The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 5, 1897, Page 21

FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5,1897. 21 e e e R S L T ARG GBS THE EPHRATA [Pictures from the Cent When anything oc historical porti Ame; has so few paris that be historical, it 18 apt to be of some consid- erable importance. Therefo rt time ago the inforn ved that an accidental fire had « L Jing E s to interfore with | s calied the Keda rigin of the Ephrata is supposed n by secession from the Dun- of Baptists first heard of in anny rata sect is all but-de- ¢ remarkable phase, the MONASTERY. Mag ury Mag ne of art of we ving from the Dunker preacher, | But finding that the that persuasion were tuo led "in the co ns of the !d, he leftin 1721 the habitations of contemplative life at Mill | reek, a streamiet that empties into the N River in Lancaster County. me a hermit, heving no other y than that of his Fidus Achates, nen to lead a At this time it seemed to be quite the fashion to live a hermit's and Beissel was not the only man who followed it. All the hermits, however, were religious enthusiasts, and withdrew themselves be- | se of religious dissension. However, | 3eissel aid not long remain a nit, bue | submitted to baptism in the Prquea Creek on November 12 the hands of | Peter Becker, the D | inister of Ger- | mauntown, who, with abcut a dozen of the | brethren, traversed the land upon a mis- | | sionary errand. The baptism, however, meant no pea fellowship. It wasfol- by controversies awong the men Towed lar; their hoods, however, were round, not pointed lLke tnose of the brethren. During work they were thrown back, but at the approach of a stranger were mod- estly pulled over head and face ‘‘to hide the loathsome image” A large veil, reaching front and back to the girdle and resembling a scapular, complated the sis- ters’ costume. The garments used in winter were of wool; in summer linen or cotton. Both sexes went barefooted dur- ing the warm season. In the course of :ime more buildings were added, partly for worship and the ac- commodation of members, partly for in- dustrial objects, In 1738 a hou<e of con- siderable dimensions, called Zion, was built upon the hill; another, Pinel, mainly intended for religious service, went up in 1741, Saron, erected in 1745 was to be a convent for self-diverced couples, the men and women living in different parts of the house. But the pians would not work; the let- ters of divorce w-re by mutuzl consent torn up and the couples returned to their homesieads, and Saron was then as- signed to the sisters. It was one of the buildings that are still standing. Asnew quarters were required for the monks also, Bethamia was built in 1746. It was con- structed ina very durable manner and contained accommodations for one hun- The industry of dred solitary brethren. ot g THE HOME OF FASCINATING RELICS OF AN EARLY SECT ALMOST SWEPT AWAY Yichtel and Jacob Boehme. The craving after direct communication with God, the sinking of self into the awful abyss of the infinite, the extinction of individual will and thought, finally the unutterable ecstacy of delight springing from the *‘divine intoxication’’—all these features of mystic relizion were present in the lessons which Conrad Beissel imparted at Ephrata. 4 In order to express by words the raptur- ous feeiings engendered in his state of mind, the vocabulary of iove was ran- sacked for terms and metaphors of de- light. Gottfried Arnold or some older mystic had invented the divine “Sophia,” to whom the devotees paid homage in impassioned strains of love songs. This *‘Sophia,”’ together with the “Lamb” and the “Brileeroom,”” was addressed by the pious monks and nuns of Ephrata in the most endearing language of amorous transport. Hence we have the paradox- ical fact that the same people who repu- diated all earthly love as impure, and threw a slur on married life, would sing at their devoticns hymns like these: Sweet ere the kisses of thy mouth, And THE BROTHERS. Come, oh, love; come, my love, ! Let me give you a thousand kisses— i Month to mouth and heart to heart. | Beissel’s style of preaching is thus de. scribed by Israel Acrebies, who zives an abstract of his sermon: | “All this was spoken with an incom- | parable rapidity, in hasty language, with i rapid gestures. Now he stuck out his | liands, now he pressed them to his breast; now he placed them on one side, now upon the other, and now upon both.” Beissel was also a poet. He composed many hymns redolent with the flowers of has Conrad Beissel for its author. Itisa small duodecimo volume, printed by Ben- jamin in 1730, in Roman type. Beissel had also much musical talent, and composed upward of 400 airs, upon a system of his own. A visilor who neard this music rendered thus wrote of it to the Governor: “The performers sat with their headsre- clined, their countenances solemn and de- jectea, their faces pale and emaciated from their manner of living, the clothing exceeding white ana quite picturesque, and their music such as thrilied the very soul. the world of spirits.” When Conrad Beissel died, in 1768, the office of vorsteter devolved on Peter Mi ler, who had been prior for many years. He was a fine classical scholar, was well versed in theology, and became a member of the American