“Harmony, fifty-four miles below Vincennes, and something more than a hundred, by water, above the mouth of the Wabash, is the seat of justice for the county of Posey. It is situate on the east bank of the river, sixteen miles from the nearest point of the Ohio, on a wide, rich, and heavily-timbered plateau, or second bottom. It is high, healthy, has a fertile soil, and is in the vicinity of small and rich prairies, and is, on the whole, a pleasant and well-chosen position. It was first settled, in 1814, by a religious sect of Germans,” who resigned it to “the leader of a new sect,” who “came upon them. This was no other than Robert Owen of New Lanark, in Scotland, a professed philosopher of a new school, who advocated new principles, and took new views of society. He calls his views upon this subject ‘the Social System.’ He was opulent, and disposed to make a grand experiment of his principles on the prairies of the Wabash. He purchased the lands and the village of Mr. Rapp,” the head and leader of the Germans, in whose name all the lands and possessions were held, “at an expense, it is said, of 190,000 dollars. In a short time, there were admitted to the new establishment from 700 to 800 persons. They danced all together one night in every week, and had a concert of music on another. The sabbath was occupied in the delivery and hearing of lectures. Two of Mr. Owen’s sons, from Scotland, and Mr. M‘Clure, joined him. The society at New Harmony, as the place was called, excited a great deal of interest and remark in every part of the United States. Great numbers of distinguished men, in all the walks of life, wrote to the society, making inquiries respecting its prospects and rules, and expressing a desire, at some future time, to join it. Mr. Owen’s experiment at New Harmony lasted little more than a year, during which he made a voyage to Europe. The 4th of July, 1826, he promulgated his famous declaration of ‘mental independence.’ The society had begun to moulder before this time. He has left New Harmony, and the ‘Social System’ seems to be abandoned.”