx._
+
+    "I visited the North American Phalanx again in July, 1852. The
+    visit was an interesting one to me; but I will only refer to the
+    changes which have taken place since my last visit.
+
+    "They have altered their eating and drinking arrangements, and
+    adopted the eating-house system. At the table there is a bill of
+    fare, and each individual calls for what he wants; on obtaining
+    it the waiter gives him a check, with the price of the article
+    marked thereon. After the meal is over, the waiters go round and
+    enter the sum marked upon the check which each person has
+    received, in a book belonging to that person; the total is added
+    up at the end of each month and the payments are made. Each
+    person finds his own sugar, which is kept upon the table. Coffee
+    is half-a-cent per cup, including milk; bread one cent per
+    plate; butter, I think, half-a-cent; meat two cents; pie two
+    cents; and other things in like proportion. On Mr. Holmes's
+    book, the cost of living ran thus: breakfast from one and a-half
+    cents to three and a-half cents; dinner four and a-half cents to
+    nine cents; supper four and a-half cents to eight cents. In
+    addition to this, as all persons use the room alike, each pays
+    the same rent, which is thirty-six and a-half cents per week;
+    each person also pays a certain portion for the waiting labor,
+    and for lighting the room. The young ladies and gentlemen who
+    waited on table, as well as the Phalanx Doctor (a gentleman of
+    talent and politeness), who from attraction performed the same
+    duty, got six and a-quarter cents per hour for their labor.
+
+    "The wages of various occupations, agricultural, mechanical and
+    professional, vary from six cents to ten cents per hour; the
+    latter sum is the maximum. The wages are paid to each individual
+    in full every month, and the profits are divided at the end of
+    the year. Persons wishing to become members are invited to
+    become visitors for thirty days. At the end of that time it is
+    sometimes necessary for them to continue another thirty days;
+    then they may be admitted as probationers for one year, and if
+    they are liked by the members at the end of that time, it is
+    decided whether they shall become full members or not.
+
+    "They had commenced brick-making, intending to build a mill;
+    thought of building at Keyport or Red Bank. Some anticipated a
+    loan from Horace Greeley. Their stock was good; some said it was
+    at par; one said, at seventy-five per cent. premium. (?) The
+    profits were invested in things which they thought would bring
+    them the largest interest; they had shares in two steamboats
+    running to New York from Keyport and Red Bank.
+
+    "Their crops looked well, superior to any in the vicinity. There
+    were large fields of corn and potatoes and a fine one of
+    tomatoes. The first bushel of the latter article had just been
+    sent to the New York market, and was worth eight dollars. There
+    was a field of good melons, quite a picture to look upon. Since
+    my last visit, there had been an addition made to the large
+    building. A man had built the addition at a cost of $800, and
+    had put $200 into the Phalanx, making $1,000 worth of stock. He
+    lived in the house as his own. There is a neat cottage near the
+    large building, which I suppose is also Association property,
+    put in by the gentleman who built it and uses it--a Mr. Manning,
+    I believe.
+
+    "The wages were all increased a little since my last visit, and
+    there seemed to be more satisfaction prevailing, especially with
+    the eating-house plan, which I understood had effected a saving
+    of about two-thirds in the expenditure; this was especially the
+    case in the article of sugar.
+
+    "The stage group was abolished; and the stage sold. It called
+    there, however, regularly with the mails and passengers as
+    before.
+
+    "I gleaned the following: The Phalanx property could support one
+    thousand people, yet they can not get them, and they have not
+    accommodations for such a number. Some doubt the advantage of
+    taking more members until they are richer. All say they are
+    doing well; yet some admit that individually they could do
+    better, or that an individual with that property could have done
+    better than they have done. They hire about sixteen Dutch
+    laborers, and say they are better treated than they would be
+    elsewhere. These board in a room beneath the Phalanx
+    dining-room, and lodge in various out-places around. They had an
+    addition of six Frenchmen to their numbers, said to be exiles;
+    these persons were industrious and well liked.
+
+    "In a conversation with one of the discontented members, who had
+    been there five years, he said that after an existence of nine
+    years, there were fewer members than at the commencement; there
+    was something wrong in the system they were practicing; and if
+    that was Association, then Association was wrong; thinks there
+    are some persons who try to crush and oust those who differ from
+    them in opinion, or who wish to change the system so as to
+    increase their number.
+
+    "There was more than enough work for all to do, mechanics
+    especially. Carpenters were in demand. They had to hire the
+    latter at $1.50 per day. They don't get any to join them. Some
+    thought the wages too low; yet the cost of living was not much
+    over $2. per week, including washing and all else but clothing
+    and luxuries.
+
+    "My acquaintance, John Gray, had been away from the Phalanx for
+    some months, but had returned, having found that he could not
+    live in 'old society' again; sooner than that, he would return
+    to the Shakers. He spoke much more favorably of the North
+    American than before, and was particularly pleased with the
+    eating arrangement; he wanted to see the individual system
+    carried out still further among them; for in proportion as they
+    adopted that, they were made free and happy; but in proportion
+    as they progressed toward Communism, the result was the reverse.
+    After alluding to their many little difficulties, he pointed
+    out so many advantages, that they seemed to counter-balance all
+    the evils spoken of by himself and others. Criticism, he said,
+    was the most potent regulator and governor.
+
+    "The charges were increased at the Phalanx. For five meals and
+    very inferior sleeping accommodations twice, I paid $1.75. The
+    Phalanx had paid five per cent. dividend on stock, for the past
+    year."
+
+    _Macdonald's third visit to the Phalanx._
+
+    "In the fall of 1853 I made another pilgrimage to the North
+    American. On my journey from Red Bank I had for my
+    fellow-passengers, the well-known Albert Brisbane and a young
+    man named Davidson. The ride was diversified by interesting
+    debates upon Spiritualism and Association.
+
+    "At the Phalanx I was pleased with the appearance of things
+    during this visit. I saw the same faces, and felt assured they
+    were 'sticking to it.' I also fell in with some strangers who
+    had lately been attracted there. I was informed by one or two of
+    the members that the articles which had been published about the
+    Phalanx in the New York _Herald_, had done them good. It made
+    the place known, and caused many strangers to visit them; among
+    whom were some capitalists who offered to lend their aid; a Dr.
+    Parmelee was named as one of these. The articles also did good
+    in criticising their peculiarities, letting them know what the
+    'world' thought of them, and shaking them up, like wind upon a
+    stagnant pond.
+
+    "Mr. Sears informed me that they had had a freshet in August,
+    which destroyed a large quantity of their forage; and the dams
+    were broken down, causing a loss of two or three hundred
+    dollars. Their peach-orchard had failed, causing a deficiency of
+    nearly two-thirds the usual amount of peaches. He was of the
+    opinion that in five years they would be able to show something
+    more tangible to the world. He thought that in about that time
+    the experiment would have completed a marked phase in its
+    history, and become more worthy of notice.
+
+    "In a conversation with Mr. French I learned that he had been
+    away from the Phalanx for three weeks, seeing his friends in the
+    country; but it made him happy to return; he felt he could not
+    live elsewhere. He said their grand object was to provide a
+    fitting education for their children. They had been neglected,
+    though often thought of; and ere long something important would
+    be done for them, if things turned out as he hoped. Last year,
+    for the first time since their commencement, they declared a
+    dividend to labor; this year they anticipated more, but the
+    accidents would probably reduce it. Their total debts were
+    $18,000, but the value of the place was $55,000. They bought the
+    land at $20 per acre, and it had increased in value, not so much
+    by their improvements as by the rise of land all through that
+    country. They were not troubled about their debts; it was an
+    advantage to them to let them remain; they could pay them at any
+    time if necessary."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+END OF THE NORTH AMERICAN PHALANX.
+
+
+The _Harbinger_ and Macdonald both fail us in our search for the
+history of the last days of the North American; and having asked in
+vain for an authentic account of its failure from one at least of its
+leaders, we must content ourselves with such scraps of information on
+this interesting catastrophe, as we have picked up here and there in
+various publications. And first we will bring to view one or two facts
+which preceded the failure, and apparently led to it.
+
+In the spring of 1853--the tenth year of the Phalanx--there was a
+split and secession, resulting in the formation of another
+Association, called the Raritan Bay Union, at Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
+A correspondent of the New York _Herald_, who visited this new Union
+in June, 1853, speaks of its founders and foundations as follows:
+
+    "The subscriptions already amount to over forty thousand
+    dollars. Among the names of the stockholders I notice that of
+    Mrs. Tyndale, formerly an extensive crockery dealer in Chestnut
+    street, Philadelphia, who carried on the business in her own
+    name until she accumulated a handsome fortune, and then
+    relinquished it to her son and son-in-law; also Marcus Spring,
+    commission merchant of New York; Rev. William Henry Channing of
+    Rochester, and Clement O. Read, late superintendent of the large
+    wash-house in Mott street, New York.
+
+    "The President of the corporation, George B. Arnold Esq., was
+    last year President of the North American Phalanx. Many years
+    ago he was a minister at large in the city of New York. He
+    afterward removed to Illinois, where he established an extensive
+    nursery, working with his own hands at the business, which he
+    carried on successfully. He is an original thinker, a practical
+    man, of clear, strong common sense.
+
+    "The founders of the Union believe that many branches of
+    business may be carried on most advantageously here, and that
+    the best class of mechanics will soon find their interest and
+    happiness promoted by joining them. Extensive shops will be
+    erected, and either carried on directly by the corporation, or
+    leased, with sufficient steam-power, to companies of its own
+    members. The different kinds of business will be kept separate,
+    and every tub left to stand upon its own bottom. They aim at
+    combination, not confusion. Every man will have pay for what he
+    does, and no man is to be paid for doing nothing. Whether they
+    will drag the drones out, if they find any, and kill them as the
+    bees do in autumn, or whether their ferryman will be directed to
+    take them out in his boat and tip them into the bay, or what
+    will be done with them, I can not say. But the creed of this new
+    Community seems to be, that 'Labor is praise.' In religious
+    matters the utmost freedom exists, and every man is left to
+    follow the dictates of his own conscience."
+
+Macdonald briefly mentions this Raritan Bay Association, and
+characterizes it as "a joint-stock concern, that undertook to hold an
+intermediate position between the North American and ordinary
+society;" meaning, we suppose, that it was less communistic than the
+Phalanx. He furnishes also a copy of its constitution, the preamble of
+which declares that its object is to establish "various branches of
+agriculture and mechanics, whereby industry, education and social life
+may, in principle and practice, be arranged in conformity to the
+Christian religion, and where all ties, conjugal, parental, filial,
+fraternal and communal, which are sanctioned by the will of God, the
+laws of nature, and the highest experience of mankind, may be purified
+and perfected; and where the advantages of co-operation may be
+secured, and the evils of competition avoided, by such methods of
+joint-stock Association as shall commend themselves to enlightened
+conscience and common sense."
+
+The board of officers whose names are attached to this constitution
+were,
+
+_President_, George B. Arnold; _Directors_, Clement O. Read, Marcus
+Spring, George B. Arnold, Joseph L. Pennock, Sarah Tyndale;
+_Treasurer_, Clement O. Read; _Secretary_, Angelina G. Weld.
+
+It is evident that this offshoot drew away a portion of the members
+and stockholders of the North American. It amounted to little as an
+Association, and disappeared with the rest of its kindred; but its
+secession certainly weakened the parent Phalanx.
+
+During the summer after this secession, the North American appears to
+have had an acrimonious controversy about religion with somebody,
+inside or outside, the nature of which we can only guess from the
+following mysterious hints in a long article written by Mr. Sears in
+the fall of 1853, on behalf of the Association, and published in the
+New York _Tribune_ under the caption, "_Religion in the North American
+Phalanx_." Mr. Sears said:
+
+    "I am incited to these remarks by the recent imposition of a
+    missionary effort among us, and by a letter respecting it,
+    indicating the failure of a cherished scheme, in a spirit which
+    shows that the old sanctions only are wanting, to kindle the old
+    fires. And, lest our silence be further misconstrued, and we
+    subjected to further discourtesy, I am induced to say a few
+    words in defense.
+
+    "Neither our quiet nor our good character have quite sufficed to
+    protect us from the customary officiousness of busy sectaries,
+    who professed not to understand how a people could associate,
+    how a commonwealth could exist, without adopting some sectarian
+    profession of religious faith, some partisan form of religious
+    observance.
+
+    "In vain we urged that our institutions were religious; that
+    here, before their eyes, was made real and practical in daily
+    life and established as a real societary feature, that
+    fraternity which the church in every form has held as its ideal;
+    that here the Christian rule of life is made possible in the
+    only way that it can be made possible, viz., through social
+    guarantees which confirm the just claims of every member. In
+    vain we showed that in the matter of private faith we did not
+    propose to interfere, but in this respect held the same relation
+    of a body to its constituent members, that the State of New
+    Jersey or any other commonwealth does to its citizens; that
+    tolerance was our only proper course, and must continue to be;
+    that the professors of any name could organize a society and
+    have a fellowship of the same religious communion, if they
+    chose; but that our effort was to seek out the divine
+    mathematics of societary relations, and to determine a formula
+    that would be of universal application; and that to allow our
+    organization to be taken possession of as an agency for pushing
+    private constructions of doctrine, would be an impossible
+    descent for us; that any who choose could make such profession
+    and have such observances as they liked, and by arrangement have
+    equal use of our public rooms. Still from time to time various
+    parties have urged their private views upon us, and whenever
+    they wished, have had, by arrangement, the use of room and such
+    audience as they could attract. But never until the past summer
+    has there been such a persistent effort to press upon us private
+    observance as to excite much attention; and for the first time
+    in our history there arose, through a reprehensible effort, a
+    public discussion of religious dogmas; and, to our regret and
+    annoyance, the usual sectarian uncharitableness was exhibited
+    and has since been expressed to us."
+
+A further glimpse at the difficulty alluded to, is afforded by the
+following paragraph, which appeared in print about the same time,
+written by Eleazer Parmlee, a partizan of the other side:
+
+    "I received the inclosed letter from Marcus Spring, who
+    requested me to co-operate with himself and others (at the two
+    Phalanxes) in sustaining a preacher; as he insists 'that the
+    religious and moral elements in man should be cultivated for
+    the true success of Association.' I shall write to Mr. Spring
+    that it is not my opinion that religious cultivation or teaching
+    will be allowed, certainly at one of the Associations; and I
+    would advise all persons who have any respect or regard for the
+    religion of the Bible, and who do not wish to have their
+    feelings outraged by a total want of common courtesy, to keep
+    entirely away, at least from the North American."
+
+It seems probable that this controversy, whatever it may have been,
+was complicated with the secession movement in the spring before. We
+notice that Marcus Spring, who was originally a prominent stockholder
+in the North American, and who went over, as we have seen, to the
+rival Phalanx at Perth Amboy, was mixed up with this controversy, and
+apparently instigated the "missionary imposition" of which Mr. Sears
+complains. It may be reasonably conjectured that this theological
+quarrel led to the ultimate withdrawal of stock which brought the
+Association to its end.
+
+In September 1853, after the secession and after the quarrel about
+religion, the following gloomy picture of the Phalanx was sent abroad
+in the columns of the New York _Tribune_, the old champion of
+Socialism in general and of the North American in particular. Whether
+its representations were true or not, it must have had a very
+depressing effect on the Association, and doubtless helped to realize
+its own forebodings:
+
+    [Correspondence of the New York _Tribune_.]
+
+    "I remained nine days at the North American Phalanx. They appear
+    to be on a safe material basis. Good wages are paid the
+    laborers, and both sexes are on an equality in every respect;
+    the younger females wear bloomers; are beautiful and apparently
+    refined; but both sexes grow up in ignorance, and seem to have
+    but little desire for mental progression. Their mode of life,
+    however, is a decided improvement on the old one: the land
+    appears to be well cultivated and very productive; the majority
+    of the men, and some of the women, are hard workers; the wages
+    of labor and profits on capital are constantly increasing and
+    likely to increase; probably in a few years more the stock will
+    be as good an investment as any other stock, and the wages of
+    labor much better than elsewhere. The standard of agricultural
+    and mechanical labor is now nine cents per hour; kitchen-work,
+    waiting, etc., about the same. Their arrangements for
+    economizing domestic labor seem very efficient; but they have no
+    sewing-machine and no store that amounts to any thing. If a hat
+    of any kind is wanted, they have to go to Red Bank for it. They
+    appear to make no effort to redeem their stock, which is now
+    mostly in the hands of non-residents. The few who do save any
+    thing, I understand, usually prefer something that 'pays'
+    better. Most of them are decent sort of people, have few bad
+    qualities and not many good ones, but they are evidently not
+    working for an idea. They make no effort to extend their
+    principles, and do not build, as a general thing, unless a
+    person wanting to join builds for himself. Under such
+    circumstances the progress of the movement must be necessarily
+    slow, if even it progress at all. Latterly the number of members
+    and probationers has decreased. They find it necessary to employ
+    hired laborers to develop the resources of the land.
+
+    "So far as regards the material aspect, however, they get along
+    tolerably well. But I regard the mechanism merely as a means
+    for general progress--a basis for a superstructure of unlimited
+    mental and spiritual development. They seem to regard it as the
+    end. This absence of facilities for education and mental
+    improvement is astonishing, in a Community enjoying so many of
+    the advantages of co-operation. Those engaged in nurseries
+    should have some acquaintance with physiology and hygiene; but
+    such things are scarcely dreamed of as yet among any of the
+    members, except two or three; or if so, they keep very quiet
+    about it. A considerable portion of their hard earnings ends in
+    smoke and spittoons, or some other form of mere animal
+    gratification, to which they are in a measure compelled to
+    resort, in the absence of any rational mode of applying their
+    small amount of leisure. Their reading-room is supplied by two
+    _New York Tribunes_, a _Nauvoo Tribune_, and two or three
+    worthless local papers. The library consists of between three
+    and four hundred volumes, not many of them progressive or the
+    reverse. I believe there is a sort of a school, but should think
+    they don't teach much there worth knowing, if results are to be
+    the criterion. Cigar smoking is bad enough in men, but
+    particularly objectionable in twelve-year olds. A number of
+    papers are taken by individuals, but those that most need them
+    don't have much chance at them; besides, it is the end of
+    associate life to economise by co-operation in this as in other
+    matters. Some of them make miserable apologies for neglect of
+    these matters, on the score of want of leisure, means, etc., but
+    all amounts to nothing.
+
+    "The Phalanx people, having deferred improving the higher
+    faculties of themselves and children until their lower wants are
+    supplied, which can never be, are heavily in debt; and so far as
+    any effect on the outer world is concerned, the North American
+    Phalanx is a total failure. No movement based on a mere
+    gratification of the animal appetites can succeed in extending
+    itself. There must be intellectual and spiritual life and
+    progress; matter can not move itself."
+
+A year later the Phalanx suffered a heavy loss by fire, which was
+reported in the _Tribune_, September 13, 1854, as follows:
+
+    Destruction of the Mills of the North American Phalanx.
+
+    "About six and a-half o'clock Sunday morning, a fire broke out
+    in the extensive mills of the North American Phalanx, located in
+    Monmouth County, New Jersey. The fire was first discovered near
+    the center of the main edifice, and had at that time gained
+    great headway. It is supposed to have originated in the eastern
+    portion of the building, and a strong easterly wind prevailing
+    at the time, the flames were carried toward the center and
+    western part of the edifice. This was a wooden building about
+    one hundred feet square, three stories high, with a thirty
+    horse-power steam-engine in the basement, and two run of
+    burr-stones and superior machinery for the manufacture of flour,
+    meal, hominy and samp, on the floors above. Adjoining the mill
+    on the north was the general business office, containing the
+    account books of the Association, the most valuable of which
+    were saved by Mr. Sears at the risk of his life. Adjoining the
+    office was the saw-mill, blacksmith-shop, tin-shop, etc., with
+    valuable machinery, driven by the engine, all of which was
+    destroyed. About two thousand bushels of wheat and corn were
+    stored in the mill directly over the engine, which, in falling,
+    covered it so as to preserve the machinery from the fire. There
+    was a large quantity of hominy and flour and feed destroyed
+    with the mill. The carpenters' shop, a little south of the grain
+    mill, was saved by great exertion of all the members, men and
+    women. All else in that vicinity is a smouldering mass. Nothing
+    was insured but the stock, valued at $3,000, for two-thirds that
+    amount. The loss is from $7,000 to $10,000."
+
+Alcander Longley, at present the editor of a Communist paper, was a
+member of the North American, and should be good authority on its
+history. He connects this fire very closely with the breaking-up of
+the Phalanx. In a criticism of one of Brisbane's late socialistic
+schemes, he says:
+
+    "A little reminiscence just here. We were a member of the North
+    American Phalanx. A fire burned our mills and shops one unlucky
+    night. We had plenty of land left and plenty else to do. But we
+    called the 'money bags' [stockholders] together for more stock
+    to rebuild with. Instead of subscribing more, they dissolved the
+    concern, because it didn't pay enough dividend! And the honest
+    resident working members were scattered and driven from the home
+    they had labored so hard and long for years to make. Would Mr.
+    Brisbane repeat such a farce?"
+
+Yet it appears that the crippled Phalanx lingered another year; for we
+find the following in the editorial correspondence of _Life
+Illustrated_ for August 1855:
+
+    Last Picture of the North American.
+
+    "After supper (the hour set apart for which is from five to six
+    o'clock) the lawn, gravel walks and little lake in front of the
+    Phalanstery, present an animated and charming scene. We look out
+    upon it from our window. Nearly the whole population of the
+    place is out of doors. Happy papas and mammas draw their baby
+    wagons, with their precious freight of smiling innocence, along
+    the wide walks; groups of little girls and boys frolic in the
+    clover under the big walnut-trees by the side of the pond; some
+    older children and young ladies are out on the water in their
+    light canoes, which they row with the dexterity of sailors; men
+    and women are standing here and there in groups engaged in
+    conversation, while others are reclining on the soft grass; and
+    several young ladies in their picturesque working and walking
+    costume--a short dress or tunic coming to the knees, and loose
+    pantaloons--are strolling down the road toward the shaded avenue
+    which leads to the highway.
+
+    "There seems to be a large measure of quiet happiness here; but
+    the place is now by no means a gay one. If we observe closely we
+    see a shadow of anxiety on most countenances. The future is no
+    longer assured. Henceforth it must be 'each for himself,' in
+    isolation and antagonism. Some of these people have been
+    clamorous for a dissolution of the Association, which they
+    assert has, so far as they are concerned at least, proved a
+    failure; but some of them, we have fancied, now look forward
+    with more fear than hope to the day which shall sunder the last
+    material ties which bind them to their associates in this
+    movement."
+
+The following from the _Social Revolutionist_, January, 1856, was
+written apparently in the last moments of the Phalanx.
+
+    [Alfred Cridge's Diagnosis in Articulo Mortis.]
+
+    "The North American Phalanx has decided to dissolve. When I
+    visited it two years since it seemed to be managed by practical
+    men, and was in many respects thriving. The domain was well
+    cultivated, labor well paid, and the domestic department well
+    organized. With the exception of the single men's apartments
+    being overcrowded, comfort reigned supreme. The following were
+    some of the defects:
+
+    "1. The capital was nearly all owned by non-residents, who
+    invested it, however, without expectation of profit, as the
+    stock was always below par, yielding at that time but 4-1/2 per
+    cent. of interest, which was a higher rate than that formerly
+    allowed. Probably the majority of the Community were hard
+    workers, many of them to the extent of neglecting mental
+    culture. I was informed that they generally lived from hand to
+    mouth, saving nothing, though living was cheap, rent not high,
+    and the par rate of wages ninety cents for ten hours, but
+    varying from sixty cents to $1.20, according to skill,
+    efficiency, unpleasantness, etc. Nearly all those who did save,
+    invested in more profitable stock, leaving absentees to keep up
+    an Association in which they had no particular interest. As the
+    generality of those on the ground gave no tangible indications
+    of any particular interest in the movement, it is no matter of
+    surprise that, notwithstanding the zeal of a few disinterested
+    philanthropists engaged in it, the institution failed to meet
+    the sanguine expectations of its projectors.
+
+    "2. They neglected the intellectual and aesthetic element. Some
+    residents there attributed the failure of the Brook Farm
+    Association to an undue predominance of these, and so ran into
+    the opposite error. A well-known engraver in Philadelphia wished
+    to reside at the Phalanx and practice his profession; but no; he
+    must work on the farm; if allowed to join, he would not be
+    permitted to follow his attractions. So he did not come.
+
+    "3. The immediate causes of the dissolution of both Associations
+    were disastrous fires, and no way attributable to the principles
+    on which they were based.
+
+    "4. The formation of Victor Considerant's colony in Texas
+    probably hastened the dissolution of the Phalanx, as many of the
+    members preferred establishing themselves in a more genial
+    latitude, to working hard one year or two for nothing, which
+    they must have done, to regain the loss of $20,000 by fire, to
+    say nothing of the indirect loss occasioned by the want of the
+    buildings.
+
+    "Thus endeth the North American Phalanx! _Requiescat in pace!_
+    Where is the Phoenix Association that is to arise from its ashes?
+
+    "P.S. Since the above was written, the domain of the North
+    American Phalanx has been sold."
+
+N.C. Meeker, who wrote those enthusiastic letters from the Trumbull
+Phalanx (now one of the editors of the _Tribune_), is the author of
+the following picturesque account of the North American, which we will
+call its
+
+_Post Mortem and Requiem, by an old Fourierist._
+
+    [From the New York _Tribune_ of November 3, 1866.]
+
+    "Once in about every generation, attention is called to our
+    social system. Many evils seem to grow from it. A class of men
+    peculiarly organized, unite to condemn the whole structure. If
+    public affairs are tranquil, they attempt to found a new system.
+    So repeatedly and for so many ages has this been done, that it
+    must be said that the effort arises from an aspiration. The
+    object is not destructive, but beneficent. Twenty-five years ago
+    an attempt was made in most of the Northern States. There are
+    signs that another is about to be made. To those who are
+    interested, a history of life in a Phalanx will be instructive.
+    It is singular that none of the many thousand Fourierists have
+    related their experience. (!) Recently I visited the old grounds
+    of the North American Phalanx. Additional information is brought
+    from a similar institution [the Trumbull] in a Western State.
+    Light will be thrown on the problem; it will not solve it.
+
+    "Four miles from Red Bank, Monmouth County, New Jersey, six
+    hundred acres of land were selected about twenty years ago, for
+    a Phalanx on the plan of Fourier. The founders lived in New
+    York, Albany and other places. The location was fortunate, the
+    soil naturally good, the scenery pleasing and the air healthful.
+    It would have been better to have been near a shipping-port. The
+    road from Red Bank was heavy sand.
+
+    "First, a large building was erected for families; afterward, at
+    a short distance, a spacious mansion was built, three stories
+    high, with a front of one hundred and fifty feet, and a wing of
+    one hundred and fifty feet. It is still standing in good repair,
+    and is about to be used for a school. The rooms are of large
+    size and well finished, the main hall spacious, airy, light and
+    elegant. Grape-vines were trained by the side of the building,
+    flowers were cultivated, and the adjoining ground was planted
+    with shade-trees. Two orchards of every variety of choice fruit
+    (one of forty acres) were planted, and small fruits and all
+    kinds of vegetables were raised on a large scale. The Society
+    were the first to grow okra or gumbo for the New York market,
+    and those still living there continue its cultivation and
+    control supplies. A durable stream ran near by; on its banks
+    were pleasant walks, which are unchanged, shaded by chestnut
+    and walnut trees. On this stream they built a first-class
+    grist-mill. Not only did it do good work, but they established
+    the manufacture of hominy and other products which gave them a
+    valued reputation, and the profits of this mill nearly earned
+    their bread.
+
+    "It was necessary to make the soil highly productive, and many
+    German and other laborers were employed. The number of members
+    was about one hundred, and visitors were constant. Of all the
+    Associations, this was the best, and on it were fixed the hopes
+    of the reformers. The chief pursuit was agriculture. Education
+    was considered important, and they had good teachers and
+    schools. Many young persons owed to the Phalanx an education
+    which secured them honorable and profitable situations.
+
+    "The society was select, and it was highly enjoyed. To this day
+    do members, and particularly women, look back to that period as
+    the happiest in their lives. Young people have few proper wishes
+    which were not gratified. They seemed enclosed within walls
+    which beat back the storms of life. They were surrounded by
+    whatever was useful, innocent and beautiful. Neighborhood
+    quarrels were unknown, nor was there trouble among children.
+    There were a few white-eyed women who liked to repeat stories,
+    but they soon sunk to their true value.
+
+    "After they had lived this life fourteen years,[A] their mill
+    burned down. Mr. Greeley offered to lend them $12,000 to
+    rebuild it. They were divided on the subject of location. Some
+    wanted to build at Red Bank, to save hauling. They could not
+    agree. But there was another subject on which they did agree.
+    Some suggested that they had better not build at all! that they
+    had better dissolve! The question was put, and to every one's
+    surprise, decided that they would dissolve. Accordingly the
+    property was sold, and it brought sixty-six cents on a dollar.
+    In a manner the sale was forced. Previously the stockholders had
+    been receiving yearly dividends, and they lost little.
+
+    "While the young had been so happy, and while the women, with
+    some exceptions, enjoyed society, with scarcely a cause for
+    disquiet, fathers had been considering the future prospects of
+    those they loved. The pay for their work was out of the profits,
+    and on a joint-stock principle. Work was credited in hours, and
+    on striking a dividend, one hour had produced a certain sum. A
+    foreman, a skillful man, had an additional reward. It was five
+    cents a day. One of the chief foremen told me that after working
+    all day with the Germans, and working hard, so that there would
+    be no delay he had to arrange what each was to do in the
+    morning. Often he would be awakened by falling rain. He would
+    long be sleepless in re-arranging his plans. A skillful teacher
+    got an additional five cents. All this was in accordance with
+    democratic principles. I was told that the average wages did not
+    exceed twenty cents a day. You see capital drew a certain share
+    which labor had to pay. But this was of no consequence,
+    providing the institution was perpetual. There they could live
+    and die. Some, however, ran in debt each year. With large
+    families and small wages, they could not hold their own. These
+    men had long been uneasy.
+
+    "There was a public table where all meals were eaten. At first
+    there was a lack of conveniences, and there was much hard work.
+    Mothers sent their children to school, and became cooks and
+    chamber-maids. The most energetic lady took charge of the
+    washing group. This meant she had to work hardest. Some of the
+    best women, though filled with enthusiasm for the cause, broke
+    down with hard work. Afterward there were proper conveniences;
+    but they did not prevent the purchase of hair-dye. The idea that
+    woman in Association was to be relieved of many cares, was not
+    realized.
+
+    "On some occasions, perhaps for reasons known at the time, there
+    was a scarcity of victuals. One morning all they had to eat was
+    buckwheat cakes and water. I think they must have had salt. In
+    another Phalanx, one breakfast was mush. Every member felt
+    ashamed.
+
+    "The combined order had been strongly recommended for its
+    economies. All articles were to be purchased at wholesale; food
+    would be cheaper; and cooking when done for many by a few, would
+    cost little. In practice there were developments not looked for.
+    The men were not at all alike. Some so contrived their work as
+    not to be distant at meal-time. They always heard the first
+    ringing of the bell. In the preparation of food, naturally,
+    there will be small quantities which are choice. In families
+    these are thought much of, and are dealt out by a mother's good
+    hands. They come last. But here, in the New Jerusalem, those who
+    were ready to eat, seized upon such the first thing. If they
+    could get enough of it, they would eat nothing else.
+
+    "You know that in all kinds of business there must be men to
+    see that nothing is neglected. On a farm teams must be fed and
+    watered, cattle driven up or out, and bars or gates closed. They
+    who did these things were likely to come to their meals late.
+    They were sweaty and dirty, their feet dragged heavy. First they
+    must wash. On sitting down they had to rest a little. Naturally
+    they would look around. At such times one's wife watches him. At
+    a glance she can see a cloud pass across his face. He need not
+    speak to tell her his thoughts. She can read him better than a
+    Bible in large type. In one Phalanx where I was acquainted, the
+    public table was thrown up in disgust, like a pack of unlucky
+    cards.
+
+    "But our North Americans were determined. To give to all as good
+    food as the early birds were getting, it was necessary to
+    provide large quantities. When this was done, living became very
+    expensive and the economies of Association disappeared.
+
+    "They had to take another step. They established an eating-house
+    on what is called the European plan. The plainest and the
+    choicest food was provided. Whatever one might desire he could
+    have. His meal might cost him ten cents or five dollars. When he
+    finished eating he received a counter or ticket, and went to the
+    office and settled. He handed over his ticket, and the amount
+    printed on it was charged to him. For instance, a man has the
+    following family: first, wifey, and then, George, Emily, Mary,
+    Ralph and Rosa. They sit at a table by themselves, unless wifey
+    is in the kitchen, with a red face, baking buckwheat cakes with
+    all her might. They select their breakfast--a bill of fare is
+    printed every day--and they have ham and eggs, fifteen cents;
+    sausage, ten cents; cakes, fifteen cents; fish, ten cents; and
+    a cup of coffee and six glasses of water, five cents; total,
+    fifty-five cents, which is charged, and they go about their
+    business. If wifey had been to work, she would eat afterward,
+    and though she too would have to pay, she was credited with
+    cake-baking. One should be so charitable as to suppose that she
+    earned enough to pay for the meal that she ate sitting sideways.
+    To keep these accounts, a book-keeper was required all day. One
+    would think this a curious way; but it was the only one by which
+    they could choke off the birds of prey. One would think, too,
+    that Rosa, Mary and Co., might have helped get breakfast; but
+    the plan was to get rid of drudgery.
+
+    "Again, there was another class. They were sociable and amiable
+    men. Everybody liked to hear them talk, and chiefly they secured
+    admission for these qualities. Unfortunately they did not bring
+    much with them. All through life they had been unlucky. There
+    was what was called the Council of Industry, which discussed and
+    decided all plans and varieties of work. With them originated
+    every new enterprise. If a man wanted an order for goods at a
+    store, they granted or refused it. Some of these amiable men
+    would be elected members; it was easy for them to get office,
+    and they greatly directed in all industrial operations. At the
+    same time those really practical would attempt to counteract
+    these men; but they could not talk well, though they tried hard.
+    I have never seen men desire more to be eloquent than they;
+    their most powerful appeals were when they blushed with silent
+    indignation. But there was one thing they could do well, and
+    that was to grumble while at work. They could make an impression
+    then. Fancy the result.
+
+    "Lastly: the rooms where families lived adjoined each other, or
+    were divided by long halls. Young men do not always go to bed
+    early. Perhaps they would be out late sparking, and they
+    returned to their rooms before morning. A man was apt to call to
+    mind the words of the country mouse lamenting that he had left
+    his hollow tree. Sometimes one had a few words to say to his
+    wife when he was not in good humor on account of bad digestion.
+    When some one overheard him, they would think of her delicate
+    blooming face, and her ear-rings and finger-rings, and wonder,
+    but keep silent; while others thought that they had a good thing
+    to tell of. But let no one be troubled. These two will cling to
+    each other, and nothing but death can separate them. He will
+    bear these things a long time, winking with both eyes; but at
+    last he thinks that they should have a little more room, and she
+    heartily agrees.
+
+    "Fourteen years make a long period. At last they learned that it
+    was easy enough to get lazy men, but practical and thorough
+    business men were scarce. Five cents a day extra was not
+    sufficient to secure them. A promising, ambitious young man
+    growing up among them, did not see great inducements. He heard
+    of the world; men made money there. His curiosity was great. One
+    can see that the Association was likely to be childless.
+
+    "Learning these things which Fourier had not set down, their
+    mill took fire. Still they were out of debt. They were doing
+    well. The soil had been brought to a high state of cultivation.
+    Of the fifteen or twenty Associations through the country, their
+    situation and advantages were decidedly superior. I inquired of
+    the old members remaining on the ground, and who bought the
+    property and are doing well, the reason for their failure. They
+    admit there was no good reason to prevent their going on, except
+    the disposition. But Fourier did not recommend starting with
+    less than eighteen hundred. When I asked them what would have
+    been the result if they had had this number, they said they
+    would have broken up in less than two years. Generally men are
+    not prepared. Association is for the future.
