{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_36009/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_36009","id":"gutenberg_36009","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36009","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Spiritualism"],"text":"\n\n\n\nProduced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: C. G. Helleberg]\n\n\n\n\n A BOOK\n WRITTEN BY THE\n SPIRITS OF THE SO-CALLED DEAD,\n\n WITH THEIR OWN MATERIALIZED HANDS, BY THE\n PROCESS OF INDEPENDENT SLATE-WRITING,\n\n THROUGH\n MRS. LIZZIE S. GREEN AND OTHERS,\n AS MEDIUMS.\n\n\n COMPILED AND ARRANGED BY\n C. G. HELLEBERG,\n OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.\n\n\n Life is real! life is earnest!\n And the grave is not its goal.\n Dust thou art, to dust returnest,\n Was not written of the soul.\n --LONGFELLOW.\n\n\n CINCINNATI:\n 1883.\n\n\n\n\n COPYRIGHTED, 1882,\n BY C. G. HELLEBERG.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n PAGE\n CHAPTER I.\n\n Introduction and Biographical Sketches of C. G. Helleberg,\n Madam Fredrika Ehrenborg, and Mrs. Lizzie T. Green 1\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n First Investigations with Mrs. Laura Mosser and Mrs. Cooper 6\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n Remarkable Materialization Seance--Letters from Mrs. Ehrenborg\n describing Inhabitants of other Planets 14\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n Madam Ehrenborg and others Materialize 23\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n Investigations by Mrs. Jennie McKee--First Letter from Emanuel\n Swedenborg and Communications from Polheim and others--Received\n five beautiful Flowers from Madam Ehrenborg 26\n\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n\n Mrs. McKee passes away and her Spirit arranges her own Funeral 33\n\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n\n Investigations with Mrs. Green--Remarkable dark Trumpet Seance,\n at which I received a most beautiful Flower from my Son Emil\n and Miss Mary Muth 36\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n\n Sure Identity of my Father-in-Law--Madam Ehrenborg writes to me\n in Swedish 40\n\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n\n Information of a Spiritual Marriage--The Wedding and the Wedding\n Tour to the Planet Mars 45\n\n\n CHAPTER X.\n\n Description of the Journey to Mars, and wonderful Information\n furnished by Madam Ehrenborg 54\n\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n\n Communications from Emanuel Swedenborg 108\n\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n\n Communications from George Washington 141\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n\n Communications from my Son Emil about Ex-President Garfield--\n Greetings from Madam Ehrenborg--Letter from Rev. Goddard and\n Swedenborg's Answer 157\n\n\n CHAPTER XIV.\n\n Communications from President Garfield, Madam Ehrenborg,\n Governor J. D. Williams, President Abraham Lincoln, Judge\n Edmonds 163\n\n\n CHAPTER XV.\n\n New Years' Greetings from many of my dear Spirit Friends and\n near Relations 170\n\n\n CHAPTER XVI.\n\n A Prayer from Madam Ehrenborg 173\n\n\n CHAPTER XVII.\n\n Greeting from Horace Greeley, J. G. Bennett, and Henry J.\n Raymond to F. B. Plimpton, Associate Editor of the Cincinnati\n Daily Commercial 176\n\n\n CHAPTER XVIII.\n\n Communications from Horace Greeley, Governor O. P. Morton,\n A. P. Willard 180\n\n\n CHAPTER XIX.\n\n Communications from the Drunkard, a Miser, William Gailard,\n William Lloyd Garrison, Wilberforce, Tecumseh, a Suicide 187\n\n\n CHAPTER XX.\n\n Communications from Thomas Paine, Margaret Fuller, and Thanks\n of Spirits 199\n\n\n CHAPTER XXI--APPENDIX.\n\n Mrs. Green's Medial History 204\n\n\n CHAPTER XXII.\n\n A Visit to Split Rock, Kentucky--Christmas Greetings from\n Ida to her Parents--Annie Winterburn to her Brother, John\n Winterburn, and his Testimony, and her Farewell to the Medium,\n Mrs. Green 222\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIII.\n\n A Spirit peels a Banana, eats some of it, and divides the rest\n in four equal parts--Reports of Cincinnati Enquirer about\n Spirit Seances at Mrs. Green's 231\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIV.\n\n Extracts from each of two Funeral Discourses by Bishop Simpson\n and Rev. W. H. Thomas, D. D., with Conclusions of C. G.\n Helleberg 239\n\n\n\n\nERRATA.\n\n\n Page 3, line 26, for most communications, read most of the\n communications.\n \" 24, line 7, for Mrs. Stebbins, read Mr. Stebbins.\n \" 29, line 18, for are, read is.\n \" 30, line 27, for their, read his.\n \" 30, line 28, for them, read him.\n \" 34, line 8, for was, read were.\n \" 35, line 1, for this is, read these are.\n \" 46, line 2, for me and my wife, read my wife and I.\n \" 49, line 7, for Edward, read Edwin.\n \" 50, line 15, for Guthof, read Gustaf.\n \" 51, line 26, for thy, read the.\n \" 57, line 16, for were, read was.\n \" 60, line 6, for me, read us.\n \" 60, line 26, for a, read the.\n \" 63, line 21, for our, read the.\n \" 68, line 8, for miscreants, read misdeeds.\n \" 69, line 4, for Daniel, read David.\n \" 69, line 31, for laws, read love.\n \" 71, line 24, for nearly, read nearly a third.\n \" 76, line 30, for ever, read ever surging.\n \" 77, line 9, for of more, read of the more.\n \" 77, line 30, for rivulet, read violent.\n \" 80, line 27, for of, read and.\n \" 82, line 13, for formed, read former.\n \" 83, last line read, and out of the ambient.\n \" 84, line 17, for then, read there.\n \" 86, line 1, for mighty, read weighty.\n \" 88, line 20, omit again regained, and read required.\n \" 90, line 14, for glory, read misery.\n \" 91, next to last line for when, read where.\n \" 94, line 16, for constitutional, read constituent.\n \" 100, line 26, for beautiful, read beautifully.\n \" 101, line 5, for originated, read originating.\n \" 107, line 18, for you, read your.\n \" 109, last line, for question, read questioned.\n \" 111, line 18, for figures, read pigmies.\n \" 115, line 10, for needs, read needs but.\n \" 120, line 6, for or, read are.\n \" 121, line 14, for early, read latter.\n \" 133, line 22, for unbeliefs, read erroneous belief.\n \" 136, line 11, for hearsay, read heresy.\n \" 147, line 28, for he, read the.\n \" 157, line 22, for with, read by.\n \" 165, last line, for you thought, read your thoughts.\n \" 167, line 14, for nationalism, read rationalism, etc.\n \" 174, line 4, for almighty, read mighty.\n \" 174, last line for to, read through.\n \" 180, line 24, for arises, read arise.\n \" 183, line 3, for pacified, read purified.\n \" 184, line 27, for subsequent, read consequent.\n \" 187, line 25, for trifling, read toiling.\n \" 200, line 5, for actuate, read actuates.\n \" 200, line 23, for adapting, read adopting.\n \" 210, line 30, for J. & J. W. Gaff, read T. & J. W. Gaff.\n \" 211, line 14, for mission, read vision.\n \" 211, line 19, for literary, read literally.\n \" 221, line next to bottom, for assimilation, read dissemination.\n \" 231, line 2, for bonana, read banana.\n \" 240, line 21, for of, read to.\n\n\n\n\nSPIRIT COMMUNICATIONS.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nThe communications in this little volume, purporting to come from\ndisembodied spirits, came in the manner hereinafter stated, and all that I\nhad to do with them was to faithfully and to the letter transcribe them\nfrom the slate on which they were written into blank memorandum books\nwhich I procured for the purpose. Before laying before the reader the\n_modus operandi_ of their delivery, I deem it proper that I should give a\nbrief outline of my own history, especially do I feel the importance of\nthis since I am little known outside of the circle of my immediate\nacquaintances. It has always been my aim in life to live uprightly before\nGod and man, and as to the success of this noble purpose, formed in early\nlife, I may confidently refer to my neighbors, and many of the leading\ncitizens of Cincinnati, Ohio, with whom I have enjoyed an intimate social\nand business acquaintance for nearly forty years. I do not know why I\nshould have been made the recipient and custodian of the truly remarkable\nspirit communications contained in the following pages, except from a long\nlifetime of honest endeavor to do right I was deemed worthy, and from the\nadditional consideration that the spirits interested in the work knew I\nwould cordially co-operate with them in laying the matter presented before\nthe world, and that, happily, I possessed the pecuniary means to do so.\n\nI was born at Grafriset, near Fahlun, in the kingdom of Sweden, March 1,\n1811, and have now passed my seventy-first year. At the age of sixteen I\nentered the Swedish army, and at nineteen became a student at Upsala\nUniversity, where I remained for two years. After rendering military\nservice for five years, and passing a successful examination, I was\npermitted to enter the civil service of my country. In the capacity of\nland surveyor I served for over ten years, when a desire to personally\nwitness the workings of republican institutions induced me to make an\napplication to travel in foreign countries, which permission I obtained\nfor the period of two years. In 1844 I left my native land for the United\nStates, and in 1845 located at Cincinnati, Ohio, and soon thereafter\nengaged in the art of daguerreotyping, and afterwards photographing, and\nin the following year married Miss Annie E. Franks, daughter of Frederick\nFranks, a leading and influential citizen of the city, who is still\nremembered as the proprietor of Cincinnati's early famous museum. In\nreligion I was raised a Lutheran, but at the time (1879) of embracing\nspiritualism and for thirty years preceding I was a devout and earnest\nSwedenborgian. I commenced the investigation of spiritual phenomena in\n1879, and soon became convinced of the sublime truths of the spiritual\nphilosophy.\n\nAs in the following pages the exalted spirit of Madam Fredrika Ehrenborg\nimparts, among other things, marvelous information in regard to the\nPlanet Mars, of our solar system, it is deemed fitting that somewhat of\nher history should be made known in this connection:\n\nShe was born March 15, 1794, in the Province of Wermland, in the kingdom\nof Sweden, and at the age of seventeen married a highly esteemed nobleman,\nCasper Isac Michael Ehrenborg. He left the body in 1823, and was at the\ntime Chief Justice of Sweden. Madam Ehrenborg was an enthusiastic\nSwedenborgian, and she passed to the higher life in the Swedish city of\nLinkoeping on the 20th of May, 1873. Her life in many respects was an\neventful one, and largely devoted to literary pursuits. She translated\nwritings on religious subjects from several languages into Swedish, and\nwrote books and pamphlets in the interest of Swedenborgianism, and visited\nEngland, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany and France in search of materials\nfor her works. It was not my good fortune to have met this eminent lady\nduring her mortal life, but I happily enjoyed a truly instructive and\npleasant correspondence with her during the last three years of her life\nin the form.\n\nI commenced my investigations in September, 1881, with the celebrated\nmedium Mrs. Lizzie S. Green, through whose mediumship most of the\ncommunications to follow were written. For ten months I had never less\nthan two sittings a week, and the largest portion of that time four per\nweek, and have had ample opportunities to study her true character. As the\nresult I am justified by the truth in proclaiming to the world my thorough\nconviction of her honesty, purity and simplicity of character. Her\neducation, as I have been informed, was sadly neglected in youth, and she\nhas had few opportunities to improve in later years. She married the Hon.\nEdward H. Green, of Aurora, Indiana, before her eighteenth year, and has\ndevoted her succeeding years until recently to the domestic duties of life\nand to the raising of a family, of whom only one, a daughter, survives.\nHer husband served with ability a numerous and intelligent constituency in\nthe Indiana legislature of 1866-7, and served recently and to general\nacceptance two terms of two years each as Mayor of Aurora, Indiana, his\nnative city.\n\nThe communications of spirits contained in this volume were written by the\nspirits with their own materialized hands, and the process was generally\nas follows: A small stand of the ordinary kind in construction, covered by\na table cloth, was used, the medium placing with one hand under the\ncovering of the stand a slate on which was placed a small piece of pencil.\nThe other hand of the medium was continually exposed to full view, as was\nalso her entire form. Both double and single slates were used. We heard\nthe writing as it progressed, and when the slate was filled it would be\nindicated by distinct taps on the slate and the dropping of the pencil.\nThe slate would be then taken out, and as the chosen scribe I would\nfaithfully transcribe the written matter into the book aforementioned, and\nthe slate would then be cleaned and returned under the stand, and in this\nmanner all the matter hereinafter set forth was produced. I have reported\nit _verbatim et literatim_, without changing it in the slightest degree,\nneither adding nor taking therefrom a single word. Each sitting would\noccupy from one to two hours, and in broad daylight. I have taken occasion\nto preface some of these communications with a few lines, by way of\nexplanation and to secure clearness of understanding in relation to them.\n\nThis volume is truly a book written by the spirits themselves, and\nwhatever merit it may possess, they alone are entitled to the credit, and\nwhatever of demerit, if any, they alone are chargeable and responsible. Of\none thing both the mediums and myself can truly avouch, and are willing to\nsolemnize with our oaths, namely, that we had nothing whatever to do with\nthe production of the communications except so far as we may have aided\nthe communicating intelligences by furnishing them with the necessary and\nrequired conditions.\n\nI launch forth the work not, however, without misgivings as to its\nreception and fate in this age of incredulity and skepticism, and my only\nhope is that it may be instrumental in doing good, if but only in a feeble\ndegree, which alone will be ample compensation for my time and labor.\n\nCARL GUSTAF HELLEBERG.\n\n_177 Auburn street, Cincinnati, Ohio._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n\nMy investigations of spiritualism commenced with the excellent medium,\nMrs. Laura Mosser, now Mrs. Carter, through whose mediumship I had the\nfirst slate-writing, August 31, 1879, at her residence, No. 253 Laurel\nstreet, Cincinnati, Ohio, from my spirit friend, William Gailard, and my\ndear son Emil. My truth-loving friend, Mr. S. G. Anderson, at my request,\nintroduced me to Mrs. Mosser, at her residence, where we both on a clear\nSunday morning, after we had some communications between a double slate\nfrom Mr. Gailard and my son, saw a spirit hand between us, into which Mr.\nAnderson put his handkerchief, which was taken under the stand, and\nafterwards came out tied in three knots. It was written on the slate at\nthe same time that Mr. Anderson's two sisters and his brother John, who\nall many years ago had passed away in Sweden, each of them had tied a\nknot. During this occurrence we had Mrs. Mosser in full view, who was\nrocking in a rocking chair, and the only part hidden was her right hand\nwhen it held the slate under the small stand. From this remarkable result\nI concluded to go on with the investigation, and had many interesting\ncommunications, mostly concerning family relations, until the 8th of\nDecember, 1880, when I became acquainted with that most respectable lady,\nMrs. Annie Cooper, who is a true and honest medium. Through her gifts I\nhad many wonderful manifestations, consisting of slate-writings and\nmaterializations, etc. I will mention only a few. On the 11th May, 1881,\namong other things which appeared on the slate was the following:\n\n\"Good morning, my dear friend. Across the deep I have communicated to you.\nWith great pleasure I accept the opportunity of still doing so. I am\nanxious that all I hold dear should understand this phenomenon. Hope\nlingers around me that I shall be able to make myself known as if on\nearth. One thing I thank you for, the kind appreciation of a small tribute\nof friendship I tried to bestow. Every day since I came here I have\nlearned something. Knowledge is not stopped by the change. My friend, many\npersons think that when the change called death comes and the spirit is\nreleased from the body, it becomes perfect at once. That is a mistake; we\ncome out of the earthly body with all the propensities which actuate us\nwhile in it, and we come out of them only as we are educated and progress.\nOh, dear friend, I can see now that there are many human beings dazed at\nthe wiles of mistakes made by early education, instead of looking up to\nsomething higher and brighter. Yes, man still asks, with prayerful heart,\nwhat are his wants to be in the future? and why was he born? and why does\nhe die? Oh, why does man mourn over a law that was ordained for the\nbenefit of all mankind? Why tears fall when he stands where the form of\nsome loved one is laid? Is hope gone? Yes, because they know not where\nthey are gone and what they are now. No one should mourn at death, for\ndeath is as legitimate as birth. Yes, no science, with all its bright\nknowledge, has been able to penetrate this system or sphere peopled by\nthose who once dwelt as you do now. Oh, if suffering humanity could\nrealize these beautiful truths, it would remove every doubt and dispel\nevery fear that death transports man far away from earthly loved ones. My\ndear friend, to you this knowledge has been like a gentle zephyr that\ncools the cheeks on a warm summer evening. I am happy to be able to see\nyou in possession of these noble sentiments. Let eternal progression be\nengraved on your banner and you will soar far above doubt and mystery,\nthat surround so many in earth life. Man no longer bows to an angry God,\nnor needs a mediator to propitiate him. I am so happy to be able now to\nenjoy and fully realize what I believed to be true, with but little\nbesides my own evidence and knowledge to convince me that it was a truth.\nI have been reproved even for an acknowledgment, but all do not understand\nalike. I was fully assured before my spirit left the physical habitation\nfor spiritual inheritance that I was surrounded by angels, kind and\nloving, guarding and guiding me to a higher and better life. I passed\nthrough as if in a gentle slumber, awakening to meet many bright faces,\nyes, too many to number, that had gone before and landed safely on the\nbright, celestial shore. Earthly views can not comprehend heavenly joys.\nOh, think of it, my friend, to meet those to whom you are bound to by the\nties of nature in early affection, never, never to part again, but to\ndwell in the light of a harmonious atmosphere of love, surrounded by\nangels and music from the bright realms above. There is no end to life,\nthe spirit is eternal, and as we travel onward we can look upward in hope,\nfor there is always something above. I will be able to communicate to you\non different subjects the next interview. Give my love to your dear lady.\nI will now call on her, and we will yet meet, but not as strangers. In the\nlanguage of flowers, we remember in the sweet forget me not.[1] Adieu for\nthe present. Your most sincere friend,\n\n \"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG.\"\n\n\nThis was the first communication between the double slate from Madam\nEhrenborg, and on the 19th of May she gave another one, as follows:\n\n\"Good morning, my clear friend. In love and justice for your kindness I\ncome this morning. I feel like writing on that subject, justice, for it\nenters into the divine unfolding of eternity. Millions stand at the bar of\nthe great tribune waiting to hear their sentence pronounced. Justice\nenters into the majesty of universal law. What generation can gather it\nand hold it in their embrace? Yes, justice is the universal law, that no\nage, no nation can control or hold in subjection. When they have gained\none step in the right direction they may then think they have gained it\nall, but as we ascend the steps to that mighty throne of infinity we see\njustice beyond the ken of hundreds of humanity that have passed away.\nJustice is so unlimited we can compass only a part of it, according to the\nknowledge we possess, and have cultivated the principal subject of the\ndevelopment. No people or nation can make laws to govern any other nation\nor people who can succeed them or figure on this planet. What can finite\nman do to control the Infinite? Can he gather and control the winds and\nthe seasons as they come and go with all their powerful influences on the\nglobe? No; neither can he gather and control the developments of minds, or\nsubject them to any law that he may enact. History records the rise and\nfall of empires; behold, they have all passed away; each gives place to\nanother form of government, better adapted to the wants and conditions of\nthe then existing humanity. Dear friend, the heavenly trees are filled\nwith divine fruit, whose beauty is reflected to earth. Truth is mightier\nthan man, sharper than a two-edged sword, and it will mow down every\nobstacle in the way of progress. The spirit world is united in trying to\nlay the corner-stone of a temple so large that it will contain the whole\nhuman family. Oh, how grand when all can offer up the highest tribute of\nlove to the divine unfolding spirit, and receive the sacred knowledge and\nlove which shall bring humanity together in peace and harmony, then in\ntruth all will be free. It gives me renewed strength to see the new and\nbeautiful ideas floating about, spirit messengers wafted to earth,\nblending with man, woman and child as they go forth clearing the pathway\nto their eternal home, where all is love and harmony. The light of this\nbeautiful truth is fast dawning, and suffering mortals will awake in joy\nto the light of it, and be crowned in the glory of the morning. It is not\nhard for spirits to communicate with friends on earth, but often difficult\nto have conditions. Man must have some spirituality in his soul before he\ncan realize the truth that his loved ones are waiting, willing to help him\nupwards as they stand on the bright, celestial shore. Dear friend, I am\nsure I am gaining power, and would be able to say a great deal in a short\ntime through this medium if no change of conditions come. I hope to help\nyou to do what you so much desire. I can go to my dear friends across the\nwater and help you by impressing them that all is true. Now I must\nwithdraw, but will be very happy to come again to you, and give you all\nthe knowledge I can. I am glad to see you so interested in learning what\ncan only be taught by those who have passed the sands of earth life, and\nare happy exploring the unexplored field of life beyond. Good by, go on,\nfear not, the course you pursue is right. Your true friend in spirit life,\n\n \"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG.\"\n\n\nOn the 24th of May, from 9 to 12 A. M., the same highly esteemed spirit\nfriend wrote on the slate:\n\n\"Good morning, my dear friend. I greet you this morning, united with so\nmany of your loved ones. Your beautiful mother says it would not be heaven\nif we were shut out from the knowledge of our friends in the form. No, it\ncould not be heaven if it made us selfish. I am glad you have reached that\npart of life and find bright rays daily. Freedom brings its own reward,\nand the light that has been given to you will enable you to have yours\nwhile life lasts. You will never be bereft of friends on this shore. You\nwill have them in both spheres. Is it not grand to be able to understand,\nand even more, to appreciate, this knowledge? Light is pouring in, and the\nminds of men are becoming more active every day. Mankind are like hungry\nchildren who want food; yes, so great do they crave the knowledge of the\nimmortality that it will take firm reasoning and true workers to supply\nthem. We rejoice, for we are sure that progress is rapid. Earth friends\noften wonder what spirits find to do. If they could realize even half the\nwonderful work that is going on, they would be astonished that spirits had\naccomplished so much for the welfare of humanity. I am so happy my soul\nexpands in love. I feel I am young, and I am, for I am born again. I am\ncontented to have struggled so many years in earth life, for it has\nbrought me grand reward. All trials are worth the privilege and pleasure\nwe enjoy when we reach our spirit home. I can see now that it is no\nhiding-place in man's true nature, and if they are not learned upon the\nterrestrial planet, they will have to learn before they can become\ncelestial angels. Selfishness is cold and freezing, love is genial and\nwarms up the human soul, and thereby will promote its happiness. Let love\nbe cultivated by man, for it is a favorite flower, the flower of life and\nthe beauty of the soul, and by it humanity is renewed continually and\nbrought to the newness of life's beauty, truth, beauty and higher spheres\nof eternal existence, and without it man can never understand or have any\nconception of his heavenly home. Oh, if love were the ruling influence,\nsorrow would be hard to find, heart aches would be nowhere felt. An early\nwriter said: 'If you can not love him whom you have seen, how can you love\nthem whom you have not seen and be beloved in return?' In loving one\nanother we love God, for God is love. His love is manifesting in man. Oh,\nthat it may be cultivated, and not destroyed. Dear friend, I feel I have\ngiven you an introduction at least in my three letters of what I believe\nwould be a benefit to man if they could but understand how much depends\nupon them, not alone for themselves, but for the welfare and happiness of\nothers. I will be able, as conditions are given, to write of my\nsurroundings in my beautiful home, where all is love and harmony, peace\nreigns and all willing to submit to the ruling power. You have done more\ngood than you are aware of. It is the greatest workers that always feel\nthey are doing least. You send forth subjects that give new ideas to those\nwho read them, awakening interest without any desire on their part. As I\nsaid before, if conditions are not interrupted, you will have much to read\nand to write. I have said all on this subject that I can, but I am not at\na loss for something more to write about, for in spirit home how many\nbeautiful things that have never yet been talked about too glorious to be\nenjoyed without giving the knowledge of their existence to our earth\nfriends! A circle surrounds you this morning of loved ones near and dear,\nand your mother is cherished in loving kindness by children, children's\nchildren. Emil is a bright spirit, and will be able to give much knowledge\nto those who are a great deal older. Dear friend, I must withdraw and obey\nthe law that governs my comings. All looks well for you so far as I see.\nNo one can be really happy until their spirit is free to enjoy that\nhappiness which is permanent, for all earthly pleasures are but temporary.\nFarewell for the present. In God's love may you continue your journey\nuntil you arrive on the mount where no dark ravines can intervene your\nhappiness. Good bye for the present. Your sincere friend in spirit life,\n\n \"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nREMARKABLE MATERIALIZATION SEANCE--LETTERS FROM MRS. EHRENBORG AND OTHERS\nDESCRIBING INHABITANTS OF PLANETS.\n\n\nIn the evening of the same day I was at a materializing seance at Mrs.\nCooper's, where the following persons besides myself were present: Mr.\nCooper, his wife, Mrs. Annie Cooper, the medium; Dr. Joseph R. Wittemore,\nNo. 50 Dayton street; John Winterborn, No. 19 Freeman avenue; Mr.\nOberline, Mr. S. G. Anderson, and Mr. Charles Wilhelm, all of Cincinnati.\n\nFirst, Mrs. Cooper sat herself in full gas-light by the small covered\nstand, under which was placed three bells, a walking stick, and my small\nspring music-box, after I had wound it up. Soon after the spirits moved\nthe box up and down and put it on end during playing, which we could see,\nbecause I put the box only half under the curtain. As soon as the playing\nstopped, the box was taken entirely under and finally pushed out for me to\nwind up. The bells were ringing and the walking stick was held up and\nextended to all of us to take hold of, which we did, and the spirits shook\nhands with us in that way. I had laid Madam Ehrenborg's photograph on the\ntable, and I expressed a wish that she would materialize, when on the\nslate, which Mrs. Cooper held under the table-leaf, was written: \"Good\nevening, friends; yes, I am with you; I will try to appear; we are so\nhappy.\" The gas was now turned down, but not lower than we could see each\nother right well, and Mrs. Cooper took her seat in a chair behind the\ncurtains stretched across a corner of the room, and soon after a lady\nspirit greeted Dr. Wittemore, who, he said, was his first wife. His sister\nalso came and nodded to him. Then came a sister to Anderson and a sister\nto Mr. Winterborn, together with his mother, who took a flower from him,\nand nodded to him very cordially. A spirit lady did the same to Mr.\nWilhelm. Mr. Cooper brought now my music instrument, orgamina, from the\nupper room and placed it before me and I played on it with the crank. Soon\nafter a lady spirit came, dressed in a white shining robe, and beckoned to\nme, when Mrs. Cooper, who was not in a trance, invited me to come up to\nthe curtain where the spirit stood in the opening, and I asked if it was\nmy friend Madam Ehrenborg who died in Sweden, Europe, eight years ago, and\nshe bowed and nodded assent. Mr. Winterborn gave me a flower, which I took\nand offered to Madam Ehrenborg, who took it, smelled it, and stuck it\nunder my nose to smell, and afterwards kept it. I expressed my gladness to\nsee her and she made graceful bows, which I answered with mine. I then\nwent back to the music instrument to play, when Madam Ehrenborg came out\nagain with a beautiful long piece of lace on her arm and wafted it to and\nfro, and afterwards dematerialized before us. After that came a lady and\nsat herself in the rocking-chair, and there dematerialized before us. Mrs.\nCooper took now a standing position in the opening of the curtain, when a\nmale spirit came out, stood beside her, and kissed her. When Mrs. Cooper\ntook her seat behind the curtain again a tall gentleman spirit came\ndressed in some kind of a uniform, with a glittering star on his right\nbreast, and Mr. Winterborn offered him a nosegay, which he took and held\nout with his hand, swinging his arm up and down, keeping time to the music\nof the orgamina and that for a long time. As he came out the next time he\ntook hold of the rocking chair outside the curtain before him and swung it\nover his head for a long time, and afterwards lowered it down to about a\nfoot from the floor, when he dropped it. At the same time we saw Mrs.\nCooper, who expressed her anxiety lest the chair might fall on her. Next\nhe placed himself at the opening of the curtain, when a lady spirit took\nher place at his left side, and they kissed each other. Mrs. Cooper asked\nfor a glass of water, which Mr. Cooper went after, intending to give it to\nhis wife, but the gentleman spirit took it from him and gave it to Mrs.\nCooper, who drank the water out of the glass. The same spirit sat himself\nin the lap of Mrs. Cooper and kissed her after he had placed a flower in\nher hair. Mrs. Cooper was coughing, and Mr. Winterborn gave two cough\nlozenges to the spirit, who gave them to Mrs. Cooper. The uniformed\ngentleman spirit came again out and took the rocking-chair with his right\nhand and swung it very vigorously over his head for a good while, then put\nit down. All the other spirits had white robes shining as snow, and all of\nus were exceedingly gratified at such wonderful performance.\n\nThe 29th of June, 1881, among other valuable communications, came:\n\n\"Good morning, my dear friend; it is with the greatest pleasure I again\ncome to communicate with you. Your star of hope is increasing in\nbrightness. I called on you and your dear lady last night (your night).\nYou appreciate the beauties of the heavens, it was indeed grand to the\nnatural eye.\" (My wife and I last evening were on the roof of our house on\nMount Auburn looking at the comet and the stars.) \"Oh, I thought if I\ncould lift the veil and show you the inner life so brightly beaming once\nagain, what joy it would give. I have visited three planets, each one had\na distinct race (of people) and different one from another, and had mostly\nwhite skin, walked erect, were all of the same physical shape, very much\nlike the inhabitants of our planet; their features are more regular and\nnot much contrast in size. On the first planet they were small in\nstature--about four feet high. On the second sphere, about five feet high\nand of uniform size and shape. On the third they were six feet high, with\nlarge limbs and muscles, language quite different from ours, but were\nhighly educated; eat no animal food, subsist entirely on vegetable. The\nday and night are of equal length; and as this last named planet was most\ninteresting to me I will speak first of it: They have a better system of\nastronomy than we do and understand it more perfectly. This planet has\nlarge water courses and a great deal of commerce. They have no religion,\nsuch as Christians call religion, but a very high order of morals. They\nknow little of the immortality of the soul. They have no wars, no courts\nnor prison houses, and murder is unheard of. They have no kings, no\npolitics, no religion, consequently no wars. They live in perfect\nharmony; women suffer very little inconvenience in bearing children; the\nfamilies are large, with eight or ten children; they are contented and\nhappy. They have better painters in coloring in both landscapes and\nportraits. Their architecture is perfection; their buildings are the most\nbeautiful I ever beheld. The climate is genial the year round, never too\nhot, and never necessary to have fire to keep warm; but little variety in\ntemperature. Dear friend, I could say much more if I had power. I thank\nyou for your kind attention. I will be able another time. Good bye for the\npresent. Your sincere friend in spirit life,\n\n \"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG.\"\n\n\nThe 27th of July at a seance at Mrs. Cooper's, her control informed me\nthat we meet to-day under disturbed conditions, and when I asked Mrs.\nCooper what that meant, she said her husband wanted her to move back to\nLouisville, as his prospects there now were better, and she had concluded\nto do so, in consequence of which she intended to pack up her furniture\nimmediately after the present seance. Madam Ehrenborg wrote now a\ncommunication from which I will extract the following: \"This dear, good\nwoman, whom the angels will bless, is the first channel through which I\nhave been able to reach earth and friends in this way, and now to be\ndisturbed and taken away for a while is a loss to us. I could go to her,\nbut not write as I write to you, the friendship formed between us before I\npassed away gives me strength and desires I might not have in any other\nway, but this form of condition will not last long. * * * I will try to\ncommunicate to you whenever condition is given, it is so easy for me to\nwrite here. There are but few who I could say so much through in so short\na time. * * * Mrs. Cooper, if you will sit for me next Wednesday from\nthere (Louisville) I hope to be able to write frequently, but not like if\nhe was present. Good bye for the present. Your most sincere friend in\nspirit land.\n\n \"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG.\"\n\n\nMrs. Cooper promised to do as she was requested and we agreed, as the\nspirits wanted, that I at the usual hour, 9 o'clock A. M., should sit\nalone at home the same time as the seance should take place in Louisville.\nWednesday, the 3d of August, I picked a few flowers and kept some of them\nwith me, as my spirit son Emil directed, and the rest were placed in a\nglass on the stand, which was covered, and under it I put Madam\nEhrenborg's photograph and her letters sent me from Sweden. The 5th of\nAugust I received a letter from Miss Sadie Hare, No. 222 St. Catherine\nstreet, Louisville, Ky., wherein she states that \"Mrs. Cooper came quite a\ndistance to our home the 3d of August to fulfill her engagement with you\nand the dear spirit friends, not having conditions at her sister's that\nwould enable her to give opportunities to the spirits. We live a long\ndistance apart and some distance from the street railway, but you know the\ndistance would have to be very great to prevent Mrs. Cooper from keeping a\nspiritual engagement. * * With this you will find your communications\nwhich I have copied. Respectfully yours,\n\n \"SADIE HARE.\"\n\n\n\"LOUISVILLE, _August 3, 1881_.\n\n\"Yes, we see the photographs of our dear friend, and he has obeyed the\nrequest made. We wish we could bring just one of the white blossoms he has\ngathered for the occasion to you. The dear spirit friends he desired to\nhear from were present when he made preparations for conditions to assist\nthem to come to you. Tell him all will be well with him. The knowledge he\nhas gained of the spirit world will not decay like the blossoms he has\ngathered in his beautiful bouquet. His friend Doc.\" The control of Mrs.\nCooper.\n\n\"We have come, and see that you have had a long distance to come to make\nconditions for us. Emil is with me, and we will do all we can to write a\nmessage to my dear friend C. G. Helleberg. I have reached the medium\nthrough which I have been able to write so much in so short a time. I find\nher much troubled and disturbed and will not be able to say to you what I\ncould if you were present as in former conditions, but remember what I\nhave told you, my work in spirit life has only began, and I yet hope to\nsay much to you and through this medium. All the changes that come to our\nfriends in the form are not pleasant for them, but changes that come to us\nin our spirit home increases the happiness and joy that we dwell in, but\nnot alone, for there is no real happiness that can be enjoyed alone, for\nwe are united in love and harmony, and we are happy that the change called\ndeath does not sever the friendship formed in earth life. Progression is\nthe highest ambition of all good spirits.\n\n\"Man does not see or know the need of knowledge while in earth life, but\nwhen he enters real life and knows there is no turning backwards he feels\nforced by law of goodness to help all those who are yet in darkness; but,\nmy friend, there are so many who are forgotten as soon as the spirit has\nleft the form and believed to be dead by all they once held dear. I feel\nlike repeating over and over again the joy I continually receive, being\nremembered by you who have opened the avenue for me to give and receive.\nBe assured that your reward will come and inscribed in bright, shining\nletters on a banner of truth--your work well done, good and faithful\nservant. Emil is present, and desires to send a few words to his papa and\nmamma. I know, my dear friend, how you missed the interview this morning\nyou would have enjoyed so much; but be reconciled, they are more disturbed\nthan our dear medium; but could she behold the bright spirits that stand\nin circle around her she would not despair. It will not be long till the\nway is cleared and we can draw nearer to communicate through her to you,\nand of every thorn comes a blessing, the severest cross is a crown to\nthose who are willing to bear for the sake of truth and progression. I\ndesire, my dear friend, to have these interviews repeated. Had there not\nbeen a kind, genial lady to sit for you to copy what was written I would\nnot have been able to say this much in a strange place. I thank you, my\nyoung friend, for assistance and willingness on your part, and remember,\nthough the act may seem small to you, it is worth gratitude from us, and\nyou may rely upon an increase of spiritual influence to assist you.\nAccept this, my dear friend; I hope to say more again. Your most sincere\nfriend in spirit life,\n\n \"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nMADAM EHRENBORG AND OTHERS MATERIALIZE.\n\n\nI received several other valuable letters of my spiritual friends from\nLouisville, and in one of them, the 18th of August, Madam Ehrenborg wrote:\n\n\"A request has been made for Mrs. Helleberg to write a letter to her\nsister Emma and her father, that it may enable them to remain long enough\nto communicate that she may hear direct from them, for they are often with\nher, and want her to know it is not wrong for them to come or for her to\nlook for them.\"\n\nIn consequence of this I persuaded my wife to write a letter to them,\nwhich she did, and I sealed it up with red sealing wax, with my seal on,\nand sent it by mail to Mrs. Cooper, without any superscription. On the\n25th of August we received a letter from Miss Hare and Mrs. Cooper,\ntogether with my wife's sealed letter unopened, and a long and beautiful\nletter from her spirit sister, Emma, who had also answered for her father,\nwhich was so true and striking that her fear melted away, and concluded to\ninvestigate these strange facts. In October, Mrs. Cooper revisited\nCincinnati, during which time my wife and I had several very satisfactory\nseances, and on invitation from her we were present at a social\nmaterialization seance on the 28th of said month, in the evening, in\ncompany with the following persons: Mr. and Mrs. Stebbins, Miss Sadie\nHare, Mrs. Gano, Mr. and Mrs. Green, Mr. Cooper's mother, Mr. and Mrs.\nMacky, Mr. and Mrs. Nicely, Miss Sneider, Mrs. Artzman, Dr. Taylor and Mr.\nWinterborn. A curtain was stretched across a corner of the room, and the\nsmall stand was put on the floor, and under it was placed two call bells,\na big brass bell, and a drum, with sticks and a walking stick. When Mr.\nStebbins played on the violin, or we sung or played on the orgamina, the\nspirits kept time with the bells and drum. The walking stick was pointed\nto different individuals of the company, who had mental questions answered\nwhen they took hold of the uplifted stick. Mr. Stebbins put the end of the\nbow under the table, and the fiddle he laid on the floor, about a foot\nfrom the table, when the spirits played on it. The table was also lifted\nup and down, keeping time with our music. When Mrs. Cooper took her seat\nbehind the curtain soon after, several spirits materialized to many of\ntheir relatives and friends, who recognized them, among whom were Miss\nMary Muth and Madam Ehrenborg. I and my wife went up to the curtain, when\nMiss Mary Muth touched my wife's hand and took a flower from her.\nAfterwards Madam Ehrenborg came in full form, dressed in a fine dark suit,\nwith a black lace cap, and when my wife asked if it was Mrs. Ehrenborg,\nshe nodded her head smilingly several times, and then dematerialized. We\ntook our seats, but Madam Ehrenborg came again twice, when I went up to\nthe curtain with Mr. Stebbins, who also saw her very plainly, how she\nnodded to me and kissed my hand, which was touched by her lips, and had a\nwarm feeling. She afterwards dematerialized before us. At the same time\nthis took place we saw and conversed with Mrs. Cooper, who is never in a\ntrance state at any time. When we came home we examined Madam Ehrenborg's\nphotograph, and we found her dress and every thing else apparently exactly\nthe same as that in which the photograph was taken. Her features were also\nthe same. I had seen her materialized several times before, but always in\nshining white robes, and now she took on the same garment as that worn\nwhen the photograph was taken, probably to convince my wife of her\nidentity.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nINVESTIGATIONS BY MRS. JENNIE M'KEE--FIRST LETTER FROM EMANUEL SWEDENBORG,\nETC.\n\n\nAfter Mrs. Cooper moved to Louisville I made acquaintance with Mrs. Jennie\nMcKee, a real lady of high moral and truthful qualities, who had wonderful\nmedial gifts, and permitted me to come to her residence, No. 47-1/2\nSherman avenue, Cincinnati, for a slate-writing seance weekly, every\nThursday, from 9 to 11 A. M. The spirits wrote independent, in broad\ndaylight, when she held the slate under the stand, which was never covered\nwith any thing, and with a pencil so small (about one-eighth part of a\ncommon wheat grain) that no human fingers in the body could write with it.\nI commenced with her the 4th of August, 1881, and continued until she\npassed away to the higher life, the 17th of November the same year. During\nthat time I received many highly valuable and remarkable communications\nand gifts, of which I will only mention a few. On the 8th day of September\nthere appeared among other communications on the slate the following:\n\n\"My friend, I come from a higher sphere of light and truth, in compliance\nwith your request, and I greet you this morning in God's most holy name. I\nwill speak to you not as I would have done when inhabited in earth form,\nbut with a more expanded vision, and the more profound knowledge and the\nclearer understanding of the fundamental laws and governing principles of\nthe Great Ruler of the universe. In those days in which I wrote it would\nhave been a very unwise and dangerous thing to have given these spiritual\nmanifestations to the people, from the fact that they were not prepared to\nreceive the blessings, and the ultimate desire for the amelioration of\nmankind would have been defeated, and the result would have been\ndisastrous.\"\n\nI had wished a clearer understanding about our guardian spirits, and on\nthe slate came:\n\n\"At the time of birth there are two self-constituted guardians, one from\nthe light sphere and one from the dark, and as the child advances toward\nmaturity, the number is greatly increased; but whether good or bad,\ndepends entirely upon the persons themselves. Thus, for instance, if man\nleads a life of depravity and vice, he naturally attracts spirits of a\nlike character; on the other hand, if a man leads a moral life of purity,\nbearing in his heart love and good will to others, he is surrounded by\npure spirits, who are attracted by those elements. Thus, my friend, you\nsee how essential it is, both for happiness here and through all eternity,\nthat you conduct yourself so that the pure spirit of love can come and\nminister to you. I must leave, but will shortly come again.\"\n\nHere I said to Mrs. McKee: \"If he signs his name, I would like to have the\nslate, so I could show it to my wife;\" and he said to her (but I could not\nhear him): \"Put a paper on the slate.\" I cut a leaf from my annotation\npocket book, and we put it on the slate loose, and Mrs. McKee held the\nslate, with the paper and a short lead pencil on it, under the table, and\non the paper, now in my possession, was the following:\n\n\"Dear heart, so true to my memory, my blessing with you,\n\n \"EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.