Scenes beyond the Grave

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE

TRANCE OF MARIETTA DAVIS,

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE - Published 1855

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT.

There are no means to convey to man through

his external senses, any just idea of the scenes I

witnessed, while my body was reposing in its unconscious

slumbers. Life within the veil, can be

appreciated only by those who experience its moving

realities.

No medium of communication is sufficiently clear,

to give the perfect outlines of that which is invisible

and incomprehensible to mortals. Words employed

by men, are too cumbrous and unmeaning to bear

the pure thought in its native form, from the world

within to that without; for human utterance mars

the beauty and perfection of heavenly speech, and

corrupts the purity of thoughts thus conveyed.

Too gross are the vehicles of human sense to conduct

to the dormant soul truthful impressions of

the most exterior manifestation of life in the world

of peace. You urge me to a history, and yet I am

so sensible of my utter inability that thoughts

associated with the attempt give me pain.

13

14 SCENES BEYOND THE GEAYE.

Long had 1 discovered the vanity of earthly

tilings, the imperfections of human associations, the

unreliability of vast portions of religious faiths and

impressions, and the want of permanent peace in the

disquieted soul of man. Most earnestly I desired to

know more of the reality of that state called by mortals

immortality, for I had early learned that the

outer world perished. At length, meditating from

day to day, and while laboring to determine the nature

and tendency of the human soul, I became less conscious

of external things, and my inner mind grew

stronger and more active, until the dim shadows of the

objects and interests of tliis busy life of mortals ceased

with the expiring view, and my vision closed to the

outer world. Then objects new and strange appeared.

Still I knew not that I was rething from the

world of sorrow and of human strife ; nor did I understand

that my spiritual vision was opening, and

what I saw dimly moving before me was a reality,

the dawning of an immortal life. Still I seemed to

be departing from some former condition and launching

out into a boundless sea, and to be traversing

unexplored regions, veiled in uncertain vision, and

floating in mid air over an immeasm*able deep below.

Alone and unguided, and possessed of a vague

uncertainty, my timid spirit fain would have returned

to the land of shadows whence it came.

Half-conscious of my present condition, with

dreamy thoughts, I seemed to ask, is there no one

familiar with the jom-ney I pursue, to guide me in

my movements through this trackless space ? When

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 15

lo ! in the distance, and above me, I saw a light descending,

having the appearance of a brilliant star,

thither were directed the concentrated powers of

my perceptive being, until nothing was visible

but the approaching light. As it advanced, its foreshadowing

halo iUumined the expanse about me,

and my exhausted being received new life from the

invigorating glory that beamed upon it. Gently

I began to move, and ascending, drew nearer the

source of that light which gladdened and quickened

my spirit. As I approached it, I began to discover

the outlines of what appeared to me a glorified

human being; gi'adually the figure became more distinct,

until, poised in the atmosphere before and

above me, was an angel, whose excellence far exceeded

the highest conception of the fairest image

of my human thought. That form, more lovely

than language hath power to portray, moved silently

as it drew near me. Upon her head was a crown,

formed like gems of clustering rays. The light

of her countenance reflected like a flowing garment

the encircling manifestation of celestial love.

In her left hand was a cross, emblem of meekness,

innocence and redeeming grace ; in her right hand

a wand of pure intellectual light. With this she

touched my lips, and like a flame of holy love,

it quickened an immortal principle which diffused

its enlivening spirit throughout my being.

A new class of sensations awoke within me,

and moving harmoniously, prompted a desire for

16 SCENES BEYOND THE GEAYB,

companionsLdp with the angelic being from whoso

hand came forth the stream of quickening light. 1

looked upon her, wishing to learn her name, when

lo ! she spoke. The harmony of her utterance filled

me with imknown delight. She said: "Marietta,

thou desirest to know me. In my errand to thee 1

am called the Angel of Peace. I come to grade thee

where those exist who are from earth, whence thou

art. Wouldst thou profit by the lesson, follow

me. But first behold thy form in yonder world."

TTiere, far below me, and through a dark and

misty way, I beheld this sickly body of mortality.

Around it were gathered my anxious friends, employing

every means to awaken it, but all in vain.

