X* ' -^ / -> V jS> o- & X° °x. . s* 8 : ' , - % V tf ■ V ' % v- \\ ^ •0 ,-tf WRITINGS THROUGH THE SAME LADY: COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD. INTRODUCTION By Lorenzo Dow. ON MEDIUMS " " ON INFLUENCE " ON GOD " ON HARMONY " ON PURITY OF LIFE " Theoeore Parker. ON THE STATE OF THE DEPARTED " Thomas Paine. ON HISTORY " Swedenborg. ON THE HAPPY " The Nazarine. ON THE POWER OF HOLY SPIRIT " John Wesley. THE DAY OF REST— THE SABBATH DAY . . " Moses. ON DEATH " Lorenzo Dow. ON FORTITUDE " The Nazarine. ON LOVING THE WORLD " St. Luke. ON CRIME " The Nazarine. ON CHARITY " Jesus. ON TRUTH " Sir. Paul. ON SOBRD3TY... '. " TheNazarine. ON LOVE " John Wesley. ON MARRIAGE " Jesus. ON SUFFERING " Zachariah. ON ZEAL " Moses. Price : Paper, 25 cents ; Cloth 38 cents. FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE WORLD OF SPIRITS, etc.. etc. NOTICE : To the Proprietor of the book, called " Further Communications from the World of Spirits" : When your first publication reached me, I didnot read it, among my many avocations, because I have received so many things that did not repay the perusal. To-day. however, I have read a part of this second publication, and am overwhelmed with a sense of awe and gratitude. It is by far the best work ever yet published on the subject, and comes just at the right time. I desire to aid in its circulation all in my power. I shall go to your printer in the morning and get as many copies as I can, and I should rejoice to become acquainted with you and the medium, so as to work in concert with you in the dissemina- tion of its beautiful truths, if I may be allowed. I shall leave this with Mr. Brady, in the hope that I may hear from you, at least to the extent of being supplied with more copies, if I do not succeed in getting them from him. In the meantime I bid you God speed ! in your good work. You have done me great good already, and you can do it to thousands. The hand of God is in it. No mere mortal power could do it. Yours, most truly. J. W. EDMONDS. CONTENTS : ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS, AND THE PROGRESSED STATE OF THE PRESENT AGE. . .By Joshua, the Son op Nun. ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY, AND REFORMS IN THE SOCIAL STATE By Mart Magdelene. ON GOD IN HIS WORKS By Solomon. ON TYRANNY By Luther. ON THE SIDERIAL HEAVENS : HOW, AND WHEN, AND WHERE DID THEY ORIGINATE ? By George Fox. ON THE SPIRIT WORLD AND THE LAW THAT GOVERNS THERE, AND IN YOUR SPHERE By John the Apostle. ON THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST By John the Apostle. ON THE RIGHTS OF MAN By George Fox. Paper, 50 cents ; Cloth, 65 cents. ESSAYS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS; Intended to elucidate the causes of the changes coming upon all the earth at this present time, and the nature of the calamities that are so rapidly approaching, etc., etc. CONTENTS : ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF MOTION By Benjamin Franklin- ON NATURAL PHILOSOPHY By Cuviek. ON THE NATURE AND DIGNITY OF THE GODHEAD. Signed, Paul the Martyr. ON ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM Signed, Thomas Paine. ON THE NATURE OF THE SPHERES INTO WHICH THE SPIR- ITS OF MEN MUST GRAVITATE. . .Signed, Jesus the Christ. ON THE NATURE OF THE SPHERES, Etc. Part H. Signed, Thomas Paine. ON THE STARRY HEAVENS Signed, Joshua, the Son of Nun ON THE OFFICE OF MEDIUMS Signed, Washington ON MAN AND HIS RELATIONS. .. Signed, Joshua, the Son of Nun- SONG OF TRIUMPH By the Inspired Penman, Isaiah. A FEW REMARKS ON THE PRESENT CONTEST. Signed, Washington. Price : Paper, 50 cents ; Cloth, 65 cents. Ready for Publication : " FLOWERS OF TRUTH FROM THE SPIEIT LAND." CONTENTS : ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN Signed, Jesus the Christ. ON THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS Signed, Thomas Paine. ON TRUTH Signed, Jesus the Christ. SOME OF THE MYSTERIES OF THE SPIRIT AND THE SPIRIT WORLD Signed, John the Apostle. ON THE CAUSES OF HUMAN SORROW AND HUMAN SUFFER- ING.. , Signed, George Fox. ON THE RELATION WHICH ONE PART OF CREATION BEARS TO THE WHOLE Signed, Jesus the Christ. Paper Covers, 50 cents ; Cloth, 65 cents. ' I FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS from th: WORLD OF SPIRITS, ON SUBJECTS HIGHLY IMPORTANT TO the! zEi-cnvc^isr ^^.isfctt-rsr. BY JOSHUA, SOLOMON, AND OTHERS. INCLUDING THE RIGHTS OF MAN, BY GEORGE FOX. GIVEN THROUGH A LADY. SECOMO EDITIOX. PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETOR. 1862. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1862, Br JOHN MAYER, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. CONTENTS. ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS, AND THE PROGRESSED STATE OF THE PRESENT AGE. By Joshua, the Son of Nun, ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CERE- MONY, AND REFORMS IN THE SOCIAL STATE. By Mary Magdalene 34 ON GOD, IN HIS WORKS. By Solomon 64 0^ TYRANNY. By Luther 94 ON THE SIDEREAL HEAVENS ; HOW, AND WHEN, AND WHERE DID THEY ORIGINATE ? By George Fox 107 ON THE SPIRIT-WORLD, AND THE LAW THAT GOVERNS THERE, AND ON YOUR SPHERE. By John the Apostle 124 ON THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. By John the Apostle 158 PREFACE. We would say a few words to the public, or, rather, to the readers of the following Essays. They have been given with a view to benefit mankind, in the best sense of the term. Not with the idea of increasing their worldly wealth — their mundane possessions, but with the earnest desire to assist them in their upward path of progress, which all must tread, however long they may put it off. None can be truly happy without first exerting themselves to become so in the right way ; and it is this way we come to point out to them. Many mistaken theories are now abroad among men, and all find some devoted followers ; but the true and only way for man really to improve his own condition and that of others in connection with him, is to reform his own life — to live out, in his own person, the teach- ings of our great Lord and living head, Christ Jesus. He will need nothing higher, nothing purer, nothing better, than the beautiful sermon of our Lord for his guide and counselor ; and though he may develop to the highest and holiest spheres in heaven, no better teachings can be given him there. It is not that men IV PREFACE. have been without a knowledge of what they should aim to become, but that, with the exception of a very few, thoy have never attempted to practice the doctrines set forth so simply (and yet so comprehensively) in the Ser- mon on the Mount. We have touched on many other subjects in our Es- says which will, we trust, tend to the enlightenment of the human family. Some things we have told you that may surprise, as well as interest, the Bible Christian ; but he need not doubt our teachings because they may, in some things, conflict witli his old opinions. We have said nothing but what is true, and nothing that can, in the smallest degree, injure or put back a good man on his road to progression. It is natural that many errors should be mixed with your old records ; but that does not say that they are all false — far from it. We have shown you plainly, in our Essay on Old Traditions, and some others, that the Eden story could not have been a true one ; neither the Mosaic account of the Creation. But we have also shown you that many of the events recorded by Moses are facts. The character and office of Abraham was truly depicted. He was a descendant of the old Hindoos, the father of the Jewish race, and it was promised to him that a Saviour should come through his descendants to redeem man- kind from the sins that Abraham, at that time, mourned over. The account of the Flood was not altogether false, though it differed considerably from the wholesale catastrophe Moses described. But, making allowances for these discrepancies, and many others, which a clear PREFACE. V seer can soon discover, there is much truth and a great deal to be learned from the Old Testament. It has hitherto been placed on too high a pinnacle. Every- thing it contained men were taught to receive as coming direct from God ; and its study, even by young, pure- minded children, was constantly enforced. Now your own good judgments, my friends, if you use them, must show you that this could not be right. Much in the Old Testament is entirely unfit for publication in your age and would sully the purity of any one, much more an in- nocent child. Such writings were allowable, during the barbarous ages, when men were more on the animal plane than they now are, and were the reflex of their own minds, not from the Holy Spirit of God. But now, my friends, that true light from the Holy Spirit can penetrate more nearly to your souls — now that it can enter into some hearts and dwell there, these old histories and obsolete laws will die out of your remembrance — they will be no longer needed. Men have higher standards of holiness, better teachings of right and wrong, purer light from the Gospel of Christ ; and their communion with the Spirit-world will help them on in their endeavors to fol- low out the teachings of our Great Master, which have so long been a dead letter to them. We do not require to say anything further in regard to our book. We give it to you for your attentive con- sideration, and we think many will be benefited by its perusal. Certain we are, it can harm no one • and we hope that each one who feels the good it has done for Yl PREFACE. Mm, will spread its light and teachings to the best of his ability. My friends, we now take onr leave for the present, to return with newer truths, and more devel- oped teachings when we find you ready to receive them. Till then, farewell. For the Circle who control "John the Apostle." N. B. In dictating the former little work, entitled " Communications from the Spirit World, by Lorenzo Dow and others, through a Lady," we were minded not to append the names of the spirits, immediately communicating ; but, we find men require the sanction of a name to make gook teachings palatable. We do not object to gratifying their innocent desires,, and therefore, we say to our medium, that she may affix ours to these Essays ; and, when her first work is republished, she may, also, insert the names of the authors of those little Essays, if men desire it. We know there is nothing, really, in a name, but that is a step in advance the world has yet to take. We hope, how- ever, that the readers of our little books will find in them truths of far more sterling worth than the names of the writers, though they may receive them with perfect confidence ; for they were, really, the earthly cognomens of the spirits who inspired the medium. Geo. Fox ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS AND THE PRO- GRESSED STATE OF THE PRESENT AGE. GIVEN BY A SPIBIT OF THE OLDEN TIME. tne^ToncHhas I My friends, the" world has long wanted some more positive knowledge in regard to the Old Testament records. Their origin is obscure, their teachings, in many instances, barbarous and cruel. The lives of the chief men mentioned therein, often, nay, generally, very immoral and very sanguinary ; and, altogether the book is one that you would never think of putting into the hands of children, were it not for the sanction of custom and the high authority claimed for the authors of it. It is, indeed, looked upon as divine, in its origin, by most Christian believers ; and they even go so far, in their blind faith, as to suppose that God himself in- spired and excited the Israelitish people to all the acts of treachery, murder, and robbery mentioned therein ! — so far will prejudice blind the understanding — so far will it crush out the light of reason and common sense, implanted in every human soul, to enable it to judge and discern things for itself — " calling no man Master " in this important sense. 6 ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. My friends, I will show you the way I would have all of you examine these records. Whatever in them ap- proves itself to your souls, as good and true teaching, calculated to benefit mankind, if they, follow it out, making them wiser, better, humbler, more truthful, more loving, more self-denying ; that, there can be no mistake about ; that, they need not hesitate to fol- low. This seems very easy and simple to do ; and yet, my friends, it is very difficult to make any one see the necessity of attending to this plain rule. This living out the teachings of prophet or apostle, is the great stumbling block. It is so much easier to talk them over, to argue on contested points, to find out contra- dictions and fallacies, and all the seeming incongruities in the old history, that men waste time, temper, and even life in the work when they might be spending happy, useful days, if they had only chosen the better part and commenced the reformation in themselves. But all this is merely preliminary. We are going to take the matter more in detail, and endeavor to show you ivhy those ancient records cannot be guides to you at this present time, and yet were all useful in their generation. As man progresses, so must his teachings progress. What suited the Israelites, a semi-barbarous people, re- cently delivered from slavery, and, consequently, more brutalized than they would have been had they always lived in freedom, would not in any way suit the people of this century. They had to be restrained with bands of iron, and held in check by laws appealing to their outward, rather than their inward, sense. Fear of bodily suffering, bodily privations, were the weapons to be used with them. But all that has now ceased to be necessary. Man has a higher knowledge, a higher standard of right, and he knows, or ought to know, that ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. < if he violates that, if he departs from the course his in- telligence assures him is the right one, punishment must certainly follow ; though no man, save himself, is con- scious of his derelictions. I am not going to enter minutely into the historical matter of the Bible. Moses wrote from his highest knowledge, derived from ancient Egyptian and Sanscrit records, and put together in the simple narrative form, to suit the comprehension of an ignorant people. He was, himself, learned in all the knowledge of both na- tions ; but it would never have done to give the Israel- ites the same teachings he had received. He wrote for them as simple an account of the formation of their Earth as he could conceive of ; making God a personal God, to be feared and worshiped with awe and rever- ence, and inventing the fable of Adam and Eve to show them the danger of offending against this mighty power. What a child now would not for an instant credit, if placed before him in its true light, has been solemnly and reverently preached upon and believed, by your Jewish and Christian population, all these centuries. The belief that God, a God of love, and wisdom, and justice, has solemnly cursed, not only the earth and its fruits, but every individual born upon it, because a poor, ignorant female gathered and eat a fruit that had been forbidden — a fruit, too, specially spoken of, as tempting to the eye and palate — is too horrible to think of. What, but the grossest blindness, could so have sealed men's eyes that they could not see the fallacy of this thing ? — that they could not discover long ere this, that teachings, suitable for the half savage Jews, were en- tirely unfitted for more progressed minds ? They were very little more developed than the savages of North America. They required a personal Deity — one to be worshiped with outward symbols and sacrifices — and to 8 ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS suit their capacities, Moses adapted his higher knowl- edge in the story he gave them. It answered its pur- pose. They learned about God, as much as was neces- sary to make them amenable to control ; and gradually, as they progressed, other teachings were given to them — the ten commandments were written. This was a great step, far in advance of the Eden Fable. Here there was good moral teaching, mixed with many errors, it is true, but still they contained what was re- quired. We cannot now imagine a jealous God — a God taking vengeance on the innocent children for the crimes of their fathers, but they, being still under the law of fear, required such teachings. The same may be said of the stringent regulations in regard to the seventh day. My friends, a day of rest is an absolute necessity of our being. Man could not, without this blessed institution, continue in the enjoy- ment of health. He would gradually fail, his energies decay, die out, in fact, and the human family become ex- tinct much more speedily than any one has an idea of. This is one great reason of the decline of the savage tribes, who have no such observance ; though they can exist without it much longer than civilized man, as their pursuits are more healthy. The universal prevalence of this institution among all civilized people, shows the im- portance of it, and also, that some wise, overruling power has inspired men to insure its observance, whe- ther in a Christian, Mohammedan or Pagan manner.* * We have said, in a former essay, that the institution of the Sabbath bad its rise in fear — and so it had, as far as man was concerned in pro- moting its origin — but the All-wise God controlled this movement to bring about the good result that followed. He saw the necessity there was that man should have a day set apart for rest and innocent enjoyment. ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. 9 The Israelites were very difficult and stubborn to teach. Anything they had not been accustomed to. they rebelled against, and it was only by the law oi force, that Moses could control them. Therefore, even in an ordinance like this, calculated entirely to benefit and make them happy, threats were necessary to insure its observance. Man is now beginning, almost for the first time, to feel his need of more liberty, in regard to this day. He is now realizing that he has the right to employ it as he likes ; that the day was made to conduce to his happi- ness, and not that he should be obliged to observe it with set forms and prayers. This feeling, so proper now, when man has developed up to it and can regulate his own conduct by the light of his reason, would not have done at all a few years back. Men, only a cen- tury ago, were not prepared to judge for themselves on these important matters. They required rules and reg- ulations, and were the better and happier for them. But the minds of the people are making rapid strides now. The schoolmaster may, indeed, be said to be abroad. The teacher, however, is not man, in his fallible sense, but the great power of the Spirit in the souls of all who can receive it. And greater and mightier changes shall yet take place in the ruling and regulating of your earth-world, not only in respect to the Sabbath, but to everything that is not conducted with equity and jus- tice. Men begin to see with more clearness, that all ought to have equal rights. The next question to be debated is, " Why do they not have them ?" This will be answered very soon, and then means will be taken by many noble and far-seeing minds, to commence a move, ment that shall lead to this result, which will spread with unheard-of rapidity, and never cease till the end is obtained, the victory over oppression and tyranny won, 10 ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. and all be equal, not only in the sight of God and his angels, (that they have ever been,) but in the sight of each other. We seem to wander from our subject, but it is not so • these inferences and remarks are all necessary. By comparing the present with the past, man learns to rea- son and draw his own deductions. He sees more clearly the gradual nature of the development he has gone through, and he also sees how much there is yet to be done, before he attains to his highest stand-point. The Hebrews, as a people, were slow to learn, slow to develop ; they clung to their old idols, their old superstitious usages. Moses, though a learned and gifted leader, eminently fitted for his office, both by knowledge beyond his countrymen, and great medium- istic powers, could not always control them or prevent them from relapsing into gross sins. I would not have you to understand, however, that the events record- ed relating to his government are all true. Do not suppose that he, who is called the meekest of men, could sanction such butcheries as are there spoken of. All those old stories must be read with caution. There is no more truth in the wholesale murdering of the Amalekites, and other nations, in the manner re- corded, than there is in the earlier accounts in the book of Genesis, of the long lives of the patriarchs— the de- struction of the entire world by the flood, etc. In regard to the latter, long before the dates spoken of there, had mankind flourished ; many convulsions and up-heavings had the earth undergone ; but nothing so universal as Noah's Flood ever occurred as the result of God's anger against His people. Common sense, if you would only use it, would show you this. In the first place, what a God, to worship, that must be that could feel anger against all the human race excepting ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. 