+
+    "I found one still sanguine. He believes there are now men
+    enough afloat, successfully to establish an Association. They
+    should quietly commence in a town. There should be means for
+    doing work cheaply by machinery. A few hands can wash and iron
+    for several hundred in the same manner as it is done in our
+    public institutions. Baking, cooking and sewing can be done in
+    the same way. There is no disputing the fact that these means
+    did not exist twenty years ago. Gradually family after family
+    could be brought together. In time a whole town would be
+    captured.
+
+    "The plausible and the easy again arise in this age. Let no one
+    mistake a mirage for a real image. Disaster will attend any
+    attempt at social reform, if the marriage relation is even
+    suspected to be rendered less happy. The family is a rock
+    against which all objects not only will dash in vain, but they
+    will fall shivered at its base.
+
+                                                         "N.C.M."
+
+But even marriage and family, rocks though they are, have to yield to
+earthquakes: and Fourierism, in which Meeker delighted, was one of the
+upheavals that have unsettled them. They will have to be
+reconstructed.
+
+The latest visitor to the remains of the North American whose
+observations have fallen under our notice, is Mr. E.H. Hamilton, a
+leading member of the Oneida Community. His letter in the _Circular_
+of April 13, 1868, will be a fitting conclusion to this account; as
+well for the new peep it gives us into the causes of failure, as for
+its appropriate reflections.
+
+
+Why the North American Phalanx failed.
+
+
+                                     "_New York, March 31, 1868._
+
+    "Business called me a short time ago to visit the domain once
+    occupied by the North American Phalanx. The gentleman whom I
+    wished to see, resided in a part of the old mansion, once warm
+    and lively with the daily activities and bright anticipations of
+    enthusiastic Associationists. The closed windows and silent
+    halls told of failure and disappointment. When individuals or a
+    Community push out of the common channel, and with great
+    self-sacrifice seek after a better life, their failure is as
+    disheartening as their success would have been cheering. Why did
+    they fail?
+
+    "The following story from an old member and eye-witness whom I
+    chanced to meet in the neighboring village, impressed me, and
+    was so suggestive that I entered it in my note-book. After
+    inquiring about the Oneida Community, he told his tale almost
+    word for word, as follows:
+
+    _C._--My interest in Association turns entirely on its relations
+    to industry. In our attempt, a number of persons came together
+    possessed of small means and limited ideas. After such a company
+    has struggled on a few years as we did, resolutely contending
+    with difficulties, a vista will open, light will break in upon
+    them, and they will see a pathway opening. So it was with us. We
+    prospered in finances. Our main business grew better; but the
+    mill with which it was connected grew poorer, till the need of
+    a new building was fairly before us. One of our members offered
+    to advance the money to erect a new mill. A stream was surveyed,
+    a site selected. One of our neighbors whose land we wanted to
+    flow, held off for a bonus. This provoked us and we dropped the
+    project for the time. At this juncture it occurred to some of us
+    to put up a steam-mill at Red Bank. This was the vista that
+    opened to us. Here we would be in water-communication with New
+    York city. Some $2,000 a year would be saved in teaming. This
+    steam-mill would furnish power for other industries. Our
+    mechanics would follow, and the mansion at Red Bank become the
+    center of the Association, and finally the center of the town.
+    Our secretary was absent during this discussion. I was fearful
+    he would not approve of the project, and told some of our
+    members so. On his return we laid the plan before him, and he
+    said no. This killed the Phalanx. A number of us were
+    dissatisfied with this decision, and thirty left in a body to
+    start another movement, which broke the back of the Association.
+    The secretary was one of our most enthusiastic members and a man
+    of good judgment; but he let his fears govern him in this
+    matter. I believe he sees his mistake now. The organization
+    lingered along two years, when the old mill took fire and burned
+    down; and it became necessary to close up affairs.
+
+    _E.H.H._--Would it not have been better if your company of
+    thirty had been patient, and gone on quietly till the others
+    were converted to your views? If truth were on your side, it
+    would in time have prevailed over their objections.
+
+    _C._--I would not give a cent for a person's conversion. When a
+    truth is submitted to a body of persons, a few only will accept
+    it. The great body can not, because their minds are unprepared.
+
+    _E.H.H._--How did your company succeed in their new movement?
+
+    _C._--We failed because we made a mistake. The great mistake
+    Associationists every where made, all through these movements,
+    was to locate in obscure places which were unsuitable for
+    becoming business centers. Fourier's system is based on a
+    township. An Association to be successful must embrace a
+    township.
+
+    _E.H.H._--Well, suppose you get together a number sufficient to
+    form a township, and become satisfactorily organized, will there
+    not still remain this liability to be broken up by diversity of
+    judgments arising, as in the instance you have just related to
+    me?
+
+    _C._--No; let the movement be organized aright and it might
+    break up every day and not fail.
+
+    "Here ended the conversation. The story interested me
+    especially, because it taught so clearly that the success of
+    Communism depends upon something else besides money-making. When
+    Hepworth Dixon visited this country and inquired about the
+    Oneida Community, Horace Greeley told him he would 'find the
+    O.C. a trade success.' Now according to C.'s story the North
+    American Phalanx entered the stage of 'trade success,' and then
+    failed because it lacked the _faculty of agreement_. It is
+    patent to every person of good sense, that 'a house divided
+    against itself can not stand.' Divisions in a household, in an
+    army, in a nation, are disastrous, and unless healed, are
+    finally fatal. The great lesson that the Oneida Community has
+    been learning, is, that agreement is possible. In cases where
+    diversity of judgment has arisen, we have always secured
+    unanimity by being patient with each other, waiting, and
+    submitting all minds to the Spirit of Truth. We have experienced
+    this result over and over again, until it has become a settled
+    conviction through the Community, that when a project is brought
+    forward for discussion, the best thing will be done, and we
+    shall all be of one mind about it. How many times questions have
+    arisen that would have destroyed us like the North American
+    Phalanx, were it not for this ability to come to an agreement!
+    Prosperity puts this power of harmony to a greater test than
+    adversity. When we built our new house, how many were the
+    different minds about material, location, plan! How were our
+    feelings wrought up! Party-spirit ran high. There was the stone
+    party, the brick party, and the concrete-wall party. Yet by
+    patience, forbearing one with another and submitting one to
+    another, the final result satisfied every one. Unity is the
+    essential thing. Secure that, and financial success and all
+    other good things will follow."
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[A] To be exact, this should be eleven years instead of fourteen. The
+Phalanx commenced operations in September, 1843, and the fire occurred
+in September, 1854. The whole duration of the experiment was only a
+little over twelve years, as the domain was sold, according to Alfred
+Cridge, in the winter of 1855-6.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+CONVERSION OF BROOK FARM TO FOURIERISM.
+
+
+At the beginning of our history of the Fourier epoch, we gave an
+account of the origin of the Brook Farm Association in 1841, and
+traced its career till the latter part of 1843. So far we found it to
+be an original American experiment, not affiliated to Fourier, but to
+Dr. Channing; and we classed it with the Hopedale, Northampton and
+Skaneateles Communities, as one of the preparations for Fourierism.
+Now, at the close of our history, we must return to Brook Farm and
+follow it through its transformation into a Fourierist Phalanx, and
+its career as a public teacher and propagandist.
+
+In the final number of the _Dial_, dated April 1844, Miss E.P. Peabody
+published an article on Fourierism, which commences as follows:
+
+    "In the last week of December, 1843, and first week of January,
+    1844, a convention was held in Boston, which may be considered
+    as the first publication of Fourierism in this region.
+
+    "The works of Fourier do not seem to have reached us, and this
+    want of text has been ill supplied by various conjectures
+    respecting them; some of which are more remarkable for the
+    morbid imagination they display than for their sagacity. For
+    ourselves we confess to some remembrances of vague horror
+    connected with this name, as if it were some enormous parasitic
+    plant, sucking the life principles of society, while it spread
+    apparently an equal shade, inviting man to repose under its
+    beautiful but poison-dropping branches. We still have a certain
+    question about Fourierism, considered as a catholicon for evil;
+    but our absurd horrors were dissipated, and a feeling of genuine
+    respect for the friends of the movement ensured, as we heard the
+    exposition of the doctrine of Association, by Mr. Channing and
+    others. That name [Channing] already consecrated to humanity,
+    seemed to us to have worthily fallen, with the mantle of the
+    philanthropic spirit, upon this eloquent expounder of Socialism;
+    in whose voice and countenance, as well as in his pleadings for
+    humanity, the spirit of his great kinsman still seemed to speak.
+    We can not sufficiently lament that there was no reporter of the
+    speech of Mr. Channing."
+
+At the close of this article Miss Peabody says:
+
+    "We understand that Brook Farm has become a Fourierist
+    establishment. We rejoice in this, because such persons as form
+    that Association, will give it a fair experiment. We wish it
+    Godspeed. May it become a University, where the young American
+    shall learn his duties, and become worthy of this broad land of
+    his inheritance."
+
+William H. Channing, in the _Present_, January 15, 1844, gives an
+account of this same Boston convention, from which we extract as
+follows:
+
+    "This convention marked an era in the history of New England.
+    It was the commencement of a public movement upon the subject of
+    social reform, which will flow on, wider, deeper, stronger,
+    until it has proved in deeds the practicability of societies
+    organized, from their central principle of faith to the minutest
+    detail of industry and pleasure, according to the order of love.
+    This movement has been long gathering. A hundred rills and
+    rivers of humanity have fed it.
+
+    "The number of attendants and their interest increased to the
+    end, as was manifested by the continuance of the meetings from
+    Wednesday, December 27th, when the convention had expected to
+    adjourn, through Thursday and Friday. The convention was
+    organized by the choice of William Bassett, of Lynn, as
+    President; of Adin Ballou, of Hopedale, G.W. Benson, of
+    Northampton, George Ripley, of Brook Farm, and James N. Buffum,
+    of Lynn, as Vice-Presidents; and of Eliza J. Kenney, of Salem,
+    and Charles A. Dana, of Brook Farm, as Secretaries. The
+    Associations of Northampton, Hopedale and Brook Farm, were each
+    well represented.
+
+    "It was instructive to observe that practical and scientific men
+    constantly confirmed, and often apparently without being aware
+    of it, the doctrines of social science as announced by Fourier.
+    Indeed, in proportion to the degree of one's intimacy with this
+    profound student of harmony, does respect increase for his
+    admirable intellectual power, his foresight, sagacity,
+    completeness. And for one, I am desirous to state, that the
+    chief reason which prevents my most public confession of
+    confidence in him as the one teacher now most needed, is, that
+    honor for such a patient and conscientious investigator demands,
+    of all who would justify his views, a simplicity of affection,
+    an extent and accuracy of knowledge, an intensity of thought, to
+    which very few can now lay claim. Quite far am I from saying,
+    that as now enlightened, I adopt all his opinions; on the
+    contrary, there are some I reject; but it is a pleasure to
+    express gratitude to Charles Fourier, for having opened a whole
+    new world of study, hope and action. It does seem to me, that he
+    has given us the clue out of our scientific labyrinth, and
+    revealed the means of living the law of love."
+
+The _Phalanx_ of February 5, 1844, refers to the revolution going on
+at Brook Farm, as follows:
+
+    "The Brook Farm Association, near Boston, is now in process of
+    transformation and extension from its former condition of an
+    educational establishment mainly, to a regularly organized
+    Association, embracing the various departments of industry, art
+    and science. At the head of this movement, are George Ripley,
+    Minot Pratt and Charles A. Dana. We can not speak in too high
+    terms of these men and their enterprise. They are gentlemen of
+    high standing in the community, and unite in an eminent degree,
+    talent, scientific attainments and refinement, with great
+    practical energy and experience. This Association has a fine
+    spiritual basis in those already connected with it, and we hope
+    that it will be able to rally to its aid the industrial skill
+    and capital necessary to organize an Association, in which
+    productive labor, art, science, and the social and the religious
+    affections, will be so wisely and beautifully blended and
+    combined, that they will lend reciprocal strength, support,
+    elevation and refinement to each other, and secure abundance,
+    give health to the body, development and expansion to the mind,
+    and exaltation to the soul. We are convinced that there are
+    abundant means and material in New England now ready to form a
+    fine Association; they have only to be sought out and brought
+    together."
+
+From these hints it is evident that the Brook Farmers were fully
+converted to Fourierism in the winter of 1843-4, and that William H.
+Channing led the way in this conversion. He had been publishing the
+_Present_ since September 1843, side by side with the _Phalanx_ (which
+commenced in October of that year); and though he, like the rest of
+the Massachusetts Socialists, began with some shyness of Fourierism,
+he had gradually fallen into the Brisbane and Greeley movement, till
+at last the _Present_ was hardly distinguishable in its general drift
+from the _Phalanx_. Accordingly in April, 1844, just at the time when
+the _Dial_ ended its career, as we have seen, with a confession of
+quasi-conversion to Fourierism, the _Present_ also concluded its
+labors with a twenty-five-page exposition of Fourier's system, and the
+_Phalanx_ assumed its subscription list.
+
+The connection of the Channings with Fourierism, then, stands thus:
+Dr. Channing, the first medium of the Unitarian afflatus, was the
+father (by suggestion) of the Brook Farm Association, which was
+originally called the West Roxbury Community. William H. Channing, the
+second medium according to Miss Peabody, converted this Community to
+Fourierism and changed it into a Phalanx. The _Dial_, which Emerson
+says was also a suggestion of Dr. Channing, and the _Present_, which
+was edited by William H. Channing, ended their careers in the same
+month, both hailing the advent of Fourierism, and the _Phalanx_ and
+_Harbinger_ became their successors.
+
+The _Dial_ and _Present_, in thus surrendering their Roxbury daughter
+as a bride to Fourierism, did not neglect to give her with their dying
+breath some good counsel and warning. We will grace our pages with a
+specimen from each. Miss Peabody in the _Dial_ moralizes thus:
+
+    "The social passions, set free to act, do not carry within them
+    their own rule, nor the pledge of conferring happiness. They can
+    only get this from the free action upon them of the intellectual
+    passions which constitute human reason.
+
+    "But these functions of reason, do they carry within themselves
+    the pledge of their own continued health and harmonious action?
+
+    "Here Fourierism stops short, and, in so doing, proves itself to
+    be, not a life, a soul, but only a body. It may be a magnificent
+    body for humanity to dwell in for a season; and one for which it
+    may be wise to quit old diseased carcases, which now go by the
+    proud name of civilization. But if its friends pretend for it
+    any higher character than that of a body, thus turning men from
+    seeking for principles of life essentially above organization,
+    it will prove but another, perhaps a greater curse.
+
+    "The question is, whether the Phalanx acknowledges its own
+    limitations of nature, in being an organization, or opens up any
+    avenue into the source of life that shall keep it sweet,
+    enabling it to assimilate to itself contrary elements, and
+    consume its own waste; so that, phoenix-like, it may renew
+    itself forever in greater and finer forms.
+
+    "This question, the Fourierists in the convention, from whom
+    alone we have learned any thing of Fourierism, did not seem to
+    have considered. But this is a vital point.
+
+    "The life of the world is now the Christian life. For eighteen
+    centuries, art, literature, philosophy, poetry, have followed
+    the fortunes of the Christian idea. Ancient history is the
+    history of the apotheosis of nature, or natural religion; modern
+    history is the history of an idea, or revealed religion. In vain
+    will any thing try to be, which is not supported thereby.
+    Fourier does homage to Christianity with many words. But this
+    may be cant, though it thinks itself sincere. Besides, there are
+    many things which go by the name of Christianity, that are not
+    it.
+
+    "Let the Fourierists see to it, that there be freedom in their
+    Phalanxes for churches, unsupported by their material
+    organization, and lending them no support on their material
+    side. Independently existing, within them but not of them,
+    feeding on ideas, forgetting that which is behind petrified into
+    performance, and pressing on to the stature of the perfect man,
+    they will finally spread themselves in spirit over the whole
+    body.
+
+    "In fine, it is our belief, that unless the Fourierist bodies
+    are made alive by Christ, 'their constitution will not march;'
+    and the galvanic force of reaction, by which they move for a
+    season, will not preserve them from corruption. As the
+    corruption of the best is the worst, the warmer the friends of
+    Fourierism are, the more awake should they be to this danger,
+    and the more energetic to avert it."
+
+Charles Lane in the _Present_ discoursed still more profoundly, as
+follows:
+
+    "Some questions, of a nice importance, may be considered by the
+    Phalanx before they set out, or at least on the journey, for
+    they will have weighty, nay, decisive influences on the final
+    result. One of these, perhaps the one most deserving attention,
+    nay, perhaps that upon which all others hinge, is the adjustment
+    of those human affections, out of which the present family
+    arrangements spring. In a country like the United States of
+    North America, where food is very cheap, and all the needs of
+    life lie close to the industrious hand, it is very rare to find
+    a family of old parents with their sons and daughters married
+    and residing under the same roof. The universal bond is so weak,
+    or the individual bond is so strong, that one married pair is
+    deemed a sufficient swarm of human bees to hive off and form a
+    new colony. How, then, can it be hoped that there is universal
+    affection sufficient to unite many such families in one body for
+    the common good? If, with the natural affections to aid the
+    attempt to meliorate the hardships and difficulties in natural
+    life, it is rare, nay, almost impossible, to unite three
+    families in one bond of fellowship, how shall a greater number
+    be brought together? If, in cases where the individual
+    characters are known, can be relied on, are trusted with each
+    other's affections, property and person, such union can not be
+    formed, how shall it be constructed among strangers, or
+    doubtful, or untried characters? The pressing necessities in
+    isolated families, the great advantages in even the smallest
+    union, are obvious to all, not least to the country families in
+    this land; yet they unite not, but out of every pair of
+    affectionate hearts they construct a new roof-tree, a new
+    hearth-stone, at which they worship as at their exclusive altar.
+
+    "Is there some secret leaven in this conjugal mixture, which
+    declares all other union to be out of the possible affinities?
+    Is this mixture of male and female so very potent, as to hinder
+    universal or even general union? Surely it can not happen, in
+    all those numerous instances wherein re-unions of families would
+    obviously work so advantageously for all parties, that there are
+    qualities of mind so foreign and opposed, that no one could
+    beneficially be consummated. Or is it certain, that in these
+    natural affections and their consequences in living offspring,
+    there is an element so subversive of general Association that
+    the two can not co-exist? The facts seem to maintain such a
+    hypothesis. History has not yet furnished one instance of
+    combined individual and universal life. Prophecy holds not very
+    strong or clear language on the point. Plato scarcely fancied
+    the possible union of the two affections; the religious
+    Associations of past or present times have not attempted it; and
+    Fourier, the most sanguine of all futurists, does not deliver
+    very succinct or decisive oracles on the subject.
+
+    "Can we make any approximation to axiomatical truth for
+    ourselves? May we not say that it is no more possible for the
+    human affections to flow at once in two opposite directions,
+    than it is for a stream of water to do so? A divided heart is an
+    impossibility. We must either serve the universal (God), or the
+    individual (Mammon). Both we can not serve. Now, marriage, as at
+    present constituted, is most decidedly an individual, and not a
+    universal act. It is an individual act, too, of a depreciated
+    and selfish kind. The spouse is an expansion and enlargement of
+    one's self, and the children participate of the same nature. The
+    all-absorbent influence of this union is too obvious to be dwelt
+    upon. It is used to justify every glaring and cruel act of
+    selfish acquisition. It is made the ground-work of the
+    institution of property, which is itself the foundation of so
+    many evils. This institution of property and its numerous
+    auxiliaries must be abrogated in associative life, or it will be
+    little better than isolated life. But it can not, it will not be
+    repealed, so long as marital unions are indulged in; for, up to
+    this very hour, we are celebrating the act as the most sacred on
+    earth, and what is called providing for the family, as the most
+    onerous and holy duty.
+
+    "The lips of the purest living advocates of human improvement,
+    Pestalozzi, J.P. Greaves and others, are scarcely silent from
+    the most strenuous appeals to mothers, to develop in their
+    offspring the germs of all truth, as the highest resource for
+    the regeneration of our race; and we are now turning round upon
+    them and declaring, that naught but a deeper development of
+    mortal selfishness can result from such a course. At least such
+    seems to be a consequence of the present argument. Yet, if it be
+    true, we must face it. This is at least an inquiry which must be
+    answered. It is certain, indeed, that if there be a source of
+    truth in the human soul, deeper than all selfishness, it may be
+    consciously opened by appeals which shall enforce their way
+    beneath the human selfishness which is superincumbent on the
+    divine origin. Then we may possibly be at work on that ground
+    whereon universal Association can be based. But must not,
+    therefore, individual (or dual) union cease? Here is our
+    predicament. It haunts us at every turn; as the poets represent
+    the disturbed wanderings of a departed spirit. And
+    reconciliation of the two is not yet so clearly revealed to the
+    faithful soul, as the headlong indulgence is practiced by the
+    selfish. It is an axiom that new results can only be arrived at
+    by action on new principles, or in new modes. The old principle
+    and mode of isolated families has not led to happy results. This
+    is a fact admitted on all hands. Let us then try what the
+    consociate, or universal family will produce. But, then, let us
+    not seduce ourselves by vain hopes. Let us not fail to see, that
+    to this end the individual selfishness, or, if so they must be
+    called, the holy gratifications of human nature, must be
+    sacrificed and subdued. As has been affirmed above, the two can
+    not be maintained together. We must either cling to heaven, or
+    abide on earth; we must adhere to the divine, or indulge in the
+    human attractions. We must either be wedded to God or to our
+    fellow humanity. To speak in academical language, the
+    conjunction in this case is the disjunctive 'or,' not the
+    copulative 'and.' Both these marriages, that is, of the soul
+    with God, and of soul with soul, can not exist together. It
+    remains, therefore, for us, for the youthful spirit of the
+    present, for the faithfully intelligent and determinedly true,
+    to say which of the two marriages they will entertain."
+
+In consummation of their union with Fourierism, the Brook Farmers
+formed and published a new constitution, confessing in its preamble
+their conversion, and offering themselves to Socialists at large as a
+nucleus for a model Phalanx. They say:
+
+    "The Association at Brook Farm has now been in existence upwards
+    of two years. Originating in the thought and experience of a
+    few individuals, it has hitherto worn, for the most part, the
+    character of a private experiment, and has avoided rather than
+    sought the notice of the public. It has, until the present time,
+    seemed fittest to those engaged in this enterprise to publish no
+    statements of their purposes or methods, to make no promises or
+    declarations, but quietly and sincerely to realize as far as
+    might be possible, the great ideas which gave the central
+    impulse to their movement. It has been thought that a steady
+    endeavor to embody these ideas more and more perfectly in life,
+    would give the best answer, both to the hopes of the friendly
+    and the cavils of the skeptical, and furnish in its results the
+    surest grounds for any larger efforts.
+
+    "Meanwhile every step has strengthened the faith with which we
+    set out; our belief in a divine order of human society, has in
+    our own minds become an absolute certainty; and considering the
+    present state of humanity and of social science, we do not
+    hesitate to affirm that the world is much nearer the attainment
+    of such a condition than is generally supposed. The deep
+    interest in the doctrine of Association which now fills the
+    minds of intelligent persons every where, indicates plainly that
+    the time has passed when even initiative movements ought to be
+    prosecuted in silence, and makes it imperative on all who have
+    either a theoretical or practical knowledge of the subject, to
+    give their share to the stock of public information.
+
+    "Accordingly we have taken occasion at several public meetings
+    recently held in Boston, to state some of the results of our
+    studies and experience, and we desire here to say emphatically,
+    that while on the one hand we yield an unqualified assent to
+    that doctrine of universal unity which Fourier teaches, so on
+    the other, our whole observation has shown us the truth of the
+    practical arrangements which he deduces therefrom. The law of
+    groups and series is, as we are convinced, the law of human
+    nature, and when men are in true social relations their
+    industrial organization will necessarily assume those forms.
+
+    "But beside the demand for information respecting the principles
+    of Association, there is a deeper call for action in the matter.
+    We wish, therefore, to bring Brook Farm before the public, as a
+    location offering at least as great advantages for a thorough
+    experiment as can be found in the vicinity of Boston. It is
+    situated in West Roxbury, three miles from the depot of the
+    Dedham Branch Railroad, and about eight miles from Boston, and
+    combines a convenient nearness to the city, with a degree of
+    retirement and freedom from unfavorable influences, unusual even
+    in the country. The place is one of great natural beauty, and
+    indeed the whole landscape is so rich and various as to attract
+    the notice even of casual visitors. The farm now owned by the
+    Association contains two hundred and eight acres, of as good
+    quality as any land in the neighborhood of Boston, and can be
+    enlarged by the purchase of land adjoining, to any necessary
+    extent. The property now in the hands of the Association is
+    worth nearly or quite thirty thousand dollars, of which about
+    twenty-two thousand dollars is invested either in the stock of
+    the company, or in permanent loans at six per cent., which can
+    remain as long as the Association may wish.
+
+    "The fact that so large an amount of capital is already invested
+    and at our service, as the basis of more extensive operations,
+    furnishes a reason why Brook Farm should be chosen as the scene
+    of that practical trial of Association which the public feeling
+    calls for in this immediate vicinity, instead of forming an
+    entirely new organization for that purpose. The completeness of
+    our educational department is also not to be overlooked. This
+    has hitherto received our greatest care, and in forming it we
+    have been particularly successful. In any new Association it
+    must be many years before so many accomplished and skillful
+    teachers in the various branches of intellectual culture could
+    be enlisted. Another strong reason is to be found in the degree
+    of order our organization has already attained, by the help of
+    which a large Association might be formed without the losses and
+    inconveniences which would otherwise necessarily occur. The
+    experience of nearly three years in all the misfortunes and
+    mistakes incident to an undertaking so new and so little
+    understood, carried on throughout by persons not entirely fitted
+    for the duties they have been compelled to perform, has, we
+    think, prepared us to assist in the safe conduct of an extensive
+    and complete Association.
+
+    "Such an institution, as will be plain to all, can not by any
+    sure means be brought at once and full-grown into existence. It
+    must, at least in the present state of society, begin with a
+    comparatively small number of select and devoted persons, and
+    increase by natural and gradual aggregations. With a view to an
+    ultimate expansion into a perfect Phalanx, we desire to organize
+    immediately the three primary departments of labor, agriculture,
+    domestic industry and the mechanic arts. For this purpose
+    additional capital will be needed, etc.
+
+                     GEORGE RIPLEY, MINOT PRATT, CHARLES A. DANA.
+    "_Brook Farm, January 18, 1844._"
+
+Here follows the usual appeal for co-operation and investments. In
+October following a second edition of this constitution was issued, in
+the preamble of which the officers say:
+
+    "The friends of the cause will be gratified to learn, that the
+    appeal in behalf of Brook Farm, contained in the introductory
+    statement of our constitution, has been generously answered, and
+    that the situation of the Association is highly encouraging. In
+    the half-year that has elapsed, our numbers have been increased
+    by the addition of many skillful and enthusiastic laborers in
+    various departments, and our capital has been enlarged by the
+    subscription of about ten thousand dollars. Our organization has
+    acquired a more systematic form, though with our comparatively
+    small numbers we can only approximate to truly scientific
+    arrangements. Still with the unavoidable deficiencies of our
+    groups and series, their action is remarkable, and fully
+    justifies our anticipations of great results from applying the
+    principles of universal order to industry.
+
+    "We have made considerable agricultural improvements; we have
+    erected a work-shop sixty feet by twenty-eight for mechanics of
+    several trades, some of which are already in operation; and we
+    are now engaged in building a section one hundred and
+    seventy-five feet by forty, of a Phalanstery or unitary
+    dwelling. Our first object is to collect those who, from their
+    character and convictions, are qualified to aid in the
+    experiment we are engaged in, and to furnish them with
+    convenient and comfortable habitations, at the smallest possible
+    outlay. For this purpose the most careful economy is used,
+    though we are yet able to attain many of the peculiar
+    advantages of the Associated household. Still for transitional
+    society, and for comparatively temporary use, a social edifice
+    can not be made free from the defects of civilized architecture.
+    When our Phalanx has become sufficiently large, and has in some
+    measure accomplished its great purposes, the serial organization
+    of labor and unitary education, we shall have it in our power to
+    build a Phalanstery with the magnificence and permanence proper
+    to such a structure."
+
+Whereupon the appeal for help is repeated. Finally, in May 1845 this
+new constitution was published in the _Phalanx_, with a new preamble.
+In the previous editions the society had been styled the "Brook Farm
+Association for Education and Industry;" but in this issue, Article 1
+Section 1 declares that "the name of this Association shall be The
+Brook Farm Phalanx." We quote a few paragraphs from the preamble:
+
+    "At the last session of the legislature of Massachusetts, our
+    Association was incorporated under the name which it now
+    assumes, with the right to hold real estate to the amount of one
+    hundred thousand dollars. This confers upon us all the usual
+    powers and privileges of chartered companies.
+
+    "Nothing is now necessary to the greatest possible measure of
+    success, but capital to furnish sufficient means to enable us to
+    develop every department to advantage. This capital we can now
+    apply profitably and without danger of loss. We are well aware
+    that there must be risk in investing money in an infant
+    Association, as well as in any other untried business; but with
+    the labors of nearly four years we have arrived at a point where
+    this risk hardly exists.
+
+    "By that increasing number whose most ardent desire is to see
+    the experiment of Association fairly tried, we are confident
+    that the appeal we now make will not be received without the
+    most generous response in their power. As far as their means and
+    their utmost exertions can go, they will not suffer so favorable
+    an opportunity for the realization of their fondest hopes to
+    pass unimproved. Nor do we call upon Americans alone, but upon
+    all persons of whatever nation, to whom the doctrines of
+    universal unity have revealed the destiny of man. Especially to
+    those noble men who in Europe have so long and so faithfully
+    labored for the diffusion and propagation of these doctrines, we
+    address what to them will be an occasion of the highest joy, an
+    appeal for fraternal co-operation in behalf of their
+    realization. We announce to them the dawning of that day for
+    which they have so hopefully and so bravely waited, the
+    upspringing of those seeds that they and their compeers have
+    sown. To them it will seem no exaggeration to say that we, their
+    younger brethren, invite their assistance in a movement which,
+    however humble it may superficially appear, is the grandest both
+    in its essential character and its consequences, that can now be
+    proposed to man; a movement whose purpose is the elevation of
+    humanity to its integral rights, and whose results will be the
+    establishment of happiness and peace among the nations of the
+    earth.
+
+                      "By order of the Central Council,
+                                     "GEORGE RIPLEY, _President_.
+
+    "_West Roxbury, May 20, 1845._"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+BROOK FARM PROPAGATING FOURIERISM.
+
+
+Brook Farm having attained the dignity of incorporation and assumed
+the title of Phalanx, was ready to undertake the enterprise of
+propagating Fourierism. Accordingly, in the same number of the
+_Phalanx_ that published the appeal recited at the close of our last
+chapter, appeared the prospectus of a new paper to be called the
+_Harbinger_, with the following editorial notice:
+
+    "Our subscribers will see by the prospectus that the name of the
+    _Phalanx_ is to be changed for that of the _Harbinger_, and that
+    the paper is to be printed in future by the Brook Farm Phalanx."
+
+From this time the main function of Brook Farm was propagandism. It
+published the _Harbinger_ weekly, with a zeal and ability of which our
+readers have seen plenty of specimens. It also instituted a missionary
+society and a lecturing system, of which we will now give some
+account.
+
+New York had hitherto been the head-quarters of Fourierism. Brisbane,
+Greeley and Godwin, the primary men of the cause, lived and published
+there; the _Phalanx_ was issued there; the National Conventions had
+been held there; and there was the seat of the Executive Committee
+that made several abortive attempts to institute a confederation of
+Associations and a national organization of Socialists. But after the
+conversion of Brook Farm, the center of operations was removed from
+New York to Massachusetts. As the _Harbinger_ succeeded to the
+subscription-list and propagandism of the _Phalanx_, so a new National
+Union of Socialists, having its head-quarters nominally at Boston, but
+really at Brook Farm, took the place of the old New York Conventions.
+Of this organization, William H. Channing was the chief-engineer; and
+his zeal and eloquence in that capacity for a short time, well
+entitled him to the honors of the chief Apostle of Fourierism. In fact
+he succeeded to the post of Brisbane. This will be seen in the
+following selections from the _Harbinger_:
+
+    [From William H. Channing's Appeal to Associationists.]
+
+    "BRETHREN:
+
+    "Your prompt and earnest co-operation is requested in fulfilling
+    the design of a society organized May 27, 1846, at Boston,
+    Massachusetts, by a general convention of the friends of
+    Association. This design may be learned from the following
+    extracts from its constitution:
+
+    "'I. The name of this society shall be the American Union of
+    Associationists.
+
+    "'II. Its purpose shall be the establishment of an order of
+    society based on a system of joint-stock property; co-operative
+    labor; association of families; equitable distribution of
+    profits; mutual guarantees; honors according to usefulness;
+    integral education; unity of interests: which system we believe
+    to be in accord with the laws of divine providence and the
+    destiny of man.
+
+    "'III. Its method of operation shall be the appointment of
+    agents, the sending out of lecturers, the issuing of
+    publications, and the formation of a series of affiliated
+    societies which shall be auxiliary to the parent society; in
+    holding meetings, collecting funds, and in every way diffusing
+    the principles of Association: and preparing for their practical
+    application, etc.'
+
+    "We have a solemn and glorious work before us: 1, To
+    indoctrinate the whole people of the United States with the
+    principles of associative unity; 2, To prepare for the time when
+    the nation, like one man, shall re-organize its townships upon
+    the basis of perfect justice.
+
+    "A nobler opportunity was certainly never opened to men, than
+    that which here and now welcomes Associationists. To us has been
+    given the very word which this people needs as a guide in its
+    onward destiny. This is a Christian Nation; and Association
+    shows how human societies may be so organized in devout
+    obedience to the will of God, as to become true brotherhoods,
+    where the command of universal love may be fulfilled indeed.
+    Thus it meets the present wants of Christians; who, sick of
+    sectarian feuds and theological controversies, shocked at the
+    inconsistencies which disgrace the religious world, at the
+    selfishness, ostentation, and caste which pervade even our
+    worshiping assemblies, at the indifference of man to the claims
+    of his fellow-man throughout our communities in country and
+    city, at the tolerance of monstrous inhumanities by professed
+    ministers and disciples of him whose life was love, are longing
+    for churches which may be really houses of God, glorified with
+    an indwelling spirit of holiness, and filled to overflowing with
+    heavenly charity.
+
+    "Brethren! Can men engaged in so holy and humane a cause as
+    this, which fulfills the good and destroys the evil in existing
+    society throughout our age and nation, which teaches unlimited
+    trust in Divine love, and commands perfect obedience to the laws
+    of Divine order among all people, which heralds the near advent
+    of the reign of heaven on earth--be timid, indifferent,
+    sluggish? Abiding shame will rest upon us, if we put not forth
+    our highest energies in fulfillment of the present command of
+    Providence. Let us be up and doing with all our might.
+
+    "The measures which you are now requested at once and
+    energetically to carry out, are the three following: 1, Organize
+    affiliated societies to act in concert with the American Union
+    of Associationists; 2, Circulate the _Harbinger_ and other
+    papers devoted to Association; 3, Collect funds for the purpose
+    of defraying the expenses of lectures and tracts. It is proposed
+    in the autumn and winter to send out lecturers, in bands and
+    singly, as widely as possible.
+
+    "Our white flag is given to the breeze. Our threefold motto,
+
+    "Unity of man with man in true society,
+
+    "Unity of man with God in true religion,
+
+    "Unity of man with nature in creative art and industry,
+
+    "Is blazoned on its folds. Let hearts, strong in the might of
+    faith and hope and charity, rally to bear it on in triumph. We
+    are sure to conquer. God will work with us; humanity will
+    welcome our word of glad tidings. The future is ours. On! in the
+    name of the Lord.