" Behold," said my glorious guide, " a picture

of human life. There, kindred, tort.ured with sympathetic

love, struggle to hold the crumbling vase,

and keep the flickering light from expiring. Ttere,

from youth to hoary age, rolls the tide of human

woe. Fond hearts are severed. Death veils fi*om

mortal sight the tender, lovely form. The opening

flower that gladdens all around, folds its expanding

leaves, withered with the touch of death. There,

hopes, like dreamy phantoms, float in the mid-air

of fancied bliss. As thy vision expandeth, witness

thou the moving hosts. Earth, with her swarming

millions, presents a mingled scene of rising hopes

ambition, strife and death. Her inhabitants are

dismayed by the approach and fear of Death, the

fell destroyer. Time quickly measureth the fleeting

But first behold thy form in yondei vorld."—Page 15.

/ 5;if4r,:

U.,

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 17

moments of hmnan existence, and generations follow

generations in quick succession."

To this address I replied, " These thoughts are

the burden of my young and inexperienced

mind. These forms thou hast shown me, are

before my vision. Like dew drops they pass

away. This is the cause of my sorrow. Canst

thou tell me in what portion of the universe these

beings find a resting place when their spirits depart?

Canst thou remove the veil that conceals

them from mortal vision? Canst thou guide me

where they are ? O ! tell me, have they a home, or

a place, and may I follow where my loved ones have

been borne?"

CHAPTEK n.

MAN AT DEATH.

" WouLDST thou know the condition of the departe<

3 members of thy race, and be made familiar

with the effects of the habits and associations of perverted

man ? Measureably thou mayest ; but know

thou that their conditions are varied." Then bidding

me look upward she said, " What ^beholdest

thou?" Obedient, I looked above me, and with

wonder beheld an orb brighter by far than the sun

of earth in its meridian glory. Light, pure, beaming

along the celestial skies, radiated therefrom.

—

"There," said my guide, "are many thou wouldst

eee, who, clothed in raiment soft and white, move

in harmony. There, night-shades never fall, and

death and gloom have no element. Those who enjoy

that blest abode do not suffer ; no sin or pain disturbs

their calm repose. But more of this thou shalt

hereafter learn. Other scenes less joyous must fii'st

be given thee. Marietta, thou knowest well, that

with man are varied characters. The departure

of the spirit from its unsettled and shattered habi-

18

SCENES BEYOND THE GEAVE. 19

tation below, worketh no change in its natnre."

Then touching my forehead, again she said, "Wliat

seest thou?" My vision being opened to a new

scene, I beheld before me forms without number,

struggling in the agonies of death. Some in kingly

palaces on dying couches richly hung with drapery

of costly price. Some in humble cottages ; others

in gloomy prisons; haunts of vice and iniquity;

lone forests ; barren deserts, and in deep and

wild waters. Some lying beneath the scorching

sun ; some perishing upon bleak and snowy mountains

; some surrounded with weeping and attentive

friends ; others dying alone and forgotten. Some

perishing for their religion ; others tortm-ed by

the cruel savage. Some aged, despised, helpless

and forsaken; others, orphans, cast out and destitute.

Some expiring from wounds inflicted by

the assassin ; others crushed beneath the heavy

tread of the war-horse in the battle-field.

Thus where time and eternity meet, was revealed

a scene of indescribable miseiy. " This," said my

guide "is but a faint view of the effects of violated

law."

Touched again by the light beaming from her

right hand, I beheld the immortality of those who

were quitting their house of clay, entering upon

the regions of eternity and commencing new and

untried realities. Around each dying form were

gathered spirits, varied in appearance and in

movement.

Over battle-fields were congregated spirits of the

20 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

dead, and according to the moral nature of the dying,

was that of attending spirits who awaited their

an-ival in the spirit world. In like manner, aU

classes and conditions are efiected, since this intermediate

state or vestibule of the spirit world, is visited

by beings varying in character from the unholy and

wretched, to the bright and sanctified angels who

in multitudes congi*egate at the portals of death,

as messengers of God. And all classes as they

emerge from the physical foi-m are attracted to and

mingle with kindi-ed associations, beings to whose

character they assimilate. Those of discordant and

unhallowed natm-es are attracted by like elements,

and enter into regions overhung with clouds of

night; while .those, who for the love of good,

desire pm-e associations, are by heavenly messengers

conducted to the orb of glories appearing above

the intermediate scene.

