use, where he dwelt in comparative luxury and reigned
as their "King." When he died in 1853 he had seen the prosperity of
his colony reach its zenith. It remained small. Scarcely more than
three hundred members ever dwelt in the village which, in spite of its
profusion of vines and flowers, lacked the informal quaintness and
originality of Rapp's Economy. The Tuscarawas River furnished power
for their flour mill, whose products were widely sought. There was
also a woolen mill, a planing mill, a foundry, and a machine shop. The
beer made by the community was famous all the country round, and for a
time its pottery and tile works turned out interesting and quaint
products. But one by one these small industries succumbed to the
competition of the greater world. At last even an alien brew
supplanted the good local beer. When the railroad tapped the village,
and it was incorporated (1884) and assumed an official worldliness
with its mayor and councilmen, it lost its isolation, summer visitors
flocked in, and a "calaboose" was needed for the benefit of the
sojourners!

The third generation was now grown. A number of dissatisfied members
had left. Many of the children never joined the society but found work
elsewhere. A great deal of the work had to be done by hired help.
Under the leadership of the younger element it was decided in 1898 to
abandon communism. Appraisers and surveyors were set to work to parcel
out the property. Each of the 136 members received a cash dividend, a
home in the village, and a plot of land. The average value of each
share, which was in the neighborhood of $1500, was not a large return
for three generations of communistic experimentation. But these had
been, after all, years of moderate competence and quiet contentment,
and if they took their toll in the coin of hope, as their song set
forth, then these simple Wuerttembergers were fully paid.

The Inspirationists were a sect that made many converts in Germany,
Holland, and Switzerland in the eighteenth century. They believed in
direct revelations from God through chosen "instruments." In 1817, a
new leader appeared among them in the person of Christian Metz, a man
of great personal charm, worldly shrewdness, and spiritual fervor.
Allied with him was Barbara Heynemann, a simple maid without
education, who learned to read the Scriptures after she was
twenty-three years of age. Endowed with the peculiar gift of
"translation," she was cherished by the