+
+                                     WILLIAM HENRY CHANNING,
+                  "_Cor. Sec. of the Am. Un. of Associationists._
+
+    "_Brook Farm, June 6, 1846._"
+
+In connection with this appeal, an editorial announced
+
+    _The Mission of Charles A. Dana._
+
+    "The operations of the 'American Union,' will be commenced
+    without delay. Mr. Dana will shortly make a tour through the
+    State of New York as its agent. He will lecture in the principal
+    towns, and take every means to diffuse a knowledge of the
+    principles of Association. Our friends are requested to use
+    their best exertions to prepare for his labors, and give
+    efficiency to them."
+
+A meeting of the American Union of Associationists is reported in the
+_Harbinger_ of June 27, at which all the speakers except Mr. Brisbane,
+were Brook Farmers. The session continued two days, and William H.
+Channing made the closing and electric speeches for both days. The
+editor says:
+
+    "Mr. Channing closed the first day in a speech of the loftiest
+    and purest eloquence, in which he declared the great problem and
+    movement of this day to be that of realizing a unitary church;
+    showed how utterly unchristian is every thing now calling itself
+    a church, and how impossible the solution of this problem, so
+    long as industry tends only to isolate those who would be
+    Christians, and to make them selfish; and ended with announcing
+    the life-long pledge into which the believers in associative
+    unity in this country have entered, that they will not rest nor
+    turn back until the mind of this whole nation is made to see and
+    own the truth which there is in their doctrines. The effect upon
+    all present was electric, and the resolution to adjourn to the
+    next evening, was a resolution to commence then in earnest a
+    great work."
+
+After mentioning many good things said and done on the second day, the
+editor says:
+
+    "It was understood that the whole would be brought to a head and
+    the main and practical business of the meeting set forth by Mr.
+    Channing. His appeal, alike to friends and to opposers of the
+    cause, will dwell like a remembered inspiration in all our
+    minds. It spoke directly to the deepest religious sentiment in
+    every one, and awakened in each a consciousness of a new energy.
+    All the poetic wealth and imagery of the speaker's mind seemed
+    melted over into the speech, as if he would pour out all his
+    life to carry conviction into the hearts of others. He seemed an
+    illustration of a splendid figure which he used, to show the
+    present crisis in this cause. 'It was,' said he, 'nobly,
+    powerfully begun in this country; but, there has been a pause in
+    our movement. When Benvenuto Cellini was casting his great
+    statue, wearied and exhausted he fell asleep. He was roused by
+    the cries of the workmen; Master, come quick, the fires have
+    gone down, and the metal has caked in the running! He hesitated
+    not a moment, but rushed into the palace, seized all the gold
+    and silver vessels, money, ornaments, which he could find, and
+    poured them into the furnace; and whatever he could lay hands on
+    that was combustible, he took to renew the fire. We must begin
+    anew, said he. And the flames roared, and the metal began to
+    run, and the Jupiter came out in complete majesty. Just so our
+    greater work has caked in the running. We have been luke-warm;
+    we have slept. But shall not we throw in all our gold and
+    silver, and throw in ourselves too, since our work is to produce
+    not a mere statue, but a harmonious life of man made perfect in
+    the image of God? Who ever had such motive for action? The
+    Crusaders, on their knees and upon the hilts of their swords,
+    which formed a cross, daily dedicated their lives and their all
+    to the pious resolution of re-conquering the sepulcher in which
+    the dead Lord was laid. But ours is the calling, not to conquer
+    the sepulcher of the dead Lord, but to conquer the world, and
+    bring it in subjection to truth, love and beauty, that the
+    living Christ may at length return and enter upon his Kingdom of
+    Heaven on the earth.'
+
+    "We by no means intend this as a report of Mr. Channing's
+    speech. To reproduce it at all would be impossible. We only tell
+    such few things as we easily remember. He closed with requesting
+    all who had signed the constitution, or who were ready to
+    co-operate with the American Union, to remain at a business
+    meeting.
+
+    "The hour was late and the business was made short. The plans of
+    the executive committee were stated and approved. These were, 1,
+    to send out lecturers; a beginning having been already made in
+    the appointment of Mr. Charles A. Dana as an agent of the
+    society, to proceed this summer upon a lecturing tour through
+    New York, Western Pennsylvania and Ohio; 2, to support the
+    _Harbinger_; and 3, to publish tracts."
+
+This report is followed by another stirring appeal from the Secretary,
+of which the following is the substance:
+
+    "ACTION!--Fellow Associationists, Brethren, Sisters, each and
+    all! You are hereby once again earnestly entreated, in the name
+    of our cause of universal unity, at once to co-operate
+    energetically in carrying out the proposed plans of the American
+    Union:
+
+    "1. Form societies. 2. Circulate the _Harbinger_. 3. Raise
+    funds. We wish to find one hundred persons in the United States,
+    who will subscribe $100 a year for three years, in permanently
+    establishing the work of propagation; or two hundred persons who
+    will subscribe $50. Do you know any persons in your neighborhood
+    who will for one year, three years, five years, contribute for
+    this end? Be instant, friends, in season and out of season, in
+    raising a permanent fund, and an immediate fund. This whole
+    nation must hear our gospel of glad tidings. Will you not aid?
+
+                                            "WILLIAM H. CHANNING.
+                 "_Cor. Sec. of the Am. Un. of Associationists._"
+
+How far Mr. Dana fulfilled the missionary programme assigned to him,
+we have not been able to discover. But we find that the two most
+conspicuous lecturers sent abroad by the American Union were Messrs
+John Allen and John Orvis. These gentlemen made two or three tours
+through the northern part of New England; and in the fall of 1847 they
+were lecturing or trying to lecture in Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, and
+other parts of the state of New York, as we mentioned in our account
+of the Skaneateles and Sodus Bay Associations. But the harvest of
+Fourierism was past, and they complained sorely of the neglect they
+met with, in consequence of the bad odor of the defunct Associations.
+This is the last we hear of them. The American Union continued to
+advertise itself in the _Harbinger_ till that paper disappeared in
+February 1849; but its doings after 1846 seem to have been limited to
+anniversary meetings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+BROOK FARM PROPAGATING SWEDENBORGIANISM.
+
+
+Our history of the career of Brook Farm in its final function of
+public teacher and propagandist, would not be complete without some
+account of its agency in the great Swedenborgian revival of modern
+times.
+
+In a series of articles published in the Oneida _Circular_ a year or
+two ago, under the title of _Swedenborgiana_, the author of this
+history said:
+
+    "The foremost and brightest of the Associations that rose in the
+    Fourier excitement, was that at Brook Farm. The leaders were men
+    whose names are now high in literature and politics. Ripley,
+    Dana, Channing, Dwight and Hawthorne, are specimens of the list.
+    Most of them were from the Unitarian school, whose head-quarters
+    are at Boston and Cambridge. The movement really issued as much
+    from transcendental Unitarianism as from Fourierism. It was
+    religious, literary and artistic, as well as social. It had a
+    press, and at one time undertook propagandism by missionaries
+    and lectures. Its periodical, the _Harbinger_, was ably
+    conducted, and very charming to all enthusiasts of progress. Our
+    Putney school, which had not then reached Communism, was among
+    the admirers of this periodical, and undoubtedly took an impulse
+    from its teachings. The Brook Farm Association, as the leader
+    and speaker of the hundred others that rose with it, certainly
+    contributed most largely to the effect of the general movement
+    begun by Brisbane and Greeley. But the remarkable fact, for the
+    sake of which I am calling special attention to it, is, that in
+    its didactic function, it brought upon the public mind, not only
+    a new socialism but a new religion, and that religion was
+    _Swedenborgianism_.
+
+    "The proof of this can be found by any one who has access to the
+    files of the _Harbinger_. I could give many pages of extracts in
+    point. The simple truth is that Brook Farm and the _Harbinger_
+    meant to propagate Fourierism, but succeeded only in propagating
+    Swedenborgianism. The Associations that arose with them and
+    under their influence, passed away within a few years, without
+    exception; but the surge of Swedenborgianism which they started,
+    swept on among their constituents, and, under the form of
+    Spiritualism, is sweeping on to this day.
+
+    "Swedenborgianism went deeper into the hearts of the people than
+    the Socialism that introduced it, because it was a _religion_.
+    The Bible and revivals had made men hungry for something more
+    than social reconstruction. Swedenborg's offer of a new heaven
+    as well as a new earth, met the demand magnificently. He suited
+    all sorts. The scientific were charmed, because he was primarily
+    a son of science, and seemed to reduce the universe to
+    scientific order. The mystics were charmed, because he led them
+    boldly into all the mysteries of intuition and invisible worlds.
+    The Unitarians liked him, because, while he declared Christ to
+    be Jehovah himself, he displaced the orthodox ideas of Sonship
+    and tri-personality, and evidently meant only that Christ was
+    an illusive representation of the Father. Even the infidels
+    liked him, because he discarded about half the Bible, including
+    all Paul's writings, as 'not belonging to the Word,' and made
+    the rest a mere 'nose of wax' by means of his doctrine of the
+    'internal sense.' His vast imaginations and magnificent promises
+    chimed in exactly with the spirit of the accompanying
+    Socialisms. Fourierism was too bald a materialism to suit the
+    higher classes of its disciples, without a religion
+    corresponding. Swedenborgianism was a godsend to the enthusiasts
+    of Brook Farm; and they made it the complement of Fourierism.
+
+    "Swedenborg's writings had long been circulating feebly in this
+    country, and he had sporadic disciples and even churches in our
+    cities, before the new era of Socialism. But any thing like a
+    general interest in his writings had never been known, till
+    about the period when Brook Farm and the _Harbinger_ were in the
+    ascendant. Here began a movement of the public mind toward
+    Swedenborg, as palpable and portentous as that of Millerism or
+    the old revivals.
+
+    "But Young America could not receive an old and foreign
+    philosophy like Swedenborg's, without reacting upon it and
+    adapting it to its new surroundings. The old afflatus must have
+    a new medium. In 1845 the movement which commenced at Brook Farm
+    was in full tide. In 1847 the great American Swedenborg, Andrew
+    Jackson Davis, appeared, and Professor Bush gave him the right
+    hand of fellowship, and introduced him into office as the medium
+    and representative of the 'illustrious Swede,' while the
+    _Harbinger_ rejoiced over them both.
+
+    "Here I might show by chapter and verse from Davis's and Bush's
+    writings, exactly how the conjunction between them took place;
+    how Davis met Swedenborg's ghost in a graveyard near
+    Poughkeepsie in 1844, and from him received a commission to help
+    the 'inefficient' efforts of Christ to regulate mankind; how he
+    had another interview with the same ghost in 1846, and was
+    directed by him to open correspondence with Bush; how Bush took
+    him under his patronage, watched and studied him for months, and
+    finally published his conclusion that Davis was a true medium of
+    Swedenborg, providentially raised up to confirm his divine
+    mission and teachings; and finally, how Bush and Davis quarreled
+    within a year, and mutually repudiated each other's doctrines;
+    but I must leave details and hurry on to the end.
+
+    "After 1847 Swedenborgianism proper subsided, and 'Modern
+    Spiritualism' took its place. But the character of the two
+    systems, as well as the history of their relations to each
+    other, proves them to be identical in essence. Spiritualism is
+    Swedenborgianism Americanized. Andrew Jackson Davis began as a
+    medium of Swedenborg, receiving from him his commission and
+    inspiration, and became an independent seer and revelator, only
+    because, as a son, he outgrew his father. The omniscient
+    philosophies which the two have issued are identical in their
+    main ideas about intuition, love and wisdom, familiarity of the
+    living with the dead, classification of ghostly spheres,
+    astronomical theology, etc. Andrew Jackson Davis is more
+    flippant and superficial than Swedenborg, and less respectful
+    toward the Bible and the past, and in these respects he suits
+    his customers."
+
+We understand that some of the Brook Farmers think this view of the
+Swedenborgian influence of Brook Farm and the _Harbinger_ is
+exaggerated. It will be appropriate therefore now to set forth some of
+the facts and teachings which led to this view.
+
+The first notable statement of the essential dualism between
+Swedenborg and Fourier that we find in the writings of the Socialists,
+is in the last chapter of Parke Godwin's "_Popular View_," published
+in the beginning of 1844, a standard work on Fourierism, second in
+time and importance only to Brisbane's "_Concise Exposition_." Godwin
+says:
+
+    "Thus far we have given Fourier's doctrine of Universal Analogy;
+    but it is important to observe that he was not the first man of
+    modern times who communicated this view. Emanuel Swedenborg,
+    between whose revelations in the sphere of spiritual knowledge,
+    and Fourier's discoveries in the sphere of science, there has
+    been remarked the most exact and wonderful coincidence, preceded
+    him in the annunciation of the doctrine in many of its aspects,
+    in what is termed the doctrine of correspondence. These two
+    great minds, the greatest beyond all comparison in our later
+    days, were the instruments of Providence in bringing to light
+    the mysteries of His Word and Works, as they are comprehended
+    and followed in the higher states of existence. It is no
+    exaggeration, we think, to say, that they are the two
+    commissioned by the Great Leader of the Christian Israel, to spy
+    out the promised land of peace and blessedness.
+
+    "But in the discovery and statement of the doctrine of Analogy,
+    these authorities have not proceeded according to precisely the
+    same methods. Fourier has arrived at it by strictly scientific
+    synthesis, and Swedenborg by the study of the Scriptures aided
+    by Divine illumination. What is the aspect in which Fourier
+    views it we have shown; we shall next attempt to elucidate the
+    peculiar development of Swedenborg."
+
+From this Mr. Godwin goes on to show at length the parallelism between
+the teachings of these "incomparable masters." It will be seen that he
+intimates that thinkers and writers before him had taken the same
+view. One of these, doubtless, was Hugh Doherty, an English
+Fourierist, whose writings frequently occur in the _Phalanx_ and
+_Harbinger_. A very long article from him, maintaining the identity of
+Fourierism and Swedenborgianism, appeared in the _Phalanx_ of
+September 7, 1844. The article itself is dated London, January 30,
+1844. Among other things Mr. Doherty says:
+
+    "I am a believer in the truths of the New Church, and have read
+    nearly all the writings of Swedenborg, and I have no hesitation
+    in saying that without Fourier's explanation of the laws of
+    order in Scriptural interpretation, I should probably have
+    doubted the truth of Swedenborg's illumination, from want of a
+    ground to understand the nature of spiritual sight in
+    contradistinction from natural sight; or if I had been able to
+    conceive the opening of the spiritual sight, and credit
+    Swedenborg's doctrines and affirmations, I should probably have
+    understood them only in the same degree as most of the members
+    of the New Church whom I have met in England, and that would
+    seem to me, in my present state, a partial calamity of cecity. I
+    say this in all humility and sincerity of conscience, with a
+    view to future reference to Swedenborg himself in the spiritual
+    world, and as a means of inducing the members of the New Church
+    generally not to be content with a superficial or limited
+    knowledge of their own doctrines."
+
+In another passage Mr. Doherty claims to have been "a student of
+Fourier fourteen years, and of Swedenborg two years."
+
+In consequence partly of the new appreciation of Swedenborg that was
+rising among the Fourierists, a movement commenced in England in 1845
+for republishing the scientific works of "the illustrious Swede." An
+Association for that purpose was formed, and several of Swedenborg's
+bulkiest works were printed under the auspices of Wilkinson, Clissold
+and others. This Wilkinson was also a considerable contributor to the
+_Phalanx_ and _Harbinger_, as the reader will see by recurring to a
+list in our chapter on the Personnel of Fourierism.
+
+Following this movement, came the famous lecture of Ralph Waldo
+Emerson on "_Swedenborg, the Mystic_," claiming for him a lofty
+position as a scientific discoverer. That lecture was first published
+in this country in a volume entitled, "_Representative Men_," in 1849;
+but according to Mr. White (the biographer of Swedenborg), it was
+delivered in England several times in 1847; and we judge from an
+expression which we italicize in the following extract from it, that
+it was written and perhaps delivered in this country in 1845 or 1846,
+i.e. very soon after the republication movement in England:
+
+    "The scientific works [of Swedenborg] have _just now_ been
+    translated into English, in an excellent edition. Swedenborg
+    printed these scientific books in the ten years from 1734 to
+    1744, and they remained from that time neglected; and now, after
+    their century is complete, he has at last found a pupil in Mr.
+    Wilkinson, in London, a philosophic critic, with a coequal vigor
+    of understanding and imagination comparable only to Lord
+    Bacon's, who has produced his master's buried books to the day,
+    and transferred them, with every advantage, from their forgotten
+    Latin into English, to go round the world in our commercial and
+    conquering tongue. This startling reappearance of Swedenborg,
+    after a hundred years, in his pupil, is not the least remarkable
+    fact in his history. Aided, it is said, by the munificence of
+    Mr. Clissold, and also by his literary skill, this piece of
+    poetic justice is done. The admirable preliminary discourses
+    with which Mr. Wilkinson has enriched these volumes, throw all
+    the cotemporary philosophy of England into shade."
+
+Emerson, it is true, was not a Brook Farmer; but he was the spiritual
+fertilizer of all the Transcendentalists, including the Brook Farmers.
+It is true also that in his lecture he severely criticised Swedenborg;
+but this was his vocation: to judge and disparage all religious
+teachers, especially seers and thaumaturgists. On the whole he gave
+Swedenborg a lift, just as he helped the reputation of all "ethnic
+Scriptures." His criticism of Swedenborg amounts to about this: "He
+was a very great thinker and discoverer; but his visions and
+theological teachings are humbugs; still they are as good as any
+other, and rather better."
+
+William H. Channing, another fertilizer of Brook Farm, was busy at the
+same time with Emerson, in the work of calling attention to
+Swedenborg. His conversions to Fourierism and Swedenborgianism seem to
+have proceeded together. The last three numbers of the _Present_ are
+loaded with articles extolling Swedenborg, and the editor only
+complains of them that they "by no means do justice to the great
+Swedish philosopher and seer." The very last article in the volume is
+an item headed, "Fourier and Swedenborg," in which Mr. Charming says:
+
+    "I have great pleasure in announcing another work upon Fourier
+    and his system, from the pen of C.J. Hempel. This book is a very
+    curious and interesting one, from the attempt of the author to
+    show the identity or at least the extraordinary resemblance
+    between the views of Fourier and Swedenborg. How far Mr. Hempel
+    has been successful I cannot pretend to judge. But this may be
+    safely said, no one can examine with any care the writings of
+    these two wonderful students of Providence, man and the
+    universe, without having most sublime visions of divine order
+    opened upon him. Their doctrine of Correspondence and Universal
+    Unity accords with all the profoundest thought of the age."
+
+Such were the influences under which Brook Farm assumed its final task
+of propagandism. Let us now see how far the coupling of Fourier and
+Swedenborg was kept up in the _Harbinger_.
+
+The motto of the paper, displayed under its title from first to last,
+was selected from the writings of the Swedish seer. In the editors'
+inaugural address they say:
+
+    "In the words of the illustrious Swedenborg, which we have
+    selected for the motto of the _Harbinger_, 'All things, at the
+    present day, stand provided and prepared, and await the light.
+    The ship is in the harbor; the sails are swelling; the east wind
+    blows; let us weigh anchor, and put forth to sea.'"
+
+In a glancing run through the five semi-annual volumes of the
+_Harbinger_ we find between thirty and forty articles on Swedenborg
+and Swedenborgian subjects, chiefly editorial reviews of books,
+pamphlets, etc., with a considerable amount of correspondence from
+Wilkinson, Doherty and other Swedenborgian Fourierists in England. The
+burden of all these articles is the same, viz., the unity of
+Swedenborgianism and Fourierism. On the one hand the Fourierists
+insist that Swedenborg revealed the religion that Fourier anticipated;
+and on the other the Swedenborgians insist that Fourier discovered the
+divine arrangement of society that Swedenborg foreshadowed. The
+reviews referred to were written chiefly by John S. Dwight and Charles
+A. Dana.[B] We will give a few specimens of their utterances:
+
+    [From Editorials by John S. Dwight.]
+
+    *** "In religion we have Swedenborg; in social economy Fourier;
+    in music Beethoven.
+
+    *** "Swedenborg we reverence for the greatness and profundity of
+    his thought. We study him continually for the light he sheds on
+    so many problems of human destiny, and more especially for the
+    remarkable correspondence, as of inner with outer, which his
+    revelations present with the discoveries of Fourier concerning
+    social organization, or the outward forms of life. The one is
+    the great poet and high-priest, the other the great economist,
+    as it were, of the harmonic order, which all things are
+    preparing.
+
+    *** "Call not our praises of Swedenborg 'hollow;' if he offered
+    us ten times as much which we could not assent to, it would not
+    detract in the least from our reverence for the man, or our
+    great indebtedness to his profoundly spiritual insight.
+
+    *** "Deeper foundations for science have not been touched by any
+    sounding-line as yet, than these same philosophical principles
+    of Swedenborg. Fourier has not gone deeper; but he has shed more
+    light on these deep foundations, taken their measurement with a
+    more bold precision, and reared a no insignificant portion of
+    the everlasting superstructure. But in their ground they are
+    both one. Taken together they are the highest expression of the
+    tendency of human thought to universal unity."
+
+    [From Editorials by Charles A. Dana.]
+
+    *** "We recommend the writings of Swedenborg to our readers of
+    all denominations, as we should recommend those of any other
+    providential teacher. We believe that his mission is of the
+    highest importance to the human family, and shall take every fit
+    occasion to call the attention of the public to it.
+
+    *** "No man of unsophisticated mind can read Swedenborg without
+    feeling his life elevated into a higher plane, and his intellect
+    excited into new and more reverent action on some of the
+    sublimest questions which the human mind can approach. Whatever
+    may be thought of the doctrines of Swedenborg or of his visions,
+    the spirit which breathes from his works is pure and heavenly.
+
+    *** "We do not hesitate to say that the publication and study of
+    Swedenborg's scientific writings must produce a new era in human
+    knowledge, and thus in society.
+
+    *** "Though Swedenborg and Fourier differ in the character of
+    their minds, and the immediate end of their studies, the method
+    they adopted was fundamentally the same; their success is thus
+    due, not to the vastness of their genius alone, but in a measure
+    also to the instruments they employed. The logic of Fourier is
+    imperfectly stated in his doctrine of the Series, of Universal
+    Analogy, and of Attractions proportional to Destinies; that of
+    Swedenborg in the incomplete and often very obscure and
+    difficult expositions which appear here and there in his works,
+    of the doctrine of Forms; of Order and Degrees; of Series and
+    Society; of Influx; of Correspondence and Representation; and of
+    Modification. This logic appears to have existed complete in the
+    minds of neither of these great men; but even so much of it as
+    they have communicated, puts into the hands of the student the
+    most invaluable assistance, and attracts him to a path of
+    thought in which the successful explorers will receive immortal
+    honors from a grateful race.
+
+    *** "The chief characteristic of this epoch is, its tendency,
+    everywhere apparent, to unity in universality; and the men in
+    whom this tendency is most fully expressed are Swedenborg,
+    Fourier and Goethe. In these three eminent persons is summed up
+    the great movement toward unity in universality, in religion,
+    science and art, which comprise the whole domain of human
+    activity. In speaking of Swedenborg as the teacher of this
+    century in religion, some of the most obvious considerations
+    are his northern origin, his peculiar education, etc.
+
+    *** "We say without hesitation, that, excepting the writings of
+    Fourier, no scientific publications of the last fifty years are
+    to be compared with [the Wilkinson edition of Swedenborg] in
+    importance. To the student of philosophy, to the savan, and to
+    the votary of social science, they are alike invaluable, almost
+    indispensable. Whether we are inquiring for truth in the
+    abstract, or looking beyond the aimlessness and contradictions
+    of modern experimentalism in search of the guiding light of
+    universal principles, or giving our constant thought to the laws
+    of Divine Social Order, and the re-integration of the Collective
+    Man, we can not spare the aid of this loving and beloved sage.
+    His was a grand genius, nobly disciplined. In him, a devotion to
+    truth almost awful, was tempered by an equal love of humanity
+    and a supreme reverence for God. To his mind, the order of the
+    universe and the play of its powers were never the objects of
+    idle curiosity or of cold speculation. He entered into the
+    retreats of nature and the occult abode of the soul, as the
+    minister of humanity, and not as a curious explorer eager to add
+    to his own store of wonders or to exercise his faculties in
+    those difficult regions. No man had ever such sincerity, such
+    absolute freedom from intellectual selfishness as he."
+
+The reader, we trust, will take our word for it, that there is a very
+large amount of this sort of teaching in the volumes of the
+_Harbinger_. Even Mr. Ripley himself wielded a vigorous cudgel on
+behalf of Swedenborg against certain orthodox critics, and held the
+usual language of his socialistic brethren about the "sublime visions
+of the illustrious Swedish seer," his "bold poetic revelations," his
+"profound, living, electric principles," the "piercing truth of his
+productions," etc. Vide _Harbinger_, Vol. 3, p. 317.
+
+On these and such evidences we came to the conclusion that the Brook
+Farmers, while they disclaimed for Fourierism all sectarian
+connections, did actually couple it with Swedenborgianism in their
+propagative labors; and as Fourierism soon failed and passed away, it
+turned out that their lasting work was the promulgation of
+Swedenborgianism; which certainly has had a great run in this country
+ever since. It would not perhaps be fair to call Fourierism, as taught
+by the _Harbinger_ writers, the stalking-horse of Swedenborgianism;
+but it is not too much to say that their Fourierism, if it had lived,
+would have had Swedenborgianism for its state-religion. This view
+agrees with the fact that the only sectarian Association, avowed and
+tolerated in the Fourier epoch, was the Swedenborgian Phalanx at
+Leraysville.
+
+The entire historical sequence which seems to be established by the
+facts now before us, may be stated thus: Unitarianism produced
+Transcendentalism; Transcendentalism produced Brook Farm; Brook Farm
+married and propagated Fourierism; Fourierism had Swedenborgianism for
+its religion; and Swedenborgianism led the way to Modern Spiritualism.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[B] Henry James also wrote many articles for the _Harbinger_ in the
+interest of Swedenborg. His subsequent career as a promulgator of the
+Swedenborgian philosophy, in which he has even scaled the heights of the
+_North American Review_, is well known; but perhaps it is not so well
+known that he commenced that career in the _Harbinger_. He has continued
+faithful to both Swedenborg and Fourier, to the present time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+
+THE END OF BROOK FARM.
+
+
+It only remains to tell what we know of the causes that brought the
+Brook Farm Phalanx to its end.
+
+Within a year from the time when it assumed the task of propagating
+Fourierism, i.e. on the 3d of March, 1846, a disastrous fire
+prostrated the energies and hopes of the Association. We copy from the
+_Harbinger_ (March 14) the entire article reporting it:
+
+    "FIRE AT BROOK FARM.--Our readers have no doubt been informed
+    before this, of the severe calamity with which the Brook Farm
+    Association has been visited, by the destruction of the large
+    unitary edifice which it has been for some time erecting on its
+    domain. Just as our last paper was going through the press, on
+    Tuesday evening the 3d inst., the alarm of fire was given at
+    about a quarter before nine, and it was found to proceed from
+    the 'Phalanstery;' in a few minutes the flames were bursting
+    through the doors and windows of the second story; the fire
+    spread with almost incredible rapidity throughout the building;
+    and in about an hour and a-half the whole edifice was burned to
+    the ground. The members of the Association were on the spot in a
+    few moments, and made some attempts to save a quantity of lumber
+    that was in the basement story; but so rapid was the progress
+    of the fire, that this was found to be impossible, and they
+    succeeded only in rescuing a couple of tool-chests that had been
+    in use by the carpenters.
+
+    "The neighboring dwelling-house called the 'Eyry,' was in
+    imminent danger while the fire was at its height, and nothing
+    but the stillness of the night, and the vigilance and activity
+    of those who were stationed on its roof, preserved it from
+    destruction. The vigorous efforts of our nearest neighbors, Mr.
+    T.J. Orange, and Messrs. Thomas and George Palmer, were of great
+    service in protecting this building, as a part of our force were
+    engaged in another direction, watching the work-shop, barn, and
+    principal dwelling-house.
+
+    "In a short time our neighbors from the village of West Roxbury,
+    a mile and a-half distant, arrived in great numbers with their
+    engine, which together with the engines from Jamaica Plain,
+    Newton, and Brookline, rendered valuable assistance in subduing
+    the flaming ruins, although it was impossible to check the
+    progress of the fire, until the building was completely
+    destroyed. We are under the deepest obligations to the fire
+    companies which came, some of them five or six miles, through
+    deep snow on cross roads, and did every thing in the power of
+    skill or energy, to preserve our other buildings from ruin. Many
+    of the engines from Boston came four or five miles from the
+    city, but finding the fire going down, returned without reaching
+    the spot. The engines from Dedham, we understand, made an
+    unsuccessful attempt to come to our aid, but were obliged to
+    turn back on account of the condition of the roads. No efforts,
+    however, would have probably been successful in arresting the
+    progress of the flames. The building was divided into nearly a
+    hundred rooms in the upper stories, most of which had been
+    lathed for several months, without plaster, and being almost as
+    dry as tinder, the fire flashed through them with terrific
+    rapidity.
+
+    "There had been no work performed on this building during the
+    winter months, and arrangements had just been made to complete
+    four out of the fourteen distinct suites of apartments into
+    which it was divided, by the first of May. It was hoped that the
+    remainder would be finished during the summer, and that by the
+    first of October, the edifice would be prepared for the
+    reception of a hundred and fifty persons, with ample
+    accommodations for families, and spacious and convenient public
+    halls and saloons. A portion of the second story had been set
+    apart for a church or chapel, which was to be finished, in a
+    style of simplicity and elegance, by private subscription, and
+    in which it was expected that religious services would be
+    performed by our friend William H. Channing, whose presence with
+    us, until obliged to retire on account of ill health, has been a
+    source of unmingled satisfaction and benefit.
+
+    "On the Saturday previous to the fire, a stove was put in the
+    basement story for the accommodation of the carpenters, who were
+    to work on the inside; a fire was kindled in it on Tuesday
+    morning which burned till four o'clock in the afternoon; at half
+    past eight in the evening, the building was visited by the
+    night-watch, who found every thing apparently safe; and at a
+    quarter before nine, a faint light was discovered in the second
+    story, which was supposed at first to have proceeded from the
+    lamp, but, on entering to ascertain the fact, the smoke at once
+    showed that the interior was on fire. The alarm was immediately
+    given, but almost before the people had time to assemble, the
+    whole edifice was wrapped in flames. From a defect in the
+    construction of the chimney, a spark from the stove-pipe had
+    probably communicated with the surrounding wood-work; and from
+    the combustible nature of the materials, the flames spread with
+    a celerity that made every effort to arrest their violence
+    without effect.
+
+    "This edifice was commenced in the summer of 1844, and has been
+    in progress from that time until November last, when the work
+    was suspended for the winter, and resumed, as before stated, on
+    the day in which it was consumed. It was built of wood, one
+    hundred and seventy-five feet long, three stories high, with
+    attics divided into pleasant and convenient rooms for single
+    persons. The second and third stories were divided into fourteen
+    houses independent of each other, with a parlor and three
+    sleeping-rooms in each, connected by piazzas which ran the whole
+    length of the building on both stories. The basement contained a
+    large and commodious kitchen, a dining-hall capable of seating
+    from three to four hundred persons, two public saloons, and a
+    spacious hall or lecture-room. Although by no means a model for
+    the Phalanstery or unitary edifice of a Phalanx, it was well
+    adapted for our purposes at present, situated on a delightful
+    eminence, which commanded a most extensive and picturesque view,
+    and affording accommodations and conveniences in the combined
+    order, which in many respects would gratify even a fastidious
+    taste. The actual expenditure upon the building, including the
+    labor performed by the Association, amounted to about $7,000;
+    and $3,000 more, it was estimated, would be sufficient for its
+    completion. As it was not yet in use by the Association, and
+    until the day of its destruction, not exposed to fire, no
+    insurance had been effected. It was built by investments in our
+    loan-stock, and the loss falls upon the holders of
+    partnership-stock and the members of the Association.
+
+    "It is some alleviation of the great calamity which we have
+    sustained, that it came upon us at this time rather than at a
+    later period. The house was not endeared to us by any grateful
+    recollections; the tender and hallowed associations of home had
+    not yet begun to cluster around it; and although we looked upon
+    it with joy and hope, as destined to occupy an important sphere
+    in the social movement to which it was consecrated, its
+    destruction does not rend asunder those sacred ties which bind
+    us to the dwellings that have thus far been the scene of our
+    toils and of our satisfactions. We could not part with either of
+    the houses in which we have lived at Brook Farm, without a
+    sadness like that which we should feel at the departure of a
+    bosom friend. The destruction of our edifice makes no essential
+    change in our pursuits. It leaves no family destitute of a home;
+    it disturbs no domestic arrangements; it puts us to no immediate
+    inconvenience. The morning after the disaster, if a stranger had
+    not seen the smoking pile of ruins, he would not have suspected
+    that any thing extraordinary had taken place. Our schools were
+    attended as usual; our industry in full operation; and not a
+    look or expression of despondency could have been perceived. The
+    calamity is felt to be great; we do not attempt to conceal from
+    ourselves its consequences: but it has been met with a calmness
+    and high trust, which gives us a new proof of the power of
+    associated life to quicken the best elements of character, and
+    to prepare men for every emergency.
+
+    "We shall be pardoned for entering into these almost personal
+    details, for we know that the numerous friends of Association in
+    every part of our land, will feel our misfortune as if it were a
+    private grief of their own. We have received nothing but
+    expressions of the most generous sympathy from every quarter,
+    even from those who might be supposed to take the least interest
+    in our purposes; and we are sure that our friends in the cause
+    of social unity will share with us the affliction that has
+    visited a branch of their own fraternity.
+
+    "We have no wish to keep out of sight the magnitude of our loss.
+    In our present infant state, it is a severe trial of our
+    strength. We can not now calculate its ultimate effect. It may
+    prove more than we are able to bear; or like other previous
+    calamities, it may serve to bind us more closely to each other,
+    and to the holy cause to which we are devoted. We await the
+    result with calm hope, sustained by our faith in the universal
+    Providence, whose social laws we have endeavored to ascertain
+    and embody in our daily lives.
+
+    "It may not be improper to state, as we are speaking of our own
+    affairs more fully than we have felt at liberty to do before in
+    the columns of our paper, that, whatever be our trials of an
+    external character, we have every reason to rejoice in the
+    internal condition of our Association. For the last few months
+    it has more nearly than ever approached the idea of a true
+    social order. The greatest harmony prevails among us; not a
+    discordant note is heard; a spirit of friendship, of brotherly
+    kindness, of charity, dwells with us and blesses us; our social
+    resources have been greatly multiplied; and our devotion to the
+    cause which has brought us together, receives new strength every
+    day. Whatever may be in reserve for us, we have an infinite
+    satisfaction in the true relations which have united us, and
+    the assurance that our enterprise has sprung from a desire to
+    obey the Divine law. We feel assured that no outward
+    disappointment or calamity can chill our zeal for the
+    realization of a Divine order of society, or abate our effort in
+    the sphere which may be pointed out by our best judgment as most
+    favorable to the cause which we have at heart."
+
+In the next number of the _Harbinger_ (March 21), an editorial
+addressed to the friends of Brook Farm, indicated some depression and
+uncertainty. The following are extracts from it:
+
+    "We do not altogether agree with our friends, in the importance
+    which they attach to the special movement at Brook Farm; we have
+    never professed to be able to represent the idea of Association
+    with the scanty resources at our command; nor would the
+    discontinuance of our establishment or of any of the partial
+    attempts which are now in progress, in the slightest degree
+    weaken our faith in the associative system, or our conviction
+    that it will sooner or later be adopted as the only form of
+    society suited to the nature of man and in accordance with the
+    Divine will. We have never attempted any thing more than to
+    prepare the way for Association, by demonstrating some of the
+    leading ideas on which the theory is founded; in this we have
+    had the most gratifying success; but we have always regarded
+    ourselves only as the humble pioneers in the work, which would
+    be carried on by others to its magnificent consummation, and
+    have been content to wait and toil for the development of the
+    cause and the completion of our hope.
+
+    "Still we have established a center of influence here for the
+    associative movement, which we shall spare no effort to sustain.