\"\n\n\nOn the 13th of October, at a seance by Mrs. McKee, from 9 to 9:30 A. M.,\nthe following communication appeared on the slate:\n\n\"My beloved, I am with you, and I greet you with my blessing in the name\nof the Most High and Ruling Power, and not only is it I who bless you, you\nhave attracted to you a number of highly exalted spirits, who love you for\nyour singleness of purpose and purity of heart, with which you are\npromulgating the teachings you receive from us; that is why you have been\nselected by us, because you have been upright and moral in your life;\nbecause those who wish to investigate would be more impressed than did the\ncommunication come from other sources. Fear not, we will be with you, and\neach word will have weight. You must expect to be criticised and doubted;\nbut again I say, fear not, we are with you, and will turn the thought of\nthe people. We shall eventually see our efforts crowned with success. We\nappeal to the senses; it would be a vain and useless thing to set up a\nhigher authority than man's own conscience, for that is the last final\ntribunal at which he is judged. The errand of life, the education,\nunfolding and strengthening the combination of the mind, the exigencies of\nbusiness, the duties of citizenship, the cares of the household, all this\nrequires the utmost seriousness of purpose and activity; but activity is\nneither in the development of manhood. It is far more essential that the\nmind and moral nature should have careful cultivation. Man should not care\nso much concerning the short period of natural life. From this side,\nthrough us who live by deeds, not years, in thought and feeling, instead\nof figures on the dial, by the happiness we produce, is our only gauge of\ntime. There is an embodiment of selfishness underlying the human family\nwhich will first have to be eradicated through education, and it is the\ndesire of the spirit world that man should be a brother to his fellow-man.\nI go now, but will be with you as often as I can. I leave my blessing for\nyou and your household.\n\n \"SWEDENBORG.\"\n\n\n\"My friend, I come to say how much I enjoy and sympathize with you, that\nthose who were blind are beginning to see, and are in better condition for\nthe reception and appreciation of the spiritual blessing which is being\nprepared for you and yours by the loved ones who are gone before. I have\nbrought my dear life companion with me this morning, who is working with\nme in acquiring the knowledge which will be necessary for you in the\nfulfillment of the mission you have been selected for to give out the\nknowledge of this glorious philosophy. It is the truth, for it is vouched\nfor by the testimony of every atom, every bright world you observe in the\nfirmament, and lastly by the spirit of the past man made perfect. You may\nbe called fanatic, but if spiritualism is fanaticism, it is of more value\nto mankind than the whole circle of the sciences. We are called away now,\nbut will come this evening.\n\n \"FREDRIKA.\"\n\n\n\"Dear papa, there is much joy and rejoicing among your spirit band. I am\nso happy that I can come to dear mamma, and have her receive me as you do.\nKiss her for me. The power is too far gone to write any more.\n\n \"EMIL.\"\n\n\nOn the 20th of October, 1881, between 9 and 11 A. M., at a seance with\nMrs. McKee, the following communication appeared on the slate:\n\n\"Good morning, my friend. I am here, and greet you with my love and my\nblessing as the one chosen by me to help me in correcting the teachings I\nhave put forth, and which at that time were not clearly understood even by\nmyself, consequently I failed to render myself sufficiently intelligible\nto be properly understood by others. Now these mistakes must be rectified,\nand the erroneous impression replaced by the truth. I am preparing my\nstatements, and they will be given to you in proper time through the\nchannels we have chosen. I have chosen you as my assistant, well knowing\nyour loyalty, steadfastness of purpose and your fearless disposition, so\nlike what my own was, so it would be a matter of perfect indifference\nwhether you received commendation of the people or only arouse their\ncondemnation. It was this prominent characteristic which proved the\nattractive power that has drawn me to you. I ask no one to give up his\nprinciples; I simply desire to place truth before him, and let each\nindividual reason according to the light surrounding him. Surely truth can\ndefend itself, so we will let it speak for itself. I am happy and content\nwith my surroundings, but I come to bring to the children of my love, the\npeople of the new church, more light, if they will only receive it. I am\nimpressed more fully each time I revisit your earth sphere that, had I\nlived at the present day, my labors would have been understood and\nappreciated, and I should not have felt that my best efforts were but a\nsad failure in comparison to what I expected or desired. I am now called\naway, so I now leave for this time, but will be with you soon. Good bye.\nGod bless you and yours.\n\n \"SWEDENBORG.\"\n\n\nOn the 27th of October, 1881, at Mrs. McKee's, Swedenborg gave me a short\ncommunication, both on slate and paper, and afterwards came:\n\n\"Good morning, my friend, Swedenborg has been called away, but he has\nbrought me to say a word and to assist in promulgating the truth. Many\nhigh and elevated spirits are banding together to spread the truth.\n\n \"POLHEIM.\"[2]\n\n\nOn the 3d of November, 1881, I had a seance with Mrs. McKee, and after the\nslate had been under the bare stand for about ten minutes a tap was heard,\nby which sign it was taken out from under the stand, and five exceedingly\nbeautiful, fresh flowers, giving out a delicious perfume, were on the\nslate, and little dew drops had made some wet spots under them. On the\nslate was written the following:\n\n\"Good morning, my friend. I bring you some flowers. Let them convey to you\nthe dearest essence of the high power to produce. They are the handiwork\nof God. In them we see His ever living presence.\n\n \"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG.\"\n\n\nAfterwards the following communication appeared:\n\n\"Good morning, my beloved. I am again with you, weighty with rich\nblessings for you and yours, and I come also with a heart overflowing with\nlove, tenderness and gratitude, that I am permitted, through the goodness\nand wisdom of the most High Power, to return, and through you, my\ntrustworthy assistant, give my thoughts and ideas to the people. We love\nour mediums, our channels and our doorway, through which we come to love\nand bless. Take no heed of any unkind remarks, it is only an evidence of\nignorance. Keep straight on, turn neither to the right nor to the left,\ncontinue to scatter seeds by the way-sides, which will furnish food for\nthought, and thought will lead to investigation. Investigation must\nnecessarily lead in the acknowledgment of the truth. You can not expect to\nconvince at once--it must be the work of time--and bear in mind, no one\never yet sought to benefit mankind who was not placed under the dark ban\nof suspicion. As you say, nothing can be gained by denunciation. Keep on.\nMy blessing with you.\n\n \"SWEDENBORG.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nMRS. M'KEE PASSES AWAY AND HER SPIRIT ARRANGES HER OWN FUNERAL.\n\n\nWhen the seance was over, I at once took the flowers to Mrs. Minor's to\nhave them arranged according to her art for preservation and now have them\nin all their original beauty. The 17th of November, 1881, I went to Mrs.\nMcKee for a slate-writing seance, as for some time I have been used to do\nevery Thursday morning at 9 o'clock, where I met at the door her\nstep-father, R. J. William, who informed me that his daughter Jennie had,\nhalf an hour before, passed away to the spiritual world, and invited me up\non the floor above to see her body. In the death-room I found my friend,\nthe wonderful clairvoyant and trance medium, Mrs. Anna Rall, and Jennie's\nmother, who found that her head was not quite cold. From the house of\nmourning I went to Mrs. Minor's for the five flowers I had received from\nmy dear spirit friend, Mrs. Fredrika Ehrenborg, through the medial power\nof Mrs. McKee, the 3d of November, and which now were preserved under\nglass, and afterwards went to have a seance at Mrs. Green's, where I\nplaced those beautiful flowers on the small stand between us. Soon we\nheard writing on the slate and a tap, when we found on it the following\ncommunication:\n\n\"Good morning, dear papa. How sad for you to look upon the face this\nmorning, not yet cold, that had afforded you so much real happiness, and\npure as the flowers before you that came through her medial powers. She\nentered the spirit world to meet the loved ones gone before. Her suffering\nis no more. She saw you, and I shook hands with her. She knew me, and she\nwas all smiles. She was glad she passed away on the morning she had an\nengagement with you; so your heavenly influences were there to aid her\nspirit. She hoped for it. She will be able to communicate to you soon and\ntell you how she found the new life. She will write immediately, she\nunderstands it. Dear papa, try to make a house not of mourning; she wants\njoy, she is free from suffering and able to communicate. Will see her own\nfuneral and wishes to have a real spiritualist's funeral, becoming one who\nhas passed away in its full faith. She wants Mrs. Green to repeat that\nbeautiful poem that she so much admired: 'I _Still_ Live' (herself). _I\nwould like Mr. Green, with others, to make some consoling remarks. The\nsong 'There is no death,' sung._ She says that every thing so far has\nturned out all right, and she wants every thing done according to her\ndesire. They all know what a devotee she was in spiritualism.\" (Here I\nmentioned to Mrs. Green that I would go back to the house of mourning and\ntell them of this as soon as possible, and now came.) \"That is just it.\nShe told me all and requested me to write it. She wants them to cast away\nthe thoughts of her old body from their minds, and to think her free\nspirit moving through the house as of old. She wants her dear old parents\nnot to mourn. She wants all the mediums next to her immediate family, and\nspiritualists, to strengthen her so she can manifest, if possible. She\nsays these are her wishes; they can do as they please. Dear papa, I have\ndone my duty this morning for her beautiful free spirit, and happy for the\nhonor conferred upon me as her amanuensis. We have nothing more to\ncommunicate this morning, only she wants Mrs. Rall, her near and dear\nfriend, to control affairs as far as she can, as she knows her wishes and\ndesires, and knows she will please her and do what is right. Love to dear\nmamma; kiss her for me.\n\n \"EMIL.\"\n\n\n\"Mrs. McKee says many thanks for your kindness She will be with you often.\nMuch love to all.\n\n \"EMIL.\"\n\n\nWe were present at her beautiful funeral, where Jennie herself spoke\nthrough Mrs. Rall over her own body, and it was in truth remarked from the\npeople that this was the most soul-uplifting funeral services they ever\nhad witnessed. The spirit communicates with me often.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nINVESTIGATIONS WITH MRS. GREEN--REMARKABLE DARK TRUMPET SEANCE AT WHICH I\nRECEIVED A MOST BEAUTIFUL FLOWER FROM MY SON EMIL AND MISS MARY MUTH.\n\n\n\"My investigations through the excellent medium, Mrs. Green, commenced the\n2d of September, 1881, and I received many interesting communications from\nmy dear and near relatives, which I value very highly, but naturally would\nnot have the same value for the general reader, and therefore I deem it\nbest to exclude most of them and take in only writings from exalted\nspirits who are more generally known.\n\nThe 19th of September came:\n\n \"From the higher sphere of light I come\n To teach you the beauties of our home,\n And to impart to you the golden truth\n And make you feel its real worth.\n\n \"And to my dear old friend, your wife,\n I wish to prove a future life,\n And to assist her while she remains here,\n And help to guide her to our heavenly sphere.\n\n \"Oh, the beautiful birds that sing their lay,\n Come to bless me every day,\n The flowers of fragrance, sweet and rare,\n And heavenly music fills the air.\n\n \"From your friend,\n \"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG.\"\n\nThe 20th of October, 1881, I was present at Mrs. Green's trumpet seance in\nthe evening in company with the following persons: Mr. Green, the medium's\nhusband; Mr. and Mrs. Stebbins, a reporter from the \"Enquirer,\" who gave\nhis name as Johnson, and Mr. Walker. On the stand was placed three slates,\none of which was my own, three trumpets, one glass of water, and my spring\nmusic-box. On the floor stood the big tin trumpet and by it laid my\nguitar, and not far from Mr. Stebbins was his fiddle. After the light was\nput out and the doors locked I wound up my music-box and put it on the\nright hand corner of the stand before me. Soon after it was taken away\nwhile playing and carried around all over our heads, and some of us were\ntouched with it. Finally it came back to me and was placed in my left hand\nwith the spirit, whose hand I touched with both my hands. I wound it up\nagain and the spirit took it away and carried it around the same as\nbefore, but when it came back it was placed on the left hand corner of the\nstand, and I laid the key close by it. Afterwards I played my orgamina\nwhen the spirit voices of both sexes joined in with their songs, and so\nthey did when we sang.\n\nI intended to wind up the music-box again and felt for it on the corner,\nwhen I discovered that both the box and key were gone. Soon after we heard\nthe box playing and going over our heads as before, and the box was\nreplaced on the corner of the stand with the key on top. All the trumpets\nand the guitar were moving around in the air high above our heads, the\nguitar was played on in time with the music, and we all were touched and\nstroked on different parts of our bodies with these implements. The guitar\nwas laid in my lap, and I sang a Swedish song, accompanied by the guitar,\nwhen we heard a spirit voice singing with me, and I and the others heard\nthe words pronounced by the spirit, which I declare were the same Swedish\nwords which I sung. Mrs. Stebbens was clasped around her neck by her\nspirit daughter Ida, who whispered to and patted both her and Mr.\nStebbins. Mrs. Green and Mrs. Stebbens saw several spirit lights, and Mr.\nWalker was informed by striking and tolling on the big tin trumpet that\nhis father in Kansas would soon pass away. I felt for my music-box again,\nintending to wind it up, when I, to my great surprise, found a fresh,\nbeautiful flower on top of it, and my slate was placed in my hand. Soon\nafter the seance was closed and when the room was lighted up, we found\nwritten on one slate the name of the reporter, and on my slate the\nfollowing:\n\n\"Dear papa, we present you the flower we promised you some time ago. The\npassion flower.\n\n \"EMIL AND MARY.\"\n\n\nIt was a large, very beautiful, quite fresh flower, which I now have\npreserved in a glass jar with deodorized alcohol. On seeing this flower my\nwife's idea was that the flower had been brought from some garden, and I\nthought the spirits made it, which caused me, at a slate-writing seance\nthe 24th of October, to ask which of us was right. On the slate was this\nanswer:\n\n\"Mary and I, with the assistance of the medium's band, _created it_ for\nyou and dear mamma, and you will find a dove in the center.\"\n\nOn a close examination we found to our astonishment a small dove there.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nSURE IDENTITY OF MY FATHER-IN-LAW--MADAM EHRENBORG WRITES TO ME IN\nSWEDISH.\n\n\nOn the 8th of December, 1881, I and my wife had a slate-writing seance in\nthe forenoon, and were present in the evening at a trumpet seance with\nMrs. Green, and as my wife received a strong convincing test through the\nname of her father, it is necessary before relating the facts to make a\nshort sketch of a part of his life. He was a Swedish nobleman, named Otto\nJacob Natt och Dag, who, by the favor of the dethroned King Gustaf Adolf\nthe Fourth, was educated in the military academy, and afterwards served as\nofficer in a rank regiment in Stockholm, which the new King Charles the\nFourteenth, Johan, the former Napoleon's General Bernadott, looked upon\nwith great favor. This young nobleman wrote an anonymous book about\nreorganizing the Swedish army, in which many good and necessary reforms\nwere proposed. This book was not intended for sale, but a few copies had\nbeen printed for his intimate friends. Some of his so-called friends\nreported this, and mentioned his name to the King, who became enraged that\na young officer should dare to have the impertinence to interfere with his\nbusiness, and want to teach him, who had such a vast experience in\nmilitary affairs, the consequence of which was that he was transported to\nserve in a common infantry regiment, far up in the northern part of the\ncountry, a long distance from his near and dear relatives. Such treatment\nnaturally made him feel bad, and he asked permission to travel in foreign\ncountries, which he got, and went straight to Baden, in Germany, where he\ncalled on his former King, Gustaf Adolf, and was kindly received. There he\nrepublished his book in the German language, with some additions, which\nthe Swedish minister reported to the King, who then considered him a\ntraitor, and ordered his arrest, but his Swedish friends informed him of\nthis in time, and he went to America under the name of Frederick Franks,\nwhich was the name of a German student, who gave him his passport, and\nwhich he afterwards adopted and used until his death. The King, Charles\nthe Fourteenth, had him adjudged, unheard and absent, by a court for high\ntreason, for daring to pay a visit to the dethroned King, and the judgment\nwas that he should lose his place and rank in the army. Many years\nafterwards the King regretted his harsh and unjust treatment of his\nfaithful, patriotic and skillful officer, and pardoned him, and ordered\nhis Swedish minister at Washington to inform him of it, so he could go\nback and enjoy all his privileges; but his former guard officer had now\nbeen for many years a republican citizen, who, with his artistic and many\nother talents and business capacity, had made himself independent, and he\nnever went back. Nobody here but the family knew any thing of his Swedish\nname, and my wife said to me that she would be more fully convinced of\nher father's identity if he would sign himself with that name.\n\nIn the slate-writing seance in the forenoon I had put my own slate, which\nMrs. Green never touched, under the side of the stand nearest me, and on\nMrs. Green's slate the following appeared:\n\n\"Put out the slate and see if any thing is on it?\"\n\nI did so, and on my slate the following sentence appeared:\n\n\"God bless you both is the wish of your exalted friend,\n\n \"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG.\"\n\n\nAmong other things was the following:\n\n\"Now, dear papa and mamma, we have done all we can this morning. Much love\nto you both. Grandpa will be with you to-night; Grandpa Helleberg, Mary\nand Julia, too, Emil, Gustaf and Charley. You will have many bright and\nbeautiful spirits with you this evening to cheer you on your road to the\nbeautiful spirit world. There all are in peace and happiness--Emil,\nFrances, Emma, Mary, Julia.\n\n \"EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.\"\n\n\nOn the evening of the 8th of December, at the above-mentioned trumpet\nseance were present, besides me and my wife, the following persons: Mr.\nand Mrs. Stebbins, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. Catherine Remlin, Mr. and\nMrs. Green and Mrs. Boggs. We had spirit singing and talking, with many\nother remarkable manifestations. Among the spirits who spoke were\nGarfield, Washington and Lincoln, three ex-Presidents. Two slates were put\non the table by Mr. Green before the light was put out, and I had that\nafternoon bought two very small silica slates, of which I gave one to my\nwife, who held it in her hand, and the other, in the dark, I put on the\ncorner of the table nearest me, which nobody else knew any thing about.\nWhen the seance was over several names and messages were written on the\ntwo big slates, and on mine was the following on both sides:\n\n\"My Dear Daughter--Oh, how happy I am that I have found a way to\ncommunicate to you. I will be with you often.\n\n \"O. J. N. D.\"\n\n\nOn the other side appeared:\n\n\"My Dear Daughter--According to promise I am with you. I have many things\nto tell you. With my heart full of love for you,\n\n \"O. J. N. D.\"\n\n\nThese were the initials of my wife's father's Swedish name, Otto Jacob\nNatt och Dag, and we were highly pleased with the result. Subsequently he\ncommunicated often, signing his name in full, as above.\n\nOn the 23d of March, 1882, at Mrs. Green's, among other communications,\nwas the following:\n\n\"Dear Papa--All of your Swedish friends are here, and intend to use their\ninfluence to-day and give you a surprise before the seance is over. All\nare present except Swedenborg, who we expect very soon. We are not sure of\nsuccess, but we intend to try. The surprise will be Grandpa Franks trying\nto communicate inside of the double slate, with your assistance holding\nthe slate and all of your friends influence combined. Madam Ehrenborg\nwithheld her message to-day to add her strength and help grandpa with his\nsurprise to mamma and you. * * * Swedenborg has come; get the slate. This\nis all you will get from me to-day. Your loving son,\n\n \"EMIL.\"\n\n\nWe cleaned the double slate and put it under the table, where I held on to\none end of it and pressed the two slates together with my hand, while Mrs.\nGreen held the other end, and we both felt and heard the writing going on\ninside the two slates. The writing continued about ten minutes, after\nwhich a tap was heard, when I took the slate out, opened it, and in my\nfather-in-law's handwriting found the following communication, which I had\nphotographed and electrotyped as seen opposite:\n\nOn the 23d of July, from 9 to 11 A. M., at Mrs. Green's, I had cheerful\nwritings from our three sons and grand-daughter, Julia Muth first, and\nafterwards there appeared on the slate the following communication in the\nSwedish language:\n\n\"Dyra goda waen C. J. Helleberg! Jag prsenterar dig min Hoegaktning och\nevinnerlig waenskap.\n\n \"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG.\"\n\n\nWhich, translated into English is:\n\n\"Dear, good friend C. J. Helleberg, I present you my esteem and eternal\nfriendship.\n\n \"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG.\"\n\n\nI had it photographed, as shown.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nINFORMATION OF A SPIRITUAL MARRIAGE--THE WEDDING AND THE WEDDING TOUR TO\nTHE PLANET MARS.\n\n\nFor a long time I had regular slate-writing seances in the light and one\ndark trumpet seance every week at Mrs. Green's residence, No. 309\nLongworth street, and at that time were generally present the following\npersons: Mr. and Mrs. Stebbins, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. Remlin, Mr. and\nMrs. Helleberg, all of Cincinnati, and Mrs. Bogg, from Newport, Ky. In\nthese trumpet seances the spirits not only played on musical instruments,\nwhich they carried over our heads, and very often touched us with them and\ntheir hands, but talked and sung to us with or without the trumpet. The\n12th of January, 1882, our son Emil astonished us with the information\nthat he was going to marry Miss Ida, the spirit daughter of Mr. and Mrs.\nStebbins, and that she would be his spirit wife. In a slate-writing\nseance, the 16th of January, he informed me that Mr. Swedenborg would\nperform the nuptial ceremony, and who also had determined the wedding to\ntake place on Washington's birthday--the 22d of February. We were also\ninformed that the spirit, Mr. Henry Nieman, Ida's cousin, would be the\ngroomsman, and the spiritual Miss Mary Muth her bridesmaid, and that a\nbridal trip had been arranged in which many bright and exalted spirits\nwould take part, including Madam Ehrenborg. Mr. Swedenborg would make the\nwedding speech on the spiritual side, and he requested Mr. Green to make\none on this side. Mr. and Mrs. Stebbins, my wife and I, agreed that this\nremarkable wedding ceremony should take place at Mr. Stebbins' residence\nat the appointed time--the 22d of February--and we concluded to ask the\nspirits who we should invite, and the 16th day of February, 1882, came on\nthe slate the following names:\n\n\"Pa and ma Stebbins, papa and mamma Helleberg, Mr. and Mrs. Green and\ndaughter, Mrs. Emma Muth, Mrs. Remlin, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, Miss Nettie\nWilliams, and Mrs. Keenan.\n\n \"EMIL AND IDA.\"\n\n\nAt a slate-writing seance, the 20th of February, came on the slate, among\nmany other communications, the following:\n\n\"The ceremonies are to begin at four, and immediately after\ncongratulation, supper. It will take one hour, Mr. Swedenborg says, to\nshow the medium the ceremony and Mr. Green's address. When the vision is\nthrough, then Mr. Green, then supper, and, after that is settled, a\ntrumpet seance.\n\n \"EMIL.\"\n\n\nAccording to this arrangement the above persons were all invited and\npresent, except Mrs. Keenan and Miss Nettie Williams, who could not come,\nat the afternoon and evening seances the 22d, the 150th anniversary of\nWashington's birthday. In the afternoon we assembled at 3 o'clock P. M.,\nand at 4 Mrs. Green was in full trance, and Swedenborg controlled her and\nblessed the contracting parties, after which Mr. Green made a very\nappropriate and beautiful address. A private clairvoyant fell in a trance\nand described not only the clothing of the bride and bridegroom, but many\nother spirits present. The bride's dress was pure, sparkling white,\nfrosted with gold dust, with long train full of the finest lace, and a\nvery beautiful veil, frosted also, and adorned with a handsome wreath on\nher head of white flowers set with three beautiful diamonds on her\nforehead. She had also a diamond brooch and necklace, with a splendid ring\non her finger, and slippers on her feet to match. Our son Emil had\nknee-breeches of royal purple, with a beautiful white toga frosted with\ngold, and gold tassels and a purple and gold crown set with diamonds. (At\na subsequent seance Emil said: \"Mine was Mr. Swedenborg's selection, Ida's\nwas Madam Ehrenborg's.\") During the trance state of Mrs. Green, the spirit\nWinnie described the dresses in the same way as the private medium already\nhad told us. After we had had a splendid repast the requested trumpet\nseance was arranged, at which all were present, and had the pleasure of\nbeing spoken to by Swedenborg, Emil, Ida, and many other spirits, and some\nof them patted us with their hands. Madam Ehrenborg and my wife's father,\nOtto Jacob Natt-och-Dag (Frederick Franks), sung Swedish with me, and Mrs.\nJennie McKee took my hand and lifted my arm up and putting it over the\ntable so I had to rise. It was a beautiful and most satisfactory and\nwonderful manifestation over which we all were highly delighted.\n\nThe 23d of February, 1882, came from our spirit friends the following:\n\n\"Good morning, dear papa, we are here yet, but will immediately after this\nsitting start on our bridal tour, accompanied by Swedenborg and a great\nmany exalted spirits. We expect to return by next Thursday, then Mr.\nSwedenborg will give the marriage ceremonies, and we hope to have\nsomething nice to write you then. Mr. Swedenborg is very much pleased\nbecause he is able to speak and control Mrs. Green, and was very much\npleased also with the way it was conducted on your side. He says\naltogether it was a splendid affair on both sides, and I think so too, and\nnow I will let my wife, Mrs. Ida Helleberg, write. Your loving son,\n\n \"EMIL HELLEBERG.\"\n\n\n\"Good morning, dear papa Helleberg; Emil makes me blush when he says my\nwife. It used to be a joke, but now it is a reality, and that is quite\ndifferent. When we all meet on the evergreen shores of the summerland,\nthen we will return the compliment and have the infair at our own home, no\nmatter how far off it may be, you shall always receive our hospitality and\nour love in the cottage. With my heart full of love for you and dear mamma\nHelleberg and sister Emma, and my dear pa and ma, and Mrs. Green's family,\nI bid you good morning.\n\n \"IDA STEBBINS HELLEBERG.\"\n\n\n\"Good morning, Mr. Helleberg: I was very much delighted with the exercises\nof yesterday afternoon and evening. It could not have been more perfect on\nboth sides. I was with you all the time. It was witnessed by thousands of\nspirits with much interest and delight. Whatever Mr. Swedenborg, does in\nthe spirit world causes great commotion and interest. He is in the spirit\nworld like some of your great men here, a leader. His every word, look,\nand gesture, is chronicled by the spirits; therefore you may imagine the\ninterest they manifest towards him. Nettie could not and would not leave\nmother. She is so lonely without me, but she was here heart and soul in\nspirit. With my highest regards for you all, I am your friend,\n\n \"JENNIE.\"\n\n\n\"Good morning, my dear friend: As the marriage of our grand-daughter to\nyour son has united my son Edwin and your family, and that event caused or\nrather brought us in a positive condition, and enabled us to pick up the\ntrumpet and manifest our appreciation of that event, I thought I would\nwrite a few lines in regard to this happy marriage, and to show our very\nhigh appreciation of this medium's family, for, as Ida said, it has\nbrought sunshine to her dear pa and ma that they could not find any-where\nelse outside the spirit communion, and express our very high appreciation\nof your son Emil, and that we feel very proud of them both, and of our\nhearts full of love for Edwin and his wife, and highest regards for\nyourself and family and Mrs. Green's family, we subscribe ourselves your\ndear spirit friends,\n\n \"AMARIAH STEBBINS AND PERMELIA STEBBINS.\"\n\n\n\"Good morning, my friends, Mr. Helleberg and Mrs. Green: To say I was very\nmuch delighted, or, in fact, I have not language at my command to express\nto you my appreciation of yesterday's proceedings, and happy of the\nopportunity presented that I can write to-day. Winnie described me as I\nwas. Love to my dear daughter and her husband (Edwin Stebbins), and regard\nto all,\n\n \"THOMAS KELLY.\"\n\n\n\"Good morning, dear son: Father, brother, and all of us are here to give\nyou our congratulations and to tell you how much we love dear Ida, and\nthat she is so sweet and beautiful. We were all with you last night, and\ncaressed you with the trumpet. It made us so happy. Father can not write\nto-day, but will soon. With our blessings on you and all, your loving\nmother,\n\n \"ULRICA HELLEBERG.\"\n\n\n\"Good morning: I must not fail to give a few words in appreciation of the\nmarriage feast. It was splendid, and I was very much pleased with the\nceremony spiritually and mortal. Love to dear Anna and yourself and\nhighest regard to all. Francis, Emily, Susan and Joseph join me and send\nmuch love to all. With my prayers for you all, I bid you good bye.\n\n \"FREDRICK FRANKS.\"\n\n\n\"Now, dear papa, we are all through, and Gustaf and Charles join in\ncongratulations, and asked me to write for them, and tell you that they\nare so much pleased with their sister-in-law. Mary, Henry, and little\nJulia and Clarence, and many that I have not time to mention, join us with\nmuch love for all. Two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that\nbeat as one, we bid you good bye,\n\n \"EMIL AND IDA.\"\n\n\nThe 2d of March came: \"Good morning, my dear friend. The tourists,\naccording to promise, have not returned. I have been sent as a messenger\nfrom Mr. Swedenborg to report to you that their reception on the planet\nMars was so grand, and they are there so nicely entertained by the spirits\nof that planet that they have all been invited to participate in a similar\nfeast to take place to-day, and they all send their love and best wishes\nto you, and hope to be with you at your next sitting. With my highest\nregard and well wishes for your future prosperity, I am your spirit\nfriend,\n\n \"POLHEIM.\"\n\n\nThe 6th of March the exalted Swedenborg wrote on the slate: \"Good morning,\nfriends: I am here to give you the marriage ceremony I promised in\npantomime on the 22d ultimo. It is brief, and does not include the address\nand prayer given on that occasion. * * * As you have already been united\nin the conjugal sense by the operation of the laws of spiritual attraction\nand magnetic affiliation, no formal cementation or consecration is needed,\nbut in obedience to an ancient custom, originating in spirit life in the\nearly dawns of the physical earth-planet, and from thence projected to\nmortal life, I have the pleasure of pronouncing the ceremony that blends\nyou, in obedience to the custom stated, into blissful spiritual\nconsociation as man and wife, which I now do in presence of the invited\nguests here assembled. In blissful happiness you are to live in peaceful\njoy, to move in heavenly love to act, so shall your onward march be\nunobstructed, and as you advance increasing in wisdom, expanding and\nabounding in love, and augmenting in power until the highest angels and\nseraphims shall claim you for angelic companionship. Now, while the\nchoristers join in the marriage anthem, I present for your congratulations\nthis spiritually mated couple, who I now introduce as Emil Gabriel\nHelleberg and Ida Stebbins Helleberg.\n\n \"EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.\"\n\n\nJust as Madam Ehrenborg's communications were being copied for the\nprinter, the \"Banner of Light\"--the oldest spiritual paper in\nexistence--of date July 1, 1882, was placed in my hands, in which I find a\ncommunication from Helen Barnard Densmore, of Philadelphia, in which she\nsays:\n\n\"Philadelphia has been favored recently with a course of lectures from Mr.\nW. J. Colville, which have been well attended and received with\nappreciation. This truly inspired speaker is doing a great work in\nspreading the new gospel of spiritualism wherever he is called. His\ndiscourses are of a high order, in an intellectual and literary sense, as\nwell as of great spiritual elevation. At one of the social receptions\ngiven to him at the residence of Colonel S. P. Kase, he gave a very\ninteresting discourse on the physical life and development of the planets\nof our solar system as compared with the earth, which was listened to with\nan earnest attention and evident acceptance by those present. It was\ntaught in this discourse that worlds were brought into existence for the\nsole purpose of furnishing a theater for souls to express themselves in\nmatter upon, to the end of gaining knowledge and overcoming temptations in\nall forms and of all kinds; that these lives make up a system of\nembodiments which closes with the soul's triumph over all the evils to be\nfound in material life.\n\n\"We were told that in Mercury the attainment of a high degree of physical\nperfection was the highest ambition of its inhabitants; that that planet\nwas in a lower state of animal, vegetable and spiritual progress than the\nearth, and the cultivation of the soil was their almost universal\noccupation; that Venus was in a high state of artistic and aesthetic\ncultivation; that art and music were the dominant passions there, with\nless intellectual and spiritual development, sensuous delights every-where\nabounding, and the cultivation of the beautiful the highest aim of life.\nOn the earth the demon to be overcome was declared to be intellectualism,\nman's intellect being here worshiped and deified at the expense of the\nspiritual.\n\n\"On Mars and Jupiter is to be found a much higher state of existence,\nmatter being dominated by the spirit to a much greater degree than on\neither this earth or those planets nearest the sun; that exalted spirits\nfrom those planets, especially from Mars, are sent as especial embodiments\nto the earth, as teachers and messengers for spiritual truth.\n\n\"Life on the more distant planets from the sun, beyond Jupiter, was\ndeclared to be of such an exalted character that there is no language\nunderstandable on earth in which to depict its glories and achievements.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nDESCRIPTION OF THE JOURNEY TO MARS, AND WONDERFUL INFORMATION FURNISHED BY\nMADAM EHRENBORG.\n\n\n\"March 9, 1882. Our party of tourists, after having been carefully\nselected in accordance with their ability to utilize the magnetic currents\nthat connect the planets in our solar system, and their adaptability to\nthe electric and magnetic condition of Mars, whither we were bound,\nstarted on the journey at, according to your time, midnight, February 23.\nWe proceeded without any incident of note until we reached Maluka Plains,\nwhere we met a party of excursionists on a visit to our planet earth.\nMaluka Plains, named after a great prophet of Mars, are located many\nmillions of miles from the circling magnetic belts of earth, and\nimmediately adjacent to the outer circle of the electro-magnetic\natmosphere of Mars. We were surprised to find that these excursionists\nwere acquainted with our guide and leader, Mr. Swedenborg, for he had\nfrequently visited the most interesting points of our stellar system. He\nhad even been at Mars in spirit while he was in the body of flesh, but he\nfinds many things quite different from what he thought he had discovered\nduring his spiritual visits when embodied. The party we met were on a tour\nof scientific exploration, and gladly availed themselves of information\nimparted by Swedenborg and Polheim, and we in return were greatly aided\nby data and information furnished by them to us. While this conference, or\nrather exchange of information, was in progress a courier was dispatched\nby our newly-made acquaintances to the spiritual magnates of Mars\nconcerning our coming. I shall here stop and defer a description of our\nfirst reception until our next sitting.\n\n\"March 13. As we entered within the magnetic radius of Mars, and were\nemerging from the outer into the inner concentric circles, so\ncharacteristic of that planet, we met a reception committee of several\nthousand, and after formal greetings, we were escorted to a magnificent\nedifice, where were in waiting innumerable throngs of spiritual\ndignitaries and others to receive us. I here desire to remark that in my\nuse of words I resort to your own vocabulary, for the thought language of\nthe Marsians is quite different from the sound of your words, and to\nemploy their terms would only confound you and militate against your\nproper conception and understanding of the narrative. For instance, I use\nthe word edifice to indicate a structure, but they use an entirely\ndifferent term and form of expression, and so on _ad infinitum_. The\nedifice referred to I am unable to describe, and it can only be fully\nunderstood in thought. In dimensions so great that your city of Cincinnati\ncould be settled in one corner of it without attracting but very little\nattention. The material of which it is composed has no fitting\nrepresentative on earth in its present state of development. Your diamonds\nand precious stones are as dim and unreflecting in comparison as a cloudy,\nmurky day of autumn is to a bright summer day with the sun at meridian and\nthe horizon unobstructed by cloud or a single mist. This comparison may\nserve to give you some idea of the absorbingly intense brilliancy of the\nmammoth structure, yet this is of itself but as a mote in the sunbeam to\nwhat I am assured exists in the immeasurable immensity of the higher\ncreations in the inconceivable and boundless universe of God. Oh, how\ndiminutive is this little ball of matter called earth, when we only\nmeasurably take in the vast immensity of the infinite domain of God. And\npoor, puny man, what a mere speck--a mere infinitisimal animalcule. As we\napproached this mammoth structure, it seemed to be tremulous with motion,\nand the motion, superinduced by such intensely penetrating, soul dazzling\nstrains of music as to perfectly appal with ecstatic emotion our\nenraptured tourists. But for the preparation of us for it by the\nscientific spirits, who they called the Ulaetta, we could not have\nwithstood it. I will give you this process of preparation on some future\noccasion, and I am sure it will be interesting to you and valuable when\nyou come over. The ceremonies of reception were performed, not in speech,\nbut in musical opera, which, singular to state, we were enabled to\nunderstand by the preparation mentioned. When I say musical opera I do not\nmean singing accompanied by music, but that the music itself was intensely\noperatic, and infused thought by the most astonishing and utterly\ninexplicable process into our interior soul consciousness. It was\nsomething worth years of suffering and pain to enjoy, and in contemplating\nits inconceivable grandeur I return to my own sphere, feeling how little I\nam, and to weep for the children of earth, still in ignorance and\nsuperstition, and I lift my voice in prayerful supplication to God to\nrend the veil, that poor humanity may obtain even faint glimpses of the\ngorgeous splendors of God's great kingdom; but I seem to hear a voice\nanswering, Not yet; wait and be patient.\n\n\"March 20. We observed the most singular fact connected with the edifice\nwherein we were received. In approaching it we were unable to penetrate\ninto its interior with our vision. It seemed to be a solid mass of\nexquisitely fine material, but on gaining admission into its interior, by\nsome peculiar power that seemed to affect our spiritual vision and\nperceptions, we were enabled to see through and beyond it, and to perceive\nobjects in the far distance. In other words, the whole structure seemed to\nvanish so far as to permit no obstruction to our vision far beyond its\nlimits, and yet it was thoroughly substantial, composed of finely\nattenuated and spiritually sublimated material. I have so much to tell you\nthat I must forego the pleasure of indulging in details, however\ninteresting they might be to you.\n\n\"The presiding personage at our reception was a figure of tall and\ncommanding appearance, with a benevolent face, dignified mien, and large\nblue eyes, that seemed constantly tremulous with love and emotion. He held\nin his hand a magic wand, which ever and anon he would wave, and in\nharmony with these movements the most enchanting sounds of music seemed to\nbe wafted far out in the viewless spiritual ether that surrounded and\nenveloped us. This wonderful fact baffles the skill of mortal pen and\nmortal language to describe, and you must be content with what is said as\nthe best that can be said, so as to reach your comprehension.\n\n\"As I caught the eye of this great presiding spirit I perceived the idea\nemanating from his mind, 'I am glad to meet you,' yet not one of these\nwords was spoken. I essayed to answer to express my thankfulness for his\nfriendly recognition of us, and I found I could not speak audibly, but my\nthought he caught immediately, and bowed in acknowledgment. He had been\nmany thousands of years before a sage and philosopher on the planet Mars,\nand bore about the same relation to his people as Mahomet, Confucius,\nJesus, Swedenborg and others of their day have in your world; and he is\npre-eminent in music. All the great spirits of Mars are eminent musicians.\nMusic, intellectual expansion and spiritual growth seem to be wedded, and\ngo hand in hand together. These are wonderful relations, but nevertheless\nare true.\n\n\"In my next I will introduce you to some of the societies and cities of\nthe planet, to be followed from time to time by revelations that can not\nfail to impress you with the greatest interest, and not only be\ninteresting and instructive, but will be of great value to you in your\nafter life in the spheres. My clear and venerable friend, be of good\ncheer, and in the sweet bye and bye I will accompany you on this very\ntour, and then you will perceive the difficulties in the way of giving a\ndescription so as to be understood by mortals.\n\n\"March 27. After the ceremonies of reception, the details of which, fully\nset forth, would fill a large volume, we set out under the escort of a\nselect delegation of forty-seven in number on a tour of inspection, a few\nonly of the incidents of which I can imperfectly touch. Many things\nobserved by us I am not at liberty to mention, for the all-sufficient\nreason that you would not understand them and the world is not prepared to\nreceive them.\n\n\"Our first visit was to a society of literary celebrities, located in a\ncity of marvelous beauty. For our present use we will call the place the\nCity of Learning, and the society, the Society of the Literati. These\nnames are not the real ones, but serve our purpose fully as well, indeed\nmuch better. The city is located on the border of a vast expanse of water\nof a golden hue, and this limpid stream is a vast musical organ of sounds,\nwhose very vibrations, as its currents flow along, disturb the surrounding\natmosphere, resulting in the production of harmonies in musical\nintonations, not only delightfully enrapturing, but far beyond the power\nof portrayal in human speech. We stood upon its brink, and were enchanted\nby its soul-piercing melody. Ever and anon the mellowed rays of the\nspiritual sun of our solar system would strike upon the bosom of this\nmajestic stream, producing in their rebound such marvelous, scintillating\nreflections as to cause the beautiful tints of your rainbow to pale into\nutter insignificance in comparison. You must elaborate in your own mind\nthese feeble touches of my pen, for I can not stop to give minute\ndelineations, but only the idea, and you can carry it onward in your\nimagination without fear of overdoing the picture or exaggerating the\nfacts.\n\n\"The ladies and gentlemen composing the Society of the Literati of this\none city are numbered by the many thousands, with vast numbers of\nco-operating branches in as many different localities. We are told that\nthere exist still higher branches, which we were not spiritually fitted\nto visit and comprehend. We, as spirits from earth, lacked planetary\ndevelopment, but we have the promise in the infinite justice of God's\neternal laws that in time, though very far distant, our earth, with its\nencircling spiritual spheres, will reach unto the gorgeous grandeur of\nMars. Here let us pause and reflect.\n\n\"March 29. Herein may be found ample food for study, inspiring elements\nfor reflection:\n\n\"_First_--How almighty is God, yet puny man is wondering whether there is\na God.\n\n\"_Second_--How grand and noble may all his children become.\n\n\"_Third_--How patiently does God, through inflexible and unerring law,\nwork out such stupendous results.\n\n\"_Fourth_--Man while in the flesh would arrogate unto himself the\nattributes of a God, when in truth it requires ages of effort and progress\nonly to disclose to him that yet he is not yet an angel. But still how\ngrand are the possibilities before man, inviting him onward. They can not\nbe fully conceived by the finite mind, much less described.\n\n\"We saw many translucent streams, whose pellucid waters were charming to\nbehold. There is a law appertaining to all advanced spiritual\nintelligences that induces the profoundest meditation, the sublimest\nadoration, when beholding, although only partially, the infinite variety\nand splendors of the creation; and I must occasionally pause in my\nnarrative to give expression to this law of my soul.\n\n\"We were next conducted to a vast building, wherein was deposited the\ngrandest library of books, and they were simply collections on scientific\nsubjects alone. Elsewhere were vast collections on other subjects not\nintimately connected with science--books as tangible and objective to us\nas the slate on which I am writing is to your touch and sight. Mr.