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enclosures within the place itself, he would take away, and only 
allow the public highways leading through the settlement to be 
enclosed. The whole should bear a resemblance to a park, in 
which the separate houses should be scattered about. 
In the first place, Mr. Owen carried me to the quondam church 
of Rapp’s society; a simple wooden building, with a steeple of 
the same materials, provided with a clock. This church w T as at 
present appropriated to joiner’s and shoemaker’s shops, in which 
the boys are instructed in these mechanic arts. 
Behind the church stands a large brick edifice, built in the 
form of a cross, and furnished with a species of cupola, the pur¬ 
pose of which is unknown. Rapp, they say, had dreamed three 
times that this building should be erected, and therefore he had 
it done $ but it is thought, and I believe correctly, that he only 
did this to keep his society in constant employment, so that they 
could have no leisure to reflect Upon their situation, and depend¬ 
ence upon him. His power over them actually extended so far, 
that to prevent his society from too great an increase, he forbid 
the husbands from associating with their wives. I also heard here 
a report which I had already been apprised of in Germany, that 
he had himself castrated a son who had transgressed this law, 
for the sake of example, and that the son had died under the 
operation. Over one of the entrances of this problematical edi¬ 
fice, stands the date of the year 1822, hewed in stone; under it 
is a gilt rose, and under this is placed the inscription Micah 4. 
v. 8. The interior of the house forms a large hall, in form of a 
cross, the ceiling is supported by wooden pillars. Mr. Owen 
has devoted the hall to the purposes of dancing, music, and 
meetings for philosophical discussions. He told me that he in¬ 
tended to have the ends of the cross, both of the grand saloon 
as well as those of the hall under the roof, divided off by parti¬ 
tions, so as to use them for school-rooms, for a library, for a ca¬ 
binet of natural history, of physical objects, &c. 
Mr. Owen then conducted me to Rapp’s former dwelling, a 
large, well-built brick house, with two lightning rods. The man 
of God, it appeared, took especial good care of himself; his house 
was by far the best in the place, surrounded by a garden, with a 
flight of stone steps, and the only one furnished with lightning 
rods. Mr. Owen, on the contrary, contented himself with a small 
apartment in the same tavern where I lodged. At present, the 
offices, and the residence of Mr. McClure, the associate of Mr. 
Owen, are in Rapp’s house.* 
Mr. M‘Clure is a man distinguished for learning, who has 
* [It is understood that Mr. M c Clure has long since given up all connexion 
with the New Harmony bubble.]—-T rans, 