The strange sensations of human spirits as they

mingled with the disembodied multitudes, beholding

what was transpu-ing around them, excited my

wonder, and while watching their movements, I

began to ask myself, if what I saw was a reality

or mere imagery reflected upon my mind in a

dreamy state? Upon discovering my thoughts, my

guide took me by the hand saying, " These beings

moving about thee, once the inhabitants of earth

whence thou art, having left their mortal dwellings,

are commencing a new state of existence.

Their surprise is the effect of their sudden change

from external objects and sense to spiritual* and

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 21

^eir more immediate knowledge of cause and

^ect. But more of this state and their condition

shall be revealed, when that instruction will better

befit thy mind. These scenes we will leave and

ascend to yon bright orb." Thus saying she led

me toward the cloud of light.

While passing the intermediate she touched me

again, and I became conscious of additional and

expanded vision.

"Behold," said she, "the countless, planetary

hosts. Mark the rolling orbs, suns, and systems

of s^ms, moving in silence and harmony. The vast

expanse is occupied and peopled with universes,

constructed in infinite wisdom. These are inhabited

by holy beings, happy and immortal,

though varied in degree of developement and refined

spirituality."

Again the organs of perception were touched, and

lo ! above and around me. and far in the distance,

were passing and repassing with the quickness

of thought, spirits of pure light.

"These," said my guide, "are ministering angels

; their supreme delight is to go upon errands

of mercy. Their home is with the ever blest.

They are employed as guardian protectors and

messengers of holy thought to those in conditions

below them."

While beholding them ascend and descend, one

drew near me, in whose arms, and borne upon

whose angelic bosom, was an infant spirit. The

angel passed, and I saw that the nourished nestling

22 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

rested in calm securitv, apparently conscious of its

safety in the hands of its protector. Whence came

this? I inquired; and the angel answered, "I received

it from a heart-broken mother at the gateway

of death, as the spark of life expired in the external

world, and am conveying it to the sphere of infancy

in the paradise of peace."

As the infant's guardian spirit proceeded, we

moved silently in the same du-ection, until the

scenes below perished from my vision, and my

being was absorbed in the bright light descending

from the orb we were approaching. Soon

we entered a plain, whereon were visible trees,

bearing fi-uit. Their interwoven branches formed

an arched canopy of evergreen above us. Passing

through these shadowy gi'oves, I was delighted

with the melody of the birds, whose warbling notes

arose in sweetest song. There we paused. Supposing

that I was on some terrestrial orb I inquired

its name.

My guide answered, " These trees, these flowers,

these birds occupy the outer expanse of the spiritual

paradise. So pure are they, and so refined, that

mortals with beclouded vision may not behold

them. And so soft their notes that they are not

made audible to the dull hearing of men.

Beings inhabiting forms more gross, do not conceive

the reality of the existence of nature so refined.

Absent from thy body, thou canst comprehend

through spiritual senses the existence and reality

of spiritual habitations; but what thou dost now

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 23

behold is but the outline and more exterior of the

home of spirits. These floral plains, and warblmg

melodies, are but the lower order of the external

habitation of the sanctified.

"Dost thou discover that these groves appear

as if moved with adoration ? and that these melodies

which charm and invigorate thee with new

life, are but notes ofiered to higher degrees of

love?

"Here the redeemed are first conducted by their

guardian protectors, as they leave the valley and

shaflow of death, and here they are taught the

rudiments of immortal life. Here they receive instructive

lessons relative to their heavenly abode,

and learn the nature of pm-e love, unmarred by sin.

Here are fii-st tuned the lyres of ceaseless praise,

as they learn to utter immortal accents to the Lord,

their Kedeemer, and receive new-born thoughts

which bring to them increasing sense of the reality

of their change. Here friends who have advanced

in spiritual attainments return from higher

employment to welcome the spirit on its entrance

upon this plane of the spirit world. Here kindred

are permitted to meet and hold converse; and 'tis

in these immortal groves where spirits first attempt

in unity the song of redeeming grace, and

reposing in soft and heavenly sweetness, breathe

the pure au- of paradise."

While listening to this strange, though welcome

addi-ess, my spirit burned to meet the friends

long lost to me on earth. The angel said, " Thou

24 SCENES BETOND THE GRAVE.

art not to tarry, since thy present mission is to learn

the condition of the departed child of God. When

thy com-se on earth is ended, here thou shalt mingle

in the infancy of thy immortal state, with thy kindred

and receive lessons, ^preparatory to an advance

to more exalted mansions, the more glorified home

of the blessed."

