TUNKERS. The TUNKERS are fo called in derifion, from the word TUNKEN, to put a morfel in fauce. The English word that conveys the proper meaning of Tunkers is Sops or Dippers. They have been alfo called Tumblers, from the manner in which they perform baptifm, which is by putting the perfon, while kneeling, head firft under water, fo as to refemble the motion of the body in the action of tumbling. The Germans found the letters and b like d and p; hence the words Tunkers and Tumblers, have been corruptly written Dunkers and Dumplers. The first appearing of these people in America was in the year 1719, when about twenty families landed in Philadelphia, and difperfed themfelves in various parts of Pennfylvania. They are what are called General Baptifts, and hold the doctrine of general redemption and general falvation. They use great plainnefs of dress and language, and will neither fear nor fight, nor go to law, nor take intereft for the money they lend. They commonly wear their beards-keep the firft day Sabbath, except one congregation-have the Lord's Supper with its ancient attendants of Love-feafts, with washing of feet, kifs of charity, and right hand of fellowship. They anoint the fick with oil for their recovery, and ufe the trine immerfion, with laying on of hands and prayer, even while the perfon baptifed is in the water. Their church government and difcipline are for the moft part fimilar with those of the English Baptifts, except that every brother is allowed to fpeak in the congregation; and their beft fpeaker is ufually ordained to be their minifter. They have deacons, deaconeffes, from among their ancient widows, and exhorters, who are all licensed to use their gifts ftatedly. On the whole, notwithstanding their peculiarities, they appear to be, HUMBLE, WELL-MEANING CHRISTIANS, and have acquired the cha racter of the harmless * Tunkers. Their principal fettlement is at Ephrata, fometimes called Tunkers Town, in Lancaster county, fixty miles weftward of Philadelphia. It confifts of about forty buildings, of which three are places of worfhip: one is called Sharon, and adjoins the fifter's apartment as a chapel ; another, belonging to the brother's apartment, is called Bethany. To these the brethren and fifters refort, feparately to worship morning and evening, and fometimes in the night. The third is a common church, called Zion, where all in the fettlement meet once a week for public wor◄ It would be exceedingly happy for mankind, if this epithet could be bestowed on the profeffed followers of every other religious perfuafion." Vol. I, 3 D fhip fhip. The brethren have adopted the White Frier's dress, with fome alterations; the fifters that of the nuns; and many of both like them have taken the vow of celibacy. All, however, do not keep the vow. When they marry, they leave their cells and go among the married people. They fubfift by cultivating their lands, by attending a printing office, a grift mill, a paper mill, an oil mill, &c. and the fifters by fpinning, weaving, fewing, &c. They at firft flept on board couches, but now on beds, and have otherwife abated much of their former feve rity. This congregation keep the seventh day Sabbath. Their finging is charming, owing to the pleafantnefs of their voices, the variety of parts, and the devout manner of performance. Befides this congregation at Ephrata, there were, in 1770, fourteen others in various other parts of Pennsylvania, and fome in Maryland. The whole, exclufive of thofe in Maryland, amounted to upwards of two thousand souls. MENNONISTS. The MENNONISTS derive their name from Menno Simon, a native of Witmars in Germany, a man of learning, born in the year 1505, in the time of the reformation by Luther and Calvin. He was a famous Roman Catholic preacher, till about the year 1531, when he became a Baptift. Some of his followers came into Pennsylvania from New York and fettled at German-town, as early as 1692. This is at present their principal congregation, and the mother of the reft. Their whole number, in 1770, in Pennsylvania, was upwards of four thoufand, divided into thirteen churches, and forty-two congregations, under the care of fifteen ordained minifters, and fifty-three licenfed preachers. The Mennonifts do not, like the Tunkers, hold the doctrine of gene◄ ral falvation; yet like them, they will neither fwear nor fight, nor bear any civil office, nor go to law, nor take intereft for the money they lend; many, however, break this last rule. Some of them wear their beards; wash each others feet, &c. and all use plainness of speech and dress. Some have been expelled their fociety for wearing buckles in their fhoes, and having pocket-holes in their coats. Their church government is democratical. They call themselves the HARMLESS CHRISTIANS, REVENGELESS CHRISTIANS, and WEAPONLESS CHRISTIANS. They are Baptifts rather in name than in fact; for they do not use immersion. Their common mode of baptifm is this; the person to be baptised kneels; the minifter holds his hands over him, into which the deacon pours water, which runs through upon the head of the perfon kneeling. After this, follows impofition of hands and prayer. UNIVERSALISTS. The denomination ftiled UNIVERSALISTS, though their schemes are very various, may properly enough be divided into two claffes, viz. Those who embrace the fcheme of Dr. Chauncey, exhibited in his book entitled "The Salvation of all Men;" and the difciples of Mr. Winchester and Mr. John Murray. A judicious fummary of Dr. Chauncey's fentiments, has been given in H. Adams's View of Religions, as follows: "That the fcheme of revelation has the happiness of all mankind lying at bottom, as its great and ultimate end; that it gradually tends to this end; and will not fail of its accomplishment, when fully completed. Some, in confequence of its operation, as conducted by the Son of God, will be difpofed and enabled, in this present state, to make fuch improvements in virtue, the only rational preparative for happiness, as that they fhall enter upon the enjoyment of it in the next state. Others who have proved incurable under the means which have been used with them in this state, instead of being happy in the next, will be awfully miferable; not to continue fo finally, but that they may be convinced of their folly, and recovered to a virtuous frame of mind; and this will be the effect of the future torments upon many; the confequence whereof will be their falvation, they being thus fitted