+    We are fully aware of the importance of this; and nothing but
+    the most inexorable necessity, will withdraw the congenial
+    spirits that are gathered in social union here, from the work
+    which has always called forth their most earnest devotedness and
+    enthusiasm. Since our disaster occurred, there has not been an
+    expression or symptom of despondency among our number; all are
+    resolute and calm; determined to stand by each other and by the
+    cause; ready to encounter still greater sacrifices than have as
+    yet been demanded of them; and desirous only to adopt the course
+    which may be presented by the clearest dictates of duty. The
+    loss which we have sustained occasions us no immediate
+    inconvenience, does not interfere with any of our present
+    operations; although it is a total destruction of resources on
+    which we had confidently relied, and must inevitably derange our
+    plans for the enlargement of the Association and the extension
+    of our industry. We have a firm and cheerful hope, however, of
+    being able to do much for the illustration of the cause with the
+    materials that remain. They are far too valuable to be
+    dispersed, or applied to any other object; and with favorable
+    circumstances will be able to accomplish much for the
+    realization of social unity."
+
+This fire was a disaster from which Brook Farm never recovered. The
+organization lingered, and the _Harbinger_ continued to be published
+there, till October 1847; but the hope of becoming a model Phalanx
+died out long before that time. The _Harbinger_ is very reticent in
+relation to the details of the dissolution. We can only give the
+reader the following scraps hinting at the end:
+
+    [From the New York _Tribune_ (August, 1847), in answer to an
+    allegation in the New York _Observer_ that "the Brook Farm
+    Association, which was near Boston, had wound up its affairs
+    some time since."]
+
+    "The Brook Farm Association not only was, but is near Boston,
+    and the _Harbinger_ is still published from its press. But,
+    having been started without capital, experience or industrial
+    capacity, without reference to or knowledge of Fourier's or any
+    other systematic plan of Association, on a most unfavorable
+    locality, bought at a high price, and constantly under mortgage,
+    this Association is about to dissolve, when the paper will be
+    removed to this city, with the master-spirits of Brook Farm as
+    editors. The Observer will have ample opportunity to judge how
+    far experience has modified their convictions or impaired their
+    energies."
+
+    [From a report of a Boston Convention of Associationists, in the
+    _Harbinger_, October 23, 1847.]
+
+
+    "The breaking up of the life at Brook Farm was frequently
+    alluded to, especially by Mr. Ripley, who, on the eve of
+    entering a new sphere of labor for the same great cause,
+    appeared in all his indomitable strength and cheerfulness,
+    triumphant amid outward failure. The owls and bats and other
+    birds of ill omen which utter their oracles in leading political
+    and sectarian religious journals, and which are busily croaking
+    and screeching of the downfall of Association, had they been
+    present at this meeting, could their weak eyes have borne so
+    much light, would never again have coupled failure with the
+    thought of such men, nor entertained a feeling other than of
+    envy of experience like theirs."
+
+The next number of the _Harbinger_ (October 30, 1847) announced that
+that paper would in future be published in New York under the
+editorial charge of Parke Godwin, assisted by George Ripley and
+Charles A. Dana in New York, and William H. Channing and John S.
+Dwight in Boston. This of course implied the dispersion of the Brook
+Farmers, and the dissolution of the Association; and this is all we
+know about it.
+
+The years 1846 and 1847 were fatal to most of the Fourier experiments.
+Horace Greeley, under date of July 1847, wrote to the _People's
+Journal_ the following account of what may be called,
+
+    _Fourierism reduced to a Forlorn Hope._
+
+    "As to the Associationists (by their adversaries termed
+    'Fourierites'), with whom I am proud to be numbered, their
+    beginnings are yet too recent to justify me in asking for their
+    history any considerable space in your columns. Briefly,
+    however, the first that was heard in this country of Fourier and
+    his views (beyond a little circle of perhaps a hundred persons
+    in two or three of our large cities, who had picked up some
+    notion of them in France or from French writings), was in 1840,
+    when Albert Brisbane published his first synopsis of Fourier's
+    theory of industrial and household Association. Since then, the
+    subject has been considerably discussed, and several attempts of
+    some sort have been made to actualize Fourier's ideas, generally
+    by men destitute alike of capacity, public confidence, energy
+    and means. In only one instance that I have heard of was the
+    land paid for on which the enterprise commenced; not one of
+    these vaunted 'Fourier Associations' ever had the means of
+    erecting a proper dwelling for so many as three hundred people,
+    even if the land had been given them. Of course, the time for
+    paying the first installment on the mortgage covering their land
+    has generally witnessed the dissipation of their sanguine
+    dreams. Yet there are at least three of these embryo
+    Associations still in existence; and, as each of these is in its
+    third or fourth year, they may be supposed to give some promise
+    of vitality. They are the North American Phalanx, near
+    Leedsville, New Jersey; the Trumbull Phalanx, near Braceville,
+    Ohio; and the Wisconsin Phalanx, Ceresco, Wisconsin. Each of
+    these has a considerable domain nearly or wholly paid for, is
+    improving the soil, increasing its annual products, and
+    establishing some branches of manufactures. Each, though far
+    enough from being a perfect Association, is animated with the
+    hope of becoming one, as rapidly as experience, time and means
+    will allow."
+
+Of the three Phalanxes thus mentioned as the rear-guard of Fourierism,
+one--the Trumbull--disappeared about four months afterward (very
+nearly at the time of the dispersion of Brook Farm), and another--the
+Wisconsin--lasted only a year longer, leaving the North American alone
+for the last four years of its existence.
+
+Brook Farm in its function of propagandist (which is always expensive
+and exhausting at the best), must have been sadly depressed by the
+failures that crowded upon it in its last days; and it is not to be
+wondered that it died with its children and kindred.
+
+If we might suggest a transcendental reason for the failure of Brook
+Farm, we should say that it had naturally a _delicate constitution_,
+that was liable to be shattered by disasters and sympathies; and the
+causes of this weakness must be sought for in the character of the
+afflatus that organized it. The transcendental afflatus, like that of
+Pentecost, had in it two elements, viz., Communism, and "the gift of
+tongues;" or in other words, the tendency to religious and social
+unity, represented by Channing and Ripley; and the tendency to
+literature, represented by Emerson and Margaret Fuller. But the
+proportion of these elements was different from that of Pentecost.
+_The tendency to utterance was the strongest._ Emerson prevailed over
+Channing even in Brook Farm; nay, in Channing himself, and in Ripley,
+Dana and all the rest of the Brook Farm leaders. In fact they went
+over from practical Communism to literary utterance when they assumed
+the propagandism of Fourierism; and utterance has been their vocation
+ever since. A similar phenomenon occurred in the history of the great
+literary trio of England, Coleridge, Wordsworth and Southey. Their
+original afflatus carried them to the verge of Communism; but "their
+gift of tongues" prevailed and spoiled them. And the tendency to
+literature, as represented by Emerson, is the farthest opposite of
+Communism, finding its _summum bonum_ in individualism and incoherent
+instead of organic inspiration.
+
+The end of Brook Farm was virtually the end of Fourierism. One or two
+Phalanxes lingered afterward, and the _Harbinger_, was continued a
+year or two in New York; but the enthusiasm of victory and hope was
+gone; and the Brook Farm leaders, as soon as a proper transition could
+be effected, passed into the service of the _Tribune_.
+
+During the fatal year following the fire at Brook Farm, the famous
+controversy between Greeley and Raymond took place, which we have
+mentioned as Greeley's last battle in defense of retreating
+Fourierism. It commenced on the 20th of November, 1846, and ended on
+the 20th of May, 1847, each of the combatants delivering twelve
+well-shotted articles in their respective papers, the _Tribune_ and
+the _Courier and Enquirer_, which were afterward published together in
+pamphlet-form by the Harpers. Parton, in his biography of Greeley,
+says at the beginning of his report of that discussion, "It _finished_
+Fourierism in the United States;" and again at the close--"Thus ended
+Fourierism. Thenceforth the _Tribune_ alluded to the subject
+occasionally, but only in reply to those who sought to make political
+or personal capital by reviving it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+
+THE SPIRITUALIST COMMUNITIES.
+
+
+We proposed at the beginning to trace the history of the Owen and
+Fourier movements, as comprising the substance of American Socialisms.
+After reaching the terminus of this course, it is still proper to
+avail ourselves of the station we have reached, to take a birds-eye
+view of things beyond.
+
+We must not, however, wander from our subject. CO-OPERATION is the
+present theme of enthusiasm in the _Tribune_, and among many of the
+old representatives of Fourierism. But Co-operation is not Socialism.
+It is a very interesting subject, and doubtless will have its history;
+but it does not belong to our programme. Its place is among the
+_preparations_ of Socialism. It is not to be classed with Owenism,
+Fourierism and Shakerism; but with Insurance, Saving's Banks and
+Protective Unions. It is not even the offspring of the theoretical
+Socialisms, but rather a product of general common sense and
+experiment among the working classes. It is the application of the
+principle of combination to the business of buying and distributing
+goods; whereas Socialism proper is the application of that principle
+to domestic arrangements, and requires at the lowest, local gatherings
+and combinations of homes. If the old Socialists have turned aside or
+gone back to Co-operation, it is because they have lost their original
+faith, and like the Israelites that came out of Egypt, are wandering
+their forty years in the wilderness, instead of entering the promised
+land in three days, as they expected.
+
+We do not believe that the American people have lost sight of the
+great hope which Owen and Fourier set before them, or will be
+contented with any thing less than unity of interests carried into all
+the affairs of life. Co-operation as one of the preparations for this
+unity, is interesting them at the present time, in the absence of any
+promising scheme of real Socialism. But they are interested in it
+rather as a movement among the oppressed operatives of Europe, where
+nothing higher can be attempted, than as a consummation worthy of the
+progress that has commenced in Young America.
+
+Our present business as historians of American Socialisms, is not with
+Co-operation, but with experiments in actual Association which have
+occurred since the downfall of Fourierism.
+
+The terminus we have reached is 1847, the year of Brook Farm's
+decease. Since then "Modern Spiritualism" has been the great American
+excitation. And it is interesting to observe that all the Socialisms
+that we have surveyed, sent streams (if they did not altogether
+debouch) into this gulf. It is well known that Robert Owen in his last
+days was converted to Spiritualism, and transferred all he could of
+his socialistic stock to that interest. His successor, Robert Dale
+Owen, has not carried forward the communistic schemes of his father,
+but has been the busy patron of Spiritualism. Several other indirect
+but important _anastomoses_ of Owenism with Spiritualism may be
+traced; one, through Josiah Warren and his school of Individual
+Sovereignty at Modern Times, where Nichols and Andrews developed the
+germ of spiritualistic free-love; another (curiously enough), through
+Elder Evans of New Lebanon, who was originally an Owen man, and now
+may be said to be a common center of Shakerism, Owenism and
+Spiritualism. In his auto-biographical articles in the _Atlantic
+Monthly_ he maintained that Shakerism was the actual mother of
+Spiritualism, and had the first run of the "manifestations," that
+afterwards were called the "Rochester rappings." And lastly,
+Fourierism, by its marriage with Swedenborgianism at Brook Farm, and
+in many other ways, gave its strength to Spiritualism.
+
+It is a point of history worth noting here, that Mr. Brisbane is
+mentioned in the introduction to Andrew Jackson Davis's Revelations,
+as one of the witnesses of the _seances_ in which that work was
+uttered. C.W. Webber, a spiritualistic expert, in the introduction to
+his story of "Spiritual Vampirism," refers to this conjunction of
+Fourierism with Spiritualism, as follows:
+
+    "No man, who has kept himself informed of the psychological
+    history and progress of his race, can by any means fail to
+    recognize at once, in the pretended 'revelations' of Davis, the
+    mere _disjecta membra_ of the systems so extensively promulgated
+    by Fourier and Swedenborg. Davis, during the whole period of his
+    'utterings,' was surrounded by groups, consisting of the
+    disciples of Fourier and Swedenborg; as, for instance, the
+    leading Fourierite of America [Mr. Brisbane] was, for a time, a
+    constant attendant upon those mysterious meetings, at which the
+    myths of innocent Davis were formally announced from the
+    condition of clairvoyance, and transcribed by his keeper, for
+    the press; while the chief exponent and minister of
+    Swedenborgianism in New York [George Bush] was often seated side
+    by side with him. Can it be possible that these men failed to
+    comprehend, as thought after thought, principle after principle,
+    was enunciated in their presence, which they had previously
+    supposed to belong exclusively to their own schools, that the
+    'revelation' was merely a sympathetic reflex of their own
+    derived systems? It was no accident; for, as often as Fourierism
+    predominated in 'the evening lecture,' it was sure that the
+    prime representative of Fourier was present; and when the
+    peculiar views of Swedenborg prevailed, it was equally certain
+    that he was forcibly represented in the conclave. Sometimes both
+    schools were present; and on those identical occasions we have a
+    composite system of metaphysics promulgated, which exhibited,
+    most consistently, the doctrines of Swedenborg and Fourier,
+    jumbled in liberal and extraordinary confusion."
+
+As might be expected, Spiritualism has taken something from each of
+the Socialisms which have emptied into it. It is obvious enough that
+it has the omnivorous marvelousness of the Shakers, combined with the
+infidelity of the Owenites. But probably the world knows little of the
+tendency to socialistic speculation and experiment which it has
+inherited from all three of its confluents. It has had very little
+success in its local attempts at Association; and this has been owing
+chiefly to the superior tenacity of its devotion to the great
+antagonist of Association, Individual Sovereignty, which devotion also
+it inherited specially from Owen through Warren, and generally from
+both the Owen and Fourier schools. In consequence of its never having
+been able to produce more than very short-lived abortions of
+Communities, its Socialisms have not attracted much attention; but it
+has been continually speculating and scheming about Association, and
+its attempts on all sorts of plans ranging between Owenism and
+Fourierism, with inspiration superadded, have been almost numberless.
+
+One of the first of these spiritualistic attempts, and probably a
+favorable specimen of the whole, was the Mountain Cove Community.
+Having applied in vain for information, to several persons who had the
+best opportunity to know about this Community, we must content
+ourselves with a very imperfect sketch, obtained chiefly from
+statements and references furnished by Macdonald, and from documents
+in the files of the Oneida _Circular_.
+
+All the witnesses we have found, testify that this Community was set
+on foot by the rapping spirits in a large circle of Spiritualists at
+Auburn, New York, sometime between the years 1851 and 1853. It appears
+to have had active constituents at Oneida, Verona, and other places in
+Oneida and Madison Counties. Several of the leading "New York
+Perfectionists" in those places were conspicuous in the preliminary
+proceedings, and some of them actually joined the emigration to
+Virginia. The first reference to the movement that we have found, is
+in a letter from Mr. H.N. Leet, published in the _Circular_, November
+16, 1851. He says:
+
+    "The 'rappings' have attracted my attention. I have scarcely
+    known whether I should have to consider them as wholly of earth,
+    or regard them as from Hades; or even be 'sucked in' with the
+    other old Perfectionists. The reports I hear from abroad are
+    wonderful, and some of them well calculated to make men exclaim,
+    'This is the great power of God!' But what I see and hear
+    partakes largely of the ridiculous, if not the contemptible.
+    They have had frequent meetings at the houses of Messrs. Warren,
+    Foot, Gould, Stone, Mrs. Hitchcock, etc.; and 'a chiel's amang
+    them them taking notes;' but whether he will 'prent 'em' or not,
+    is uncertain. I have from time to time been writing out what
+    facts have come under my observation, and do so yet.
+
+    "Yesterday in their meeting, I heard extracts of letters from
+    Mr. Hitchcock written from Virginia; in which he states that
+    they have found the garden of Eden, the identical spot where our
+    first parents sinned, and on which no human foot has trod since
+    Adam and Eve were driven out; that himself, Ira S. Hitchcock,
+    was the first who has been permitted to set his foot upon it;
+    and further, that in all the convulsions of nature, the
+    upheavings and depressions, this spot has remained undisturbed
+    as it originally appeared. This is the spot that is to form the
+    center in the redemption now at hand; and parts adjacent are, by
+    convulsions and a reverse process, to be restored to their
+    primeval state. This is the substance of what I heard read. The
+    revelation was said to have been spelled out to them by raps
+    from Paul."
+
+In a subsequent letter published in the _Circular_ December 14, 1851,
+Mr. Leete sent us the spiritual document which summoned the saints to
+Mountain Cove, introducing it as follows:
+
+    "I send inclosed an authentic copy of a printed circular, said
+    to have been received by Mr. Scott, the spiritual leader of the
+    Virginia movement, in this manner, viz.: the words were seen in
+    a vision, printed in space, one at a time, declared off by him,
+    and written down by some one else."
+
+    _Mountain Cove Circular._
+
+    "Go! Scarcely let time intervene. Escape the vales of death.
+    Pass from beneath the cloud of magnetic human glory. Flee to the
+    mountains whither I direct. Rest in their embrace, and in a
+    place fashioned and appointed of old. There the dark cloud of
+    magnetic death has never rested. For I, the Lord, have thus
+    decreed, and in my purpose have I sworn, and it shall come to
+    pass. Time waiteth for no man.
+
+    "For above the power of sin a storm is gathering that shall
+    sweep away the refuge of lies. Come out of her, O, my people!
+    for their sun shall be darkened, and their moon turned into
+    blood, and their stars shall fall from their heaven. The Samson
+    of strength feeleth for the pillars of the temple. Her
+    foundation already moveth. Her ruin stayeth for the rescue of my
+    people.
+
+    "The city of refuge is builded as a hiding place and a shelter;
+    as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land; as an asylum for
+    the afflicted; a safety for those fleeing from the power of sin
+    which pursueth to destroy. In that mountain my people shall rest
+    secure. Above it the cloud of glory descendeth. Thence it
+    encompasseth the saints. There angels shall ascend and descend.
+    There the soul shall feast and be satisfied. There is the bread
+    and the water of life. 'And in this mountain shall the Lord of
+    hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of
+    wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the
+    lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face
+    of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is
+    spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory;
+    and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and
+    the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the
+    earth; for the Lord hath spoken it.' And I will defend Zion, for
+    she is my chosen. There shall the redeemed descend. There shall
+    my people be made one. There shall the glory of the Lord appear,
+    descending from the tabernacle of the Most High.
+
+    "The end is not yet.
+
+    "You are the chosen. Go, bear the reproaches of my people. Go
+    without the camp. Lead in the conquest. Vanquish the foe. As ye
+    have been bidden, meekly obey. Paradise hath no need of the
+    things that ye love so dearly. For earthly apparel, if obedient,
+    ye shall have garments of righteousness and salvation. For
+    earthly treasures, ye shall gather grapage from your Maker's
+    throne. For tears, ye shall have jewels, as dewdrops from
+    heaven. For sighs, notes of celestial melody. For death, ye
+    shall have life. For sorrow, ye shall have fulness of joy.
+    Cease, then, your earthly struggle. All ye love or value, ye
+    shall still possess. Earth is departing. The powers and
+    imaginations of men are rolling together like a scroll. Escape
+    the wreck ere it leaps into the abyss of woe. Forget not each
+    other. Bear with each other. Love each other. Go forth as lambs
+    to the slaughter. For lo, thy King cometh, and ere thou art
+    slain he shall defend. Kiss the rod that smites thee, and bow
+    chastened at thy Maker's throne."
+
+Here occurs a long break in our information, extending from December
+1851, to July 1853. How the Community was established and what
+progress it made in that interval, the reader must imagine for
+himself. Our leap is from the beginning to near the end. The
+_Spiritual Telegraph_ of July 2, 1853, contained the following:
+
+    "MOUNTAIN COVE COMMUNITY.--We copy below an article from the
+    _Journal of Progress_, published in New York. It is from the pen
+    of Mr. Hyatt, who was for a time a member of the Community at
+    Mountain Cove. Mr. Hyatt is a conscientious man, and is still a
+    firm believer in a rational Spiritualism. We have never regarded
+    the claims of Messrs. Scott and Harris with favor, though we
+    have thought and still think, that the motives and life of the
+    latter were always honorable and pure. There are other persons
+    at the Mountain who are justly esteemed for their virtues; but
+    we most sincerely believe they are deluded by the absurd
+    pretensions of Mr. Scott."
+
+    [_From the Journal of Progress._]
+
+    "Most of our readers are undoubtedly aware that there is a
+    company of Spiritualists now residing at Mountain Cove,
+    Virginia, whose claims of spiritual intercourse are of a
+    somewhat different nature from those usually put forth by
+    believers in other parts of the country.
+
+    "This movement grew out of a large circle of Spiritualists at
+    Auburn, New York, nearly two years since; but the pretensions on
+    the part of the prime movers became of a far more imposing
+    nature than they were in Auburn, soon after their location at
+    Mountain Cove. It is claimed that they were directed to the
+    place which they now occupy, by God, in fulfillment of certain
+    prophecies in Isaiah, for the purpose of redeeming all who would
+    co-operate with them and be dictated by their counsel; and the
+    place which they occupy is denominated 'the Holy Mountain, which
+    was sanctified and set apart for the redemption of his people.'
+
+    "The principal mediums, James L. Scott and Thomas L. Harris,
+    profess absolute Divine inspiration, and entire infallibility;
+    that the infinite God communicates with them directly, without
+    intermediate agency; and that by him they are preserved from the
+    possibility of error in any of their dictations which claim a
+    spiritual origin.
+
+    "By virtue of these assumptions, and claiming to be the words of
+    God, all the principles and rules of practice, whether of a
+    spiritual or temporal nature, which govern the believers in that
+    place, are dictated by the individuals above mentioned. Among
+    the communications thus received, which are usually in the form
+    of arbitrary decrees, are requirements which positively forbid
+    those who have once formed a belief in the divinity of the
+    movement, the privilege of criticising, or in any degree
+    reasoning upon, the orders and communications uttered; or in
+    other words, the disciples are forbidden the privilege of having
+    any reason or conscience at all, except that which is prescribed
+    to them by this oracle. The most unlimited demands of the
+    controlling intelligence must be acceded to by its followers, or
+    they will be thrust without the pale of the claimed Divine
+    influence, and utter and irretrievable ruin is announced as the
+    penalty.
+
+    "In keeping with such pretensions, these 'Matthiases' have
+    claimed for God his own property; and hence men are required to
+    yield up their stewardships: that is, relinquish their temporal
+    possessions to the Almighty. And, in pursuance of this, there
+    has been a large quantity of land in that vicinity deeded
+    without reserve by conscientious believers, to the human
+    vicegerents of God above mentioned, with the understanding that
+    such conveyance is virtually made to the Deity!
+
+    "As would inevitably be the case, this mode of operations has
+    awakened in the minds of the more reasoning and reflective
+    members, distrust and unbelief, which has caused some, with
+    great pecuniary loss, to withdraw from the Community, and with
+    others who remain, has ripened into disaffection and violent
+    opposition; and the present condition of the 'Holy Mountain' is
+    anything but that of divine harmony. Discord, slander and
+    vindictiveness is the order of proceedings, in which one or both
+    of the professed inspired mediators take an active part; and the
+    prospect now is, that the claims of divine authority in the
+    temporal matters of 'the Mountain,' will soon be tested, and the
+    ruling power conceded to be absolute, or else completely
+    dethroned."
+
+After the above, came the following counter-statement in the
+_Spiritual Telegraph_, August 6, 1853:
+
+
+                                     _Cincinnati, July 14, 1853._
+
+    "MR. S.B. BRITTAN--Sir: A friend has handed me the _Telegraph_
+    of July 2, and directed my attention to an article appearing in
+    that number, headed 'Mountain Cove Community,' which, although
+    purporting to be from the pen of one familiar with our
+    circumstances at the Cove, differs widely from the facts in our
+    case.
+
+    "Suffice it for the present to say, that Messrs. Scott and
+    Harris, either jointly or individually, for themselves, or as
+    the 'human vicegerents of God,' have and hold no deed (as the
+    article quoted from the _Journal of Progress_ represents) of
+    lands at the Cove. Neither have they pecuniary supporters
+    there. Nor are men residing there required or expected to deal
+    with them upon terms aside from the ordinary rules of business
+    transactions. They have no claims upon men there for temporal
+    benefits. They exact no tithes, or even any degree of
+    compensation for public services; and, although they have
+    preached and lectured to the people there during their sojourn
+    in that country, they have never received for such services a
+    penny; and, except what they have received from a few liberal
+    friends who reside in other portions of the country, they secure
+    their temporal means by their own industry. Moreover, for land
+    and dwellings occupied by them, they are obligated to pay rent
+    or lease-money; and should they at any time obtain a deed,
+    according to present written agreement, they are to pay the full
+    value to those who are the owners of the soil and by virtue
+    thereof still retain their steward-ship.
+
+    "I have thus briefly stated facts; facts of which I should have
+    an unbiased knowledge, and of which I ought to be a competent
+    judge. These facts I have ample means to authenticate, and
+    together with a full and explicit statement of the nature of the
+    lease, when due the public, if ever, I shall not hesitate to
+    give. And from these the reader may determine the character of
+    the entire expose, so liberally indorsed, as also other
+    statements so freely trumpeted, relative to us at Mountain Cove.
+
+    "From some years of the most intimate intercourse with the Rev.
+    T.L. Harris, surrounded by circumstances calculated to try men's
+    souls, I am prepared to bear testimony to your statements
+    relative to his goodness and purity; and will add, that were all
+    men of like character, earth would enjoy a saving change, and
+    that right speedily.
+
+    "Assured that your sense of right will secure for this brief
+    statement, equal notoriety with the charges preferred against
+    us--hence a place in the columns of the _Telegraph_;
+
+                                        I am, &c.,   J.L. SCOTT."
+
+This counter-statement has the air of special pleading, and all the
+information that we have obtained by communication with various
+ex-members of the Mountain Cove Community, goes to confirm the
+substance of the preceding charges. The following extracts from a
+letter in reply to some of our questions, is a specimen:
+
+    "There were indications in the acts of one or more individuals
+    at Mountain Cove, that plainly showed their desire to get
+    control of the possessions which other individuals had saved as
+    the fruits of their industry and economy. Those evil designs
+    were frustrated by those who were the intended victims of the
+    crafty, though not without some pecuniary sacrifice to the
+    innocent."
+
+From all this we infer that the Mountain Cove Community came to its
+end in the latter part of 1853, by a quarrel about property; which is
+all we know about it.
+
+This was the most noted of the Spiritualist Communities. The rest are
+not noticed by Macdonald, and, so far as we know, hardly deserve
+mention.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+
+THE BROCTON COMMUNITY.
+
+
+We are forbidden to class this Association with the Spiritualist
+Communities, by a positive disclaimer on the part of its founders: as
+the reader will see further on. Otherwise we should have said that the
+Brocton Community is the last of the series which commenced at
+Mountain Cove. Thomas L. Harris, the leader at Brocton, was also one
+of the two leaders at Mountain Cove, and as Swedenborgianism, his
+present faith, is certainly a species of Spiritualism, not altogether
+unrelated to the more popular kind which he held in the times of
+Mountain Cove, we can not be far wrong in counting the Brocton
+Community as one of the _sequelae_ of Fourierism, and in the true line
+of succession from Brook Farm.
+
+After the bad failure of non-religious Socialism in the Owen
+experiments, and the worse failure of semi-religious Socialism in the
+Fourier experiments, a lesson seems to have been learned, and a
+tendency has come on, to lay the foundations of socialistic
+architecture in some kind of Spiritualism, equivalent to religion.
+This tendency commenced, as we have seen, among the Brook Farmers, who
+promulgated Swedenborgianism almost as zealously as they did
+Fourierism. The same tendency is seen in the history of the Owens,
+father and son. Thus, it is evident that the entire Spiritualistic
+platform has been pushed forward by a large part of its constituency,
+as a hopeful basis of future Socialisms. And the Brocton Community
+seems to be the final product and representative of this tendency to
+union between Spiritualism and Socialism.
+
+As Mr. Harris and Mr. Oliphant, the two conspicuous men at Brocton,
+are both Englishmen, we might almost class that Community with the
+exotics, which do not properly come into our history. But the close
+connection of Brocton with the Spiritualistic movement, and the
+general interest it has excited in this country, on the whole entitle
+it to a place in the records of American Socialisms. The following
+account is compiled from a brilliant report in the _New York Sun_ of
+April 30, 1869, written by Oliver Dyer:
+
+    _History and Description of the Brocton Community._
+
+    "Nine miles beyond Dunkirk, on the southerly shore of Lake Erie,
+    in the village of Brocton, New York, is a Community which, in
+    some respects, and especially as to the central idea around
+    which the members gather, is probably without a parallel in the
+    annals of mankind.
+
+    "The founder of this Community is the Rev. Thomas Lake Harris,
+    an Englishman by birth, but whose parents came to this country
+    when he was three years old. He was for several years a noted
+    preacher of the Universalist denomination in New York.
+    Subsequently he went to England, where he had a noticeable
+    career as a preacher of strange doctrines. Between five and six
+    years ago he returned to this country, and settled in Amenia,
+    Duchess County, where he prospered as a banker and
+    agriculturist, until in October, 1867, he (as he claims), in
+    obedience to the direct leadings of God's spirit, took up his
+    abode at his present residence in Chautauqua County, on the
+    southerly shore of Lake Erie, and founded the Brocton Community.
+
+    "The tract of land owned and occupied by the Community,
+    comprises a little over sixteen hundred acres, and is about two
+    and a-half miles long, by one mile in breadth. One-half of this
+    tract was purchased by Mr. Harris with his own money; the
+    residue was purchased with the money of his associates and at
+    their request is held by him in trust for the Community. The
+    main building on the premises (for there are several residences)
+    is a low, two-story edifice straggling over much ground.
+
+    "A deep valley runs through the estate, and along the bed of the
+    valley winds a copious creek, on the northerly bank of which, at
+    a well-selected site, stands a saw-mill, [the inevitable!] which
+    seems to have constant use for all its teeth.
+
+    "The land for the most part lies warm to the sun, and its
+    quality and position are such that it does not require
+    under-draining, which is a great advantage. It is bountifully
+    supplied with wood and water and is variegated in surface and in
+    soil.
+
+    "About eighty acres are in grapes, of several varieties, among
+    which are the Concord, Isabella, Salem, Iona, Rogers's Hybrid
+    and others. They expect much from their grapes. The intention is
+    to strive for quality rather than quantity, and to run
+    principally to table fruit of an excellence which will command
+    the highest prices.
+
+    "It is the intention of the Community to go extensively into the
+    dairy business, and considerable progress has already been made
+    in that direction. Other industrial matters are also being
+    driven ahead with skill and vigor; but a large portion of the
+    estate has yet to be brought under cultivation, and there is a
+    deal of hard work to be done to make the 1,600 acres
+    presentable, and to secure comfortable homes for the workers.
+
+    "There are about sixty adult members of the Community, besides a
+    number of children. Among the rest are five orthodox clergymen;
+    several representatives from Japan; several American ladies of
+    high social position and exquisite culture, etc.
+
+    "But the members who attract the most attention, at least of the
+    newspaper world, are Lady Oliphant and her son, Lawrence
+    Oliphant, who are understood to be exiles from high places in
+    the aristocracy of England.
+
+    "All these work together on terms of entire equality, and all
+    are very harmonious in religion, notwithstanding their previous
+    diversity of position and faith.
+
+    "This is a very religious Community. Swedenborg furnishes the
+    original doctrinal and philosophical basis of its faith, to
+    which Mr. Harris, as he conceives, has been led by Providence to
+    add other and vital matters, which were unknown until they were
+    revealed through him. They reverence the Scriptures as the very
+    word of God.
+
+    "The fundamental religious belief of the Community may be summed
+    up in the dogma, that there is one God and only one, and that he
+    is the Lord Jesus Christ. The religion of the Community is
+    intensely practical, and may be stated as, faith in Christ, and
+    a life in accordance with his commandments.
+
+    "And here comes in the question, What is a life in accordance
+    with Christ's commandments? Mr. Harris and his fellow believers
+    hold that when a man is 'born of the Spirit,' he is inevitably
+    drawn into communal relations with his brethren, in accordance
+    with the declaration that 'the disciples were of one heart and
+    one mind, and had all things in common.'
+
+    "This doctrine of Communism has been held by myriads, and
+    repeated attempts have been made, but made in vain, to embody it
+    in actual life. It is natural, therefore, to distrust any new
+    attempt in the same direction. Mr. Harris is aware of this
+    general distrust, and of the reasons for it; but he claims that
+    he has something which places his attempt beyond the
+    vicissitudes of chance, and bases it upon immutable certainty;
+    that hitherto there has been no palpable criterion whereby the
+    existence of God could be tested, no tangible test whereby the
+    indication of his will could be determined; but that such
+    criterion and test have now been vouchsafed, and that on such
+    criterion and test to him communicated, his Community is
+    founded.
+
+    "The pivot on which this movement turns, the foundation on which
+    it rests, the grand secret of the whole matter, is known in the
+    Community as 'open respiration,' also as 'divine respiration;'
+    and the starting point of the theory is, that God created man in
+    his own image and likeness, and breathed into him the breath of
+    life. That the breathing into man of the breath of life was the
+    sensible point of contact between the divine and human, between
+    God and man. That man in his holy state was, so to speak,
+    directly connected with God, by means of what might be likened
+    to a spiritual respiratory umbilical chord, which ran from God
+    to man's inmost or celestial nature, and constantly suffused
+    him with airs from heaven, whereby his spiritual respiration or
+    life was supported, and his entire nature, physical as well as
+    spiritual, kept in a state of godlike purity and innocence,
+    without, however, any infringement of man's freedom.
+
+    "That after the fall of man this spiritual respiratory
+    connection between God and man was severed, and the spiritual
+    intercourse between the Creator and the creature brought to an
+    end, and hence spiritual death. That the great point is to have
+    this respiratory connection with God restored. That Mr. Harris
+    and those who are co-operating with him have had it restored,
+    and are in the constant enjoyment thereof. That it is by this
+    divine respiration, and by no other means, that a human being
+    can get irrefragable, tangible, satisfactory evidence that God
+    is God, and that man has or can have conjunction with God. This
+    divine respiration retains all that is of the natural
+    respiration as its base and fulcrum, and builds upon and employs
+    it for its service.
+
+    "In the new respiration, God gives an atmosphere that is as
+    sensitive to moral quality as the physical respiration is to
+    natural quality; and this higher breath, whose essence is
+    virtue, builds up the bodies of the virtuous, wars against
+    disease, expels the virus of hereditary maladies, renews health
+    from its foundations, and stands in the body as a sentinel
+    against every plague. When this spiritual respiration descends
+    and takes possession of the frame, there is thenceforth a
+    guiding power, a positive inspiration, which selects the
+    recipient's calling, which trains him for it, which leads him to
+    favorable localities, and which co-ordinates affairs on a large
+    scale. It will deal with groups as with individuals; it will
+    re-distribute mankind; it will re-organize the village, the
+    town, the workshop, the manufactory, the agricultural district,
+    the pastoral region, gathering human atoms from their
+    degradation, and crystallizing them in resplendent unities.
+
+    "This primary doctrine has for its accompaniment a special
+    theory of love and marriage, which is this: In heaven the basis
+    of social order is marital order, and so it must be in this
+    world. There, all the senses are completed and included in the
+    sense of chastity; that sense of chastity is there the body for
+    the soul of conjugal desire; there, the corporeal element of
+    passion is excluded from the nuptial senses: there, the utterly
+    pure alone are permitted to enter into the divine state involved
+    in nuptial union; and so it must be here below. The 'sense of
+    chastity' is the touchstone of conjugal fitness, and is bestowed
+    in this wise:
+
+    "When the Divine breaths have so pervaded the nervous structures
+    that the higher attributes of sensation begin to waken from
+    their immemorial torpor, and to react against disease, a sixth
+    sense is as evident as hearing is to the ear, or sight to
+    vision. It is distributed through the entire frame. So
+    exquisitely does it pervade the hands that the slightest touch
+    declares who are chaste and who are unchaste. And this sixth
+    sense is the sense of chastity. It comes from God, who is the
+    infinite chastity.
+
+    "Within this sense of chastity nuptial love has its
+    dwelling-place. So utterly hostile is it by nature to what the
+    world understands by desire and passion, that the waftings of an
+    atmosphere bearing these elements in its bosom affect it with
+    loathing. This sense of chastity literally clothes every nerve.