\nSwedenborg, being naturally of a scientific turn of mind, became\nabsorbingly interested in this department, and it was with reluctance he\ntook his departure therefrom. He made arrangements to return to study some\nthings to be found here and which he has not been able to find elsewhere.\nHe is promised aid by the members of the Society of the Literati.\n\n\"We then visited an assembly of representative men, and I am now about to\ntell you something that will surprise you, but it is nevertheless true.\nWhen I use the expression representative men I mean that each planet has\nrepresentatives to every other planet in the solar system. I must reserve\nthe next sitting for a description of the grand system of planetary\ndiplomacy--envoys extraordinary or ministers plenipotentiary, as you would\ncall them. The power is too nearly exhausted to enter upon the subject at\nthis sitting. We notify you now that by these ministrations and recitals\nyou are living many, many years in advance of this age of your planet.\n\n\"April 3. In your solar system you only claim eight planets, exclusive of\nthe Asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, but the truth is there are\nthirteen in number; five of them have long since passed into their\nspiritual orbits, and consequently are not objective to your telescopes,\nand this state is to be the ultimate of all planets. Every planet,\nincluding the earth, is continually undergoing change, that is to say,\ngradually passing from the gross to the more refined, and by a\ncontinually advancing series of geologic and progressive changes from the\nlower to the higher, from the crude to the more refined, from the material\ntoward the spiritual, all will ultimately in time pass into spiritual\nconditions or orbits. But as this theme is scientific, and not directly in\nthe line of or pertinent to my narrative, I will abandon it, at least for\nthe present.\n\n\"In my last I told you that each planet was favored with representatives\nfrom every other planet in our system, and it is from this system,\nspiritually originating, that you have derived your system of\ninternational representation. I do not mean that any spirit communicated\nthis to the nations, but that in the early formation of nationalities and\nthe commercial intercourse between nations, susceptible public men, by\nreason of their exceeding impressibility, got the inspiration from\nsurrounding spiritual influences, and to a certain degree and extent\ncarried it into execution in the establishment of ambassadorial relations\nbetween friendly governmental powers. But there is a marked difference\nbetween your nations and the spiritual worlds in the objects and purposes\nof such system. In the spiritual worlds representatives are deputed one to\nthe other for an entirely different purpose from yours in sending\nministers to England, France, Russia, etc. Your accredited agents of\ngovernment abroad are simply spies to watch other countries, lest some\ntrivial advantage may be gained against you in some minor and unimportant\nmatter. Selfishness is the law by which they are to be governed. They are\nexpected to be, and generally are, lorded and feasted, dined and wined,\nall in the high-sounding names of civilization and national urbanity.\nOurs are sent on an entirely different mission--to gather knowledge for\nthe benefit of all. Our public and representative men are not engaged in\nlearning the rules and laws of the stock market, how to manipulate it and\nhow to create corners in the bountiful productions vouchsafed by the\nInfinite, nor how to secure safe investments with large and profitable\nmargins, but to learn the laws of the planets, to the end that they may be\nutilized in the development and progress of their varied and numerous\npeoples. Through whatever other planets, farther advanced than ours--have\npassed, we, too, must pass, and hence by our representative spirits\nlearning of their varied progressive experiences, they are enabled to\nprepare for and assist in the changes that must inevitably ensue.\n\n\"I can not carry my thought further than to say in addition that our solar\nsystem, as a system in its entirety, has representatives to thousands of\nother solar systems revolving in space, circling around their respective\ncentral suns. You perceive that the grandeur of creative glory is looming\nup before us in majestic proportions, far beyond our power to comprehend\nand portray. We look forward with great pleasure to each succeeding\nmeeting, when we hope to continue our narrative if conditions continue to\nfavor us.\n\n\"April 6. After feasting in the examination of the library of the Society\nof the Literati I felt an intense desire to learn something in regard to\nthe religious teachings on the planet in its past, as applied to the\nembodied Marsians, in the curious desire to find out whether their\ntheological and religious history bore any resemblance to ours, and if\ndissimilar, wherein by contrast the dissimilarity consisted. Of course,\nin the very nature of things, this opened up a wide field of\ninvestigation, and I can only give you points condensed and with the\nutmost brevity, and without any attempt at elaboration. As I have already\ninformed you, the denizens of Mars do not use our language or mode of\nspeech, and therefore I am compelled to transfer their thoughts into our\nlanguage, and you must consider that much will be lost in the\ntransmission.\n\n\"The planet Mars, in point of time, is much older than the earth, and\nconsequently has passed through many more changes; these successive\nchanges or epochs have had their respective theologies, and I was utterly\nsurprised to learn that in some respects they resembled ours--that is to\nsay, their earlier theology--the later and truer has no resemblance\nwhatever to ours or any that we have had in the past. The people of Mars\nin the dim and distant ages of the bygone have had many gods and many\nbibles. Their older books or bibles are now treasured as simple\ncuriosities belonging to the infancy of the race, and the wonder now is\nhow it was possible at any period of their history that a people could be\nfound seemingly so hopelessly ignorant as to believe them. The same fate,\nmy friend, awaits your Bibles, Korans, Zend-Avestas, etc. But in all their\nspeculations in religion they were never taught to believe that their\nremote ancestors had fallen from an imaginary state of perfection, nor\nthat somebody else's sufferings and death were imperatively necessary to\nextricate them from the peril, and to reinstate them into the loving\nesteem and saving grace of their creator. While they had many follies in\ntheir early history, they had none like unto our own. They never believed\nGod to be angry and revengeful nor that he would ever destroy their own or\nany other world by water, fire or otherwise, nor that men were made out of\ndust and women from ribs, nor that fish swallowed men, preserved them in\ngood condition in their stomachs, and delivered them subsequently and in\nsafety upon the dry land. These silly recitals of your bible will be\nridiculed and laughed at some of these coming happy days.\"\n\n\"April 10: If you could be instantaneously transferred to the planet Mars\njust as you are in the form you could not live a moment of time. The\nintensely rarefied and etherealized atmospheres surrounding that planet\nwould not maintain animal life such as yours. Yet the time has been when\nbeings more crude, dense and undeveloped have lived and figured on the\nstage of Mar's history. The law of evolution or unceasing progression\napplies to all planets and in a degree of unfoldment according to the\nperiodic duration of time of each. Hence, under the operation of this\ninexorable law of the creation you can readily and with quick discerning\neye see the ultimate destiny of all--that is to say, the utter overcoming\nof the crude and unrefined by the spiritual absorption of the whole, and\nyet this law that lifts the lower into the higher has no limit or ending.\nYou can therefore see in the myriad ages of future time with this law, all\nthe while actively working, how inexpressibly refined and sublimated will\nbecome spiritual beings and spiritual essences. This constitutes a grand\nrevelation, and presents in contemplation the grand possibilities in\nstore for man and the fittest of all things material. While the\nconstituent elements are the same, yet in outward manifestation the atoms\ncomposing your physical bodies, and those in the form on Mars, are quite\ndissimilar. The same elements that exist here, either as applied to the\nspiritual or material, are essentially the same as exist in the remotest\nrealms of the creation. They only differ in presentation or outward\nmanifestation, and in the degree of their development and progression.\nHere is another theme for contemplation and study, and the fact as here\ndisclosed ought to fill us with proud satisfaction, for the inherent\nelements and qualities possessed by the millions of worlds, revolving in\nthe unexplored immensity of space and their countless myriad hosts of\npeople, are possessed by our world and our denizens, only differing in the\nintensity of their action and the degree of unfoldment or approximation\ntoward maturity--ah, a maturity that never matures. While the law of\nprogression is infinite it deals with the finite, and as the finite can\nonly advance toward but never become infinite, so will this mighty law of\nprogression carry us onward and onward, upward and upward through all\ncoming time, and yet will never cease from its labors or find repose. What\na mighty destiny before and for man!\n\n\"April 14. In this and my next I will tell you some things that will\nsurprise you, but they are veritably true. I am dealing with you in\nverities, however absurd and preposterous they may appear to the\nunprogressed mind. This is said, by your people, to be a remarkable age,\nand in many respects it is so. You are receiving some matter far in\nadvance of the age in which you are living, but it will be properly\nrecognized and appreciated in the years to come.\n\n\"On the planet Mars jails and prison houses for the confinement and\npunishment of malefactors are only historic reminiscences of the past.\nThere are now no punishments inflicted because there are no offenders to\npunish.\n\n\"The doctrine of sacrificial atonement, with its retarding influence, was\nnever taught to the people of that planet. They have always been taught\nthe supreme goodness of the creator conjoined with wisdom and almighty\npower. God being supremely good, and supreme in the exercise of goodness,\nthey have not for thousands of years last past entertained the slightest\napprehension that any onslaught upon their peace, happiness, and future\nfelicity, would be permitted. From this ennobling conception of God came\nthe desire to manifest a spirit of devotion and veneration, and\nconsequently at an earlier period of the history of Mars the worship of\nthe people was low and groveling somewhat resembling, as I am informed,\nthe ancient idol worship of the Egyptians and Israelites. At the present\ntime the two worlds--the spiritual and material--of Mars are so closely\nallied and interblended that the spiritual forces are enabled to exercise\na positively restraining influence over the conduct and actions of those\nstill connected with the physical, so they can not, if they would, commit\nwrong, or perpetrate infractions upon the law of right. By reason of this\nhigh condition of development those passing out of the material form are\nat once intromitted into the higher conditions of the spiritual world,\nbecause they are fitted for them. All are mediums and subject absolutely\nto spiritual action and control. This is what your spirit world is seeking\nto do for you, so, if possible, to pass over and beyond some of the rough\nexperiences of other planets, and your people do not seem to have the good\nsense to see it. On Mars there are no murders, arsons, robberies,\nforgeries, slanders, and other crimes and misdeeds, for they have\nprogressed beyond them. Do you not perceive the sublimity of this\ncondition? and will it not be a most glorious consummation when you shall\nhave reached the same altitude of progress.\n\n\"April 17. Another subject of inquiry engrossed my attention, namely,\nmarriage. I became interested to know something of the history of this\npeople on this subject, and I found it to be an exceedingly interesting\none. At this period of Mars there is no such institution as marriage in\nthe sense you regard it. It is not an exaggeration to say that a very\nlarge per cent of your marriages are brought about as the result of the\nmost unholy motives. Passion, lust, avarice, etc., are generally the\nimpelling influences, and seldom is witnessed a union from purely\nspiritual causes. It is needless to say these marriages are not only\ntemporal, ending with the death of the body, if not sooner by an unholy\njudicial system of divorcement, but entail a cruel blighting curse upon\nthe race.\n\n\"The history of your own planet on the subject of marriage is but feebly\nunderstood by you. Enough however is known to induce all lovers of\nhumanity to loathe and detest it as it has been practiced in the past. It\nis claimed that God created animate creatures in pairs, male and female,\nand that, as applied to man, he cemented a union of one man and one woman\nin the marriage relation, and that this occurred at the commencement of\nthe creation in the Garden of Eden. Your conspicuous bible characters,\nsuch as Abraham, David, Solomon, and others, have not only ignored and\ntrampled upon virtue in its simplest and purest forms, but with the\nhellish gluttony of the vampire feasting on blood, they debauched\ninnocence, prostituted virtue to their unholy lust, and thereby destroyed\nthe holiest relation of life. Their numerous wives and concubines attest\nthis, and yet your pious Christians are waging a relentless warfare upon\nthe Mormons of Utah and vehemently thundering against the polygamous\npractices of the Latter Day Saints. Shame for Christian consistency. On\nthis subject your advanced thinkers do not discuss those eternal and\nenduring spiritual laws of attraction by magnetic and soul affinity upon\nwhich alone shines forth in eternal splendor the blending of soul with\nsoul in an everlasting conjugal union. The people of Mars understand and\nadopt these laws, or rather harmonize and abide in them, and now while\nembodied their marriages are for all unending future time. As the result\nwe discover on that planet a race of people almost perfect in their\nmental, moral, and physical developments, requiring only time, experience,\nand progression, to disclose the still more wonderful proportions of their\nbeing. The union of one man and one woman under spiritual conditions is\nthe highest type of marriage, and constitutes the paramount and supreme\nintention of the deity, and is the ultimatum and consummation of the law\nof conjugal love--all others are fleeting, dishonoring, and only evil.\n\n\"April 20. Your candidates for matrimony, first obtaining each other's\nconsent, and the approval of parents or guardians, apply to the legally\nconstituted authorities for a license or permit to enter the holy state,\nand when procured they repair to a priest or magistrate, who for a few\nshekels pronounces a few stereotyped phrases, followed by the solemn\ndeclaration pronouncing them man and wife, closing generally with the\nludicrous and farcical command, 'whom God has joined together let no man\nput asunder.' Oh, what a caricature and farce. It is bad enough to declare\nwhom the law has joined together, and so forth, but to assume with such\nsolemn gravity that God has joined in wedlock's sacred union many of the\nmarriage alliances which are mere caricatures of marriage, is not only\nblasphemy, but the very apex of nonsense, and is the widest possible\ndeparture from truth.\n\n\"If it be true that God joins them together, no power, save himself could\nput asunder or disunite. To assert otherwise would amount to affirming\nthat God is the author of failures. The difference between marriages that\nonly have their basis in consent, license, and ceremony, and that marriage\nwhich God cements when two are joined by the divine laws of soul affinity\nand magnetic attraction--the one is of the earth earthy, the other is from\nthe Lord through and by the operation of eternal law, and is therefore\nheavenly. Oh, that the children of earth might learn and conform to these\nsubtle and glorious laws for their own good and in the interest of those\nto come after them.\n\n\"On the planet Mars the people have no license system on any subject.\nWhile you on earth are wrangling about licensing the sale of intoxicating\nbeverages, on Mars they have none to license. While here you are exercised\nover measures of taxation to raise revenue to support the government, on\nMars no taxes whatever are imposed, and public affairs for the general\npublic good are administered freely and without compensation, purely as a\nlabor of love. The truth is that the mundane affairs of Mars are more\nregulated, controlled, and conducted by the spiritual powers of the planet\nthan by those in the form. The two worlds are so intimately related to\neach other, and are so closely brought together, that this is not only\npracticable but desirable and profitable.\n\n\"April 21. There is on the planet Mars a subterranean passage through it\nfrom pole to pole, which Mr. Swedenborg informs me he has thoroughly\nexplored. There is more truth than poetry in what is known as Symmes' hole\nas applied to your earth. When the time comes by the settlement of your as\nyet vast millions of uninhabited acres, and a change takes place in\nnorthern temperature and conditions, the people of that day will discover\nwithin and through the very heart center of your earth a country nearly a\nthird as large as the exterior surface, and by that time every thing\ntherein will be sufficiently progressed and developed to supply the wants\nand invite the ambition and energies of the people of that period. But\nthis discovery, or rather the occupation of this subterranean country, is\nvery far off in point of time, and the human race of earth will then be\nquite different from what it is now. They will have so changed by the\nlapse of time and the law of progress as to be enabled to pass into the\nnew country by way of the north pole with ease and safety. The north pole\nis the true opening, and can not be reached until the fullness of time, as\nI have indicated. As the area of territory of Mar's surface was about\nbeing densely covered by population, and apprehensions were being\nentertained for the future of the race, lo and behold, the new interior\ncountry was discovered and subsequently peopled. By the time it is crowded\nno more will be needed, for the planet by that time will have passed into\nits spiritual orbit and into the ocean of spiritual ether, where suffering\ncan never come from lack of room. This will be the future history of your\nplanet, and you will pass through the same experiences and reach the same\nultimate. Behold how infinitely wise all things are forearranged. Just as\nwe need by our development new limits, new appliances and new things, they\nare ready for our use, and are never disclosed until we are ready for and\nneed them.\n\n\"April 24. At this time those living on the planet Mars do not die or pass\nthrough the change called death as you do here. They have no diseases that\ncause the untimely taking off of the inhabitants. Disease has long since\nbeen banished. All of the procreating elements of disease residing in the\nmateriality of the globe or the surrounding atmosphere have been by\nprogressive development eliminated. And even before this had fully\noccurred the people had learned the laws of health and the process of\nneutralizing and rendering harmless the lurking germs that remained. You\nmay perceive from this what a happy people they are. There are no untimely\ndeaths on Mars. Children grow up to manhood and womanhood; yet there is\nno fixed standard of time when all die, that is, no definite and\ninvariable period of longevity. And right here comes in a great law, now\noperative on Mars, that the people of earth know nothing about, for it has\nnever been communicated before, namely, children can not die there. It was\nnever designed that they should die here. Marriage being brought about, as\nbefore stated, by the grand law of magnetic attraction or spiritual\naffinity, and all diseases being banished and their producing causes\nannihilated, nothing but absolutely sound and perfect physical and mental\norganizations are imparted to offspring by their progenitors. You see at\nonce the idea, for I must be brief--the children being perfect in health\nof body and mind by procreation, and there being no diseases to affect\nthem after birth, death can not touch them, in fact can touch none before\nthe time arrives, varying in point of longevity for the separation of\nspirit and body. None die before the full maturity of stature, and some\nlive to be a very advanced age. After reaching complete development or\nstature, they pass out of and away from the material in point of time,\naccording to the antecedent conditions of their varied being. Some arrive\nafter maturity to the estate of progressive experience in the form sooner\nthan others, and when this period arrives, whether it be at thirty, forty,\nfifty or a hundred years, they pass on to their ultimate and higher state\nof being in the spiritual spheres. It is known when each shall pass out of\nthe form long before the event transpires, and all due preparation is\naccordingly made therefor. Your scientists have discovered, and rightly,\ntoo, that about every seven years the atoms and particles composing your\nphysical organizations change and give way to new ones. But this is\ngradual and imperceptible. On Mars, at this period of development, the\nchanges are much more frequent, and these successive changes determine the\napproach of dissolution, and instead of death in an hour or a day, it goes\non perceptibly and without pain or suffering for years. Every change\nlessens the material composites of the body, and at each a nearer approach\nto the spiritual takes place, until finally the physical, by the gradual\nprocess of embodied sublimation or attenuation, passes away, and the\nspiritual becomes supreme. This culmination is equivalent to what you call\ndeath, except that there is no attending pain, no death struggle, and no\nphysical body afterwards to take care of and lay away. The body, by\nsuccessive changes, has seemingly vanished into nothingness and been\nabsorbed in the atmosphere.\n\n\"April 27. We have been expecting you to inquire of us how the people live\non the planet Mars, what kind of architecture in the construction of their\nbusiness houses, habitations, etc.; what kind of food they eat, and with\nwhat raiment are they clothed, etc.\n\n\"You will have observed from what we have heretofore made known to you\nthat the services of four classes of professional worthies have been\ndispensed with, simply because the people have progressed beyond their\nutility, namely, lawyers, doctors, preachers and politicians. Lawyers can\nonly thrive and exist professionally in a land where conscience is not\npermitted to exercise its native simplicity and positive purity, and where\nthe lower passions and propensities are largely dominant. When\nconscience, active, pure and simple, is allowed to manifest its functions\nin perfect unrestraint, and to act as the governing power in the\nregulation of human conduct, the presence and office of the barrister are\nno longer of use. Lawyers flourish as a general proposition on strife and\ncontention, bad faith and unfair dealing; and when these shall happily\nend, like poor cashiered Cassio, their occupation will be gone. The\ndoctors grow opulent by medication, because of the ignorance of the people\nwith reference to the true laws of marriage, proper antenatal conditions,\nneglect of proper hygiene, and ignorance as to overcoming or rendering\nharmless the deleterious conditions, both atmospheric and from the\nundeveloped state of inherent nature. But when, by progressing beyond\ntheir harmful influences, or by enlightenment and healing gifts, the\npeople shall obtain a complete mastery over them, disease shall be\nbanished, then the avocation of the physician ends, and he will have to\nseek a livelihood in other pursuits.\n\n\"The preacher lives in comfortable indolence because of the ignorance and\nsuperstition of the people. His office is one of hypocrisy and fraud.\nHypocrisy, because if he is not a fool, he knows his teachings are not\ntrue, and of fraud, because by dissembling he extorts from his parishoners\na dishonorable subsistence. When the people grow sufficiently wise they\nwill be taught by the denizens of the spirit world truth and\nrighteousness. Then the mission or office of the sacerdotal gentlemen will\nbe closed, and they can seek employment in the many more honorable\noccupations. The politician, cunning and subtle, swims along smoothly upon\nthe rolling current of the credulity of the people and his own duplicity.\nHe prospers because you have not as yet grown into full political manhood,\nand he succeeds in hoodwinking you with the belief that his heart is\noverflowing with patriotism and anxious solicitude for the public weal.\nBut I must leave this class--the politicians--to the tender mercies of\nseveral gentlemen who are waiting the opportunity to contribute their part\nto your enterprise.\n\n\"April 28. The coarse food necessary for you in order to keep up the crude\nmateriality of which your physical make-up is composed, is not needed by\nthe denizens of Mars. In the composition of your physical bodies is a\nrepresentative of all the material elements in nature--iron, calcium,\nwood, earth, etc.--and it is easily demonstrated by microscopic inspection\nand chemical analysis, that in every drop of blood in the human system all\nthese varied and numerous elements are represented. Hence man may be\nsafely considered a microcosm, or nature in her vast domain, reflected in\nminiature. But you still exist in the realm of the crude, and yet you are\nvastly more refined than in the ages past, and forward, onward, and upward\nis the line of march marked out for you by the infinitely wise director of\nall things. On the planet Mars no animal food is used, because among other\nreasons the physical properties of the body do not require the elements of\nanimal flesh to replace nature's wastes. Thousands of former species of\nanimals have become extinct, swallowed up in the ever surging maelstrom of\nprogression or absorbed in the higher forms. Vegetation in the planet Mars\nis quite different, both in expression or appearance, and constituent\ncomposition from the vegetation of your planet. Here the aroma residing\nin the vegetable and escaping therefrom, is largely absorbed and\nneutralized by the grossness of the vegetable itself, while on Mars the\ngrossness has become so diminished that to the senses the aroma has almost\nbecome tangibly objective, and this aroma is food strengthening and\ninvigorating, is nearly sufficient of itself to support existence in the\nform without the assistance of the more substantial fibers of the parent\nvegetable. Yet in a certain prepared form the substantial material is\nused. The time is not very far distant, as I am assured, when the people\nthere will subsist on aromatic emanations from material productions, aided\nby magnetic, electric, and other atmospheric properties used simply by\ninhalation. In the water you use are to be found teeming millions of\nliving and moving animalcules. They are enabled to live on the elements of\nthe water in its present gross state, but on the planet Mars the water has\nbeen dispossessed of its life germinating and life sustaining properties\nto aquatic productions, and has thus progressed with all other things and\nbeings. No life or form of life is now brought into being there, but such\nhigher types as are fitted to pass with the planet into spiritual\nconditions; and the water being so purified by nature's refining processes\nis as different from your ordinary water as clear, sparkling sprays\nprojected from your fountains and dancing in the sunbeams are to the murky\nwaters of your rivulets immediately after a violent rain-storm. I will\nresume this subject in my next.\n\n\"May 1. On Mars they have learned how to produce from the soil itself any\nvegetable that naturally grows therefrom. In the soil itself reside all\nthe constituent elements of all vegetation in their infinite variety. You\nmay thoughtlessly answer, that in order to produce any species of\nvegetation used for table consumption, the seed or germ must first be sown\nin the soil beneath the surface, but you forget that this process is but\nthe result of civilization and art, and that originally, that is before\nyou learned how to obtain and use seed, the products sprang of themselves\nand apparently spontaneously from the earth. Whence did they come? and\nwhence were their germinating and generating powers obtained? Think a\nlittle deeply on the subject, and you will be led irresistibly to the\ncorrect conclusion that in the soil exists all the requisite elements in\nthe production of vegetation by growth. The people of Mars have acquired\nthe knowledge which enables them to produce out of the soil, abstractly\nconsidered, all the essential qualities of the vegetable without waiting\nfor the tedious process of growth. This process is purely chemical, and\neverybody there understands it. Hence you see they do not have to buy\nvegetables, for all can have their essential qualities for food without\ncost to the consumer. Long since the ownership of the soil by individuals\nwas abandoned for the general common good, and on this subject the\nprimitive condition of affairs in your planet prevails universally on\nMars--that is to say everybody owns realty, one just as much as another.\nThis is pure unadulterated agrarianism in its highest and most perfect\nform.\n\n\"It is often asked in your intercourse with the world of spirits: What are\nthe employments of spirits? what are they about? what do they do? etc. It\nis pertinent to inquire, What are the employments of the people of Mars\nstill embodied? What do they do since we have discovered that they do not\nnow toil for the acquisition of riches, because they have no possible use\nfor them; no taxes to pay, no governmental machinery to support, no\nlawyers to annoy, no preachers to vex, torture, and maintain, no doctors\nto nauseate with their drugs, no politicians to hoodwink the people and\nfeed at the public crib, no grocery bills to look after and liquidate,\netc. Before we answer these and many other important queries, we shall see\nwhat the people do for raiment with which to clothe themselves, and what\nthey do for shelter, if, indeed, shelter is necessary. If we shall\ndiscover that these are free gifts from the father, then the employments\nof the embodied Marsians becomes a question of very interesting and\npressing importance.\n\n\"May 4. I suspect that you already anticipate the tenor of what we have to\ntell you in regard to the clothing of the people of Mars, what texture,\nhow derived, etc. Your keen perceptions and astute comprehension enables\nyou to see at a glance that if this law of progression, as applied to the\nmaterial, whereby the lowest forms are reached and operated upon, lifting\nwith its strong arms into higher and still higher conditions, be true, it\nmust be true and in regard to all material things--the soil, rock, wood,\nwater, etc., animal and vegetable life, and as we shall have occasion to\nshow further on, to the mundane atmosphere surrounding the planet. All\nthings progress and advance in like and equal ratio, leaving nothing\nbehind or unaffected by the law. This advancing march of matter from the\ncrude and gross into the more refined and sublimated is seemingly slow,\nbut nevertheless sure and unerringly, indiscriminate, and precise.\nTherefore the raiment worn by the denizens of Mars has reached the same\naltitude of refinement as all other material things.\n\n\"The seasons, once resembling yours, spring, summer, autumn, and winter,\nhave nearly merged, that is to say, have nearly blended into one perpetual\nseason of summer loveliness. The austerity of winter, with its stormy\nblasts and cold, piercing wind waves has long since ceased to be; no\nfrosts to nip and blight the fruits and flowers; no chilling autumns, with\nwithering leaf, to inspire with melancholy and sadness. What will surprise\nyou in this connection is, that, while the cold temperature has wrought\nits work in the development of the past, and is only known to have once\nexisted by historic relation, the intense heat of summer has also\ndisappeared. When you have severely cold winters, almost unendurable even\nin your temperate zones, your wise philosophers theorize that your\nultimate destiny is to freeze out; that the icebergs and ice glaziers of\nthe north are ultimately either to roll over the now fair portions of the\nearth, destroying all things animate, or that their freezing breath will\nsweep over the globe involving in death all the fair and lovely forms of\nnature's productions, including godlike man, the apex and crowning glory\nof creation. But lo! when the earth straightens up on her axis and the\ncold waves retreat and sink away in their northern hiding place, and the\ngenial and vernal season with its pleasant temperature returns, these same\nphilosophers take a breathing spell, rest awhile, and conclude that it has\nnot been so very cold after all; and when the summer comes, if it happens\nto be unusual in the intensity of its heat, and the solar rays seem to\nalmost melt into molten ruin all things, and to scorch the forest leaves\nand wilt the waving harvests, these same philosophical wiseacres change\ntactics, reverse their position, and with one heroic bound jump to a\ndirectly opposite conclusion, namely: that we are all destined ultimately\nto burn up and become annihilated in a general conflagration by solar heat\nigniting the combustible material of the planet and its surrounding\natmosphere. Oh, how impotent in philosophy! A simple and humble inquiry\nsettles the question. Why destroy this fair earth, daily and hourly\nbecoming still fairer? Does God do any thing without an allwise and\nbeneficent purpose? Is it possible for Him to do a silly, foolish thing?\nHe would certainly not destroy the earth unless there was thereby some\nnoble and beneficent purpose to subserve. What grand purpose, good and\nwise, can be accomplished by ending the existence of a planet that has as\nyet scarcely begun to live? To assume that He will do such a thing, is to\nassume that He has become disappointed and disgusted with his own\ncreation, which annuls His wisdom and foresight, or that He delights in\nfolly, making a world and then destroying it because He can, or for any\nother silly and insufficient reason. To thus assume is to dishonor Him as\na God, and to invest Him with the attributes of a devil.\n\n\"Wonderful changes do occur marking epochs, or cycles, in the history of\nall planets. Where you live to-day, thousands upon thousands of years ago\nanother race of human beings lived, attaining a certain degree of\ndevelopment in science and art, but upon the fulfillment of their mission\nthey passed away from the face of the earth. Where you now live was once\nswept over by old ocean, and where the deep waters and angry billows of\nthe Atlantic now roll and revel once lived a race of people called the\nAtlantians, but their land with its embellishments of art and progressive\ndevelopment became submerged by the changes of the mighty waters, and now\nlies buried beneath its rolling deep and lashing waves. But observe in all\nthis that the globe goes on, and succeeding developments of man and\nmaterial things come forth far in advance of the former order of things.\nWhat, if in the womb of time it is reserved for Atlantis to arise from her\nwatery entombment and to flourish again with renewed and increased\ngrandeur, involving the submersion of other portions of the earth's\nsurface, including your own? This would not be death to any portion of the\nplanet in any high and exalted sense, but a progressive change, a\nrevivifying of life, a quickening and impulsion of being in the grand\nadvancing march of development and sublimation. As we write, the theme\nexpands and enlarges, and as the power begins to wane we find we have not\ndiscoursed minutely on the subject of raiment, and beg your indulgence for\na resume of the subject in our next.\n\n\"May 5. There being, at this stage of development on Mars, no winter with\nits concomitants of winds and storm, snow and ice, you have no difficulty\nin apprehending that very light material only is needed to protect and\nrender comfortable the persons of the people. Material of the texture of\nyour lightest flannel underwear would be oppressively and uncomfortably\nwarm, and indeed insufferable. Thin and quite gauzy robes composed of\nfinely attenuated and exquisitely refined material constitute their\napparel. I have told you hitherto that of the animal kingdom only the\nfittest have survived the marvelous successive changes in the infinite\nseries of progressive advancements. Among those now living with the\nability of propagation is an animal species somewhat resembling your\nsheep, but so exceedingly refined as to be remarkably striking in\ncontrast. Of course, and in the very nature of things, the fleecy wool,\nor, rather velvety down, that grows upon this noble animal, so\ndistinguished for innocence, aesthetic tastes in food and refinement in\nhabits of life, is eminently suited for purposes of habilament, and\naccordingly is thus utilized. They are propagated in unlimited numbers,\nlive to an advanced age, are the common property of all the people, and\nhave within themselves the qualities of eternal being.\n\n\"The forest and other trees, shrubs and flowers, have advanced under the\nsame law of progress. Very many species of the olden time\ndisappearing--the fittest only having survived. Among those now extant on\nthe planet, is a peculiar and quite extensively cultivated species, from\nwhich is produced a fabric resembling somewhat your cotton production,\nwith the same difference in refinement of texture as exists between your\nwool and that developed on Mars as herein stated. This is utilized for\nraiment also. Besides the people there have mastered the law that spirits\nemploy in the materialization of garments at your materializing seances,\nonly much finer, and out of the ambient atmosphere, filled as it is with\nsublimated atoms and emanations, they are enabled to collect and magnetize\ninto solidified form appropriate garments for their use and comfort. When\nthus magnetized into objective and tangible being it partakes of and\nassumes a varied hue and color, according to the progressed and advanced\nstate of the person using the garments. In other words the magnetic aura\nand spiritual emanations proceeding from the individual infiltrates and\nbecomes interwoven in the delicate fibers of the new garment extracted and\nbrought into being from the viewless air, imparting hue and coloration\npresenting different appearances, whereby the grade or degree of\nadvancement of the individual wearer is made known and determined. Here\nyou inquire of the spirits to know what sphere you are fitted to enter in\nthe spirit world, there they know by this means in advance of leaving the\nbody. Your spirits in imparting light and knowledge to you concerning\ntheir state, tell you that a spirit and its proper sphere are known by the\npeculiar aura, or surroundings and clothing of the individual spirit, and\nthis is true to the letter. But on Mars this law of spirit designation\nthat belongs to the spiritual spheres of your planet, reaches out and\nreveals itself in the persons of the people of Mars before they have\nactually entered upon the spiritual journey of life in the spiritual\nspheres.\n\n\"Now the additional fact is disclosed to you that by reason of this mode\nof obtaining raiment the avocation of the merchant is of slender\ndimensions, and the manufacturer's art and pursuit, except as known and\npracticed by all alike, are now unknown on the planet Mars.\n\n\"In our next we will discourse on buildings, habitations, etc. We had\nhoped to reach this part of the subject in this communication, but as we\nadvance the themes and subjects broaden and expand, and we sincerely\nregret that the power by this process--independent slate writing--although\nthe purest of all, will not last us at one sitting sufficiently to fully\nelaborate our thoughts and descriptive delineations on a given subject. It\nhas this advantage, however, it comes directly from the materialized\nfingers of the spirit without the direct use of the brain of another in\ntransmission. Adieu until our next.\n\n\"May 8. The same reasons assigned in our last, why very light garments\nonly were needed for the bodily comfort and happiness of the people of\nMars apply with equal propriety, force, and truth, to the subject of their\nhabitations.\n\n\"Your rains are produced by vapors, mists, and emanations from your\noceans, rivers, lakes, etc., which by virtue of solar attraction or a\nreversal of the law of gravitation the vapors, mists, etc., are drawn\nupward in space until a certain density is reached, differing in altitudes\nof height, when they become congealed by the force of the cold attenuated\natmosphere there into small particles called rain drops, and these are\ncarried along by the undercurrents of uncongealed clouds until a certain\nelectro-magnetic condition is reached, when the clouds begin to empty and\nrid themselves of their burdened contents.\n\n\"Now we have informed you of the progress the water of Mars has made in\nbeing dispossessed of its gross and weighty elements; hence there are\nnone of these to ascend and to commingle in the formation of rain drops;\nhence none but the purer and refined elements of the water are exhaled and\ndrawn upward, and consequently none but the pure and refined descend.\nThese are in themselves comparatively light and of greatly diminished\ngravity, and therefore mild and pleasant in their effect. Especially does\nthis become true as a resulting necessity, from the fact that there are no\nfierce winds or storms or cold temperature in the surrounding atmospheric\nbelts or zones. The rains on Mars are more like your gentle dews of early\nautumn than your rains and showers. You at once take in the situation from\nthis and preceding statements of facts that crude material structures are\nnot necessary, even if the material for their construction could be found,\nand we have seen that such is not the case, for all things, including the\nmaterial in detail out of which edifices are constructed, have progressed\nbeyond and above their crude grossness.\n\n\"In some portions of Mars no structures are used at all, owing to the\nmildness of the climate and the total absence of inclemency in the\nslightest degree. In other portions the beautifully developed trees, and\nespecially those that spread out their branches near the surface of the\nsoil, are ample for the purposes of shelter. Still in others they have a\nsort of building which is a grand pavilion, embracing a vast area of\nterritory, thousands of miles in extent, under the same roof or cover,\nwhich during certain periods of the year and day become luminous and\ntransparent. The temples and gorgeous structures, cities, and magnificent\nedifices have been transferred in spiritual essence to the spiritual\nspheres, and have ceased to be as material entities, so when the planet\npasses into the spiritual condition outright and in toto, all that Mars\ncould ever boast of in architectural grandeur and excellence is preserved\nand perpetuated with additional luster and beauty from the finishing\nspiritual touches by the Infinite Master Builder. And now you perceive\nthat other questions come up right here and require recognition and\ntreatment. Among them these: Do the people on Mars sleep? If so, how often\nand how much?\n\n\"May 11. Why is it that you require repose in sleep? In the infinitely\nwise arrangement of all things there are amply satisfactory reasons for\nevery demand, every requirement, every manifestation, and therefore there\nare reasons why sleep is induced and is an imperative necessity in your\npresent and past states of existence.\n\n\"When rest in sleep is long deferred from nervous derangements or other\ncauses, your physicians administer narcotics to induce it, for they well\nknow, as you all do, that sleep is necessary after intervals of\nwakefulness in order to protract your being in the form, and why?\n\n\"You have voluntary and involuntary functions or organs; the voluntary\nonly, the involuntary never, can be suspended for certain periods of time.\nYour respiration and blood circulation are involuntary, and as long as you\nremain embodied in flesh will continue to perform their appropriate\nfunctions, whether you wake or sleep, for they are not subject to or\ninfluenced by the will. And it is by the unconscious operation of these\nthat your voluntary functions when suspended in sleep are replenished and\nreinvigorated. You are, as at present constituted, made up corporally of\ngross material, which becomes wearied and exhausted by the active exercise\nor operation of the voluntary functions, and the nerve force will expend\nitself unless periodically reimbursed and replenished, and restored to its\nnormal condition by the intervention and recuperative power of sleep. When\nin the ages to come your people lose this grossness in their material\ncomposition, your inclination to sleep and the necessity for it will abate\nand become lessened correspondingly to your successive stages of\nadvancement in progressive development.\n\n\"Thus is revealed to you the fact that on Mars, at this time, the\ninhabitants have but very little need of sleep. They sleep, but in a\nmodified sense as to periods, duration and manner. They rest when\nfatigued, and for brief periods pass into a state of languor or stupidity,\nto some extent analogous to your sleeping state, which is never required\noftener than once a week, and then only for a few hours.\n\n\"Your spirit friends will tell you that they never sleep, but rest, and\never keep in mind that the people of Mars are closely approximating the\nspiritual. Then, again, on Mars they do not have night as you do, and\nconsequently not the same nocturnal influences to suggest and invite\nsleep. This suggests another subject germane to our line of thought. In\nnature you find always two extremes, that seem to stand in antipodal\nrelations to each other. Let us give a few instances in illustration: You\nhave day and night, cold and heat, male and female, fire and water, good\nand evil, etc. Some of these seem to be at fierce war with each other,\nand yet what a delusion! This seeming antagonism is but the working of a\nlaw that shall eventuate in the production of the completest harmony.\nUndeveloped people, ignorant of the jewel-crowned truths, as yet concealed\nfrom them in the grand arcana of nature and the progressive sciences,\nlaugh and sneer at the idea of marriages in spirit life, when the\nunvarnished truth is that man, considered in his independent and separate\nsexual relation, is but a half man, and can not become rounded out into\nfully developed manhood until consociated in conjunctive union with the\nopposite sex--not indeed and truly until the man and woman become twain,\none flesh, or, in better phraseology, spiritually unitized.