for it. And there may be yet other states, before the scheme of God may be perfected, and mankind univerfally cured of their moral diforders, and in this way qualified for, and finally instated in, eternal happinefs. But however many ftates fome of the individuals of the human species may pass through, and of however long continuance they may be, the whole is intended to fubferve the grand defign of universal happiness, and will finally terminate in it; infomuch, that the Son of God and Saviour of men will not deliver up his truft into the hands of his Father, who committed it to him, till he has difcharged his obligations in virtue of it; having finally fixed all men in heaven, when God will be All in All." The number of this denomination is not known. The open advocates of this scheme are few; though the number is larger who embrace the doctrine of the falvation of all men, upon principles fomewhat fimilar, but variously differing from thofe on which the above-mentioned fcheme is grounded, Article Univerfalifts, where the reader may find also a fummary of the arguments for and against his scheme, The latter clafs of Univerfalifts have a new fcheme, differing effen tially from that of the former, which they reject as inconfiftent and abfurd: and they cannot conceive how they who embrace it, can, "with any degree of propriety; be called UNIVERSALISTS, on Apoftolic principles, as it does not appear that they have any idea of being faved by, or in the Lord, with an everlasting, or with any falvation.”—Hence they call them" PHARISAICAL UNIVERSALISTS, who are willing to juftify themselves,*. It is difficult to fay what is the present scheme of the denomination of which we are now fpeaking; for they differ not only from all other Univerfalifts, and from each other, but even from themselves at different periods. The reader, however, may form an idea of fome of their tenets from what follows, collected from the letter referred to in the note. This letter, written by a man of firft rate talents, and the head of the denomination, and profeffing to rectify mistakes respecting doc trines propagated under the Chriftian name—to give the character of a CONSISTENT UNIVERSALIST-and to acquaint the world with their REAL fentiments, we have reafon to conclude, gives as true an account of their fcheme as can be obtained From this letter it appears, that they believe "that Religion of fome fort or other, is a public benefit;" and that every perfon is at liberty, and is bound to fupport what he conceives to be the true Religion-That public worship on every first day of the week, is an incumbent duty on all real lovers of divine truth-that prayer, as it indicates trust in, and dependence on God, is part of his worship-They believe that the Deceiver, who beguiled Eve, and not our first parents themselves, did the deed which brought rain and death on all the human race-That there are two claffes of fallen finners-the ANGELS who kept not their first eftate, and the HUMAN NATURE, deceived by the former, and apparently defroyed confequent thereon;—that a juft God, in the law given by Mofes, has denounced death and the curfe on every one who continueth not in all things, written in the book of the law to do them - but that the fame God was manifefted in the flesh as the head of every man, mede under the law, to redeem them that are under the law, being made a curfe for them— that he tafted death for every man, being a Saviour, not of a few only, but of all men--and that the declaration of this is the Gofpel.-They believe that when God denounces on the human race, woes, wrath, tribulation, death, damnation, &c. in the Scriptures, he fpeaks in his legiflative capacity, as the juft God who will by no means clear the guilty-that *Mr. Murray's "Letter to a Friend," page 40, 41. printed in Boston, 1791. when when he fpeaks of mercy, grace, peace, of life as the gift of God, and falvation in whole or in part, he speaks in the character of the just God and Saviour, that the former is the language of the law; the latter is the language of the Gospel. They believe that the Prince of Peace came to fave the human nature from the power and dominion of the Devil, and his works-that he came to destroy the latter, that he might fave the former-That "Sin is the work of the Devil-that he is the Worker and Doer of whatever gives offence"-That Jefus, as the Saviour of the world, shall separate from his kingdom, both the evil Worker and his evil works; the evil Worker, in the character of goats-the evil works in the character of tares. They fuppofe that what is wicked in mankind, is reprefented by the evil feed fown by the evil One in human nature, and that "when the Sower of the evil feed, and all the evil feed fown, fhall be feparated from the feed which God fowed, then the feed which is properly God's feed, will be like him who fowed it, pure and holy." They confider all ordinances as merely fhadows; yet they celebrate the Lord's Supper, by eating and drinking wine-and fome of them suppose that every time they eat bread and drink wine, they comply with our Lord's injunction, "Do this in remembrance of me."-Various other opinions prevail among them refpecting this ordinance, and that of baptifm. They admit of but one baptifm, the baptizer Jefus Chrift; the elements made ufe of, the Holy Ghoft and fire"-yet they are willing, in order to avoid contention, "to become all things to all men," and to baptize INFANTS BY SPRINKLING, OF ADULTS BY IMMERSION or to omit thefe figns altogether, according as the opinions of parents may vary upon this subject-Some think it proper to dedicate their children to the Lord, by putting them into the arms of the minister, to be by him prefented to Chrift, to be baptized with his baptifm, in the name of the Trinity, the minifter at the fame time to blefs them in the words in which God commanded Aaron and his fons to blefs the children of Ifrael- "The Lord bless thee, &c." It appears in fhort, that their notions refpecting thefe ordinances are various, and with many vague, and unfettled. They believe in a judgment past and a judgment to come-that the past judgment is either that in which the world was judged in the second Adam, according to the word of the Saviour, "Now is the judgment of this world—now is the Prince of this world caft out and judgment executed on them and on the whole human nature, according to the righte ous judgment of God-or that which every man is to exercife upon himself |