THE object of this publication is to record the proceedings connected with the Establishment at Orbiston in Lanarkshire, and to advocate the cause of Divine Revelation, as distinguished from the testimony of the human imagination. Regarding the former- -the inquiries have become more numerous than I have found it convenient to answer; and feeling anxious to communicate whatever is known of the subject, it has appeared to me advisable to assume a public medium as the easiest and most effectual. Those who have engaged in this practical experiment are anxious that all their proceedings should be open to the public. Indeed, the prevailing propensity to misrepresent their actions and motives, renders this step, in some measure, necessary.

In advocating the cause of Divine Revelation, I stand in a private capacity, and as one of a few individuals whose sentiments are similar, and who intend to become tenants of the New Society. We have assumed the title of " Adherents to Divine Revelation;" but, in our estimation, the term can be, correctly, applied only to the facts and truths which the Great Governing Power of the Universe reveals to the senses and to the understanding, Our conviction of the correctness of this view has been confirmed by the perception, that nothing else has ever been called Divine Revelation; for the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are nothing but a history of facts which God revealed to the senses, and of truths which he revealed to the understanding. These facts and truths were the original Divine Revelation; and the written account, if correctly given, is the history of Divine Revelation. Our object is to show, not only that it is the interest of all human beings to become adherents to Divine Revelation, but also, that no one VOL. I.

PRICE 2d.

who has received the will to listen to the evidence which can be urged in favour of it, can possibly continue to be any thing else.

The following are the principles upon which the proprietors consider it necessary that the tenants should act :

1st, That the Establishment at Orbiston be conducted upon the principles of union and mutual co-operation, for the purpose of removing vice and poverty; that its arrangements exclude all force and violence, all division and opposition of interest; and that its members be respected in proportion as their efforts tend to promote the general welfare of the community.

2d, That the private rooms be let to individuals at a yearly rent, and that, if the demand for apartments shall exceed the accommodation, in no case shall more than one private apartment be let to one individual, and more than two individuals shall not have the use of one apartment,-children under three years of age, with their parents, excepted.

3d, That no cooking of provisions, or washing of clothes, or any mechanical operations, be carried on in the private apartments of the Establishment; and that no individual children be introduced to the public rooms of the Establishment which are intended for the use of the adults.

4th, That the principal public rooms in the Establishment be equally open to all who are cleanly in their person and dress, and equally shut against all who are offensively filthy or slovenly, in any respect, in their manners, person, or dress.

5th, That as the smoke of tobacco is exceedingly disagreeable to those who consider the use of it "a bad habit, and calsulated to injure the health and intellect

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of those who practise it," if possible, the feelings of such individuals shall not be hurt by the open or public indulgence of such habits.

6th, That all the individuals in the society who belong to or wish to join one trade or profession, will form a committee of management for conducting their own business, under a superintendent of their own appointment. They will have the advantages of the workshops, machinery, and utensils, and of the inclination on the part of the proprietors to assist them with capital. Each, from the first, will be entitled to the value of his own labour, and the profits will be divided either equally, or in proportion to the labour of each, as they themselves shall voluntarily determine. But, at the outset, each class will act entirely upon their own account, until experience shall show the propriety and safety of a more general union.

7th, That the children of all the Members of the Community shall be trained and educated together, upon a footing of equality, as the children of one family, upon the principles of undeviating kindness, without any artificial reward or punishment, and without any other distinction than that which unavoidably attends superior habits and attainments.

Sth, That all inclinations and habits which are at variance with justice, temperance, industry, and personal and domestic cleanliness, are opposed to the New Views, and not likely to find either encouragement or protection in the Orbiston Establishment.

9th, That the invariable characteristic of false principles, and bad practices, is "a rooted antipathy to defend them before those who think and act more rationally;" and that no individual can be a suitable Member of this Community who is inclined to adopt any notions, or to practise any habits, which he is not inclined to persevere in defending before the world.

10th, That those who adhere to Divine Revelation in the New Community have a just title, and full liberty, to state, and to teach to their own children, the facts and truths which God reveals to the senses and to the understanding-though it is probable that those whose faith has been founded on mere human testimony will feel unable to act towards them according to the principles of genuine charity.

11th, That the formation of the judg ment and inclinations of individuals is not in any way under their own control, and that from these alone do the voluntary actions of every human being proceed; and that the origin of uncharitableness, and almost all violence, may be justly ascribed to the prevalence of notions which are opposed to these truths.