\n\n\"The day and night will continue until finally and by gradual processes\nthe night is banished, and vanishes in the splendor of a continuously\nrefulgent and sunlit atmosphere. On Mars this condition is almost reached,\nand the night there resembles the shadings thrown over the earth when a\ncloud passes over the face of your moon at hightide, and ultimately even\nthis shall be no more, for in the spiritual spheres of Mars, as in your\nexalted ones, there are no shadows to obscure or mar the radiant light of\nthe spiritual sun, and Mars itself is fast approaching this sublime\ncondition. We must withhold what we have to say in regard to the seeming\nstrife between good and evil for our next.\n\n\"May 12. The people of christendom have had it rung in their ears for\nnearly two thousand years that man is essentially bad, unutterably wicked,\nunspeakably depraved, and, worst of all, this horrid state comes to him,\nnot of his own creating, but by inevitable and unavoidable inheritance.\nIn our ignorance and credulity how we have wept over the weakness and\nfolly of our first parents in yielding to the flattery and persuasive\neloquence of the cruel serpent in the pure and primitive bowers of Eden.\nOur tears have flown and flown, with no gentle, soothing hand to touch our\neyes and bid them cease; no voice panoplied with authority to speak to; no\nwords of hope and cheer. We have been told in answer to our anxious\nentreaties for blissful hope and loving counsel that there is a\nsuperabundance of evil in us, and a trifling, insignificant quantity of\ngood, and that nothing short of a miracle of regeneration can save us from\nunutterable and unending misery in the life to come; that without this\nmiraculous interposition of divine grace, the little good that is in us\nwill be swallowed up and devoured by the appalling evil of our sinfully\ninherited natures. Oh, man, how you degrade your true nobility, your\ngodlike and divine nobility, by bowing the knee to this hideous monster of\nfalsehood, and by kneeling at this unholy shrine. In direct opposition to\nthis abominable and degrading doctrine stands the truth in its pristine\nand noble beauty.\n\n\"According to this Christian doctrine we behold in man a combination of\ngood and evil, and in the struggle for the mastery the evil is to be\nmightier than the good. The good emanating from and partaking of the\nmajestic excellence of the eternal, infinite God must, alas, succumb to\nand be overthrown by evil, its unholy rival. Can man conceive of a scheme\nmore degrading and heartless, and more completely dishonoring to God and\nhis infinite perfections of wisdom, goodness and power--a doctrine more\nutterly subversive of moral goodness, deific excellence, and that more\ncompletely wrecks the moral government of God and dumps into one common\nfuneral heap the hopes and happiness of the human race. No, no, this is\nnot true; it is false, false, basely false.\n\n\"What is the true theory of good and evil? Man, oh, man, hearken to the\nvoice of truth, and be wooed and won by its gentle entreaties. Let the\nscales of ignorance and superstition fall from your eyes. Look upward for\ntruth, and be baptized in its beauteous light, and cleansed in its pure\nand holy waters. Evil is the assemblage of elements in the concrete, if I\nmay be permitted so to speak, and is simply undeveloped good, or good in a\nlesser degree. Evil is evanescent and transitory, good is permanent and\neternally enduring. The fittest of all things in the grand scheme of\nprogression only survive, while all else is doomed to perish. The good and\nthe true are as enduring and everlasting as the eternal God himself, while\nthe evil and the false are fleeting, unenduring, and carry within\nthemselves the insatiate and unappeasable elements of ultimate\nannihilation. Be assured of this, for no truth in God's illimitable\nuniverse has been more firmly established on a more indestructible\nfoundation. Good day.\n\n\"May 15. Astronomers will tell you that in their observations through the\ntelescope the planet Mars presents a red brilliancy not observably\ncharacteristic of the other planets in your solar system, which they are\nunable to account for. Considering the vastness of the subject, the\nimmense distance in space where the scintillating orbs are chanting their\nsilent songs of praise to God, the difficulties in the way of\nobservation, etc., the discoveries in the domain of astronomy have been\nfully as remarkable, important, and satisfactory, as in any other field of\nscientific investigation. But still only a very little compared with the\nimmensity of the subject has been disclosed and some of that mixed and\ninterlarded with error. Astronomy will become the greatest of all sciences\nwhen by new apparatus and new appliances the spiritual spheres belonging\nto the various planets shall have been discovered. This success will be\nachieved in the coming time. On Mars the people have mastered this\nproblem, and I was surprised to learn that they knew all about our\nspiritual spheres from their far distant standpoint of observation, and\nthat they knew minutely all the characteristic and inherent qualities of\nyour planetary atmosphere. They have long since invented instruments by\nwhich they are enabled to photograph in minute detail and perfect fidelity\nof representation every material object on the earth. And you will be\nsurprised when I tell you that I inspected Stockholm, London, Paris, New\nYork, your own queen city, Cincinnati, etc., in a more perfect form of\npresentation than your artists can reproduce on canvas with pencil and\nbrush, and at the same time I was standing in spirit in the immeasurable\nimmensity of space on the planet Mars. I can not give you even in outline,\nmuch less in detail, the modus operandi of this achievement, and will only\nsay that the rays of light in reflective power will yet dawn upon your\nscientists and philosophers as the agent of discoveries and\naccomplishments not now even dreamed of by the people of earth. I want to\nadd right here a prophetic statement, which you may carefully note, that\nthe time is not so very far distant when your inspired inventors will\ndevise and construct an instrument that will disclose to the human\nmaterial eye, to the astonishment of the world, your own spirit land; for\nlet it be well understood that your spirit world has a real, tangible,\nobjective existence, that will yet yield its rich treasures in scientific\nrevealments for the enlightenment and progress of your race. In very truth\nthe spirit world is the only real and permanent one, constructed by the\ninfinite master builder for all eternal time, while your physical and\nmaterial, except their spiritual essences, are but the shadows and\ntemporary projections from the spiritual. Logically and metaphysically\nspeaking, the spirit world is the pre-eminent cause of your world, the\nmere transitory effect. This being true, your keen sense hastens you at\nonce to the conclusion, founded in reason and truth, that an effect can\nnot be greater or more enduring than the cause that produced it, but must\nof necessity and in the very nature of things be infinitely less.\n\n\"May 18. A people so pre-eminently advanced in all that appertains to the\nsublimation of their being, and all that surrounds them, and in which they\ncome in contact, must necessarily be exceedingly refined and aesthetic in\ntheir mannerisms, habits of life, intercourse with each other, and in\ntheir vocations and employments. In the very nature of things it could not\nbe otherwise. From what has been heretofore said relating to the highly\nfavored and inestimably progressed denizens of Mars, it is not difficult\nto see that their pursuits must necessarily and almost entirely relate to\nthe realm of the intellectual and spiritual, as they have passed beyond\nthe requirements and demands of that which pertains to the material phase\nof existence. Physical wants require physical exertion to supply them.\nMaterial requirements necessitate attention to and labor in the domain of\nthe material, and this, for obvious reasons, that need not be stated or\ndiscussed. It may be prudent, however, to premise that when the physical\nconstitution requires substantially gross materials to keep up and\nmaintain the corporealities of our nature, we must look to the productions\nof the farm and the fruitage of the forest, and also to animal food, which\nare always in quality and degree in exact correspondence to our status or\nstate of progression. But when we lose the constituent elements of\ncorporeal being that belong to the lower strata of the constitution of\nthings, we require something more refined and sublimated, and lo, always\nit is at hand to meet the exigency, for let it ever be borne in mind that\nthe law that is incessantly and without intermission working away in\nsolving the great problem of life and being, moving upward from the lower\nto the higher, is not confined in its operations to only form or species\nof being, but applies to and operates upon all, whether rational or\nirrational, animate or inanimate, and pushes all forward and upward with\nperfect and precise equability and in exact and equally proportional\ndegree, none advancing more rapidly than the rest and none lagging behind.\nThus, you perceive the infinite order and the beautiful symmetry of the\ngreat law of evolution and progression. Herein is necessitated varied\nchanges in the value and character of vocation and employments, suited to\nthe continued mutations of things in the endless series of progressive\nchanges.\n\n\"At one period in the history of Mars the art of photography was\ndiscovered. Of course it attracted great attention and challenged\nadmiration. It was regarded not only as wonderful but marvelous. The\ndiscoverer was almost deified, for he was thought to be endowed with\nsomething of the divine nature not discoverable in others, until the art\nadvanced step by step, improvement on improvement, when the divinity with\nwhich the discoverer had been invested by the admiring multitudes dwindled\ninto insignificance, and the very sensible conclusion reached that he was\nmerely highly gifted and spiritually inspired, but altogether human still.\nCompare the primitive system of photography, limited as it was, to objects\nof immediate presence to that now existing, whereby worlds and systems of\nworlds are made tributary to its discoveries and achievements. Now,\ninstead of the wonders of the art inspiring hero worship of the men\nengaged in its studies and who produce the wondrous results, a feeling of\nawe and veneration for the continually increasing wonders of the creation\nis inspired. The admiration is justly transferred from man to the creator\nand the stupendous majesty of his laws and works. On Mars photography is\nnow and has been for a long time a favorite and delightful employment\npursued by the many, for all have the advantages of it. Therefore the\nstudy, not only of their own world, but numerous others, constitutes a\npleasant, instructive, and intellectually remunerative employment. Nor is\nthis confined and limited to material worlds, but reaches out and\nembraces the spiritual spheres of each.\n\n\"Again, take the science of chemistry. It once only dealt with material\nsolids, but now on Mars it has reached a higher plane or sphere, and the\nsublimated substances, still possessed of modified degrees of matter,\nlikewise atmospheric and spiritual substances, come within the purview and\nyield obedience to its powerful processes of analysis. This is still and\never will be an instructive and profitable field for those aspiring minds\nof the Marsians bent on the acquisition of knowledge and the understanding\nof the infinitely varied and universal laws by which all nature and the\nuniverse are governed and controlled.\n\n\"May 22. On Mars the people are divided up into a very great many\nsocieties. The membership of these societies is not a matter of choice and\nvolition. Here you have degrees of social society, and you say there are\nthree grades--the lower, middle and upper. This is so in the deceptive\nseeming, but in fact you have many more, but you do not understand the\nsubtle laws governing in their formation and diversity. You also have\nsecret societies, into which you require the consent of a certain number\nto gain admission, while at the same time a certain other number may\nobject. Certain arbitrary votes in number control the question of\napplication, and by them your admission or rejection is determined. In\nyour social society quite a different rule or policy prevails. In a\ncertain grade or stratum true merit and worth are not considered of any\nmoment, but wealth and pecuniary par excellence constitute the law of\nattraction. In other words, and what ought to burn your cheeks with shame,\nit matters not how morally depraved or utterly abandoned to all real\nintrinsic worth of manhood or womanhood, a large supply of the world's\nfleeting possessions constitutes the real standard of respectability, and\nthe sure passport into the higher walks of social life. On Mars they have\nlong since passed beyond and above this purely human, unspiritual and\nunholy rule. There they are known and estimated as they really are, for\nthey can not disguise their moral and spiritual status; it is read in the\nlook, the walk, the thought-words, and most potently in the aura emitted,\npermeating and coloring the very garments worn, thereby disclosing by\nshades of color the moral, mental and spiritual degree of advancement. You\nhave an old adage, which contains a very great truth, namely: 'Birds of a\nfeather will flock together,' 'like draws like.' Under the operation of an\nimmutable law of attraction and repulsion the societies of Mars are\nformed, and this law, so utterly disregarded by embodied man on the earth,\napplies to and is operative in the spiritual spheres of all the\ninnumerable worlds of the vast, illimitable universe of God. And this law\nof attraction and repulsion is indiscriminate and recognizes no\ndistinction on account of wealth, social standing or prominence among men.\nIt deals with spiritual laws and spiritual truths and spiritual things.\nThere being different societies on Mars, formed and governed by this great\nand inexorable law of selection or attraction and repulsion, you see\nreadily that their employments must of necessity and in some regards be\nquite different.\n\n\"May 29. We have endeavored to keep before you, at the risk of being\ncensured for occasional reiteration and repetition, the great primary and\nfundamental fact that all things under the divine arrangement advance in\nthe ascending scale of infinite and unending progression by regular and\ngradual series, and in equal ratio; but you must note an important fact in\nthis connection, namely, that all do not at the same time reach the same\ndegree of unfoldment--some a little in advance of others, and so on. The\nquestion necessarily arises, why is this so? We only desire to say in\nanswer at this time that all do not start out on their career of animate\nbeing at precisely the same time or under the same conditions, nor with\nthe same or equal antenatal advantages. This carries us back behind our\nmere entrance into physical life, through and by the laws of human\nphysical procreation, into a domain as yet unexplored, except feebly, by\nmortal man. It seems to me if men could only perceive and understand the\ngrand sublimity and variety of their antecedent being, they would no\nlonger be blinded to the future greatness and glory in store for them.\nThis subject, if you ever enter upon it, you will find prolific of vast\nknowledge, immense and perfectly astounding revelations. But the time has\nnot yet arrived for them. The people on Mars, like your own, not starting\nout on life's eventful and momentous journey with the same or equal\nadvantages, have necessarily attained unto different degrees of\nprogressive unfoldment, and by reason of this are their different and\nsomewhat differing societies formed. In the same circle, order or stratum\nof society on earth, the good, the bad and the indifferent associate and\nseem to harmoniously blend and assimilate. But this is not true in fact.\nThe degree of perfection attained in moral and spiritual excellence does\nnot govern in their formation, and they are therefore incongruous,\nunsatisfactory and transitory. On Mars two unequals in progression can not\nharmonize, for the law rebels, interposes insurmountable barriers, and\nwill not allow it. Those only are associated who harmonize and resemble\neach other, not in the accumulations of wealth, not in stature, not in\nfacial expressions or outward physical conformation, but those who are\ndrawn together by a sort of soul kinship, of absolute union of soul\nfeeling, sympathetic inclinations and aspirations, having for their basis,\nas of prime and first importance, an equal degree of spiritual unfoldment.\nThus divided and separated, there are very many different societies or\norders, each differing in development, inclinations and aspirations, they\ninevitably have dissimilar pursuits and employments, suited to tastes,\nwants and abilities, but all conspiring for the general good of all.\n\n\"June 1. The people of Mars are not so large in stature as on your earth,\nnor are they as large as at former periods of their history. The process\nof progression in casting off the gross, and also by affecting the laws of\npropagation, has materially reduced the present inhabitants in their\nphysical proportions. Their feet, except in the lower order, are either\nnot shod at all, or are covered by a very light and refined material\nsubstance. The nearer the spiritual the people become the less they are\naffected by grosser atmospheric elements, and this is directly the\nopposite of your experience. Here the coarser the material make-up the\nbetter can the severer conditions of your temperature be borne, and the\nreason is plain.\n\n\"Here some are progressed, physically speaking, in advance of the progress\nof the elements, and therefore they are detrimentally affected and\ninfluenced by them, whereas on Mars a regular advance in development has\nbeen reached, and all things now smoothly and evenly pass under the\noperations of the law. After awhile the same law will commence to thus\norderly and regularly operate with you when this difficulty will be\nhappily overcome. The grandest achievement made by progression on Mars has\nproduced the greatest result in the formation of the heads of the people.\nPhrenology here on earth is but feebly and imperfectly understood,\nalthough there is in it a grand and most salutary scientific truth. Here,\nhowever, as yet, you have the angular and uneven formation of the cranium,\nwith its attendant angularity of temperament and disposition. On Mars the\nheads are so exquisitely formed and so harmonious in the external, and so\nperfectly symmetrical, that you observe and note it at first glance, and\nfollowing this high and beautiful development is discovered a degree of\nwisdom and learning perfectly astonishing to a visitor from a foreign,\nthough neighboring planet. The hair on these magnificent heads is of a\nfiber and texture resembling your finest silk, and from under a\nbeautifully arched brow you behold a mild yet brilliant eye, beaming with\nintelligence and affection, and they can convey thoughts and ideas without\nthe use of words or the intervention of audible sound.\n\n\"June 5. Hundreds, yea, thousands of years ago, the development of mind on\nthe planet Mars was extraordinary, and you can conceive what it must be\nnow. Many causes, of course, conspired and aided in bringing about this\nresult. The natural process of development would have ultimately\naccomplished it unassisted by other agencies, but a wise and humane\ngovernmental system was adopted, originating in the spirit world, which\nconstituted a complete innovation upon and revolution in previous systems,\nand which gave a marked impetus to the growth and advancement of mind, and\nwhich produced also a wonderful improvement in the physical constitutions\nof succeeding generations. That system consisted of a legislative policy\nof the controlling government, rigidly and unexceptionally enforced, which\nprovided that all children born into physical life should be given up and\nrelinquished to the control and direction of the government, and by the\ngovernment reared, educated, and prepared for the duties and requirements\nof life. Elaborate buildings, elaborately and artistically embellished and\nbeautified were constructed at proper and convenient locations, where at a\ncertain period of gestation, very early indeed, the expectant mother was\ntaken and kept until a certain and proper time after parturition, when the\nmother was discharged and restored to freedom, and the new-born babe was\ntaken charge of, raised and maintained by the fostering care of the\ngovernment. Between the period of conception and parturition, the mother\nwas continually kept under the most elevating influences, both of body and\nmind. Her soul was kept enraptured by the ennobling influences of music,\nand such music, of which you as yet have no conception. This produced in\nthe mother the desired condition of harmony, which had a corresponding\neffect upon the little one concealed from mortal view. Twice or thrice a\nweek lecturers, under the pay and patronage of the government, visited\nthese asylums and discoursed to the inmates on scientific, literary, and\nmoral subjects.\n\n\"June 8. These discourses were not only designed but efficacious in\ndirecting the minds and hearts of the auditors into the most elevating and\nprogressively intellectual channels, and left their inevitable and\nunfailing impress upon the forthcoming offspring. In addition works of\nart, rare paintings, and exhibitions of sculpture were at certain times\npresented for inspection, study, and reflection, inspiring noble thoughts\nof the sublime and beautiful. Artists of superior attainments and national\nrenown occasionally visited these places and gave exhibitions of their\nskill in transferring to canvas, in an impromptu manner, their loftiest\nconceptions of the beautiful in landscapes, scenes, etc., which were of\nthe rarest beauty of design. Books treating of the noblest subjects were\nplaced within ready reach and convenient access, and the inmates read them\nwith avidity and delight. They understood that they were thus preparing\nthe new generations, as yet unushered into life, to take their places, and\nthat their success largely depended on the assiduity with which they\navailed themselves of their opportunities. The government, as before\nstated, took charge of the young and trained and educated them in art,\nmusic, and the sciences, and the result was soon manifest in producing a\nrace of intellectual giants, and distinguished for their ability in the\narts and sciences, and the benevolence or their religious natures. And\nto-day you can not find a man or woman of adult age who is not perfectly\nversed in all the higher branches of learning, and eminently proficient in\nmusic. If a thousand of them could be bodily transferred to America, and\nwith her exceptional advantages, and live, they would soon, by the sheer\nforce of intellect, rule this world, and lift it morally and\nintellectually upon a plane that would dazzle you to behold. And yet, my\ndear friend, it is laid up in the womb of time that you of earth shall\nreach this sublime height.\n\n\"The denizens of earth may wonder at and disbelieve these relations, but\nnevertheless they are as true as that the eternal God is truth. They point\nto the destiny in store for the future inhabitants of earth, and intimate\nto poor disheartened mortals the certainty and greatness of the future, in\nwhich they are to figure in no mean way nor act no inconsequential part.\n\n\"July 10. On Mars the doctrine of discrimination on the score of sex was\nnever taught, but the equality of the sexes has always been recognized.\nThis indiscrimination has always been operative in employments and in the\nchoosing of persons to fill official station at a period of their history\nwhen officers were paid out of the public exchequer for their services. Of\ncourse, at this time when office is administered without compensation the\nrule remains undisturbed. Your troubles, that is, many of them, in the\npresent and past have arisen either from a misunderstanding of the truth\nor a misapplication of it and its requirements. Can it be rationally\nmaintained that truth and justice require a discrimination to be made\nadverse to the female? If so, there must be ample reasons for it, and what\nare they? We are told that, comparatively speaking, woman is the weaker.\nIs this true? and if so, pray tell wherein? You answer physically, and\nthus you would establish her status in all other regards, by the rule of\nmere brute force, powers of endurance, and physical capabilities. Do you\nnot know that the ox and the horse, for precisely the same reason, can\nlargely discount you? Do you not realize that by this argument you are\nappealing to the lowest element of your nature, that which only\ndistinguishes you as connected with matter, and which as we have already\nseen, is transitory and fleeting? Pray lift the subject upon a higher and\nnobler plane and then let us have your arguments and reasoning. Is man\nsuperior to woman morally? Now, if you are honest, you must blush. In\nmorals, man superior to woman! We all know this is not true. And do morals\ncount for naught in the scale of being? In what pertains to the finer\nsensibilities and spiritual pureties is woman inferior? If not, are these\nof no moment compared with mere physical brute force? Do women survive\ndeath as men do; if so, which will be of greatest value in the beautiful\nhereafter--brute force and physical prowess, which only have existence in\nthe lower realms of the spiritual world, or those finer spiritual\nqualities possessed by woman in a much higher degree than by man as they\nmanifest in embodied life, and which belong to the higher spiritual sphere\nof being in the other life?\n\n\"Beware, oh man, how you treat angelic woman, for the future will teach\nyou many lessons, brought about by your arbitrary and utterly indefensible\nassumptions and arrogations, among which will be classed your illiberal\nand unjust treatment of woman. She is your equal, and your great weakness\nis in withholding it from her.\n\n\"July 13. In giving briefly and very imperfectly a sketch of what I saw\nand learned on the planet Mars I have been compelled necessarily to omit\nmany things, among other reasons, because they would not only be not\nbelieved, but in many instances incite unfavorable comments, if not\nabsolute ridicule. I am not unconscious of the fact that many things\ncontained in the foregoing narrative, although literally true, will meet\nwith unfavorable criticism, but I have not been writing to please or to\navoid censure, but to deliver the truth, much of which I am aware is far\nin advance of the age in which you now live on the planet earth. But it\nhas been thought that a little work of this kind would be kindly received\nand amiably treated by at least progressed minds--those who had\ninspirationally and intuitively drank at the fountain of spiritual wisdom\nand spiritual things; and, as to others, it was hoped it might cause them\nto think it possible, if not probable, that man is something more than a\nmere fleeting bauble, a mere creature of a moment.\n\n\"To awaken in man the consciousness of the augustness of his being, and\nthe mighty destiny before and awaiting its development, can not fail in\nthis transition period, when you are passing from old theological theories\nand religious systems into something better, higher, holier, to subserve\ngreat and lasting good. In this transition process the great effort is to\nbe made to direct the great body of advancing minds into the right\nchannels, for in many cases the tendency is found to be toward the cold\nbarrenness of materialism.\n\n\"The question that is to confront you in the future is not in regard to\ncreeds and dogmas, for they are passing away, but whether these few\nfleeting years of physically embodied life is the all of your being,\nwhether death is the setting forever of the bright star of our being in\nthe night and gloom of ended existence, or whether there is for man a\nglorious life of endless progress beyond the life and transitory scenes of\nphysical embodiment.\n\n\"July 14. With this my labors for the present end. The effort has been\nmore irksome than you may conceive. The difficulties attending the act of\ncommunicating are more numerous and troublesome than the world would allow\nif they were fully explained. But we have done the best we could.\n\n\"To you, Mr. Helleberg, I return my thanks and the thanks of those\nco-operating with me, for the patience, earnestness and honesty which have\ncharacterized your association with us in this work. Our blessings rest\nupon you, and be assured that your greatest reward will be in the happy\nland which your aged footsteps are nearing. We shall shield and bless you\nhere, and crown you in the land of immortal beatitudes.\n\n\"We would be ungrateful beyond measure not to speak in acknowledgment of\nthe virtues and noble qualities of the medium, through whose superbly\ndeveloped medial powers we have been enabled to speak to the world. In\nconsequence of our frequent contact with her noble and pure soul our first\nadmiration for her has grown into the deepest, truest and holiest\naffection. Heaven bless her in all her ways and walks. Her noble band of\nspirits, tireless, indefatigable and upright, have rendered us vast\nassistance, without which we could not have succeeded in the slightest\ndegree. They are capable, true and honest, and able to guard and protect\ntheir instrument, before whom is a great future career of usefulness, and\nshe may confidently trust them in all things.\n\n\"To those who may read my feeble lines I bespeak that charity you would\nlike extended to you. Judge not harshly, but with generous impulse. You\nare in the realm of crude materiality, in the tenement of flesh,\ninfluenced more or less by many disadvantageous surroundings, which are\nnot spiritually inspiring or elevating, but by and by you will survive and\npass beyond them. Let me entreat you to study and learn of the great law\nof PROGRESSION, which we have constantly endeavored to keep before you. In\nthat law and its manifold manifestations reside all wisdom, love and\ntruth. It is that law that assures your future greatness and happiness,\nand will work out for you a destiny, the grandeur and glory of which you\ncan but faintly comprehend and know. You can not die. You must live\nforever. You can not retrace your steps, nor recede in the development of\nyour being; neither can you stand still. Therefore you must move forward,\nonward and upward, forever and forever.\n\n \"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nCOMMUNICATIONS FROM EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.\n\n\nThe following communications, purporting to come from the spirit of\nEmanuel Swedenborg, at Mrs. Green's, are arranged in the order of their\nreception:\n\nSeptember 26, 1881:\n\n\"I greet you; good morning. You hail from dear old Sweden, my native land.\nThe same native blood that coursed through my veins flows through yours.\nFor a long time I have realized that your thoughts have been on me and the\ndoctrines I taught on earth, some of which I would gladly recant. In my\nday nothing else could have been projected through my brain, and nothing\nless violent, though more truthful, would have engaged attention or\ncommanded respect. My writings, as I now see them, were a strange\ncommingling of truth and error, though I believe with truth largely\npredominant. I want the world, especially my followers, the disciples of\nthe Church of New Jerusalem, to eliminate, in the interest of truth, the\nerrors and crudities that unwittingly, though reverentially, crept into my\ntheological writings. The hells as I portrayed them I now know were\nmagnified into undue and absurd proportions, colored and distorted by my\nown preconceived notions, and, moreover, largely attributable to the\nreligious temper and theologic thought of the time in which I wrote. Tell\nyour good companion and others of like convictions to discard at once and\nfearlessly my unwarranted denunciation against holding intercourse with\nthe inhabitants of the spiritual world. I misapprehended, and, alas,\nmisinterpreted the holy visions given me. I was allowed to see\nprophetically that the two worlds would be brought into close\ncommunicating relations, and I ought to have seen farther--that it would\noccur through and by the permission and co-operative agency of God and his\nlaws, and ought not therefore to be interdicted. This has given me vast\nannoyance, and I am very solicitous indeed that this shall be righted.\nHold fast to this spiritualism, for therein only can be found light and\nlove and wisdom. My power to maintain control is weakening, and I must\nclose for the present. I will meet you here again. Good bye.\n\n \"EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.\"\n\n\nOctober 3, 1881\n\n\"In my communication a week ago I referred, not incidentally, but\npurposely, to my followers of the Church of the New Jerusalem. It is\ngratifying to me to know that they are in the main honest, faithful and\nintelligent people; but I regret that they have deemed it proper to\nresolve themselves into an exclusive sect; for, disguise it as you may,\nall sects are more or less exclusive. Among the many curses that afflict\nyour mortal humanity, none are to be more deplored than sectarianism and\ndogmatic theology. Do you know that in the most ambitious moments of my\nearthly career, much less in the lofty moods of my medial inspiration, I\nnever dreamed that I was to become the founder of a religious sect,\nespecially one based on dogmatic formulas. The affirmations of material\nscience now no longer questioned that in all organized structures reside\nthe underlying, all-pervading and continually operating elements.\nDisintegration, decay and ultimate destruction of the organized form apply\nwith equal and unerring certainty to ecclesiastical bodies. Modern\nspiritualism in this, that it is specifically and rigidly scientific,\nclustering beauteously around the family hearthstone, adorning and\nhallowing the family altar, may be distinguished by its infinite\nsuperiority to all other systems, it having no creed to establish, and\nsteadfastly repelling all attempts at organization, is destined to survive\nthe wreck and demolition of all theological teaching standing in\nantagonistic relations to it; and this God-given, heaven-inspiring\nhumanity, embracing soul-uplifting spiritualism, is to become the\nuniversal religion of mankind. I will continue to administer to your wants\nand remove the scales from the eyes of the people, especially my\nfollowers. More anon.\n\n \"EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.\"\n\n\nOn October 17, 1881, the following communication appeared on the slate:\n\n\"The blessings of the most high God and the benediction of His holy angels\nand spirits on you and yours. What I most desire to say to you to-day is\nthat since our last interview here I have participated with others in a\ndiscussion relative to a recent scientific discovery in the spirit world\nwhich, when imparted to the world of embodied man, will strike the learned\nsavants of your life with mingled feelings of awe and consternation. Our\nrecent experiments were exceedingly satisfactory, and the questions that\nremain open are, when, to who and through whom shall it be given to the\nchildren of earth. The general expression of our society favored some time\ntowards the close of the coming year as best adapted. In this view I\nconcurred, for many reasons. My revered friend, let me say to you to-day,\nwith great and positive emphasis, that the year 1882, earth time, will be\nthe most marvelous year of the world's history, and will be characterized\nby the most stupendous events in all the circling centuries of past time.\nIn that year and the succeeding one astounding spiritual revelations will\nbe made to the denizens of this earth, utterly upsetting old, effete\ntheological doctrines, and mercilessly demolishing now considered well\nestablished scientific conclusions, and your scientists' tests,\nself-complacent and arrogant in their pretensions, and possessed most\nfully of the spirit of vaulted ambition, the creation of their\nself-conceit, will awake to the consciousness that they have been mere\npigmies in scientific research, and that on many subjects may have been so\nsuperficial as not to penetrate beyond the mere shadows and surface of\nthings. I promise you that when the proper time arrives for this\ndisclosure you shall not be overlooked or neglected. Bound to you in\nfraternal relation of a common brotherhood, embracing in grand\nreciprocation the inhabitants of both the mundane and supermundane worlds,\nI am yours, devoted for the truth,\n\n \"EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.\"\n\n\nJune 12, 1882\n\n\"If we concede for the sake of argument that there really exists a literal\nhell, as depicted by theological teaching, and which constitutes an\narticle of faith in most of the Christian sects, we are forced to inquire\n(and it is a legitimate subject of inquiry from the assumed premises), Was\nhell made for man, or man for hell? and this involves the question of\nduration of existence in point of time antecedent. Whichever way we\ndetermine, and our determination of the question from a terrestrial\nstandpoint can only arise from speculation and conjecture, and not from\nproofs, one conclusion we can not escape, namely, the malevolence of the\nauthor. If hell was established prior to the time when the _fiat_ went\nforth bringing man into being, and was designed for his abode and\naccommodation, we can not reconcile the goodness of the Lord with such\nutterly unjust and malevolent purpose, because to concede this much admits\nthe possession of sufficiency of power to have ordered otherwise, which\nprecludes impotency and concludes the will and purpose to so order and\narrange.\n\n\"If the creation of hell and man as arbitrary acts of the Deity was\ncoeval, then the same conclusion inevitably follows, before and behind the\nact of these creations resided in the Lord the power to have differently\nordered; hence we must assume that the simultaneous creation of hell and\nman was predetermined, and in accordance with the will-pleasure and\npurpose of the Creator.\n\n\"If, furthermore, man was first created without any reference to hell or\nany preconceived purpose or expectancy to establish it, and that its\ncreation was necessitated from man's unexpected disobedience, and as the\nonly proper means of gratifying the vengeance of an insulted God, then we\nunwittingly and in a very silly way declare the absence of foreknowledge\nin the Lord, and degrade him to the level of a puny, passionate man.\n\n\"To assume any of these puerile positions to be true is to assume that the\nLord, however august in power, and the physical, mental and spiritual\nability to order and to direct, is nevertheless a moral weakling, and\nwholly devoid of moral excellence in degree superior to the meanest of his\ncreatures.\"\n\nJune 15, 1882:\n\n\"If hell exists, it is plain to be seen there was a necessity for it. If\ncreated before man, there was no necessity for its existence, for the Lord\nis governed by the idea of uses, and there was present no use for it. Will\nit be maintained that the Lord would create any thing without a use and\nwise purpose? It is the uses of things that so signally distinguish his\ncreative and moral governments.\n\n\"If it is said in reply that when hell was fashioned and established the\nLord had in contemplation the creation of man, and that it was to be\nsubsequently rendered useful as a place of punishment for disobedience,\nwhich implies that the Lord knew in advance of man's creation that he\nwould be disobedient, then, oh, man, you are surely in the hands and under\nthe power of a merciless demon, falsely called God. If this indeed is the\ntrue character of our Lord, then truly may his weak and helpless children\nbow their heads in sorrow and despair.\n\n\"These teachers of false theology, these false interpreters of simple\ntruth, these false prophets of a false conception, affirm that this\nappalling hell, offspring of a monster creative agency, is a fixed\nlocation somewhere, which they have the candor to say, they know not.\n\n\"The theologians perceiving throughout the vast domain of universal nature\ntwo confronting opposites or extremes, and that there scheme must fall if\nhell were left alone to be the final destiny of the entire human family,\nerect another falsity and construct another place or harbor for the\nsojourners and pilgrims of earth, and consequently they say that the Lord\nhas established somewhere in space a heaven, the location of which,\nalthough a locality, can not be ascertained.\n\n\"The same questions, with equal propriety, might be propounded in\nreference to heaven and the same conclusions follow. Was it made for man\nor man for it? Was it made before or after man was made? Where is it\nsituate; who go there and why do they go there, and for what purpose? If\nthe theologians answer these pertinent questions in harmony with their\ncreeds, they would make my friend John Calvin, who accompanied me here\nthis morning and is now standing by my side, blush with shame. He now, as\na noble spirit, pities the ignorance and credulity that characterized him\nin his religious frenzy when in the form, and the credulity and weakness\nof his followers.\"\n\nJune 19, 1882:\n\n\"The original conception of a literal local heaven and hell was a feeble\nmonstrosity and far exceeding the intuitions and anticipations of its\noriginators, it has assumed huge and alarming proportions. Originally it\nwas treated either as a human created joke, or as a wild vagary of the\nimagination, and in both cases without even the shadow of a foundation in\nfact. But as time moved along it began to grow seriously in the minds of\nthe morbidly curious and credulously constituted, and it found many\nearnest advocates and believers, and they were not altogether limited to\nthe ignorant. Had this been the case it would have been harmless and\nshort-lived. The poet in depicting the career of vice aptly illustrates\nthe history of this conception:\n\n \"'Vice is a monster of such frightful mien,\n As to be dreaded needs but to be seen.\n Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,\n We first pity, then endure, and then embrace.'\"\n\n\"I unhappily lived in a day when it had been largely embraced. Had I lived\nin the day when it was conceived and promulgated, or approximately near it\nand been possessed of the physical, mental and spiritual organization with\nwhich I was favored in earth life, I would have undoubtedly earnestly\ncombated it. But in my time it had grown into prominence and general\nacceptance among Christian sects, including the Lutheran, to which I\nadhered before my spiritual illumination; and hence while my spiritual\nmediumistic unfoldment, mental adaptabilities and capabilities would not\nallow me to accept the literal teaching of purblind theology on the\nsubject, I was disqualified from perceiving and promulgating the real\ntruth. I endeavored, however, to do what the theologians have never\nattempted, namely, to assign reasons for the existence of heavens and\nhells in justification and defense of the Lord. The groundlessness of my\nphilosophy and the impotency of my reasoning I was unable to understand\nuntil the lapse of years after my entrance into the spiritual world, and\nthen only by slow and discreet degrees. Step by step only did I receive\nthe influx of spiritual light and truth, opening my eyes to the truth and\nimpressing my soul with the consciousness of the errors and falsities of\nmy teachings when on the earth embodied.\n\n\"In the spiritual world we are not allowed to perceive truth except by\ndegrees and interior growth, and only as we are enabled to outgrow and\ndisown error. Our errors, whether of acts and deeds committed, duties\nomitted, or false theories, either taught or believed by us when in the\nform, follow us to the spiritual world and cling to us with a perfectly\namazing and persistent tenacity, and this constitutes hell and it exists\nnowhere else.\"\n\nJune 22, 1882:\n\n\"In my philosophy of correspondences there was much truth, with here and\nthere a shade of error. It was argumentative, speculative, and\ncharacterized by analogous reasoning, but not sufficiently intuitive to\nreach the full height of spiritual induction. But whatever errors may have\ncrept into this department of my writings, they have been comparatively\nharmless.\n\n\"What has given me the greatest annoyance since my departure from the\nflesh, or rather since I have better understood the subject; and what has\ngiven me the greatest anxiety to have eradicated from the minds of those\nwho read me believingly, are my teachings on the subject of the hells in\nthe spiritual world. I desire here to lay down a proposition I know to be\ntrue, whoever may state to the contrary, namely: No embodied spirit was\never enabled, no matter how highly developed the organism of the subject,\nto leave the body, go into the spiritual spheres, undergo experiences\nthere, behold scenes, hold converse with their inhabitants, witness events\nand occurrences transpiring there, then return to the body, bring it back\ninto normal action, and then correctly and in detail and in purity of\nnarrative give to the world through the physical organism of the body,\nwhat it had seen, heard, and witnessed, during its temporary absence. If\nit were otherwise, and the spiritual world a real, fixed and objective\nreality, all who visited it in spirit during physical embodiment, would on\nreturning and reanimating the body with the returning spiritual influx\nimpart the same information and recite the same story. The directly\nopposite of this is true, and settles the question irrevocably in the\nnegative as to the absolute reliability of knowledge imparted by spirits\nwhile inhabiting the natural body, although permitted by the operation of\na certain law which is neither wholly spiritual nor physical, but a\ncombination of both, to leave for a short period its tenement of flesh.\nEven then the spirit entire does not vacate the body, even for an instant\nof time, for if it did life in the body would become immediately extinct.\nHowever far the _consciousness_ of the spirit may wander away from its\nhome in the material house it must maintain an inseparable connection with\nit, at least by a portion of the magnetism of itself. Therefore during its\nvisits away it is nevertheless all the while connected with the body, and\nhampered and fettered by it, and more or less governed by its laws and\nconditions. It can not, therefore, on returning, and it has never been\nwholly absent, give fully, purely, and correctly its spiritual\nobservations and experiences.\n\n\"When I visited the spiritual world during my embodied life I was governed\nby this same law and subjected to the same limitations, and hence what I\nrelated was not entitled to full credence and belief. So it has been in\nall cases of trance in the past, and will continue to be in the future for\nages yet to come. In my next I shall speak of some instances illustrative\nof this truth.\"\n\nJune 26, 1882:\n\n\"As illustrative of the proposition submitted in my last I will only\nmention a few among numerous instances.