11 one family, and determine to destroy, not only them, but all the other living things, and the beautiful face of na- ture itself, to gratify this debasing passion ! And for what good result ? Do you see any ? I do not. Noah was certainly not perfect ; he was a drunkard, if no worse ; and we do not see any great, or indeed any little good resulting from this dreadful catastrophe. Certainly some benefit should have been perceptible ; but I think you will find the people were just as wicked, just as rebellious as they were represented to have been before. Does not this show you, my friends, that there mist be misrepresentation somewhere? The fact is, that there had been, in different parts of the earth, and at different times, terrible convulsions — up-heavings of lands here, and waters rising there, where people dwelt in unsuspecting peace. These traditions were known to Moses, and used by him in forming his history ; he made them subserve his purpose in controlling his self-willed sturdy followers. It was another engine of fear that he held as a terror over them ; but, instead of threatening them with a recurrence of this catastrophe, fire was to be the agent used for the next and final destruction of their world. • That the Israelites, as a people, were remarkably cruel to the nations they conquered, is not to be denied, and Moses could not avoid, in some degree, sanctioning them in this. He wished to establish the worship of one true God, not only in the outward ceremonial, but in their hearts. The task was a very difficult one ; they pined after .the idols of Egypt, and took every opportu- nity to fall back into the Worship of them. Their gross minds could not conceive so readily of a Spiritual G-od. The Canaaaitish people were idolaters of a more de- based kind than the Egyptians, and to avoid the liability of Ms people falling into their errors, Moses was willing 12 ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. to permit their extermination. He considered he was doing God service ; but, wise as he was, and so far superior to the people he led, he had not learned all things j he did not follow in this the laws of wisdom or justice. Now he sees things very differently. His love for his countrymen, and his ambition as a leader, then blinded his eyes to the claims of the unfortunate posses- sors of the soil he coveted for his own followers, and he saw only a lawful and just proceeding where he was, really, a robber and a murderer, trespassing on the un- doubted rights of an unoffending people. You will observe that all through his writings he brings forward Jehovah as the author and inspirer of all he does. This increased his authority with his people, and made them willing to do his bidding to any extent. But, my friends, you must not be misled in the same way. You must know and feel that such commands never emanated from a God of love. That Moses was under spirits' control, very often, is quite true, and sometimes very high and holy influences — for instance, when he descended from the mount Sinai, and his face appeared to shine upon the beholders, after he had received the comm'andments. But when such cruel orders came from him to slay and destroy young and old, women and children, not to leave one alive — these were the unde- veloped man's own actions, and God must not be made responsible for them. No one is perfect, even now, when so much advance is being made. Do not, therefore, condemn too freely, a man so much beyond his times as wa^s our great Law-giver and Leader. If he erreci and did some wrong things, he did many noble and great ones. He redeemed his nation from bondage, he gave them higher laws, higher teachings, highe* aspirations, than they had ever known ; he led them through dan- gers and perils by sea and land, undaunted and undis- ON THE VALUE OP OLD TRADITIONS. 13 mayed. "When they rebelled against him, he feared them not ; when they hungered, he found the means to supply their wants ; and during the forty years they sojourned in the wilderness, he was preparing and edu- cating them to enter once more into the arena as a civilized nation. No one now can estimate Moses's character justly. J3e, brought up in luxury, educated in the most pro- found learning of the wise Egyptians, following out his studies and preparing himself for his future career, during the forty years of his banishment from Egypt, returned there, at the expiration of that time, prepared to carry his designs into execution. How faithfully he worked, his success is the best testimony. The faults he committed were the faults of his time, not of his in- dividual character ; that was, even under the most try- ing circumstances, gentle and unassuming. Only one instance- is recorded in which he arrogated power to himself, and for that he is said to have been severely punished. Jehovah was in all his thoughts, supreme and undivided God. To his orders he attributed every action of his career, as leader, and every law he wrote for their internal government. These latter were dif- fuse and stringent, cruel and arbitrary beyond any- thing that we can conceive necessary now ; but there were reasons for them at that time, that do not at pre- sent exist ; and the people learned through them to re- spect the rights of others, and more particularly the pa- rental tie, previously entirely disregarded. Always bear in mind, my friends, in considering these enactments, that the people they were intended for were in a state of lawless barbarism ; that they had no ideas of right and wrong, no moral law, no internal law — they had to be treated as children — and coerced by fear, if they would not obey from love. 14 ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. It is true these laws remained in force after this state of things had ceased to be, but the severity of the pun- ishment became somewhat modified as time crept on ; and it was the mission of Christ to set aside altogether these troublesome enactments, then no longer necessary, and substitute the law of love in lieu of the law of fear. The perverse and headstrong Jews, retaining their old characteristics, refused to follow in Christ's foot- steps, as their forefathers had refused to obey Moses ; but the true teachings did find entrance into some few hearts, and gradually are leavening the whole mass of mankind. We, who now come to you, can preach no higher or better teachings than those Christ gave, but we can aid and assist you to work them out in a more perfect and truthful manner than has yet been done, and that is our true mission to you. We are not to pull down, but to build up the religion of Jesus. We do not come to upset churches, nor to attack creeds, but we come to say to every man and woman, " your own body is the true temple of the Spirit," let it abide there and bring forth its fruits. Individualize yourselves. Let not this man's teachings or that man's opinions rule you, only so far as they approve themselves good to your own souls. If each man followed the internal light that is im- planted in him at his birth, and which it is the duty of his parents and teachers to develop to its most beau- tiful proportions, he would want no clergyman to teach him how to act ; no creeds to guide him ; no ceremonials to bind him. He would have within him the true Spirit of God to enlighten and direct him. It would be a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path, and justice, love and wisdom, would mark his progress onward. This, my friends, is what God in his wisdom has al- ways designed for man. This is what he intends him to ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. 15 arrive at, and he is gradually bringing' the result about. Slowly and silently he works, but none the less surely. Man, developed from the animal he originally was, has now matured into a thinking, reasoning, highly intelligent being. He has passed through many gra- dations, many new developments, and is now so wise that he thinks he knows all things. But, my friends, if he understood himself aright, he would say he knew nothing yet as he ought to know. Self knowledge, the most important of all, he entirely neglects. Only, in rare instances, do we find one who gives a thought to this momentous subject. And what is all other know- ledge compared to it? Have you not ascertained, to your entire satisfaction, that men live again? That this life is only a prelude to an eternal one ? That, accord- ing as you pass through this state of existence, you will be prepared or unprepared, for another? Another that will endure forever ! And, knowing all this, do you ever, seriously, reflect how far you, individually, are fitted for that change that must sooner or later come upon you? My friends, this is a subject you should all be per- fectly versed in. Your own souls should be to you an open book that you can read with pleasure. There, you should find the records of duties fulfilled, desires and passions conquered, tempers subdued, aspirations after good and holy things constantly going forth. Charity, love, and patient forbearance for the wants and short- comings of others, always active; and a constant in- dwelling peace and joy that the world, and the things of the world, can neither affect nor take from you. If all of you, my friends, were in this blessed state, if all of you carried out your self-knowledge into this self- acting; do you not see how much happier, how much wiser mankind would become ? No need then for sala- 16 ON THE VALUE OP OLD TRADITIONS. ried ministers to teach you your duties to yourselves or to each other. ]\ T o need then of temples of .worship, so large and costly, and so destitute of true spirit-influence, as they generally are, to bring you near to God and his angels. The temple of God would be in your own souls. " Ye are the temple of God." Every one who can, by his life and actions, draw down this holy influence has the Spirit of God in him, and his body is its temple. In this way, and no other, my friends, would we attack the churches. We do not come to create con. tention, but to do away with it. As men become more sensible of the truth of these teachings they will natur- ally cease to look to men, like themselves, for instruction. When they can get all they want within their own souls, why should they go elsewhere? This will, in time, empty the places of worship, or change the character of the teachings there given. As men progress their teachers must progress in the same ratio, if they expect to be listened to ; and Spiritualism will have the effect of opening men's minds very considerably and changing their creeds in many very important particulars, even while the parties may be professed and violent enemies to it. Imperceptibly its enlightened teachings will steal in among the most bigoted, and their fabric of faith may be all undermined even while they are congratulating themselves that nothing can shake it. We have now finished what we had to say of the career of Moses. We are not intending to make a voluminous book, and shall, therefore, only slightly glance at succeeding events. i As you know, the Israelites gradually succeeded in exterminating the rightful possessors of the soil and establishing themselves as an independent nation in the land of Canaan, but they still retained much of their barbarism ; they were still cruel, treacherous, deceitful. ON THE VALUE OP OLD TRADITIONS. 17 Moses's laws compelled them to observe some kind of order and obedience to rules, but they were never satis- fied unless fighting and quarreling with the neighboring nations, or among themselves. Therefore, their favorite leaders and chiefs were chosen for eminence in the sci- ence of war, for personal strength, or personal bravery. You will not find, if you examine into it, that moral worth or holiness of life were the distinguishing traits of any of them. The various fables that are mixed up with the true history it is only necessary slightly to glance at, and pass on. Under their leader, Joshua, who succeeded Moses, two wonderful events are recorded as having happened. I allude to the arrest of the sun, in his course, that the people might have longer daylight to continue their butchery of the unoffending Canaanites ; and to the fall- ing of the walls of a fortified city, in consequence of the blowing of some rams' horns. Wonderful events, indeed, my friends, if they had really occurred ; but they did not. No such thing ever did or ever could happen as the sun, or rather the earth, standing still. Do you not know that chaos would be the result of such an unheard-of procedure ? Is not the universe bal- anced and controlled by a power that cannot alter an iota of His own great work, without producing confusion and discord in the whole ? And is it probable, even if no such direful result were to follow, that God, the All- seeing and All-wise, would have favorites ? That He, the mighty ruler of the universe, would direct the event of a battle, to benefit a peculiar people of his own ? No, my friends ; such things could not be, and were not. Like your own old legends and fables, invented origin- ally to please and amuse, or perhaps to gratify the vanity of some illustrious chief, these stories were written — for, I need not say, the legend of the walls of 18 ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. Jericho, falling down, is as unfounded as that of the sun standing still. You should not wonder that stories of this nature could have crept in. Is there any history free from similar ones ? Even your modern ones of Greece and Rome, and those of a still later date, are made up at their commencement, with fables quite as monstrous. Why, then, should you be astonished if there are some things in the Hebrew record not authentic ? Their history is very old. Their vicissitudes, as a nation, after this first part was written, were many. They were carried away captives, their records said to have been lost ; then some parts found again, and no doubt, the new compilation was very different to the original. It is not at all likely it could have been exactly the same, and I know it was very dissimilar where I was myself an actor. No sun ever stood still for me, and no walls fell down at my bidding. Like any other man, I fought and conquered. The Hebrews returned from captivity a humbled and crushed people, and they tried to elevate their unfortu- nate condition, in the eyes of surrounding nations, by recounting their former glorious deeds ; and to make them more remarkable, they called their inventions to aid, and described themselves as a nation set apart — a chosen people (as indeed they were in one respect, for they worshiped the one true God, while all the nations round were sunk in idolatry) ; and, to make these asser- tions more plausible, they told of the wonderful miracles that had been performed in their behalf— that is, they invented those wonders to give their statements a greater semblance of truth. There are many other wonderful events recorded, besides those I have alluded to, that will bear examination no better, but it is not necessary to take all in detail ; when the fallacy of one or two ON THE VALUE OP OLD TEADITIONS. 19 stated is made apparent, it is easy to see how the others may have crept in and become incorporated with the other parts of the book, and obtained equal credence. It does not follow, however, that because we discredit the miraculous parts of the Bible, we must discard the whole. No, my friends, far from doing so, we admire and respect its teachings through its Prophets and Seers, and we see much of instruction in its historical record, if we study it with attention. The Jews claim for it aU a Divine origin, good and bad alike ; all came from God ; all was the work of pis Almighty hand. Had they claimed less for Him, they would have paid Him more respect, and there would have been fewer to quib- ble and dispute over what does indeed contain, mixed with errors, the germs of mighty truths. The Hebrews always asserted that they were a dis- tinct and peculiar people, set apart to maintain the worship of one God. Moses instilled this idea into their minds when he was educating them in the Wilder- ness ; for, during their long sojourn in Egypt, they had almost lost all traces of the purer faith of their ances- tors, and worshipped the gods of the country. But one of the first duties of their great Law-giver was, to cor- rect this error, to impress their minds with a higher idea of their peculiar privileges as the chosen people of the one true God. He did this with the hope of coun- teracting the mischievous teachings they had received in Egypt, not for any other purpose. Moses wished to give them higher truths, and truer faith, and he did not foresee the pride and arrogance he was fostering in them. In these more enlightened days, men can readily per- ceive how widely these vices would spread. An idea so flattering to their vanity, as a people, was not likely to die out, and you can trace its effects all through their 20 ON THE VALUE OP OLD TRADITIONS. history. No nation could be right but their own. No people were fit to associate with them. To exterminate every surrounding tribe, was their aim, their highest ambition ; and all for the ostensible reason of honoring Jehovah ! True, as we before said, they were the only people who at that time confined their worship to one God, and Moses had done a great work in developing this truth among them ; but there was yet much more to be learned before they could be fitted to regulate the faith of the world, and the ignorance and presumption of the Israelites was strikingly manifested in the bold way in which they attempted to coerce submission from all who differed from them. How much teaching, how much punishment, they brought on themselves, is plainly related in their history. Prophets and Seers, or Medi- ums and Clairvoyants, as you would now say, were inspired to talk to them ; nation after nation con- quered and led them into captivity ; but still their pride remained unsubdued — their desires still ran after false gods — they loved and clung to idolatry, and at the same time with strange inconsistency, fought with all the sur- rounding nations because they did the same thing ! One great reason of these back-slidings, was the strin- gency and severity of the laws of Moses. Their duties were made too irksome to them ; their religion was a task : and the penalties attached to any neglect or dere- liction was so fearful, that they gladly accepted the more sensual faiths of the idolators surrounding them. Could another Moses have been given to the Israelites, a few centuries after the advent of the first one, he would soon have regulated these things ; he would have revised his statutes on quite a modified plan ; he would then have endeavored to develop the higher and nobler instincts of their natures — appealed to their sense of right instead of their sense of fear. Laws that were good and proper ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. 21 for them at the time they were written, he would have shown them might now be repealed as worse than use- less — vicious ; and in their place substituted the higher law of love. But a Moses was not given them, and the laws, as they became more and more obnoxious to com- mon sense, were more and more enforced by ignorant rulers and demagogues ; no appeal could be made against them — none was allowed. It is easy to con- ceive how proud and self-righteous a strict observer or them would become ; how he would despise and look with scorn upon his fellow-man who might be more lax in his self-discipline. Nothing of the mild and loving mixed with their faith ; arrogance and scorn was what it fostered, and certainly nothing could be more needed than the entirely opposite teachings that Christ came to bring them. They had been wanted long, but men had not felt the need ; as soon as they did see the ne- cessity for something better, and cried out in spirit to be freed from the bondage in which they were held, a deliverer was sent to them — a teacher of love and har- mony was developed, who quietly and unpretendingly commenced the work of reform. Old laws and old creeds had too firm a footing in the land to be attacked openly. The only way to suc- ceed with the new teachings and make them take hold of the hearts of the people was by showing them the value of them. If they could once make an impression on the minds of the multitude, others would be gradually brought in ; and on this principle Jesus worked. He taught the poor oppressed ones to forgive injuries, to love their enemies, and to pray for those who used them cruelly. Such teachings were in direct opposition to the laws of Moses. He, in his undeveloped age, had said, " an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." But now milder feelings must obtain sway in the human 22 ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. family. Man had not lived all those centuries without some progression. At the time of Christ he was much farther removed from the animal than he was when Moses lived. Therefore, higher and more ennobling laws and teachings were necessary for him, and with the necessity came the supply. Nothing could be more pure, more simple and more lovely, than the teachings of Christ. They supplied all that was wanting. They gave all that was necessary to make men good here, and happy hereafter. Few, however, could receive them at the time, fewer still act up to them ; and even at this distant date, from the period when they were given, how few there are who do more than pro- fess an outward faith in them ; how very, very few, live them out. Spiritualism is a revival, as you may term it, of those teachings Christ labored so hard to introduce among men. At present it is not clearly understood, and has been misapprehended by the majority of its professed followers. The higher teachings, and more ennobling and harmonizing doctrines it would implant in the hearts of the human family, have been little regarded ; and amusement, or the gratification of curi- osity and affectionate remembrances, or the assistance of spirits in the pursuit of worldly gain or pleasure have been the highest aims of most of the Spiritualists, so called. But it is time that all this should be changed ; it is time that mankind should know that something far more important than these attractive, but not very improving manifestations, was intended; and that they must be superseded by those higher ones, of which they were only the forerunners. To improve mankind, in a permanent manner, is the object of this new movement in the spi- ritual kingdom. They have been long enough groaping ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. 