immortality, and the conditions necessary to be observed by them in order to obtain a happy future existence. 537. Notwithstanding the truth of spirit manifestations and spirit teachings, there are many persons who will not readily perceive it; their minds are so much cramped and distorted by false teachings, that many years shall have elapsed before there can be much improvement in them; of such it hath been said, "They would not believe though one should arise from the dead." 538. My brother, I would say a word to you touching your duty in regard to the present dispensation. You occupy a prominent and important place in the dissemination of this most glorious gospel; your mind has ever been desirous of the truth; a uniform consistency of conduct has marked your course through life: pursue, then, the even tenor of your way, and let love be the controlling principle of your motives and actions, and if reviled, revile not again, but bear all things nobly for the truth's sake, and great will be your reward. I would say, moreover, let your reason determine the value of our teachings. You are engrossed to some extent by the cares and perplexities of earth life; therefore you cannot so fully realize the wondrous joys which await you in yonder peaceful heaven! 539. My brother, when the lamp of your earthly existence shall begin to burn dimly, and the objects of earth recede from your view, your spirit father and sister will be at hand to conduct you into the presence of those loved friends who are bound to you by the ties of consanguinity and sympathy. MARTHA. My Brother's account of his Spiritual Birth. 540. Dear brother Robert: How long I remained in a state of unconsciousness, previous to my spiritual birth, is unknown to me; suffice it to say, when the vital cord which bound me to the physical body was parted, I experienced a full consciousness of my personality. I enjoyed perfect freedom from pain and sickness, and an unwonted degree of strength and buoyancy of spirit; sensations of the most exalted character took possession of me, and a holy calm pervaded the sanctuary of my soul. It was not, however, until I saw my body lying upon the bed, that the true nature of my situation flashed across my mind. I shall never forget that moment of ecstatic bliss. I felt a sudden and indescribable consciousness of increased mental and physical power, and my body was most beautifully and symmetrically formed; in fact, I beheld myself a perfect and immortal man! I perceived, too, that my step was lighter, freer, and more elastic than usual, and my whole system was singularly rejuvenated. I knew that I was in eternity, yet I saw that I was upon the earth. As my mind became clear, and my vision less obstructed, a radiant spirit, whom I had not before noticed, addressed me in these words: "Brother! welcome, welcome, to the bright and joyous spirit land, to this blest habi tation for the children of men, to this land of ceaseless progression." The spirit having spoken thus, beckoned me away. 541. Having passed beyond the sphere of earth, we entered the regions of perpetual day, where the foot of mortal never trod; where the bril liant flowers were never culled by mortal hands; where beautiful spirits, angelic beings, float in mid air, and sport beside the sparkling fountains; where harmonious voices mingle with the rich tones of golden harps, and silver flute-notes ascend to the arching heavens. On our way thither we saw many companies of ministering angels passing to and fro on their respective missions. Some, who were assembled in groups, talked earnestly together upon congenial subjects; while others blended their voices in anthems of praise, whose echoes were prolonged far up through the realms of space to blend with still more glorious harmonies in spheres above. Those celestial beings, though beautiful beyond the conception of finite man, were not of the highest order of angels. They belong to that class whose mission is to visit the dwellings of men, and to minister unto the bereaved and afflicted of earth; to tend the beds of the dying, and to whisper rest to the weary and hope to the desponding. 542. My brother, I might speak to you of the past, but I prefer to open the door of the bright and glorious future. Solon said that no one should call himself happy before death; now, although I do not sanction this advice of the distinguished sage, I know that there is, comparatively speaking, no happiness in the rudimentary state; no pleasure equal to that which awaits the resurrected spirit in those beautiful mansions where it shall forever bathe in the eternal sunlight of its Father's love. I cannot find words to describe to you the magnificent creations of Him from whom all order, beauty, and harmony proceed. 543. I am surrounded by every thing that can delight the eye, please the ear, and gratify the taste. I have every facility for studying all the principles in the vast universe of matter. 544. In the higher spiritual states perfect peace and tranquillity reign no strife mars the harmony of the celestial abodes. 545. My mission is to instruct spirits in the lower circles, and to raise them from their degraded condition. 546. Every spirit follows those pursuits that are most congenial to him. 547. Every spirit has a sphere of utility, and finds his true position on entering the spheres. Brother, the years of your external life are drawing to a close. When your initial term is finished, you will enter upon an unending series of moral and intellectual developments; then you will be fully compensated for all that you have endured in the cause of truth on earth. Your present life, remember, is but the prelude to ineffable joys in the world beyond the grave. Thank God, your barque is not drifting rudderless and pilot less on the great ocean of time. No! she is well-manned and equipped, and pursues her direct course, fearing neither Scylla nor Charybdis. Robert, you have acted nobly and fearlessly in defending the great cause of humanity. We are watching your movements with great interest. Continue to devote your mental energies to the development of spiritual facts, and we will aid you when conditions favour. Farewell. C. W. H. CONVOCATION OF SPIRITS. Sixty-four Queries addressed to a Convocation of Worthies from the Spirit World; also, the Replies given by them, and confirmed under conditions which no mortal could pervert. 