\n\n\"The book of Revelations states that John visited the Isle of Patmos on\nthe Lord's day, and was then and there in the spirit. (I should have used\nthe expression 'entranced' or 'trance state,' or that 'the Lord permitted\nme to see.') While thus in the spirit or trance state he was taken to the\nheavens. After resuming his normal condition in the body he essays to\nwrite out what he thinks he saw, or so much of it as he is enabled to\nretain in memory, and call up after again fully controlling the physical\nbody. He says that he saw beasts worshiping around the throne of God, and\nthat he saw a beast rise out of the sea with seven heads and ten horns;\nthat a book written in heaven was handed him with the command that he eat\nit, which he assures us he did, etc. Does any one believe that these were\nveritable occurrences, 'that there were beasts in heaven full of heavenly\nlove, evinced in worshiping before the throne, and that books were written\nin heaven for men to eat? The Koran of Mahomet is an improvement on this,\nfor it was not eaten, but preserved for use.\n\n\"Now, I want to say to the world, especially the New Church people, that\nmy visions of the hells had no more foundation in fact than John's beasts,\ndragons and golden candlesticks. The difference between John and myself,\nthat is, the important difference, consisted in the fact that John's\nsymbolic visions were explained to be unrealities, while I was left to\nbelieve mine to be absolute verities. In fact one was as unreal as the\nother, and only forcibly illustrates the unreliability of this mode of\nderiving true and genuine spiritual knowledge.\n\n\"Your own Andrew Jackson Davis is another instance corroborative of my\nproposition. He avers that he has been, not 'in the spirit,' like John,\nnor 'in the trance state,' like myself, but, in more aesthetic phraseology,\n'in the superior state.' They all practically mean the same thing. Davis\nsays he located while in the 'superior state' the spirit world proper, and\nfound it to be in or beyond the 'milky way,' thus inflicting a cruel blow\nupon the science of astronomy. Astronomy teaches, and correctly, too, as\nevery well informed spirit knows, that the 'milky way' is a vast\nassemblage or constellation of suns, worlds and systems of solar worlds,\nand yet Mr. Davis was honest.\n\n\"Judge John Worth Edmonds, in his earlier mediumship and spiritualistic\nexperiences, visited the other world in spirit, and his description of the\nhells recorded in his work entitled 'Spiritualism,' was somewhat analogous\nto mine, and very much in harmony with it. His temperament, mental methods\nand spiritual development were not very dissimilar to mine, and he had\nbeen previously as thoroughly grounded in Calvinism as I had been in\nLutheranism. So it was but natural that we should see and interpret much\nalike. Yet in final conclusions we were in absolute antagonism, differing\nfully as widely as the poles are separated in distance by terrestrial\nmeasurement.\n\n\"Truth can not dissemble nor assume deceptive garbs, and all seeing the\nsame things differently, proves that neither could be relied upon, for if\nthey had been true and genuine verities, all would have seen and reported\nthem alike.\"\n\nJune 29, 1882:\n\n\"Since I have been inducted into higher light and blessed with the true\nknowledge I have been utterly amazed in reviewing my writings, resulting\nin the discovery of two facts, namely, their prolixity in matter and\nstupendousness in folly. It seems to me now as almost utterly incredible\nthat in my efforts at the spiritual interpretation of the scriptures I\nshould have written so many absolutely silly and unmeaning things. It\nbecomes my duty, and I can not be happy without it, to make this\ndeclaration, however humiliating it may be to me, viewed from your\nstandpoint, but the truth and the peace, happiness and progress of my\nspirit require it. No work was ever written but what an ingenious\nmetaphysician might not twist out of its every paragraph an assumed\ninterior and mysterious meaning.\n\n\"But, after all, I was fortuitous in advancing many ennobling and\nwholesome truths. In all that I wrote I take greater pride and unto myself\nmuch rejoicing in my assaults upon the Lutheran doctrine of justification\nby faith alone, and in my enjoining love to the neighbor. However, to\nbelieve in and teach the doctrine of love one to another, or 'love thy\nneighbor as thyself,' does not require an inspiration from heaven. It is\nthe doctrine taught by universal nature and in-worked in the web and woof\nof human nature. To realize and understand it we have only to become even\npartially civilized and to commune with nature and ourselves.\n\n\"A great portion of my life has been devoted to secular pursuits and the\nstudy of natural science. I also possessed some inventive genius, and\nduring my purely secular career I was always contemplating, by silent\nmeditation, employing the latter part of my life in the study of the\nproperties of the human soul and its relation to the Lord and human life.\nTherefore when I came to engage the subject, it was not a spontaneous\nimpulsion to it, as some have supposed, although it was immediately\nattended and characterized by a degree of spiritual illumination and\ninspiration. I did not approach the examination of the subject wholly free\nand untrammeled by prejudice and uninfluenced by bias. I had previously\nconceived thoroughly deep convictions relating to this subject, and I now\nknow no amount of spiritual aid could have possibly eradicated them\nsufficiently to have allowed the presentation of the plain, unadulterated\ntruth.\n\n\"Oh, how effectually are we enslaved by education, association and mental\ntraining. The man who can overcome them in the pursuit of truth is far\nsuperior in all that goes to make up true manhood to the crowned heads and\npampered ones of earth; yea, he is not only grand and noble in the full\nstature of his manhood, but he is more--he is godlike.\"\n\nJuly 3, 1882:\n\n\"I do not affirm the non-existence of heaven and hell, but what I would be\nunderstood as affirming is their non-existence as separate, independent\nand fixed localities. If you will interpret heaven to mean happiness, and\nhell its opposite, that is, misery, we can fully agree, for this\ninterpretation implies what is veritably true, namely, that they are\nconditions, and not localities. As conditions they not only exist in the\nspiritual world, but also in the sensual or material, and apply to both\nembodied and disembodied man.\n\n\"It is related that Jesus said, 'The kingdom of heaven is within you,' and\nnever was truth more completely and potently uttered. At the time he was\ntalking to men in the body, and to _them_ he declares, 'The kingdom of\nheaven is _within you_.'\n\n\"If he is entitled to credit as an authority on the subject, and\nChristians certainly will not gainsay it, then it is quite clear that\nheaven, being in the human, spiritual beings is as a locality nowhere\nelse. And inasmuch as it could not exist in the human being as a location,\nfor this would give us millions upon innumerable millions of localized\nheavens, one for each breathing human embodied man, to become destroyed at\nthe death of each, which is too absurd to be seriously discussed, it must\nnecessarily follow, and as clear as the sunlight of heaven, that whatever\nthat kingdom may in fact be, it is simply and absolutely a condition. And\nwe can therefore readily see that as a condition, different with every\nhuman being, owing to the moral status and spiritual development of each,\nit perpetuates itself as truly and fully as does the spirit itself survive\nthe dissolution of the aggregated physical atoms and forces of the\nmaterial body, and moreover accompanies the real man into the spiritual\nworld. So with its opposite--hell.\n\n\"If this is conceded, and no Christian can deny it with any degree of\nconsistency, for the moment he does he dishonors Jesus as an authority,\nthen the whole foundation of a local permanent hell is swept away, and the\nloathsome superstructure erected thereupon falls to the ground forever.\n\n\"Heaven and hell, viewed in any sense, are opposites, and wherever they\nexist they must exist simultaneously, for some are in heaven and some in\nhell all the time, and therefore if the kingdom of heaven is in the\nchildren of men, so also must be the kingdom of hell, or it does not exist\nat all.\n\n\"With my limited power I can not elaborate this point, or even present it\nas I should like to, and you must be content with a bare and imperfect\nstatement.\"\n\nJuly 6, 1882:\n\n\"Before the mythologists of antiquity had constructed a hell they had on\ntheir hands a personal, individualized spirit of evil, known as the\nserpent or satan, and more modernly as the devil. Investing this\nmythological creature with all the distinguishing attributes of the Lord,\nsave that of goodness, they must have a localized place of sufficient\ncapacity, and properly arranged for the enjoyment by him of the fruits of\nhis labors. Divesting him of all goodness _per se_, the hell of their\ncreation must necessarily represent his newly-acquired condition of total\ndepravity, for previously he had been an angel in heaven, and must\npossess the proper and sufficient elements to enable him to gratify his\nhatred of the Lord in the punishment of his children. It was but natural\nin that day that the element of fire should be chosen, as it was supposed\nto be the most destructive element in nature, and best calculated in its\nvery nature to induce the most intense and excruciating suffering to\nphysical and material bodies possessed of the animating principle of\nanimal life. In their unspiritual and ignorant state they supposed and\nbelieved that the bodies in the other world would be similar to those in\nthis, and therefore subject to similar effects from heat and fire. What a\nmonstrous conception, and how utterly inexplicable that it should ever\nhave been believed. Even John the Revelator took a material view of hell,\nand described it as a 'lake of fire and brimstone.'\n\n\"I was compelled, or rather impelled, from reason or from experiences\nsufficiently clear, in my frequent moods or states of spiritual exaltation\nto depart from this grossly materialistic view. While my hells were in the\nplural, yet I fell into nearly as great error in my creations. They were\nthe progeny of imperfect visions, imperfectly understood and grossly\nerroneous in their relation.\n\n\"You have only to think a moment seriously to discover the utter folly of\nmy hells, and I will only present one instance among many equally absurd.\nYou will find in my 'memorable relations' that I spoke of a certain class\nof Jews and others wading through mud, quagmires and swamps, and being\ninjuriously affected by them, and this for the purposes of punishment.\nNow, the conception of a spirit, composed largely of pure ether, wading\nin the mire and wallowing in spiritual miasmatic swamps and filthy dirt,\nis only equaled by the mythological conception believed in and advocated\nby Christians that a spirit could be effected to any degree of suffering\nby material fire and brimstone. Both conceptions are as false as God is\ntrue.\n\n\"In reference to the mythological arch fiend of mankind let us summarize:\nFirst an angel in heaven; then a rebel; then a war in the peaceful realms\nof heaven, instigated by this fiend; then the fall from the angelic state;\nthen a transformation into a terrible and grim devil; then the building of\na hell for his use, convenience and felicity, and then turning over to his\ncontrol and malignant fiendishness three-fourths or more of poor, weak\nbeings, creatures of an Infinite God, and you have fitly spoken a system\nthat could only have originated in an orthodox hell, figuratively\nspeaking, and by an orthodox devil, and which for malevolence far exceeds\nany thing ever thought of in this or any other world.\"\n\nJuly 17, 1882:\n\n\"The bible makers having established a heaven and hell, with God presiding\nover the one and the devil over the other, were driven to the necessity of\nconcocting a scheme for populating them. The God of their creation they\nrepresent to be possessed of infinite perfections and glory, and heaven\nthe very ideal of grandeur and beatitude. One would very naturally\nconclude that in their scheme they would have so arranged that God would\nhave had the first choice, and heaven the destination of the best and\nwisest of the denizens of earth. Nothing short of this could have so\ncompletely enamored us of the conception and rendered heaven devoutly to\nbe wished for; but here the arrangement in value and superlative worth\nmeets with a severe set back. One of the weak and frail points in the\nscheme consists in not allowing this infinite God to have his own choice\nin selecting those to become consociated with him in enjoying celestial\ndelights in heaven. Human nature, by the fall in the Garden of Eden,\nbecame weak and subjected to malign influences with an inadequacy of\nrepellant power to overcome them. The cruel authors of this system, while\nthey establish their god in heaven, a far distant locality, and keep him\nthere constantly occupied and absorbed with the music and praises of the\nransomed few, turn the devil loose to roam at will, and invest him not\nonly with the deific attribute of omnipresence, but also confer upon him\nthe extraordinary power without restraint of assuming angel's garbs even\nto the deceiving of the elect. In addition they place under his authority\nand to do his bidding an unlimited number of smaller devils, whose\nservices have been utilized by him in preying upon the peace and happiness\nof the children of this world, and in preparing their souls for eternal\npunishment and subservience to his will in the world to come.\"\n\nJuly 20, 1882:\n\n\"To counteract this terrible invisible influence of evil no power of equal\npotency is furnished. They say that God's holy spirit in conjunctive\nco-operation with the saints embodied (they mean, of course, the preachers\nand good church people) is seeking man's deliverance and salvation. They\nconfess, however, that this agency is impotent when compared with the\npower wielded by the devil and his invisible cohorts. They make Jesus say\nsubstantially that the road that leads to heaven is narrow and\ncircumscribed and few travel in it, while the road that leads to hell is\nbroad and the many travel therein, 'many shall be called, but few chosen,'\netc., etc.\n\n\"If their system be true we are forced inevitably to conclude that when\nthe creative energies residing in man have succeeded in producing a high\norder of intellection the devil straightway captures them, leaving heaven\nto be peopled without the presence of the great and godlike in mental\npower. It would seem prudent and wise that this should have been otherwise\narranged in order to have rendered heaven reasonably and fairly\nintellectual. No wonder, therefore, that their highest conceptions of\nworship and gratitude consisted in keeping up around the throne of the\nLord a continual musical concert, both vocal and instrumental. Such\ndistinguished and illustrious souls as Washington, Jefferson, Webster,\nClay, Lincoln, Garfield, Paine, Voltaire, and others, could not be induced\nto participate for all future time in such exercises, for their mental\nconstitutions were too robust and great and their souls too much\ninterested in other and more ennobling pursuits. This kind of heaven would\nnot suit souls of such intellectual proportions, and the orthodox hell, if\naccompanied by suffering, would be preferable to them, because their\nassociations, at least, would be intellectual, for the devil is said to be\nexceedingly wise, and all wise souls live and delight in kindred\nconsociations.\"\n\nJuly 21, 1882:\n\n\"According to the orthodox scheme, heaven, hell, and the devil, all go\ntogether, or, in other words, they are inseparably connected with and\nbelong to the plan. Heaven would be the destination of all without a hell\nand _vice versa_. Heaven and hell are in antagonism, and there would be no\nstrife but by and through the devil, and therefore his existence is a\nnecessity to this end. God is too good to take part in this strife, and is\neither indifferent or too weak to avert it. Even when the war in heaven,\naccording to Milton, was waged between the devil and the Lord, with\nrelentless fury, he would take no direct and active part, but commissioned\nMichael his generalissimo. How could he now be expected to take an\nimmediate and active part, even to save his own defenseless children.\nEarthly parents act quite differently when their offspring are in peril,\nand so do the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air. I am talking\nironically only to show the utter folly of the whole matter.\n\n\"In this connection did you ever think why it is that the devil is\ncontinually seeking the moral overthrow and eternal ruin of the human\nfamily? It is not because he has any ill feeling for cause against the\nchildren of men. They have never given him any occasion, and as we have\nseen, in their helpless condition, they could not if they would. According\nto the bible and the claims of Christians they have always done just as\nthe devil wanted them to. He wanted Adam and Eve to eat the apple and they\ndid so. He wanted Abraham to debauch Hagar, and after her ruin to turn her\nloose with her helpless babe on her bosom amid the wilds of the wilderness\nof Beersheba, and Abraham did so. He wanted Noah to drink of the wine and\nbecome drunken, and Noah hesitated not, etc. So in fact the assumption\ncan not be maintained that the devil in capturing nine-tenths of the human\nfamily is actuated by any malignant feeling towards his victims. The\nreason lies elsewhere. We are assured by the bible theologians and their\ncoadjutors that the devil is solely actuated by his intense hatred of the\nLord and the purpose of wreaking vengeance upon him for banishing him from\nheaven and the angelic state. If this is true common justice and sympathy\nfor the suffering of the unoffending impose most seriously the duty upon\nthe Lord, either to conciliate the devil in the interest of harmony, peace\nand concord, and to save his helpless children, or destroy outright this\nmalignant enemy of his. If he will do neither, nor arrest him in his\ndiabolical work, then truly are we justified not only in withholding\nhomage from him, but also in regarding him equally at enmity with our\nwelfare and a party (_particeps criminis_) in causing our sufferings and\npreparing our eternal doom.\"\n\nJuly 27, 1882:\n\n\"Why seriously discuss questions that are fast fading out of sight? The\nadvancement of mind and the development of spiritual discernment are on\nthe eve of relegating old antiquated theories and ideas to the past ages\nof heathen darkness, where they properly belong. Total depravity throwing\nits dark mantle over tender infancy--parent of the doctrine of infant\ndamnation--is no longer taught or believed by enlightened clergymen and\ntheir followers. It only has a sickly foothold where the people are\nspiritually dominated by an ignorant or pusillanimous priesthood. Why,\ntherefore, seek to revive by serious discussion any interest in dogmas\nnow almost inanimate and staggering to their final fall and eternal sleep.\nLet them die serenely if they can, and be buried out of sight without pomp\nor regret. We have questions of greater moment and of much more value to\nmankind, and to them let us address ourselves. All things are not only\nprogressive but eternally progressing. Must we therefore resolve that\nsystems of religion and theological dogmas are finished and settled\nforever. If so, when did this divinely appointed consummation take place?\nIt certainly, if true, must be an event of recent date. By whom settled,\nhow and when? Certainly not by the old Romish Church and the hierarchy\nestablished at Nice and Laodicia, for their history since has been\ncharacterized by quarrels and dissensions, which at times have threatened\ntheir very existence. And certainly no one will seriously maintain that\nthey have reached the high altitude of final and definite settlement by\nLuther, Calvin and others in their departure from the original faith. Some\nof the articles of faith of these have either been discarded or quietly\nabandoned, and those left have been modified, and are scarcely an\nimprovement on the originals. In candidly looking over the whole field\namong the religious sects now extant, only one thing is discovered to be\nmutually agreed upon, and that is that man lives after death. We hardly\nneed to stop to except those semi-materialistic Christians who claim that\na future existence at all depends wholly on the physical resurrection of\nthe material body at some vague and indefinite period of future time. This\ndoctrine is so unscientific and so disconsonant with reason that we pass\nit by with a mere reference to it.\"\n\nJuly 28, 1882:\n\n\"The Catholics have three states for the dead, Heaven, Hell and Purgatory;\nthe thorough orthodox Protestants two, striking out purgatory; while the\nUniversalists insist on expunging hell from the catalogue. Some will have\none God, and others a trinity of them. But they differ materially as to\nthe course to pursue in order to obtain the divine favor, holy unction and\nsaving grace of the Lord. Here they are put to the severest test. It is\ninfinitely of less moment to ascertain how many gods rule above, or how\nmany states of the dead, as it is to know how to reach the much desired\nhaven of peace and happiness in the eternal world.\n\n\"A prudent man would be comparatively indifferent as to how many ruling\nsovereigns over the destinies of man, or how many locations of consignment\nfor their souls, so he is enabled to attain unto the highest good, and\nthis consideration more imperatively absorbs his attention. Knowledge of\nthe former would be valueless without knowledge of the latter. And hence\nin seeking to become familiar with the latter is where he becomes lost in\nthe labyrinthian mazes of divergent and perplexingly diversified\ntheologies.\n\n\"One would have you attend to the confessional, do penance and observe and\nconform to the dictums emanating from the Roman Pontiff and the imperious\nmandates of priests, thereby securing absolution from the consequences of\nsin, and due preparation for the next world. Another admonishes you that\nyour salvation depends on the nature and degree of faith in the atoning\nsacrifice. Another that you must become regenerated and washed of\ninherited and committed sins by belief in and conformity to certain\nspecific and definitely prescribed tenets. And still another, that a good,\nmoral life is the one thing needful, Jesus having paid the penalty of sin\nand triumphed over it for the whole of mankind. And so on, scarcely\nwithout limit, do these various and varied systems present themselves to\nperplex and annoy.\"\n\nJuly 31, 1882:\n\n\"Instead of there being one, two or three states of the dead, the truth is\nthere are an infinite number and variety of conditions in which the\nchildren of men exist in the spiritual world with the qualification that\nthey do not remain in them longer than they are enabled to progress out of\nthem into other and higher ones. The plain truth is, as every intelligent\nand fairly progressed returning spirit will tell you, that faith and\nbelief have nothing whatever to do in determining your status in the\nspiritual world, nor will what a man believes, however erroneous it may\nverily be, if he is honest in it, have any potency in preparing the\nspiritual conditions or assigning him his spiritual sphere. Here we must\nbe clearly understood, that we may avoid both misapprehension and\nmisrepresentation. I do not affirm that false beliefs and erroneous\nconceptions of the hereafter do not have any effect on the spirit. They do\nhave a very troublesome effect. They do not, however, in the slightest\ndegree, determine the spiritual status, for this is regulated by other\nconsiderations--moral conduct, noble acts, spiritual unfoldment, etc. But\nwhen the proper sphere is reached after death, for which the new-comer is\nspiritually fitted, they halt him there, and for a time impede and retard\nhis progress, at least until he shall have outgrown false beliefs and\nconceptions while in the material body. A man may sincerely believe that\nthe veritable orthodox devil is his constant companion, or that the air is\nswarming with malevolent creatures bent on his ruin, or that he is totally\ndepraved by inheritance, and destined to utter and endless wretchedness in\nthe other world, or any thing else, however absurd and untrue, and yet\nthat man's whole earth life may have been justly distinguished for\ncharitable deeds, love of the neighbor, and in all his habits, walks and\nways all that the severest moralists could require, do you not at once see\nthat in all justice and righteousness the man's life, acts and deeds must\ninevitably determine his sphere or spiritual condition, without the\nslightest interference by what foolish things he may have believed. And\nyet it is nevertheless not difficult to see further, that he must disabuse\nhis mind of those errors of conception and belief before he can make any\nappreciable and valuable progress. And I tell you these erroneous belief\nand unfounded conceptions cling to the man with more obdurate persistency\nthan the most of mankind could be induced to believe. Hence the prime\nimportance of forming correct ideas of the future while still animating\nthe material body.\"\n\nAugust 3, 1882:\n\n\"Acts of charity and deeds of benevolence are estimated by the spiritual\nlaws of our being in just correspondence to the motives inspiring and\nactuating them. By the motives prompting them, more than the acts and\ndeeds themselves, do they become either valuable or valueless to our\nspiritual promotion and good. I have known men who devoted a lifetime of\narduous labor in the acquisition of wealth, all the while wholly\nregardless of the interests and wants of others, and toward the end of the\npuny life, and in anticipation of the near approach of death, they\nbequeathed their accumulations to charitable and benevolent institutions,\nonly to find themselves the merest spiritual paupers in the spiritual\nworld. And why? Because being governed a lifetime by grasping and selfish\nmotives, they only dispensed the accumulated results of the cultivated\nspirit of avarice and cupidity under the selfish and painfully delusive\nmotive of enhancing their interests in a world to which their aged\ninfirmity admonished them they were hastening. Upon their entrance to the\nspiritual world the motive met them, and overshadowed them with its\npitiless condemnation.\n\n\"Had charity and benevolence characterized their lives all along for the\nsake of doing good and blessing others, it would have been quite otherwise\nwith them in the eternal world of justice and truth.\n\n\"Charities bestowed only possess eternal value when done for sweet\ncharity's sake, and with the unselfish object of helping others. This\nconstitutes love and genuine love of the neighbor, and is consequently\ndivine and heavenly and of permanent and enduring value.\n\n\"The Confucian doctrine, 'Do unto others as you would they should do unto\nyou,' reiterated by the man Jesus, contains the great and salutary rule of\nlife, which if practiced with the holiest and most disinterested motives\nwill inevitably work out a most glorious future reward for the spirit.\nThe shepherd kings promulgated this rule in a finer sense and reduced it\nto the fine realm of mind. The Confucian rule related to the _actions_ of\nmen, one to the other, but the other declares, 'Think of others as you\nwould have others think of you.' If your thoughts and actions are governed\nby these rules you may conclude you are not far from the kingdom of heaven\nor angelic sphere. If you observe these because you love the right, you\ncan not fail to love the Lord with all your heart and the neighbor as\nyourself, thus fulfilling the law of spiritual growth and development\nwhile in the temple of flesh, and insuring a condition of superlative\nhappiness in the spiritual world. If in your present state of development\nyou can not do this, you can, at least, make the honest and persevering\neffort to do it, and your reward shall be great.\"\n\nAugust 7, 1882:\n\n\"Abstain from evil-doing from the conscientious conviction that it is\nwrong to do evil and right to abstain. Do not allow yourself, in choosing\nbetween right and wrong, to be governed by a fear of future punishment, or\nhope of future reward, for this is cowardly and pusillanimous and of no\npractical value to your future happiness. Do right for the sake of the\nright and not from the selfish motive of deriving a personal benefit. You\nhave in your world two very injurious and reprehensible doctrines taught\nby learned men, namely: materialism and forgiveness of sins. They are both\ndegrading and far reaching in their baleful consequences. Christians treat\nmaterialism with scornful derision, and yet it is just as true as that the\nmisdeeds of life can be overcome and rendered harmless in their following\nconsequences by death-bed repentance and the blood of atonement. One is as\ntrue as the other, and my presence here in spirit proves materialism to be\ngroundless. Materialism is the doctrine of one world only, a mere passing\nmoment of life, and suggests very naturally to make the most out of it. I\ndo not mean to be understood as asserting that there are not good honest\npeople who believe in this doctrine, but that they are good and honest in\nspite of their belief and not as a result of it. The theological heresy\nwhich proclaims the necessity of conversion, new birth, and regeneration\n(they are convertible terms) would be much more plausible if not\nsupplemented by the more alarming and reprehensible doctrine of obtaining\nfull pardon for repeated crimes and misdeeds just preceding or at the\nimminent moment of departing from the material body by so-called death.\nThe first becomes bereft of its value, if indeed it has any, by the\nlatter. It is tantamount to asking a man to liquidate an indebtedness now,\nwhen, under the law, he has ten or twenty years option. In a purely\nbusiness view he realizes that the possession and use of his money for ten\nor twenty years is to him a matter of pecuniary interest and profit. So\nlikewise is it with the man of the world with an organization tending to\nlicentiousness and vice. He perceives no wisdom or practical use in\nbecoming regenerated in the days of his youth, when in old age the\nopportunity is afforded to repent and thereby avoid the consequences of\nthe loose indulgences and vices of a lifetime. Every villain who has run a\nlifetime unwhipt of justice and unpunished for his crimes, must be\nfascinated with this indulgent fallacy, while all truly noble souls must\nsilently, if not avowedly, abhor and detest it.\"\n\nAugust 10, 1882:\n\n\"While the Universalists are considered liberal and progressive, yet their\ndoctrine is equally dangerous and untrue. Indeed, I have more respect for\nthe others. They (the Universalists) claim to stand upon the Word, and\naffirm that the blood and death of one man propitiated sin so far as the\nfuture life is concerned, and that therefore sinning entails no hurtful\nconsequences but such as are met with along the journey of life from the\ncradle to the grave. In other words, that the consequences of sin are\nvisited upon us during our earth life, or not at all. They attempt to\njustify and defend their doctrine by a mere play upon words found in\nisolated passages in the bible, especially the epistles in the New\nTestament. The declarative assumptions of the bible, as translated for\nyour use and guidance, are utterly at war with their teachings, and it is\nfolly to deny it. In this age when the human heart and mind are reaching\nout for something better it is useless and unproductive of good to go back\nto the root of words in originals to bolster up a doctrine founded in\nerror. The effort will always prove unprofitable and must inevitably fail\nof its purpose.\n\n\"I am aware that some advanced and more spiritually minded Universalists\nbelieve in progression in the future life, and in this regard their\nconclusions are better and far in advance of their premises.\n\n\"I would say to those, however good and pure, who expect to awake to\nconsciousness in an ideal world of transcendent beatitudes without shadows\nand crosses that they will realize a most perplexing disappointment. They\nwill find a world more natural than this, because more substantial and\nenduring, and what is more they will find they lack very much of being\nperfect, more perfect indeed in undevelopment than in that soul growth and\nunfoldment that would enable them to command the joys and delights\nvouchsafed by association with progressed spiritual beings in the higher\nwalks and spheres of the spiritual world. To attain unto this state is the\nwork of time and the reward of labor.\n\n\"The true doctrine is, as all shall know in time, that conscious and\nwillful sinning, that is, where volition in choosing between the right and\nthe wrong was within our power, is treasured up in the memory of the\nspirit and confronts us in the spiritual world, and will remain until\noutgrown and overcome by arduous effort. Happiness can only be enjoyed by\nthe finite in contrast with misery, and shadows and crosses will fall upon\nus, marring our joys, until in the ages of coming time we shall so expand\nand grow towards deific perfections and excellences as to think no evil,\nthus not only rendering our actions submissive to the highest wisdom, but\nour hearts and minds to the divine love, and in a happy union of love,\nwisdom, and the will, we shall become something more than finite in our\napproach to the infinite.\"\n\nAugust 11, 1882:\n\n\"Nevertheless let it be said to the humblest, struggle on, strive to\nbattle for the right as you perceive it. If you see it not aright in good\ntime it will be revealed unto you. Be of good cheer. You must needs\nsuffer, for suffering in the right is spiritual growth--you are\ncontinually encircled by infinite love. You shall rise step by step,\nunfolding this latent power and that, gradually and by discreet degrees\ncasting aside this harrowing and distressing memory and that, all the\nwhile aided by those spirits who have passed through tribulations and\nsorrows into higher unfoldments and joys, until finally you shall rejoice\nin blissful disenthrallment from the imperfections of your past being.\nThen you will be enabled to see why you have thus suffered and rejoice\nthat it has been so. No pang will afflict you worse than those you have\ninflicted upon others, or of greater magnitude than thousands and millions\nhave endured. Be kind and forbearing to the erring, be merciful to all,\neven the humblest creature of the creation. Deal justly with all, live\nuprightly, fear nothing but evil and fly from it. Be brave for the right.\nLove your neighbor, which being spiritually interpreted, means all\nmankind. Endeavor to learn and believe truth wherever found; try, if\npossible, to think no evil; worship at no shrine but that of eternal\ntruth, and no harm can come to you in the everlasting realms of immortal\nsouls. No shadows shall darken the pathway of your progress other than\nthose incident to your connection with matter and your undeveloped\nspirituality. And these shall be dissipated, facilitated, and accelerated,\nby the sweet memories of good deeds and good thoughts.\n\n\"In the feeble communications I have given you, by the permission of the\nLord, I have not been able to impart my ideas in the same language and\nstyle that characterized my writings when embodied. I know they will be\nsubjected to this criticism, but the difficulties of projecting my ideas\ninto form in words have been many and great. If they were explained they\nin turn would be criticised with equal virulence. When coming within the\nradius of mediumistic aura we encounter obstacles great and difficult to\novercome at their state of mediumship. Happily in time these difficulties\nwill be surmounted. The aura of the medium and sitter blending with my\nspirit magnetism, your continued thinking and also the medium, thereby\ndisturbing the equability of the magnetic and electric emanations, and to\na corresponding degree affecting the psychic forces of the communicating\nspirit, and other things you would not understand if told you, all\nconspire to enfeeble the spirit intellectually, and, to a certain extent,\nlimit it to the mental sphere of those present, especially the medium,\nupon whom we are so largely dependent. If you understood the subject as it\nreally is, you would be surprised that we could even do so well. You, my\ndear Swedish friend, have aided us nobly; your motives being so pure and\nhonest, we found in that itself a great auxiliary, and we sincerely thank\nyou. I shall be with you often, and shall reward your many kindnesses by\nhelping your sweet and interesting children in spirit life and others dear\nto you, to learn spiritual wisdom in their progress, and shall take a deep\ninterest in you when you come to our life.\n\n\"God bless this medium, for she is worthy. In earnest supplication we\ninvoke the blessings of the Lord, angels and spirits upon you both.\n\n \"EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nGEORGE WASHINGTON.\n\n\nOn the 16th of June the following communication was received, and those\nfollowing at the dates mentioned, from the spirit of George Washington:\n\n\"From my home and congenial associations in the spirit world I come to you\nto-day feeling and hoping that I may possibly be of some service to my\ncountry, which I have never ceased to love with the tenderness of a\nmother's love for her children. Indeed, my country--the noble young\nrepublic--was kind to and considerate of me far above my merits.\n\n\"In the memorable struggle for independence I was assigned to duty at the\nhead of the colonial army, and by this circumstance occupied a position\nthat attracted to me more general attention than to others who were in\nnowise less meritorious. After seven long years of patient suffering,\nheroic endurance, and almost superhuman exertion, our gallant and\nilly-provided army won an honorable peace, and I trust an imperishable\nrenown. A nation of freemen was brought into being, and a system of\ngovernment established far in advance of its predecessors. The old Roman\nrepublic, grand in many respects and a marvel of excellence for its time,\nwas still in many regards vastly inferior to our own. Being at the head of\nthe brave army whose herculean efforts, exerted under many disadvantageous\ncircumstances, eventuated so gloriously, it was natural, although no more\nworthy than many others who rendered patriotic services, that I should be\nchosen the first executive of the young republic. This, to me, was a most\nflattering testimonial of the high appreciation of and affection for the\ngallant citizen soldiery who so valiantly acted in the stirring and\nsanguinary events of the memorable contest. Regarding my elevation to the\nchief magistracy of the nation as a reflection of public sentiment as\nindicated more than as a personal compliment to myself, it behooved me by\ndiscreet official conduct and patriotic action to show that the general\nappreciation and esteem for that noble soldiery was not misplaced nor\nunworthily bestowed.\n\n\"If I have rendered worthy services to my country, either in the line of\nmilitary duty or in the performance of civil trust, or both, they must\nproclaim my right to speak from my higher conscious life to my countrymen\non matters pertaining to their best and dearest interests. If the gallant\narmy that fought to a successful issue the battles of freedom in the\ninfancy of its struggles here have claims upon the attention and\nconsideration of the present generation, and those of the future, they beg\nyou to earnestly consider the words that may fall from my lips and pen. I\nhave marshaled those mighty hosts of noble souls in spirit land, and with\nthem have recounted our struggles and sacrifices for you and those to come\nafter you, and they are in hearty accord with what I shall deem proper to\nsay to the nation through the much abused and little understood channel of\nhuman mediumship. You will hear from me in the immediate future in\nobedience to the purpose indicated.\"\n\nJune 23, 1882:\n\n\"Your complex system of government needs and will receive reconstruction\nor remodeling. When we emerged from the revolutionary struggle, and came\nto give the fruits of our hard earned victory some definite shape in the\nformation of a government for the new nation, we adopted the articles of\nconfederation as the best we could then devise. It required but a short\ntime to teach us that they were defective, and that prudence and wisdom\ndictated something different and better. The constitution was consequently\nfashioned and superseded the confederation, and there has never been any\ndisagreement as to the superior wisdom of the constitutional form of\ngovernment, at least, as an improvement on the original confederation\nform. When this had been accomplished we were fully persuaded that the\nreorganization of the government under the constitution was the apex of\nstatesmanship and the acme of the science of governmental construction,\nand were consequently happy and content. But alas, for poor human\nforesight. It very soon became evident that the new arrangement was\nimperfect, if not absolutely defective, and twelve amendments to the new\nconstitution were proposed by Congress and ratified by the states. After\nand as the result of the late unhappy conflict between discordant states,\nor, rather, rebellion of certain states by secession against the rightful\nauthority and sovereignty of the federal government, several additional\namendments became necessary and imperative, and they were accordingly\nincorporated and ingrafted upon the already amended constitution. And now\nothers are earnestly talked of and advocated; and does this not teach you\nthe plain lesson that your system is still imperfect?\n\n\"The trouble is found to be that statesmanship is without foreknowledge,\nand is either blind to or oblivious of the requirements of the future. In\nother words, that the ceaseless mutations of human affairs, the ever\nacting and onward march of the law of change and progression, fail to\nstrike the consciousness of statesmen or to secure their recognition. Of\none thing you may be assured, your plan of government will be revised and\nremodeled to its vast betterment. When the time comes this will be most\nvehemently resisted by those who on all questions affecting the interests\nof the race and the happiness of mankind persist in remaining with the\nbats and owls of past ages rather than to be baptized in the light of the\npresent and the foregleams of the future. But they must get out of the way\nof the car of progress or be crushed beneath its merciless and continually\nrevolving wheels.\"\n\nJune 30, 1882:\n\n\"In the formation of your present system of government three co-ordinate\nbranches were established--the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial--and\nthey were designed to be checks, one upon the other. If in the zeal and\nfrenzy of partisan strife, or under the baleful influence of venality and\ncorruption, the legislative department should exceed its constitutional\nauthority or enact legislation inimical to the public interests, the\nexecutive was invested with the veto privilege whereby the evil might be\narrested. If, however, the President should be found to be in accord and\nsympathy with the legislative branch in its hurtful legislation, and gave\nthereto the sanction of his approving signature; or, in case the President\nexercised his veto power in the particular matter, and Congress should\npass the measure over his objections by the requisite two-thirds of each\nbranch, then and in either of these events there still remained the\nsupreme court with its supervisory power or power of final determination.\n\n\"But it may be very properly asked, what if the supreme court should be\ninfluenced by the same or similar considerations as the other co-ordinate\nbranches, what help, relief, or remedy, is left to the people and the\nnation? It can only be answered--force, revolution, rebellion. Does not\nthis plain statement present a dangerous contingency and indicate a\npalpable weakness?\n\n\"It should be remembered that in our form of republican government all\npowers are derived from the people, and it should be furthermore very\nemphatically understood that all powers belong to them. If this view is\ncorrect, then in the hypothetical case mentioned for the purpose of\nillustration, the people themselves should be the last court of resort, or\nthe high court of appeals.\n\n\"It was thought by the founders of your government that the judiciary\nwould always be pure and safe, but unfortunately experience has taught us\nquite differently. It is humiliating to an American citizen, whether he be\nin or out of the body, to be compelled to make this confession. But truth\nnot only justifies but demands it, and it is best that it be frankly made\nand acknowledged.\"\n\nAugust 14, 1882:\n\n\"We are not permitted, for prudential reasons, to tell you how the new\nsystem is to be fashioned. To do so would not facilitate its\naccomplishment, but might possibly operate detrimentally by inducing\npremature consideration and discussion. Suffice it to say that the subject\nhas been deliberately considered and the plan carefully matured by wise\nstatesmanship in the realm of causation, and will be given to your world\nat the proper time and in the proper way.\n\n\"I desire to briefly discuss two propositions:\n\n\"1st. What are the duties of the citizen to the government, or what the\ngovernment has the right to exact of and from the citizen?\n\n\"2d. What are the duties of the government to the people, or what the\npeople have the right to exact of and from their government?\n\n\"First. The citizen owes the government affection and homage. This springs\nfrom patriotism and self-interest.\n\n\"Second. To render a cheerful obedience to and acquiescence in all\nlawfully constituted authority, reserving always and of primary importance\nthe natural and inalienable right when all civil remedies prove\nunavailing, of revolution against and resistance to, tyranny, usurpation,\nand oppression.\n\n\"Third. Prompt compliance with all the lawful edicts and mandates of\ngovernment. If they are deemed unlawful, unjust, and oppressive, first\nappealing to judicial supervision and all lawful means for relief and\nprotection--revolution the dernier ressort.\n\n\"Fourth. Loyally protecting, defending, and sustaining the government when\nassailed from within or without, and when waging a just war upon a\nforeign foe, or in the suppression of an unjust and indefensible internal\nwar, insurrection, or rebellion.\n\n\"Fifth. Aiding the government both in peace and war by being honest to and\nwith it in official station, and by helping to uphold and foster its\ncredit and honor.\n\n\"These comprise mainly the duties of the citizen to his government. He\nowes other duties to society and the local community in which he resides,\nbut they are not considered pertinent or germane to our proposition.\n\n\"I speak of sustaining the government in war. War is a terrible thing to\ncontemplate, and we would gladly crush it out in its every vestige, but\nyou seem as yet not to have outgrown and developed above and beyond it,\nand therefore we are compelled to notice the subject, however painful and\nsorrowful it may be. The time is not so very far distant in the future\nwhen nations and men will progress beyond this horrible relic of\nbarbarism, when the fierce god of war will give place to the sweet and\ngentle spirit of peace and brotherly love; when all differences will be\namicably adjusted without a resort to the arbitrament of the sword and the\ninstruments of devastation, bloodshed, and death.