+    A living, sensitive garment, without spot or seam, it invests
+    the frame of the universal sensations, and gives instant warning
+    of the approach of impurity even in thought.
+
+    "In true nuptial love, which is born of love to God, the nuptial
+    pair, from the inmost oneness of the divine being, are embosomed
+    each in each, as loveliness in loveliness, innocence in
+    innocence, blessedness in blessedness. In possessing each other
+    they possess the Lord, who prepares the two to become one heart,
+    one mind, one soul, one love, one wisdom, one felicity. There
+    are ladies and gentlemen in the Community who claim to have
+    attained this sense of chastity to such a degree that they
+    instantly detect the presence of an impure person.
+
+    "It may surprise the reader to hear that what is called
+    'Spiritualism' finds no favor in this Community. All phases of
+    the spirit-rapping business are abhorred.
+
+    "A cardinal principle of government, as to their own affairs in
+    the Community, is unity of conviction. The Council of Direction
+    consists of nineteen members; and if any one of them fails to
+    perceive the propriety of a course or plan agreed upon by the
+    other eighteen, it is accepted as an indication of Providence
+    that the time for carrying out the course or plan has not yet
+    come; and they patiently wait until the entire Council becomes
+    'of one heart and one mind' as to the matter proposed.
+
+    "They do not hunger for proselytes, nor seek public recognition.
+    They know that the spirit is the great matter; and that an
+    enterprise, as well as a human being, or a tree, must grow from
+    the internal, vital principle, and not from external
+    agglomerations. Whosoever, therefore, applies for admission to
+    their circle is subject to crucial spiritual tests and a
+    revealing probation. Unconditional surrender to God's will,
+    absolute chastity not only in act but in spirit, complete
+    self-abnegation, a full acceptance of Christ as the only and
+    true God, are fundamental conditions even to a probationship.
+
+    "Painting, sculpture, music and all the accomplishments are to
+    have fitting development. There is no Quakerism or Puritanism in
+    them. Man (including woman) is to be developed liberally,
+    thoroughly, grandly, but all in the name of the Lord, and with
+    an eye single to God's glory. Science, art, literature,
+    languages, mechanics, philosophy, whatever will help to give
+    back to man his lost mastership of the universe, is to be
+    subordinated for that purpose.
+
+    "Their domestic affairs, including cooking and washing, are
+    carried on much as in the outside world. They live in many
+    mansions, and have no unitary household. But they are alive to
+    all the teachings of science and sociology on these topics, and
+    intend to make machinery and organization do as much of the
+    drudgery of the Community as possible.
+
+    "They have no peculiar costume or customs. They eat, drink,
+    dress, converse and worship God just like cultivated Christians
+    elsewhere. They have no regular preaching at present, nor
+    literary entertainments, but all these are to come in due
+    season. They intend, as their numbers increase, and as the
+    organization solidifies, to inaugurate whatever institutions may
+    be necessary to promote their intellectual and spiritual
+    welfare, and also to establish such industries and manufactures
+    on the domain, as sound, economical discretion, vivified and
+    guided by the new respiration, shall dictate.
+
+    "By means of the new respiration they think that, in the lapse
+    of time, mankind will become regenerate, and society be
+    reconstructed, and physical disease banished from the earth, and
+    a millennial reign inaugurated under the domination of Divine
+    order. They especially expect great things in the East; that the
+    doctrine of the Lord, as set forth by Swedenborg and Mr. Harris,
+    and re-inforced by the new respiration, will by and by sweep
+    over Asia, where the people are already beginning to be tossed
+    on the waves of spiritual unrest, and are longing for a higher
+    religious development."
+
+After this luminous introduction, Mr. Dana, the editor of the _Sun_,
+followed with the article ensuing:
+
+    "WILL IT SUCCEED?
+
+    "The account which we published yesterday, from the accomplished
+    pen of Mr. Oliver Dyer, of the new Community in Chautauqua
+    County, which Mr. Harris, Mr. Oliphant and their associates are
+    engaged in founding, will, we think, excite attention
+    everywhere. Considered as a religious movement alone, the
+    enterprise merits a candid and even sympathetic attention. Its
+    fundamental ideas are such as must promote thought and inquiry
+    wherever they are promulgated. That they are all true, as a
+    matter of theological doctrine, we certainly are not prepared to
+    affirm; but that they challenge a respectful interest in the
+    minds of all sincere inquirers after spiritual truth, can not be
+    disputed. But it is not as a new form of Christianity, with new
+    dogmas and new pretensions, that we have to deal with the system
+    proclaimed at Brocton. What especially engages our observation
+    is the social aspect of the undertaking. Is it founded upon
+    notions that promise any considerable advance upon the present
+    form of society? Does it contain within itself the elements of
+    success?
+
+    "As respects the first question, we are free to answer that the
+    scheme of the Brocton philosophers is too little developed, too
+    immature in their own minds, to allow of any dogmatic judgment
+    respecting it. The religious phase of the Community, and the
+    enthusiasm which belongs to it, have not yet crystallized in
+    relations of industry, art, education and external life,
+    sufficiently to show the precise end at which it will aim.
+    Indeed it would seem that its founders have avoided rather than
+    cultivated those speculations on the organization of society to
+    which most social innovators give the first place in their
+    thoughts. Starting from man's highest spiritual nature alone,
+    they prefer to leave every practical problem to be solved as it
+    rises, not by scientific theory or business shrewdness, but by
+    the help of that supernatural inspiration which forms a vital
+    point in their theology. But on the other hand, they are pledged
+    to democratic equality, to perfect respect for the dignity of
+    labor, and to brotherly justice in the distribution alike of the
+    advantages of life and the earnings of the common toil. We may
+    conclude, then, that despite the Communism which seems to lie at
+    the foundation of their design, with its annihilation of
+    individual property, and its tendency to annihilate individual
+    character also, all persons who can adopt the religion of this
+    Community will find a happier life within its precincts than
+    they can look for elsewhere. But that it will initiate a new
+    stage in the world's social progress, or exercise any
+    perceptible influence upon the general condition of mankind, is
+    not to be expected.
+
+    "As to the probability of its lasting, that seems to us to be
+    strong. Communities based upon peculiar religious views, have
+    generally succeeded. The Shakers and the Oneida Community are
+    conspicuous illustrations of this fact; while the failure of the
+    various attempts made by the disciples of Fourier, Owen and
+    others, who have not had the support of religious fanaticism,
+    proves that without this great force the most brilliant social
+    theories are of little avail. Have the Brocton people enough of
+    it to carry them safely through? Or is their religion of too
+    transcendental a character to form a sure and tenacious cement
+    for their social structure? These questions only time can
+    positively answer; but we incline to the belief that they are
+    likely to live and prosper, to become numerous and wealthy, and
+    to play a much more influential part in the world than either of
+    the bodies of religious Socialists that have preceded them."
+
+The reader will perhaps expect us to say something from our
+stand-point, in answer to Mr. Dana's question, "Will it succeed?" and
+as the name of the Oneida Community is called in connection with the
+Shakers and the Broctonians, it seems proper that we should do what we
+can to help on a fair comparison of these competing Socialisms.
+
+In the first place, many of the cardinal principles reported in Mr.
+Dyer's account, command our highest respect and sympathy. Religion as
+the basis, inspiration as the guide, Providence as the insurer,
+reverence for the Bible, Communism of property, unanimity in action,
+abstinence from proselytism, self-improvement instead of preaching and
+publicity, liberality of culture in science, art, literature,
+language, mechanics, philosophy, and whatever will help to give back
+man his lost mastership of the universe, these and many other of the
+fundamentals at Brocton we recognize as old acquaintances and very
+dear friends. With this acknowledgment premised, we will be free to
+point out some things which we regard as unpromising weaknesses in the
+constitution of the new Socialism.
+
+The Brocton Community is evidently very religious, and so far may be
+regarded as strong in the first element of success. Its religion,
+however, is Swedenborgianism, revised and adapted to the age, but not
+essentially changed; and we have seen that the experiments in
+Socialism which Swedenborgians have heretofore made, have not been
+successful. The Yellow Spring Community in Owen's time, and the
+Leraysville Phalanx in the Fourier epoch, were avowedly Swedenborgian
+Associations; but they failed as speedily and utterly as their
+contemporaries. Notwithstanding the claim of a wonderful affinity
+between Swedenborgianism and Fourierism which the _Harbinger_ used to
+make, it seems probable that the afflatus of pure Swedenborgianism is
+not favorable to Communism or to close Association of any kind.
+Swedenborg in his personal character was not a Socialist or an
+organizer in any way, but a very solitary speculator; and the heavens
+he set before the world were only sublimated embodiments of the
+ordinary principle of private property, in wives and in every thing
+else.
+
+When we say that the Brocton Community is Swedenborgian, we do not
+forget that Mr. Harris professes to have made important additions to
+the Teutonic revelations. But we see that the fundamental doctrines
+reported by Mr. Dyer are essentially the same as those we have found
+in Swedenborg's works. Even the pivotal discovery of "internal
+respiration" is not original with Mr. Harris. Swedenborg had it in
+theory and in personal experience. He ascribes the purity of the
+Adamic church to this condition, and its degeneracy and destruction,
+to the loss of it. Thus he says:
+
+    "It was shown me, that [at the time of the degeneracy of the
+    Adamites] the internal respiration, which proceeded from the
+    navel toward the interior region of the breast, retired toward
+    the region of the back and toward the abdomen, thus outward and
+    downward. Immediately before the flood scarce any internal
+    respiration existed. At last it was annihilated in the breast,
+    and its subjects were choked or suffocated. In those who
+    survived, external respiration was opened. With the cessation of
+    internal respiration, immediate intercourse with angels and the
+    instant and instinctive perception of truth and falsehood, were
+    lost."
+
+And Mr. White, the latest biographer of Swedenborg, says of him:
+
+    "The possession by him of the power of easy transition of sense
+    and consciousness from the lower to the upper world, arose, it
+    would appear, from some peculiarities in his physical
+    organization. The suspension of respiration under deep thought,
+    common to all men, was preternaturally developed in him; and in
+    his diary he makes a variety of observations on his case; as for
+    instance he says:
+
+    "'My respiration has been so formed by the Lord, as to enable me
+    to breathe inwardly for a long time without the aid of the
+    external air, my respiration being directed within, and my
+    outward senses, as well as actions, still continuing in their
+    vigor, which is only possible with persons who have been so
+    formed by the Lord. I have also been instructed that my
+    breathing was so directed, without my being aware of it, in
+    order to enable me to be with spirits, and to speak with them.'
+
+    "Again, he tells us that there are many species of respirations
+    inducing divers introductions to the spirits and angels with
+    whom the lungs conspire; and goes on to say, that he was at
+    first habituated to insensible breathing in his infancy, when at
+    morning and evening prayers, and occasionally afterward when
+    exploring the concordance between the heart, lungs and brain,
+    and particularly when writing his physiological works; that for
+    a number of years, beginning with his childhood, he was
+    introduced to internal respiration mainly by intense
+    speculations in which breathing stops, for otherwise intense
+    thought is impossible. When heaven was open to him, and he spoke
+    with spirits, sometimes for nearly an hour he scarcely breathed
+    at all. The same phenomena occurred when he was going to sleep,
+    and he thinks that his preparation went forward during repose.
+    So various was his breathing, so obedient did it become, that he
+    thereby obtained the range of the higher world, and access to
+    all its spheres."
+
+Thus it would seem that what Mr. Harris is attempting at Brocton is,
+to realize on a large scale the experience of Swedenborg, and
+reproduce the Adamic church. This "open respiration," however, must be
+an oracular influx not essentially different from that which guides
+the Shakers, the Ebenezers, and all the religious Communities. We have
+called it afflatus. It does not appear to be strong enough in the
+Brocton Community to dissolve old-fashioned familism; which we
+consider a bad sign, as our readers know. There is an inevitable
+competition between the family-spirit and the Community-spirit, which
+all the "internal respiration" that we have enjoyed, has never been
+able to harmonize in any other way than by thoroughly subordinating
+family interests, and making the Community the prime organization. And
+it is quite certain that this has been the experience of the Shakers
+and all the other successful Communities. Indeed this is the very
+revolution that is involved in real Christianity. The private family
+has been and is the unit of society in naturalism, i.e. in the
+pre-Christian, pagan state. But the Church, which is equivalent to the
+Association, or Community, or Phalanx, is clearly the unit of society
+in the Christian scheme.
+
+The Brocton philosophy of love and marriage is manifestly
+Swedenborgian. In some passages it seems like actual Shakerism, but
+the prevailing sense is that of intensified conjugality, _a la_
+Swedenborg. Here again the Swedenborgian afflatus will be very
+unfavorable to success. Swedenborg wrote in the same vein as Mr.
+Harris talks, about chastity; but withal he kept mistresses at several
+times in his life; and he recommends mistress-keeping to those who
+"can not contain." Moreover he gives married men thirty-four reasons,
+many of them very trivial, for keeping concubines. Above all, his
+theory of marriage in heaven, involving the sentimentalism of
+predestined mating (which doubtless is retained entire in the Brocton
+philosophy), not only leads directly to contempt of ordinary marriage,
+as being an artificial system of blunders, but necessarily authorizes
+the "right of search" to find the true mate. The practical result of
+this theory is seen in the system of "free love," or experimenting
+for "affinities," which has prevailed among Spiritualists. It will
+require a very high power of "internal respiration" to steer the
+Brocton Community through these dangers, resulting from its
+affiliation with the Swedenborgian principality. Close Association is
+a worse place than ordinary society for working out the delicate
+problems of the negative theory of chastity.
+
+The Broctonians are reported as reverencing the Bible, but this can
+only mean that they reverence it in Swedenborg's fashion. He rejected
+about half of it (including all of Paul's writings) as uninspired; and
+worshiped the rest as full of divinity, stuffed in every letter and
+dot with double and triple significance, of which significance he
+alone had the key.
+
+Probably Mr. Harris's principal deviation from the Swedenborgian
+theology, is the introduction of his original faith of Universalism.
+Swedenborg lived and wrote before modern benevolence was developed so
+far as to require the elimination of future punishment; and with all
+his laxity on other points, he was more orthodox and uncompromising in
+regard to the eternity of hell-torments, and even as to their
+sulphuric nature, than any writer the world has ever seen before or
+since. Hence the Spiritualists, who generally belong to the
+Universalist school, either have to quarrel with Swedenborg openly, as
+Andrew Jackson Davis did, or modify his system on this point, as T.L.
+Harris has done.
+
+We were surprised, as Mr. Dyer supposes his readers might be, to learn
+that the Brocton Communists abhor "all phases of the rapping
+business;" for we remember that Mr. Harris was counted among
+Spiritualists in old times, and we see that he is still in pursuit of
+the Adamic status and other attainments that were the objective
+points of the Mountain Cove Community.
+
+As to externals, the Brocton Community, we fear, has got the
+land-mania, which ruined so many of the Owen and Fourier Associations.
+Sixteen hundred acres must be a dreary investment for a young and
+small Community. If our experience is worth any thing, and if we might
+offer our advice, we should say, Sell two-thirds of that domain and
+put the proceeds into a machine-shop. Agriculture, after all, is not a
+primary business. Machinery goes before it; always did and always will
+more and more. Plows and harrows, rakes and hoes, were the dynamics
+even of ancient farming; and the men that invented and made them were
+greater than farmers. The Oneida Community made its fortune by first
+sinking forty thousand dollars in training a set of young men as
+machinists. The business thus started has proved to be literally a
+high school in comparison with farming or almost any other business,
+not excepting that of academies and colleges. With that school always
+growing in strength and enthusiasm, we can make the tools for all
+other businesses, and the whole range of modern enterprise is open to
+us.
+
+If the Brocton leaders have plenty of money at interest, we see no
+reason why they may not live pleasantly and do well in some form of
+loose co-operation. But with the weaknesses we have noticed, we doubt
+whether their "internal respiration" will harmonize them in close
+Association, or enable them to get their living by amateur farming.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+
+THE SHAKERS.
+
+
+We should hardly do justice to the Shakers if we should leave them
+undistinguished among the obscure exotics. Their influence on American
+Socialisms has been so great as to set them entirely apart from the
+other antique religious Communities. Macdonald makes more of them than
+of any other single Community, devoting nearly a hundred pages to
+their history and peculiarities. Most of his material relating to
+them, however, may be found in their own current publications; and
+need not be reproduced here. But there is one document in his
+collection giving an "inside view" of their social and religious life,
+which we are inclined to publish for special reasons. It is, in the
+first place, a picture of their daily routine, as faithful as could be
+expected from one who appears to have been neither a friend nor an
+enemy to them; and its representations in this respect are verified
+substantially by various Shaker publications. But it is specially
+interesting to us as a disclosure of the historical secret which
+connects Shakerism with "modern Spiritualism." Elder Evans, the
+conspicuous man of the Shakers, in his late autobiography alludes to
+this secret in the following terms:
+
+    "In 1837 to 1844, there was an influx from the spirit world,
+    confirming the faith of many disciples, who had lived among
+    believers for years, and extending throughout all the eighteen
+    [Shaker] societies, making media by the dozen, whose various
+    exercises, not to be suppressed even in their public meetings,
+    rendered it imperatively necessary to close them all to the
+    world during a period of seven years, in consequence of the then
+    unprepared state of the world, to which the whole of the
+    manifestations, and the meetings too, would have been as
+    unadulterated foolishness, or as inexplicable mysteries.
+
+    "The spirits then declared, again and again, that, when they had
+    done their work among the inhabitants of Zion, they would do a
+    work in the world, of such magnitude, that not a place nor a
+    hamlet upon earth should remain unvisited by them.
+
+    "After their mission among us was finished, we supposed that the
+    manifestations would immediately begin in the outside world; but
+    we were much disappointed; for we had to wait four years before
+    the work began, as it finally did, at Rochester, New York. But
+    the rapidity of its course throughout the nations of the earth
+    (as also the social standing and intellectual importance of the
+    converts), has far exceeded the predictions."
+
+                                 --_Atlantic Monthly_, May, 1869.
+
+The narrative we are about to present relates to the period of closed
+doors here mentioned, and to some of the "manifestations" which had to
+be withdrawn from public view, lest they should be regarded as
+"unadulterated foolishness." It is perhaps the only testimony the
+world has in regard to the events which, according to Evans, were the
+real beginnings of modern Spiritualism.
+
+Macdonald does not give the name of the writer, but says that he was
+an "intimate and esteemed friend, who went among the Shakers partly to
+escape worldly troubles, and partly through curiosity; and that his
+story is evidently clear-headed and sincere."
+
+    _Four Months Among the Shakers._
+
+    "Circumstances that need not be rehearsed, induced me to visit
+    the Shaker Society at Watervliet, in the winter of 1842-3. Soon
+    after my arrival, I was conducted to the Elder whose business it
+    was to deal with inquirers. He was a good-looking old man, with
+    a fine open countenance, and a well-formed head, as I could see
+    from its being bald. I found him very intelligent, and soon made
+    known to him my business, which was to learn something about the
+    Shakers and their conditions of receiving members. On my
+    observing that I had seen favorable accounts of their society in
+    the writings of Mr. Owen, Miss Martineau, and other travelers in
+    the United States, he replied, that 'those who wished to know
+    the Shakers, must live with them;' and this remark proved to be
+    true. He propounded to me at considerable length their faith,
+    'the daily cross' they were obliged to take up against the devil
+    and the flesh, and the supreme virtue of a life of celibacy.
+    When he had concluded I asked if those who wished to join the
+    society were expected to acknowledge a belief in all the
+    articles of their faith? To which he replied, 'that they were
+    not, for many persons came there to join them, who had never
+    heard their gospel preached; but they were always received, and
+    an opportunity given them of accepting or rejecting it.' He
+    then informed me of the conditions under which they received
+    candidates: 'All new comers have one week's trial, to see how
+    they like; and after that, if they wish to continue they must
+    take up the daily cross, and commence the work of regeneration
+    and salvation, following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and
+    Mother Ann.' My first cross, he informed me, would be to confess
+    all the wicked acts I had ever committed. I asked him if he gave
+    absolution like a Catholic priest. He replied, 'that God forgave
+    sins and not they; but it was necessary in beginning the work of
+    salvation, to unburden the mind of all its past sins.' I thought
+    this confession (demanded of strangers) was a piece of good
+    policy on their part; for it enabled the Elder who received the
+    confession, to form a tolerable opinion of the individual to be
+    admitted. I agreed however before confession to make a week's
+    trial of the place, and was accordingly invited to supper; after
+    which I was shown to the sleeping room specially set apart for
+    new members. I was not left here more than an hour when a small
+    bell rang, and one of the brothers entered the room and invited
+    me to go to the family meeting; where I saw for the first time
+    their mode of worshiping God in the dance. I thought it was an
+    exciting exercise, and I should have been more pleased if they
+    had had instrumental, instead of vocal music.
+
+    "At first my meals were brought to me in my room, but after a
+    few days I was invited to commence the work of regeneration and
+    prepare for confession, that I might associate with the rest of
+    the brothers. On making known my readiness to confess, I was
+    taken to the private confession-room, and there recounted a
+    brief history of my past life. This appeared rather to please
+    the Elder, and he observed that I 'had not been very wicked.' I
+    replied, 'No, I had not abounded in acts of crime and
+    debauchery.' But the old man, to make sure I was not deceiving
+    him, tried to frighten me, by telling me of individuals who had
+    not made a full confession of their wickedness, and who could
+    find no peace or pleasure until they came back and revealed all.
+    He assured me moreover that no wicked person could continue
+    there long without being found out. I was curious to know how
+    such persons would be detected; so he took me to the window and
+    pointed out the places where 'Mother Ann' had stationed four
+    angels to watch over her children; and 'these angels,' he said,
+    'always communicated any wickedness done there, or the presence
+    of any wicked person among them.' 'But,' he continued, 'you can
+    not understand these things; neither can you believe them, for
+    you have not yet got faith enough.' I replied: 'I can not see
+    the angels!' 'No,' said he, 'I can not see them with the eye of
+    sense; but I can see them with the eye of faith. You must labor
+    for faith: and when any thing troubles you that you can not
+    understand or believe, come to me, and do not express doubts to
+    any of the brethren.' The Elder then put on my eyes a pair of
+    spiritual golden spectacles, to make me see spiritual things. I
+    instinctively put up my hands to feel them, which made the old
+    gentleman half laugh, and he said, 'Oh, you can not feel them;
+    they will not incommode you, but will help you to see spiritual
+    things.'
+
+    "After this I was permitted to eat with the family and invited
+    to attend their love-meetings. I was informed that I had perfect
+    liberty to leave the village whenever I chose to do so; but that
+    I was to receive no pay for my services if I were to leave; I
+    should be provided for, the same as if I were one of the oldest
+    members, with food, clothing and lodgings, according to their
+    rules.
+
+
+    DAILY ROUTINE.
+
+    "The hours of rising were five o'clock in the summer, and
+    half-past five in the winter. The family all rose at the toll of
+    the bell, and in less than ten minutes vacated the bed-rooms.
+    The sisters then distributed themselves throughout the rooms,
+    and made up all the beds, putting every thing in the most
+    perfect order before breakfast. The brothers proceeded to their
+    various employments, and made a commencement for the day. The
+    cows were milked, and the horses were fed. At seven o'clock the
+    bell rang for breakfast, but it was ten minutes after when we
+    went to the tables. The brothers and sisters assembled each by
+    themselves, in rooms appointed for the purpose; and at the sound
+    of a small bell the doors of these rooms opened, and a
+    procession of the family was formed in the hall, each individual
+    being in his or her proper place, as they would be at table. The
+    brothers came first, followed by the sisters, and the whole
+    marched in solemn silence to the dining-room. The brothers and
+    sisters took separate tables, on opposite sides of the room. All
+    stood up until each one had arrived at his or her proper place,
+    and then at a signal from the Elder at the head of the table,
+    they all knelt down for about two minutes, and at another signal
+    they all arose and commenced eating their breakfast. Each
+    individual helped himself; which was easily done, as the tables
+    were so arranged that between every four persons there was a
+    supply of every article intended for the meal. At the conclusion
+    they all arose and marched away from the tables in the same
+    manner as they marched to them; and during the time of marching,
+    eating, and re-marching, not one word was spoken, but the most
+    perfect silence was preserved.
+
+    "After breakfast all proceeded immediately to their respective
+    employments, and continued industriously occupied until ten
+    minutes to twelve o'clock, when the bell announced dinner.
+    Farmers then left the field and mechanics their shops, all
+    washed their hands, and formed procession again, and marched to
+    dinner in the same way as to breakfast. Immediately after dinner
+    they went to work again, (having no hour for resting), and
+    continued steady at it until the bell announced supper. At
+    supper the same routine was gone through as at the other meals,
+    and all except the farmers went to work again. The farmers were
+    supposed to be doing what were called 'chores,' which appeared
+    to mean any little odd jobs in and about the stables and barns.
+    At eight o'clock all work was ended for the day, and the family
+    went to what they called a 'union meeting.' This meeting
+    generally continued one hour, and then, at about nine o'clock,
+    all retired to bed."
+
+
+    UNION MEETINGS.
+
+    "The two Elders and the two Eldresses held their meetings in the
+    Elders' room. The three Deacons and the three Deaconesses met in
+    one of their rooms. The rest of the family, in groups of from
+    six to eight brothers and sisters, met in other rooms. At these
+    meetings it was customary for the seats to be arranged in two
+    rows about four feet apart. The sisters sat in one row, and the
+    brothers in the other, facing each other. The meetings were
+    rather dull, as the members had nothing to converse about save
+    the family affairs; for those who troubled themselves about the
+    things of the world, were not considered good Shakers. It was
+    expected that in coming there we should leave the 'world' behind
+    us. The principal subject of conversation was eating and
+    drinking. One brother sometimes eulogized a sister whom he
+    thought to be the best cook, and who could make the best
+    'Johnny-cake.' At one meeting that I attended, there was a
+    lively conversation about what we had for dinner; and by this
+    means, it might be said, we enjoyed our dinner twice over.
+
+    "I have thus given the routine for one day; and each week-day
+    throughout the year was the same. The only variation was in the
+    evening. Besides these union meetings, every alternate evening
+    was devoted to dancing. Sundays also had a routine of their own,
+    which I will not detail.
+
+    "During the time I was with the Shakers, I never heard one of
+    them read the Bible or pray in public. Each one was permitted to
+    pray or let it alone as he pleased, and I believe there was very
+    little praying among them. Believing as they did that all
+    'worldly things' should be left in the 'world' behind them, they
+    did not even read the ordinary literature of the day. Newspapers
+    were only for the use of the Elders and Deacons. The routine I
+    have described was continually going on; and it was their boast
+    that they were then the same in their habits and manners as they
+    were sixty years before. The furniture of the dwellings was of
+    the same old-fashioned kind that the early Dutch settlers used;
+    and every thing about them and their dwellings, I was taught,
+    was originally designed in heaven, and the designs transmitted
+    to them by angels. The plan of their buildings, the style of
+    their furniture, the pattern of their coats and pants, and the
+    cut of their hair, is all regulated according to communications
+    received from heaven by Mother Ann. I was gravely told by the
+    first Elder, that the inhabitants of the other world were
+    Shakers, and that they lived in Community the same as we did,
+    but that they were more perfect.
+
+
+    THE DANCING MEETINGS.
+
+    "At half-past seven P.M. on the dancing days, all the members
+    retired to their separate rooms, where they sat in solemn
+    silence, just gazing at the stove, until the silver tones of a
+    small tea-bell gave the signal for them to assemble in the large
+    hall. Thither they proceeded in perfect order and solemn
+    silence. Each had on thin dancing-shoes; and on entering the
+    door of the hall they walked on tip-toe, and took up their
+    positions as follows: the brothers formed a rank on the right,
+    and the sisters on the left, facing each other, about five feet
+    apart. After all were in their proper places the chief Elder
+    stepped into the center of the space, and gave an exhortation
+    for about five minutes, concluding with an invitation to them
+    all to 'go forth, old men, young men and maidens, and worship
+    God with all their might in the dance.' Accordingly they 'went
+    forth,' the men stripping off their coats and remaining in their
+    shirt-sleeves. First they formed a procession and marched around
+    the room at double-quick time, while four brothers and four
+    sisters stood in the center singing for them. After marching in
+    this manner until they got a little warm, they commenced
+    dancing, and continued it until they were all pretty well tired.
+    During the dance the sisters kept on one side, and the brothers
+    on the other, and not a word was spoken by any of them. After
+    they appeared to have had enough of this exercise, the Elder
+    gave the signal to stop, when immediately each one took his or
+    her place in an oblong circle formed around the room, and all
+    waited to see if any one had received a 'gift,' that is, an
+    inspiration to do something odd. Then two of the sisters would
+    commence whirling round like a top, with their eyes shut; and
+    continued this motion for about fifteen minutes; when they
+    suddenly stopped and resumed their places, as steady as if they
+    had never stirred. During the 'whirl' the members stood round
+    like statues, looking on in solemn silence.
+
+
+    A MESSAGE FROM MOTHER ANN.
+
+    "On some occasions when a sister had stopped her whirling, she
+    would say, 'I have a communication to make;' when the head
+    Eldress would step to her side and receive the communication,
+    and then make known the nature of it to the company. The first
+    message I heard was as follows: 'Mother Ann has sent two angels
+    to inform us that a tribe of Indians has been round here two
+    days, and want the brothers and sisters to take them in. They
+    are outside the building there, looking in at the windows.' I
+    shall never forget how I looked round at the windows, expecting
+    to see the yellow faces, when this announcement was made; but I
+    believe some of the old folks who eyed me, bit their lips and
+    smiled. It caused no alarm to the rest, but the first Elder
+    exhorted the brothers 'to take in the poor spirits and assist
+    them to get salvation.' He afterward repeated more of what the
+    angels had said, viz., 'that the Indians were a savage tribe who
+    had all died before Columbus discovered America, and had been
+    wandering about ever since. Mother Ann wanted them to be
+    received into the meeting to-morrow night.' After this we
+    dispersed to our separate bed-rooms, with the hope of having a
+    future entertainment from the Indians.
+
+
+    INDIAN ORGIES.
+
+    "The next dancing night we again assembled in the same manner as
+    before, and went through the marching and dancing as usual;
+    after which the hall doors were opened, and the Elder invited
+    the Indians to come in. The doors were soon shut again, and one
+    of the sisters (the same who received the original
+    communication) informed us that she saw Indians all around and
+    among the brothers and sisters. The Elder then urged upon the
+    members the duty of 'taking them in.' Whereupon eight or nine
+    sisters became possessed of the spirits of Indian squaws, and
+    about six of the brethren became Indians. Then ensued a regular
+    pow-wow, with whooping and yelling and strange antics, such as
+    would require a Dickens to describe. The sisters and brothers
+    squatted down on the floor together, Indian fashion, and the
+    Elders and Eldresses endeavored to keep them asunder, telling
+    the men they must be separated from the squaws, and otherwise
+    instructing them in the rules of Shakerism. Some of the Indians
+    then wanted some 'succotash,' which was soon brought them from
+    the kitchen in two wooden dishes, and placed on the floor; when
+    they commenced eating it with their fingers. These performances
+    continued till about ten o'clock; then the chief Elder requested
+    the Indians to go away, telling them they would find some one
+    waiting to conduct them to the Shakers in the heavenly world. At
+    this announcement the possessed men and women became themselves
+    again, and all retired to rest.
+
+    "The above was the first exhibition of the kind that I
+    witnessed, but it was a very trifling affair to what I afterward
+    saw. To enable you to understand these scenes, I must give you
+    as near as I can, the ideas the Shakers have of the other world.
+    As I gathered from conversations with the Elder, and from his
+    teaching and preaching at the meetings, it is as follows: Heaven
+    is a Shaker Community on a very large scale. Every thing in it
+    is spiritual. Jesus Christ is the head Elder, and Mother Ann the
+    head Eldress. The buildings are large and splendid, being all of
+    white marble. There are large orchards with all kinds of fruit.
+    There are also very large gardens laid out in splendid style,
+    with beautiful rivers flowing through them; but all is
+    spiritual. Outside of this heaven the spirits of the departed
+    wander about on the surface of the earth (which is the Shaker
+    hell), till they are converted to Shakerism. Spirits are sent
+    out from the aforesaid heaven on missionary tours, to preach to
+    the wandering ones until they profess the faith, and then they
+    are admitted into the heavenly Community.
+
+
+    SPIRITUAL PRESENTS.
+
+    "At one of the meetings, after a due amount of marching and
+    dancing, by which all the members had got pretty well excited,
+    two or three sisters commenced whirling, which they continued to
+    do for some time, and then stopped suddenly and revealed to us
+    that Mother Ann was present at the meeting, and that she had
+    brought a dozen baskets of spiritual fruit for her children;
+    upon which the Elder invited all to go forth to the baskets in
+    the center of the floor, and help themselves. Accordingly they
+    all stepped forth and went through the various motions of taking
+    fruit and eating it. You will wonder if I helped myself to the
+    fruit, like the rest. No; I had not faith enough to see the
+    baskets or the fruit; and you may think, perhaps, that I laughed
+    at the scene; but in truth, I was so affected by the general
+    gravity and the solemn faces I saw around me, that it was
+    impossible for me to laugh.
+
+    "Other things as well as fruit were sometimes sent as presents,
+    such as spiritual golden spectacles. These heavenly ornaments
+    came in the same way as the fruit, and just as much could be
+    seen of them. The first presents of this kind that were received
+    during my residence there, came as follows: A sister whirled for
+    some time; then stopped and informed the Eldress as usual that
+    Mother Ann had sent a messenger with presents for some of her
+    most faithful children. She then went through the action of
+    handing the articles to the Eldress, at the same time mentioning
+    what they were, and for whom. As near as I can remember, there
+    was a pair of golden spectacles, a large eye-glass with a chain,
+    and a casket of love for the Elder to distribute. The Eldress
+    went through the act of putting the spectacles and chain upon
+    the individuals they were intended for; and the Elder in like
+    manner opened the casket and threw out the love by handsful,
+    while all the members stretched out their hands to receive, and
+    then pressed them to their bosoms. All this appeared to me very
+    childish, and I could not help so expressing myself to the
+    Elder, at the first opportunity that offered. He replied, 'that
+    this was what he labored for, viz., to be a simple Shaker; that
+    the proud and worldly, the so-called great men of this world,
+    must become as simple as they, as simple as little children,
+    before they can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. They must suffer
+    themselves to be called fools for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake.
+    These were the crosses they had to bear.'
+
+    "The Elder would sometimes kindly invite me to his room and ask
+    me what I thought of the meeting last night. This was generally
+    after those meetings at which there had been some great
+    revelation from heaven, or some pow-wow with the spirits. I
+    could only reply that I was much astonished, and that these
+    things were altogether new to me. He would then tell me that I
+    would see greater things than these. But I replied that it
+    required more faith to believe them than I possessed. Then he
+    would exhort me to 'labor for faith, and I would get it. He did
+    not expect young believers to get faith all at once; although
+    some got it faster than others.'
+
+
+    SPIRITUAL MUSIC AND BATHING.
+
+    "On the second Sunday I spent with the Shakers, there was a
+    curious exhibition, which I saw only once. After dinner all the
+    members assembled in the hall and sang two songs; when the Elder
+    informed them that it was a 'gift for them to march in
+    procession, with their golden instruments playing as they
+    marched, to the holy fountain, and wash away all the stains that
+    they had contracted by sinful thoughts or feelings; for Mother
+    was pleased to see her children pure and holy.' I looked around
+    for the musical instruments, but as they were spiritual I could
+    not see them. The procession marched two and two, into the yard
+    and round the square, and came to a halt in the center. During
+    the march each one made a sound with the mouth, to please him
+    or herself, and at the same time went through the motions of
+    playing on some particular instrument, such as the Clarionet,
+    French-horn, Trombone, Bass-drum, etc.; and such a noise was
+    made, that I felt as if I had got among a band of lunatics. It
+    appeared to me much more of a burlesque overture than any I ever
+    heard performed by Christy's Minstrels. The yard was covered
+    with grass, and a stick marked the center of the fountain.
