Dunkards, or Dumberys, a religious sect in Pennsylvania, in America. A German hermit, who settled on the spot where Ephrata is now built, was the founder of this extraordinary sect. The fame of his solitude inspired some of his countrymen with curiosity; and the simplicity of his life, with the piety of his conversation, induced them to join, and imitate him. A people who leave their native country to enjoy liberty of conscience, can bear all subsequent mortifications. The Germans of both sexes, who joined the hermit, soon accustomed themselves to his way of thinking, and consequently to his manner of living; industry became part of their duty, and divided their time with devotion. Their gains are thrown into one common stock, which supplies all their exigencies, private as well as public: their females are cloistered up by themselves in a separate part of the town, the situation of which is delightful, and screens them from the north wind. It is triangular, and fenced round with thick rows of apple, beech, and cherry trees, besides having an orchard in the middle. The houses, which are of wood, are mostly three stories high; and every person has a separate apartment, that he may not be disturbed in his devotions. The women never see the men but at public worship, or when it is necessary to consult upon matters of public economy; and the number of both may be about 300. Their garb is the most simple that can be well imagined, being a long white woollen gown in winter, and linen in the summer, with a cap, which serves them for a hat, like that of a cappuchin behind, and fastened round the waist with a belt. Under the gown, they wear a waistcoat of the same The dress of the women is the same: only, instead of trowsers, they wear petticoats; and when they leave their nunnery (for such it is), they muffle up their faces in their capuchins. The diet of the Dunkards consists of vegetables; but it is no principle with them to abstain from animal-food, only they think that such abstinence is most agreeable to a Christian life. This temperance emaciates their bodies, and, as the men indulge their beards to grow to their full length, gives them a hollow, ghastly appearance. Their beds are no better than benches; a little wooden block serves them for a pillow; and they celebrate public worship twice every day, and as often every night. But though such modes of life appear absurd and impracticable, the Dunkards are far from being extravagant. Their chapel is very decent; and they have, upon a fine stream, a gristmill, a paper-mill, an oil-mill, and a mill for pearl-barley, all of them most ingeniously constructed by themselves: they have even a printing-press; and they are, especially the nuns, extremely ingenious in working, and in embellishments; which they perform with a variety of beautiful colours, with gilding, in imitation of the initials in ancient manuscripts; and they stick them up, by way of ornament, in their churches and cells. By these different manufactures, the public stock of this affective people is well supplied, as no denomination of Christians can be their enemies, their religious tenets being mingled with the absurdities of all.

Notwithstanding the two sexes live separate from one another in their town, yet the Dunkards are far from being adverse to matrimony. In that case, the parties must indeed leave the town; but they are supplied out of the public fund with whatever is necessary for their settling elsewhere. This they generally do as near as they can to Ephrata, to which they send their children for education. The Dunkards administer baptism by dipping or plunging, but to adult persons only: they hold free-will; and think that the doctrine of original sin, as to its effect upon Adam's posterity, is absurd and impious: they disclaim violence, even in cases of self-defence; and suffer themselves to be defrauded or wronged, rather than go to law: they are superstitious to the last degree in observing their sabbath; and all their prayers and preachings, during their worship, are extempore: humility, chastity, temperance, and other Christian virtues, are commonly the subjects of their discourses; and they imagine, that the souls of dead Christians are employed in converting those of the dead who had no opportunity of knowing the gospel: they deny the eternity of hell-torments; but believe in certain temporary ones, that will be inflicted on infidels and obstinate persons who deny Christ to be their only Saviour; but they think, that at a certain period all will be admitted to the endless fruition of the Deity.