12th. That at the expiration of every year as the individual Members acquire more experience in the practical measures of a Community, the Rules and Regulations shall undergo such revision as the majority of Members may decide upon.

13th, That the Community, acting upon the principle of utility (or that which tends most to promote the happiness of the greatest number), has the sole management of its own affairs, and has equal and complete control over all its individual Members, and that all ignorantly selfish attempts to promote our own interest, at the expense of others, must tend to our own material injury.

14th, That the Community claims the privilege of publishing to the world the particulars of all the actions which the individual members may persevere in practising openly before the Community, and that they consider this circumstance as the most effectual restraint upon vice, and a great incentive to virtue.

15th, That the suitableness of the members in the New Society will depend upon the consistency which their conduct shall manifest with their principles.

POPULATION AT ORBISTON. prevailed upon 66 an Adherent," (an individual who had just arrived to prepare the food for the workmen engaged at the building), to pick, or break open, the lock of the store where the spirits were deposited, and to furnish them with whisky, of which they all drank to excess, and spent the day, (which they all had been trained to hold sacred), in revelry and wantonness. To so great excess were their riotous proceedings carried, that the good people in the neighbourhood-who belonged to the same Communion, were shocked even to think of it. Those who held the same

principles, and occasionally followed the same practices, declared them to be so bad, that they could not rehearse them.

I mention these circumstances, that those who take an interest in our proceedings, be aware of the present character of a portion of our fellow-parishioners. For further evidence, I refer them to James Hamilton, tenant in the farm at Orbiston, who has stated, that with his own ears he heard oaths at a distance, and that others told him of scenes of lewdness too gross to be repeated, and that he was much shocked with their proceedings. The clergyman of the parish also confirmed the statement regarding the scenes of dissipation and lewdness, "too gross to be mentioned," which he was told had taken place on the said Sunday. If these reports are true, they afford suflicient evidence, that depravity now exists in the parish to a considerable extent. To have six days out of seven, in which drunkenness and lewdness may be indulged in with less guilt than on the seventh, and to choose the seventh day for such revelries, betokens a deficiency of moral feeling which is truly deplorable. Nor could the mind be much relieved by the knowledge, that these reports were not true; because this would inevitably lead to the conclusion, that slander or falsehood was prevalent in the parish-nay, that individuals were found to tell lies to their Spiritual Pastor; to deceive him, whose duty it is to teach them to speak the truth. Such an idea would give no relief; it is even worse than the other.

Some people have imagined, that the object of these reports, is to throw discredit on the New System-but this notion cannot be entertained, without leading us to believe, that the intellects of Old Society are in a worse condition than we had supposed. To exhibit their own iniquities as proof of the imperfection of the New System, appears to correspond so ill with our notions of common sense, that for the credit of the Old System, we would willingly think otherwise.

The experiment at Orbiston cannot even be said to be begun, until the arrangements be complete, and even then, no rational

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person can expect that the changes are to be like magic. All the vices and immoralities that are conspicuous now, and that may appear during the infancy of the experiment, are the fruits of the Old System under which the individuals were educat ed. If the New System should tend to diminish the practice of any existing virtue, or to augment that of any existing vice, those who now support it will be the first to desert it. But it is certainly exceedingly irrational to exhibit corrupt fruit as the produce of a tree that has not yet been planted.

I wish to record the evidence of the tenant at Orbiston, and of the minister of the parish, because I trust, if uncontradicted, it will be considered sufficient proof of the existence, to a considerable extent, of drunkenness and disorder in the parish, under the existing System. When Mr Owen referred to the sober and orderly conduct of the whole population of New Lanark, as proof of the effects of favour able circumstances upon the human character, an attempt was made to nullify the statement by the assertion, that the said population were equally sober and orderly before these circumstances were introduced. The voice of calumny could not deny the latter circumstance, but the time for proving the former had gone by. In the present case, however, we have been more fortunate. The witnesses above referred to are alive to prove all they have said, and I shall faithfully record the report of whatever enormities may come to my ears. If they remain uncontradicted, they will furnish, in our case, the evidence which, in the case at New Lanark, is now awanting.

Justice, however, compels me to state, that I have seen nothing which could have led me to believe, that the character of the population is so bad as the testimony of these respectable individuals would lead us to believe; on the contrary, I have met with nothing but civility from the whole of them; and, except an unfortunate propensity for drams and tobacco, (which some of them have acquired, for want of proper instruction,) I have seen nothing but what is respectable in any of them.