+    Another song was sung, and the Elder pointed to the spiritual
+    fountain, at the same time observing, 'it could only be seen by
+    those who had sufficient faith.' Most of the brethren then
+    commenced going through the motions of washing the face and
+    hands; but finally some of them tumbled themselves in all over;
+    that is, they rolled on the grass, and went through many comical
+    and fantastic capers. My room-mate, Mr. B., informed me that he
+    had seen several such exhibitions during the time he had been
+    living there.
+
+
+    A SHAKER FUNERAL.
+
+    "One of the sisters of a neighboring family died, and our family
+    were notified to attend the funeral. On arriving at the place,
+    we were shown into a room, and at a signal from a small bell, we
+    were formed into a procession and marched to the large
+    dancing-hall, at the entrance to which the corpse was laid out
+    in a coffin, so as to be seen by all as they passed in. The
+    company then formed in two grand divisions, the brothers on one
+    side, and the sisters on the other, one division facing the
+    other. The service commenced by singing; after which the funeral
+    sermon was preached by the Elder. He set forth in as forcible a
+    manner as he seemed capable of, the uncertainty of life, the
+    character of the deceased sister, what a true and faithful
+    child of Mother's she was, and how many excellent qualities she
+    possessed. The head Eldress also gave her testimony of praise to
+    the deceased, alluding to her patience and resignation while
+    sick, and her desire to die and go to Mother. After a little
+    more singing one of the sisters announced that the spirit of the
+    deceased was present, and that she desired to return her thanks
+    to the various sisters who waited upon her while she was sick;
+    and named the different individuals who had been kindest to her.
+    She had seen Mother Ann in heaven, and had been introduced to
+    the brothers and sisters, and she gave a flattering account of
+    the happiness enjoyed in the other world. Another sister joined
+    in and corroborated these statements, and gave about the same
+    version of the message. After another song the coffin was
+    closed, put into a sleigh, and conveyed to the grave, and buried
+    without further ceremony.
+
+
+    A DAY OF SWEEPING AND SCRUBBING.
+
+    "An order was received from Mother Ann that a day should be set
+    apart for purification. I had no information of this great
+    solemnity until the previous evening, when the Elder announced
+    that to-morrow would be observed as a day for general
+    purification. 'The brothers must clean their respective
+    work-shops, by sweeping the walls, and removing every cobweb
+    from the corners and under their work-benches, and wash the
+    floors clean by scrubbing them with sand. By doing this they
+    would remove all the devils and wicked spirits that might be
+    lodging in the different buildings; for where cobwebs and dust
+    were permitted to accumulate, there the evil spirits hide
+    themselves. Mother had sent a message that there were evil
+    spirits lodging about; and she wished them to be removed; and
+    also that those members who had committed any wickedness, should
+    confess it, and thus make both outside and inside clean.'
+
+    "At early dawn next morning, the work commenced, and clean work
+    was made in every building and room, from the grand hall down to
+    the cow-house. At ten o'clock eight of the brothers, with the
+    Elders at their head, commenced their journey of inspection
+    through every field, garden, house, work-shop and pig-pen,
+    chanting the following rhyme as they passed along:
+
+    'Awake from your slumbers, for the Lord of Hosts is going through
+      the land!
+    He will sweep, He will clean his Holy Sanctuary!
+    Search ye your lamps! read and understand!
+    For the Lord of Hosts holds the lamp in his hand!'
+
+
+    A REVIVAL IN HADES.
+
+    "During my whole stay with the Shakers a revival was going on
+    among the spirits in the invisible world. Information of it was
+    first received by one of the families in Ohio, through a
+    heavenly messenger. The news of the revival soon spread from
+    Ohio to the families in New York and New England. It was caused
+    as follows: George Washington and most of the Revolutionary
+    fathers had, by some means, got converted, and were sent out on
+    a mission to preach the gospel to the spirits who were wandering
+    in darkness. Many of the wild Indian tribes were sent by them to
+    the different Shaker Communities, to receive instruction in the
+    gospel. One of the tribes came to Watervliet and was 'taken in,'
+    as I have described.
+
+    "At one of the Sunday meetings, when the several families were
+    met for worship, one of the brothers declared himself possessed
+    of the spirit of George Washington; and made a speech informing
+    us that Napoleon and all his Generals were present at our
+    meeting, together with many of his own officers, who fought with
+    him in the Revolution. These, as well as many more distinguished
+    personages, were all Shakers in the other world, and had been
+    sent to give information relative to the revival now going on.
+    In a few minutes each of the persons present at the meeting,
+    fell to representing some one of the great personages alluded
+    to.
+
+    "This revival commenced when I first went there; and during the
+    four months I remained, much of the members' time was spent in
+    such performances. It appeared to me, that whenever any of the
+    brethren or sisters wanted to have some fun, they got possessed
+    of spirits, and would go to cutting up capers; all of which were
+    tolerated even during the hours of labor, because whatever they
+    chose to do, was attributed to the spirits. When they became
+    affected they were conveyed to the Elder's room; and sometimes
+    he would have six or seven of them at once. The sisters who gave
+    vent to their frolicsome feelings, were of course attended to by
+    the Eldress. I might occupy great space if I were to go into the
+    details of these spiritual performances; but there was so much
+    similarity in them, that I must ask the reader to let the above
+    suffice."
+
+We have omitted many paragraphs of this narrative, relating to matters
+generally known through Shaker publications and others, and many
+personal details; our principal object being to give a view of some of
+the Shaker manifestations which seem to have been the first stage of
+Modern Spiritualism.
+
+The reader will notice that the date of these manifestations--the
+winter of 1842-3--coincides with the focal period of the Fourier
+excitement (which, as we have seen, lapsed into Swedenborgianism, as
+that did into Spiritualism); also that, on the larger scale, the seven
+years of manifestations and closed doors designated by Evans, from
+1837 to 1844, coincide with the epoch of Transcendentalism. In the
+times of the _Dial_ there was a noticeable liking for Shakerism among
+the Transcendentalists; and some of their leaders have lately shown
+signs of preferring Shakerism to Fourierism. We mention these
+coincidences only as affording glimpses of connections and mysterious
+affinities, that we do not pretend to understand. Only we see that
+both forms of Socialism favored by the Transcendentalists--Shakerism
+and Fourierism--have contributed their whole volume to swell the flood
+of Spiritualism.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+
+THE ONEIDA COMMUNITY.
+
+
+Last of all, we must venture a sketch of the Association in the bosom
+of which, this history has been written and printed.
+
+The Oneida Community belongs to the class of religious Socialisms,
+and, so far as we know, is the only religious Community of American
+origin. Its founder and most of its members are descendants of New
+England Puritans, and were in early life converts and laborers in the
+Revivals of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches. As
+Unitarianism ripened into Transcendentalism at Boston, and
+Transcendentalism produced Brook Farm, so Orthodoxy ripened into
+Perfectionism at New Haven, and Perfectionism produced the Oneida
+Community.
+
+The story of the founder and foundations of the Oneida Community, told
+in the fewest possible words, is this:
+
+John Humphrey Noyes was born at Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1811. The
+great Finney Revival found him at twenty years of age, a college
+graduate, studying law, and sent him to study divinity, first at
+Andover and afterward at New Haven. Much study of the Bible, under
+the instructions of Moses Stuart, Edward Robinson and Nathaniel
+Taylor, and under the continued and increasing influence of the
+Revival afflatus, soon landed him in a new experience and new views of
+the way of salvation, which took the name of Perfectionism. This was
+in February, 1834. The next twelve years he spent in studying and
+teaching salvation from sin; chiefly at Putney, the residence of his
+father and family. Gradually a little school of believers gathered
+around him. His first permanent associates were his mother, two
+sisters, and a brother. Then came the wives of himself and his
+brother, and the husbands of his two sisters. Then came George Cragin
+and his family from New York, and from time to time other families and
+individuals from various places. They built a chapel, and devoted much
+of their time to study, and much of their means to printing. So far,
+however, they were not in form or theory Socialists, but only
+Revivalists. In fact, during the whole period of the Fourier
+excitement, though they read the _Harbinger_ and the _Present_ and
+watched the movement with great interest, they kept their position as
+simple believers in Christianity, and steadfastly criticised
+Fourierism. Nevertheless during these same years they were gradually
+and almost unconsciously evolving their own social theory, and
+preparing for the trial of it. Though they rejected Fourierism, they
+drank copiously of the spirit of the _Harbinger_ and of the
+Socialists; and have always acknowledged that they received a great
+impulse from Brook Farm. Thus the Oneida Community really issued from
+a conjunction between the Revivalism of Orthodoxy and the Socialism of
+Unitarianism. In 1846, after the fire at Brook Farm, and when
+Fourierism was manifestly passing away, the little church at Putney
+began cautiously to experiment in Communism. In the fall of 1847, when
+Brook Farm was breaking up, the Putney Community was also breaking up,
+but in the agonies, not of death, but of birth. Putney conservatism
+expelled it, and a Perfectionist Community, just begun at Oneida under
+the influence of the Putney school, received it.
+
+The story of the Community since it thus assumed its present name and
+form, has been told in various Annual Reports, Hand-books, and even in
+the newspapers and Encyclopaedias, till it is in some sense public
+property. In the place of repeating it here, we will endeavor to give
+definite information on three points that are likely to be most
+interesting to the intelligent reader; viz: 1, the religious theory of
+the Community; 2, its social theory; and 3, its material results.
+
+As the early experiences of the Community were of two kinds, religious
+and social, so each of these experiences produced a book. The
+religious book, called _The Berean_, was printed at Putney in 1847,
+and consisted mainly of articles published in the periodicals of the
+Putney school during the previous twelve years. The socialistic book,
+called _Bible Communism_, was published in 1848, a few months after
+the settlement at Oneida, and was the frankest possible disclosure of
+the theory of entire Communism, for which the Community was then under
+persecution. Both of these books have long been out of print. Our best
+way to give a faithful representation of the religious and social
+theories of the Community in the shortest form, will be, to rehearse
+the contents of these books.
+
+
+_Religious Theory._
+
+[Table of Contents of _The Berean_ slightly expanded.]
+
+CHAPTER I. The Bible: showing that it is the accredited organ of the
+Kingdom of Heaven, and justifying faith in it by demonstrating, 1,
+that Christ endorsed the Old Testament; and 2, that the writers of the
+New Testament were the official representatives of Christ, so that his
+credit is identified with theirs.
+
+II. Infidelity among Reformers: tracing the history of the recent
+quarrel with the Bible in this country.
+
+III. The Moral Character of Unbelief: showing that it is voluntary and
+criminal.
+
+IV. The Harmony of Moses and Christ.
+
+V. The Ultimate Ground of Faith: showing that while we are at first
+led into believing by the teachings of men and books, we attain final
+solid faith only by direct spiritual insight.
+
+VI. The Guide of Interpretation: showing that the ultimate interpreter
+of the Bible is not the church, as the Papists hold, or the
+philologists, as the Protestants hold, but the Spirit of Truth
+promised in John 14: 26.
+
+VII. Objections of Anti-Spiritualists: a criticism of Coleridge's
+assertion that all pretensions to sensible experience of the Spirit
+are absurd.
+
+VIII. The Faith once Delivered to the Saints: showing that Bible faith
+is always and everywhere faith in supernatural facts and sensible
+communications from God.
+
+IX. The Age of Spiritualism: showing that the world is full of
+symptoms of the coming of a new era of spiritual discovery.
+
+X. The Spiritual Nature of Man: showing that man has an invisible
+organization that is as substantial as his body.
+
+XI. Animal Magnetism: showing that the phenomena of Mesmerism are as
+incredible as the Bible miracles.
+
+XII. The Divine Nature: showing that God is dual, and that man, as
+male and female, is made in the image of God.
+
+XIII. Creation: an act of God's faith.
+
+XIV. The Origin of Evil: showing that Christ's theory was that evil
+comes from the Devil as good comes from God.
+
+XV. The Parable of the Sower: illustrating the preceding doctrine.
+
+XVI. Parentage of Sin and Holiness: illustrating the same doctrine.
+
+XVII. The Cause and the Cure: showing that all diseases of body and
+soul are traceable to diabolical influence; and that all rational
+medication and salvation must overcome this cause.
+
+XVIII. The Atonement: showing that Christ, in the sacrifice of
+himself, destroyed the power of the Devil.
+
+XIX. The Cross of Christ: Continuation of the preceding.
+
+XX. Bread of Life: showing that the eucharist symbolizes actual
+participation in that flesh and blood of Christ "which came down from
+heaven."
+
+XXI. The New Covenant: showing that a dispensation of grace commenced
+at the manifestation of Christ, entirely different from the preceding
+Jewish dispensation.
+
+XXII. Salvation from Sin: showing that this was the special promise
+and gift of the new dispensation.
+
+XXIII. Perfectionism: defining the term as referring to God's
+righteousness, and not self-righteousness.
+
+XXIV. "He that Committeth Sin is of the Devil:" showing that this
+means what it says.
+
+XXV. Paul not Carnal: showing that he was an actual example of
+salvation from sin.
+
+XXVI. A Hint to Temperance Men: showing that the common interpretation
+of the seventh chapter of Romans, which refers the confession "When I
+would do good evil is present with me," etc., to Christian experience,
+exactly suits the drunkard, and is the greatest obstacle to all
+reform.
+
+XXVII. Paul's Views of Law: showing that while he was a champion of
+the law as a standard of righteousness, he had no faith in its power
+to secure its own fulfillment, but believed in the grace of Christ as
+the end of the law, saving men from sin, which the law could not do.
+
+XXVIII. Anti-Legality not Antinomianism: showing that the effectual
+government of God rules by grace and truth, and in displacing the law,
+fulfils the law.
+
+XXIX. Two Kinds of Antinomianism: showing that the worst kind is that
+which cleaves to the law of commandments, and neglects the law of the
+Spirit of life.
+
+XXX. The Second Birth: showing that this attainment includes salvation
+from sin, and was never experienced till the manifestation of Christ.
+
+XXXI. The Two-Fold Nature of the Second Birth: showing that the "water
+and spirit" which are the elements of it, are not material water and
+air, but truth and grace, or intellectual and spiritual influences.
+
+XXXII. Two Classes of Believers: showing that there were in the
+Primitive Church two distinct grades of experience: one that of the
+carnal believers, called nepioi; the other that of the regenerate,
+called _teleioi_.
+
+XXXIII. The Spiritual Man: showing that a stable mind, a loving heart
+and an unquenchable desire of progress, are the characteristics of the
+_teleioi_.
+
+XXXIV. Spiritual Puberty: illustrating regeneration by the change of
+life which takes place at natural puberty.
+
+XXXV. The Power of Christ's Resurrection: showing that regeneration,
+i.e. salvation from sin, comes by faith in the resurrection of Christ,
+communicating to the believer the same power that raised Christ from
+the dead.
+
+XXXVI. An Outline of all Experience: describing four grades, viz., 1,
+the natural state; 2, the legal state; 3, the spiritual state; 4, the
+glorified state.
+
+XXXVII. The Way into the Holiest: showing that the life given by
+Christ has opened new access to God.
+
+XXXVIII. Christian Faith: showing how it differs from Jewish faith;
+and how it is to be experienced.
+
+XXXIX. Settlement with the Past: showing the Judaistic character of
+the experiences of popular modern saints, and appealing from them to
+the standards and examples of the Primitive Church.
+
+XL. The Second Coming of Christ: showing that Christ predicted, and
+that the Primitive Church expected, this event to take place within
+one generation from his first coming; that all the signs of its
+approach which Christ foretold, actually came to pass before the close
+of the apostolic age; consequently that simple faith is compelled to
+affirm that he did come at the time appointed, and the mistake about
+the matter has not been in his predictions or the expectations of his
+disciples, but in the imaginations of the world as to the physical and
+public nature of the event.
+
+XLI. A Criticism of Stuart's Commentary on Romans 13: 11, and 2
+Thessalonians 2: 1-8: showing that the premature excitement of the
+Thessalonians, instead of disproving the theory that the Second Advent
+was near at that time, confirms it.
+
+XLII. "The Man of Sin:" showing that the diabolical power designated
+by this title, was already at work when the epistle to the
+Thessalonians was written; that Paul himself was withstanding it; and
+that on his departure it was fully manifested.
+
+XLIII. A Criticism of Robinson's Commentary on the 24th and 25th
+chapters of Matthew: showing that the Second Coming is the theme of
+discourse from the 29th verse of the 24th chapter to the 31st of the
+25th; and that then the prophecy passes to the subsequent reign of
+Christ and the general judgment.
+
+XLIV. A Criticism of the Rev. Messrs. Bush and Barnes's allegation
+that the Apostles were mistaken in their expectations of the Second
+Coming within their own lifetime.
+
+XLV. Date of the Apocalypse: showing that it was written before the
+destruction of Jerusalem.
+
+XLVI. Scope of the Apocalypse: showing that it relates to the same
+course of events as those predicted in the 24th and 25th of Matthew.
+
+XLVII. The Dispensation of the Fullness of Times: showing that, as the
+Second Advent with the first resurrection and judgment took place at
+the end of the times of the Jews, so there is to be a second
+resurrection and final judgment at the end of the "times of the
+Gentiles," or in the "dispensation of the fullness of times."
+
+XLVIII. The Millennium: showing that the period designated by this
+term is past.
+
+XLIX. The Two Witnesses.
+
+L. The First Resurrection.
+
+LI. A Criticism of Bush's Theory of the Resurrection.
+
+LII. The Keys of Death and Hell.
+
+LIII. Objections Answered. The two last chapters are a continuation of
+the controversy with Bush.
+
+LIV. Criticism of Ballou's Theory of the Resurrection.
+
+LV. Connection of Regeneration with the Resurrection: showing that
+regeneration or salvation from sin is the incipient stage of the
+resurrection.
+
+LVI. The Second Advent to the Soul: showing that there was an
+intermediate coming of Christ in the Holy Spirit, between his first
+personal coming and his second.
+
+LVII. The Throne of David: showing that Christ became king of heaven
+and earth _de jure_ and _de facto_ at the end of the Jewish
+dispensation.
+
+LVIII. The Birthright of Israel: showing that the Jews are, by God's
+perpetual covenant, the royal nation.
+
+LIX. The Sabbath.
+
+LX. Baptism.
+
+LXI. Marriage.
+
+LXII. Apostolical Succession: a criticism of the Oxford tracts.
+
+LXIII. Puritan Puseyism.
+
+LXIV. Unity of the kingdom of God.
+
+LXV. Peace Principles.
+
+LXVI. The Primary Reform: showing that salvation from sin is the
+foundation needed by all other reforms.
+
+LXVII. Leadings of the Spirit: showing that true inspiration does not
+make a man a fanatic or a puppet.
+
+LXVIII. The Doctrine of Disunity: aimed against a theory that
+prevailed among Perfectionists, similar to Warren's Individual
+Sovereignty.
+
+LXIX. Fiery Darts Quenched: showing that the failings and apostasies
+of Perfectionists are no argument against the doctrine of salvation
+from sin.
+
+LXX. The Love of Life: showing that the anxiety about the body that is
+encouraged by doctors and hygienists, is the central lust of the
+flesh.
+
+LXXI. Abolition of Death: to come in this world, as the last result of
+Christ's victory over sin and the Devil.
+
+LXXII. Condensation of Life: showing that the unity for which Christ
+prayed in John 17: 21-23, is to be the element of the good time
+coming, reconstructing all things and abolishing Death.
+
+LXXIII. Principalities and Powers: referring all our experience to the
+invisible hosts that are contending over us.
+
+LXXIV. Our Relations to the Primitive Church: showing that the
+original organization instituted by Christ and the apostles, is
+accessible to us, and that our main business as reformers is, to open
+communication with that heavenly body.
+
+
+_Social Theory._
+
+[Leading propositions of _Bible Communism_ slightly condensed.]
+
+CHAPTER I.--_Showing what is properly to be anticipated concerning the
+coming of the Kingdom of Heaven and its institutions on earth._
+
+PROPOSITION 1.--The Bible predicts the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven
+on earth. Dan. 2: 44. Isa. 25: 6-9.
+
+2.--The administration of the will of God in his kingdom on earth,
+will be the same as the administration of his will in heaven. Matt. 6:
+10. Eph. 1: 10.
+
+3.--In heaven God reigns over body, soul, and estate, without
+interference from human governments. Dan. 2: 44. 1 Cor. 15: 24, 25.
+Isa. 26: 13, 14, and 33: 22.
+
+4.--The institutions of the Kingdom of Heaven are of such a nature,
+that the general disclosure of them in the apostolic age would have
+been inconsistent with the continuance of the institutions of the
+world through the times of the Gentiles. They were not, therefore,
+brought out in detail on the surface of the Bible, but were disclosed
+verbally by Paul and others, to the interior part of the church. 1
+Cor. 2: 6. 2 Cor. 12: 4. John 16: 12, 13. Heb. 9: 5.
+
+
+CHAPTER II.--_Showing that Marriage is not an institution of the
+Kingdom of Heaven, and must give place to Communism._
+
+PROPOSITION 5.--In the Kingdom of Heaven, the institution of marriage,
+which assigns the exclusive possession of one woman to one man, does
+not exist. Matt. 22: 23-30.
+
+6.--In the Kingdom of Heaven the intimate union of life and interest,
+which in the world is limited to pairs, extends through the whole body
+of believers; i.e. complex marriage takes the place of simple. John
+17: 21. Christ prayed that all believers might be one, even as he and
+the Father are one. His unity with the Father is defined in the words,
+"All mine are thine, and all thine are mine." Ver. 10. This perfect
+community of interests, then, will be the condition of all, when his
+prayer is answered. The universal unity of the members of Christ, is
+described in the same terms that are used to describe marriage unity.
+Compare 1 Cor. 12: 12-27, with Gen. 2: 24. See also 1 Cor. 6: 15-17,
+and Eph. 5: 30-32.
+
+7.--The effects of the effusion of the Holy Spirit on the day of
+Pentecost, present a practical commentary on Christ's prayer for the
+unity of believers, and a sample of the tendency of heavenly
+influences, which fully confirm the foregoing proposition. "All that
+believed were together and had all things common; and sold their
+possessions and goods, and parted them to all, as every man had need."
+"The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one
+soul; neither said any of them that aught of the things which he
+possessed was his own; but they had all things common." Acts 2: 44,
+45, and 4: 32. Here is unity like that of the Father and the Son: "All
+mine thine, and all thine mine."
+
+8.--Admitting that the Community principle of the day of Pentecost, in
+its actual operation at that time, extended only to material goods,
+yet we affirm that there is no intrinsic difference between property
+in persons and property in things; and that the same spirit which
+abolished exclusiveness in regard to money, would abolish, if
+circumstances allowed full scope to it, exclusiveness in regard to
+women and children. Paul expressly places property in women and
+property in goods in the same category, and speaks of them together,
+as ready to be abolished by the advent of the Kingdom of Heaven. "The
+time," says he, "is short; it remaineth that they that have wives be
+as though they had none; and they that buy as though they possessed
+not; for the fashion of this world passeth away." 1 Cor. 7: 29-31.
+
+9.--The abolishment of appropriation is involved in the very nature
+of a true relation to Christ in the gospel. This we prove thus: The
+possessive feeling which expresses itself by the possessive pronoun
+_mine_, is the same in essence when it relates to persons, as when it
+relates to money or any other property. Amativeness and
+acquisitiveness are only different channels of one stream. They
+converge as we trace them to their source. Grammar will help us to
+ascertain their common center; for the possessive pronoun _mine_, is
+derived from the personal pronoun _I_; and so the possessive feeling,
+whether amative or acquisitive, flows from the personal feeling, that
+is, it is a branch of egotism. Now egotism is abolished by the gospel
+relation to Christ. The grand mystery of the gospel is vital union
+with Christ; the merging of self in his life; the extinguishment of
+the pronoun _I_ at the spiritual center. Thus Paul says, "I live, yet
+not I, but Christ liveth in me." The grand distinction between the
+Christian and the unbeliever, between heaven and the world, is, that
+in one reigns the We-spirit, and in the other the I-spirit. From _I_
+comes _mine_, and from the I-spirit comes exclusive appropriation of
+money, women, etc. From _we_ comes _ours_, and from the We-spirit
+comes universal community of interests.
+
+10.--The abolishment of exclusiveness is involved in the love-relation
+required between all believers by the express injunction of Christ and
+the apostles, and by the whole tenor of the New Testament. "The new
+commandment is, that we love one another," and that, not by pairs, as
+in the world, but _en masse_. We are required to love one another
+fervently. The fashion of the world forbids a man and woman who are
+otherwise appropriated, to love one another fervently. But if they
+obey Christ they must do this; and whoever would allow them to do
+this, and yet would forbid them (on any other ground than that of
+present expediency), to express their unity, would "strain at a gnat
+and swallow a camel;" for unity of hearts is as much more important
+than any external expression of it, as a camel is larger than a gnat.
+
+11.--The abolishment of social restrictions is involved in the
+anti-legality of the gospel. It is incompatible with the state of
+perfected freedom toward which Paul's gospel of "grace without law"
+leads, that man should be allowed and required to love in all
+directions, and yet be forbidden to express love except in one
+direction. In fact Paul says, with direct reference to sexual
+intercourse--"All things are lawful for me, but all things are not
+expedient; all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought
+under the power of any;" (1 Cor. 6: 12;) thus placing the restrictions
+which were necessary in the transition period on the basis, not of
+law, but of expediency and the demands of spiritual freedom, and
+leaving it fairly to be inferred that in the final state, when hostile
+surroundings and powers of bondage cease, all restrictions also will
+cease.
+
+12.--The abolishment of the marriage system is involved in Paul's
+doctrine of the end of ordinances. Marriage is one of the "ordinances
+of the worldly sanctuary." This is proved by the fact that it has no
+place in the resurrection. Paul expressly limits it to life in the
+flesh. Rom. 7: 2, 3. The assumption, therefore, that believers are
+dead to the world by the death of Christ (which authorized the
+abolishment of Jewish ordinances), legitimately makes an end of
+marriage. Col. 2: 20.
+
+13.--The law of marriage is the same in kind with the Jewish law
+concerning meats and drinks and holy days, of which Paul said that
+they were "contrary to us, and were taken out of the way, being nailed
+to the cross." Col. 2: 14. The plea in favor of the worldly social
+system, that it is not arbitrary, but founded in nature, will not bear
+investigation. All experience testifies (the theory of the novels to
+the contrary notwithstanding), that sexual love is not naturally
+restricted to pairs. Second marriages are contrary to the one-love
+theory, and yet are often the happiest marriages. Men and women find
+universally (however the fact may be concealed), that their
+susceptibility to love is not burnt out by one honey-moon, or
+satisfied by one lover. On the contrary, the secret history of the
+human heart will bear out the assertion that it is capable of loving
+any number of times and any number of persons, and that the more it
+loves the more it can love. This is the law of nature, thrust out of
+sight and condemned by common consent, and yet secretly known to all.
+
+14.--The law of marriage "worketh wrath." 1. It provokes to secret
+adultery, actual or of the heart. 2. It ties together unmatched
+natures. 3. It sunders matched natures. 4. It gives to sexual appetite
+only a scanty and monotonous allowance, and so produces the natural
+vices of poverty, contraction of taste and stinginess or jealousy. 5.
+It makes no provision for the sexual appetite at the very time when
+that appetite is the strongest. By the custom of the world, marriage,
+in the average of cases, takes place at about the age of twenty-four;
+whereas puberty commences at the age of fourteen. For ten years,
+therefore, and that in the very flush of life, the sexual appetite is
+starved. This law of society bears hardest on females, because they
+have less opportunity of choosing their time of marriage than men.
+This discrepancy between the marriage system and nature, is one of the
+principal sources of the peculiar diseases of women, of prostitution,
+masturbation, and licentiousness in general.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.--_Showing that death is to be abolished, and that, to
+this end, there must be a restoration of true relations between the
+Sexes._
+
+PROPOSITION 15.--The Kingdom of Heaven is destined to abolish death in
+this world. Rom. 8: 19-25. 1. Cor. 15: 24-26. Isa. 25: 8.
+
+16.--The abolition of death is to be the last triumph of the Kingdom
+of Heaven; and the subjection of all other powers to Christ must go
+before it. 1 Cor. 15: 24-26. Isa. 33: 22-24.
+
+17.--The restoration of true relations between the sexes is a matter
+second in importance only to the reconciliation of man to God. The
+distinction of male and female is that which makes man the image of
+God, i.e. the image of the Father and the Son. Gen. 1: 27. The
+relation of male and female was the first social relation. Gen. 2: 22.
+It is therefore the root of all other social relations. The
+derangement of this relation was the first result of the original
+breach with God. Gen. 3: 7; comp. 2: 25. Adam and Eve were, at the
+beginning, in open, fearless, spiritual fellowship, first with God,
+and secondly, with each other. Their transgression produced two
+corresponding alienations, viz., first, an alienation from God,
+indicated by their fear of meeting him and their hiding themselves
+among the trees of the garden; and secondly, an alienation from each
+other, indicated by their shame at their nakedness and their hiding
+themselves from each other by clothing. These were the two great
+manifestations of original sin--the only manifestations presented to
+notice in the record of the apostacy. The first thing then to be done,
+in an attempt to redeem man and reorganize society, is to bring about
+reconciliation with God; and the second thing is to bring about a true
+union of the sexes. In other words, religion is the first subject of
+interest, and sexual morality the second, in the great enterprise of
+establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
+
+18.--We may criticise the system of the Fourierists, thus: The chain
+of evils which holds humanity in ruin, has four links, viz., 1st, a
+breach with God; (Gen. 3: 8;) 2d, a disruption of the sexes, involving
+a special curse on woman; (Gen. 3: 16;) 3d, the curse of oppressive
+labor, bearing specially on man; (Gen. 3: 17-19;) 4th, the reign of
+disease and death. (Gen. 3: 22-24.) These are all inextricably
+complicated with each other. The true scheme of redemption begins with
+reconciliation with God, proceeds first to a restoration of true
+relations between the sexes, then to a reform of the industrial
+system, and ends with victory over death. Fourierism has no eye to the
+final victory over death, defers attention to the religious question
+and the sexual question till some centuries hence, and confines itself
+to the rectifying of the industrial system. In other words, Fourierism
+neither begins at the beginning nor looks to the end of the chain, but
+fastens its whole interest on the third link, neglecting two that
+precede it, and ignoring that which follows it. The sin-system, the
+marriage-system, the work-system, and the death-system, are all one,
+and must be abolished together. Holiness, free-love, association in
+labor, and immortality, constitute the chain of redemption, and must
+come together in their true order.
+
+19.--From what precedes, it is evident that any attempt to
+revolutionize sexual morality before settlement with God, is out of
+order. Holiness must go before free love. Bible Communists are not
+responsible for the proceedings of those who meddle with the sexual
+question, before they have laid the foundation of true faith and union
+with God.
+
+20.--Dividing the sexual relation into two branches, the amative and
+propagative, the amative or love-relation is first in importance, as
+it is in the order of nature. God made woman because "he saw it was
+not good for man to be alone;" (Gen. 2: 18); i.e., for social, not
+primarily for propagative, purposes. Eve was called Adam's
+"help-meet." In the whole of the specific account of the creation of
+woman, she is regarded as his companion, and her maternal office is
+not brought into view. Gen. 2: 18-25. Amativeness was necessarily the
+first social affection developed in the garden of Eden. The second
+commandment of the eternal law of love, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor
+as thyself," had amativeness for its first channel; for Eve was at
+first Adam's only neighbor. Propagation and the affections connected
+with it, did not commence their operation during the period of
+innocence. After the fall God said to the woman, "I will greatly
+multiply thy sorrow and thy conception;" from which it is to be
+inferred that in the original state, conception would have been
+comparatively infrequent.
+
+21.--The amative part of the sexual relation, separate from the
+propagative, is eminently favorable to life. It is not a source of
+life (as some would make it), but it is the first and best
+distributive of life. Adam and Eve, in their original state, derived
+their life from God. Gen. 2: 7. As God is a dual being, the Father and
+the Son, and man was made in his image, a dual life passed from God to
+man. Adam was the channel specially of the life of the Father, and Eve
+of the life of the Son. Amativeness was the natural agency of the
+distribution and mutual action of these two forms of life. In this
+primitive position of the sexes (which is their normal position in
+Christ), each reflects upon the other the love of God; each excites
+and develops the divine action in the other.
+
+22.--The propagative part of the sexual relation is in its nature the
+expensive department. 1. While amativeness keeps the capital stock of
+life circulating between two, propagation introduces a third partner.
+
+2. The propagative act is a drain on the life of man, and when
+habitual, produces disease. 3. The infirmities and vital expenses of
+woman during the long period of pregnancy, waste her constitution. 4.
+The awful agonies of child-birth heavily tax the life of woman. 5. The
+cares of the nursing period bear heavily on woman. 6. The cares of
+both parents, through the period of the childhood of their offspring,
+are many and burdensome. 7. The labor of man is greatly increased by
+the necessity of providing for children. A portion of these expenses
+would undoubtedly have been curtailed, if human nature had remained in
+its original integrity, and will be, when it is restored. But it is
+still self-evident that the birth of children, viewed either as a
+vital or a mechanical operation, is in its nature expensive; and the
+fact that multiplied conception was imposed as a curse, indicates
+that it was so regarded by the Creator.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.--_Showing how the Sexual Function is to be redeemed, and
+true relations between the sexes restored._
+
+PROPOSITION 23.--The amative and propagative functions are distinct
+from each other, and may be separated practically. They are confounded
+in the world, both in the theories of physiologists and in universal
+practice. The amative function is regarded merely as a bait to the
+propagative, and is merged in it. But if amativeness is, as we have
+seen, the first and noblest of the social affections, and if the
+propagative part of the sexual relation was originally secondary, and
+became paramount by the subversion of order in the fall, we are bound
+to raise the amative office of the sexual organs into a distinct and
+paramount function. [Here follows a full exposition of the doctrine of
+self-control or Male Continence, which is an essential part of the
+Oneida theory, but may properly be omitted in this history.]
+
+
+CHAPTER V.--_Showing that Shame, instead of being one of the prime
+virtues, is a part of original Sin and belongs to the Apostasy._
+
+PROPOSITION 24.--Sexual shame was the consequence of the fall, and is
+factitious and irrational. Gen. 2: 25; compare 3: 7. Adam and Eve,
+while innocent, had no shame; little children have none; other animals
+have none.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.--_Showing the bearings of the preceding views on
+Socialism, Political Economy, Manners and Customs, etc._
+
+PROPOSITION 25.--The foregoing principles concerning the sexual
+relation, open the way for Association. 1. They furnish motives. They
+apply to larger partnerships the same attractions that draw and bind
+together pairs in the worldly partnership of marriage. A Community
+home in which each is married to all, and where love is honored and
+cultivated, will be as much more attractive than an ordinary home, as
+the Community out-numbers a pair. 2. These principles remove the
+principal obstructions in the way of Association. There is plenty of
+tendency to crossing love and adultery, even in the system of isolated
+households. Association increases this tendency. Amalgamation of
+interests, frequency of interview, and companionship in labor,
+inevitably give activity and intensity to the social attractions in
+which amativeness is the strongest element. The tendency to
+extra-matrimonial love will be proportioned to the condensation of
+interests produced by any given form of Association; that is, if the
+ordinary principles of exclusiveness are preserved, Association will
+be a worse school of temptation to unlawful love than the world is, in
+proportion to its social advantages. Love, in the exclusive form, has
+jealousy for its complement; and jealousy brings on strife and
+division. Association, therefore, if it retains one-love
+exclusiveness, contains the seeds of dissolution; and those seeds will
+be hastened to their harvest by the warmth of associate life. An
+Association of States with custom-house lines around each, is sure to
+be quarrelsome. The further States in that situation are apart, and
+the more their interests are isolated, the better. The only way to
+prevent smuggling and strife in a confederation of contiguous States,
+is to abolish custom-house lines from the interior, and declare
+free-trade and free transit, collecting revenues and fostering home
+products by one custom-house line around the whole. This is the policy
+of the heavenly system--'that they _all_ [not two and two] may be
+one.'