23 under the weight of laws and burdens too heavy for them to bear. Tyranny in Church and tyranny in State have held down and crushed the finer parts of man's nature. The Divine principle implanted in him, at his birth, has never had a chance to show itself. Many are so brutalized that a soul does not seem to be a part of their formation, and yet this God-principle is there — cruelly smothered, it is true, but they have it ; and if it gets no chance to develop here, it must hereafter, with greater pain and difficulty. Our knowledge of this, and also our sympathy for those poor debased ones, brings us to earth at this time. The angel world have long felt the necessity there was for some reform on earth more thorough and searching than any that has yet been. They have seen the neces- sity of ameliorating the condition of the lower classes, in a worldly sense, before much can be done for them spiritually ; but the times were not ready for them to work effectually until now. Before spirits could do any permanent good it was necessary that some of the human family should feel the need of reform, and cry out for it. When the magnetism of their prayers and aspirations ascended on high, our magnetism could meet it, our sympathies could be brought into rapport with theirs, and our aid could be given to work this great work. My friends, there is much to be done. Partial ame- lioration, partial reform, is not our aim. To thoroughly and entirely redeem mankind from all the sins, vices and miseries that now afflict them, is the work the spirits have determined to perform.- It may seem an impossi- ble thing to your finite minds, but we know our powers, and the mighty Power that is above us, and from whom we receive all strength. "We know that we shall suc- ceed. This is, in fact, the second coming promised by Christ Jesus — as different to what men have been taught 24: ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. to anticipate, as was his first one to the unbelieving Jews. Mediums and Seers had prophesied of Him tc the Israel- ites, but their priests and teachers had converted and perverted their prophecies of His mission of love into a mission of earthly triumph and glory ; and they could not and would not see the nature of the spiritual king- dom He came to establish in the hearts of the children of men. Considering the violence of the opposition Christ met with, is it not wonderful that He produced any effect at all ? Nothing but the power of Holy, Spirit, so abun- dantly poured out upon Him, and afterwards on His followers, could have caused His success. Men's hearts were touched by its softening influences, and they felt in their inmost depths, the power and force, the beauty and holiness of His words ; their moral superiority over the teachings of their schools, and how much more they were calculated to produce happiness and peace, and prepare them to live again. The teachings of Christ, had they been followed out in the same simple manner in which they were given, would by this time have converted and redeemed the whole world ; but men had not then de- veloped high enough for this result to follow, and it was not anticipated. I merely say what might have been had they been prepared to receive them properly. All was done that was expected. Newer and higher stand- ards of morality were given, and took hold of many hearts ; and in spite of opposition the most violent, and persecutions the most cruel, they continued to spread quietly through many, lands, softening and humanizing the people. Before bigotry and superstition crept in with their at- tendant discords and contentions, the religion of Christ was a religion of love ; but pride and prejudices began to assert themselves — forms and ceremonies took the ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. 25 place of true love and vital religion — and the Holy spirit of God could no longer come in its fullness into the hearts of the worshipers of creeds and formulas. When men begin to assert that one teaches this, and another that, you may feel sure that all is not quite as it should be. Either the teachers are arrogating too much to themselves, or the hearers, forgetful from whence the truths really come, are making idols of their teachers. There are no discordant elements in the true teachings of Christ and his disciples. Passages which you may think contradict each other, have been wrongly given or translated. Disputatious and ambitious men, in the early ages of the Church, did much injury to the cause they professed to serve, by transforming, mutilating, or adding to the true records preserved, to suit their oivn views ,and purposes. But enough remains pure and una. dulterated, and which the veriest child can understand, to make men wise unto salvation, if they will only live out the teachings. The neglect of this duty has always been the great stumbling-block. This is what retards progress so much. It is so much easier to talk than work, so much easier to dispute about trifles than to do deeds of kindness and loving-mercy to your poorer neighbor. So much, alas! more easy to slander and blame others, than to reform yourselves — to pluck the mote out of your brother's eye, and neglect the beam in your own. We shall continue to urge these old and simple teach- ings on your consideration, my friends, with unremitting pertinacity, till we see men more ready and anxious to follow them out in their daily lives ; making the exam- ple of Jesus a reality to their own souls, not only beau- tiful in itself, but capable of being imitated by all who are willing to make the effort. When this state of things partially obtains in the world, when only two or 26 OX THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. three can be brought together who have really devel- oped up to this standard, then higher and greater truths may come to you : more mysteries of the spirit- world may be unveiled to your sight, more of the might and power of the great God of the universe may be made plain to you. Secrets may be revealed and expla- nations given of many things that now perplex, and in pondering over which, in your own unassisted, undevel- oped minds, you often go astray. If. therefore, you have really any wish for this higher knowledge, this wisdom of the angel-world, you must so live that you may obtain it. The purity and beauty of Christ's lessons must be identified in your life and con- versation ; your daily walk must be after his example. Then these angel visitors, from spheres of wisdom and knowledge, will be able and ready to come into com- munion with you, and your hearts will be overflowing with love and happiness • while your minds will be the receptors of the great and ennobling truths brought to you direct from Heaven, and which will make you, while yet dwellers on this earth-sphere, companions and friends of the highest intelligences that come to it. We shall now give a rapid summary or glance at the gradual way in which man has progressed to his present advanced state. Many errors and vices he has brought up with him in his onward path, but still he has gone steadily forward, imperceptibly at times, and sometimes apparently retrogading;but when such has been the ap- pearance, a more decided advance was sure to follow. When things are at their worst, they are sure to mend. So it is in the development of the human family. When the darkest ignorance seemed to overshadow them, then a deliverer would appear, and overthrow the obstacles that were in the way of progression. Moses was one of these inspired men. Abraham was ON THE VALUE OP OLD TRADITIONS. 27 another. He lived earlier, and in a more barbarous age than Moses, but still he did his work, and a very necessary one it was. He recognized only one God at a time when the worship of idols was universal. What a grand idea was this for a man to entertain, and that so fully and firmly, that he obliged all his followers to embrace the same faith. We do not mean to say that Abraham was the first who ever realized this idea. It had been given to others centuries before, but had gradually lost its hold on men's minds. They wanted something more tangible than a Spirit God, and their grosser senses were more attracted by the glitter and mystery of idolatry. Moses found the Israelites very much in the same state that the people were in Abra- ham's time, but still there was some progress made. They were not quite so ignorant of the one true God, nor quite so ignorant of the arts and comforts necessary to civilized life. There was decided progress observa- ble, and it continued to be made for many ages. They might have many backslidings, but some inspired leader or prophet, or some severe temporal punishment, brought them to a knowledge of their sins, and they were often humbled and penitent* and sought out the Lord with fastings and prayers. At the time Christ was sent to them other nations had become more mixed up with the Hebrews, and were ready to receive higher teachings than had yet been igiven to them. He was not sent to redeem the Israel- ites only. He was to give light and knowledge to all- who would receive it. The world at that time, though apparently prosperous, was sunk in the darkest errors. Vice and immorality reigned supreme among the Ro- mans and other civilized nations. Some few there were, more enlightened and elevated minds, who mourned the decay of all virtuous feelings in their countrymen — who 28 ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. saw with terror and dismay the progress of the demor- alizing influences at work among them ; luxury and wealth enervating and enfeebling their minds, and sen- susal pleasures destroying their bodies; and all this sanctioned by their false deities. The desires and aspi- rations of such minds could not go forth without some result. When men earnestly and faithfully seek, they will not seek in vain. The help may come in a form they do not expect, and perhaps may not desire ; but it will come, and they will some time or other realize it and feel its appropriateness. Christ, then, was the most needed of the inspired teachers. The effects of his mission were to be felt in all lands and to the most distant times. It was not merely while he remained among men that the benefit of his coming should continue to be felt. As years rolled on, and he had passed away from the scene of his labors, the influence of his teachings would remain and increase in weight as men lived up to them. But many dark clouds would intervene to obscure their light, many errors, some almost fatal — could anything be fatal to a cause that is bound to succeed — and teachers, inspired teachers too, though many errors mixed with their teachings, have been from time to time developed to counteract these errors. Luther came when he was most needed. Calvin, too, was necessary for man's advancement. You may think the doctrines he advo- cated were worse than those he came to reform, but you are wrong. Purity of life had almost fled the earth, and to check the gross licentiousness of the times the most entirely opposite teachings were necessary. Half- way measures would not have taken hold of the minds of the people, as it was important they should do ; and, therefore Calvin was a necessary teacher and reformer. His doctrines may appear to you to have been followed long enough. So they have, and they are dying out. ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. 29 We could enumerate many other inspired men who have, in their day, done good service to the cause of progress. Wesley, Knox, Huss, Fox, and Swedenborg are of them. This latter has made the most decided step in progression of any named. He did not correct old abuses ; he gave new ideas. Others labored to en- force and carry out the teachings of Christ according to their highest idea of them. Mistaken they often were, but still they were truthful ; they preached them as they understood them. But Swedenborg gave en- tirely new teachings. He taught men that spirits were around, and could communicate with them ; that the un- seen world was in their midst, and that all was not finished, on this side, the tomb; but that in another state man has a work to do for which he must prepare himself while here. Swedenborg was a necessary fore- runner of the present spirit manifestations ; he may be called the Pioneer of the Spirits, for he was free to de- clare what many had known, but none had the courage to assert in the same open manner. But it takes so long to get any new truth into men's minds, that the teachings of Swedenborg have been almost disregarded until a few years back. Some minds were capable of receiving them, and trea- sured them up as worthy of a greater consideration ; but generally he was looked upon as lunatic on these sub- jects, though acknowledged to be highly intelligent and unusually well-informed on many others. So men put away truths from them, preferring old errors and preju- dices to the newer and better light they might receive if they sought knowledge aright. It is true that Swe- denborg did not get all truth. Error was mixed in with his best teachings ; but there were many bright scintilla- tions of good that it would have benefited men to have followed. 30 OX THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. Spiritualism is the full-blown flower of what Sweden- borgianisin was only the undeveloped bud. In Spiritu- alism ) t ou have the highest and most perfect realization of the teachings Christ promulgated to men. When He, and other enlightened sages of antiquity, first taught that we must " do good for goodness' sake," " love our enemies," and " treat our neighbors as ourselves," men listened, but did not act ; they thought the theory was beautiful, but quite above the powers of man to perform. The developing process that the world has gone through during the last eighteen hundred years, has not, how- ever, been in vain. Men of pure minds and willing hearts, can now see that such a state of things is not im- possible, and that it is the duty of every individual, man or woman, to endeavor to bring it about in themselves. By this means they will reform the world, and by no other. In their own persons the change must commence, and their bright and beautiful examples will work more efficiently than sermon or psalm, in modifying and subdu- ing the discordant tempers and passions of the unde- veloped ones with whom they may be thrown in contact. When this true life commences in the hearts of men, how different will be their pursuits and desires! To seek out the oppressed and suffering, and pour consola- tion and relief into their wounds, will be the work they most delight in ; to make others partakers of the same hopes and joys they possess, will be their constant aim. They will not shut themselves up in gloomy abstractions, meditating on the follies and vices of their fellow-men, and pharisaically congratulating themselves that they are so much wiser and better. No, my friends, they will go forth into the world ; they will enjoy all its innocent pleasures and relaxations, which are as necessary to the health of mind and body, as the food they eat and the air they breathe. ON THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. 81 While succoring and encouraging all who are in need of their brotherly assistance, they will cultivate the gentle harmonies of their own natures, all the talents and gifts they are endowed with, so that they may add their quota to the general fund of cheerful and healthy recreations. It was never intended that this should be a world of suffering. The sins and vices of men have made it what it is. Happiness was in their own hands, but they have taken the wrong way to retain it. They have cultivated tempers and passions that have brought misery and de- gradation in their train ; whereas, if they had developed their hearts, and their moral natures had been educated and warmed into growth by kindly encouragement, the whole condition of the human family would be different. Some few people, at different periods, have been found living in this simple, harmonious manner. The Sand- wich Islands, when discovered, were in a state of primi- tive innocence and purity. Unfortunately, the civilized discoverers of this happy people have not allowed this state of things to continue. With their superior know- ledge they have taught, also, the more developed vices of their nations, and now we may look in vain for the purity and happiness of the poor islanders. The Waldenses were also a very harmonious and happy people ; they were more enlightened than the Sandwich Islanders, and they were as pure and upright ; they had also far higher standards of right and wrong, and they faithfully tried to live out what they believed to be their duty. The teachings of Christ were their rule of action, and the errors mingled with their creed did not interfere with their moral culture. If they were not so assured in their belief as they might have been, had they had the light you now have, still their intuitions were so good, so true, they seldom felt misgiv- ings of the future, on account of the original sin they 32 OX THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITIONS. supposed they inherited, or the innate depravity of their hearts. Many good and inspired men were among them, and Holy Spirit could come and take up its abode in the hearts of these simple and devoted followers of the religion of Christ. Their mountain fastnesses were more enlivened and blessed with its benign influence than any other part of the world has been since the days of Christ and his apostles. The Christians of Asia have also retained a conside- rable portion of this simple and pure spirit. They have held to their faith, though isolated from all communion with other Christian nations, and may be cited as hav- ing chosen the better way to happiness and peace. But I did not want to give you a history of all those who had followed a better path in the pursuit of happi- ness, which every one is aiming to possess. I quote these instances to show you how opposite is the plan men generally pursue, for its attainment ; and how much nearer and easier to be obtained it is, if they would look in the right direction. My friends, happiness may be the portion of every one of you, if you will follow out the teachings we have endeavored to make plain to you, and cultivate, in yourselves, the virtues and af- fectional qualities of your being. While bringing them forward and encouraging their growth, you will find the evil and vicious will gradually die out. You may not see any sudden change, any miracle worked for you, but you will perceive your duties will grow light and easy to perform ; your tempers will not rise on every trifling occasion ; your kind feelings will predominate more and more, and a joyous, grateful, buoyant spirit of love and harmony with man and nature, will be the inmates of your bosom. The beauty and goodness of God mani- fested in his works, will be ever present to your minds, and fill you with gratitude and rejoicing. Heaven, OX THE VALUE OF OLD TRADITION'S. 33 while on earth, will be your portion, when you can once develop up to this high, but not unattainable standard of happiness. The poor Islanders, the Waldenses, and the Christians of Asia, were all happy ; but what was their happiness compared to the state man is now, with his increased light and knowledge, capable of realizing. The Islanders were not so happy, in an elevated sense, as the Christians, for their standard was lower. The Christians were not so happy as the true Spiritualist may become, for they had not the same knowledge. They held as true, many errors that Spiritualists have developed out of, which errors were the cause of much anxiety to them. Of course, I allude to the doctrines of depravity, original sin, etc. Uutil they felt them- selves purified and cleansed by the blood of Christ from these taints, they had no assurance that they were pre- pared and redeemed for a future life, and often the struggle was long before they could feel this assurance. You, my friends, live in a happier day. A flood of light has burst upon you. Take care that you do not let the liberty you have found in the spiritualistic teach- ings degenerate into licentiousness. Show forth in your lives the truth and beauty of them. Be patterns and exemplars to the world. Let not the fear of men lead you astray. Deny not the blessed gift you have re- ceived, but let it shine forth in your daily lives and con- versation. " If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men ; owe no man anything, but to love one another. And may the God of all peace bo with you now and forever. Amen." (Signed,) Joshua, the Son of Nun. October 28th, 1860. ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY AND RE- FORMS IN THE SOCIAL STATE. We have often endeavored, my friends, to get our ideas on these important subjects more clearly explained to you, through the various mediums, than we have yet been able to accomplish. Something or other inter- feres to prevent our speaking our minds as we would wish, or even using the mediums at all, if our intention is perceived. What is the cause of this ? Is it that men prefer going on in error, and spirits are willing to connive at it? Or is it, rather, the medium's own ideas that are so biased in one direction that even Spirit influence cannot overcome them ? The latter, I am inclined to think, is most generally the cause of the false and erroneous teachings so often given, in refer- ence to these subjects. We come to enlighten mankind on all things pertain- ing to their happiness both here and in the future ; and, certainly, the use and necessity of the marriage tie is one of the most important subjects, in reference to that end, we can well treat upon. Every other has been fully handled, and diverse teachings have been given in reference to them ; this alone has been slighted and overlooked. Free love has been advocated, in many instances, by parties who little knew the dangerous doctrines they were propagating. The poor abandoned ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEROMONY. 