I HAVE been requested to furnish you with some particulars regarding our proceedings at Orbiston, and I have much pleasure in complying with the request. You are already aware that the building was begun on the 18th March last. Since that time the number of workmen employed have averaged, at least, 100 individuals. The plan of the building, and the mode of rais

ing the funds, are referred to in "The Sphere for Joint Stock Companies," and to these we have not yet been able to perceive any material improvement. By the sketch of the plan which is published in the report, you will have observed that the building may be described as possessing a centre

left centre and left wing-right centre and right wing. The left wing was first

begun, and has been some months covered in. The sunk floor contains two stores, or sale-shops, in the south end;a bakehouse and kitchen, intended for preparing the children's food, in the other. One of these stores is now finished-furnished, and in use. The other is finished except the floor, which will be laid in a few days. The bakehouse is finished; it has a common oven, in which meat is baked. The kitchen is not yet floored; but boilers have been put up, which are daily used. The store has been let till May, and is already full of business. When the other store is finished it is intended to be used as an eating-room for the workmen. The cooks are already in active operation, and the room is crowded with customers. The workmen find this arrangement beneficial, as many of them live at a great distance from the building. These arrangements, though in the rudest form, appear to give satisfaction; they admit of the most essential improvements, which will speedily be made, to give comfort to the inhabitants. The ground at the south end of the left wing had a natural fall, upon account of which we were induced to make the sunk floor. A stair leads from the kitchen to a passage above. The large room at the north end of this wing stands 8 feet higher than the level of the store and kitchen, and is on a level with the left centre. It is nearly 36 feet square-it is intended as a day-room for the children. Nothing in the way of finishing has yet been done to it. It is now occupied by the carpenters as a workshop. The other rooms on the floor, in this wing. have had nothing done in the way of finishing, these also being occupied by the carpenters in the same way. All of them are intended as day rooms for the

children.

The lobby and staircase adjoining the left wing are not yet lined or plastered. The stair has been laid to the fourth story. It is of stone, and made in the most substantial manner, and of easy access. The centre passage, of 225 feet in length, with the private rooms on each side, commences at this lobby. The brick partition of the private rooms, in the east end of this centre, are built. The stone gables, 2 feet thick, at one end of each of these rooms, were built with the outside work. In these gables the fire-places are built. The outside walls of the left centre, to the above extent, are finished, except three of the chimney-tops, which still require a few days' work. In the middle of the left centre, is another staircase and lobby; and at the west end is a third, The public room, on the left of the centre building, is not yet begun. The ground upon which the centre building stands, has been

excavated for the sunk floor. The walls of this building are about 4 feet above the foundation; they have been in this state for some weeks. It was thought advisable to have the other parts covered in before the wet season came on, and all hands consequently have been employed at the left centre. Several of the rooms at the east end of the left centre will be finished and habitable before the 1st of January. Many of them are already bespoke. At the south end of the left wing, on the 2d floor, (which is intended as sleeping apartments for the children,) the deafening is laid, and the roof lathed, but the floors are not yet laid, neither are the walls plastered. At the north end of this wing, on the second floor, is the room in which the first general meeting of the proprietors was held, on 17th October last; it is about 36 feet by 18-well lighted, and extremely cheerful. It is intended ultimately as a sleeping-room for the children. At present it is used for many purposes; it being farther advanced than any other. It has only got one coat of plaster, and though ready, long ago, to be finished, it has not been interfered with, upon account of its inmates. Adjoining, is another very cheerful room, about half the size, which will soon be finished. The other half of this side is destined for a lumber-room, for holding bedding, cloth, &c.-being without any other than a borrowed light. The third floor of the north end of the left wing is laid. It is in one room, about 36 feet square, and has not been divided-from the consideration that it may be useful as a public room for the society, until the centre building be finished. The floors of the south end of this wing are not yet laid, but the walls and roof have got the first coat of plaster. The third floor of this wing is in a similar state. It is mostly deafened and plastered with one coat, but the floors are not laid. The garrets above the south end of the left wing are finished. They are divided into 12 small sleeping-apartments, with a window in the roof, which may be opened at pleasure. The carpenters are now busy with the roof of the west end of the left centre. It is expected, that this part will be slated before January next. It contains about 120 private rooms, all of which are expected to be habitable before May next. The building is all of hewn stone, and, though plain, has rather a magnificent appearance. The situation is generally admired. The ground around the building has been marked off. Two flower borders, with a broad gravel walk between them, will encircle the building, and the gardens, sheltered by a belt of planting, are beyond this. The workmen are now busy preparing the garden ground, and in out