36i TRAVELS IN THE UNITED STATES : 
very thick wails, is erected. Houses like this; 
arc very common in America; they are called 
spring houses, and are built for the purpose of 
preserving meat, milk, butter, &c. during the 
heats of summer. This spring house in Beth¬ 
lehem is common to the whole town ; a shelf 
or board in it is allotted to each family, and 
though there is no watch placed over it, and 
the door be only secured by a latch, yet every 
person is certain of finding, when he comes 
/ 
for it, his plate of butter or bowl of milk, 
&c. exactly in the same state as when he put 
it in. 
The Moravians study to render their con¬ 
duct strictly conformable to the principles of 
the Christian religion; but very different no¬ 
tions, notwithstanding, are, and, no doubt, w ill 
be entertained respecting some of their tenets. 
Every unprejudiced person, however, that has 
visited their settlements must acknowledge, 
that their moral conduct is truly excellent, and 
is such as would, if generally adopted, make 
men happy in the extreme. They live toge¬ 
ther like members of one large family; the 
most perfect harmony subsists between them, 
and they seem to have but one wish at heart, 
the propagation of the go.spel, and the good of 
mankind. They are in general of a grave turn 
of mind; but nothing of that stiffness, or of 
that affected singularity, or pride, as I will call 