35 ones in your streets have been brought before your no- tice, made out by these far-seeing spirits, as choice re- ceptors of spiritual truths, and the source from whence your best media shall be derived ; while the ennobling and dignified position of the heads of families, living out their daily lives in the quiet routine of duties ful- filled, calls forth no panegyric from them, no words of encouragement, no exhortation to other members of the human family to " go and do likewise." And yet, my friends, this is the situation it was designed by an All- wise Providence you should all occupy ; this was the aim and end for which you were created. Man and woman are necessary to each other. Nei- ther is complete apart. Neither can enjoy life in the same high and elevating sense, when alone, as they can with a companion to sympathize and share with them their hopes and fears, their joys and sorrows. From the earliest times men have felt the necessity of this marriage tie. As soon as they could be said to have been endowed with reason, and while still closely approximating to the brutes, jealousy of their com- panion or mate was a distinguishing characteristic. They could not endure that another should share what they had so entirely and exclusively appropriated to themselves. It is true that the male usurped an un- just and tyrannical power over his weaker companion, and often converted what should hate been his equal into a drudge and slave ; but, as civilization and en- lightenment spread over the earth, these abuses natu- rally corrected themselves, and, though not yet alto- gether extinct, they are gradually dying out ; and woman, by her virtues, her talents, and her higher and more harmonious development, is, by slow degrees, as- suming the position in the world it was always intended she should fill, viz., the equal and co-worker with man. 36 ON THE USE OP A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. It has taken many ages, my friends, to develop men and women to their present standard. Many rough and revolting trials has the weaker vessel had to pass through ; but she has now nearly attained her proper footing in the most civilized countries, and proportion- ate elevation will be observed in the more barbarous ones. We do not mean to say that women were not enti- tled to this higher and more just consideration before, for we think they were ; but man, in his undeveloped state, could not realize it, or if one did in some rare instance, he was too much the slave of surroundings to follow out his higher intuitions and give her her due. Now she will not ask it of him. She will claim as her right equality in all things. The minds of the age are too far advanced, at this present time, to see inferiority in the intellect of the female, because her muscular power may be less potent than that of the man. Thinking and analyzing minds are ready to acknowledge that, if educated with the same care, having the same advantages for study, the female would prove a competitor, both in arts and sci- ences, that the man might find it hard to surpass, if equal. As a general thing, however, woman's mission and woman's highest enjoyments are more in the domestic line. There is her* most genial sphere of action ; there she shines unrivaled ; for man cannot compete with her in these daily duties, though she can rival him in what he has hitherto considered his own more peculiar depart- ment ; and it is this fitness, this adaptedness of the wo- man for these home requirements that makes the mar- riage relation perfect. The man and the woman, truly harmonizing and living out their highest conceptions of this sacred tie, are a picture of felicity to be imitated, if ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 87 possible, by the whole human family ; and so far from depreciating or running down, by jibes and sneers, this Holy and God-designed institution, each one should en- deavor to strengthen its bands and give it a firmer footing. We, the missionaries of progress, from a higher sphere, tell you, my friends, that till the man and wo- man act together on terms of perfect equality, true hap- piness and harmonious feeling cannot reign in either bosom, to their full extent. The man is as much to be pitied as the woman. He tyrannizes over, or he spoils ; he treats with contempt, or he makes an idol, just as his disposition leads him, of the being God designed for his helper and counselor, his comforter and refiner. To watch over him in sickness, to wait upon him and attend to his orders when in health, are employments he is willing she should, and thinks her quite compe- tent, to fulfill. To go still farther and allow her to manage his affairs for him, when himself incapacitated, in some unforeseen manner ; all this he will allow she can perform to his satisfaction ; but when restored to his normal condition, and able to resume his duties, he would resent any interference, or word of counsel, from her as quite out of her sphere, and beyond her cabability of understanding. This unnatural, and improper state of things is fostered and encouraged by all your institutional sur- roundings, and your laws. The woman is made second to the man, inferior in position, incapable of asserting her own rights, and often of holding her own property. She is considered only as a chattel, a toy for his amuse- ment, and a mother for his children ; to whom, if lie choose to will it otherwise, she cannot even be the guardian in the event of his decease. This unjust and improper exaltation of the man fosters in him pride. 38 ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. arrogance, and a thoughtless and inconsiderate way of acting to his partner, though of course in different dis- positions different manifestations are exhibited. If a man is violent, and irritable in his temper, impa- tient of contradiction, and always fancying himself in the right, the wife's chance of happiness is small indeed. She may have a high temper also ; then, what conten- tions, what fearful scenes will ensue — pray God that there be no innocent children to be the witnesses and sufferers from them. Again, she may be timid and nervous, in which case, she will probably fall into ill health, and soon be relieved from her cares ; or, if not, change into a lying, prevaricating woman, afraid to tell what ought to be known, because she shrinks from raising the tempest of ungoverned passion she so much dreads. But to take another example. Suppose he is a man of unsociable, stern and sullen disposition, to whom no one in his family dares speak, to whom no one has courage to declare their wishes, however natural or innocent; all may feel the heavy and oppressive weight of such an atmosphere to live in ; but on whom does the burden principally bear ? Who is it for whom there is no escape ? Who must not only soothe and conciliate the tyrant, but must, for the bene- fit of others, often have to beard him in his den to ask the favors for her children, or dependants, they have not the courage to prefer for themselves ? The wife. She is, you may well say, the greatest sufferer, and we agree with you in part. She has her griefs, her burn- ing, and often indignant, feelings ; but she has learned that it will only make matters worse to show them, and she at least smothers, if she cannot entirely subdue them ; and this is, to her, a benefit and development ; it will lead her to think of a time when all cruelty will be done away with — when she shall find rest and peace. ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 39 Every time she restrains her temper, when unjustly taunted, or unkindly treated, she is adding to the crown of glory she is weaving for herself ; therefore, though she may s ujfer , hjgrjLifir jLghoxL.g e asoil > fr er re _ ward is sure. SL $&Mttez But the man 7 s*W!ra^W^^Ka^^loreIO^e^epIorea^ , for he does not feel, he does not perceive, the need he has to do differently. He has been so nurtured by parents and nurses, teachers and friends, and indeed society at large, in the idea of his superiority in mental as well as physical development, that it never enters his head to question the matter ; and he would go on, as his fathers had done, before him, hugging himself up in this fancied superiority to the end of creation, if such a thing could be, did we not ct>me to give him light on the subject. We pity the poor misguided ones the more deeply, because we can see into futurity enough to know that all these unjust assumptions and indulged tempers will have to be atoned for in a future state. The very circumstances that have, through suffering, purified the wife, have been the great drawbacks in the man's career. He, priding himself on his position, swaying all within his control, by his will alone, without consulting or studying others 7 feelings and inclinations, making their pleasures and enjoyments to depend upon, and be sub- servient to him — he has, indeed, much to contend against, much to outgrow, and, as we said before, the man in this unjust state of things, is quite as much, if not more, to be pitied than the woman. With perfect equality and equal rights such a state of injustice would cease. When both parties feel they have the same amount of interest at stake they will be more inclined to study the best methods of protecting them. When the husband learns that it is sometimes necessary for him to make conces- sions, he will be more capable of appreciating the same 40 ON THE USE OP A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. thing in his wife. Mutual love and mutual confidence will be much more likely to go hand in hand when this unity of duties and feelings rule. You may think, my friends, we have been rather hard upon the manly character in what we have said. We do not; of course, mean to assert that all men are such as we have described ; neither that all women fulfill their duties in so perfect a manner as to prepare them- selves for an eternal reward while struggling here. Far from it. Many men are conscientiously and truly developing themselves now, and throwing off, by de- grees, the erroneous teachings of their childhood in these matters ; and many more are far from being as bad as those I have depicted. But then, again, I might have specified other and more lamentable causes of unhappi- ness in the married state than those I have touched upon, and from which few, in comparison, are entirely free. I shall leave this however for the present, and return to our more immediate theme. Women, as well as men, are to blame for the general inharmony of the married state. Though I have previously stated that they are developed by the sufferings their trials cause them, when living with inharmoniously-tempered men, this is always supposing they act so as to profit by their situation. But too often it is quite the reverse, and the woman sinks, as well as her husband, into a contentious and discordant state of being. There are many other ways, also, in which a woman might do more to make matrimony less inharmonious than it too frequently is. She is often vain, frivolous and trifling in her pursuits ; indulging in all the show and parade of finery in her appointments and dress; placing, as it might seem, her highest hopes and ambi- tions on the amount of display she can make, and the envyings and heart-burnings she can excite. Men are ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 41 almost as much to blame as their wives in these cases ; they have often quite as low ambitions and take pride to themselves when they hear and see the excitement their wives cause by their profuse and wasteful expendi- ture. A woman, with a properly constituted and de- veloped mind, could not find her happiness in these toys and displays ; she must have something higher and nobler to live for ; she would see that though dress and fascinating manners may draw crowds around her and make her the idol of her husband for a few months, they are not the attractions that will retain him by her side, during the long years they may have to pass in company. She must have some more sterling qualities than these to build her future happiness upon, or, I fear, when youth and beauty have departed, that, also, will follow in their train. "Women have a great responsibility laid upon them, and it is time that they understood it aright ; it is quite time their eyes Avere opened to see the important field they should labor in. We have censured the existing state of things for not allowing women their rightful privileges and for not placing them in the position they were designed by G-od to occupy. But, my female friends, are you prepared, yourselves, to fill that elevated position in a proper manner? Are you so developed beyond dress, luxury and trifles, that you are fitted to take your rightful places in the councils of your nation, or assist in the formation of its laws ? I fear not at present. Other thoughts than these occupy your minds ; other desires and cravings are more prominent than ad- ministering justice or ameliorating the condition of your fellow-men and fellow-women, and yet these latter have a peculiar claim upon your sympathies, and by their groans and tears for relief, continually ascending on high, seem to make an earnest and irresistible appeal to their more fortunate sisters for help and assistance. 42 ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. You may say that the council is not your sphere, that men are more fitted for such public business, and have more time to devote to it. Granted that it were so, my friends, which however I do not altogether allow, for many women are fitted by talents and leisure to meet their co-workers there, and the wrongs of their fellow- women will never be thoroughly righted, till they do so. But allow that it is, as you say, not your vocation. Have you no interest in these things? Have you no other means of showing that interest, if you object to public demonstration ? Can you not inform your minds thoroughly, on these and every other momentous subject that arises, respecting the well-being and development of the human family ? And cannot you, by your fire- side in your home circle, give to your husband and friends your more softening and humanizing coun- sels ? The woman's voice should always be raised on the side of mercy. Man's passions are stronger, more unsubdued ; he is apt to call severity, justice ; but the woman, when properly developed, would then step in, and her plea for pardon may be listened to, when the of- fender might have supplicated in vain. Her softening and humanizing counsels will gradually effect a change in the whole moral standard of the man, and by imper- ceptible degrees, she may bring him to her more harmo- nious stand-point. Of course, I am now speaking only of a progressed woman, for it is only such an one that can exert this beneficial influence. It is time, however, that all women should progress ; it is time they should exert themselves, throw off the shackles of luxury, idleness, and indiffer" ence, and see things as they really are. While you are sleeping thus supinely indifferent, vice and depravity are spreading around you. Your own husbands or your sons may be among the most guilty. Will you make no effort to reclaim them ? Your daughters may be the ON THE USB OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 43 victims ; will you not try to save them ? Vice, my friends, has no place, no particular station ; it spreads as the pestilence, through all ranks, and none are safe from its influence, because they are elevated, or secure, because they are lowly. In the moral culture of your children, and in the charm you can throw around your family, by your enlightened conversation and harmonious dispositions, will be found the first steps to improvement in these things. A husband who always feels his home, congenial and happy, his wife cheerful and intelligent, will rarely want to stray. A son, accustomed to the elevating and refined pleasures of his father's house, and seeing the modest and retiring character of its inmates, will shrink disgusted from meretricious charms. The daughters brought up under such a mother and father, would have a seven-fold eegis to protect them from dan- ger, and would be well fitted to enter into that holy es- tate they were destined to fill, when they in their turn will elevate and harmonize their chosen companion. Or, should they be 4 so fortunate as to meet with one entirely congenial, what unalloyed happiness and felicity will be theirs. Thus you see, my friends, woman's mission is one of the highest importance. Upon her, more than upon the man, the well-being of the human family is dependent. She has more to do with the internal workings of the soul, the finer feelings of your natures ; these, which have so long lain almost dormant, it is her mission to call into action. It is not in man or in woman, alone, that the awakening must take place. All want rousing up ; none are alive to the value of the beautiful gifts they possess, to their full extent, and some are not aware of owning any at all. But, my friends, though lost and hidden so long, they are there, ready to be brought to the light, and opportunity is all that is wanting, in most 44 ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. cases, to develop them. This opportunity is now at hand. Teachers and preachers are going forth, uttering new doctrines, and higher truths than have ever yet been given, and we have told you many things ourselves, both in this and former essays, which, if you will endeavor to follow out in your daily lives, will soon cause these beau- tiful flowers of the soul to blossom in you. We want to see all happy, all living out their lives here in harmoni- ous contentment, and progressing steadily onward to fit themselves for an endless hereafter. Much may be done by each one in this great work, both for himself and others. None are so pure, so good, they may not re- ceive help and benefit on their journey ; and few are so low and debased they cannot do some kind deed, some good, however trifling, to their fellow-creatures. Mutual dependence, and mutual reciprocity in kind actions, ex- tending through all branches and degrees of society, will tend more to harmonize and equalize the condition of the whole, and there would be a more brotherly and sisterly feeling developed in this way than*in any other. But we are now speaking more particularly on the marriage tie — the relations and duties existing between two parties brought into immediate contact, and in which, more than in any other state, mutual forbearance, kindness and considerateness, is necessary. In the world at large men may quarrel, dispute, contend, exhibit all their vile tempers and malicious dispositions ; but society can put a check upon them — they are not tolerated — friends are not bound to submit to their humors, and the people will not. In the domestic circle it is quite different. As the marriage relation is now understood, the poor wife must bear the brunt of all the tyrant man may choose to inflict ; she has no redress, no escape. However uncongenial, dissipated or brutal he may be, the wife must submit to all without murmuring. It Cfo THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 45 is not the thing for a woman to make known her indig- nant or wounded feelings on such subjects ; decorum says she must keep quiet — bury her wrongs in her own bosom — wear a smiling face in public, and let her heart break quietly in secret. If she is made of sterner stuff — if she can endure and live — she may, perhaps, rear a family under such unfavorable circumstances. But what kinds of dispositions and physical formations do you sup- pose children could be expected to have, born under such conditions ? A mother, unhappy and discontented, would not be likely to endow her unborn offspring with harmonious and joyous tempers ; a father, dissipated and reckless, could only contaminate them with disease and an excess, probably, of his own ungoverned passions. Such are the fruits you may expect to gather from such ill-assorted unions, and unless a change is soon made in your laws, enabling a woman to free herself without disgrace from such legal prostitution, your de- scendants, a few generations hence, will be idiots and lepers. We use strong terms, for we know the impor- tance of what we urge. We can see, and you may, in part, if you will cast your eyes back and then regard the present, that the spread of vice and luxurious effemi- nacy have already made their baleful effects visible in the persons and characters of your young men and maidens, especially in your large cities. Have the former the energy, the decided character, the muscular development, the moral worth, the freedom and inde- pendence of thought, of the men of the revolution? Have the women the modesty, the sobriety, the intelli- gent and elevated character of their grand-parents ? No, my friends, your young men of leisure are idle cum- berers of the ground ; prematurely old, developed in vice and infamous pleasures, while yet boys, and sated and blase with their excesses before their beards are ma- 46 ON THE USE OF MARRIAGE CEREMON"!