Philosophical Society, and led an unblemished life. But, in spte of all this, the monastery continued to de- | cline. the wilderness that had proved so attract- { ive to the enthusiasts of a former period. The world’s people gained upon them, and time came when a few decrepit monksand nuns that lingered in the desolate con- vents or basked upon the green sward were looked upon as living curiosities. In 1814, with the consent and at the re- quest of the few surviving members of the monastery, the Assembly of Pennsyl- vania incorporated the ‘‘Seventh-day Poptists of Ephrata’ as a society, to suc- ceed to the property of the dying out | fraternity. Since then the buildings of the society have been held in trust for *‘re- Iigious, charitable and literary objects.” For years thece buildings have been of great interest to sightseers and those that are lond of ant quity. Their oddity and severity, the litule cells that men called home, where they rested their heads at night upon wood and ley their bodies, tired after the day’s toil, upon the stone floors. The bare places that women called | home, without a hint of comfort or any | of that softaess that women love, and all for a religion. A motto which ornaments the letters of an alphabet which was printed in the press of Ephrata and is siill in existence is this: Des Christen A, B, C Ist leiden, Du'den, Hoffen. I almost began to think myself in | That part of Lancaster County | where it was planted remained no longer | BY A RECENT FIRE IN PENN- SYLVANIA A VISITOR RELATES WHAT IT DID IN ITS DAYS OF ACTIVITY. The Christlan’s A, B, C 1s sufter, bear and hope. 1f you have mastered that Then you have reached the scope. Now all those who lived so rigidly have vassed beyond and their works are dead, and even the few landmarks that stood, a symbol of themselves, have been de- stroyed. So, in a few years doubtless, the grounds will be the property of the sinful outside worid, that the Ephrata had suf- fered to keep away from, and even the name of the strange and fanciful sect will be with those who bors it. BRAHMA'S ONLY DISGIPLE. Makes His Home in the | Who | \onastic life and the coun- quarrels among the women. Soon | mysticism. It is a remarkable fact of Wer cleses hat gelernt s ey, cuTions e ssel began 1o assert | thority and | f | American bibliography, not generally Der hat seln Ziel getroften. United States. DieRtal a0 iy, fand reach doctrines distastelul to the | Gtjle Near the Graveyard., || | 'known, that the earliest book of German EPHEATA: MDCCL. < S50 85 & JHinkls of chr SOl g celib 1nd the ob- | | poetry written and publi:hed in America | Which transiated means: So far as known America has only one s bas long ago passed out of exist- | servance of Saturday as Sshbath. A little | itself inaependent of the outside world. | | e disciple of Brahma among its native-born en knot of followers that gathered about |The printing press of Ephrata was putup | citizens, and he is Norman B. Covert of T der of the Order of the Solitary, | him were bapt or rather reban-|about 1742 and turned out a num ber of | Ann Arbor, Mich., according to the aun- T el, was born at Eberbach in | tized by him in , 1725. With this | works now eagerly sought after by bibli- | | thority of the Chicago News. Mr. Covert many he does not appear to | the step was taken that ophiles. 8in 7 - schools were also | has rencunced the doctrines believed in by iated with the Dunkers, |into existence the sect of Seventh-day |founded, and the choral singing at | | most of his countrymen and became a pro- s strongly impressed with the emo- | Dunkers. Conrad, who was chosen their | Ephrata became guite celebrated. 1 g ] | nounced disciple of Brahma. He was brought up a Quaker, his parents belong- ing to that religious body, but at the age of 14 became dissatisfied with the precepts of the Friends and “‘evoluted,’” as hesays, to the Methodist church. The fare at the convernts was of the plain- est kind and consisted almost entirely of bread, mush and vegetabl Animal | | food, even milk and cheese, was thought | to clog the spirit and ure the voice. | leader, became greatly impressed with his | | own importance and di-coursed like a | prophet. Later a dissension occ nd he withdrew once more to a hermit life. Here he wus followed from time to time the cloister consisted mainly of the opera- tions of the flovr paper, saw and fuliing | mills and of a flixseed cil press. The He was by i | Bonest dealing of the monks did much to- | | g his appr y other young fel ddle and the In 1715 a dance. 