Obedience to superiors is an important part of the life of the order.
Living as they do in large families compactly stowed, they have become
very careful against fires, and "a real Shaker always, when he has gone
out of a room, returns and takes a look around to see that all is
right."
The floor of the assembly room was astonishingly bright and clean, so
that I imagined it had been recently laid. It had, in fact, been used
twenty-nine years; and in that time had been but twice scrubbed with
water. But it was swept and polished daily; and the brethren wear to the
meetings shoes made particularly for those occasions, which are without
nails or pegs in the soles, and of soft leather. They have invented many
such tricks of housekeeping, and I could see that they acted just as a
parcel of old bachelors and old maids would, any where else, in these
particulars--setting much store by personal comfort, neatness, and
order; and no doubt thinking much of such minor morals. For instance, on
the opposite page is a copy of verses which I found in the visitors'
room in one of the Shaker families--a silent but sufficient hint to the
careless and wasteful.
Like the old monasteries, they are the prey of beggars, who always
receive a dole of food, and often money enough to pay for a night's
lodging in the neighboring village; for they do not like to take in
strangers.
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