*. tured on their faces. What kinds of husbands and fathers can you expect from such characters ? — and, in a lower grade, are they any better ? I think not. If you will read your newspapers, you will see, almost daily, accounts of young men robbing, forging, cheating — and all for what? Why, to vie with their richer companions in their dress, gambling, and other debasing amusements ! The same unhealthy, immoral tone of feeling pervades all alike — only, that some are able to indulge their vicious tastes with more ease, from the possession of more money. The feminine portion of your society are also far from living out the lives of usefulness they were intended to fulfill. Though less, apparently and openly, vicious than the men, they are still far from the purity and simplicity of life that characterized their ancestors, and which they would do well to imitate. Flirting, dress and admira- tion, engross time that is far too valuable to be so mis- used ; and often, I grieve to say, far more sinful and de- grading pleasures are indulged in by young and appar- ently virtuous women, that will bring upon them severe retribution, and would, if known to their parents and friends, wring their hearts with agony. No young female can go on indulging in the trifling and inordinate love of dress and admiration, to the extent it is carried on in this country, without rapidly deteriorating in character. The time it takes to attend to it, prevents her having any leisure to devote to her own or others' benefit ; and by so wastefully and unnecessarily squandering on her own person the money she has had committed to her charge, and for the mis-use of which she will be respon- sible, she deprives herself of the means of relieving her suffering fellow-creatures. But the evil does not stop here ; dress and admiration will not long content her ; she must have more exciting pleasures — more stimulating OX THE USE OF MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 47 draughts from the Circean fountain. Intrigue is indulg- ed in — assignations are made — and the modest and vir- tuous maiden, that should be, is changed into an aban- doned prostitute — no better in reality, if so good, as the poor despised ones that walk your streets. This is a horrid picture, but it is a true one. I wish we had not more to add to it ; but, sad to tell, the wives and mothers in your cities are equally, nay, more guilty. They go and do likewise, and in many instances allow their poor deceived husbands to continue in ignorance of their sin for years, or for ever ! What good can you ex- pect among you when such a state of things prevails? — when men and women alike are sunk in debauchery and vicious indulgences ? Are these the people from whom you must look for intelligent and wise legislators ? Are these the people from whom you must look for harmo- nious marriages, healthy and promising children ? No, my friends : if this unwholesome and vicious state of things is allowed to continue much longer, your people and your institutions must alike fall into decay — nay, they are already doing so. But my business at this time is, more particularly, with the institution of marriage ; and to that subject I must again lead you. It will not require a Solomon to tell you that unions consummated between persons so brought up, as those we have been describing, are not likely to be very happy ones. One party, probably, looking for wealth to gratify her extravagant tastes ; the other, smitten b\ the evanescent beauty of the lady; neither giving a. thought to the many higher require- ments necessary to make the journey of life a happy one, after youth and beauty and, perhaps, money fails them. Many other equally unlikely cases might be cited, but I need not multiply. examples to convince you. Daily you see youth and beauty married to age 48 ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. and wealth to gratify, sometimes, the parents' ambi- tion, but quite as frequently the daughters' misdirected and perverted tastes. Again, you hear of young, and you would suppose, refined females disgracing them- selves by unions with persons far beneath them in culture, and habits of life, so that your very thought shrinks from the idea of the contact. In such cases the man is quite as much to be pitied as the woman. He is equally out of his own sphere, and as sure to be a sufferer by the ill-considered step he has taken. These things, my friends, constantly occurring in your midst, joined to the low state of morality your cities exhibit, outside of, as well as in, married life, should lead you earnestly to examine into the causes of them, and try if you cannot find some remedy, some means of checking these growiDg and deadly evils. Are there no far-sighted, and virtuous men among you who can suggest some cure? — some way of eradicating this plague spot that is destroying your fairest flowers, and changing the whole face of your society ? Spirits can, and will show you where the origin of this vast evil is. They are not afraid to go to the root of the disease. They see no other way, indeed, of performing a cure. Smoothing over the surface is not what is required. It must be a thorough purgation alone that will be effectual. Your institution of marriage must be re-modelled on a different basis. The foundation is now entirely wrong. Man's superiority and woman's dependence are the recognized conditions of the present agreement ; equal rights, equal privileges, and equal love, are the only just agreements that ought to obtain among you. This is the first great error that must be corrected. But how many have sprung from it ? The woman, de- pendent and submissive in ages past, bore the yoke that ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 49 was laid upon her without murmuring, but the injustice was not the less great. Gradually she has learned what ought to be her position, but not knowing how to attain it in a proper manner, she has resorted to wiles and snares to establish her power. Her moral nature has deteriorated. Her natural modesty and delicate sense of refinement have been too often swept away by other feelings and passions ; and instead of being more elevated and spiritualized, as she has progressed in in- tellectual development, she has retrograded. Love of dress, admiration, excitement, pleasure in all its varied forms, have occupied the mind, and formed the happi- ness of beings who, differently situated, would have been ornaments to their country, and blessings in their families. If women are to be respected and virtuous, they must have higher and better aims and aspirations allowed to them ; they must be free to act, and free to think ; free to speak, and free to refrain from speaking. Free as the man has always been — free to choose for themselves husbands congenial to them ; and free, should their choice prove an unfortunate one, and they find themselves uncongenially united, to dissolve the tie without stigma or reproach attaching to them. What but the grossest injustice could ever have made the laws so one-sided ? Is not this an evidence to you that both the male and female element should be repre- sented in your councils ? If women had had any part in framing your laws, think you that there would not have been more equality of justice administered ? I am sure there would. And this leads me to one of the other causes of the present demoralized condition of your people. Women require, and must have, as high pursuits to occupy their minds as the men. Why should they be debarred from studies that could make them happy and 50 OX THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. respectable ? Why, if poor, should they be limited to the use of the needle or menial employments ? Is there more to offend their modest sense of propriety in the daily avocations of business and commerce with men upon the mart than in their meetings at crowded thea- ter or ball-room ? Are they not as fitted to attend to the diseases of the human frame ? Is not their sense as keen, their touch more light and tender ? Why have women for so many years been debarred from this their natural calling ? Every man acknowledges they make the best and tenderest nurses. Why then might they not. without so much odium attaching to them, be allowed to prescribe as well as practice the healing art ? And so I might go on and ask the same questions of every branch of employment the world calls honora- ble. All are closed against the woman ! She may in- deed go upon the stage, and with all the talent of a Siddons portray, in living colors, the various passions that actuate her sex, but it is rare indeed when she can do this unscathed. The very best women who have followed this calling have been exposed to suspicion ; and but few have been able to retain their position in respectable society. From the nature of their profession, people shrink from them. and. yet, with strange inconsistency, they shut them off from other employments for which, perhaps, they are eminently fitted. Is this just ? Is this doing to your neighbor as you would be done by ? Man has too long engrossed for himself the lion's share. It is time that his eyes should be opened to see the injustice that has, so far, kept back the woman from her rightful sphere. She is not a greater sufferer than he is by the mistake that has been made. If they had had employ- ments and occupations suited to them, their active and brilliant minds would not have gone astray after frivo- ON THE USE OP A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 51 lous and vain toys. They would have been companions and supports to their husbands, instructors and guides to their children, ornaments to society, and blessings to all around them ; while the man, instead of becoming, as is too often the case, a domestic tyrant, would have been harmonized and softened by the gentler influences of the female character, and comforted and assisted in all his ordinary business duties. This- subject is one that requires deep consideration from you, my friends ; you all ought to know that when minds fitted for active thought and employment are left without food, they are ready to receive any outside iufluences that may present themselves. Many of your female population, having abundant means of living, and no call for exertion in their families, are ready for any mischief that may pre- sent itself, and in these idle unoccupied minds vice often finds ready entrance. Whereas, had they learned to employ themselves in some useful, active manner, they might have been honorable and respected, not only to the outward seeming, but in their own internal con- sciousness. Do you not see then, how much your own happiness and comfort is bound up in the elevation of the female character ? Do you not see that much of the vice of your sons may be traced to the low standard of the fe- male's position ? If she had been justly and fairly treated as an equal, how much more elevated and refined she would be ? How different as a mother, how superior as sister or wife ? What a change there would be in the style of intimacy and conversation between your young and unmarried population. Young fops would not try to charm by their dress and adornments ; they would learn that something higher than outside glitter was required to captivate intelligent, self-contained, modest women, feeling their own individuality and independence of the 52 ON THE USE OP A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. marriage-tie, unless it was thoroughly congenial in heart and feelings. And young maidens, too, would have to acquire much better manners than they now possess, if they would win the love of wise and enlightened men. They must lay aside the alluring looks, the bold and for- ward style of display, so unseemly, in which they now delight; the loud laugh, the stare, the giggle, the whole catalogue, indeed, of their present captivations (if I may so misname them), and substitute in their stead, modesty, sobriety and temperance in all things. Purity of heart and modesty of demeanor, sobriety in dress and . adorn- ment, and temperance in the pursuit of pleasure and amusement ; cultivating, instead of those meretricious charms they have so long delighted to display, the higher and more ennobling gifts they are endowed with, but which, hitherto, they have suffered to lie dormant ; bringing up instead, all the weeds and noxious plants that spring in the uncultivated soil of the human heart. Men and women both, you have a long task before you ; for you must undo, by slow degrees, what you have taken so much trouble to do. The paths of vice and folly seem easy and pleasant to follow, but they have a sad ending ; and if you, my friends, do not at once re- trace your own steps, and endeavor to convince others of the necessity of doing the same, I see nothing in prospect for you and your fair land, but ruin — moral and political ruin. It is not yet too late for the effort to be made ; but it soon will be. Vice is making such rapid strides, corruption in your public offices is so rife, men's minds are so stirred up, and yet they know not where to turn for council and comfort, that a change of some kind must take place ; and it were better for all that it should be a bloodless and internal one ; that in your own souls the reform should commence ; there each ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 53 one can work for himself, each man can be his own Re- deemer. All of you know your own shortcomings, your own delinquencies, and can see the way to correct them, if you have the courage to follow it out. No one can help you as we can, and as we will, if you will only call upon us in sincerity. We can do all that you require ; make you strong to resist temptation, patient of injuries, kind, gentle and merciful. We can, if you trust in us fully, make you to hate and abhor the vices you have so long indulged in. We can bring to your hearts an in- fluence of Holy Spirit, that will cause you to loathe and despise every evil way. But we must be sought aright ; we must have truthful and earnest inquirers, if good re- sults are to be obtained ; willing and convinced minds ? men who see and feel in their inmost depths that the pre- sent state of things is wrong, and that thorough reform is necessary for the well-being of the whole community. When men come to us in this spirit, we shall be pow- erful to save. It will seem long perhaps to you, before the effects of our work and teachings are visible, but if you will only go with us heart and hand, much may be effected in a short period of time. You must remember that many besides yourselves are inquiring into things, and dissatisfied with the present state of the human family, many that you would little suspect, and who would come boldly forward and join the cause of re- form, if it were conducted in a proper manner. But, as is always the case in new movements, the scum or worst part of its advocates come into notice first, and make the most noise. People listen to their often senseless clamor, and are disgusted ; but attention is attracted, and when this scum is cleared off and the ring of the pure metal is heard, men will gladly come forward and investigate for themselves, what promises so much for the benefit of the race, collectively and individually. 54 ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. We are carrying on our remarks further than we at first intended on this subject, but it is such a momentous one, and so deeply affects the whole constitution of so- ciety, that at the risk of tiring you with it we must say some few things more. And, first, in regard to the amount of licentiousness in your cities. I touched only on this in alluding to the causes of unhappiness in the marriage state. It was not, however, because I thought lightly of it, but that I deemed it better to give it a separate notice. It is so pregnant of misery to numbers in your midst who, out- wardly, appear smiling and happy while gnawing grief and jealousy are in their hearts, that it must be consid- ered as taking the lead in the ranks of vice. Many 01 you are not aware to what an enormous extent infidelity to the wife is carried on in your fashionable circles ; the numbers of men there are among you, wearing smooth face and serious deportment, regular in their attendance at their places of worship, and, apparently, fulfilling all the duties of husbands and fathers, who have their regu- lar places of assignation, or their kept mistresses. The young men pattern by the old and middle-aged, and rival them in profligacy; and, sorry am I to have to add, to this shameful catalogue, many fair seeming and apparently virtuous women who sell themselves to these moneyed tempters for the wealth and dress they heap upon them. Young men are even known to consent to the sacrifice of their own and wives' honor tp obtain money for their extravagant and wicked pleasures — so low is morality fallen among you, so given up are the bulk of your people to the intoxication- of vicious enjoy- ments. Is it not time some reforming hand commenced the work of purification ? Is it not time that those, yet uncontaminated, should join the spiritual forces arranged ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 55 for the battle against sin and consequent suffering? The world has gone on in this wicked manner, unchecked, long enough. The time of retribution is at hand, and the hosts of God are come to cleanse your dark and fetid atmosphere and bring in the light of Holy Spirit to enlighten and sanctify all mankind. They cannot allow this unhallowed state of things to go on. A stop must be put to it by kindly teachings, if possible, and, if they fail, justice will overtake the guilty and sinful who neglect and despise them. The importance of the marriage ceremony was a part of the title we prefixed to our essay, and you may say we have left the consideration of it entirely out of sight in the, manner we have been treating upon it, but we have not intended to do so. All we have said has had a bearing and reference to that important point. If you will use your own reasoning powers you will see that from the present condition of marriage, most of the evils we have enumerated take their rise ; therefore in the reorganization of this institution must one of the prin- ciple remedies be found. Before men and women can act in harmony together in the wedded state they must know by their intuitions that they are suited to each other — that they are one in feeling and purpose. There must be no doubt, no ques- tioning of this; they must have positive assurance of their mutual love and of the congeniality, repose, and peace they find in each other's society, if they would, with propriety, enter into the more intimate relation of husband and wife. Then very little ceremony and, no oath will be necessary to bind them to each other. The tie of love, in its highest and purest meaning, will be firmer than adamant to hold them together ; no force could dissolve, no temptation could break such a mar- riage ; for no other could be put in comparison with the 56 ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. one to whom they are already united. Such unions as these, where true congeniality is found, where wealth, station, and beauty have been only secondary considera- tions, and the true affinity has been sought, will bear very different fruits than you now see from your many ill-considered marriages that daily take place. Harmo- nious in themselves, their offsprings will be harmonious also. Shunning vicious pleasures, their children will be healthy and well developed. The harmonious spirit will have a mortal tenement worthy of it, and the suc- ceeding generations, instead of deteriorating, as they now do, in physical as well as moral beauty, will grow more and more lovely as they progress. The evil pas- sions of your natures, when indulged in, never fail to leave their impress on the countenance — shall not the good and ennobling virtues of your hearts and souls leave their traces also ? Assuredly they will ; and when to these moral virtues are added temperance and sobriety, in food and drink, and a regular attendance to the laws of health, you will see man approximating to the angels. But it will take more than one generation to produce these desirable results. As I said before, much has to be undone, much to be corrected, and much to be purified. The taint of disease cannot be eradi- cated in one lifetime. Children must suffer for their parents' sins. But if those parents will bring up their children with higher and better aims than they had given to tljem — ii they will endeavor to avoid all contention or disputing in their presence, and teach them, from the higher light they are now receiving, the importance of living har- monious, virtuous lives, and, still more, the immense responsibility they assume when they enter the marriage state — the necessity they now see that they should not do so unless certain that they have found their true part, OX THE USE OF A MABRIAGE CEREMONY. 