+
+26.--In vital society, strength will be increased and the necessity of
+labor diminished, till work will become sport, as it would have been
+in the original Eden state. Gen. 2: 15; compare 3: 17-19. Here we come
+to the field of the Fourierists--the third link of the chain of evil.
+And here we shall doubtless ultimately avail ourselves of many of the
+economical and industrial discoveries of Fourier. But as the
+fundamental principle of our system differs entirely from that of
+Fourier, (our foundation being his superstructure, and _vice versa_,)
+and as every system necessarily has its own complement of external
+arrangements, conformed to its own genius, we will pursue our
+investigations for the present independently, and with special
+reference to our peculiar principles.--Labor is sport or drudgery
+according to the proportion between strength and the work to be done.
+Work that overtasks a child, is easy to a man. The amount of work
+remaining the same, if man's strength were doubled, the result would
+be the same as if the amount of work were diminished one-half. To make
+labor sport, therefore, we must seek, first, increase of strength, and
+secondly, diminution of work: or, (as in the former problem relating
+to the curse on woman), first, enlargement of income, and secondly,
+diminution of expenses. Vital society secures both of these objects.
+It increases strength, by placing the individual in a vital
+organization, which is in communication with the source of life, and
+which distributes and circulates life with the highest activity; and
+at the same time, by its compound economies, it reduces the work to
+be done to a minimum.
+
+27.--In vital society labor will become attractive. Loving
+companionship in labor, and especially the mingling of the sexes,
+makes labor attractive. The present division of labor between the
+sexes separates them entirely. The woman keeps house, and the man
+labors abroad. Instead of this, in vital society men and women will
+mingle in both of their peculiar departments of work. It will be
+economically as well as spiritually profitable, to marry them in-doors
+and out, by day as well as by night. When the partition between the
+sexes is taken away, and man ceases to make woman a propagative
+drudge, when love takes the place of shame, and fashion follows nature
+in dress and business, men and women will be able to mingle in all
+their employments, as boys and girls mingle in their sports; and then
+labor will be attractive.
+
+28.--We can now see our way to victory over death. Reconciliation with
+God opens the way for the reconciliation of the sexes. Reconciliation
+of the sexes emancipates woman, and opens the way for vital society.
+Vital society increases strength, diminishes work, and makes labor
+attractive, thus removing the antecedents of death. First we abolish
+sin; then shame; then the curse on woman of exhausting child-bearing;
+then the curse on man of exhausting labor; and so we arrive regularly
+at the tree of life.
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.--_A concluding Caveat, that ought to be noted by every
+Reader of the foregoing Argument._
+
+PROPOSITION 29.--The will of God is done in heaven, and of course will
+be done in his kingdom on earth, not merely by general obedience to
+constitutional principles, but by specific obedience to the
+administration of his Spirit. The constitution of a nation is one
+thing, and the living administration of government is another.
+Ordinary theology directs attention chiefly, and almost exclusively,
+to the constitutional principles of God's government; and the same may
+be said of Fourierism, and all schemes of reform based on the
+development of "natural laws." But as loyal subjects of God, we must
+give and call attention to his actual administration; i.e., to his
+will directly manifested by his Spirit and the agents of his Spirit,
+viz., his officers and representatives. We must look to God, not only
+for a Constitution, but for Presidential outlook and counsel; for a
+cabinet and corps of officers; for national aims and plans; for
+direction, not only in regard to principles to be carried out, but in
+regard to time and circumstance in carrying them out. In other words,
+the men who are called to usher in the Kingdom of God, will be guided,
+not merely by theoretical truth, but by the Spirit of God and specific
+manifestations of his will and policy, as were Abraham, Moses, David,
+Jesus Christ, Paul, &c. This will be called a fanatical principle,
+because it requires _bona fide_ communication with the heavens, and
+displaces the sanctified maxim that the "age of miracles and
+inspiration is past." But it is clearly a Bible principle; and we must
+place it on high, above all others, as the palladium of conservatism
+in the introduction of the new social order.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Two expressions occur in the foregoing summaries which need some
+explanation; viz., in the first, the word _Spiritualist_; and in the
+second, the term _Free Love_. Without explanation, the modern reader
+might suppose these expressions to be used in the sense commonly
+attached to them at the present time. But if he will consider that the
+articles in _The Berean_ were first published long before the birth of
+Modern Spiritualism, and that _Bible Communism_ was published long
+before the birth of Free Love among Spiritualists, he will see that
+these expressions do not mean in the above documents, what they mean
+in popular usage, and do not in any way connect the Oneida Community
+with Modern Spiritualists, or with their system of Free Love. The
+simple truth is, that the Putney school invented the term
+_Spiritualist_ to designate all believers in immediate communication
+with the spiritual world, referring at the time specially to
+Perfectionists and Revivalists, and marking the distinction between
+them and the legalists of the churches; and they invented the term
+_Free Love_ to designate the social state of the Kingdom of Heaven as
+defined in _Bible Communism_. Afterward these terms were appropriated
+and specialized by the followers of Andrew Jackson Davis and Thomas L.
+Nichols. The Oneida Communists have for many years printed and
+re-printed in their various publications the following protest, which
+may fitly close this account of their religious and social theories:
+
+    FREE LOVE.
+
+    [From the _Hand-Book_ of the Oneida Community.]
+
+    "This terrible combination of two very good ideas--freedom and
+    love--was first used by the writers of the Oneida Community
+    about twenty-one years ago, and probably originated with them.
+    It was however soon taken up by a very different class of
+    speculators scattered about the country, and has come to be the
+    name of a form of socialism with which we have but little
+    affinity. Still it is sometimes applied to our Communities; and
+    as we are certainly responsible for starting it into
+    circulation, it seems to be our duty to tell what meaning we
+    attach to it, and in what sense we are willing to accept it as a
+    designation of our social system.
+
+    "The obvious and essential difference between marriage and
+    licentious connections may be stated thus:
+
+    "Marriage is permanent union. Licentiousness deals in temporary
+    flirtations.
+
+    "In marriage, Communism of property goes with Communism of
+    persons. In licentiousness, love is paid for as hired labor.
+
+    "Marriage makes a man responsible for the consequences of his
+    acts of love to a woman. In licentiousness, a man imposes on a
+    woman the heavy burdens of maternity, ruining perhaps her
+    reputation and her health, and then goes his way without
+    responsibility.
+
+    "Marriage provides for the maintenance and education of
+    children. Licentiousness ignores children as nuisances, and
+    leaves them to chance.
+
+    "Now in respect to every one of these points of difference
+    between marriage and licentiousness, _we stand with marriage_.
+    Free Love with us does _not_ mean freedom to love to-day and
+    leave to-morrow; nor freedom to take a woman's person and keep
+    our property to ourselves; nor freedom to freight a woman with
+    our offspring and send her down stream without care or help; nor
+    freedom to beget children and leave them to the street and the
+    poor-house. Our Communities are _families_, as distinctly
+    bounded and separated from promiscuous society as ordinary
+    households. The tie that binds us together is as permanent and
+    sacred, to say the least, as that of marriage, for it is our
+    religion. We receive no members (except by deception or
+    mistake), who do not give heart and hand to the family interest
+    for life and forever. Community of property extends just as far
+    as freedom of love. Every man's care and every dollar of the
+    common property is pledged for the maintenance and protection of
+    the women, and the education of the children of the Community.
+    Bastardy, in any disastrous sense of the word, is simply
+    impossible in such a social state. Whoever will take the trouble
+    to follow our track from the beginning, will find no forsaken
+    women or children by the way. In this respect we claim to be in
+    advance of marriage and common civilization.
+
+    "We are not sure how far the class of socialists called 'Free
+    Lovers' would claim for themselves any thing like the above
+    defense from the charge of reckless and cruel freedom; but our
+    impression is that their position, scattered as they are,
+    without organization or definite separation from surrounding
+    society, makes it impossible for them to follow and care for the
+    consequences of their freedom, and thus exposes them to the just
+    charge of licentiousness. At all events their platform is
+    entirely different from ours, and they must answer for
+    themselves. _We_ are not 'Free Lovers' in any sense that makes
+    love less binding or responsible than it is in marriage."[C]
+
+_Material Results._
+
+The concrete results of Communism at Oneida, have been made public
+from time to time in the _Circular_, the weekly paper of the
+Community. The "journal" columns of this sheet, in which are given the
+ups and downs of Community progress, with much of the gossip of its
+home life, would fill several volumes. Referring the inquisitive
+reader to these for details, we shall limit our present sketch to the
+main outlines:
+
+    The Oneida Community has two hundred and two members, and two
+    affiliated societies, one of forty members at Wallingford,
+    Connecticut, and one of thirty-five members at Willow Place, on
+    a detached part of the Oneida domain. This domain consists of
+    six hundred and sixty-four acres of choice land, and three
+    excellent water-powers. The manufacturing interest here created
+    is valued at over $200,000. The Wallingford domain consists of
+    two hundred and twenty-eight acres, with a water-power, a
+    printing-office and a silk-factory. The three Community families
+    (in all two hundred and seventy-seven persons) are financially
+    and socially a unit.
+
+The main dwelling of the Community is a brick structure consisting of
+a center and two wings, the whole one hundred and eighty-seven feet in
+length, by seventy in breadth. It has towers at either end and
+irregular extensions reaching one hundred feet in the rear. This is
+the Community Home. It contains the chapel, library, reception-room,
+museum, principal drawing-rooms, and many private apartments. The
+other buildings of the group are the "old mansion," containing the
+kitchen and dining-room, the Tontine, which is a work-building, the
+fruit-house, the store, etc. The manufacturing buildings in
+connection with the water-powers are large, and mostly of brick. The
+organic principle of Communism in industry and domestic life, is seen
+in the common roof, the common table, and the daily meetings of all
+the members.
+
+The extent and variety of industrial operations at the Oneida
+Community may be seen in part by the following statistics from the
+report of last year, (1868.)
+
+    No. of steel traps manufactured during the year,       278,000.
+     "  "  packages of preserved fruits,                   104,458.
+    Amount of raw silk manufactured,                     4,664 lbs.
+    Iron cast at the foundry,                           227,000 do.
+    Lumber manufactured at saw-mill,                  305,000 feet.
+    Product of milk from the dairy,                 31,143 gallons.
+      "     "  hay on the domain,                         300 tons.
+      "     "  potatoes,                               800 bushels.
+      "     "  strawberries,                                740 do.
+      "     "  apples,                                    1,450 do.
+      "     "  grapes,                                   9,631 lbs.
+
+Stock on the farm, 93 cattle and 25 horses. Amount of teaming done,
+valued at $6,260.
+
+In addition to these, many branches of industry necessary for the
+convenience of the family are pursued, such as shoemaking, tailoring,
+dentistry, etc. The cash business of the Community during the year, as
+represented by its receipts and disbursements, was about $575,000.
+Amount paid for hired labor $34,000. Family expenses (exclusive of
+domestic labor by the members, teaching, and work in the printing
+office), $41,533.43.
+
+The amount of labor performed by the Community members during the
+year, was found to be approximately as follows:
+
+                           Number.  Amount of labor per day.
+    Able-bodied men.         80        7 hours
+        "       women.       84        6   "    40 min.
+    Invalid and aged men      6        3   "    40 "
+    Boys                      4        3   "    40 "
+    Invalid and aged women    9        1   "    20 "
+    Girls                     2        1   "    20 "
+
+This is exclusive of care of children, school-teaching, printing and
+editing the _Circular_, and much head-work in all departments.
+
+Taking 304 days for the working year, we have, as a product of the
+above figures, a total of 35,568 days' work at ten hours each.
+Supposing this labor to be paid at the rate of $1.50 per day, the
+aggregate sum for the year would be $53,352.00. By comparing this with
+the amount of family expenses, $41,533.43, we find, at the given rate
+of wages, a surplus of profit amounting to $11,818.57, or 33 cents
+profit for each person per day. This represents the saving which
+ordinary unskilled labor would make by means of the mere economy of
+Association. Were it possible for a skillful mechanic to live in
+co-operation with others, so that his wife and elder children could
+spend some time at productive labor, and his family could secure the
+economies of combined households, their wages at present rates would
+be more than double the cost of living. Labor in the Community being
+principally of the higher class, is proportionately rewarded, and in
+fact earns much more than $1.50 per day.
+
+The entire financial history of the Community in brief is the
+following: It commenced business at its present location in 1848, but
+did not adopt the practice of taking annual inventories till 1857. Of
+the period between these dates we can give but a general account. The
+Community in the course of that period had five or six branches with
+common interests, scattered in several States. The "Property
+Register," kept from the beginning, shows that the amount of property
+brought in by the members of all the Communities, up to January 1,
+1857, was $107,706.45. The amount held at Oneida at that date, as
+stated in the first regular inventory, was only $41,740. The branch
+Communities at Putney, Wallingford and elsewhere, at the same time had
+property valued at $25,532.22. So that the total assets of the
+associated Communities were $67,272.22, or $40,434.23 less than the
+amount brought in by the members. In other words between the years
+1848 and 1857, the associated Communities sunk (in round numbers)
+$40,000. Various causes may be assigned for this, such as
+inexperience, lack of established business, persecutions and
+extortions, the burning of the Community store, the sinking of the
+sloop Rebecca Ford in the Hudson River, the maintenance of an
+expensive printing family at Brooklyn, the publication of a free
+paper, etc.
+
+In the course of several years previous to 1857, the Community
+abandoned the policy of working in scattered detachments, and
+concentrated its forces at Oneida and Wallingford. From the first of
+January 1857, when its capital was $41,740, to the present time, the
+progress of its money-matters is recorded in the following statistics,
+drawn from its annual inventories:
+
+    In 1857, net earnings,  $5,470.11
+     " 1858,  "     "        1,763.60
+     " 1859,  "     "       10,278.38
+     " 1860,  "     "       15,611.03
+     " 1861,  "     "        5,877.89
+     " 1862,  "     "        9,859.78
+     " 1863,  "     "       44.755.30
+     " 1864,  "     "       61,382.62
+     " 1865,  "     "       12,382.81
+     " 1866,  "     "       13,198.74
+
+Total net earnings in ten years, $180,580.26; being a yearly average
+income of $18,058.02, above all expenses. The succeeding inventories
+show the following result:
+
+  Net earnings in 1867, $21,416.02.
+  Net earnings in 1868, $55,100.83.
+
+being an average for the last two years of over $38,000 per annum.
+
+During the year 1869 the following steps forward have been taken: 1,
+an entire wing has been added to the brick Mansion House, for the use
+of the children; 2, apparatus for heating the whole by steam has been
+introduced; 3, a building has been erected for an Academy, and
+systematic home-education has commenced; 4, silk-weaving has been
+introduced at Willow Place; 5, the manufacture of silk-twist has been
+established at Wallingford; 6, the Communities at Oneida and
+Wallingford have been more thoroughly consolidated than heretofore; 7,
+this book on _American Socialisms_ has been prepared at Oneida and
+printed at Wallingford.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[C] We observe that the account of the Oneida Community given in the
+Supplement to Chambers' Encyclopaedia, begins thus: "_Perfectionists_ or
+_Bible Communists_; popularly known as Free Lovers or preachers of Free
+Love." The whole article, covering several pages, is very careless in
+its geographical and other details, and not altogether reliable in its
+statements of the doctrines and morals of the Communists. As materials
+that get into Encyclopaedias may be presumed to be crystallizing for
+final history, it is to be hoped that the Messrs. Chambers will at least
+get this article corrected by some intelligent American, for future
+editions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+REVIEW AND RESULTS.
+
+
+Looking back now over the entire course of this history, we discover a
+remarkable similarity in the symptoms that manifested themselves in
+the transitory Communities, and almost entire unanimity in the
+witnesses who testify as to the causes of their failure. GENERAL
+DEPRAVITY, all say, is the villain of the whole story.
+
+In the first place Macdonald himself, after "seeing stern reality,"
+confesses that in his previous hopes of Socialism he "had imagined
+mankind better than they are."
+
+Then Owen, accounting for the failure at New Harmony, says, "he wanted
+honesty, and he got dishonesty; he wanted temperance, and instead he
+was continually troubled with the intemperate; he wanted cleanliness,
+and he found dirt," and so on.
+
+The Yellow Spring Community, though composed of "a very superior
+class," found in the short space of three months, that "self-love was
+a spirit that would not be exorcised. Individual happiness was the law
+of nature, and it could not be obliterated; and before a single year
+had passed, this law had scattered the members of that society which
+had come together so earnestly and under such favorable circumstances,
+back into the selfish world from which they came."
+
+The trustees of the Nashoba Community, in abandoning Frances Wright's
+original plan of common property, acknowledge their conviction that
+such a system can not succeed "without the members composing it are
+superior beings. That which produces in the world only common-place
+jealousies and every-day squabbles, is sufficient to destroy a
+Community."
+
+The spokesman of the Haverstraw Community at first attributes their
+failure to the "dishonesty of the managers;" but afterward settles
+down into the more general complaint that they lacked "men and women
+of skillful industry, sober and honest, with a knowledge of themselves
+and a disposition to command and be commanded," and intimates that
+"the sole occupation of the men and women they had, was parade and
+talk."
+
+The historian of the Coxsackie Community says "they had many persons
+engaged in talking and law-making, who did not work at any useful
+employment. The consequences were, that after struggling on for
+between one and two years, the experiment came to an end. There were
+few good men to steer things right."
+
+Warren found that the friction that spoiled his experiments was "the
+want of common honesty."
+
+Ballou complained that "the timber he got together was not suitable
+for building a Community. The men and women that joined him were very
+enthusiastic and commenced with great zeal; their devotion to the
+cause seemed to be sincere; but they did not know themselves."
+
+At the meetings that dissolved the Northampton Community, "some spoke
+of the want of that harmony and brotherly feeling, which were
+indispensable to success; others spoke of the unwillingness to make
+sacrifices on the part of some of the members; also of the lack of
+industry and the right appropriation of time."
+
+Collins lived in a quarrel with a rival during nearly the whole life
+of his Community, and finally gave up the experiment from "a
+conviction that the theory of Communism could not be carried out in
+practice; that the attempt was premature, the time had not yet
+arrived, and the necessary conditions did not yet exist." His
+experience led him to the conclusion that "there is floating upon the
+surface of society, a body of restless, disappointed, jealous,
+indolent spirits, disgusted with our present social system, not
+because it enchains the masses to poverty, ignorance, vice, and
+endless servitude; but because they can not render it subservient to
+their private ends. Experience shows that this class stands ready to
+mount every new movement that promises ease, abundance, and individual
+freedom; and that when such an enterprise refuses to interpret license
+for freedom, and insists that every member shall make their strength,
+skill and talent, subservient to the movement, then the cry of tyranny
+and oppression is raised against those who advocate such industry and
+self-denial; then the enterprise must become a scape-goat, to bear the
+fickleness, indolence, selfishness, and envy of this class."
+
+The testimony in regard to the Sylvania Association is, that "young
+men wasted the good things at the commencement of the experiment; and
+besides victuals, dry-goods supplied by the Association were unequally
+obtained. Idle and greedy people find their way into such attempts,
+and soon show forth their character by burdening others with too much
+labor, and, in times of scarcity, supplying themselves with more than
+their allowance of various necessaries, instead of taking less."
+
+The failure of the One Mentian Community is attributed to "ignorance
+and disagreements," and that of the Social Reform Unity to "lack of
+wisdom and general preparation."
+
+The Leraysville Phalanx went to pieces in a grumble about the
+management.
+
+Of the Clarkson Association a writer in the _Phalanx_ says that they
+were "ignorant of Fourier's principles, and without plan or purpose,
+save to fly from the ills they had already experienced in
+civilization. Thus they assembled together such elements of discord,
+as naturally in a short time led to their dissolution."
+
+The Sodus Bay Socialists quarreled about religion, and when they broke
+up, some decamped in the night, with as much of the common property as
+they could lay hands on. Whereupon Macdonald sententiously
+remarks--"The fact that mankind do not like to have their faults and
+failings made public, will probably account for the difficulty in
+obtaining particulars of such experiments."
+
+The Bloomfield Association went to wreck in a quarrel about
+land-titles.
+
+Of the Jefferson County Association, Macdonald says, "After a few
+months, disagreements became general. Their means were totally
+inadequate; they were too ignorant of the principles of Association;
+were too much crowded together, and had too many idlers among them.
+There was bad management on the part of the officers, and some were
+suspected of dishonesty."
+
+The Moorhouse Union appears to have been almost wholly a gathering of
+worthless adventurers.
+
+Mr. Moore, in his _Post Mortem_ on the Marlboro Association, very
+delicately observes that "the failure of the experiment may be traced
+to the fact that the minds of its originators were not homogeneous."
+
+Macdonald, after studying the Prairie Home Community, says, "From all
+I saw I judged that it was too loosely put together, and that the
+members had not entire confidence in each other."
+
+The malcontent who gives an account of the Trumbull Phalanx says:
+"Some came with the idea that they could live in idleness at the
+expense of the purchasers of the estate, and these ideas they
+practically carried out; while others came with good hearts for the
+cause. There were one or two designing persons, who came with no other
+intent than to push themselves into situations in which they could
+impose upon their fellow members; and this, to a certain extent, they
+succeeded in doing." And again: "I think most persons came there for a
+mere shift. Their poverty and their quarreling about what they called
+religion (for there were many notions as to which was the right way to
+heaven), were great drawbacks to success."
+
+There were rival leaders in the Ohio Phalanx, and their respective
+parties quarreled about constitutions till they got into a lawsuit
+which broke them up. The member who gave the account of this
+Association says: "The most important causes of failure were said to
+be the deficiency of wealth, wisdom and goodness."
+
+The Clermont Phalanx had jealousies among its women that led to a
+lawsuit; and a difficulty with one of its leading members about
+land-titles.
+
+The story of the Alphadelphia Phalanx is briefly told thus: "The
+disagreement with Mr. Tubbs about a mill-race at the commencement of
+the experiment, threw a damper on it, from which it never recovered.
+All lived in clover so long as a ton of sugar or any other such luxury
+lasted. The officers made bad bargains. Laborers became discouraged.
+In the winter some of the influential members went away temporarily,
+and thus left the real friends of the Association in the minority; and
+when they returned after two or three months absence, every thing was
+turned up-side-down. There was a manifest lack of good management and
+foresight. The old settlers accused the majority of this, and were
+themselves elected officers; but they managed no better, and finally
+broke up the concern."
+
+The Wisconsin Phalanx kept its quarrels below lawsuit point, but the
+leading member who gives account of it, says that the habit of the
+members was to "scold and work, and work and scold;" and that "they
+had among their number a few men of leading intellect who always
+doubted the success of the experiment, and hence determined to
+accumulate property individually by any and every means called fair in
+competitive society. These would occasionally gain some important
+positions in the society, and representing it in part at home and
+abroad, caused much trouble. By some they were accounted the principal
+cause of the final failure."
+
+Mr. Daniels, a gentleman who saw the whole progress of the Wisconsin
+Phalanx, says that "the cause of its breaking up was speculation, the
+love of money and the want of love for Association. Their property
+becoming valuable, they sold it for the purpose of making money out of
+it."
+
+The North American was evidently shattered by secessions, resulting
+partly from religious dissensions and partly from differences about
+business.
+
+Brook Farm alone is reported as harmonious to the end.
+
+It should be observed that the foregoing disclosures of disintegrating
+infirmities were generally made reluctantly, and are necessarily very
+imperfect. Large departments of dangerous passion are entirely
+ignored. For instance, in all the memoirs of the Owen and Fourier
+Associations, not a word is said on the "Woman Question!" Among all
+the disagreements and complaints, not a hint occurs of any jealousies
+and quarrels about love matters. In fact women are rarely mentioned;
+and the terrible passions connected with distinction of sex, which the
+Shakers, Rappites, Oneidians, and all the rest of the religious
+Communities have had so much trouble with, and have taken so much
+pains to provide for or against, are absolutely left out of sight.
+Owen, it is true, named marriage as one of the trinity of man's
+oppressors: and it is generally understood that Owenism and Fourierism
+both gave considerable latitude to affinities and divorces; but this
+makes it all the more strange that there was no trouble worth
+mentioning, in any of these Communities, about crossing love-claims.
+Can it be, we ask ourselves, that Owen had such conflicts with
+whiskey-tippling, but never a fight with the love-mania? that all
+through the Fourier experiments, men and women, young men and maidens,
+by scores and hundreds were tumbled together into unitary homes, and
+sometimes into log-cabins seventeen feet by twenty-five, and yet no
+sexual jostlings of any account disturbed the domestic circle? The
+only conclusion we can come to is, that some of the most important
+experiences of the transitory Communities have not been surrendered to
+history.
+
+Nevertheless the troubles that do come to the surface show, as we have
+said, that human depravity is the dread "Dweller of the Threshold,"
+that lies in wait at every entrance to the mysteries of Socialism.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Shall we then turn back in despair, and give it up that Association on
+the large scale is impossible? This seems to have been the reaction of
+all the leading Fourierists. Greeley sums up the wisdom he gained from
+his socialistic experience in the following invective:
+
+    "A serious obstacle to the success of any socialistic experiment
+    must always be confronted. I allude to the kind of persons who
+    are naturally attracted to it. Along with many noble and lofty
+    souls, whose impulses are purely philanthropic, and who are
+    willing to labor and suffer reproach for any cause that promises
+    to benefit mankind, there throng scores of whom the world is
+    quite worthy--the conceited, the crotchety, the selfish, the
+    headstrong, the pugnacious, the unappreciated, the played-out,
+    the idle, and the good-for-nothing generally; who, finding
+    themselves utterly out of place and at a discount in the world
+    as it is, rashly conclude that they are exactly fitted for the
+    world as it ought to be. These may have failed again and again,
+    and been protested at every bank to which they have been
+    presented; yet they are sure to jump into any new movement as if
+    they had been born expressly to superintend and direct it,
+    though they are morally certain to ruin whatever they lay their
+    hands on. Destitute of means, of practical ability, of prudence,
+    tact and common sense, they have such a wealth of assurance and
+    self-confidence, that they clutch the responsible positions
+    which the capable and worthy modestly shrink from; so
+    responsibilities that would tax the ablest, are mistakenly
+    devolved on the blindest and least fit. Many an experiment is
+    thus wrecked, when, engineered by its best members, it might
+    have succeeded."
+
+Meeker gloomily concludes that "generally men are not prepared;
+Association is for the future."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And yet, to contradict these disheartening persuasions and forbid our
+settling into despair, we have a respectable series of successes that
+can not be ignored. Mr. Greeley recognizes them, though he hardly
+knows how to dispose of them. "The fact," he says, "stares us in the
+face that, while hundreds of banks and factories, and thousands of
+mercantile concerns managed by shrewd, strong men, have gone into
+bankruptcy and perished, Shaker Communities, established more than
+sixty years ago, upon a basis of little property and less worldly
+wisdom, are living and prosperous to-day. And their experience has
+been imitated by the German Communities at Economy, Zoar, the Society
+of Ebenezer, etc. Theory, however plausible, must respect the facts."
+
+Let us look again at these exceptional Associations that have not
+succumbed to the disorganizing power of general depravity. Jacobi's
+record of their duration and fortunes is worth recapitulating.
+Assuming that they are all still in existence, their stories may be
+epitomized as follows:
+
+Beizel's Community has lasted one hundred and fifty-six years; was at
+one time very rich; has money at interest yet; some of its grand old
+buildings are still standing.
+
+The Shaker Community, as a whole, is ninety-five years old; consists
+of eighteen large societies; many of them very wealthy.
+
+Rapp's Community is sixty-five years old, and very wealthy.
+
+The Zoar Community is fifty-three years old, and wealthy.
+
+The Snowberger Community is forty-nine years old and "well off."
+
+The Ebenezer Community is twenty-three years old; and said to be the
+largest and richest Community in the United States.
+
+The Janson Community is twenty-three years old and wealthy.
+
+The Oneida Community (frequently quoted as belonging to this class) is
+twenty-one years old, and prosperous.
+
+The one feature which distinguishes these Communities from the
+transitory sort, is their religion; which in every case is of the
+earnest kind which comes by recognized afflatus, and controls all
+external arrangements.
+
+It seems then to be a fair induction from the facts before us that
+earnest religion does in some way modify human depravity so as to make
+continuous Association possible, and insure to it great material
+success. Or if it is doubted whether it does essentially change human
+nature, it certainly improves in some way the _conditions_ of human
+nature in socialistic experiments. It is to be noted that Mr. Greeley
+and other experts in socialism claim that there _is_ a class of "noble
+and lofty souls" who are prepared for close Association; but their
+attempts have constantly been frustrated by the throng of crotchety
+and selfish interlopers that jump on to their movements. Now it may be
+that the tests of earnest religion are just what are needed to keep a
+discrimination between the "noble and lofty souls" and the scamps of
+whom the Socialists complain. On the whole it seems probable that
+earnest religion does favorably modify both human depravity and its
+conditions, preparing some for Association by making them better, and
+shutting off others that would defeat the attempts of the best.
+Earnest men of one religious faith are more likely to be respectful to
+organized authority and to one another, than men of no religion or men
+of many religions held in indifference and mutual counteraction. And
+this quality of respect, predisposing to peace and subordination,
+however base it may be in the estimation of "Individual Sovereigns,"
+and however worthless it may be in ordinary circumstances, is
+certainly the indispensable element of success in close Association.
+
+The logic of our facts may be summed up thus: The non-religious party
+has tried Association under the lead of Owen, and failed; the
+semi-religious party has tried it under the lead of Fourier, and
+failed; the thoroughly religious party has not yet tried it; but
+sporadic experiments have been made by various religious sects, and so
+far as they have gone, they have indicated by their success, that
+earnest religion may be relied upon to carry Association through to
+the attainment of all its hopes. The world then must wait for this
+final trial; and the hope of the triumph of Association can not
+rationally be given up, till this trial has been made.
+
+The question for the future is, Will the Revivalists go forward into
+Socialism; or will the Socialists go forward into Revivalism? We do
+not expect any further advance, till one or the other of these things
+shall come to pass; and we do not expect overwhelming victory and
+peace till both shall come to pass.
+
+The best outlook for Socialism is in the direction of the local
+churches. These are scattered every where, and under a powerful
+afflatus might easily be converted into Communities. In that case
+Communism would have the advantage of previous religion, previous
+acquaintance, and previous rudimental organizations, all assisting in
+the tremendous transition from the old world of selfishness, to the
+new world of common interest. We believe that a church that is capable
+of a genuine revival, could modulate into daily meetings, criticism,
+and all the self-denials of Communism, far more easily than any
+gathering by general proclamation for the sole purpose of founding a
+Community.
+
+If the churches can not be put into this work, we do not see how
+Socialism on a large scale is going to be propagated. Exceptional
+Associations may be formed here and there by careful selection and
+special good fortune; but how general society is to be resolved into
+Communities, without some such transformation of existing
+organizations, we do not pretend to foresee. Our hope is that churches
+of all denominations will by and by be quickened by the Pentecostal
+Spirit, and begin to grow and change, and finally, by a process as
+natural as the transformation of the chrysalis, burst forth into
+Communism.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+
+DEDUCTIVE AND INDUCTIVE SOCIALISMS.
+
+
+It is well for a theory to be subjected to the test of adverse
+criticism. Particularly in matters of contemporaneous history the
+public are interested to hear all sides. We have presented in this
+book our estimate of the French and English schools of Socialism; but
+as the reader may deem a Communist's judgment of the Phalansterian
+school necessarily defective, we are happy to insert here a
+communication from Mr. Brisbane himself, presenting a partizan's
+defence of Fourier. It was received and printed in the _Circular_,
+just as the last chapters of our history of Fourierism were preparing,
+
+    "FOURIER AND THE ATTEMPTS TO REALIZE HIS THEORY.
+
+    "_To the Editor of the Circular_:
+
+    "Will you allow me space in your journal to say that no
+    practical trial, and no approach to one, has as yet been made of
+    Fourier's theory of Social Organization. A trial of a theory
+    supposes that the practical test is made in conformity with its
+    principles; otherwise there is no trial. Let generous minds who
+    are working for the social redemption of their race, be just to
+    those who have labored conscientiously for this great end. Let
+    them be just to Fourier, who, in silence during a long life
+    strove to solve the great problem of the organization of
+    society on a scientific basis, neglecting every thing else--the
+    pursuit of fortune, the avenue to which was more than once open
+    to him--and position and reputation in society.
+
+    "Fourier says: There are certain _Laws of Organisation_ in
+    nature, which are the source of order and harmony in creation.
+    These laws human reason must discover and apply in the
+    organization of society, if a true social order is to be
+    established on the earth. The moral forces in man, called
+    sentiments, faculties, passions, etc., are framed or fashioned,
+    and their action determined, in accordance with these laws. They
+    tend naturally to act in conformity with them, and would do so,
+    if not thwarted. If the Social Organization, which is the
+    external medium in which these forces operate, is based on those
+    laws, it will, it is evident, be adapted to the forces--to the
+    nature of man. This will secure their true, natural and
+    harmonious development, and with it the solution of the
+    fundamental problem of social order and harmony. In organizing
+    society on its true basis, begin, says Fourier, with Industry,
+    which is the primary and material branch of the Social
+    Organization. By the natural organization of Industry the
+    productive labors of mankind will be _dignified and rendered
+    attractive_; wealth will be increased ten-fold, so that
+    abundance will be secured to all, and with abundance, the means
+    of education and refinement, and of social equality and unity.
+    When refinement and intelligence are rendered general, the
+    superstructure of society will be built under the favorable
+    circumstances which such a work requires.
+
+    "Briefly stated, such is Fourier's view. In his works he
+    describes in detail the plan of Industrial Organization. He
+    explains the laws of organization in Nature (as he understands
+    them), on which Industry is to be based. He takes special pains
+    to give minute directions in relation to the subject, and warns
+    those who may undertake the work of organization, to avoid
+    mistakes--some of which he points out--that may easily be made,
+    and would vitiate the undertaking.
+
+    "The little Associations started in this country, of which you
+    have given an account, had for their object the realization of
+    Fourier's industrial system. Now, instead of avoiding the
+    mistakes which he warned his followers against making, not one
+    of those Associations realized _a single one of the conditions_
+    which he laid down. Not one of them had the tenth, nor the
+    twentieth part of the means and resources--pecuniary and
+    scientific--necessary to carry out the organization he proposed.
+    In a word, no trial, and no approach to a trial of Fourier's
+    theory has been made. I do not say that his theory is true, or
+    would succeed, if fairly tried. I simply affirm that _no trial_
+    of it has been made; so that it is unjust to speak of it, as if
+    it had been tested. With ample, that is, vast resources, and
+    some years to prepare the domain, erect buildings, and make all
+    necessary arrangements, so as to thoroughly prepare the field of
+    operations before the members or operators entered, then with
+    men of organizing capacity to test fairly the principles which
+    he has laid down, a fair trial could be made.
+
+    "I repeat, let us be just to those who have labored patiently
+    and conscientiously for the social elevation of humanity.
+    Fourier's was a great soul. To a powerful intellect he added
+    nobility and goodness of heart. Clear, exact, strict and
+    scientific in thought, he was at the same time kind and
+    philanthropic in feeling. Impelled by noble motives, he devoted
+    his intellect to the most important of works, to the discovery
+    of the natural principles of social organization. Such a man
+    deserves to be treated with profound respect. Infantile attempts
+    to realize his ideas should not, in their failure, be charged
+    upon him, covering him with the ridicule or folly attached to
+    them. Let him stand on his Theory. That is his intellectual
+    pedestal. Let those who undertake to judge him, study his
+    Theory. When they overthrow that they will overthrow him.
+
+    "I will close by stating my estimate of Fourier, which is the
+    result of some reflection.
+
+    "Social Science is a creation of the nineteenth century. It has
+    been developed in a regular form in the present century, as was
+    Astronomy, for example, in the sixteenth. Men have arisen almost
+    simultaneously in different countries, who have conceived the
+    possibility of such a science, and set themselves to work at it.
+    Fourier took the lead. He began in 1798, and published his first
+    work in 1806. Krause, in Germany, began to write in 1808. St.