548. HAVING received many pages of communication from my father, sister, brother, and certain other spirit friends, on the subject of the spirit world, and having been urged by him and other inhabitants of that world to publish the information thus communicated, I represented, at a time when this honoured being reported his presence, that I felt a reluctance at publishing solely on the authority of my relations; and requested that certain distinguished spirits, who, as I had been told, had attended one of my lectures at Boston, should sanction a synopsis of the facts which I had learned respecting the spirit world. (409 to 547.) 549. The propriety of my request being admitted, it was appointed that on Monday, the 18th of February, 1855, at nine o'clock, there should be a convocation of some of the worthies in question at the dwelling of the excellent medium employed. Accordingly, soon after my arrival there, at the appointed time, my father reported himself, and the following names were spelt out as being present: George Washington, J. Q. Adams, Wm. H. Harrison, A. Jackson, Henry Clay, Benjamin Franklin, W. E. Channing, H. K. White, Isaac Newton, Byron, Martha Washington, Besides relatives and friends. 550. The queries subjoined were then read successively, pausing, of course, for an answer to each in turn. 551. The answers were given through an instrument analogous to that represented by Fig. 1, Plate 4, and described on the page opposite to the plate. 552. Finally, after all the queries had been answered agreeably to the usual conditions, a confirmation of the whole was given under test conditions, as explained in the page opposite Plate 4. 553. Relying on these conditions as competent to secure the issue against the control of the medium or that of any other mortal, the question was put, "Have all the answers been correctly communicated?" In reply, the index moved so as to point to the word "Yes," and the following address was made at the same time: 554. Friend, we have heard your questions, and severally affirm that we have answered them as recorded by you. 555. It is to be understood that all the subjoined inquiries were answered simply in the affirmative, excepting where a qualified answer made more words necessary than the word "Yes," by itself. The queries having been previously reduced to writing, the answers were written down by me at once. 556. (1.) Is it true that within a space lying between the earth and the lunar orbit there are seven concentric regions, denominated spheres, which may be called the country of spirits; that this country has all the features of terrestrial scenery, but with a much greater beauty, even in the third sphere, while the beauty of the other four spheres is greater in proportion as they are higher? Ans. Yes. 557. (2.) Is it true that in those regions there are mountains, plains, rivers, lakes, brooks, rills, trees, flowers, birds, beasts, and every attribute of the most admired portions of this lower sphere? Ans. Yes. 558. (3.) Is it true that, by the higher spirits, music, poetry, and all the sciences and fine arts, are highly and zealously cultivated, and that the pleasures of social intercourse are more highly enjoyed than upon earth? Ans. Yes. 559. (4.) Are the narratives of their translation to the spirit world, which I have received from my sister, brother, William Wiggins, and the spirit Maria, to be relied on as coming from them, and as correct in their representations of the usual process of transference to the spiritual world after death? Ans. Yes. 560. (5.) How many spheres are there, this world being the first in the series? Ans. Seven. 561. (6.) How many inhabited by spirits? Ans. Six. 562. (7.) Are there subdivisions? if so, how many in each sphere? Ans. Six. 563. (8.) Are the subdivisions equidistant? Ans. Yes. 564. (9.) How are they designated? Ans. Either as circles or planes. 565. (10.) Are they concentric with each other and with this globe? Ans. Yes. 566. (11.) At what distance from the terrestrial surface does the lower boundary of the second sphere, or first spiritual abode, commence? Ans. Sixty miles. 567. (12.) Are the atmospheres of the spheres more rare in proportion as they are more elevated? Ans. Yes. 568. (13.) Do they increase in beauty as they are higher in the series? Ans. Yes. 569. (14.) How are they illuminated? Ans. By a peculiar sun within the spiritual spheres. 570. (15.) Is our sun visible in the spirit world? Ans. No. 571. (16.) If lighted by a peculiar spiritual sun invisible in our mundane region, do the rays of that sun consist of undulations of an all-pervading ethereal fluid, analogous to that assumed to exist by the undulationists? Ans. Yes. 572. (17.) Or do they depend upon the last-mentioned fluid for existence? Ans. No. 573. (18.) Are there not peculiar elementary principles appropriate, severally, to the spiritual world, and likewise to the material world? Ans. Yes. 574. (19.) Is it not an error to suppose that any of the ponderable elements recognised by chemistry can contribute to the organization of the person of an imponderable spirit? Ans. Of course, not without a loss of ponderosity, which involves a loss of identity or a transformation. 575. (20.) Is it not luminiferous matter which causes the effulgence of spirits, analogous in its effects to that of luminiferous insects, though consisting of a spiritual material entirely different from those which enter into the luminiferous matter of insects? Ans. Yes. 576. (21.) Are spirits in the lowest level of the second sphere destitute of effulgence? Ans. Yes. 577. (22.) Are they absolutely enveloped in a dark halo? Ans. Yes. 578. (23.) Is reformation indicated first by diminished darkness, and subsequently by augmented effulgence? Ans. Yes. |