\"\n\nAugust 17, 1882:\n\n\"In a certain sense the people are the children of the government, and in\na still more important sense the government is the offspring of the\npeople. If you ask me what, under the law of your present state of\ndevelopment, are the duties of the child to the parent, I answer\nobedience, maintenance, and protection. If you ask me the duties of the\nparent to the child, I answer maintenance, education, and protection. The\nfamily government was the first government in the infancy of the race from\nwhich all other governments naturally and progressively sprang, and their\nrelations and reciprocating duties are much the same.\n\n\"I now reach the second proposition: What are the duties of the government\nto the people, or what have the people the right to demand of their\ngovernment? It is the bounden duty of the government, under the\nconstitution, to afford ample and plenary protection to the citizen in the\nexercise and enjoyment of civil and religious liberty. This protection is\ndue to the humblest as well as the most exalted. The powers of your\ngovernment are adequate to this end, if properly and effectively wielded,\nand if exercised without fear or favoritism.\n\n\"Again, it is the duty of government to see that public affairs are so\nmanaged that its burdens may fall lightly upon the people and mostly upon\nthose ablest to bear them. A judicious system of obtaining revenue to meet\nthe exigencies of government and the liquidation of the national public\ndebt by taxing incomes on accumulated wealth and its investment in various\nspeculative methods, would be most salutary to the attainment of the\nobject.\n\n\"In order that the wise purposes of good government be carried out, and\nthat honesty, frugality, and the most rigid economy should characterize\nevery department of the public service, it is essentially and\nindispensably important that honesty and capacity alone should be regarded\nas commanding qualities for public official positions. Dishonesty and\ncorruption and bribery in public stations ought to be severely punished,\nelse there remains no safety and security to confiding constituencies.\nWhen your government offices reek with corruption and no alarm is\nmanifested and no corrective measures adopted, you are not far from the\nyawning brink of the precipice over which your liberties and free\ninstitutions are sure to be precipitated. It is the duty of the\ngovernment, in the interest of a confiding trusting people to hunt down\nthe official vampires and parasites who thus insidiously prey upon the\nvitals of government, and inflict upon them such penalties as are\ncommensurate with their enormous crimes. To allow them to go on with\nimpunity and exempt from punishment is to invite and encourage corruption,\nand to suggest the safety of its increase.\"\n\nAugust 18, 1882:\n\n\"It is the duty of government to foster, uphold, and defend labor in its\nunequal struggle against the greed of capital to the end that capital may\nnot utterly crush it beneath its scornful and merciless heel. I tell you\nin all seriousness that on this subject you are approaching the verge of a\nvolcano whose wrathful pent-up fires can not be much longer controlled,\nnor is it desirable that they should be unless a speedy change in the\ntreatment of labor by capital, involving justice and right, is brought\nabout. It is a delusion and in opposition to all human experience to\nexpect capital, uncompelled by law, to become quickened in conscience and\npervaded by a sense of equity and right. The government must stretch forth\nits strong arm and compel the exercise by authoritative and coercive\npower of a spirit of justice and fair dealing that belongs to a common\nhumanity. Revivify and re-adopt that virtuous and beneficent doctrine of\nthe earlier patriotic statesmanship of the republic, namely: 'The greatest\ngood to the greatest number.' The men and women who toil and sweat in\npoverty constitute the greatest number, and he must indeed be blind to\ntruth and deaf to justice who fails to discover or concede that the\ntoiling millions have wrongs done them by the greedy rapacity of capital,\nand which appeal with vehement persistency for redress--aye, we fear in a\nlittle while, for retaliative and retributive vengeance. They have the\nright to claim protection from the steady and stealthy encroachments of\ncapital whereby the rich grow richer and the poor poorer. Capital and\nlabor are mutually interested in each others' welfare and prosperity, and\nare alike equally entitled to protection when dealing justly with each\nother, but under the present order of things labor is at the mercy of\ncapital, and receives not justice at its hands. And this great government\nfought into existence by the common people, defended in every succeeding\nstruggle by the common people, and which claims to be a government of the\npeople and by the people and for the people, stands idly by with folded\narms and with an apparent serene complacency permits the great masses of\nthe people to become hopelessly impoverished, while the exclusive and\nfavored few become enormously enriched. Verily has the government by its\ninaction and failure to interpose, become truly and in the sight of heaven\na _particeps criminis_ in producing this wretched and deplorable condition\nof affairs.\"\n\nAugust 21, 1882:\n\n\"You have a tariff system, which for unrighteousness in the cruelty of its\nexactions, is without a parallel in modern times. It is unjust and\noppressive; wholly indefensible, and with scarcely a palliating feature.\nMy circumscribed power in communicating will not allow me to argue the\nquestion _in extenso_, or as I would like to. Your tariff is not only\nunjustly discriminative, but painfully oppressive in its operations,\nespecially so far as the interests of the consumers are concerned. Why do\nyou not honestly examine the subject in its bearings in the laudable\nendeavor to ascertain to whose benefit it inures. The government to some\nextent is benefited in the matter of revenue, but the capitalists are more\nlargely the beneficiaries, and it is for them and their interests that you\nlegislate. Have you not yet discovered, if not by close and analytical\nreasoning, at least by an observance of its practical operations, that the\npoor artisans, skilled mechanics, and other labors immediately connected\nwith your manufactures, are not favored by high rates of tariff, and that\nprotection to home manufacturing by imposts on imported commodities does\nnot enhance the interests or confer blessings upon the consumers of your\nmanufactured articles. Have you not yet realized the fact that exorbitant\nand restrictive protection fosters only the interests of invested capital,\nwith no real advantage to the toiling operatives and to the oppressive\ndetriment of consumers? If the operatives in your manufacturing\nestablishments were benefited by high tariffs it would be manifested and\nplainly discernible in prosperous accumulations and in their happy\ncontentment. The opposite of all this is true, and it does not require a\nphilosopher to discover it. Why trades unions, repeated and frequent\nstrikes, and an unmistakably unhappy condition of unrest, if the benefits\naccruing from the system beneficially inured to the workmen? The masses of\nyour toiling people are inclined to suffer and bear injuries and injustice\nwith a patience and forbearance not characteristic of any other people\nunder the broad canopy of heaven, and when they protest by strike or\notherwise you may safely assume that they are in the right, and have just\ngrievances. The people not directly connected with the manufacturing\ninterest, but who are the purchasers of its products, have exhibited a\nstill more remarkable degree of patient forbearance, for they are much\nmore numerous and less directly dependent. They have been sorrowfully\nblinded to their true interests by unconscionable politicians and\npolitical tricksters, and most dearly have they paid for their confidence\nand ignorance. We see signs of the awakening of the hitherto slumbering\nsensibilities of the people, and feel assured that in the not remote\nfuture will be aroused a sentiment among the masses that will compel a\nchange of front on this subject in the meting out of even-handed and\nimpartial justice.\"\n\nAugust 24, 1882:\n\n\"Another subject of engrossing importance to your weal is the threatening\nand dangerous attitude of monopoly and corporate power. Your railroad\ncorporations are assuming gigantic proportions, and bode no good to you if\nleft uncontrolled and unregulated by law. Your liberties are not only\nmenaced for many causes, but by this corporate power all the avenues and\ndepartments of your government are being influenced detrimentally to the\ngeneral public interest, if not absolutely sullied by the corroding\nelements of corruption. These corporations, by the many influences they\nare enabled to exert, if left unrestrained by legislation, will control\nyour government and its vast machinery as effectually and completely as\nthe planets perform their circuits in obedience to the inflexible and\nunerring laws of the universe.\n\n\"It is nonsense to talk about the absence of constitutional power over the\nsubject. Your national legislature has ample warrant, under the\nconstitutional provision conferring authority upon Congress to regulate\ncommerce among the states, and Congress should exercise that authority\npromptly and fearlessly. Railroads are common carriers, and are, when\nconsidered in connection with this power conferred upon Congress, public,\nand not private, highways. The Supreme Court of the United States has\nfrequently affirmed this power as residing in the legislative department\nof the government. Unless regulated and restrained, these corporations may\nimpose such exorbitant rates of transportation as to destroy ordinary\nprofits on manufactured and other commodities, and necessitate an\ninsufferable and unbearable increase to meet the exigency of increased\nrates of transportation, and, of course, to the detriment and oppression\nof consumers. The government must take the matter in hand for the\nprotection of the people. Competition will prove unavailing without\nrestrictive legislation; for the railroads would engage in pooling, and\nthereby render nugatory the natural advantages of competition. This\nmonopoly constitutes the most threatening element in the country, and will\nbe felt too soon, if not prevented by judicious exercise of governmental\nauthority. The use of steam, as applied to railroads, steamboats, and\nsteamships, was unknown to the founders of your government and the framers\nof your constitution, or more definite provisions would have been made in\nrelation to the subject of regulating commerce. Why can not your statesmen\nbe as patriotic and as true to the public?\n\n\"Although mainly chartered by the states, they are not authorized by\nimplication or otherwise to pursue the selfish course of only subserving\nthe interests of capital, but for the convenience and benefit of the great\nbody of the people in commerce and travel as well. They have, by\nexercising all undue influence, corrupted courts and legislatures, and\nwill, ere long, as they have already to some extent, invade the sacred\nprecincts of your elections, corrupting the sanctity of the ballot-box,\nand demoralizing the independence of electors. Then your government will\nbecome a farce, and your free institutions subject to the whims and\ncaprices of unholy and unconscionable monopoly power.\"\n\nAugust 25, 1882:\n\n\"The great agricultural interests upon which you mostly depend for all of\nyour material prosperity receive no protection from your tariff\nlegislation, but are compelled to pay tribute to manufacturing by paying\ntariffs on manufactured agricultural implements used on the farm by the\nincreased prices on the same. Besides, this great interest (agricultural)\nis at the mercy of railroad corporations in high rates of transporting\nthe products of the farm to market, and in the end the burden falls on the\nconsumers of such products.\n\n\"The recent tariff commission created by Congress, and its members\nappointed by the President, is a miserable subterfuge and sham, as you\nwill ultimately ascertain. The dodging of the responsibility by Congress,\nof an immediate revision of the tariff and the correction of its abuses\nand vices, ought to be vigorously condemned. There exists no valid reason\nwhy the old war tariff rates should be continued in this era of profound\npeace and general prosperity of trade and business. Under the\nconstitution, tariff taxation can only be imposed on imported articles for\nthe purposes of revenue to the government, and this, however arranged, is\namply sufficient to afford incidental protection to home manufactories.\nThe time is coming when free trade and open, untrammelled commerce with\nall nations will be the policy of all wise governments, and the sooner it\nis brought about the better.\n\n\"The currency policy will also be changed, and a great wrong therein\nrighted. The national banking system projected into being early in the\nlate war, and which had its necessities for an apology, will be abrogated\nand done away with, and a currency furnished directly by the government to\nthe people, without the intervention and agency of private banking\ncorporations. This will be cheaper, safer, and more durable, predicated,\nas it will be, upon the good faith of the American people and their\ngovernment, and secured by their prosperity.\n\n\"The time will come when the flag of the American republic will float over\nCanada, all the British Possessions on this continent, the island of\nCuba, the natural key to the Gulf of Mexico, as well as over the\ncultivated valleys, arid plateaus, and towering mountains of the land of\nthe Montezumas, beyond the Rio Grande. Then will your system of government\nbe remodeled and reconstructed upon a plan infinitely superior to your\npresent one, and the United States will not only become the greatest\nnation the earth has ever known, but the nucleus around which, in time,\nall other nations will cluster and revolve, shouting the anthem of human\nequality and freedom and universal liberty.\n\n \"G. WASHINGTON.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nCOMMUNICATION FROM MY SON EMIL ABOUT EX-PRESIDENT GARFIELD--GREETINGS FROM\nMADAM EHRENBORG--LETTER FROM REV. GODDARD, AND SWEDENBORG'S ANSWER.\n\n\nOn the 26th of September, 1881, at the hour of 9 o'clock, forenoon, it\nbeing the same memorable day on which the body of the late lamented\nGarfield was buried, I went to Mrs. Green, 309 Longworth street, for an\nindependent slate-writing seance. I had previously prepared the following\npaper, which I laid on the table, writing downwards, and which Mrs. Green\nhad no means of reading, viz:\n\n\"Will our dear exalted spirit friends be so kind as to give us some\ninformation of James A. Garfield, our late beloved President.\"\n\nOn the slate soon came the following, signed EMIL, the name of my spirit\nson.\n\n\"Good morning, dear papa. Many spirits are here to greet you. Our beloved\nand martyr President's work has just begun. He awoke immediately to\nconsciousness and to the reality of a future life, of which he had slight\nknowledge. He was met by Washington, the father of his country, and the\nmartyr Lincoln, with a crown prepared for him, and with many other loving\nkindred spirits, who had gone before to prepare for his reception, and it\nwas the grandest one he ever had. He has been introduced to our spiritual\ncongress, where he will finish his work, and where he will be more useful\nto his country. You will soon see a communication from the President in\nthe papers.\"\n\nThen immediately came:\n\n\"Dear papa, weep not for those who pass from this to higher spheres. Think\nof them free from sorrow and pain, and wipe away your tears.\n\n \"EMIL.\"\n\n\nOct. 10. Through Mrs. Green. \"My highly esteemed friend, good morning.\nBaron Swedenborg is prevented from meeting you to-day by reason of a\ncalled special session of the scientific institute or harmonial order of\nsavants, of which he is a prominent member. Matters of transcendent import\nand pressing moment now engross the attention of that honorable body of\nadvanced spiritual minds. He requested me to thus announce his enforced\nabsence to-day, and to say that it will afford him pleasure to be with you\nat your next sitting. I avail myself of this opportunity, by the kind\npermission of the mediums' guides, to give my blessings, and to again urge\nyou to go on with your investigations, and to push forward the noble work\nset before you by the spirit world. The elements for your spiritual\nunfoldment are constantly at work, and will continue to work out for you a\nrich reward far exceeding your most confident anticipations. Only fully\nco-operate with these elements and continue to act conjointly with your\nspirit friends and all will be well.\n\n \"Bright spirits of light around you stand,\n Whom you have attracted from the summerland;\n They come to bless you with their spirit light,\n And make your life all beauteous and bright.\n\n \"Press forward, then, with fearless tread,\n And learn from those the world call dead;\n The veil is rent, their presence ever near,\n Your soul to bless and heart to cheer.\n\n \"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG.\"\n\n\nThe communications from Swedenborg of the 8th of September, 1881, through\nMrs. Jennie McKee (the first one from him), and those through Mrs. Green\nof the 26th of September and 3d of October, 1881, I had printed in a small\npamphlet, and sent them to divers parties, and one to the Rev. John\nGoddard, a minister of the New Church in Cincinnati, with the hope that he\nwould afford the members of his congregation the opportunity to read them.\nIn answer, I received the following reply from Mr. Goddard, viz:\n\n \"PRICE'S HILL, _August 19, 1881_.\n\n \"_Dear Mr. Helleberg_: Your communication with your pamphlet came to\n me to-day. I hardly know what to say in reply, for I fear that nothing\n I can say will be of any use. I have no doubt in the world that there\n is such a thing as communication with spirits, nor has any intelligent\n and well informed New Churchman. Nor have I any doubt whatever that\n they are a very low order of spirits, and scarcely ever those whom\n they personate. It is clear that Swedenborg never sent any such\n communications as these. To believe otherwise would be to believe that\n intelligent men in the other world lose their wits instead of\n increasing in wisdom. Doubtless this is permitted as a forcible and\n compelling offset to the tremendous and increasing materialism of the\n day. I can not conceive of any use in it to those who desire to be led\n by the Lord in freedom and reason. Not only Swedenborg declares the\n thing disorderly, but all experience coincides with his repeated\n warnings and emphasises the need of our keeping close to the Lord in\n his divine word. I say to you frankly that I do not feel warranted in\n putting this pamphlet before the society, for knowing as I do the\n seductive and tremendously persuasive power of this influence and\n realizing the evil in it, I should be doing violence to my sense of\n duty in bringing the matter to their notice. To those capable of\n better things it is a delusion and a snare. With kind personal\n feelings to you and all your family, and deploring your connection\n with this dreadful sphere, I remain sincerely yours in truth,\n\n \"JOHN GODDARD.\"\n\nOn November the 7th I repaired to Mrs. Green's, taking with me Mr.\nGoddard's letter, which I did not allow Mrs. Green to see, nor did I speak\nto her any thing in regard to its contents. I had also prepared a\ncommunication to Mr. Swedenborg, which I took along with me, in words as\nfollows:\n\n\"To my exalted spirit friend, Emanuel Swedenborg: For conferring on me the\nhonor of receiving your communications for the people who you seek to\nbless with the truth, I appreciate in the highest degree, and my only hope\nand wish is that I may be able to do this work in a proper and efficient\nway. The letter before you from the Rev. John Goddard, minister of the\nChurch of the New Jerusalem here, in answer to my pamphlet containing your\nthree first letters to me, is a sample of what may be expected from that\nclass. I have had the opinion that the preachers of every denomination\nwill be the very last to accept this most beautiful truth, and, therefore,\nI have concluded to send the pamphlet only to free, advanced minds, and to\nthe individual members of the different churches of the New Jerusalem, if\nit receives your approval. With love and sincere affection, I am your\nwilling and obedient servant,\n\n \"C. G. HELLEBERG.\"\n\n\nPlacing Goddard's letter with mine on the stand, the following\ncommunication came on the slate:\n\n\"In the adorable name of the Lord I salute you good morning. The course\nyou have pursued in regard to my communications to you meets my hearty\napproval. In the future be governed by the directions of your immediate\nguides, in whom I have the utmost confidence, for they are constantly with\nyou, and are more intimately related to your sphere, and know best how and\nwhat to direct. I am advised of the purport of the letter to you from our\ngood brother, Mr. Goddard, and have lately visited him for the purpose of\nobserving his surroundings and perceiving his mental operations. As the\nresult, I believe him honest and nearer your platform than he is willing\nto make known. He certainly concedes enough in his letter to fortify your\nfaith, and to satisfy those under his influence that modern spiritualism,\nso called, sprang from the great store house of the father's love, and is\nin his keeping. May the good brother become so illuminated as to reach the\ngrander conclusion fully in consonance with the truth, that his religion\nemanated not from the Lord direct, but from the writer hereof under the\nspiritual instruction suited to that age, and that in lifting the veil\nbetween the two worlds of embodied and disembodied man, and permitting,\nyea compelling, the intercommunion between their denizens, the heavenly\nfather has not made an assortment of evil only for you, for this would be\nmalevolence under whatever pretext, but that all may, if they desire, hold\nintercourse with the terrestrial sphere. I have neither lost my wits nor\nretrograded in wisdom, but since I left the body I have lost much of my\narrogance and pride, and am now more interested in imparting plain, simple\ntruth, than in the construction of embellished sentences and high sounding\nand beautifully rounded periods. The humility taught by Jesus and others\nanterior to his day and since embodies a sublime law of the spiritual\nspheres, underlying all true progression, to which I cheerfully bow in\nreverential adoration. If my dear brother will only humble himself as a\nlittle child, forgetting for awhile his books, and casting aside the\nimperious demands of his system of belle-lettres, he will then from that\ntruly spiritually elevated altitude begin to perceive and to drink in the\nbeauties of spiritual truth and the glories of the Lord.\n\n \"EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nCOMMUNICATIONS FROM PRESIDENT GARFIELD, MADAM EHRENBORG, GOVERNOR J. D.\nWILLIAMS, PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN, JUDGE EDMONDS.\n\n\nNov. 21. Among other things during this sitting with Mrs. Green I received\nthe following:\n\n\"Good morning friends of truth. On passing out of the physical form and\nawakening to the consciousness of the perpetuity of my being, and a\nrealization of my continued individuality, I was overwhelmed with the\ntriumph of the spirit over the empire of crude matter, and as I gazed upon\nthe worn, shattered and emaciated body, and in the presence of many\nkindred and other loving spirit friends, the first thought that occupied\nmy mind was, is it possible that I have lived so long in the presence of\nthis great truth and have known so little about it? Then followed a\nfeeling of self-chiding, yea remorse, that I had neglected so many\nopportunities to learn that wisdom so much needed by the newly arisen\nspirit, and how much I had really missed by not acquiring knowledge of the\nspirit world, the future of the spirit, and the laws of spiritual\ngovernment. Resulting from reflections like these came the impelling\ndesire to return through whatever avenue I might find to speak to a fond\nmother, devoted wife, loving children, and sympathizing friends, to\nannounce, if no more, that I not only still lived, but was fully conscious\nof and keenly alive to their grief and sorrow. But I would do more. Having\npassed safely and gloriously the ordeal of so-called death, and crossed\nthe dreaded rubicon, I am now employing my best energies in learning the\ninitial and rudimentary laws appertaining to spirit life and spirit\ngrowth, which I ought to have learned on earth, in the fervent hope and\ndesire that I may be of service to my country and countrymen. If I have a\nfriend who would hear and heed me, I would say to him as my best counsel,\nsee to it that you learn more of the spiritual side of life while here in\nthe body, that when you pass to the higher life your spirit may be\naccelerated in its onward march along the highways of progress in the\nheavenly spheres.\n\n \"J. A. GARFIELD.\"\n\n\nAt the seance the 7th of November, 1881, I placed a sealed letter, with no\naddress on the envelope, on the stand, and no one in the body except\nmyself knew the contents, as I had written it early in the morning at my\nhome, on Mt. Auburn. I deem it best to give my letter and the answer to it\nin full, as it demonstrates beyond all possible controversy the ability of\nspirits to read and understand written matter effectually concealed from\nmortal view by being securely sealed up.\n\n\"To my dear exalted spirit friend, Madam Fredrika Ehrenborg: You always\nwas on earth a valued friend of mine. Since your entrance into the spirit\nworld I have been lead to appreciate more fully your good qualities of\nhead and heart; and your kind spiritual ministrations to me I fear I can\nnever repay. They have made me very happy indeed. You brought the highly\nexalted Swedenborg, and your angel husband to make God's truths clearer\nto us, and we know we can not return this loving kindness in any other way\nthan in by trying to live up to them in our daily lives, and in making\nthem known to others. During my whole life I have had so very few real\nfriends outside of my family, but I now know that my good spirit friends\nhave more than restored the loss of earthly friends, who I may have\nlamented. For a long time I have been thinking to send you a special\noffering of my sincere, heartfelt thanks, which I now do. Your sincere and\nhumble earth friend,\n\n \"C. J. HELLEBERG.\"\n\n\nThe answer soon came in the following words on the insides of the double\nslate:\n\n\"To my highly respected earth friend, C. J. Helleberg: I know since my\nentrance upon a higher life more than before that you value my friendship\nto a very high degree, which I have tried with my spirit to reciprocate.\nYou need not feel yourself under obligations to me or mine, for I take\ngreat pleasure in administering to your wants, and I am exceedingly happy\nto be able to do so, and that you appreciate we know. We are aware that\nour communications to you have made you and yours happy, and it rejoices\nus to know that we have been the instruments in doing good, and as you\nsay, 'You can not return our loving kindness in any other way than by\ntrying with all your might to live up to them in your daily lives, and in\nmaking them known to others.' That is just what your spirit friends wish\nyou to do. You need not grieve for earthly friendship; those ties have\nsoon to be broken, but have your thoughts on spirit life and friends? My\nnoble husband and Mr. Swedenborg are here with us. Accept my heartfelt\nthanks for your good wishes toward me, and for your kind allusion to my\nnoble companion. Love to your dear companion, and believe me ever your\nfriend and guide. This is in answer to your sealed letters.\n\n \"FREDRIKA EHRENBORG.\"\n\n\nThe 23d of January, 1882, came the following from the former Governor of\nIndiana: \"Good morning my dear friend in the cause of truth. I have been\npresent at many of your sittings, and this morning I feel the power strong\nenough to write and give expressions to a few humble thoughts in regard to\nwhat I have done since my entrance to the spirit world. My battles here\nwere to put down aristocracy and the expenses of our government. I fought\nhard for that. I did not believe in drinking ice tea at the expense of the\ngovernment. I was satisfied with a good old fashion tea like my mother\nmade, and a suit of blue jeans. I am still at work in our spiritual\ncongress to that end. If there is not something done speedily our\ngovernment of our forefathers is gone, and instead a stronger one, or\nmonarchy. Capitalists gnawing at its vitals, and it must inevitably\nsuccumb. Spirit world is constantly at work to change the influence. We\nare coming to every channel we can to speak, and our prayers are that we\nmay be heard and heeded. With my blessing on you both, I bid you good day.\n\n \"J. D. WILLIAMS.\"\n\n\n\"A. Lincoln, J. A. Garfield, O. P. Morton, A. P. Willard, Emanuel\nSwedenborg, Fredrika Ehrenborg, Madam Amalia de Frese, Polheim,\nWilberforce and Otto Jacob Natt-och-Dag are present.\n\n \"EMIL.\"\n\n\nDecember 12th came the following:\n\n\"Kind friends: I am with you this morning to encourage you by the\nutterance of a few thoughts. The authority of the priesthood over the\nconsciences and judgments of men is fast losing its hold, and creeds are\nin the course of ultimate extinction. The overthrow of the institution of\nslavery in the United States was precipitated by war, and I shudder to\ncontemplate even the possibility that the final conflict between the\nprevalent creeds predicated on false theology, and succored by\nsuperstition on the one hand, and an enlightened rationalism, etc. on the\nother, may unhappily eventuate in bloody issues. Creeds are doomed to\nperish. God grant they may pass away without the costly sacrifice of\nblood. The pages of both sacred and profane history record crimes of the\ndarkest and deepest magnitude enacted in the holy name of religion. In her\nfair name the soil of the earth has been crimsoned with the precious blood\nof martyrs, and the ghastly horrors of the inquisition have been feebly\nand imperfectly told. The real truth of those horrid deeds has been\nfaithfully chronicled in the archives of the spirit world. Without malice,\nand in all charity, I speak of them to-day, but the truth must be boldly\nstated. The history of the Christian system of religion is, in part, a\nhistory of foul assassination, bloodshed and rapine, and all under the\nimpious pretext of advancing the kingdom of heaven and magnifying the\nglory of the Lord. Not only have the brave souls who dared to lift voice\nor hand against the hideous monster of religious fanaticism and tyranny\nbeen sacrificed as heretics, but noble and queenly women--yea, innocent\nand unoffending children--have fallen victims to its merciless cruelty and\ngluttonous rapacity for greed and power. Religion and tyranny have marched\nhand in hand together along the highways of the past, and with the stake,\nthe javelin, the executioner's ax, and every conceivable instrument of\ntorture, have left behind them ruin, desolation and death as fitting and\nenduring monuments of their utter unrighteousness. Does this terrible\nhistory, so replete with evil, offer us evidences of Godlike excellence?\nCan such a religious system, founded in falsehood, fostered by\nsuperstition, nourished by the blood of innocence, and pre-eminently\ndistinguished by so frightful a history, much longer command the tolerant\nand kindly consideration of the advanced intelligence of the world, or\ncontinue to inspire the conviction that it emanated from God, and has been\nsustained all these centuries by the fostering care of his goodness and\nlove? In view of all this, is it surprising to any one that He who taketh\ncognizance of the minutest details of human conduct has commissioned his\nangels and the spirits who have escaped the environments and passed beyond\nthe limitations of the flesh to return to those in mortal on the\nredemptive mission of demonstrating a continued life beyond the grave, and\nrevolutionizing the religious thought, moral tendencies and spiritual\nconceptions of mankind. I repeat, creeds are doomed to perish, and this\nangel ministry, fraught with freedom, truth and righteousness, will erect\nher gorgeous temples over their buried ruins. Thanks be to God that I\nobeyed the majestic voices wafted from the spirit world, inducing, as they\ndid, the liberation in our land of four millions of the enslaved children\nof chattel bondage. Enjoying the communion with spirits, and learning of\nthem and their bright homes, the heritage of the father's love, I was,\nwhile yet inhabiting the tabernacle of clay, made glad and filled with\nsuperhuman joy, and in consequence was the recipient of strength and\nhappiness in this glorious land of the spirit. Go ye, therefore, and do\nlikewise. Good day.\n\n \"A. LINCOLN.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nNEW YEARS' GREETINGS FROM MANY OF MY DEAR SPIRIT FRIENDS AND NEAR\nRELATIVES.\n\n\nThe 29th of December, 1881, I received with many others the following\ncommunication:\n\n\"Good morning, my dear friends, for such I will call you, although I have\nnever had the pleasure of seeing you in the body, but as magnetic\nattraction seems to be the topic, I will write a few lines to you. Some\nyears ago I corresponded with this medium's husband, and I had the\npleasure of calling her my pupil, because her mediumship was so much like\nthat of mine and my daughter Laura. I took so much interest in her and her\nfuture success, and predicted that she would be a wonderful medium in\ntime, and now I come as her teacher to congratulate her on her success and\nto give her words of cheer, and to tell her that she has only ascended\nhalf way up the ladder of fame as a spirit medium; and, also, that I have\ncome to-day by magnetic attraction, and will be here often to aid her in\nher development. With my prayers for you both and for your success, I bid\nyou good morning.\n\n \"JUDGE EDMONDS.\"\n\n\nThe 2d of January, 1882, in the forenoon, came on the slate the following:\n\n\"Good morning, dear papa. We are all here with our happy New Year's\ngreetings--Emil, Charles, Gustaf, Mary, Julia, Grandpa and Grandma\nHelleberg, Grandpa Natt-och-Dag, Swedenborg, Madam Ehrenborg, Madam de\nFrese, and a host of others. Dear Emil forgot me; I am last, but I hope\nnot the least, in sending you a happy New Year's greeting. He says I am\nable to do that myself, and so I am, and happy to do so. Nothing affords\nme more real pleasure than to communicate to you. Wishing you many\nbeautiful spirit communications this coming year, I bid you good day.\n\n \"JENNIE.\"\n\n\nAfter this came the following from a highly esteemed noble lady, who\nrecently passed to the higher life, leaving an only daughter remaining in\nthe form. Madam de Frese was distinguished in her native land--Sweden--for\nher literary tastes and labors and the purity of her character. It was a\ngreat surprise by reason of her having passed on so recently:\n\n\"Good morning, my dear friend. With the assistance of Mr. Swedenborg and\nour kind friend Madam Ehrenborg, and with the aid of this medium's very\nhighly gifted and intelligent band, I am able to write a few more lines to\nthose I love who are yet in the body.\" (At this moment I said to the\nmedium, \"It is my impression that this communication is from my friend,\nAmelia de Frese, and it may be a help to convince the New Church people in\nSweden, and her daughter, of the spiritual truth and power.\")\n\nAnd then came:\n\n\"Yes, that is my object, to send them a New Year's greeting from my\nbeautiful spirit home, and to tell my dear daughter that I am not far from\nher, but able to advise her and control affairs mundane, and that by\nimpression. She will be directed in the right way, and although she does\nnot imagine that I am with her, still it is a reality. Tell her to have no\nfear, she will be directed to do my will, and now that the dark pall is\nbefore her, and that to penetrate through it seems an impossibility, but\n'ere long she will get glimpses of the summer land and of the loved ones\ngone before. Though the clouds may lower and thicken fast and the\nmutterings of the storm king is heard, fear not, mother is near to ward\noff danger. She will know my meaning. She is in mental trouble, the weight\nis almost overpowering. This will help to remove it somewhat, and what she\nlongs for. She thinks, 'Oh, if mother could tell me what to do.' As a\nparting word, tell her that the sunshine of Spiritualism will scatter the\nclouds and mists that now surround her, and that she will be made doubly\nhappy by its introduction into her troubled heart, and every pulsation of\nthat member of the body will beat with joy. With the blessings of\nSwedenborg and Madam Ehrenborg, and with my heart full of love for her and\nhighest regards for yourself and companion, and thanks for this privilege\nof communicating, I bid you adieu.\n\n \"MADAM AMALIA DE FRESE,\n of Stockholm, Sweden.\"\n\n\nJanuary 9th I received the following from the same spirit:\n\n\"Thanks, my dear old friend, Mr. Helleberg, for sending the communication\nto my daughter. I will be there when she reads it, and make her feel my\npresence. I am your friend,\n\n \"AMALIA DE FRESE.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nA PRAYER FROM MADAM EHRENBORG.\n\n\nJan. 26, 1882. And the following came on the slate, which I then copied\nword for word, and herewith reproduce _verbatim et literatum_:\n\n\"My dear old friend. According to promise I am here, and I will endeavor\nto write you a prayer:\n\n\"Oh, thou Infinite Spirit of Truth, soul of all things, we humbly approach\nThee at this hour. We know our praises can not exalt Thee for Thou art\nalready infinitely exalted. We know how vain are our adulations of Thee,\nand that we can not change or make Thee other than what Thou art, a being\npermeating all things, ever pure and changeless. We know Thou hast existed\nin all the past, and for Thee and Thine there is no ending in all the\nmeasureless immensity of future time. Thou art infinite and perfect in all\nThy great attributes of love, wisdom, and power, the true and everlasting\ntrinity. We know we serve Thee best when we seek and labor for the good of\nThy children, whether they be in realms of spirit being or in mortal life.\nWe feel the inspiration of Thy words--'Do good to all'--wafted to our\nanxious ears on every breeze, and we bow in reverence before the eternal\nwords written on all the works of Thy mighty creation, 'Love one another\neven as I love all.' We look not for Thee in temples of human\nconstruction, or in buildings vainly dedicated to Thy worship, but we\ndiscover Thee in all that Thou hast brought into being by the creative\nenergies of Thy almighty power. We hear Thy majestic voice in the mighty\nroar of old ocean and in the gentle murmurings of the brooklet. We hear\nThy voice in the thunderings of the storm king and in the soft whisperings\nof the zephyrs. We behold Thee in the stately form of the oak and in the\nsweet blossoming and blooming flowers. Wherever we go, wherever we look,\nand in whatever we behold there Thou art ever present. Oh, Thou mighty\nmaster spirit of the universe, bless Thy children every-where. Strengthen\nThy messengers, ministering spirits from the land immortal, to teach those\nstill in the bonds of the flesh the sublime and eternal truths of\nimmortality. May Thy children in mortal learn that wisdom which teaches\nrighteous living, heroic dying, life-unending and eternal progression.\nShower divine blessings on this aged brother who is seeking to know of\nThee through Thy ministering angels. Strengthen his faith, increase his\nknowledge, cheer his heart, and as he nears the end of the journey of\nmortal life fill his soul with that joy that can only be bestowed by the\nspirits of dear ones who have passed to the better land. Bless, oh Father,\nthis noble medium, a chosen instrument of the spirit world, through whom\nto transmit messages of love. Bless all such instruments. Encourage and\ninvest with continually increasing powers this noble band of spirits, and\nenable them through their chosen and beloved medium to bless and cheer the\nhearts of many by the impartation of light divine, and may that light\nradiate through their souls as the sunbeams descending from the golden\norb of day illuminates the physical world. Accept, oh Lord, from the\nfulness of our souls this our earnest prayer. Amen.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nGREETINGS FROM HORACE GREELEY, J. G. BENNETT, AND HENRY J. RAYMOND, TO F.\nB. PLIMPTON, ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF THE CINCINNATI \"DAILY COMMERCIAL.\"\n\n\nDuring the visit of the celebrated medium, Henry Slade, to Cincinnati,\nrecently, a reporter of the Cincinnati \"Daily Enquirer\" visited him and\nsecured a sitting, during which Mr. F. B. Plimpton, associate editor of\nthe Cincinnati \"Daily Commercial,\" by invitation was present. The day\nfollowing, the \"Enquirer\" reporter, in speaking of the seance in the\ncolumns of his paper, referred to Mr. Plimpton in disparaging terms as\nbeing a believer in Spiritualism, etc. In the succeeding issue of the\n\"Enquirer\" Mr. Plimpton had published over his proper signature the\nfollowing rejoinder:\n\n\nDR. SLADE AND HIS \"CONFEDERATE.\"\n\n_To the Editor of the Enquirer._\n\nYour reporter makes much of my accidental meeting with him at the rooms of\nDr. Slade. I had called on the doctor's general invitation (he being an\nentire stranger to me), not with the thought of witnessing any of the\nso-called manifestations, but to have a chat with him touching some points\nof his European experience.\n\nIn the course of our conversation he incidentally mentioned that he had an\nappointment with a press representative, and shortly afterward your\nreporter came in, and was introduced to me as \"Mr. Culbertson.\" Having met\nthe young gentleman on a recent social occasion, when he was introduced to\nme under his right name, his identity was not obscure to me, but it would\nhave been the height of impoliteness on my part, an invited guest, to have\ninterfered with any little plan he may have formed to entrap the magician.\nIt is a trivial and common form of deception, and as Dr. Slade does not\nprofess to be a mind-reader, it is as easy for a stranger to impose on him\nin that way as upon an ordinary person. So, as \"Mr. Culbertson\" your\nreporter remained from the beginning to the end of the sitting.\n\nWhy Dr. Slade changed his mind and allowed me to remain during the seance\nI do not know, and do not care to know. It seems, however, to have excited\nthe suspicions of your acute reporter, who amusingly presents me to your\nreaders in the light of a confidante of the doctor. This is too ridiculous\nto receive serious refutation. It was the sheerest accident that I was\npresent at all.\n\nYour reporter very fairly states the phenomena witnessed, except where his\nlively imagination charmingly interferes with strict accuracy, and tempts\nhim to adorn his narrative with divers brass ornaments of his own\ninvention. But he must pardon me if I decline to accept him as an expert\nat his own valuation, since by his own statement he stands condemned of\npracticing the only deception at all explicable, and then not telling the\ntruth about it.\n\nHe is, however, entitled to his own conclusions, which must be very\nvaluable, considering the time he has devoted to investigation. There is\nno accounting for the superior insight which a young man has into\nphenomena, that have baffled old heads after years of patient study. It\nmay be remarked, however, that to denounce as trickery and fraud phenomena\notherwise not easily explained is a ready way of ridding one's self of the\nwhole business.\n\nThough not giving much attention of late years to the subject, I am a\nSpiritualist, and not ashamed to own it. The time has passed when it is\nnecessary to doff one's hat and apologize in this or any other intelligent\ncommunity for being a Spiritualist. It is, at least, as creditable as to\ndiscourse without knowledge and condemn without investigation.\n\n F. B. PLIMPTON.\n\n\nOn Thursday, February 2d, at Mrs. Green's, among other matter received\ncame the following:\n\n\"Respected Sir: We are here this morning to ask you to go and see Mr.\nPlimpton, of the \"Commercial,\" and say to him for us, that we not only\nthank but congratulate him for his recent bold and manly utterances in\nfavor of truth. The time has arrived for those blessed with the knowledge\npresented by Spiritualism to bravely avow it, and we are glad that he has\ntaken the initiative in the Queen City of the West. The time has truly\npassed when such avowal entails social ostracism or any kind of\npersecution. The banner of truth has been unfurled, and ye brave souls\nmarshal the veteran hosts under it and onward to victory. You will find\nless obstruction than you think, for believers in this much-abused gospel\nof light are more numerous than you conceive. Besides you have myriad\nhosts of heaven at your backs. Falter not, move onward with firm and\nconfident step. Be steadfast and true and bright laurels await you. The\nvictory is not always to the strong, but to the active, the vigilant, and\nthe brave. The army of Spiritualism has already swollen into huge\nproportions, and its ranks are being daily augmented. The decree has gone\nforth and the triumph will come. Truth shall arise for the eternal years\nof God are her's, and nothing can stay or retard the onward march to\nvictory of the grand army of invisible hosts.\n\n \"HORACE GREELEY.\n \"J. G. BENNETT, SR.\n \"HENRY J. RAYMOND.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nCOMMUNICATIONS FROM HORACE GREELEY, GOVERNOR O. P. MORTON, AND A. P.\nWILLARD.\n\n\nOn the 7th of April, among other things, I received the following:\n\n\"Unless some changes are made in the conduct of your government direful\nconsequences are to be apprehended. Under the present mode of\nadministration it is continually subjected to very heavy straining, and it\ncan not much longer stand it. Many reforms are needed, and the\nrequirements of patriotism demand that they be seriously considered and\nacted upon. Your civil service is entirely wrong, and can not be continued\nmuch longer without serious detriment to your form of government. The\nintegrity and stability of your institutions are constantly menaced by it.\nYou claim that you have an elective government. Is the claim true?\nThousands of important public offices are not filled by the elective voice\nof the people. They are filled by appointment from purely partisan\nconsiderations--for partisan purposes and as a reward for party services\nand party zeal. Fitness and worthiness are secondary and minor\nconsiderations. Hence arise clamorings of party strife, and the\nengendering of the festering sore curses of corruption. The Presidential\noffice had better be abolished than to continue it invested with such vast\npatronage in dispensing official appointments. There exists no valid\nreason why the people themselves should not select from their neighbors\npostmasters, revenue officers, etc., as well as state, county, and\ntownship officers. The Presidential office should either be dispensed with\nor its incumbent elected by a direct vote of the people without the\nintervention of the cumbersome and corrupting electoral machinery. The\nelecting of men to elect other men to office is the dodging of a\nresponsibility and the surrendering of a right of the people that can not\nbe defended upon sound principles.