57 ners, they will be paying the way for the next genera- tion in the best and most effectual manner ; and if their advice and teachings are followed out by their sons and daughters, they may liye to see some of the beautiful results that will ensue from them. Marriage, to be perfectly harmonious, must be a mu- tual agreement between two parties on an equal footing. Man is not complete in himself, neither is woman. United, they form a perfect whole. But because they are not complete apart, does it follow that one is greater or less than the other ? Certainly not. They are, and always were, the two halyes of 'a whole ; neither is per- fect separately. If man is the type of wisdom, and woman of loye, wisdom is incomplete without love, and love is not perfect, unless joined to wisdom. Both are equally good, equally necessary ; but, to be enabled to shine forth in their brightest lustre, they must be united. Let me entreat you, my friends, to take this subject into your earnest consideration. You haye much to do to reform existing abuses, and you may, and will, meet with strong opposition ; but you haye so much at stake that you must not allow any sneers, or war of words to daunt you. Come forward boldly, like men, and assert the rights of your partners and fellow-workers on this earth-sphere. It comes from you with a better grace than it does from them, and as you haye so long usurped their rights, it is but fitting that, now you see your errors, you should acknowledge and endeayor to correct them. It will be quite as much for the happiness of the man as the woman when justice is done in this important matter. His nature will be softened and subdued into harmony, and all the gentler, happier and more wholesome feel- ings of his soul will be brought into action — while the woman, feeling the dignity of her true position, will giye up the pursuit of pleasure in the trifling, enerya- .08 ON THE USE OF A MARRTAGE CEREMONY. ting, and often degrading, way in which she has hitherto followed it, and try to elevate her mind and cultivate her faculties, to bring herself more on the wisdom-plane which man should, but does not, occupy at present. Each one will strive after that which - will bring him or her more into rapport with their true affinity, and so produce perfect harmony in the married state. No fear then that vice will pollute such a household — no fear that the one or the other should find tempters outside to lead them astray from their duties. It could not be ; their best and truest enjoyment would consist in per- forming them, and making all around them happy. You may ask, my friends, for some more definite di- rections as to the ceremony of marriage, or whether we think it should be done away with altogether ! My friends, I should like to answer you this clearly and ex- plicitly, and I think I shall be able to do so ; at any rate, I will try to make myself understood, as I would wish to be. In all ages of the civilized world, the mar- riage or union of a man and woman has been observed as a time of joy and rejoicing, and worship and praise to the great Father of all has been one of the accom- panying ceremonies. The reason is obvious and beauti- fully appropriate. God, the first cause of all, the Fa- ther and Mother, as we may say, of every living thing, is, in this union, more truly typified than in any other event on your mundane sphere. And the marriage is more sanctified and hallowed when His presence and His goodness are recognized and invoked, to bless these earthly types of Him, that they, like Him in their sphere, may fructify and replenish the earth with new recipients of His bounty and untiring love. No one who thinks rightly on this subject can wish the mar- riage ceremony omitted. No right-feeling man or wo- man would be contented in such an unblessed, unsancti- OX THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 59 fied state. They may object to the present form and ceremony, but that is not to say they would do away with it altogether. To me, my friends, it appears the most solemn, the most important, both to yourselves and your unborn children, and also, if rightly entered upon, the most joyful ceremony that can be performed upon your sphere. And while we would have no oaths, no bonds of man's devising to cement it, we would have it observed with all dignified solemnity. The prayers and good wishes of the assembled friends should bless the day, and the Holy Spirit of God be called down to sanctify and purify the newly-married ones for the jour- ney of life that is before them. I cannot here set down what forms should be ob- served, but there should be some simple, and at the same time, solemn ones. The day should be one to be remem- bered by the parties in a reverent manner ; and they must feel that they have undertaken responsibilities, which they cannot and would not lay aside. There being no oath or law to bind them, must make no differ- ence to them in this matter ; they have a moral law in their own souls, and by that they must stand. In the early stages of this reform movement, parties may find that they have been mistaken in the choice they have made, and when this is the case, let them ex- amine themselves carefully before they make known their difficulties, and when they are convinced that they are unconquerable, quietly and decently separate before chil- dren, who may be tainted with their parents' discordant feelings, are born to them. It can only be for a short time that such ruptures of the marriage-tie will occur, for as men and women develop and assume their true position, they will be more particular and more clear- sighted in this, as in everything else, and will know by intuitive perceptions who is their true affinity. We would not be understood to sanction the hasty 60 ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. and ill-advised unions and separations that are now so rife among Spiritualists in the most distant manner. No, my friends ; while we wish to make all free and happy, we hold out no encouragement to licentiousness. Many of you have been sadly misled in this matter, and we would give you better and higher teachings. We would show you that there is no union so blessed and hallowed by God, as the married one ; and of what im- portance it is for each one who thinks of entering into it, to examine thoroughly and ascertain to his, or her, satisfaction, that the party selected is the one intended for them ; that they are truly congenial, and that they love them with an undying and well-founded affection that can never know change. Then there will be no cause of fear for the results ; they are sure to prove happy ones. Worldly trials and cares may sometimes darken over their peaceful lives, but sustained by a love such as I have been picturing to you, they cannot injure their permanent and well-grounded felicity. This state of social reform so necessary, so important, on which the well-being and development of your pos- sterity, yet unborn, wholly depends, we call upon you, enlightened Spiritualists, to advocate and endeavor to propagate by your lives and teachings. You know, if the world at large do not, how important and how much needed is reformation. You know that the evils we complain of are spreading, and will continue to in- crease, unless more effectual measures are adopted to put a stop to them. You also know that the reform we advocate, and so urgently impress upon you to carry out, may be commenced individually as well as socially. For, when the hearts are made pure within, outside allurements will cease to charm, and when no encou- ragement is given to your numerous dens of vice and iniquity, they must of necessity, cease to be. These hot-beds of sin are among the first things we ON THE USE OP A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 61 would attack. Not with man's weapons, but by that in- creased purity and morality that will render them useless. But it is possible to go on with more than one thing at a time, and while purifying your social life, carry out also your more enlightened and just measures for the equali- zation of the female portion of your population. Let their rights and privileges be at length assured to them on a firm basis, and let them assume the position that is theirs, by Divine authority, and which has been so long- withheld from them. We have now said all that we think, at present, necessary on the important subjects on which we have been treating. If you will carefully read and digest what has been here written you will find much to cause you sorrow and regret, and much to teach you how to avoid, or prevent the continuance of the evils which produce your sorrows. There is no doubt that all we have asserted, as to the extent of moral delinquency, is true, too true alas! but if you know the evil it is the more easy to apply a remedy. If it continued veiled from public gaze much longer it would be incurable. Xow, fathers and mothers of families, will you not put your shoulders to the wheel ? Will not you assist and help us to save your innocent, and as yet pure, chil- dren from ruin ? Young men and young women — you who may already have tasted of the Circean cup and found its concealed bitterness — will not you help us? Your past experience has not been too pleasant, your joyous hours have been clouded by remorseful thoughts, and the stings of conscience have often checked you in your gayest moments. Will not you then, before all good feeling is dead within you, come out and help us, by your advice and example to your younger and less- experienced imitators ? You will receive ample recom- pense for all you forego in the improved health of your 62 OX THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. moral as well as physical being, and from the harmoni- zing and elevating thoughts that will dwell in your bosoms, springing up and developing there in place of the frivolous and wicked ones that have so long made it their abode, but which you and your spirit friends will soon drive out, when good desires and higher aims seek to come in. We need the aid of all classes, of all grades of society, to carry out these wholesome reforms. All are equally interested — all will be equally benefited. Would, my friends, that we could show you these important truths as we see them. Would that we could magnetize you with our magnetism, imbue you with our spirit, then, how differently would you act, how differently would you judge of things ; how would you all rush forward to carry out this great work of progression — this moral reform that we are now urging, and waiting on you to effect. Until these things are corrected, in a great degree, do not think or expect that the true harmonial marriage union we have portrayed to you can obtain much stand- ing, or be carried out in its purity and beauty among you. A far higher state of morals and of feeling is necessary before the conditions will be right for such an entire change in your society as this will involve. Men and women must be placed in their right position with regard to each other. Freedom of election on both sides is requisite — and for this to obtain, the woman must be on a perfect equality in all things. We insist so much on it, because we know the strong opposition it will excite in many bosoms, and so retard the progress of what we have so much at heart ; but our friends must have more faith, and believe that what we tell them is only for their good. We are so anxious to make the human family happy, that we may say things, in our en- ON THE USE OF A MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 68 deavors to do so, more in advance of many of your minds than yon can receive, but yon will develop np to tliem in time, and be able to recognize their necessity and beauty — and we will work and pray for you that you may be privileged to see the workings of this great movement we project, and feel some of the benefits re- sulting from it. All, you can not do, for it will not be in your day that its full effects will be perceived or ap- preciated. Mary Magdalene. November 6th, 1860. [The Medium doubted the propriety of giving to the public the name which was signed to the above communication, and hesitated to do so, when the spirit of George Fox wrote : " Mary Magdalene did exercise the chief control in writing the essay to which her name is attached ; but ail are more or less directed by the circle, at the head of which sits Jesus our Lord."] GOD IN HIS WORKS. The Almighty Framer and Governor of the universe has been hitherto little understood by men. They have delighted in portraying Him as a being with like parts and passions with themselves, as a something to be feared and reverenced, appeased and mollified when angry, by sacrifices and prayers ; and, when supposed to be in a more placable mood, to be gratified with songs, dances, or music. Nothing more unlike the real character of the Deity can be imagined than the one that has been generally received by civilized nations, both Christian and heathen. It is time now that something more real and more true should be known of this great power that formed and sustains all things, (not in your sphere alone, but in ours also), and who is still framing new worlds, new universes. This great unknown, unseen Being, so constantly at work, yet never tired, is in your midst as He is in ours. He pervades all space. He is everywhere, and yet He is nowhere. He is in the highest heavens, and he is in the lowest hell. None are so high as to approach Him, none so low and debased but that He can reach them. How shall we make your finite minds comprehend us ? How explain our meaning to you ? God everywhere, yet nowhere. Seeming contradiction, and yet perfectly true. In His works you will find Him. In the mani- fold gifts He bestows upon you. There He is. In the GOD IN HIS WORKS. 65 air you breathe, in the food you eat, God is manifested. This great power that pervades everything is the Essence, or God-principle, of life or motion. It is not motion, but it is the cause of motion. Motion, you know, produced life. But what caused motion ? This subtile Essence is the light of life, a portion of Deity, and Deity, through it caused motion. The great centre, the fountain from whence this Divine Essence flows, is God. Not a personal being, but yet containing and originating in Himself all the qualities, the passions, the feeling, that go to form a perfect man ; and all the wisdom and love that has designed so many worlds, and filled them with such beautiful creations, both animate and inanimate. The way in which these stupendous works are carried out, I almost despair of making clear to you ; and yet the simplicity, beauty, and order of the whole arrangement is perfect and complete in every part. God, the great first cause of all, sitting on his throne of light, sent forth that light, or Essence of Himself, and bid it work. How must it operate ? How commence ? By animating the chaotic masses of darkness that were, where light was not. As this penetrated them" they condensed — they hardened. Still further did the light go on in its work, and, after hardening, it penetrated what it had condensed, broke it up, and made other kinds of formations. This light, this essence, working in and through its great Creator, continued on, steadily effecting the wondrous changes that led to the present results. The thought that originated so many and such vari- ous beauties, retained its central situation, as the soul does in your bodies, and the light evolved from thought did the work. Then you will say : Is God thought ? He is. But can you tell us what thought is ? Thought bb GOD IN HIS WORKS. is inspiration in you. It is the essence or light of God in your souls. In Him, it is as much more, as much grander, nobler and diviner, as God's actions, God's works, are superior to man's. You can now see, my friends, how my seemingly con- tradictory assertions can be verified ; for surely thoughts may be everywhere, and yet who can seize them in tan- gible form ? If you try you will find they are nowhere, God is the impersonation of all wisdom, love, and knowledge — so your teachers say — but He may rather be considered as the source or fount from whence these things flow ; for He is certainly not a personal Deity, as we told you before. He can give from his fount all that is needful to all parts of his many universes, and still there will be no lack of supply. His light pervades all things. Not any are too low for it to reach. It can penetrate into the darkest and deepest abysses of creation, as well as into the lowest and most degraded human mind. Christianity has always taught that God is a being to be referred to in troubles and difficulties, and that help can be obtained from Him to sustain and support in such cases. This was good as far as it went. But how far short of the real, tangible benefits men might obtain from Him if they understood more clearly the true nature and power of the great unknown, misun- derstood principle (or Deity if you will) that rules your planet in connection with all other worlds or spheres. Man is a miniature microcosm of the Deity. He is possessed of the same powers, the same feelings, the same elements for thought, the same undying life-prin- ciple, the same capabilities of action ; and when he has developed higher and higher in the scale of progression, Tie likewise may create and multiply creations from his thought-plane. But not yet, my hearers, are these GOD IN HIS WORKS. 67 startling effects to be looked for. Ages and ages of progressive improvement will have to be gone through. Spirit must be etherealized into still more ethereal spirit ; and still again must it be refined ; over and over will the purification be renewed, till the God- spirit is attained ; and when this takes place, man may be said to merge into Deity and become part and parcel of that Divine and mystical Essence ; and united to it, share and assist, devise and execute works as won- drous, as noble, as grand,- as beneficent as those he now, from his low and untaught sphere, admires with awe and veneration. (Note 1 .) Nothing is impossible to man. The God who formed him, as he is, foresaw and prepared for a time when His creation would rise to this height, and become like Him. The ignorance of men, hitherto, has kept their development back. They never understood the nature of the Being who formed them into life. Besides, all progression is necessarily slow at first. It took ages to develop man from the ranks of the animal, to bring to him a comprehension of articulate sounds, or lan- guage, which would enable him to rise. As soon as this was partially accomplished, creative powers were developed in him. He began to labor for more com- forts, more pleasures, than he had hitherto felt the necessity for. So he has gone on, slowly still, but less slowly than at the first. And he will continue to accele- rate the speed of his progress the higher he advances, because more light can now reach him from the great fountain of all progress. Men originally were created little more developed than apes. Still, they were higher brutes, as the ape is higher than the baboon and lower monkey tribes. All animals have gradually developed, in improved forms, from the next lower species. Man is no excep- 68 GOD IN HIS WORKS. tion to the rule ; lie was originally, as we have said, a well-developed ape ; but into this Ape God's light has been gradually, more abundantly, instilled than it was or ever will be into the lower animal kingdom. He was designed for higher life, nobler purposes ; he had more work to do, more good to perform, more to re- ceive, and more to lose and suffer for the loss of, than the animals. He was the crowning creation of God — the ultimatum — the finishing stroke to his great work on this earth of yours, as he is on every other. Man is the perfection of all — the animal, the vege- table, and the mineral combined, and superior to the whole in possessing the soul or God-principle in him ^ that is to develop up to the God who gave it. (Note 2.) (Jm> Animals have not anything of this ; they have life and v they have instinct, but this essence of divinity that shall bring man ultimately to a level with God, they have not. This is what makes man superior to the brutes ; this is what no sins, no crimes can deprive him of. Though darkened and degraded he may be, will keep it ; and long and weary may be his necessary de- velopment out of darkness ; but a time must come when it will shine forth ; a time must come when this emanation, this beautiful essence of Deity, must find its way to Him again ; and it will not do~so without bringing the spirit with it. (Note 3.) ^ / J2. This is a great thought ; man may well not conceive of it, for it is hard for many who have passed away to understand it ; indeed, multitudes do not, and will not, till they are more progressed. Many different grades of men are on your earth, as there are many different classes of spirits here. You have often wondered why some races of men are so much more intelligent and progressed than others ; but this should not excite surprise in your minds, if you GOD IN HIS WOEKS. 69 looked at the subject from a right point of view. You are so accustomed to consider that all mankind sprang from one source — one original pair, that you rarely reason fairly on this point. We can, however, en- lighten you, somewhat ; and some of our former teach- ings have shown you what reliance there is to be placed on that, and many other old fables. We also told you that, since its formation, this earth had undergone many convulsions and upheavings. At such times animal and vegetable life were destroyed, and new creations and developments had to be origi- nated. Of course, in such cases, the human family were proportionately late in their appearance, and are, where you find them inferiorly endowed, only waiting the lapse of years and proportionate progress to become as you are now. The inequality must always remain as ob- servable, for you will be advancing in the same, or even greater ratio. This is a very simple explanation of what has caused, on your earth, much confusion and strife. And we would urge on all, who shall read this, to use their earnest endeavors to mollify the feelings at this time engendered in your midst, originating from the mistaken knowlege possessed on this subject. We do not intend to enter into party strifes in this essay ; we write for the world at large • and we would benefit the African, the Hottentot, or the Slaveholder equally ; all are the same to us. But we must tell you that war and contention are the enemies of progress, far more deadly than the apparent injustice of the Afri- can's bondage. He is not nearly on the same plane that you are. He is happier under his southern mas- ters than in his native freedom ; and he will develop much more rapidly. The cruelties you complain of in separations of families and so forth, he rarely feels with the keenness your more elevated and refined natures 70 GOD IN HIS WORKS. would do ; and if y ou complain of the liberties taken with the women by their owners, I grieve to tell you that, in your own northern cities there is more profli- gacy and licentiousness indulged in than in the entire Southern States. This is a digression, but a necessary one ; for war and contention are at hand, brought about by misguided men, led on by false teachers of an erroneous creed, and they little know the suffering and woe they are bringing, not only on the slave population, but more especially on their Northern brethren. It was necessary that a severe retribution should overtake your land; your sins have grown to such a monstrous head,' purification was absolutely required, and it is just that you should, yourselves, light the torch that is to consume you ; but, at the same time? we mourn for the prospects of your ill-clad, suffering poor, your unemployed artisans, your women and chil- dren. This coming winter will tell a sad tale of woe in your towns and villages, and, as is always the case in these unjust proceedings, the innocent must suffer with the guilty. Fortunately for man, there is a Providence ruling over all, and bringing out of the most discordant ele- ments beauty and improvement. What men think are the greatest calamities often prove, in their results, the most valuable blessings. They turn and twist their mundane affairs in the most heterogeneous and con- fused manner, and think they are regulating and order- ing a world, when they are in reality plunging it into almost inextricable confusion. At this time such a condition of affairs is impending, not in one part but in all. Revolutions and wars, con- fusion and bloodshed will prevail generally, and an entire change in the governments of the various con- GOD IN HIS WOBKS. 