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near to the right bank of the Ohio, through a wonderfully lovely 
landscape. The valley strongly reminds one of the Maas Valley 
between Namur and Liittich; it is beautifully cultivated; the 
farms lie close together; the green hills, and groups of sugar 
maples and acacias have a most beautiful appearance. The latter 
were beginning to blossom, and filled the air with perfume.* 
In the Ohio we saw Neville’s island, which is about seven miles 
long and one broad, and is well cultivated. Over two little creeks 
we passed upon well kept, roofed bridges, and reached Economy 
at two, P. M. This place lies on a bluff fifty feet above the 
low water mark of the Ohio. Behind the village are some hills 
containing springs, whence the water is conveyed in pipes to 
Economy. 
In approaching Economy we passed two burning brick-kilns; 
then we came to a newly-built house, at which stood three men 
with horns, who began to blow on our arrival. At the inn, a 
fine large frame house, we were received by Mr. Rapp, the 
principal, at the head of the community. He is a gray-headed, 
and venerable old man ; most of the members emigrated twenty- 
one years ago from Wurtemberg, along with him. After our first 
greeting, we were conducted into a simple but tastefully arranged 
apartment. We conversed together for a time, and then all set 
down to dinner. The table was furnished with German dishes, 
over which reigned a jocund heartiness. 
Having been prejudiced against Mr. Rapp and his society, by 
what I had read, and more recently heard at New Harmony, I 
was much rejoiced at having visited this place, to be better in¬ 
formed by personal observation. Never have I witnessed a more 
truly patriarchal constitution than here, and men’s actions speak 
best for their regulations, and for the concord prevailing among 
them. 
The elder Rapp is a large man of seventy years old, whose 
powers age seems not to have diminished ; his hair is gray, but 
his blue eyes overshadowed by strong brows, are full of life and 
fire; his voice is strong, and his enunciation full, and he knows 
how to give a peculiar effect to his words by appropriate gesticu¬ 
lation. He speaks a Swabian dialect, intermixed with a little 
English, to which the ear of a German in the United States must 
become accustomed; generally, what he says is clearly and 
plainly delivered. 
Rapp’s system is nearly the same as Owen’s. Community of 
goods, and all members of the society to work together for the 
* In the year 1826, 1 enjoyed three springs; the first about the end of February 
at New Orleans, the second at New Harmony and Louisville, and the third in 
the state of Ohio, and west Pennsylvania. 