7 e a at brought Lim | by men and women wlo wished to re- | The costume that was worn was de: | ward rec nciling outsiders with their re- From a Methodist he became a Univer. ranting cony nounce the world and live the life the to hide entirely the shave of the body, |l igious notions. | salist, of the type of John Murray of Bos- h Dr. Carl, | thought The cloister at Beissel, | which was considered the image of sin. The cloister people of Epnrata and those ton. Asa member of this church he went z was no re for idlers. | it consisted of a long, close robe fastened | allied with them are generally Enown as D to Ann Arbor in 1844. Religious prinei- ples still troubled him. He could not reconcile himself to the idea of the re- demption. He was looking for a religion with books down to the feet, with narrow | and a collar fitted close to the | st. Dur- one was put to work—on the farm, rade, in the copying- | At the beginning Seventn-day Dankers, as if they had dif- | fered from the parent sect in no other way | than the observance of Saturday as Sab- | sleeves neck; also a girdlie about the at the mills, ata room or the bindery. ed improved even the where the clouds roll around ¢s of the Andes Mountains between heaven and eartt ke in-all the w e and b Old in own to the civilized world ex- ct that it is higher than any er broad shest of water on the face of n of Lake Titi- tody of water, y this is so is not a matter to easily understood. The fact is that icaca has an area of about 4000 are miles. Its greatest length is about miles and its greztest width seventy Twelve thousand nine hundred above sea level is the elevation of this lake and the climate there is said to be delightrul. The exact location of Lake Titicaca is ( the boundary line between South Peru znd Bolivia. Itlies between two cordil- leras of the Andes and mountains rise on all sides to the height of several thousand feet. ~The surroundings are picturesque in the extreme. As well as being the loftiest lake in the world Titicaca also has the distinction of being the largest lake in South _A»meric'a. The general shape of Lake Titicaca is strikingly irregular. Bays and capes of enormous size make up the shore line. There are several islands on thes e of the lake, the largest of them being known as Titicaca Island. Connected with this island is some of the most romantic history of that part of the country. It was here that Manco the first Inca of the Peruvian dynasty, mira ulously d. Atleast that is what tradition d that part of the world is made up of little more than tradition. On this island are also some of the most impo t ruins that have been discoverzd in Peru. The of a large temple of a peculiar s architecturs that bears no resemblance to the es to be found in the vicinity. This SN\ \\ lessals ¢ of the d which he baked | the land was cultivated without the aid of | ing their service they donned a cap that| bath. There 1s, however, another and | in which justice was the guiding princie le he petty perse- | hors oxen, the brethren themselves, | reached to the waist. “Attached to the | very important element that entered into | ple. He began reading the doctrines on cuti ich the pec r brand of in a long line, drageing at the p! robe was a cowl, or hood, that hung down | the religion of the Ephrata Society. They | which Brahminism is founded, says the pi upen him he emigrated in | There was no end of building, and all the | over the back and cou!d be drawn over the | were in intimate accord with the mystics 9 : New York Herald, and becarae a convert F i t, | 9 i - “ ¥ + i 3 cfel and some other friendsto | labor one by the members of tie or- | head for protec ion. | of the period, sucu as Gottfried Arnold, i = to Brahma, and has since continued to be In Germantown he learned the | der. us the colony that xrew up made | The habiliments of the sisters were simi- | Frederick Rock, and through them wnh“' THE MONASTERY OF WISSAHICKON. a follower of his. Taken by a Recent Visitor From This Gity to South American Parts \ archeologists, but so far its origin has not been ascertained. On the western shore of Titicaca there are two towns—Puno and Chucuito. The former is of considerable size, al- though both of them are unique in char- acter. Each has some claim to archi- tectural beauty, but there are no grand | buildings to be seen. As in all cities of Spanish origin the church is the princi- pal structure. These buildings are quite elaborate, built of stone that was quarried at a long distance from the buildings. How the stones were hauled up the mountain sides to their present positions is a matter that has been a puzzle toa great many scientists. In fact many eminent men have stated that the early builders must have possessed some supe- \‘4 i i 1 LATE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE HIGHEST LAKE IN THE WORLD rior lifting apparatus, the nature of which has been lost. There are not many visitors to Lake Titicaca at any time of the year, although the climate in the summer is said to be delightful. In the winter itis very cold, aithough a few hours’ travel downward will bring one to where it is uncomforta~ bly hot. As a resort Titicaca would be an ideal place were it not so out of the world. The water of the lake is nearly always smooth and there is usually enough wind to sail a small boat at a moderate speed. When- ever the wind does blow in that part of the world it is a hurricane that tears things to pieces and covers the lake with wreckage. These storms occur very sel dom. Usually in the summer season the lake is really an ideal spot. The people who live on the shores of the lake are of the Spanish race, good- natured and fond of their siesta. In the winter they live indoors, seldom budging out unless it be to buy tobacco or food. While the towns are lively enough in summer they are almost deserted when the snow begins to fly. The accompanying picture and many of the impression$ herein mentioned are fur- nished by Mr. Bacigalupi of this City, who recently made a tour of Peru.