71 tending power? will supervene. Men cannot fori this ; they cannot tell what may be the termination ol the bloody fights they wage, the ambitious schemes they indulge in; but there arc wiser and Car more intelligenl beings watching the conflict, and ready, when the time conies, to step in and take every advantage of circum- stances to benefit and raise the human family. Tl o l'seeing spirits all receive their light and knowledge from higher sources, and these higher intelligences re- ceive it in still more direct proximity to and from God himself, the fountain or principle of it. I repeat this, that it may impress itself on your minds, that God is in all His works. He sends down His di- vine afflatus through us to you, and it pervades all the extended regions of space, and benefits and beautifies wherever it penetrates. I am not now going to show you what results will accrue from the present state of affairs ; but I would encourage you with the assurance that high and developed spirits are waiting and working for you at this crisis, and will bring much good to the human family generally, out of the seeming evils that now threaten you. Never despair of their help ; they are mighty and powerful to aid you, and they come not alone; as I said, the spirit and power of God is with them, and they cannot fail in what they have to accomplish. God, the supreme Creator and Governor of the uni- verses, has now sent down light from his own high sphere, to drive the darkness before it. The clouds that have so long obscured men's minds shall be dissipated by this penetrating power ; and wisdom, and knowledge shall flow in upon them. Men shall be able to see the beauty, order, and love, that designed and perfect* d their earth and its inhabitants. They shall read the book of nature with profit and facility, and man him- 72 GOD IN HIS WORKS. self shall be taught to rightly appreciate his own high eminence in the structure ; the crowning and finishing touch of the vast edifice. And when they begin to understand these things aright, then higher knowledge will be given to them, and they will be taught to see clearly, how mistaken they have been in their rule of conduct, (how unjust, how illiberal) how they have trampled on all the finer and nobler feelings of their natures, and cultivated those that pertained to their animal and earthly origin. Fighting, contentions, the desire to rule, the love of place, position or money, all spring from this low source, and must and will die out in your midst, when the true light we come to bring can once penetrate and permeate among you. It is time now that you should realize that you were designed for something nobler — better than all this. It is time that you should recognize and respect the God- principle implanted in you, and try to make it work. Only let it have fair play, listen to and follow its dic- tates, and you will soon perceive a change in your feel- ings and tempers, your tastes and avocations. Suppose that all recognized it and tried to follow out its dictates, can you not see for yourselves what a changed world you would have ? No wars, no strife, no contention for this thing or that thing, no ambition to rule, no desires for inordinate wealth, for selfish or licentious pleasures, no murders, no robberies, in fact, no sin. Such will be the condition of the inhabitants of your earth, if we can once bring the light to bear upon them fully and generally. Such is the desirable result we hope to at- tain. And before very long, we shall have some of the first fruits of our labors, visible to the eyes of men as well as spirits. When men are softened and subdued bv advorsr'tv or GOD IN HIS WORKS. 73 trouble of any kind, then is the best time for spirits to step in and labor for them. At such seasons they are less wrapped up in selfishness, less absorbed by worldly gains or pleasures, and we can generally find a crevice through which to enter into their hearts, and work for them. Thus it is, only on a larger field we hope to find the greatest facility in touching the hearts of men, in this coming time of trouble and distress ; and thus from the general nature of the sufferings impending over, not this country only, but many others, we calculate to pro- duce golden fruits in the hearts of many, and general amelioration, not only in the social system, but in the national governments also. Things must be more equalized ; the rich must share with the poor. Their superfluous wealth, which is only a burden and toil to them to manage, must be distrib- uted among their more needy brothers, and both be made happier by the division. The intellectual must give of their talents to benefit and improve their lees advanced brothers, and the skillful, in any way, must use their gifts for the good of their neighbors, as well as for themselves. I might go on and enumerate the variety of ways in which this feeling of universal brotherhood would work ; but it is useless at the present time, when men are not prepared to carry out our ideas, so we will now return to our more immediate theme, " God in his works," the multitude and infinity of which should fill your minds with awe and wondering admiration. To think on this great subject, exalts and benefits your souls. To dwell on his greatness, brings you more nearly into communion with Him, and fills you with a portion of His own spirit. You are benefited by the smallest ap- proach you can make to this mind of God ; and there is no better method for you to pursue in your endeavors 74 GOD IN HIS WORKS. to progress, than studying Him in His works. You may say you cannot understand much that you see, much that you hear, in relation to them. True, you cannot. But none are so ignorant that they cannot see beauty in a flower, a leaf, a human eye, or a human hand ; and they can do more, for all can see, not the beauty only, but the appropriateness, the fitness, the adaptedness of them for their various uses. Can anything be more wonderfully and judiciously contrived than the eye of a man ? So delicately organ- ized to receive impressions from surrounding objects, at the same time, so carefully protected from injury by its judicious position in the head, and its covering lid and eyelashes. Did not the thought that originated it, show the highest wisdom ? And can you not find profit and pleasure combined in thinking on these things ? Or are you so accustomed to the offices and appearance of this organ, that it has ceased to be regarded by you ? I hope it is not so ; but if it is, refresh your ideas on this point by visiting some institution for the blind, and you will then see more plainly the blessing you enjoy, without appreciating its possession. Then your hand — have you ever thought on its varied uses, its beautiful adaptedness to the numerous offices it is required to perform ? Or have you allowed that also to pass by unheeded, playing out its part in regular and methodic manner, as you might require its services — your willing docile slave to do your bidding, while you, entirely unconscious of the wondrous beauty of the or- ganism that thus works for you. accept its services, and never pause for a moment to dwell on the wisdom and love that designed it, or to consider what that Being must be who so multiplies His benefits to all, that men take them as a right, and entirely overlook and neglect the Giver. GOD IN HIS WORKS. 75 These simple examples will show you how easy it is for the most ignorant to study the Almighty in His works. They are so surrounded by them that they need not seek from abroad subjects of contemplation ; and they will find God's Spirit quite as near to them when contemplating His presence in the lowliest grub, as in more exalted and beautiful objects. The same care in the formation, the same adapteclness for its peculiar vocation, every organ necessary for it to enjoy life in its own sphere, is given to it, and the food suitable to its habits and tastes are provided. Such thoughts ought to be elevating for any mind. They fill us, in the spheres, with rejoicing and wonder- ing admiration when we try to bring them home to you. It is true we can see more clearly into these mighty works, we can go deeper into their mysterious beauty, but there is plenty for man to know and feel, if he will take the pains to search it out. Some of you may be attracted by the wonders of the heavens, and look there for evidences of God's power and thoughtful love, and you may fancy it is more mightily displayed there ; or again, others may examine into the beauties of the deep, and see its workings there. Any and everywhere you will find them, and all display, in an equal degree, the power of thought, the wisdom and beneficence of the Being who planned them. In the smallest blade of grass, in the tiniest flower, apparently so useless, but yet which has its office, the same careful thought is traced, and in the same perfection. Can you then wonder, man, that we wish you to know these mighty truths for yourselves ? Can you wonder that we, your superiors in knowledge and wis- dom, wish to make you realize the true nature of the God who formed you ? — and who, previous to placing you on your beautiful earth, had filled it with such a 76 GOD IN HIS WORKS. profusion of blessings. Are yon not daily, hourly, mo- mently receiving from him unnumbered benefits — so common in their occurrence, that you cease to regard them as such ? And yet should you be deprived of any one, what a calamity you would consider it. Are you not possessed of everything conceivable to make your lives happy, did you only realize what you have in your possession ? Most of the wants men feel so deeply, and suffer so much if they cannot supply, are artificial ones ; they have cultivated the necessity for them, and the sooner they can learn to do without a great many of them the happier they will become. Food, dress, fire, air, amusement, exercise, music, drawing, singing, every- thing that conduces to the well-being and happiness of man we advocate. They are designed for that purpose, and every one should enjoy his share of them. But the factitious wants of a few, to supply which the many must toil, are not of God's designing ; neither do we approve of them. Excess of all kinds is injurious. Dress is a necessity, but when carried beyond the bounds of simplicity and comfort it is an evil. Food also may be put under the same limits. It is a necessity of your natures, but when the necessity is satisfied, let not the animal step in and usurp the place of the man. So I might continue my remarks on some of the other things enumerated, but you can see for yourselves that excess in the indulgence of any of them may convert great blessings into great curses. And is not this a just retribution? If one takes so large a share of the good things of life that he infringes on the portion of others, and they get little or none, should he not be made to feel his selfish greedi- ness ? He should, and he does, not only here on earth, but hereafter still more. It will be a hard task to teach the human family GOD IN HIS WORKS. 77 that God, the great thought of the universe, sees no difference in men, and that He, in creating all His boun- tiful provisions for the happiness of mankind, intended them for all equally. He did not say to one, " thou shalt have more than thou needest," and to another, " I have formed thee to starve." No, this dreadful result has been engendered by the indulgence of the animal passions in men, blotting out, as much as they could do, the principles of justice and love implanted in them. It is time now that they should begin to cultivate what they have so long discarded and disowned. They think they are growing very wise in all knowledge, and understand many high things. Let them take this simple act of justice into their consideration, and see if their worldly wisdom will enable them to overcome the selfishness that has so long kept them in bondage to its debasing teachings. Shall the strong always op- press the weak ? The rich the poor ? Or shall a more equitable state of things supervene, and equal rights, equal privileges and equal blessings, be enjoyed by all ? In this land of plenty much might soon be done to ameliorate the condition of the lower classes. They are not so down-trodden as in other portions of the world, and they could more easily, and with better grace, assume the position destined for them. They have an adaptiveness of character that is very favora- ble to work upon, and they see and feel more clearly than in other countries the injustice of the inequalities they suffer from. They have developed up to this in consequence of the greater freedom of your national institutions aud government. Therefore, here the work must commence, here the reformation begin. Some few men are already laying out plans and devis- ing methods to effect it, but they have scarcely the right idea, and we would be glad to see others take it up 78 god m HIS WORKS. and co-operate with them, so as to bring more intelli- gence into their meetings, and more worldly know- ledge, that they may work with better success. The great reformer, however, who will lay his axe at the root of these evils, is punishment — just punishment, brought on your own heads by social and national errors. You cannot now escape it. The evils you have engendered must be swept away, and with them will disappear much of the pride and pomp of station, the luxury and effeminacy that are corroding your vitals. When thoroughly humbled and subdued by the se- vere chastisement you must receive, then we can come in to you, and take up our abode with you. We can then instill into you the more humanizing and just prin- ciples we have failed hitherto in making you appreciate. We shall then be listened to with delighted attention. Our company will be sought for, onr presence invoked, and from mediums of a very different class to those you now consult, will words of wisdom and consolation flow. Never again will the social fabric be erected on the same basis that it has been. Men will fight against it, and spirits will aid them. When once the convulsion is commenced, it will go on, spreading ruin and desola- tion over your land, and uprooting most of your old institutions. For a time it will be sad to see the con- fusion and distress that must prevail, but good will result from it. The turbid waters must be agitated, or they cannot be purified and cleansed ; and it is neces- sary that this disturbance, in your social and political condition, should take place, that a better order of things may be established. Had men been wise enough to correct the abuses that are so rife, by wise and stringent laws, and by humane and Christ-like efforts to ameliorate the con- GOD IN HIS WORKS. 79 dition of the poorer classes — had they felt that they could not, in justice, enjoy their superfluous luxuries while the starving poor were so destitute around them — then, these calamities might have been avoided, a more prolonged, but at the same time, bloodless revolu- tion might have taken place, and men, by degrees, have found their true position and equality. We would like, my friends, to give you some few words of advice on this impending crisis. We would like to warn, and we would like to encourage you. Can we do so, think you ? Some, we think, may be glad to receive our teachings, and for them we will write. We never weary in our labors for you ; we work on, untiringly, amidst the most apparently discouraging circumstances, for we know that, ultimately, we must prevail. The great God who gives us the power, and the will to come, is now making manifest through us the love-principle He has implanted in us, and in you, from His own great fountain. We, in our more ele- vated and progressed condition, feel and act upon it more strongly, and more readily than you can do in your present darkness and ignorance ; but this prin- ciple is what we come, more particularly, to develop in your hearts. We must have you softened and subdued by it, so that you will feel all the sorrows of your neighbors as keenly as if they were your own. In times of trouble and calamity, how needful is it that men should possess this God-like attribute ; how many they may comfort and relieve : how many they may encourage and improve. Filled with this Divine Principle, they may act the parts of ministering angels to their suffering brothers ; and such should be your mission, ye Spiritualists, in these coming trials. You know not the good you may do, the 80 GOD IN HIS WORKS. numbers you may convince of the truth of your belief, while administering to their bodily necessities. You have much work to do, much that as yet you cannot see, but when famine and pestilence stalk in your midst, then do not ye be found lacking, but. armed with the panoply of a true and undoubting faith, go forth to your work. Relieve, assist, comfort and support the sufferer to the utmost of your power. Help, strength and confidence shall be given vou. Ye shall carry a balm of healing for soul as well as body, and while ye minister to the bodily wants of the poor stricken ones, ye shall be en- dowed with words of power mighty to convince. It will not be the poor alone that will need aid in these troublous times. Many with wealth and its at- tendant luxuries will then be glad to find you out and solicit your services, " for great fear will be upon all men," and they will seek for every means to get conso- lation. But stand ye fast in your faith, unmoved by dread of earthly troubles, for they shall not come nigh you if you only follow our bidding. We can protect, so long as ye are true to your own selves, but beware that ye contaminate not your souls with the dross of earth. Let not the vile lust of gain pervert you, for then your souls will become more darkened over than those of the poor afflicted ones ye came to save, and we can no longer work through you. " Ye are the salt of the earth, beware that ye lose not your savor.' 7 Keep yourselves pure and unspotted, and ye shall be filled with the light and love of God's own sphere, and work greater works and perform greater deeds than man can at present conceive of. I speak now to those media who are willing and de- voted servants of our cause. None others need look for these glorious privileges ; and even to our most faithful and tried mediums these warnings are necessary. GOD IN HIS WORKS. 81 In such time? of confusion as are impending, it is not easy 'for any to keep themselves quite free from all temptations, but wherever we see the willing heart we are always near to assist and keep it from falling. It is not our province to alarm you unnecessarily, we would rather bring you words of consolation and good cheer ; but we should be unfaithful missionaries to you did we not warn, before-hand, of these impending dan- gers. They are fast closing around you, and it be- hoves every man to be prepared for them. You may wish to know, what means you must take for protection. Spiritualists who know in what they believe need not make these inquiries ; if they are living out the true teaching of their faith, they must be certain that they have no cause of fear. Are they not protected and guarded in a way that others can not be ? And have they not the undoubted assurance that if they should pass away from your sphere, it will be for their advan- tage, and to enter far higher and more developed condi- tions ? Therefore, to them we only say, " Keep qniet, be prepared for every good word or work we may call upon you to perform, and we will order all things for you to your best advantage." But to those who receive ns and our mission as a means of worldly profit, disregarding all our warnings, and pandering to the vices already so prevalent among you, what shall we say ? Our mission is of mercy and love, and we would still strive with them, but the con- ditions will not permit these unholy, impure, and untrue teachings to go on much longer. Sudden destruction will fall upon the heads of those who give them ; their gains will be taken from them ; their mediumship will cease to be ; and they, and the low and ignorant spirits who have assisted them, will be confounded together in deeper darkness and distress than they can form the 82 GOD IN HIS WORKS. least idea of. It is to them, more particularly, that we now address our warning, for there is yet time for them to repent, and we would have all do so. Take advan- tage of the short period yet left to you, and cast from you all low and debasing influences, both in your own natures and from the unseen world. Be determined to be pure, and to give pure and elevating teachings. You know that you are endowed with gifts that many might crave and could not obtain. Do not go on abusing them for such low purposes as you now do. When first you felt the influence of the spirits, it was not so with you. You were then more guileless ; you did not think of trafficking with the Holy Spirit, but were wil- ling to receive it with grateful and rejoicing hearts. Why could you not go back to this more child-like, truthful way? Why do you not pray your guardian angel to help you to rid yourselves of these evil ones that you have, by your different vices, drawn to you ? And while you seek their help, why do you not assist your- selves, and, by resisting evil in every shape, drive it from you ? You may say, " How then am I to live ? — do spirits think I am going to throw away my means of support, and starve?" You know well, poor deluded ones, that spirits never counsel that ; but if your living as a medium depends on your giving such teachings, as too many of you do, it is better to turn your attention to some other way of obtaining support, and let your mediumship rest till you see opportunities of using it for the benefit of your fellow-creatures, and not, as you now too often do, employ it for their ruin. In the times that are coming good mediums will be the lights and guides of many, and through them we shall give our teachings with vigor and effect. Men will want something more tangible, more stable, than the worn-out creeds of their clergy. They must be fed GOD IN HIS WORKS. 