+    Simon, in France, in 1811. Owen, in England, at a later period
+    still. Comte, a disciple of St Simon, began in 1824, I think.
+    Fourier and Comte were the only minds that undertook to base
+    Social Science on, and to deduce it from, universal laws, having
+    their source in the infallible wisdom of the universe. Comte,
+    after laying a broad foundation with the aid of all the known
+    sciences; after seeking to determine the theory of each special
+    science, and to construct a _Science of the Sciences_ by which
+    to guide himself, abandons his scientific construction (reared
+    in his first work--"Positive Philosophy"), when he comes to
+    elaborate his plan of practical organization. He deduces his
+    plan of the Social Order of the future from the historical
+    past, and especially from the Middle Age _regime_, guided in so
+    doing by his own personal feelings and views. His Social system
+    is consequently a compound of historical deduction and personal
+    sentiment. It is, I think, without practical value. His
+    scientific demonstration of the possibility and the necessity of
+    Social Science is of _great value_, and will secure to him
+    unbounded respect in the future. Fourier, at the outset of his
+    labors, conceived the necessity of discovering the laws of order
+    and harmony in the universe--Nature's plan and theory of
+    organization--and of deducing from them _the Science of Social
+    Organization_. Leaving aside all secondary considerations, he
+    set about this great work. The discovery of the laws of order
+    and organization in creation was his great end. The deduction of
+    a Social Order from them was an accessory work. He claims to
+    have succeeded; and claims for his plan of social organization
+    no value outside of its conformity to Nature's laws. "I give no
+    theory of my own," he says in a hundred places; "I DEDUCE. If I
+    have deduced erroneously, let others establish the true
+    deduction."
+
+    "Social Science is a vast and complex science; it can not be
+    discovered and constituted by the aid of empirical observation
+    and reasoning: the _Inductive method_ can not do its work here.
+    The laws of order and organization in nature must be discovered,
+    and from them the science must be deduced. In astronomy, in
+    order to solve its higher and more abstruse problems, it is
+    necessary to deduce from one of the great laws of Nature;
+    namely, that of gravitation. It is more necessary still in the
+    case of the involved problems of Social Science.
+
+    "Now the merit of Fourier consists in having seen clearly this
+    great truth; in having sought carefully to discover Nature's
+    laws of organization; and in having deduced from them with the
+    greatest patience and fidelity the organization of the Social
+    System which he has elaborated. His organization of Industry and
+    of Education are master-pieces of deductive thought.
+
+    "If Fourier has failed, if he has not discovered the laws of
+    natural organization, or has not deduced rightly from them, he
+    has opened the way and pointed out the true path; he has shown
+    _what must be done_, and furnished invaluable examples of the
+    mode in which deduction must take place in Social organization.
+    He has shown how the human mind is to create a Social Science,
+    and effect the Social Reconstruction to which this science is to
+    lead. If he went astray, and could not follow the difficult path
+    he indicated, he has at least clearly described the ways and
+    modes of proceeding. Others can now easily follow in his
+    footsteps.
+
+    "If we would compare the pioneers in Social Science to those in
+    astronomy, I would say that Fourier is the Kepler of the new
+    science. Possessing, like Kepler, a vast and bold genius, he
+    has, by far-reaching intuition and close analytic thought,
+    discovered some of the fundamental principles of Social Science,
+    enough to place it on a scientific foundation, and to constitute
+    it regularly, as did Kepler in astronomy. Auguste Comte appears
+    to me to be the Tycho Brahe of Social Science: learned and
+    patient, but not original, not a discoverer of new laws and
+    principles. Other great minds will be required to complete the
+    science. It will have its Galileo, its Newton, its Laplace, and
+    even still more all-sided minds; for the science is far more
+    complex and abstruse than that of astronomy; it is the crowning
+    intellectual evolution, which human genius is to effect in its
+    scientific career.
+
+                               Very truly yours,    A. BRISBANE."
+
+This endeavor by a leading Phalansterian to set us right in regard to
+the merits of Fourier, is generous to him, and doubtless well meant
+for us, but not altogether necessary. The foregoing history bears
+witness that we have not held Fourier responsible for the American
+experiments made in his name, and have not treated him with ridicule
+or disrespect on account of their failures. In our comments on the
+Sylvania Association we said:
+
+    "It is evident enough that this was not Fourierism. Indeed the
+    Sylvanian who wrote the account of his Phalanx, frankly admits
+    for himself and doubtless for his associates, that their doings
+    had in them no semblance of Fourierism. But then the same may be
+    said, without much modification, of all the experiments of the
+    Fourier epoch. Fourier himself, would have utterly disowned
+    every one of them. *** Here then arises a distinction between
+    Fourierism as a theory propounded by Fourier, and Fourierism as
+    a practical movement administered in this country by
+    Brisbane.*** The value of Fourier's ideas is not determined, nor
+    the hope of good from them foreclosed, merely by the disasters
+    of these local experiments. And, to deal fairly all around, it
+    must further be said, that it is not right to judge Brisbane by
+    such experiments as that of the Sylvania Association. Let it be
+    remembered that, with all his enthusiasm, he gave warning from
+    time to time, in his publications, of the deficiencies and
+    possible failures of these hybrid ventures; and was cautious
+    enough to keep himself and his money out of them."
+
+We then proposed a distribution of criticism as follows: "1. Fourier,
+though not responsible for Brisbane's administration, _was_
+responsible for tantalizing the world with a magnificent theory,
+without providing the means of translating it into practice. 2.
+Brisbane, though not altogether responsible for the inadequate
+attempts of the poor Sylvanians and the rest of the rabble volunteers,
+must be blamed for spending all his energy in drumming and recruiting;
+while, to insure success, he should have given at least half his time
+to drilling the soldiers and leading them in actual battle. 3. The
+rank and file as they were strictly volunteers, should have taken
+better care of themselves, and not been so ready to follow and even
+rush ahead of leaders, who were thus manifestly devoting themselves to
+theorizing and propagandism, without experience."
+
+These citations show, and a full reading of the text at page 247 and
+afterward, will show still more clearly, that we have not been
+inconsiderate in our treatment of the socialistic leaders.
+
+Mr. Brisbane concludes his letter with an analysis of Fourier's claims
+as a Philosopher. He does not affirm that Fourier's theory is right,
+but only that he has pointed out the right way to discover a right
+theory. This, if true, is certainly a valuable service. Fourier's way,
+according to Mr. Brisbane, was to work by deduction, instead of
+induction. He first discovered certain fundamental laws of the
+universe; how he discovered them we are not told; but probably by
+intuitive assumption, as nothing is said of induction or proof in
+connection with them; then from these laws he deduced his social
+theory, without recurrence to observation or experiment. This,
+according to Brisbane and Fourier, is the way that all future
+discoverers in Social Science must pursue. Is this the right way?
+
+The leaders of modern science say that sound theories in Astronomy and
+in every thing else are discovered by induction, and that deduction
+follows after, to apply and extend the principles established by
+induction. Let us hear one of them:
+
+    [From the Introduction to Youmans' New Chemistry.]
+
+    "The master minds of our race, by a course of toilsome research
+    through thousands of years, gradually established the principles
+    of mechanical force and motion. Facts were raised into
+    generalities, and these into still higher generalizations, until
+    at length the genius of NEWTON seized the great principle of
+    attraction, which controls all bodies on the earth and in the
+    heavens. He explained the mechanism and motions of the universe
+    by the grandest induction of the human mind.
+
+    "The mighty principle thus established, now became the first
+    step of the deductive method. Leverrier, in the solitude of his
+    study, reasoning downward from the universal law through
+    planetary perturbation, proclaimed the existence, place and
+    dimensions of a new and hitherto unknown planet in our solar
+    system. He then called upon the astronomer to verify his
+    deduction by the telescope. The observation was immediately
+    made, the planet was discovered, and the immortal prediction of
+    science was literally fulfilled. Thus induction discovers
+    principles, while deduction applies them.
+
+    "It is not by skillful conjecture that knowledge grows, or it
+    would have ripened thousands of years ago. It was not till men
+    had learned to submit their cherished speculations to the
+    merciless and consuming ordeal of verification, that the great
+    truths of nature began to be revealed. Kepler tells us that he
+    made and rejected nineteen hypotheses of the motion of Mars
+    before he established the true doctrine that it moves in an
+    ellipse.
+
+    "The ancient philosophers, disdaining nature, retired into the
+    ideal world of pure meditation, and holding that the mind is the
+    measure of the universe, they believed they could reason out all
+    truths from the depths of the soul. They would not experiment:
+    consequently they lacked the first conditions of science,
+    observation, experiment and induction. Their mistake was perhaps
+    natural, but it was an error that paralyzed the world. The first
+    step of progress was impossible."
+
+If Youmans points the right way, Fourier, instead of being the Kepler
+of Social Science, was evidently one of the "ancient philosophers."
+
+We frankly avow that we are at issue with Mr. Brisbane on the main
+point that he makes for his master. We do not believe that cogitation
+without experiment is the right way to a true social theory. With us
+induction is first; deduction second; and verification by facts or the
+logic of events, always and everywhere the supreme check on both. For
+the sake of this principle we have been studying and bringing to light
+the lessons of American Socialisms. If Fourier and Brisbane are on the
+right track, we are on the wrong. Let science judge between us.
+
+But Mr. Brisbane thinks that social science is exceptional in its
+nature, too "vast and complex" to get help from observation and
+experiment. All science is vast and complex, reaching out into the
+unfathomable; but social science seems to us exceptional, if at all,
+as the field that lies nearest home and most open to observation and
+experiment. It is not like astronomy, looking away into the
+inaccessible regions of the universe, but like navigation or war,
+commanding us at our peril to study it in the immediate presence of
+its facts.
+
+Mr. Brisbane insists that Fourier's theory has not had a practical
+trial: and we have said the same thing before him. Yet we must now say
+that in another sense it has had its trial. It was brought before the
+world with all the advantages that the most brilliant school of modern
+genius could give it; and it did not win the confidence of scientific
+men or of capitalists, because they saw, what Mr. Brisbane now
+confesses for it, that it came from the closet, and not from the world
+of facts. This nineteenth century, which has had thrift and faith
+enough to lay the Atlantic cable, would have accepted and realized
+Fourierism, if it had been a genuine product of induction. So that the
+reason why it never reached the stage of practical trial was, that it
+failed on the previous question of its scientific legitimacy. Mr.
+Brisbane himself, as a capitalist, never had confidence enough in it
+to risk his fortune on it. And poor as the actual experiments were,
+_human nature_ had a trial in them, which convinced all rational
+observers, that if the numbers and means had been as great as Fourier
+required, the failures would have been swifter and worse.
+
+We insist that God's appointed way for man to seek the truth in all
+departments, and above all in Social Science, which is really the
+science of righteousness, is to combine and alternate thinking with
+experiment and practice, and constantly submit all theories, whether
+obtained by scientific investigation or by intuition and inspiration,
+to the consuming ordeal of practical verification. This is the law
+established by all the experience of modern science, and the law that
+every loyal disciple of inspiration will affirm and submit to. And
+according to this law, the Shakers and Rappites, whom Mr. Brisbane
+does not condescend to mention, are really the pioneers of modern
+Socialism, whose experiments deserve a great deal more study than all
+the speculations of the French schools. By way of offset to Mr.
+Brisbane's account of the development of sociology in the nineteenth
+century, we here repeat our historical theory. The great facts of
+modern Socialism are these: From 1776, the era of our national
+Revolution, the Shakers have been established in this country; first
+at two places in New York; then at four places in Massachusetts; at
+two in New Hampshire; two in Maine; one in Connecticut; and finally at
+two in Kentucky, and two in Ohio. In all these places prosperous
+religious Communism has been modestly and yet loudly preaching to the
+nation and to the world. New England and New York and the Great West
+have had actual Phalanxes before their eyes for nearly a century. And
+in all this time what has been acted on our American stage, has had
+England, France and Germany for its audience. The example of the
+Shakers has demonstrated, not merely that successful Communism is
+subjectively possible, but that this nation is free enough to let it
+grow. Who can doubt that this demonstration was known and watched in
+Germany from the beginning; and that it helped the successive
+experiments and emigrations of the Rappites, the Zoarites and the
+Ebenezers? These experiments, we have seen, were echoes of Shakerism,
+growing fainter and fainter, as the time-distance increased. Then the
+Shaker movement with its echoes was sounding also in England, when
+Robert Owen undertook to convert the world to Communism, and it is
+evident enough that he was really a far-off follower of the Rappites.
+France also had heard of Shakerism, before St. Simon or Fourier began
+to meditate and write Socialism. These men were nearly contemporaneous
+with Owen, and all three evidently obeyed a common impulse. That
+impulse was the sequel and certainly in part the effect of Shakerism.
+Thus it is no more than bare justice to say, that we are indebted to
+the Shakers more than to any or all other social architects of modern
+times. Their success has been the 'specie basis' that has upheld all
+the paper theories, and counteracted the failures, of the French and
+English schools. It is very doubtful whether Owenism or Fourierism
+would have ever existed, or if they had, whether they would have ever
+moved the practical American nation, if the facts of Shakerism had not
+existed before them and gone along with them. But to do complete
+justice we must go a step further. While we say that the Rappites, the
+Zoarites, the Ebenezers, the Owenites, and even the Fourierists are
+all echoes of the Shakers, we must also say that the Shakers are the
+far-off echoes of the PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
+
+What then has been Fourier's function? Surely his vast labors and
+their results have not been useless.
+
+His main achievement has been destruction. He was a merciless critic
+and scolder of the old civilization. His magnificent imaginations of
+good things to come have also served the purpose, in the general
+development of sociology, of what rhetoricians call _excitation_. But
+his theory of positive construction is, in our opinion, as worthless
+as the theories of St. Simon and Compte. And so many socialist
+thinkers have been fuddled by it, that it is at this moment the
+greatest obstruction to the healthy progress of Social Science.
+Practically it says to the world--"The experiments of the Shakers and
+other religious Communities, though successful, are unscientific and
+worthless; the experiments of the Fourierists that failed so
+miserably, were illegitimate and prove nothing; inductions from these
+or any other facts are useless; the only thing that can be done to
+realize true Association, is to put together eighteen hundred human
+beings on a domain three miles square, with a palace and outfit to
+match. Then you will see the equilibrium of the passions and
+spontaneous order and industry, insuring infinite success." As these
+conditions are well known to be impossible, because nobody believes in
+the promised equilibrium and success, the upshot of this teaching is
+despair. But the nineteenth century is not sitting at the feet of
+despair; and it will clear Fourierism out of its way.
+
+THE INDUCTIVE SCHOOL OF SOCIALISM, instead of thus shutting the gates
+of mercy on mankind, says to all: The enormous economies and
+advantages of combination, which you see in ten thousand joint-stock
+companies around you, and in the wealth of the Shakers and other
+successful Associations, and even the blessings of magnificent and
+permanent HOMES, which you do _not_ see in those combinations, are
+prizes offered to AGREEMENT. They require no special number. If two or
+three of you shall agree, you can take those prizes; for by agreement
+and consequent success, two or three will soon become many. They
+require no special amount of capital. If you are poor, by combination
+you can become rich. Agreement can make its own fortune, and need not
+wait to be endowed. The blessing of heaven is upon it, and it can work
+its way from the lowest poverty to all the wealth that Fourier taught
+his disciples to beg from capitalists.
+
+Thus demanding equilibrium of the passions and harmony at the outset,
+instead of looking for them as the miraculous result of getting
+together vast assemblages, we throw to the winds the limitations and
+impossible conditions of Fourierism. And the harmony we ask for as
+condition precedent, is not chimerical, but already exists. All the
+facts we have, indicate that it comes by religion; and the idea is
+evidently growing in the public mind that religion is the _only_ bond
+of agreement sufficient for family Association. If any dislike this
+condition, we say: Seek agreement in some other way, till all doubt on
+this point shall be removed by abundant experiment. The lists are
+open. We promise nothing to non-religious attempts; but we promise all
+things to agreement, let it come as it may. If Paganism or infidelity
+or nothingarianism can produce the required agreement, they will win
+the prize. But on the other hand if it shall turn out in this great
+Olympic of the nineteenth century, that Christianity alone has the
+harmonizing power necessary to successful Association, then
+Christianity will at last get its crown.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+Allen, John, 179, 212, 291, 536.
+
+Alphadelphia Phalanx, 388.
+
+Andrews, Stephen Pearl, 94, 212, 566.
+
+Association, essential requisites of, 57;
+  its objects defined, 292.
+
+
+Baker, Rapp's successor, 135.
+
+Ballou, Adin, his sketch of Owen, 88;
+  founder of Hopedale, 119;
+  book on Socialism, 127;
+  Vice President at Boston Convention, 514;
+  complains of his timber, 647.
+
+Beecher, Dr., revivalist, 103.
+
+Beizel, Conrad, founder of the Ephrata Community, 133.
+
+Belding, Dr. L.C., founder of Leraysville Phalanx, 263.
+
+Bimeler, Joseph, founder of the Zoar Community, 135.
+
+Bloomfield Association, 296.
+
+Blue Springs Community, 73.
+
+Boyle, James, 277.
+
+Brisbane, Albert, introduces Fourierism, 14, 23, 161;
+  publications, 113, 200, 450, 560;
+  edits column in _Tribune_, 201, 230;
+  specimen exposition, 202;
+  establishes the monthly _Phalanx_, 206;
+  converts Brook Farm, 209;
+  lectures, 269;
+  represents American Association in Europe, 216;
+  toasts Greeley, 226;
+  contrasted with Fourier, 249;
+  relation to Ohio Phalanx, 356;
+  letter to a Cincinnati Convention, 366;
+  selects site of North American Phalanx, 452;
+  inspires A.J. Davis, 566;
+  responsibility, 248, 250, 665;
+  his letter on Fourierism, 665.
+
+Brocton Community, 577;
+  history and description of, by Oliver Dyer, 578;
+  members of, 580;
+  religious belief, 580;
+  Communism, 581;
+  Internal Respiration, 581;
+  doctrine of Love and Marriage, 583;
+  Sense of Chastity, 583;
+  domestic affairs, 585;
+  "Will it Succeed?" 586;
+  Swedenborgianism, its religion, 589;
+  views of Bible, 593;
+  land-mania, 594.
+
+Brook Farm, suggested by Dr. Channing, 104;
+  Emerson's reminiscences of, 104;
+  its Transcendental origin, 108;
+  its afflatus, 109;
+  first notice of in the _Dial_, 109;
+  original constitution, 113;
+  conversion to Fourierism, 512;
+  new constitution, 522;
+  incorporation as a Phalanx, 527;
+  propagating Fourierism, 529;
+  under the lead of W.H. Channing, 530;
+  propagating Swedenborgianism, 537;
+  under the lead of John S. Dwight and Charles A. Dana, 546;
+  its Phalanstery destroyed by fire, 551;
+  dissolution, 559;
+  its end virtually the end of Fourierism, 563.
+
+Brooke, Dr. A., 310, 314.
+
+Brooke, Edward, 310.
+
+Buchanan, Dr., 84.
+
+Bureau Co. Phalanx, 409.
+
+Bush, Prof., 539.
+
+
+Campbell, Dr. Alexander, debates with Owen, 60, 86.
+
+Channings, their connection with Socialism, 103, 516.
+
+Charming, Dr., suggests Brook Farm, 104.
+
+Channing, Wm. H., publishes the _Present_, 118;
+  at Brook Farm, 106;
+  speeches, 215, 225, 533;
+  address at N.A. Phalanx, 468;
+  letter to Cincinnati Convention, 366;
+  expounds Fourierism in Boston, 513;
+  opinion of Fourier, 514;
+  succeeds Brisbane, 530;
+  leads Brook Farm in its conversion to Fourierism, 516;
+  religion of, 228, 562;
+  subscribes to the Raritan Bay Union, 488;
+  extols Swedenborg, 544.
+
+Chase, Warren, founder of Wisconsin Phalanx, 411;
+  letters from, 414, 416, 430;
+  on associative success, 432.
+
+Clarkson Phalanx, 278.
+
+Clermont Phalanx, 366.
+
+Columbian Phalanx, 404.
+
+Collins, John A., founder of the Skaneateles Community, 162;
+  his report of the Sodus Bay Phalanx, 288.
+
+Confederation of Associations, 272.
+
+Co-operative Society, 73.
+
+Co-operation not Socialism, 564.
+
+Coxsackie Community, 77.
+
+Curtis, Geo. Wm., at Brook Farm, 106;
+  writer for the _Harbinger_, 212;
+  what he says of Brook Farm's lack of history, 108.
+
+
+Dana, Chas. A., agent of Am. Un. of Associationists, 535;
+  mission of, 533;
+  address by, 222;
+  on Swedenborg, 547;
+  on Brocton Community, 586.
+
+Davis, A.J., his Harmonial Brotherhood, 11;
+  rival of Swedenborg, 94, 539;
+  inspired by Brisbane and Bush, 566.
+
+Deductive and Inductive Socialisms, 658.
+
+_Dial_, The, history of, 105;
+  extracts from, 109, 113, 512, 513, 517.
+
+Doherty, Hugh, writer for the _Harbinger_, 212;
+  Swedenborgian Fourierite, 542.
+
+Draper, E.D., extinguishes Hopedale, 132.
+
+Dwight, John S., writer for the _Harbinger_, 212;
+  on Swedenborg, 546.
+
+
+Ebenezer Community, 136.
+
+Edger, Henry, 94.
+
+Edwards, Jonathan, father of revivals, 29.
+
+Emerson, R.W., his reminiscences of Brook Farm, 104;
+  attitude toward Brook Farm, 108;
+  lecture on Swedenborg, 543;
+  prevails over W.H. Channing, 562.
+
+Ephrata, 133.
+
+Evans, Elder, 566.
+
+
+Finney, C.G., revivalist, 25.
+
+Flower, Richard, sells Harmony to Owen, 33.
+
+Forrestville Community, 74.
+
+Fourier, Charles, theoretical, 185;
+  had before him the example of the Shakers, 192;
+  birthday celebration, 226;
+  would disown the Phalanxes, 247;
+  contrasted with Brisbane, 248;
+  coupled with Swedenborg, 545;
+  criticism of, 249, 266, 665, 670.
+
+Fourierism, introduced by Brisbane and Greeley, 14, 23;
+  preparation for, 102;
+  compared with Owenism, 193, 199;
+  account keeping, 276;
+  its dreams not confirmed by experience, 293;
+  based on a township, 510;
+  must be made alive by Christ, 518;
+  co-incident with Swedenborgianism 541, 546;
+  gave its strength to Spiritualism, 566, 613.
+
+Franks, J.J., 92.
+
+Franklin Community, 73.
+
+Fuller, Margaret, 105, 106;
+  edits the _Dial_, 109.
+
+Fundamentals of Socialism, 193.
+
+
+Garden Grove Community, 409.
+
+Ginal, Rev. George, 252.
+
+Godwin, Parke, expositor of Fourierism, 181;
+  social architects, 181;
+  address by, 217, 226;
+  couples Fourier and Swedenborg, 541.
+
+Goose Pond Community, 259.
+
+Grant, E.P., letter from, 214;
+  founder and regent of Ohio Phalanx, 354, 356, 363.
+
+Gray, John, at N.A. Phalanx, 478, 484.
+
+Greeley, Horace, introduces Fourierism, 14, 201;
+  acknowledges the success of the religious Communities, 138;
+  treasurer of Sylvania Association, 208, 233;
+  toasted by Brisbane, 226;
+  his position, 229;
+  pledges his property to the cause, 232;
+  relation to Ohio Phalanx, 356, 358;
+  letter to Cincinnati Convention, 366;
+  address at N.A. Phalanx, 468;
+  offers a loan to N.A. Phalanx, 501;
+  controversy with Raymond, 562;
+  pronounces the Oneida Community a trade-success, 510;
+  summary of his socialistic experience, 653, 655.
+
+Greig, John, 271;
+  historian of Clarkson Phalanx, 278.
+
+
+Harmonists, 32.
+
+Harris, T.L., leader at Mountain Cove Community, 573;
+  Scott's estimate of, 575;
+  career, 578;
+  Universalist, 593;
+  Spiritualist, 593;
+  Swedenborgian, 577;
+  doctrine of respiration, 590;
+  leader at Brocton Community, 577.
+
+Haverstraw Community, 74.
+
+Hawthorne, Nathaniel, jilts Brook Farm, 107.
+
+Hempel, J.C., book on Fourier and Swedenborg, 545.
+
+Hopedale, Ballou's exposition of, 120, 127;
+  causes of failure.
+
+
+Individual Sovereignty, a reaction from Owenism, 42.
+
+Integral Phalanx, 377.
+
+Iowa Pioneer Phalanx, 409.
+
+
+Jacobi's Synopsis, 133.
+
+James, Henry, writer for the _Harbinger_, 212;
+  Swedenborgian, 546.
+
+Janson, Erick, founder of Bishop Hill Colony, 137.
+
+Jansonists, 137.
+
+Jefferson Co. Phalanx, 299.
+
+Johnson, Q.A., 166; opposes Collins, 168.
+
+Joint-Stockism, 195; basis of, 197.
+
+
+Kendal Community, 78.
+
+
+La Grange Phalanx, 397.
+
+Lane, Charles, on marriage, 519.
+
+Lazarus, M.E., writes for the _Harbinger_, 212;
+  at N.A. Phalanx, 481.
+
+Lee, Ann, 134, 598, 599;
+  communications from, 603, 604, 606, 610.
+
+Leet, H.N., his letters about the Mountain Cove Community, 568, 569.
+
+Leland, T.C., his letter on the volcanic region, 268;
+  lectures, 271.
+
+Leraysville Phalanx, 259.
+
+Literature of Fourierism, 200.
+
+Longley, Alcander, his perseverance, 91;
+  criticises Brisbane, 496.
+
+Loofbourrow, Wade, president of Clermont Phalanx, 366, 368.
+
+
+Macdonald, A.J., account of him and his collections 1-9;
+  visits New Harmony, 31, 84;
+  Prairie Home, 317;
+  N.A. Phalanx, 473, 481, 485;
+  meets Owen, 88, 90.
+
+Marlboro Association, 309.
+
+McKean Co. Association, 252.
+
+Meacham, Joseph, Shaker Elder, 152.
+
+Meeker, N.C., his letters from Trumbull Phalanx, 329, 337, 344;
+  _post mortem_ on the N.A. Phalanx, 499.
+
+Metz, Christian, founder of the Ebenezers, 136.
+
+Miller's end of the world, 161.
+
+Mixville Association, 299.
+
+Modern Times, 99.
+
+Moorhouse Union, 304.
+
+Mormonism, origin of, 267;
+  afflatus, 152.
+
+Mountain Cove Community, 568.
+
+
+Nashoba, 66.
+
+National experience, theory of, 21.
+
+Nettleton, revivalist, 25.
+
+New Harmony, 30.
+
+New Lanark, factories owned by Owen, 60.
+
+Nichols, Dr. T.L., inaugurates Free Love, 93;
+  connects Owenism with Spiritualism, 566.
+
+North American Phalanx, 449;
+  Sears's history of first nine years, 450;
+  life at, 468;
+  Ripley's visit to, 469;
+  Neidharts' visit, 471;
+  Macdonald's first visit, 473;
+  second visit, 481;
+  third visit, 485;
+  Raritan Bay secession, 487;
+  religious controversy, 489;
+  burning of the mill, 495;
+  end, 499;
+  Meeker's _post mortem_, 499;
+  Hamilton's visit to the remains, 508;
+
+Northampton Association, 154.
+
+Noyes, John H., founder of Oneida Community, 614
+
+
+Ohio Phalanx, 354.
+
+Oneida Community, 614;
+  religious theory, 617;
+  social theory, 623;
+  material results 641.
+
+One Mentian Community, 252.
+
+Ontario Union, 298.
+
+Orvis, John, 179, 212, 291, 536.
+
+Owen, Robert, his American movement, 13;
+  extent of his labors, 22;
+  founds New Harmony, 34;
+  declaration of mental independence, 39;
+  debate with Alexander Campbell, 60;
+  a spiritualist, 57, 565;
+  founder of Yellow Springs Community, 59;
+  trustee of Nashoba, 69;
+  father of American Socialism, 81, 91;
+  success at New Lanark, 81;
+  Texas Scheme, 87;
+  in Washington, 87;
+  before Albany State Convention, 89;
+  family, 84;
+  his scheme compared with Fourier's, 194.
+
+Owen, Robert Dale, successor to Robert Owen, 85;
+  compares New Lanark with New Harmony, 48;
+  trustee of Nashoba, 69;
+  edits the _Free Enquirer_, 72;
+  publishes "Moral Physiology," 85;
+  career, 85;
+  a patron of Spiritualism, 84, 86, 565.
+
+
+Peabody, Elizabeth P., essays in the _Dial_, 109, 113;
+  article on Fourierism, 512, 517.
+
+Peace Union Settlement, 251.
+
+Personnel of Fourierism, 211.
+
+_Phalanx_, the, 102, 210;
+  writers for, 212;
+  editors, 217;
+  succeeds the _Dial_ and _Present_, 517.
+
+Plato, as practical as Fourier, 187
+
+Prairie Home Community, 316.
+
+Pratt, Minot, active at Brook Farm, 515.
+
+Pratt, John, his observations on Owen, 50.
+
+_Present_, the, 102, 209, 516.
+
+
+Rapp, George, founder of Harmony, 32.
+
+Rappites, 32, 135.
+
+Raymond, H.J., associated with Greeley, 229;
+  controversy with Greeley, 562.
+
+Revivalism compared with Socialism, 26;
+ an American production, 28.
+
+Ripley, George, the soul of Brook Farm, 108;
+  at Fourier festival, 226;
+  his description of the N.A. Phalanx, 469;
+  active in transforming Brook Farm, 515;
+  defends Swedenborg, 549.
+
+Roe, Daniel, Swedenborgian minister, 61;
+  fascinated by Owen, 62.
+
+
+Sargant, Owen's biographer, 50, 58, 87.
+
+Schetterly, H.R., founder of Alphadelphia Phalanx, 388, 391.
+
+Sears, Charles, 477;
+  his history of the N.A. Phalanx, 450.
+
+Shakers, their principles, 139, 141;
+  afflatus, 151;
+  societies, 152;
+  close their doors, 596;
+  precursors of Modern Spiritualism, 597, 612;
+  their conditions of receiving members, 597;
+  sights of spiritual things, 599;
+  daily routine, 600;
+  union meetings, 601;
+  dancing, 603;
+  whirling, 604;
+  taking in Indian spirits, 604;
+  Shaker hell, 606;
+  spiritual presents, 606;
+  spiritual music and bathing, 608;
+  funeral 609;
+  purification, 610;
+  Shaker revival in Hades, 611.
+
+Skaneateles Community, 161.
+
+Smolnikar, A.B., 251.
+
+Snowbergers, 136.
+
+Social Architects, 181.
+
+Social Reform Unity, 256.
+
+Sodus Bay Phalanx, 286.
+
+Spiritualism, derived from Swedenborgianism, 538;
+  and from various Socialisms, 565, 567, 613.
+
+Spring Farm Association, 407.
+
+Stillman, E.A., 275, 277, 296.
+
+St. Simon, 182, 192.
+
+Swedenborg, his doctrine of internal respiration, 590.
+
+Swedenborgianism, in the Owen movement, 59, 61;
+  in the Fourier movement, 260, 262;
+  at Brook Farm, 538;
+  the complement of Fourierism, 539, 542;
+  not favorable to Communism, 589, 592.
+
+Sylvania Association, 233.
+
+
+Time Store, 95.
+
+Transcendentalists, 105, 118.
+
+_Tribune_, New York, Fourieristic phase of, 229.
+
+Trumbull Phalanx, 328.
+
+Tubbs, his quarrel, 394.
+
+
+Utopia, 98.
+
+
+Van Amringe, H.H., his letter 214;
+  at Trumbull Phalanx, 336, 345;
+  at Ohio Phalanx, 358, 364;
+  works for Wisconsin Phalanx, 437, 438.
+
+
+Warren, Josiah, 42, 94;
+  on New Harmony, 49;
+  founder of Modern Times, 93, 97, 556;
+  time store, 95;
+  at Clermont Phalanx, 374.
+
+Washtenaw Phalanx, 409.
+
+Watson, A.M., 275.
+
+Wattles, John O., at Prairie Home, 316;
+  at Clermont Phalanx, 376.
+
+White, John, his letter, 214.
+
+Williams, John S., founder of Integral Phalanx, 377.
+
+Williams, Rev. Aaron, D.D., historian of Rappites, 33, 35.
+
+Wisconsin Phalanx, 411;
+  first fiscal statement 418;
+  second fiscal statement, 422;
+  third fiscal statement, 434;
+  fourth fiscal statement, 439;
+  history by a member 440.
+
+Wright, Frances, helpmate of the Owens, 66;
+  visits Rappites and Shakers, 67;
+  founds Nashoba, 68;
+  assists on _New Harmony Gazette_ and _Free Enquirer_, 71, 72;
+  lectures, 72.
+
+
+Yellow Springs Community, 59.
+
+
+Zoarites, 135.
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+    +-----------------------------------------------------------+
+    | Typographical errors corrected in text:                   |
+    |                                                           |
+    | Page  26: successfuly replaced with successfully          |
+    | Page  27: famlies replaced with families                  |
+    | Page  44: accomodated replaced with accommodated          |
+    | Page  53: employes replaced with employees                |
+    | Page  59: probbly replaced with probably                  |
+    | Page  69: aboved-named replaced with above-named          |
+    | Page  84: enthuiasm replaced with enthusiasm              |
+    | Page  88: excusionist replaced with exclusionist          |
+    | Page  91: 'the sweets af Communism' replaced with         |
+    |           'the sweets of Communism'                       |
+    | Page 101: intrests replaced with interests                |
+    | Page 118: supfiercial replaced with superficial           |
+    | Page 138: Communites replaced with Communities            |
+    | Page 173: embarassment replaced with embarrassment        |
+    | Page 191: divison replaced with division                  |
+    | Page 201: peristence replaced with persistence            |
+    | Page 203: constucting replaced with constructing          |
+    | Page 221: occured replaced with occurred                  |
+    | Page 235: devolopment replaced with development           |
+    | Page 253: Pensylvania replaced with Pennsylvania          |
+    | Page 274: begining replaced with beginning                |
+    | Page 283: boldy replaced with boldly                      |
+    | Page 305: 'Some of the members were intelligent and moral |
+    |           people; put the majority were very inferior.'   |
+    |           replaced with 'Some of the members were         |
+    |           intelligent and moral people; but the majority  |
+    |           were very inferior.'                            |
+    | Page 326: do'nt replaced with don't                       |
+    | Page 362: Madconald replaced with Macdonald               |
+    | Page 364: asssignment replaced with assignment            |
+    | Page 366: Februrary replaced with February                |
+    | Page 418: 'have alway failed' replaced with               |
+    |           'have always failed'                            |
+    | Page 460: determned replaced with determined              |
+    | Page 531: affiiliated replaced with affiliated            |
+    | Page 541: proceded replaced with proceeded                |
+    | Page 554: probbly replaced with probably                  |
+    | Page 564: 'We must must not, however' replaced with       |
+    |           'We must not, however,'                         |
+    | Page 569: 'he will 'prent 'em' or or not' replaced with   |
+    |           'he will 'prent 'em' or not'                    |
+    | Page 575: unbiassed replaced with unbiased                |
+    | Page 604: 'and not a a word was spoken' replaced with     |
+    |           'and not a word was spoken'                     |
+    | Page 605: 'such as would require a Dickens a describe'    |
+    |           replaced with                                   |
+    |           'such as would require a Dickens to describe'   |
+    | Page 627: sytem replaced with system                      |
+    | Page 636: divison replaced with division                  |
+    | Page 639: consequnces replaced with consequences          |
+    | Page 645: per annnm. replaced with per annum.             |
+    |                                                           |
+    | Note that 'neat stock' (found on page 329) is a New       |
+    | England reference to dairy cattle that was commonly used  |
+    | in the 19th century.                                      |
+    |                                                           |
+    +-----------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF AMERICAN SOCIALISMS***
+
+
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