\n\n\"Another danger confronts you menacingly and demands watchful attention.\nIt is the startling aggregations of wealth among the few, and wrung from\nthe sweat of labor. These immense accumulations find utilization in the\ncreation of merciless monopolies which have already assumed gigantic and\nthreatening proportions in the United States.\n\n\"Stock gambling is not a whit better in morals than any of the games of\ncards by which the unwary are fleeced out of their hard earnings. The\nparticipants and operators in the one are no better than in the other, and\nyet the one, under your Christian civilization is applauded while the\nother is denounced. How long yet will the people continue to be hoodwinked\nand handicapped by designing political tricksters. We have seen the star\nof hope, but now behold the star of promise rising in its refulgent\nsplendor, and therefore we take heart.\n\n \"H. GREELEY.\"\n\n\nHON. O. P. MORTON.\n\nOn the 13th of April the following communication was received, purporting\nto come from the late United States Senator from Indiana, Oliver P.\nMorton, viz:\n\n\"Amid the rancor and jealousies of party strife I came in for a full share\nof abuse and vituperation. I was denounced most bitterly as an ambitious\nman, wholly unconscionable and indifferent as to the means employed in the\naccomplishment of party ends. Now, I frankly confess that I was not a\nsaint in politics, nor always, politically speaking, perfectly orthodox. I\nam free to admit that I was so constituted that when I once believed a\ncertain view to be sound and right I never hesitated to use all the\nappliances and machinery of party to secure its triumph. I was called a\nbold man in politics. I am proud of this, for it is in contradistinction\nto all that is sneaking. I aimed to always be right, and believed, in a\ncertain qualified and honorable sense, that the ends justified the means.\nThose who are vociferating so loudly and screaming so painfully about bad\nand corrupt men, are generally traveling in the same boat, with the same\nsails spread to the breeze. In my mind and heart the country's good was\nalways a paramount consideration, and I have as few regrets as most men\nwho have devoted as long a period to public life. The man out of office\nfeels himself called upon to denounce the man who is in, and affects to\nbelieve himself especially endowed with the requisite qualities to purify\nthe public service, but when safely ensconced in the incumbency he too\nsoon finds himself a Barkis, who \"is willing.\" There are many good and\ntrue men engaged in public political life, but none perfect, and you would\nbe as successful in ransacking _hades_ for an angel of light in your\nefforts to find a perfect politician. Whatever is wrong and corrupt in\nyour public service and political life will never be corrected and\npurified by the politicians alone. As well might you hope for a deadly\neating cancer to eradicate itself, or the upas tree, with its deadly\nemanations, to give forth health-breeding and life-sustaining exhalations.\nThe remedy rests alone and wholly with the great masses of the people. The\nprostitution of office to the debasing influences of bribery and\ncorruption must be made odious by fixing austere penalties against the\noffender, and the prompt and indiscriminate enforcement of them.\nMisfeasance and malfeasance in public office ought to be considered an\nunpardonable crime, and the guilty dealt with accordingly. Let the people\nteach their officials the doctrine that a continuation of political\nexistence depends wholly on fidelity to the public interests, and the\nhonest, faithful and efficient administration of their official trusts.\nWhen there is willful dereliction of duty, or a failure by grossly\nreprehensible conduct to meet the just public expectations, not only\nrelegate the offender to the walks of private life, but impose such\npunishment as shall be deemed adequate to the enormity of the crime, and\nwill deter others from the commission of like offenses.\n\n \"O. P. MORTON.\"\n\n\nGOV. A. P. WILLARD.\n\nMay 19, 1882, I received the following from Ashbel P. Willard, who I learn\nwas at one time Governor of the State of Indiana, viz.:\n\n\"Good morning, sir. I was, during my earth life, a politician, and, to a\ncertain extent, a successful one, if success may be measured and\ndetermined by captivating the masses, and thereby securing elevation to\noffice. I was in early life surrounded by poverty, and arose from humble\nconditions to the chief magistracy of the great commonwealth of Indiana. I\nwas of the common people, always kept myself closely allied to them and\ntheir interests, and if you will excuse the egotism, always felt that I\nwas near their hearts. I was called an orator, and probably to some extent\nthis was true, for nature had favored me highly in that direction by\norganization, and I have occasion to be thankful that whatever gifts I may\nhave possessed, they were aimed to be exercised for the promotion of the\npublic good and the happiness and prosperity of the people. In youth I\nobtained a common education and taught school, and by teaching the young\nthe rudiments of education I was enabled to study and observe the\ndifferent tendencies and characteristics of mind. While engaged in this\npursuit I discovered some properties of my own mind and some gifts of\nspeech, which, in public utterance, subsequently distinguished me--not so\nmuch in the forum as on the \"hustings\" during periodical political\nexcitements. I soon discovered that the power I was enabled to wield in\npolitical disputations was attracting the people to me, and their voices\nat the ballot-box soon called me into official position and consequent\nprominence.\n\n\"Whatever faults I may have had, it is a proud satisfaction for me to know\nthat it was never charged that I ever betrayed either a private or public\ntrust. But in my day things were quite different from what they are now.\nThe politicians in my day were imbued with a different and a higher\npatriotic sense of obligation to the public interests and the general\npublic weal. The great war of the rebellion seems to have poisoned the\ndivine streams of patriotism, and the politicians of to-day seem to have\ndrank too freely therefrom. You have passed through evil times, and they\nare still upon you.\n\n\"The best minds of the spirit world are hard at work seeking to purify the\nwaters of political life. It must begin at the fountain head. The people,\nthe great masses who constitute the fountain of all political power, must\nbe awakened to a realization of the wretched condition into which they\nhave permitted public affairs to drift. There must be a quickening of the\npublic conscience and a revivifying of the patriotism of the early fathers\nof the republic. The sanctifying influences of the patriotism of the\nrevolution must again permeate the hearts of the people. The politicians,\nalways cunning and watchful of the tendencies and driftings of the public\nmind, will either fall in with the new order of things, or be forced to\nretire and subside from public notice. The great minds and patriotic\nhearts of Washington, Lafayette, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Hancock,\nPaine, Webster, Clay, Douglas, Lincoln, Garfield, and hosts of others, are\ncoming from the skies, leaving for awhile the glorious pursuits and joys\nof spirit unfoldments to speak to the people, and to lead them away from\nthe demoralizing and corrupting influences of the partisanship of the day\ninto better channels and loftier patriotism.\n\n\"How shall the work of purifying the public service, restimulation of\npatriotism, and the placing of the waning fortunes of the country upon the\nhigh road of prosperity be done? _First._ What is needed to be done?\n_Second._ How shall it be done? These questions, so pregnant with mighty\nresults, should engage your earnest and prayerful consideration. These\nmatters may be discussed and presented to you, and I am glad that the\nmeans will be furnished to lay them before the people.\n\n\"If what I have said will be the means of arousing one patriotic citizen\nto the necessity of the governmental reformation now in contemplation by\nour spiritual congress, I shall feel then supremely happy that the little\neffort in writing these feeble lines was not in vain.\n\n\"I was known when in the form, and am still, as\n\n \"ASHBEL P. WILLARD.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nCOMMUNICATIONS FROM THE DRUNKARD, A MISER, WILLIAM GAILARD, WILLIAM LLOYD\nGARRISON, WILBERFORCE, TECUMSEH, A SUICIDE.\n\n\nOn May 25, 1882, came the following communication from a spirit, who\ndeclined to give his name, for reasons which he claimed to be prudential\nand personal to himself. It is here given in his own words:\n\n\"The band of spirits who have this medium in charge, together with other\nexalted ones and one who is co-operating with them temporarily, have not\nonly allowed, but invited me, unworthy as I am, to come and tell my story.\nIt is a short and terrible one, and in deep sorrow and humiliation I\nproceed to tell it.\n\n\"I was called, and justly so, a drunkard. By nature I was blessed with a\nstrong and robust constitution, and I was, what is too often a curse, the\nchild of wealthy parents. My father was rich, and this circumstance proved\nmy ruin. I was nursed in the lap of luxury, never knew what it was to\nwant, and consequently had no sympathy for those that suffered, or those\nimmersed in the fierce struggles of poverty. I disdained to work with my\nhands for bread, and knew not the hardships and sorrows of the toiling\nmillions. My brow was never moistened by the sweat of labor, and I grew up\nin the belief that the poor were intended and purposely created to serve\nthe rich, and were deserving of naught but a bare scanty subsistence. My\nlife of indolence and ease, my uninterrupted hours of leisure, produced\ntheir inevitable fruit in their accompaniments of vice and immorality.\nIdleness, as I now know, is the parent of vice, and riches too frequently\nconstitute the propagating life germs of wickedness. It was sadly true in\nmy unhappy case. Oh, fathers, mothers, heed my warning counsel: Train your\nchildren to labor--to work, work, work. Allow but few idle hours for\ndissipation and vice. Keep them away, if possible, from the club room,\nwhere intoxicating beverages are indulged in and made inviting by\ntemptation, and where lascivious conversations only tend to stimulate and\ndevelop the lower passions and propensities of their natures. Wine, fair\nto look upon and with frequent imbibations exhilarating, contains within\nits alluring embrace a terrible lurking serpent whose venomous sting is\nfatal to all that is noble, grand, and holy. It strikes, figuratively\nspeaking, its poisoned teeth into the very vitals of our being, and the\neffect follows us to the other life with its terrible retributive\nvengeance. Oh, pity the poor inebriate, and erect all possible barriers\nagainst the terrible ravages of the fell destroyer.\n\n \"THE DRUNKARD.\"\n\n\nA MISER.\n\nApril 24, 1882, came the following:\n\n\"I am permitted to come to you to-day to relate something of my history.\nThere is a twofold purpose in my visit. I am told that this will greatly\nbenefit me as a spirit still bound to my idol--gold--and that I may be\ninstrumental in warning others to avoid my condition.\n\n\"I lived in the flesh more than three score years and ten, and when I laid\ndown to die the only thing I regretted leaving was my gold and hoarded\nwealth. Oh, I thought, if I could only take it all with me how happy I\nwould be. The world said I was a noble man, because being avaricious and\ngreedy, I was successful in acquiring riches. My nobility of character was\nmeasured entirely by my ability to accumulate money and property. I want\nto publish it to the world that money, stocks, and landed estates, are\npoor capital to bank on in the spirit world. They will do here, and as the\nworld goes, will make you respectable, your society and influence coveted\nand all that, but you need a different kind of capital on this side of\nlife. Gold here has great purchasing power. It buys the luxuries of life,\nit even buys honor, virtue, and innocence, at a fearful sacrifice and cost\nto others, but its power, except its terrible evil following, ends with\nyour life in the body. Nothing but good deeds, noble charities, and\nupright living pass current in the land of souls. I was a miserable,\nsoulless miser, and my occupation and delight consisted in adding to my\ncoffers, and in this endeavor I forgot and ignored conscience and every\nthing in the pathway of the pursuit of my idol.\n\n\"I belonged to a fashionable church, owned a pew, attended the services,\nand flattered myself that this was all that was needful to prepare my soul\nfor happiness in the other world. No appeals of charity were ever strong\nenough to touch my sympathies or open my purse strings. The tears of the\nwidow, the wails of the orphan, or the cries of the suffering, however\npiteous, never touched my heart or obtained from me a single penny. I\nstinted myself and family and contributed nothing towards the relief of\nwant and suffering, for I was so completely enslaved by the accursed love\nof and passion for money. This is a humiliating confession to make, but it\nis, alas, for my happiness, too true. I tell you money has been my curse,\nand oh, how terribly have I suffered. Years upon years have rolled by, and\nI have only partially paid the penalty of my folly. No wonder the rich man\nwanted some one to go back and tell his brethren of his fate. I hope I may\nhereby be the humble instrument in warning others against the pitfall into\nwhich I have fallen. My gold came up before me here to greet my fond gaze,\nand when I would joyously reach out for it, behold it would elude my\ngrasp, thus teaching me that it had no real existence except as the\nhaunting specter of my unholy life struggle for its possession. The light\nof redemption now begins to beam upon me, flooding my soul with its bright\nrays of hope. I feel this will do me good, and I am very thankful for the\nopportunity. Let me be simply known as\n\n \"THE MISER.\"\n\n\nWILLIAM GAILARD.\n\nWilliam Gailard was an old personal friend, and the first one who called\nmy attention to the subject of Spiritualism. He had been a Swedenborgian,\nand at times had officiated as a preacher in England before he came to the\nStates. At a sitting with Mrs. Green, June 2, 1882, I was pleased to\nreceive the following communication from him:\n\n\"My old friend, Mr. Helleberg. I know you have been waiting and wanting to\nhear from me, and I have been just as anxious to respond. Here in the\nspirit world we have order and system, and each one must bide his time.\nMy time has come to speak a few words to you, and I assure you, my dear\nold friend, I seize the opportunity with pleasure I can not fully express.\n\n\"I remember that the new light of spiritual truth came to me first, and I\nwas the humble instrument in the hands of higher intelligences to assist\nyou in obtaining it. I was a medium for exalted spirits to lead you and\nothers into the light, and that for a great and noble purpose, for way\nback to that time the plans were laid for the work in which you are now\nengaged so nobly and fearlessly. You are also, my dear friend, a medium,\nfor it is true that all persons whom spirits can influence, however\nunconscious it may be to themselves, are mediums in the true sense of the\nword.\n\n\"You are helping others to grow and expand in spiritual knowledge, and you\nwill be astonished when you come over to look back and see the work you\nhave done, and to receive the plaudit, 'Well done, good and faithful\nservant.' I have been blessed beyond measure for the little I was enabled\nto do, but your reward will be greater than mine. Your opportunities were\ngreater and you cheerfully yielded your energies, time, and means, to the\nwork.\n\n\"If Spiritualists could only realize the treasures they are laying up for\nthemselves by advancing the banner of truth, and the joys in consequence\nthat await them on the golden shore, they would spare no pains or means\nand omit no effort in spreading the gospel of glad tidings. Oh, how I\nwould exult with joy if the New Church people would see and preach this\nbeautiful and blessed truth. They will yet get their eyes open, and step\nout of their little creed-bound narrowness, and stand upon the broad and\nheavenly platform of the Lord and this spiritual truth, for they are one\nand the same. Swedenborg will speak to them from the higher life, and I\npray they may heed him. Your old friend,\n\n \"WILLIAM GAILARD.\"\n\n\nWM. LLOYD GARRISON.\n\nAt the sitting June 9, 1882, came the following:\n\n\"For long years before the emancipation of the slaves I waged a fierce and\nbitter warfare against the institution of African slavery in the United\nStates. The overthrow of that accursed institution became the absorbing\nand central idea of my soul from my early manhood. All other themes,\nquestions, and subjects, I subordinated to that one dominant purpose of my\nlife. When I had lived to see that institution swept out of existence,\nequal civil rights secured, and manhood suffrage conferred, irrespective\nof race, color, or previous condition of servitude, I felt a sweet\nheavenly calm rest upon my soul, accompanied by the consciousness that I\nhad not lived in vain. I felt that my efforts, however feeble, had helped\nto forward to a glorious consummation that long eventful struggle, and\nthat by aiding in pushing along the car of progress and freedom, the world\nhad not suffered by my having lived in it. When the victory had been\nachieved I had advanced far 'into the vale of years,' and realized that my\nlife forces were well nigh exhausted. They had been mainly expended in my\nlife work as editor, lecturer, etc., in a warfare upon an unholy condition\nin which upward of four millions of human beings, with God-given souls,\nhad been placed by sheer force and without their own consent. I saw and\nstill see needed reforms that call aloud for help, willing souls, and\nready hands. Reform in the currency, reform in the tariff, reform in the\ncivil service, a complete overhauling and reconstruction of government,\nthe overthrow of rum, and the enfranchisement of women. God will and is\nraising up noble souls for this noble work, and you may be assured that\nthe spirit world is neither indifferent nor inactive. Spirit bands are\nforming every-where, instrumentalities are being chosen, and agencies are\nbeing arranged for the work. The millions of high and exalted souls of the\nhigher life will, ere long, descend upon the children of earth with their\ninspiring and propelling influence, and a revolution in the realm of mind\nwill be inaugurated that shall eventuate in the accomplishment of needed\nreforms. I shall be among the number with all my strength and soul.\n\n \"WM. LLOYD GARRISON.\"\n\n\nWILBERFORCE.\n\nJuly 7, 1882, at a sitting this day the following came:\n\n\"The main struggle of my life was to secure the liberation of the enslaved\nin the dominions under the authority and jurisdiction of the British\ngovernment. I lived to witness the glorious success of my labors and to\nrejoice thereat and therein. I fought human slavery; I mean that slavery\nwhich is recognized by law--the right of one man to own another as a\nchattel, and to either transfer that ownership to another for a pecuniary\nor other consideration, or to transmit it as an inheritance. In doing so I\nhad to combat wealth, prejudice, and biblical religion, for the bible\nrecognizes this right. The struggle was long, eventful, and bitter, but\nvictory finally crowned the effort. The civilized world concedes now the\njustness of my cause and the value to mankind of its success. And yet you\nare now fastening upon yourselves a slavery more appalling and degrading\nthan African slavery ever was, or the slavery of the heathen and strangers\nof the olden time. (See Leviticus, 25th chapter, 44, 45 and 46th verses.)\n\n\"The slavery to which I refer now is the slavery of labor to capital. If I\nwere back again in the body, with my present light on the subject, I would\nfight this accursed slavery more bitterly than I did that other species of\nslavery, which was bad enough, but infinitely less reprehensible than that\nwhich I am now discussing.\n\n\"No oppression is so utterly merciless and unconscionable as that of\ncapital upon labor, and no other form of oppression can be so serious and\nhurtful in its consequences. Here we behold a mighty conflict between\ncapital and labor. Capital making cruel and unreasonable exactions,\nseeking to obtain labor for an almost starvation pittance, while labor,\nunequal in the struggle, seeks to wrest from its adversary a decent and\nhonorable requitement for its sweat. Capital triumphs and labor suffers.\nLet me tell you to-day, sir, and I would have the capitalists hear me,\nthis contest will not always continue thus. Unless a spirit of justice and\nfair dealing shall speedily characterize the treatment of the poor toilers\nby their wealthy employers a mighty crash will come, an outburst of\nindignation in revolution that will render the bloody scenes of the past\nof trivial moment in comparison. The elements are generating, the storm\nclouds are surely gathering, and at a moment when least expected they will\nburst upon the country and the world in proportions only equaled by the\nfierceness of the conflict and its bloody issues. Let those whom it\nconcerns beware. I beseech them, beware in time.\n\n \"WILBERFORCE.\"\n\n\nTECUMSEH.\n\nOn the 4th day of August, 1882, between the hours of 9 and 11 A. M., came\nthe following, which can not fail to be of interest to all who feel that\nour Indian policy has been either wrong or ineffective, and that the\nIndians have not been rightly treated. The eloquent simplicity of the\ncommunication can not fail to be observed:\n\n\"A large delegation of Indians are here and wish to be heard. We have\nconcluded to let them speak. I will write what their leader says in as\nnearly his own words as possible.\n\n \"NETTIE, _the Control_.\"\n\n\"We come to speak to palefaces at Washington. Me talk for my people--the\nredfaces in the hunting-grounds in the Far West where the sun goes down.\nPoor redfaces, nearly all gone. Paleface kill many and drive them from\ntheir old and much loved hunting grounds. You tell them to go on\nreservation, and the big father at Washington take good care of them. They\ngo. Big chief at big city send paleface agents to give them blankets,\nponies, guns, and bread to eat. Paleface agent start big store in wigwam\nand cheat redface, and give him fire-water to make him mad and crazy.\nWhen my people see how they are cheated they get mad, and put on war paint\nand kill much. Big paleface chief say to blue-coat warriors, go and kill\nredface and make them come back, and let paleface agent swindle much more.\nNow this is all wrong, and if wrong, why not make wrong right. Redface\nonly handful, paleface mighty--like the leaves on trees. If redface mighty\nand paleface weak, how then you like it? You then like redface be honest\nand not cheat, and do as big preach say about golden rule. Me no like you\ngive my people fire-water or guns. Me much like better if you give red\nbraves horses and plows, and build school-houses for little papooses.\nTeach them how to read and make big scratch (writings) and let them learn\nother papooses. Don't cheat. Put paleface clothes on redface, especially\nredface papooses, and learn them how to build big houses and how to raise\nbig much to eat and sell. Then soon redface no more like hunting ground,\nbut will love paleface and paleface ways. This much better than kill.\nGreat Spirit no like paleface to kill redface or redface kill paleface.\nAll die soon enough anyhow. Upper hunting grounds are full of redfaced\nspirits, and they all feel bad and sorry for redface in your land. Me no\ntalk much more. Me sorry--me could cry. Poor redface few--soon all be\ngone. Be good to few left, and Great Spirit and redfaced spirits love you\nmuch. Spirit chiefs Ouray and Black Hawk and many more are here, and all\nplead for their people in lower hunting grounds. They all feel much bad.\nGood bye, chief and squaw. Me thank much for this big scratch.\n\n \"TECUMSEH.\"\n\n\nAN UNKNOWN SUICIDE.\n\nAugust 28, 1882, the following was received, viz:\n\n\"I lived in the body thirty-five years and eight months. I went out by my\nown hand into the great beyond. I was a singularly constituted man, and a\nvery unfortunate one. Self-love is said to be a great ruling passion, but\nI never loved myself, and of course could not be expected to love anybody\nelse. My parents were in no way assimilated and lived very unhappily\ntogether. They quarreled and wrangled constantly, and this embodies my\nearliest recollection when a child, and it made an impression upon me from\nthe influence of which I never recovered. They seemed to hate each other,\nand I was created and grew up under the same influence of hate, and hate\naccompanied by a feeling of vengeance and revenge became a predominating\ntrait of my character. My parents both belonged to church, and I have seen\nthem both shout in church (they were Methodists) and go home, quarrel and\nfight for hours afterwards. Father would get drunk and mother would eat\nopium. I tell you this disgusted me with religion, and I concluded it was\nall a farce. I believed death ended all, and that religion was either a\ndelusion or downright hypocrisy. Besides I had a very delicate and feeble\nphysical organization which made me more morose and sullen. Melancholy\nfinally seized me as a victim, and in a moment of utter despondency I blew\nout my brains and ended life in the body. But I could not get away from\nlife--death I found to be but the commencement of another life, and I had\nmade the great blunder and committed the foul deed of taking my life into\nmy own hands. Seventy-seven years have passed since, and the terrible\nshadow of the act of suicide still hovers over me and gives me pain and\nanguish. But thank God, I begin to climb up the mount of progression--but\nthe summit is still far away. Oh, people of earth, I pray you become not\nthe suicide. Wait with patience until nature's laws calls thee hence.\nRemember the fate of the suicide is terrible and hard to overcome. And in\nmy sad history fathers and mothers may learn an instructive and profitable\nlesson, for my father and mother have suffered more than I. Thanks for\nyour goodness. Good bye.\n\n \"A SUICIDE.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nCOMMUNICATIONS FROM THOMAS PAINE, MARGARET FULLER, AND THANKS OF SPIRITS.\n\n\nAug. 31, 1882. The following from the spirit of Thomas Paine, on capital\npunishment, was received:\n\n\"I am here to-day, sir, to say a few words in opposition to capital\npunishment. What is the argument in its favor? One citizen has taken the\nlife of another citizen, and you say he has thereby forfeited his right to\nlive. From whence do you get this doctrine? Does it belong to and is it a\nreflex of your boasted Christian civilization? The Mosaic law demanded an\neye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but is this the doctrine of Jesus,\nthe assumed founder of Christianity? If you think so, you certainly have\nnot read him attentively, and it may be profitable to you in considering\nthe subject to read the Sermon on the Mount, as recorded in the fifth\nchapter of Matthew, especially the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth verses.\n\n\"You coolly and with the utmost deliberation usher these imperfectly\ndeveloped souls out of one life into another, thereby ridding yourselves\nof human monsters and fiends by sending them to be cares, pests, and\nannoyances to the people of another world. And this you call Christian\ncharity, benevolence, and fair dealing. But you say they can repent before\nthey are shuffled off by the hangman, and thus be saved. If this be true,\nthe best service you can render all villains and evil disposed persons is\nto hang them as the surest means of saving their souls in heaven, for if\nthey are permitted to live and die natural deaths the chances are that\nthey will never repent, and all consequently go to hell. But this is a\nsubterfuge. It is the unholy spirit of revenge that actuates you, and you\nconsider not the victim's good. Certainly heaven is not yearning for these\ncutthroats and outlaws, and hell, according to orthodoxy, is already\ncrowded and overpopulated. One man, either through ungovernable passion or\nmalice prepense, takes the life of another. Now, he generally has some\nreal or imaginary grievance, but without even this excuse your courts take\nthe other life, just as if one wrong justified another. Your plea that\nprotection to society demands this course is untenable. Is it true that no\nadequate protection can be afforded except by judicial murder? Would not\nthe confinement of the culprit subserve the same purpose, with the\nadditional humane advantage of allowing the opportunity to reform and\nbecome better, and best of all, to let the voice of God, through natural\nlaw, call him from time to eternity.\n\n\"Christians can not rise up to the sublime altitude of adopting, in\npractical life, the ennobling teachings of the Nazarene including love and\nforgiveness, as long as they believe the God of their worship to be a\nvindictive and passionate being full of spleen and vengeance. To believe\nin such a God naturally inspires the effort to imitate his\ncharacteristics, and hence they become spiteful and vengeful, and in favor\nof taking human life on the scaffold, because a badly organized mortal in\na fit of rage or in the pursuit of revenge for, perhaps, an imaginary\nwrong done him, slays his neighbor. The killing of one man by another is\nno worse than judicial murder, and both are relics of barbarism and a past\nheathen age, and you ought to have done with them. To-morrow, Margaret\nFuller on prayer.\n\n \"THOMAS PAINE.\"\n\n\nMARGARET FULLER.\n\nSept. 1, 1882, came the following writing from the spirit of Margaret\nFuller:\n\n\"True prayer is the yearning of the soul for something it feels the need\nof. It need not be expressed in silent words or oral declamation. Every\naspiration is in the true sense a prayer. Every aspiration, though silent,\nhas its potencies, reaches out and attracts its kindred spiritual\naffinities. If your soul-yearnings and aspirations are of a sordid and\npurely earthly nature, they affect and attract corresponding influences in\nthe invisible realm of being, permeate your soul and limit it to that\nsphere. If, on the other hand, your aspirations pertain to the realm of\nthe lofty and beautiful, you render yourself thereby receptive to the\ngrand and ennobling influences of the pure and heavenly. If you pray for\nriches in a worldly sense you prepare the mental, moral, and spiritual\nconditions to attract the spirit misers and the selfish. If you pray for\nspiritual illumination and aspire to moral excellence, you bring to your\nsphere and aid the noble and unselfish children of the more exalted\nspiritual spheres. If you meditate a wrong deed or action you will be\nsuccessful in drawing to your assistance those unfortunates of the spirit\nworld who have not outgrown the tendencies, inclinations, and\nimperfections, of their earthly careers and conditions. Hence the very\ngreat importance of being mindful for what you pray. The spiritual\ninfluences that you attract and which thereby become associated with you,\nexert a powerful influence in directing your footsteps, molding your\nactions, and in the construction of your spiritual temple in the new life\njust before you. Would you desire the companionship of spirit paupers and\nspirit tramps, become one yourself, and you may depend on success. Would\nyou prefer rather to be attended by good and noble spirit and spiritual\ninfluences, aspire to be good and noble yourself, and your success is\nassured. Of one thing be enlightened, your spirit attendants during your\nmortal journey will be no worse than you are yourself. It is yourself that\nprepares the conditions and not they. If your actions are upright, your\naspirations noble, and your thoughts elevated toward the divine, you\nthereby exert a positive repellant power that no evil can overcome, and in\nsuch a generated atmosphere an evil influence can no more dwell than oil\ncan mix with water. Bear this great law in mind, and take advantage of it\nand you are safe and all will be well. Heed it not in conduct and thought\nand it will rebound upon you with damaging effect.\n\n\"Hesitate not to invite undeveloped spirits to your seances if your\npurpose be to benefit them. For such a motive on your part will draw\naround you the encircling influences of angels and the divine protecting\nlove, and no harm can befall you, but much good to the poor spiritual\nwanderers in spiritual darkness. They must be lifted up, and you can be of\ngreat service as auxiliaries to the advanced spirits who labor for their\nredemption. By such a course you are praying such prayers as will bring\nupon you blessings from the angelic spheres\n\n \"MARGARET FULLER.\"\n\n\nAt the same sitting came the following closing remarks by the medium's\nimmediate control:\n\n\"I am requested to state that with this ends the present book, and to\nexpress to you, Mr. Helleberg, the thanks of the spirits who have\ncommunicated for your attentiveness, painstaking, and honest purposes. The\nband of the medium have done all they could to assist them and from them\nhave received benedictions. Besides it has been a labor of love on our\npart to be, in any sense, assistants to so many exalted spirits.\n\n\"We also thank you for your gentlemanly deportment towards our medium, and\nfor the earnest and honest interest you take in her welfare. I speak for\nthe entire band.\n\n \"NETTIE, _the Control_.\"\n\n\n\n\n[APPENDIX.]\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nMRS. GREEN'S MEDIAL HISTORY.\n\n\nThe following is a partial history of the development and mediumistic\nexperiences of Mrs. Lizzie S. Green, the medium chosen by the spirits in\ntransmitting the matter contained in this volume:\n\nShe was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, on the second day of December,\n1844, and consequently at this writing is in her thirty-eighth year.\n\nThe following narrative of her mediumship was written by her husband,\ndictated by herself, and when written out was pronounced by her to be\ncorrect, and she adopts it her own. It is believed that this briefly\nrecited history can not fail to be interesting to the general reader,\nsince it contains matter and experiences not only absorbingly interesting\nbut truly wonderful, and evidences the existence of a power that all\nthoughtful and candid persons will agree is worthy of investigation.\n\nThose who have enjoyed Mrs. Green's acquaintance socially for years\ninvariably speak of her as a truly honest woman, faithful wife, loving\nmother, steadfast friend, in intellectual capacity far above and beyond\nher educational advantages, and as possessed of many other sterling\nqualities of heart. Those who have come in contact with her in the\nexercise of her medial gifts can not fail to have been impressed with\nher frankness, simplicity of character, and the unquestionable honesty of\nher nature.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nThis tribute to her integrity and moral worth is given because well\nmerited, and by one who not desiring notoriety and fame wishes simply to\nbe known as\n\n A FRIEND.\n\n\nNARRATIVE OF HER MEDIUMSHIP.\n\n\"My conscious mediumship began in the fall of 1868. It commenced by the\nopening of my spiritual vision, enabling me to see spirits, scenes,\nlandscapes, etc., in their spirit world. When in the proper state or\ncondition of passivity I have been permitted to behold innumerable throngs\nof spirits, and at times to hear their voices. The phase of clairaudience\nadded to my clairvoyance I prized highly, and sorely regret that shortly\nafterwards a fit of sickness deprived me of the gift of hearing spirit\nvoices, and for a time seriously retarded my other mediumistic\ndevelopment. I am happy to be able to state, however, that with my gradual\nrestoration to health my clairvoyant perceptions began to increase in\npower and beauty, and now the voices of the arisen dear ones again greet\nmy anxious and ever attentive ears.\n\n\"I desire to state in this connection that in all my intercourse with\nspirits they have never deceived me in a single isolated instance. They\nhave always been truthful and straightforward in their statements and\ndealings with me.\n\n\"In the earlier stages of my mediumship and still sometimes I was\nfrequently controlled to personate the peculiar and characteristic\nidiosyncracies of spirits during earth life, and to delineate their\nsickness and death. Sometimes I would be rendered entirely unconscious and\nat other times only partially so. I shall never forget one memorable\noccasion of complete unconsciousness and the occurrence during it as\nrelated subsequently by eye witnesses. An old lady was present in the\ncircle who I had never met before, and of whose history I had no means of\nobtaining the slightest knowledge. At the time I was wholly ignorant as to\nwhether she had ever been a mother or the maternal head of a family, until\nI saw and described minutely a spirit standing by her side, who she\nreadily recognized as her deceased son. 'What was the cause of his death?'\nshe eagerly inquired. Almost instantly my consciousness was suspended,\npreceded by a violent tremulous motion all over my frame. I fell to the\nfloor in a violent fit, and so terrible was it, and so true to nature in\nall its terrible details that no little alarm was manifested by the\nvarious members of the circle. It thoroughly demoralized and threw them\ninto consternation. I need only add that old Mother Thompson (for that was\nher name) has never since doubted the return of the spirit of her son\nGeorge, for the poor man had not only suffered a quarter of a century from\nthat appalling affliction, epileptic fits, but actually died in one. I\nsoon recovered my normal condition and received the apology from the\nspirit for having used me so roughly, stating that his extreme anxiety to\nconvince his beloved mother of his presence induced him to disregard\ndelicacy and to overcome all obstacles in the way of the accomplishment of\nhis purpose.\n\n\"A little girl came to me on a certain occasion and said to me, 'Please go\nand see my mother and tell her I am not dead.' 'Where does your mother\nlive?' I inquired. After giving me the necessary directions where and how\nto find her, I said: 'But your mother is a stranger to me, and perhaps if\nI go to her on an errand of that kind she will drive me from her door.'\n'No she won't,' interposed the little pleader, 'she will be glad to learn\nthat I am not under the cold ground but alive.' I marshaled the courage to\ngo, yet I greatly feared the result. I was met at the door by the one I\ndesired to see, and without giving sufficient time to explain the object\nof my call, I was cordially welcomed indoors. After being seated, and\nafter the usual courtesies had passed, I opened the subject by saying,\n'You have a little girl that has gone to the other world?' 'Yes,' said\nshe, falling into tears, 'she was a dear, darling child, and I have had no\nrest since she left me. She was the idol of my heart, and it seems that I\ncan never become reconciled to her death. Really, at times, I can scarcely\nrealize that she is dead.' Here a pause ensued, and her grief was so\nintense that the waters of sympathetic sorrow involuntarily flowed down my\nown cheeks. Rallying, however, as quickly as I could, I said: 'My good\nwoman, your Mary is not dead. She stands there by your side and wants me\nto say to you, 'Mother, I am not dead; do not weep for me, for I am still\nwith you.' 'How! What does this mean?' exclaimed the mother in apparent\nbewilderment, 'I saw her poor little precious body consigned to the cold\nand cheerless grave.' 'Yes,' I interrupted, 'but her spirit--the immortal\nand only valuable part of herself--was not buried beneath the ground.\nHold, she wishes me to describe her, and further, to prove her identity.\nShe is a bright, blue-eyed girl of eleven or twelve summers, light auburn\nhair naturally inclined to curl, and falls in beautiful ringlets around\nher neck, forehead of the Grecian mold, face even and rounded, with a mark\nresembling a raspberry under her right eye, and she died from scarlatina.'\n'Why, did you know Mary when she was living?' was immediately asked. I\nassured her I did not. 'Does the description fit her?' I inquired.\n'Perfectly,' was the reply; 'who told you about her,' she added. I\nanswered: 'My good woman, believe me, until to-day I did not know you were\nin existence. The facts I have stated to you I obtained from your Mary\nwithout the slightest knowledge of either your or her history.' After\nfurther conversation on the subject, and after describing other spirits,\nwhom she readily recognized, the interview terminated, with a pressing\ninvitation to return, and the assurances that she had derived from my\nvisit inexpressible joy and happiness. In a few days thereafter I was\nunexpectedly called away from St. Louis and have never returned. Letters\nfrom friends who were cognizant of the circumstance as related by herself,\ninform me that Mrs. Collins is happy in the knowledge of spiritualism, has\nbecome reconciled to the temporary absence as to physical form of her\nchild, and sends me her benedictions.\n\n\"In 1869 while holding a circle at Aurora, Ind., composed of a few\nintimate friends and neighbors, a gentleman--a stranger to all of\nus--applied for admission, stating that he had been left by the east bound\ntrain, and not being able to resume his journey until the following\nmorning, and hearing of my mediumship, he desired, if agreeable, to have a\nsitting, or be allowed to join the circle for that occasion. My husband\ncordially assented. Our stranger friend had been seated but a short time\nwhen I saw a spirit forming by his side. I watched the process, and to my\nutter astonishment, which I at once made known, the spirit had a rope\naround his neck and presented a frightful appearance. I observed, 'I see a\nspirit with a rope around his neck, with tongue protruding,' etc.\n'Describe him, madam, if you please,' spoke the stranger. I did so; the\nspirit for the purpose changing his appearance to that of his natural\ncondition. The stranger became very much excited, arose, seized his hat,\nand nervously remarked, 'This is a great test to me. Several years ago I\nwas sheriff of an interior county in Indiana, and that man, Jim Roberts,\nwas sentenced to be hanged for the murder of his father-in-law, and I am\nthe one who executed the sentence of the court.' When in the act of taking\nhis departure, he suddenly turned around, and plaintively inquired: 'Has\nJim got any thing against me? I only did my duty as an officer of the\nlaw.' On being assured that no ill feeling was entertained by the spirit\nagainst him, but that he appeared as he did more for the purpose of a test\nthan any thing else, he took his departure. I have never seen him since.\nHe gave me, however, considerable notoriety in the community by relating\nhis wonderful experience with a spiritual medium, and advised every one to\nshun mediums unless they were prepared and willing to have every thing\nconnected with their past lives revealed and made known. Perhaps this\nabused spiritualism may yet become the instrumentality of compelling\npeople to walk uprightly in their dealings with their fellowmen.\n\n\"These are a few among hundreds of such instances that I might relate, but\nthe space allotted will not permit. I wish now briefly to refer to another\nphase of my mediumship. At various intervals I have had prophetic warning,\nand prophetic revelations have also been given me. I have also had what\nmight be appropriately termed panoramic visions of past events of those\nboth in and out of the body, and of events to transpire in the future of\nearth life. These visions, especially those prognostic of the future, have\nbeen truly wonderful. It is an oft quoted saying that 'coming events cast\ntheir shadows before,' and there remains no doubt in my mind but what\nspirits--whether all, I am not prepared to say--can sufficiently forecast\nthe future as to reveal events and actions concealed from mortal\ndiscernment in the bosom of coming time. Let me mention a few instances in\nmy own experience as evidence of the existence of this power.\n\n\"In 1869, myself and husband were holding a seance alone, at Aurora, Ind.\nWe were living in the lower part of the city, near the river bank. Aurora\nis situated on the banks of the Ohio river, twenty-five miles below\nCincinnati, Ohio. A little above the center of the city fronting the river\na small stream, called Hogan creek, empties into the Ohio. Three or four\nhundred yards above the junction of the two streams and on the banks of\nthe aforementioned creek, is located the mammoth distillery, owned by\nMessrs. T. & J. W. Gaff & Co. It has been consumed three times by fire and\nas often rebuilt. At the time of which I am speaking, we put blankets up\nto the windows in the room to be used for our dark circle, and by this\nmeans effectually excluded all external light. After extinguishing our\nlamp light, we sat patiently, awaiting manifestations. In the course of a\nhalf hour I saw and said, 'I see a large brick building on fire. The light\nfrom its ascending flames is flooding the river in front of the city.\nThere, I see a poor man burning up in the fire. I see its majestic walls\ncrumbling to pieces and falling into a huge mass of ruins.' At this\njuncture, we heard out doors the cry of fire! fire! and soon the bells of\nthe quiet little city began to announce to its citizens that the insatiate\nfire-fiend was engaged in his terrible work of devastation and ruin. We\nhastened to the door only to behold, true to the vision previously given,\nthe bosom of the river as brilliantly lighted up as though illuminated by\nthe rays of the sun at his meridian height. T. & J. W. Gaff & Co.'s\ndistillery was on fire and burned to ruins, and another concomitant of the\nvision was too sadly verified--a man was literally burned to ashes.\n\n\"Soon after this occurrence, a very dear lady friend called to see me. She\ncontemplated a trip to Indianapolis, and intended to start on the morrow\ntrain. I said to her, 'Do not start to-morrow. Defer it until the\nsucceeding day. I see an accident on the road, and I see written in the\nair these words, \"Within twenty-four hours.\" I prevailed on her to\npostpone the trip in accordance with the warning of the vision. She had no\noccasion to regret it for the train on which she intended to be a\npassenger jumped the track before it reached its destination, and while no\none was very seriously injured, yet it might have been otherwise had my\nfriend been on board. She might not have escaped so luckily.