83 with something more spiritual, more enduring, than old formulas can supply ; and they will find what they re- quire in no other way. We can, through these pure sources, give such instruction and such consolation as the world has lacked for so long a time. They will not be of the same nature as your old Bible stories, but they will be what you all want, and what will tend to establish the harmony and equality on the earth that prevails with us. For instance, instead of setting chil- dren to learn long creeds and catechisms of faith, we shall have them go forth into the world of nature and find God there. We shall have them note well the for- mation and design apparent in every portion of His works, and the beneficent kindness and overflowing love that planned the whole. Easy will it be to elevate and enlarge the minds of your youth by such teachings. No debasing thoughts will have place where God is known to be present, where His principle of love is felt in everything they touch, taste, or see — an ever-present living principle pervading every benefit He bestows upon them. Can children not be made to understand these things, think you ? Can they not be made to feel the beauty and the glory of them ? Oh ! yes, far more than man in his more advanced age. Youth is the time for all these things to be instilled, and when you see the results that will follow, I think, nay, I am sure, you must agree with me. The minds of children are easily moulded to good or the reverse. But we will take the first, and imagine a child educated in the way I speak of — for it is educa- tion, though so simple — and commenced in his earliest years. But supposing that he or she is thoroughly im- bued with this idea of God, in all the beautiful crea- tions he sees around him, and still more, in his own soul he feels and knows His presence, he will have this 84 GOD IN HIS WORKS. consciously present to him on all occasions ; he can never run away from the thought, and it will be to him a delight and joy unspeakable. This feeling of hap- piness induced, will harmonize Ms being, and make him a receptive pupil for any further teachings he may re- quire, and spirits can carry on the work so well begun, and give him all he needs. They can make of him an artist or a musician, a mathematician or an astrono- mer, whatever his fancy may turn to. Or should he be very emulous of knowledge, they can endow him with the whole. None of these things are impossible where harmony exists to bring the spirits and mortals into complete rapport. And when all the confusion that now prevails among you is done away with, and men have time and inclination to look into these things more thoroughly, they will see for themselves the supe- rior wisdom of this kind of training for their children, even should they doubt the power of spirits to carry on the work as I have described. If the whole world has got to be reformed, as we spirits are continually affirming, there must be some means of doing it, for it would be folly to preach up anything impossible to be attained ; but we know that this is not so. Great suffering and punishment will have to be endured, and after that is gone through there will need much wisdom to order affairs on a bet- ter basis. And in conjunction with all the other means to be adopted, and as one from which most benefit may be looked for, we consider this change in the method of educating your children, is most essentially important. They, like yourselves, require harmonizing before we can do much for them. Their little minds can resist the spirit when contentious and quarrelsome, and it is only by taking them in their earliest bud that you can overcome what is engendered in them before birth by GOD IN HIS WORKS. 85 the inharmonies of the parent stock. By commencing at this early period yon prevent the additional mischief derived from bad surroundings, acting on already inhar- monious natures. Children require to be more carefully guarded from bad influences the first five years of their lives than at any other period. The effect may not be so perceptible to you, because you cannot see what the difference would have been if an opposite course had been pursued. But at this early period the seed is sown, the buds are de- veloped of the, afterwards, ruling passions and disposi- tions ; and if they have inherited from their progenitors inharmonious and bad characteristics, then, and then only, can they be eradicated by judicious and careful training — a training of the physical and moral com- bined. Be as watchful over the one as over the other, for much depends on the health of the body when you are developing the higher, more spiritual, part of the future man or woman. This important subject has been hitherto too little re- garded. The first few years of a child's life were looked upon as merely for the development of the physical, and most frequently wrong methods were taken to do that. Improper dress, improper food, and too often, improper nurses were provided ; sometimes old and infirm, but often young, inexperienced, and unrestrained in their own tempers and dispositions, and quite unfitted for the office they assumed. Every unjust thwarting of the little one raises antago- nistic feelings • every sly shake and jerk wounds their little spirits, and every time you accede to their tyran- nical demands, when your reason tells you that they are wrong, you assist in bringing some unholy temper into existence. Who that has ever looked into this subject with atten- 86 GOD IN HIS WORKS. tion but must have noticed how early in its life a child begins to understand ; how plainly he can evince par- tiality or the reverse, and how easily he can be made to know that some things are forbidden him. If they can distinguish in one way they can in another, and be easily and pleasantly controlled by the laws of love and wisdom combined. In fact, their education should begin with their birth, or before it rather, for much may be done by the parents for their future offspring. This, however, is a part of the subject we do not wish to enter into . at the present moment. We have been led farther on, in the matter of education already, than may seem relevant to our subject-matter ; but so much of human happiness and progression hinges on this im- portant point that we have rather stepped out of our path to present some features of this subject to your consideration. We will now return to our original theme — the omni- presence of Deity, not only to control and guide our actions, as the Bible teachers tell us, but the vital, liv- ing, acting principle in all nature and in man. God everywhere — wonderful thought! — incapable of com- prehension by your minds ; and yet, when looked upon by the simple intuitions of man, in a natural state, easy to be understood. The wild and untutored savage of your western wilds, rude and uncultivated as he may appear to you, in your higher state of refined civilization, has truer and more elevated notions of the Deity than you have. He sees and feels the presence of the Great Spirit in every effort of nature, not only in the rushing wind, the storm, or the pestilence, but in all the beautiful outpourings of His goodness ; in the flowers, the leaves, the gently flowing stream and the shady forest. In all, and every bountiful gift he recognizes the presence of the great GOD IN HIS WORKS. 87 Power who created thein for his pleasure, and he thanks Him for them by appreciating and using them to make himself and his family happy. He does not seek to add house to house, field to field, and call them his, but he takes the gifts as they are offered to him, uses them as far as his needs may require, and leaves the rest free to all God's other creatures. You may say, these Indians are inconsequent and careless for the future, and so they may be. We do not say they are perfect, neither do we say we would have you take them for your guides in your more ad- vanced state of civilization. But, we do say, that they are possessed of higher, nobler, truer conceptions of Deity than you are, and so far, you may learn from them. They are now fast disappearing from their land. The onward strides of commerce and man's greed of gain is compressing them into smaller and smaller possessions ; but they will not pass away unavenged ; justice must be done, and if it does not overtake their persecutors here, it will surely do so hereafter. The earth is large enough for all to partake of its bounties, and they were and are entitled to a share of its gifts. Oh, man, man ! short-sighted for your own eternal interests, and so far- reaching after worldly honors and worldly distinctions, is there no way of touching your hearts ? Is there no way of showing you how fatally wrong is the path you are pursuing ? It cannot bring you to happiness, either here or in the future. The temporary and fading dis- tinctions of this short life on earth cannot, for a mo- ment, be put in comparison with the joys of eternity. Why is it that ye continue so blind to these important truths ? Why is it that lust, avarice, pride, and all the lowest and most animal parts of your natures are left to riot unchecked, and the spiritual graces are entirely un- developed ? We could weep for you, would that 88 GOD IN HIS WORKS. avail. We would bathe you in our magnetism, and re- fine and purify you, but we cannot approacli you. Your iniquities raise up a wall of partition that we cannot cross, and it is only through the imperfect means we now employ, that we can at all reach you. Angels and spirits mourn over your guilt and degradation ; they see so plainly what it is you are laying up for your- selves. They know that every sin must be atoned for, every vice and every evil temper lived out, and that the more they are indulged in here, the longer time of suf- fering you are preparing for yourselves. Therefore, they wish to help you now. It is a far easier thing to reform while on earth, than in a future state. There, it seems almost impossible to progress when sunk so low as many of you are. And for the sake of your children and posterity at large, they would urge this most im- portant subject on your attention, for truly the Bible says, " The sins of the fathers are visited on the chil- dren." Will not you then, one and all, help in this great work we are advocating ? Will not you, each one, com- mence this much to be desired reformation ? As we have so often told you, in your own lives the change must begin. Examine them thoroughly and see in what they are deficient or in what they are culpable, and re- form both. Every man is sufficiently enlightened to do this in regard to the most glaring sins, and as he cor- rects them, his moral perceptions will become more clear, and he will be prepared to discover his less con- spicuous failings. We will now take our leave of this important subject, committing it to your consideration and earnest atten- tion. We may have failed in giving you our ideas as clearly or as connectedly as we could wish, but we have succeeded in bringing you some very important thoughts GOD IN HIS WORKS. 89 to meditate upon, and we trust they will not be thrown away. Surely some among you will be able to gain wisdom from them, and a more correct, though still not very clear idea of the Deity who is so truly " God with us ;" for you must see that he pervades all nature and all space. His thought and his care are everywhere ; none too high, none too lowly to be the recipients of it. Everything good and great comes from Him. The effort, we are now so earnestly prosecuting, to en- lighten your earth, had its origin in this great mind of the universe, and it is by His power and aid alone, that we can work for you. He gives the thought, the mag- netism, the Spirit to do it, and we, His willing agents, carry out the idea. Solomon. November 16th, 1860 NOTES TO GOD IN HIS WORKS. Note 1. — We have made use of, seemingly, contradictory assertions at the commencement of our Essay, but they would not be so coul d you see things as we do — for even so it is j man cannot see God, nei- ther ean spirits ; for He is not a being to be seen, but a principle per- vading all space. At the same time developed spirits will attain to that perfection of holiness and love, when they will be entirely per- vaded by this God-principle, and merged, as it were, in Deity. Their identity will not be taken away ; their personal freedom of thought and action always remains : and having so far progressed as we have supposed, they will be endowed with gifts from Deity proportionately great with those we have endeavored to describe in our Essay. Do not. my friends, try to understand, or find out, more than is written. We told you we would do all we could to make ourselves clear to you. But after you have learned what God is not, and what you must do to develop yourselves, you need not go so far into these mysteries 5 they are not needed for your progression or happiness. Note 2.— Our friend has again asked us for explanation of the for- mer part of our essay 5 we are sorry that we cannot oblige him in this particular. But we said, at the commencement, that the subject would be difficult to make clear to men's minds, and it seems we were right in our conjecture. Be satisfied, my friend, with the light we have been able to impart ; we may give you more at another time, but not now. God's mind is not as the mind of one man 5 it is as the mind of all. You cannot comprehend this idea, and yet you expect to un- derstand clearly and fully how the worlds were formed by Him. When we attempted to give you some light on the subject, we knew the difficulties we should have to encounter in saying anything that would prove satisfactory, but we hoped what we did bring to you would be true as far as it went, and we know that it is so. We are not responsible for the teachings of other, and perhaps lower, spirits We give, what we do give, from the highest source of knowledge and wisdom that comes to man. We do not say that these high and holy intelligences come into direct rapport with the medium, and influence her hand or control her mind ; but they send it down as directly as it is ever sent to earth — only two, or sometimes three, circles intervening when the medium is out of condition. I, Lorenzo Dow, am at this moment standing by her side, and dictating this from that higher GOD IN HIS WOEKS. 91 sphere direct. And we would say, before we leave, that it is better to be a little obscure on such high matters than over-plain and methodi- cal, as it is not possible for any to understand God as He really is. Therefore why should the finite minds of men endeavor to do that, when the angels fear to look into it. They have never seen Him^ They never will ; but they will progress higher and higher in His light, cind become more and more imbued with it, and more and more like Him, but he will be still an unknown God to them ; for He, as I said before, is everywhere, yet nowhere. My friend, I fear if I go on I shall get you into greater fog than you were in before. Do not strive to be wise above that which is writ- ten. You have light, abundantly, given to you in various ways. Who is more favored with communications from the Spirit-land? Do not be too anxious to get everything so very undisputable. A little cavil- ing on some subjects does no harm. Supposing we do say somethings contrary to what others have said, or even supposing we contradicted our- selves, is it to be wondered at, when you consider the difficulties we la- bor under in getting these things to you ? With respect to the development of man from the monkey tribe, you seem troubled at our way of expressing ourselves, and I would like to make it clearer if I could. Monkeys have, you are aware, much more natural acuteness than any other animals, though many showed considerable sagacity before the monkeys and apes were introduced. Man is a combination of all these different instincts shown, some in one brute, some in another, but all collected together in the man. He was not formed out of the earth, as the old record says. He did not start into existence a perfect being, but he was the Offspring of some other being — he was, in fact, an offshoot of the monkey tribe. Have you not precocious and wonderful children in your day? Why could not the power who developed them develop as comparatively wonderful an ape or apes ? Have not all animals progressed in the ascending ratio from the first simple mollusca and infusoria ? Has not vegetation progressed with them to sup- ply their wants, from the mosses and ferns, to your present Fauna and Flora. If God so ordained and arranged, in his wisdom, for ani- mals and vegetables, why should he not finish his work with man, his master-piece? Is it any degradation to humanity that it has de- veloped up to its present high standard from so low a one ? -I think you will agree with me that it is not. God, the all-wise, when He had brought His creative work to this closing point, and formed the man, developed in him the gifts He intended him to be the recipient of. By his beautiful formation, so like, and yet so unlike the animals, he was fitted, admirably fitted, for what he was designed. Every organ was brought to its highest perfection in him, and in addition to 92 GOD IN HIS WORKS. the instincts of the animal, reason and a soul were added. Why- should this be impossible to a power who had already done so much ? It was the work of ages upon ages to develop the other forms of life so that man might spring from them, perfected in body, to receive his mental gifts ; and it was not all at once that the full height and know- ledge of what he was dawned upon him. After he had received his endowments, it took ages yet to develop the embryos in him, and show him his own superiority over the ani- mal kingdom. Gradually the light entered into his soul. Like a new born babe, he was unconscious of the gifts he possessed, and ignorant, as a child would now be of their value, unless taught by its parents and tutors — for, my friends, you must know that every individual child receives this God-spirit now, just as much as the first developed ape or man did. Reason is quite another thing. That, man has cultivated for himself. Instinct first supplied its place, but as the soul shone forth in the man, higher thoughts, higher aspirations arose, and he cultivated the intellect into it3 present state of progress. You wish me to say something in respect to the color of the differ- ent races of men. My friends, I will try to do so at some future time, perhaps to-morrow — at present the Medium is tired. Note 3. — Men, my friends, having developed from the lower animals on an ascending plane, have not necessarily sprung from one pair, as you have so long been taught, but from many ; and they did not all originate in one country, or at one period of time, or from the same spe- cies of apes. Different latitudes have their different Fauna and Flora, and races of men, as distinct in the one case as the other. Is it not simple and plainly to be seen that the various processes of develop- ment would be influenced, very naturally, by climate and soil ? Nay, are you not shown this clearly at the present day, when you undertake to change the localities of animals and men ? Do they not lose some characteristics, and assume others? Very slowly, sometimes, the change of situation works, but in some instances it is more rapid, and, as I said, plainly perceptible to the curious observer. Let this theory obtain in your examination of the causes of the varieties in the human species, and I think you will find an easy solution of the question. The higher and more temperate regions necessarily produced a more active and intelligent race of animals and men : their pro- visions were not so easy of attainment, more forethought was re- quired ; even the insects and animals intuitively laid up food for their winters. Man derived the benefit of all this activity in the lower classes ; it all conduced to his higher status when he made his appear- ance. Climate, working first upon the animal kingdom, and then upon man, tended to produce the fair skin, the delicate and refined features, GOD IN HIS WORKS. 93 and the superior intellectual endowments of what you call the Cau- casian race. In the warmer and more enervating climate of the Torrid Zone, where fruits and roots abundantly supplied the herbivorous animals all through the year, supineness and inertia were the consequences ; having no call to put forth any energy and mother wit, as we may say, to satisfy their wants, Necessity, the great teacher, never devel- oped it in them, and though the progressive development of the differ- ent animals went on, it was all on a lower and very inferior plane. But if the climate of those regions was not suited to the rapid growth of intellect, it was well adapted to the habits of the ferocious beasts of prey that flourished there, and contributed their quota to forming the man — uniting in him the ferocity of their natures, combined with the laziness of the herbivorous denizens of those parts, to wit. : the rhino- ceros and hippopotamus. Climate, that could so alter the animal kingdom, would naturally produce a new variety in the man, when he appeared on the stage of existence — all the particles of which he was composed were developed through a similar yet different process, and produced a different race to the Caucasian. His skin dark as the race of apes he sprung from, his hair crisped and woolly, his pro- truding sensual mouth, and low receding forehead, all testify to the truth of what we assert, and show plainly the inferiority of mental endowments to the white race . I might go on and prove to you, still further, the effects of climate in the stunted growth of the Laplanders and Esquimaux, caused by the excess of cold in their native regions — but the Medium feels so unwell that I must curtail my communication. You can, for your- self, now, having this account of the origin of men, and why they natu- rally differ, so clearly pointed out to you, trace the effects still further in other countries, where differences from the same cause are still plain to be seen. . The Chinese and Japanese have the same origin ; the Hindoos are of a slightly different species, a later development, though they preceded many other races ; the Africans are more recent than any, excepting the Australian ; the Indians of North America preceded both the latter, and also preceded those of the Southern Continent ; the Islands of the Pacific are indebted for their population to stray waifs from other countries, principally China and Japan. I have given you this rapid summary, as I thought it might interest you, but I must now leave — first, however, stating that the Caucasian race was developed previous to the others, excepting the Chinese and Hindoos. Farewell, my friends, I will talk to you again at some future time ; at present we must continue our more immedi- ate work, for times are pressing upon us, and it is much wanted by many on your suffering earth. Lorenzo Dow. oU<