\n\n\"The shocking casualty of the collision between the United States mail\nsteamers America and the United States, on the Ohio river, between\nCincinnati and Louisville, will be well remembered, especially by the\npeople along the line of that route. The night of the painful occurrence I\nwas a member of a circle held at the residence of Mr. Lewis Shirley, of\nJeffersonville, Ind. I saw the collision, the boats on fire, etc., at an\nhour antedating by several hours the time when the unfortunate event\ntranspired. So thoroughly was I convinced that the verification of the\nvision was close at hand that I prevailed on a son of Mr. Shirley to meet\nthe carrier-boy at the ferry landing early the following morning to\nprocure a copy of a Louisville daily paper. When the boy returned with the\npaper I was not surprised to find in its columns an account of the\ndisaster, which I had plainly and vividly seen a number of hours prior to\nits actual occurrence.\n\n\"On another occasion I saw a fire raging. I saw it was a two-story brick\nhouse. I saw men rolling barrels out of the burning structure, and from\nthe rapidity of their movements and the ease and facility with which the\nbarrels seemed to be handled and propelled along, I concluded they were\nempty and so expressed myself. My husband inquired, 'Where is the fire\nat?' I placed myself in as passive a state as possible, but could get no\nanswer. The questions were then asked: 'Is it Louisville?' 'No.' 'Is it\nJeffersonville?' 'No.' 'New Albany?' 'No.' 'Indianapolis?' 'Yes.' These\nanswers respectively I saw written in the air or what appeared so to me.\nOn that night, as we learned by the papers subsequently, a large barrel\nfactory at Indianapolis was destroyed by fire.\n\n\"I will now relate one of a more startling nature and of more recent\noccurrence. The ill-fated steamer Pat Rogers was at the time of her\ndestruction in the mail line service, and plied between Cincinnati, Ohio,\nand Louisville, Kentucky. She left port Louisville for Cincinnati at 2 P.\nM. At 4 o'clock, same afternoon, and two hours after her departure from\nLouisville, and nine or ten hours before the terrible casualty, I saw\nwritten in the air, 'Steamboat disaster to-night.' My husband remarked:\n'See if you can not get the name of the boat.' Presently I saw plainly the\nname PAT ROGERS, which was immediately followed by presenting the whole\nvision, the conflagration, and passengers struggling for life amid the\nangry and turbulent waves.\n\n\"I might narrate many more instances of this kind that belong to my\nindividual experience, and volumes might be written if similar experiences\nof others should be included.\n\n\"I come now to speak of my present powers and their development. When my\nhusband had entered upon his second term as Mayor of the city of Aurora,\nhe built us a home in a high altitude on a hillside overlooking the\nbeautiful city in the valley below. Here in the purer atmosphere with\nquiet surroundings were my present powers brought forth by a noble and\ntrusty band of spirits whom I shall never cease to love for their fidelity\nto me and to truth, and for their ability and unceasing and intelligent\nefforts to advance the great and blessed cause of spiritualism. My dear\nspirit sister, Alice Vernette Winesburgh _nee_ Shirley, who, in her day,\nwas a marvelous physical medium, has been and still is the active\ncontrolling spirit of my band, with others great and good, who sustain and\naid her. She always signs her name simply NETTIE, by which she was called\nand known in earth life. She has clung to me with the true devotion of a\nsister, and has sustained herself in the position assigned her by the band\nwith signal fidelity and ability. I shall speak more of this band toward\nthe close.\n\n\"In obedience to the request of the spirits we formed a circle for\ndevelopment, and found two gentlemen and their wives who were sufficiently\nliberal, and who had natural tendencies toward a belief in spiritualism.\nThey agreed and we met twice each week, and it was not long before we\ndiscovered that power for physical manifestations was being developed. We\nsat in the dark around an ordinary plain stand, on which was placed a\nslate and pencil, a small bell, and a paper horn. We also would place on\nit a goblet filled with water. The manifestations began by the stand\nmoving around and tipping. This phenomenon soon occurred in the light, and\nby means of it we at first were directed and instructed, using the\nalphabet in spelling out words. We met regularly and sat patiently. For a\nfew months the development was slow but surely indicated progress, and the\ninvisible operators continually exhorted us to patience, promising certain\nresults from time to time, which they invariably performed. They stated to\nus what may not be generally known, namely, that all developments with a\nview to permanence are slow, advancing cautiously, step by step, leaving\nnothing neglected or uncared for. Besides the health and well being of the\nmedium should be carefully guarded and too oft by hurrying forward the\ndevelopment ruinous consequences resulted to the instrument and the\nsuccess of the mediumship. We soon noted the fact that we were in the\nhands of careful, prudent, and able spirits, and we therefore implicitly\nobeyed their directions, and have never since had any occasion to regret\nit. Finally the bell began to ring, and the various members of the circle\nwere touched by materialized spirit hands. Also, names and words were\nwritten on the slate and occasionally materialized locks of hair would be\nfound on the stand upon closing the seance, which, in a few hours, would\nwholly dematerialize. This indicated materialization of spirit forms and\nwas so announced to us. The next step was whispering to us through the\npaper trumpet, and by that means they were now enabled to give directions.\nAfter the lapse of about twelve months we were directed to procure a\ncurtain for materialization, which we accordingly did, but before this the\nmanifestations in the dark had become simply remarkable, not to say\nextraordinary. On putting up the curtain and taking my position behind it,\nseveral sittings passed without any appreciable result, until finally\nfaces were discovered protruding from behind and above the curtain, two or\nthree at a time, and after this it was not long until full form\nmaterializations were obtained. Upon the expiration of my husband's term\nof office, the band insisted that we should move to Cincinnati, if only\nfor a year, assigning as the important reason, that they would be enabled\nthere to collect and appropriate new elements necessary in the completion\nof the development. We had by this time learned that the wisest thing was\nto obey, and consequently in July, 1881, we moved to the Queen City. Soon\nafter we got there the band concluded to abandon for the time being any\nfurther attempt to perfect the phase of materialization and demanded a tin\ntrumpet, which was made according to their directions. In length,\nthirty-eight inches; at large end, four and one-half inches in diameter,\nand at the small opening one-half inch; and we commenced holding trumpet\nseances with amazing and astonishing results. Hundreds of the best\ncitizens of Cincinnati can testify to the wonders of the trumpet circle in\nmy presence. One seance written up by Judge A. G. W. Carter, of\nCincinnati, I here insert as illustrating partially only the magnitude of\nthis power. It appeared in that excellent paper, _Mind and Matter_, of\nPhiladelphia:\n\n\"My wife and myself, by invitation, were present on Thursday night,\nJanuary 26th, at a seance given to a select circle of ladies and gentlemen\nby Mr. and Mrs. Green, at No. 309 Longworth street, this city, where Mrs.\nGreen daily and nightly sits, giving private seances through her\nmediumship to any person or persons who desire to converse with the\nspirits, or see manifestations, and learn about the spirit world. There\nwere about twelve persons, ladies and gentlemen, present, and being seated\naccording to the direction of the spirits, a dark circle for spirit\nmanifestations was held, and with extraordinary success. There was a large\ntrumpet or horn standing beside the table, and a small music box and a\nguitar and a tambourine on the table.\n\n\"It was not long before the music box began its music, as well as the\nguitar and tambourine, and they all floated through the air, around the\ncircle, and above our heads, and sometimes touching each one of the\ncircle, as they were giving forth their music. Singing was indulged in by\nthe members of the circle, and during the songs, the long horn or trumpet\nmoved from its place, and went about the circle, through the air; and\nthrough it, or inside of it, different spirits accompanied the singing\nwith their voices; sometimes so loudly as to take the full burden of the\nsongs upon themselves. Then, when there was a cessation of singing, by\nmeans of the trumpet the spirits would freely converse with us--some in\nwhispers, and others in sonorous voices, so that the whole company could\nreadily hear and easily distinguish what was said.\n\n\"At one time one of the company, a Swede, Mr. Helleberg, sang a Swedish\nsong, accompanying himself on the guitar; and in singing and playing this\nsong in his native and, to us, foreign language, he was accompanied by a\nloud female voice, singing in his language, through this same horn. Mr.\nHelleberg then sang a Swedish love song, and was again, in perfect soprano\nharmony, accompanied by the female spirit voice.\n\n\"These demonstrations I thought were most remarkable, as I had never seen\nnor heard the like before, and they fairly attested the great mediumistic\nability of Mrs. Green. At this time, and indeed during the whole seance,\nMrs. Green was in a profound trance at the table, and kept so by a rough\nand gruff Indian spirit, who called himself 'Chip,' and occasionally spoke\nto us in a rough and gruff way about his 'medy,' and the power he had to\ninvoke and exercise in keeping her in the profound trance condition. Ever\nand anon, also, a smart, witty and talkative Indian maiden, who called\nherself 'Winnie,' by the permission and condescension of 'Chip,' would\ntake possession of the medium, and talk most freely and interestingly to\neach and all of the members of the circle.\n\n\"And, by the way, I must relate this peculiar and remarkable fact, the\nonly time of its occurrence in all my long experience with the spirits.\nThere was in the circle another trance medium, Mrs. Taylor, who was put\ninto the trance condition very easily and readily. Well, this spirit\n'Winnie' would exchange from Mrs. Green to Mrs. Taylor every once in a\nwhile, talking through each medium with equal facility, and to the great\ndelight and edification of the members of the circle. This was indeed\nsomething remarkable, and I ventured to inquire of the spirit 'Winnie' if\nthis was a common occurrence. She replied, through one of the mediums,\nthat it was so uncommon that she never knew of it occurring at a circle\nsitting before; that spirits always had their own medium, and it was very\nseldom that they would or could talk through more than one chosen medium,\nand especially at the same sitting of a circle, as was the case with us.\n\n\"To narrate all that occurred at this remarkable seance would fill many\nprinted columns. Sufficient for the present to say, that we had all sorts\nof manifestations from the spirits through the gifted medium, Mrs. Green,\nfor the long period of three full hours, and yet the medium or the spirits\nwere not at all exhausted, and apparently not even fatigued. The\nmanifestations, it seems to me, were quite equal to any I ever witnessed\nfrom Maud Lord, or any of the best mediums, and convinced me beyond all\nmanner of doubt, that the gifted Mrs. Lizzie S. Green is destined to take\na prominent and important stand in the glorious domain of mediumship.\nAngels bless and take care of her in all her ways.\n\n \"A. G. W. C.\"\n\n\n\"In the meantime, the independent slate writing progressed wonderfully,\nand now constitutes one of my best and most highly cherished phases. They\nwrite now with the utmost facility with their own materialized hands, and,\nstrange as it may seem, they have actually written without the presence of\nany visible pencil at all. They have written long messages on the inner\nsurfaces of double slates, the parties holding on to them at the time the\nmessages were being written. They have done this for me in the presence of\nC. G. Helleberg, John Winterburn and William Layton, and others, honorable\npeople of Cincinnati, who will take great pleasure in certifying to the\nsame. I do not refer to these truly marvelous things in a spirit of\negotism or self-boasting, for I am entitled to no credit except in so far\nas I may have, by prudent conduct, honest living and carefulness, assisted\nin securing the proper conditions for the invisible intelligences--I mean\ninvisible to mortal eyes only. While I naturally feel proud of these noble\ngifts, I have learned to be humble with them, as my spirit guides have so\noften admonished me to be. And I feel like using them for the benefit of\nhumanity and the upbuilding of truth.\n\n\"My clairvoyance was an early and permanent development and still remains\nwith me, the other development not seeming to materially interfere with\nit.\n\n\"I have had with me for many years two Indian spirits, from whose\nassociation I have derived great pleasure; and I have ever found them\ntrue, faithful and honest. The male Indian has never given me his full and\nproper name, telling me that it was ugly. He was of the Chippewa tribe,\nand has always been known as 'Chip.' Chip abhors fire-water and tobacco,\nand every thing immoral, and in very many respects widely differs from the\nleading characteristics of his people. The Indian maiden, whom we call\nWINNIE, came to me in 1868, and gave her name as Winniepesaga, and said\nwhile quite young she was drowned in a stream of water in the Far West.\nShe is sprightly, quite talkative, exceedingly smart and interesting in\nconversation. Naturally gifted with clairvoyant powers and prophetic\nabilities, she has given very many remarkable tests, and by reason of her\nequability of temper, general good disposition and real cleverness in\ncolloquial gifts, she is generally well liked by all who have come in\ncontact with her spirit ministrations. She has controlled me for years,\ndoes yet, and her influence is sweet, soothing and strengthening. Captain\nOliver C. Curry died at Jeffersonville, Ind., in 1874, and was a lawyer by\nprofession, and was for a long time city attorney of that city. He was a\ncousin of mine, and has belonged to the band for two years, and has been\nexceedingly active, especially in the trumpet seances. By his suavity,\nintelligence and witty sayings, he has made himself quite a favorite with\nmany. Assisting in the development, I have had with me several spirits\nfamiliar with the laws of science, including a distinguished French\nscientist, our own Franklin and Professor Mapes. They seem to have only\nbeen engaged with the band temporarily in aiding the advancement of the\ndevelopment. They have my sincere thanks and profound gratitude. I come\nnow to speak of another spirit, although of an humble name, yet a grand\nand highly progressed one, who has been my leading counsellor, adviser and\nfriend. In 1868, I laid away the lifeless form of a dear little boy, and\nin my unutterable grief this noble spirit first appeared to me and gave me\nwords of consolation. He has been with me ever since. He passed out of the\nform in the State of Georgia at the early age of thirty-three and had been\nat the time he came to me upwards of fifty years in spirit life. He always\ninspires me as being the very embodiment of purity itself, and his whole\nambition seems to be to do good. This spirit also possesses wonderful\nprophetic power, and communicates with me only in case of an exigency,\nwhen I am in trouble, or otherwise need the sustaining and guiding power\nof the angel world. He gives me his name as HENRY TEANEY, and no Christian\never worshiped the gentle Nazarene with more devotion than I do my friend\nand guide, Henry Teaney. He is pure, noble and godlike, loves the right,\nhates the wrong, and never condescends to any thing little, hateful, or\nmean.\n\n\"Here I close after again returning thanks from the inmost recesses of my\nheart to my honored and noble band of spirits engaged with and through me\nin the great work of advancing the kingdom of God in the dissemination of\ntruths vouchsafed to the children of earth through spirit communion.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\nA VISIT TO SPLIT ROCK, KENTUCKY--CHRISTMAS GREETINGS FROM IDA TO HER\nPARENTS--ANNIE WINTERBURN TO HER BROTHER JOHN WINTERBURN, AND HIS\nTESTIMONY AND HER FAREWELL TO THE MEDIUM, MRS. GREEN.\n\n\nMrs. Green's home proper, is at Aurora, Dearborn county, Indiana. Aurora\nis a beautiful and enterprising little city of five or six thousand\ninhabitants, and is located on the western bank of the Ohio river,\ntwenty-five miles or thereabouts below Cincinnati, Ohio. It can be reached\nfrom Cincinnati in less than an hour's ride over the Ohio and Mississippi\nrailroad, which passes through it. While her husband pursues the legal\nprofession at Aurora, Mrs. G., in obedience to the wishes of her spirit\nguides and attendants, devotes her time and medial gifts at Cincinnati\nfrom Monday until Saturday of each week, returning to her companion and\ndaughter each Saturday, and remaining with them over the Sabbath. This\nstatement is deemed proper in view of and as prefatory to what I am about\nto relate as occurring recently, and which can not fail to be estimated as\na truly remarkable spirit manifestation.\n\nBy the invitation of Mr. Green, Mr. Edwin Stebbins, of Cincinnati, and\nmyself accompanied Mrs. Green to her home at Aurora on Saturday, August\nthe 5th, for the purpose of joining a small party of excursionists on the\nday following to the celebrated Split Rock, some three miles down the\nriver from Aurora, on the Kentucky side of the Ohio. Our host had\nchartered a small propeller steamboat known as the Wave, which we boarded\nearly Sunday morning (the 6th), and it required less than a half hour to\nland us at our destination. Our party consisted of our host and hostess\nand their daughter, Cora B. Green; Mr. B. F. Vandegrift, his wife, three\ndaughters and son; James W. Shirley, wife, and two small children.\n\nDuring the afternoon we were threatened with a rain-storm, and our party\ndivided, some going into the caves for shelter, others repaired to a\nfarm-house near by. The rain passed around us, after which a party of five\nin number, namely, Mr. and Mrs. Green, Mr. and Mrs. Vandegrift, and\nmyself, reassembled on the summit of the elevation overlooking the Split\nRock. It was suggested by me that we have a spirit seance, but we had no\nstand, slate or pencil. The novelty of a spirit seance on that noted spot\nwas sufficiently suggestive and interesting to induce us to improvise a\nseat for the medium, which consisted of a couple of stakes driven into the\nground and a fence rail placed on them. I took out my annotation book and\nwith lead pencil placed it on Mrs. G.'s lap, and she threw over them a\nrubber circular, making the necessary condition of darkness. We formed a\nsemi-circle in front of the medium thus seated, and sang the \"Sweet Bye\nand Bye,\" and \"Nearer My God to Thee.\" In a few moments the covering over\nthe writing material was raised up and down three times, indicating\nthereby that the writing had been accomplished. In this way we received in\nrapid succession three communications, which I hereby transcribe and\nnumber them in the order of their production.\n\n\n_Number One._\n\n\"Good afternoon. Nice picnic. Many spirits with you, including Madam\nEhrenborg and Swedenborg. Nettie, Emil, and Ida send much love to Mr.\nHelleberg and Mr. Stebbins.\"\n\n\n_Number Two._\n\n\"Mr. and Mrs. Vandegrift's friends send their greetings from summer land.\nAlso, Mr. Green's friends and relatives. All happy to be with you.\"\n\n\n_Number Three._\n\n\"God bless you all, and hope we may all meet on this spot again. Good bye.\n\n \"NETTIE AND CURRY.\"\n\n\nWe were not only delighted but enthusiastic over the success of our\nenterprise. Here on this spot, both romantic and famous in history, with\nilly-provided conditions, we had communed with the loved ones from the\nland of immortal souls.\n\nAs the spirit daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stebbins, of Cincinnati, Ohio, is\nmentioned as belonging to the party of tourists that visited the planet\nMars, and as communicating with others at Split Rock, Kentucky, and for\nother good reasons, I have deemed it not inappropriate to incorporate\nherein a letter of Mr. Stebbins to the _Spiritual Offering_, a paper\nrecently established at Ottumwa, Iowa, and which is ably conducted and\ndevoted to the advancement of spiritualism.\n\n\n[For the \"Spiritual Offering.\"]\n\nINDEPENDENT SLATE WRITING,\n\nBY\n\nEDWIN STEBBINS.\n\nOn Christmas evening myself and wife secured an independent slate-writing\nsitting with Mrs. Lizzie S. Green, at 309 Longworth street, Cincinnati,\nOhio, and we received the following communication from our dear spirit\ndaughter, viz:\n\n\"Merry, merry Christmas to you all! I do not know of a better Christmas\ngift than to give you a spirit communication on this memorable day. I am\nso happy and excited I can not write good. Oh, I have a beautiful home and\nam advancing in music all the time. I have a beautiful library of books. I\nam a teacher, and have a nice little class. We do not have as many\nscholars here in the spirit world as you do. We can not teach every one\nlike we did here. We have to be attracted to each other magnetically.\nTherefore our work is not in vain, for by this method spiritual growth\nmust ensue. We work in harmony together, and nothing occurs to retard our\nprogress in learning. You would be surprised, and I rather think you are\nnow, even at my style of composition. If you could see me as I am here,\nand hear me talk, you would see how fast I have progressed. Oh, how happy\nI am in my spirit home, but my heaven is not there. It is with my dear pa\nand ma, but duty calls and I must obey. I have been made extremely happy\nby your obedience to my will and all will be well. Henney says this is\nquite new to him, but when he saw you and me at his funeral his happiness\nwas beyond expression. When you laid away my form of clay you did not\nthink to see me here to talk and write to my loved ones dear.\n\n \"When you're sad and sometimes cry,\n Remember your Ida, dear, is nigh,\n To bless and comfort you while here,\n And guide you to a brighter sphere.\n\n\"And when the time comes for you to go we will meet you with our golden\nboat, and row you safely over the beautiful river to our home that I have\nhelped prepare for you. Now, thanking Mrs. Green for her kindness to you\nand Ida, I bid you good night. All the relatives are here, and send you\ntheir Christmas greetings.\n\n \"Good night, good night, to all that's here,\n I leave and go to a brighter sphere.\n\nWishing you all success in the new year, dear pa and ma, ever hold sacred\nthe Christmas gift I present you to-day. Good night, Mr. Green, wife and\ndaughter. Good night, my dear pa and ma. This indeed is the happiest\nChristmas I have spent since I left my earthly home. I must leave, but it\nis hard. Your loving daughter,\n\n \"IDA.\"\n\n\"My daughter passed away on the 18th day of December, 1875, at the age of\nseventeen, and she was an only child. The above message from her possesses\npeculiar value to me, for therein are a number of valuable tests and\nevidences of her identity. My belief in the return of the spirits of the\ndeparted is of brief duration in point of time antecedent, and was mainly\nbrought about, through the mediumship of Mrs. Green. I can not express the\nreal happiness I enjoy since I have been the recipient of this new light\ndivine and I can only say, 'God speed the good work.'\n\n\"Cincinnati, Ohio.\"\n\n\nANNIE WINTERBURN.\n\n\"_Dear Brother_: Oh, how happy I am to-day to be able to write you on the\ninner surface of a double slate with your own precious hands holding it\nwith the medium. You did not need this as a test, for your mind is clear\nand your heart is in the cause, but we give it to you because others have\nbeen thus favored, and we have resolved that you shall not be neglected\nwhen the good things pertaining to spirit intercourse are being given to\nothers. Oh, John, you do give us so much real happiness by your noble and\nupright conduct, and by the opportunities you give us to hold sweet\ncommunion with you. Thus our lives become interblended, and the happiness\nof all increased. Spirits do derive great benefit from mortals, and to\nthat extent are dependent on them. When a child dies in the tender years\nof infancy unschooled in the multifarious concernments of mortal life, it\nis brought back into contact with human affairs that it may learn those\nexperiences of earth which were denied it by its early and untimely\ndeparture from the form. In all the pursuits of your life each individual\nis constantly attended by spirits interested in the same, and in these and\nmany other ways are spirits aided in their progress and happiness.\nWhenever and by whomsoever you are told differently heed it not, but rely\non what I have stated. We are interested in your proper instruction, and\nwe will not lead you astray or into error. All those near and dear to you\nare here, and bid me to send you their love greetings. They pray without\nceasing that you may be kept steady and firm in your high resolves and\nnoble purposes until the end, when you shall rejoice in the anthem of\nvictory. Hold up your head, dear and precious brother; be brave and\nresolute in the hour of temptation. Do no harm, but all the good you can\nin the world. And when the blessed angel called Death shall beckon you\naway from the labors and vicissitudes of mortal life to the sunlit\nevergreen shores of the summer land, be assured that among the hosts of\nothers who will meet and welcome you with happy and rejoicing hearts you\nwill see and be enfolded lovingly in the arms of your loving sister,\n\n \"ANNIE.\"\n\n\"I, John Winterburn, resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, do hereby certify that\nthe above and foregoing communication from my spirit sister came in the\nmanner, to wit: I examined a double slate, and found it clean and without\nany writing whatever upon it. A small piece of slate pencil not larger\nthan a grain of wheat was placed upon it and the slate closed. I then held\non to one side of the slate, holding it tight together as folded, and the\nmedium, Mrs. Green, held on to the other side. Soon we heard writing, and\nin the course of fifteen minutes the signal was given indicating that the\nwriting was completed, whereupon the slate was opened, and on both sides\nof the inner surfaces was found, neatly written, the above communication.\nThe t's were crossed, and the i's were dotted. I know, as well as I am\ncapable of knowing any fact requiring the exercise of my senses in their\nnormal state, that the communication was written by invisible power, and\nI firmly believe it comes from the source it purports to come, namely: my\ndear sister, now in spirit life. The seance was in broad daylight, and\nunder circumstances that precluded fraud or deception on the part of the\nmedium or any one else in the body.\n\n \"JOHN WINTERBURN, 185 Longworth street.\"\n\n\"This same Mr. Winterburn has had regularly one sitting a week with Mrs.\nGreen for seven or eight months, and among other spirit relatives and\nfriends who were active in communicating with him was his spirit sister\nAnnie. She seems to possess considerable poetic ability, and occasionally\nwrote poetry to her brother. Recently Mr. Winterburn visited his mother\ncountry, England, and the last sitting with Mrs. G. before his departure,\nhis sister Annie addressed the medium in the following feeling stanzas,\nwhich Mr. Winterburn copied as they came on the slate, viz:\n\n \"Dear medium friend, both good and true,\n 'Tis hard that we must part from you,\n And though we cross the surging main,\n We will return to you again.\n\n \"Returning with our spirits' love and power\n From British isle or sunlit bower,\n Our fond hearts' loving blessings to impart\n To comfort and cheer your noble heart.\n\n \"Dear brother's heart you have made glad,\n Dispersing sorrow and conditions sad;\n And where'er we roam, on land or sea,\n Our hearts shall turn in love to thee.\n\n \"Farewell, dear medium friend, farewell,\n To thee our gratitude we ne'er can tell,\n We can only say heart's full of love,\n We'll meet you on the shores above.\n\n \"And there, in that bright land of joy,\n Where mingles naught of earth's alloy,\n We'll lead thy steps with blessings rare\n To our homes above our joys to share.\n\n \"Angels of light, refulgent bright,\n Be with you when you take you flight\n From scenes of strife and sorrows here\n To a just reward in a higher sphere.\n\n \"Farewell, farewell, alas! farewell,\n The parting is like a funereal knell;\n But when you climb the golden stair,\n Your true friend, Annie, will meet you there.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\nA SPIRIT PEELS A BANANA, AND EATS SOME OF IT, AND DIVIDES THE REST IN FOUR\nEQUAL PARTS--REPORTS OF CINCINNATI ENQUIRER ABOUT SPIRIT SEANCES AT MRS.\nGREEN'S.\n\n\nI desire to speak of a recent manifestation, which baffles my ability to\nunderstand, and proves that spirits by some chemical process are enabled\nto operate upon material substances and cause them to vanish. I only give\none instance, and leave the reader to his own reflections and to adopt his\nown theory. I shall simply give the fact as it occurred.\n\nI have a little grand daughter, Julia Muth, in the spirit world. When in\nthe form she was partially fond of bananas. On the occasion of the recent\nanniversary of her eighth birthday, the 13th of July, 1882, I went to Mrs.\nGreen for a seance, taking with me a large banana. These slate-writing\nseances, as has been heretofore explained, take place in the full light. I\nsat, as usual, opposite to Mrs. Green, with the small stand between us. I\nplaced the fruit on a slate, with a short letter of greeting, and put it\nunder the covering of the stand, while Mrs. Green held another slate of\nher own. The spirits, after writing on Mrs. Green's slate for about an\nhour, wrote as follows: \"Grandpa, take your slate from under the stand,\"\nwhich I immediately did, and on the slate was written, \"I peeled the\nbanana, and ate some of it, too; your little Julia Muth.\"\n\nWe removed the cloth covering from the stand and found the peelings on\nthe floor, and on my slate the banana divided in four equal parts after\nthe end piece had disappeared. We searched diligently, but without our\neffort being rewarded by the discovery of the missing portion of the\nfruit. Whither had it gone?\n\nThe _Cincinnati Daily Enquirer_ is a leading as well as an extensively\ncirculated paper, published at Cincinnati, Ohio, and, in October, 1881,\nMrs. Green was visited by a reporter of that paper, who was present at two\nof her trumpet seances. Although probably not a believer, he turned out to\nbe a fair minded man who would not allow his prejudices, if he had any, to\ninterfere with an honest account of what he saw and witnessed. In three\nissues of that paper, to wit, October 16th, 18th and 21st, 1881, appeared\nhis report of a visit to Mrs. Green, and two seances he attended. They are\nhere inserted, in the order of the dates given.\n\nIssue of October 16th:\n\n\"In a neatly furnished suit of rooms over No. 309 Longworth street lives\nMrs. L. S. Green, a spiritualist medium. Upon her last evening a\nrepresentative of the _Enquirer_ called. He was cordially received by the\nlady's husband, being tendered a seat in a parlor in which was a piano, a\npretty set of furniture; while an old-fashioned kerosene lamp threw its\nbrightest rays over the room from a mantel-piece. Seated in a\nrocking-chair was Mrs. Green, plainly dressed, of a modest and retiring\ndisposition, and features that stamped her as a faithful and loving wife.\nThe mission of the newspaper man was quickly explained. Her husband\nreplied that as a rule mediums avoided reporters, as they were liable to\ndistort and ridicule their statements. But where the thing is conducted\nhonestly and openly, 'I can not,' he said, 'see what we have to fear from\npublication.'\n\n\"In reply to a question, Mrs. Green said that she was about thirty-eight\nyears old, and had been a clairvoyant since 1868, her first mediumistic\ninclinations having developed that year. Her history since that time as a\nspiritualist has been quite full of interest. Previous to her becoming a\nmedium she was a member of the Christian Church, and was as great a\nskeptic as one could find. So, in fact, was her husband. While a member of\nthe Indiana Legislature in 1867 he attended a seance, where he received a\nmessage from his dead mother. At a subsequent one, another spiritual\nletter came to him, telling him that his wife possessed the powers of a\nmedium, and asking him to bring her to one of the circles. After some\npersuasion he finally gained her consent to go. She there saw her first\nspirits, that of an uncle of the medium of the assemblage, who had his\nhead cut off by a train of cars. From that time her powers began to\ndevelop, showing themselves in messages that she wrote on paper or beheld\nin the air. Spirits as high as five hundred a day presented themselves to\nher view. Her continued increase as a medium so worked upon her that she\nlost her health, and she was compelled for the time being to abandon the\nbusiness. About twelve months ago she resumed her writing--this time on\nslates. Messages Were written on the inside of folded slates, and often,\nafter a seance, a fluid would be found on the outside of the slate, which,\nunless washed off then, could never be removed. This had been taken to\nchemist after chemist for analysis, and one and all had failed to make any\nthing out of it.\n\n\"One evening a small lock of hair was found in the corner of the slate, in\nthe center of which was a small lead pencil. At that time this was\nbelieved to have been placed there by some one in the circle. It was\nfolded in a piece of paper to be retained, but the next day it\ndisappeared. From this time out Mrs. Green's materializing abilities\nbegan. She had great success in her seances, and frequently described\ncatastrophes which, on the following morning, were found to be exceedingly\naccurate. She foreshadowed the explosion of the steamer Pat Rogers, and\ngraphically described the collision of the United States with the America.\nThe details of a fire at a neighboring place one evening were recited by\nher. The next day it was learned that the hour and facts were most\nwonderfully correct.\n\n\"While the reporter and his friend were talking Mrs. Green called their\nattention to two spirits who were standing besides them, one a\nbrother-in-law of the first-named, and the other a friend of the latter\nwho died twelve years ago. Both were accurately described, much to the\nsurprise and astonishment of the two skeptics. Mrs. Green, in explaining\nher power, said that she was entirely controlled by one spirit, and that\nwhen she first began to work it was shown by slaps on the hand, by shocks\nin her arms, etc. She did only as her influence compelled her to act, and\nwhile writing, etc., she knew not what she did, much to the surprise and\nastonishment of the two skeptics. Many startling results of seances were\nrecited, such as the sounding of trumpets, the ringing of bells, singing,\nand the appearance of different spirits were detailed.\"\n\nInsertion of October 18th:\n\n\"Mrs. L. S. Green, the medium, gave a seance last evening to a few\nfriends at her house, No. 309 Longworth street. There were five people\npresent, three of whom were skeptics of the worst kind. The gathering was\nseated in a medium-sized; plainly-furnished room. In the center was a\nsmall stand, over which was placed a heavy green spread. As an opening,\nthe lady took a small slate upon which was laid a bit of slate pencil.\nThis she held with one hand in under the table, and several messages were\nwritten on it in a clear and distinct hand. Then the cloth was removed,\nand on the table were placed a bell, two slates, washed clean, a glass of\nwater, and a leather trumpet. At some distance from the medium stood a\nguitar, leaning against the wall, and a large trumpet, while near the\nnewspaper man were two small trumpets. The light was then extinguished,\nthe doors locked, and the seance begun. All took hold of hands, and one of\nthe party sang. In a few minutes came a gentle tapping on the slates, then\nthe bell rang violently, seeming to pass through air, returning and\nfalling on the floor. The various members were touched about the face and\nbody, and one exceedingly lady-like spirit took occasion to rub her hand\ndown the reporter's face, testing fully the power of his nervous system.\nSinging was continued, when the guitar was heard to play, rising in the\nair, apparently passing around over the different persons' heads, hitting\nthem lightly in the face, and finally landing in the reportorial lap.\n\n\"A breathing spell was taken when one of the party varied the programme\nwith a selection upon the orgamina. The favorite old song, 'John Brown,'\nwas given, and it pleased the spirits hugely, as a deep bass voice was\nheard to join in with an occasional blast from the trumpet. Then the\ntrumpet took a trip around the circle, announcing its coming with a rap on\nthe head or shoulders of each one. The bell rose in the air tingling\nrapidly and landed this time on the table. The familiar taps on the person\nwere continued, then there was a tremendous note from the trumpet, and a\nsweet voice joined in with Mrs. Green, as she sang, 'Nearer My God to\nThee.' Although the manifestations were quite good, especially to the\nreporter, who was continually dodging imaginary trumpets and blows, the\nmedium said the weather was bad for the most satisfactory work. The\nspirits announced that they were about ready to depart by a loud rap on\nthe table and a sprinkling of those present with water. The light being\nturned on, the following communication was found on one of the slates:\n\n\"'Good evening, gentlemen. We are glad to meet you. The spirit band of the\nmedium authorize and request me to thank the representative of that great\nmetropolitan journal, the _Enquirer_, for the terms employed in reference\nto their medium and her gifts in yesterday's issue of that paper. This\ntreatment, so rare, betokens a spirit of candor and fairness commensurate\nwith this transcendently important subject. We extend you a cordial\ninvitation to visit us whenever and as often as it suits your convenience,\nand we shall always endeavor to treat you with courtesy and respect.\n\n \"'NETTIE.'\n\n\"The lines were very regular, the i's and t's are dotted, and the\nsignature was especially plain, it being the name of one of Mrs. Green's\ncontrols.\"\n\nThe third and last appeared in the issue of October 21st, and is as\nfollows:\n\n\n\"QUITE INTERESTING--A SEANCE HELD LAST EVENING--SKEPTICS AND BELIEVERS\nASSEMBLE TOGETHER.\n\n\"A very interesting seance was held last evening at the residence of Mrs.\nL. S. Green, 309 Longworth street. Seven persons were present, including\ntwo mediums. The spirits were unusually frisky, and the manifestations\nwere particularly gratifying to the believers, and rather dumbfounding to\nthe skeptics. The arrangements and room were the same as in the others\npreviously described, except that there were more musicians present. Very\nexcellent music was rendered by an orgamina, a violin, a guitar, and a\nmusic-box. The selections given were sweet enough to summon the most\nbashful friends of the medium from their spiritualistic retreat. The\ndeparted were less inclined to epistolary efforts, and slate-writing was\nnot conducted with any favorable results.\n\n\"During the evening one of the gentlemen sang a Swedish song, accompanying\nhimself on the guitar. A female voice at one time, and a powerful bass\nlater, were heard plainly in concert with him. The human singer alleged\nquite emphatically that his spiritual aids rendered the air in the same\nlanguage he did. The guitar took numerous trips around the room, sometimes\nhigh in the air, again touching those present on the head and different\nparts of the body. A huge tin trumpet was blown most furiously, the blast\nsounding like the greatest effort of the bass-horn. Then it was pounded\nand thumped, creating a most awful din. This was explained as being the\ndoings of a very powerfully materialized spirit. The statement was\nacquiesced in by a skeptic, who received a vigorous whack on the knee,\nfully convincing him that muscle, lots of it, too, backed the trumpet.\n\n\"A little music-box was taken from the table and wafted through the room,\nplaying its peculiarly sweet airs all the time as it sailed toward the\nceiling and over those about the table. It could be heard in every corner,\nhigh and low, and if a medium or friend was carrying it, said person must\nhave been exceedingly lively, climbing over chairs, a bed, etc., without\nmaking any noise. It was claimed that when the box ran down it was wound\nup by those who took it through the air.\n\n\"Whenever songs were sung, or selections were played upon the instruments,\nsoprano or bass voices joined in plain to all present. Members were\ndelicately touched in the face and body. The tolling of a great bell was\nmost cleverly imitated, and a little one was rung frequently. The spirits\nof loved ones were reported as standing at the sides of different members,\nsome of whom were quickly recognized by the description given. Water was\nsprinkled on all, and the goblet filled with this fluid was passed around,\ntouching some in the face, others on the body. No communications were\nreceived except very brief ones.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\nEXTRACTS FROM EACH OF TWO FUNERAL DISCOURSES BY BISHOP SIMPSON AND REV. W.\nH. THOMAS, D. D., WITH CONCLUSIONS OF C. G. HELLEBERG.\n\n\nIn closing it has been deemed advisable and proper to append an extract\nfrom each of two funeral discourses delivered by two eminent divines--one\nthe eminent Methodist Bishop, Mr. Simpson, and the other a distinguished\nminister of Chicago, who, of late, experienced some little annoyance from\nhis flock, who were mere sticklers for forms and creeds, and because their\nshepherd had grown a little beyond their cramped and narrow limits.\n\n\nBISHOP SIMPSON.\n\n\"The very grave itself is a passage into the beautiful and glorious. We\nhave laid our friends in the grave, but they are around us. The little\nchildren that sat upon our knee, into whose eyes we looked with love,\nwhose little hands have clasped our neck, on whose cheek we have imprinted\nthe kiss, we can almost feel the throbbing of their hearts to-day. They\nhave passed from us, but where are they? Just beyond the line of the\ninvisible. And the fathers and mothers who educated us, that directed and\ncomforted us, where are they but just beyond the line of the invisible?\nThe associates of our lives that walked along life's pathway, those with\nwhom we took sweet counsel and who dropped from our side, where are they\nbut just beyond us? not far away; but now it may be very near us. Is there\nany thing to alarm us in this thought? No. It seems to me that sometimes\nwhen my head is on the pillow there come whispers as of joy that drop into\nmy heart--thoughts of the sublime and beautiful and glorious, as though\nsome angel's wing passed over my brow, and some dear one sat by my pillow\nand communed with my heart to raise my affections to the other and better\nworld. The invisible is not dark, it is glorious. Sometimes the veil\nbecomes so thin it seems to me that I can almost see the bright forms\nthrough it, and my bending ear can almost hear the voices of those who are\nsinging their melodious strains. Oh, there is music all around us, though\nin the busy scenes of life we recognize it not. The veil of the future\nwill soon be lifted and the invisible shall appear.\"\n\n\nREV. W. H. THOMAS, D. D., OF CHICAGO.\n\n\"How can we linger over the bier of the departed and go in the eventide to\ntheir graves, and sit down in the stillness there, hoping in some way to\ncome in communion with them. They carry their loves over to the other\nside, and is it unreasonable to suppose that a mother who has passed from\nthese shores should still seek to be the guardian angel of the children\nshe watched over in this life? Is it unreasonable that the great hosts of\nlife, column on column, world on world, that have gone out from this\nstate, should seek to come with their higher wisdom and tenderer sympathy\nto minister to those they loved in this life, and help them to cling to\nthe truth that saves? To me this doctrine of the spirit life, the\neminence and presence of helping and guiding spirits is a comforting\nthought. It brings me into the presence of the innumerable host that\npeople the spirit land. It gives me somehow a consciousness of the great\nfact of immortality. It gives me a sweet consciousness that my friends\nlive on the other shore; that to me they will come as ministering angels\nin the dying hour to receive the spirit, tired by work, weakened by\nsickness, wearied with years, pale from death, and bear it to the love and\nlife above.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nIf these utterances are not in harmony with spiritualism, and its central\nand prominent idea of the very nearness of our spirit friends and the\nspirit world, then I am wholly incapable of recognizing and understanding\nthe force of plain and direct language. They can have but one meaning, and\nthat in perfect accordance with spiritualism.\n\nI find these extracts published in the Auburn _Advertiser_, of New York,\nfrom which I copied them. There they are; read them carefully, and then\npropound the question to your own heart and intelligence, namely: What\ndoes all this mean if spiritualism be false? And if spiritualism be true,\nhow can these men and those holding similar views, oppose spiritualism and\nbe consistent and maintain their self-respect?\n\n C. G. HELLEBERG.\n\n\n\n\nFootnotes:\n\n[1] This has reference to forget-me-not seeds which she sent me from\nSweden.\n\n[2] This Polheim was Sweden's greatest architect, mathematician and\nbuilder, who projected the canal between Stockholm and Gottenburg.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nPassages in italics are indicated by _italics_.\n\nPunctuation has been corrected without note.\n\nErrata corrections have been applied to the text.\n\nErrors in the Errata page and line number references have been corrected\nwithout note.\n\nThe following misprints have been corrected:\n \"Erhenborg\" corrected to \"Ehrenborg\" (ToC)\n \"the the\" corrected to \"the\" (page 19)\n \"Swendenborg\" corrected to \"Swedenborg\" (page 45)\n \"acqainted\" corrected to \"acquainted\" (page 54)\n \"enternal\" corrected to \"eternal\" (page 69)\n \"farcial\" corrected to \"farcical\" (page 70)\n \"achievment\" corrected to \"achievement\" (page 92)\n \"enlightment\" corrected to \"enlightenment\" (page 93)\n \"spiriritual\" corrected to \"spiritual\" (page 161)\n \"righteouness\" corrected to \"righteousness\" (page 168)\n \"afteward\" corrected to \"afterward\" (page 177)\n \"Chistian\" corrected to \"Christian\" (page 199)\n \"succeessful\" corrected to \"successful\" (page 201)\n missing \"by\" added (page 216)\n \"beyong\" corrected to \"beyond\" (page 239)\n \"J.\" standardized to \"T.\" (page 211)\n\nOther than the corrections listed above, inconsistencies in spelling and\nhyphenation have been retained from the original.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
","title":"A Book Written by the Spirits of the So-Called Dead","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":65044}