Then she reached ont her hand, and plncked a

rose that hung over us, and bidding me receive its

fragi-ancG, with it touched my lips. Again a more

interior sight was given, and I beheld around me,

and moving in every direction, tlii'ough the varied

floral scenes, happy beings without number. Desiring

to mingle with them, I sought permission

;

but my guide moved on, and upward thi'ough forests

becoming more pm-e and fair as we ascended.

CHAPTER m.

CITY OF PEACE.

At a distance, -upon a superior plain I saw a

dome of light. '' That," said my guide, " is the

gateway leading to the City of Peace. There the

manifestation of thy Redeemer is made visible.

There' saints and angels abide; on harps of gold, and

stringed instmments, with immortal lyres, in alleluias,

chant the Song of Redemption ; the song

of peace; the song of love undying."

"May I enter there?" I inquired.

Again she touched my lips, and they moved,

uttering praise in unaccustomed accents which

melted into the harmony of celestial love.

As we drew near, a class of attendants, more

glorious, gathered around the gateway, and one

foremost addressed my guide in language I could

not understand. Music, the music of love, was in

their conversation, and joy as a halo, encompassed

them as they welcomed us at the entrance of the

Holy Sanctuaiy.

A gate of jasper, set with diamonds, opened,

and two angelic beings approached, and taking

25

26 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

me by each liand, led my tremulous spirit towards

an inner gate, a more immediate entrance to the

pavillion of light.

Then I remembered my discordant state; then

thoughts of my former sins, my doubts, and rebellious

natm-e, rushed upon my mind, and feeling

entirely unprepared to endure the glory of the assemblage,

my spirit failed me. The angelic attendants

then bore me in their arms along the portal to the

feet of a being most glorious. Upon his head was

a crown of pure light, and over his shoulders hung

golden locks ! His loveliness, can never be expressed.

"This, Marietta," said an attending angel, "is

thy Kedeemer. For thee in incarnation he suffered.

For thee without the gate treading the winepress

alone, he expired." Awed by his goodness, tenderness

and love, I bowed, feeling that if worthy I

would worship him.

Beaching forth his hand he raised me up, and

in a voice that filled my soul with inexpressible

delight, said, "Welcome, my child. Daughter,

spirit of a race forlorn, enter thou for a season the

portals of tlie redeemed." Then addressing the surrounding

beings, continued, " Receive this your companion

spmt." And lo! the worshiping congregation

arose as upon the breath of holy love, and,

meekly welcomed me as an heir of grace, and with

tuned instruments the immortal choir chanted the

spirit's welcome

—

"Worthy is the Lamb who hath redeemed us.

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 27

Exalt His name, all ye sanctified, yea adore Eim,

ye chembim who worship in the celestial heavens.

Adore Him, for He hath exalted us. "We will praise

His name, the name of our God Most High.

"We will bow down and worship at His feet. We

will sing of His loving kindness. Waft, O ye breezes

of immortal love! waft ye His name thi-oughout

the universe of worshiping beings. For lo ! from

the depths of iniquity, and fi'om death is exalted

our sister, who from the hands of our Prince and

Savior, we receive. Utter alleluias to 'Eim forever,

all ye adoring hosts. Uttca' ye His praise forever."

The music of this soft and rnelodious utterance,

moved like the voice of many waters, filling the

entire dome, and as the anthem closed, the echo

departed in the distance, as though borne fi-om

wave to wave, along the holy atmosphere.

The spirit of praise so inspired each choralist

with the fidlness of divine melody, that moved by it,

they softly touched the silver chords of their golden

harps, causing each note to reverberate as if gliding

along the sensitive nerves of spiiit hearts, components

of one immortal lyre.

Each measm*e like noiseless waves swelled over

that sea of mind ; and with their gentle undulations

I seemed to be moving when a spirit from the innumerable

company approached and addressing me

in a familiar manner called me by name.

The spell of music being broken, I was much

affected to find myself in the embrace of one who

on earth I had loved with the affection of an infant

2S SOKNTS BEYOND THE GRAVE.

soul. With willingness I sank into her arms, and

she with a sister's tenderness pressed me to her

immortiU fonn, saying, " Sister spirit, welcome, for

a season to our home of peace."

'* Thrice welcome," uttered the music of a thousand

voices, and lo! around me gathered those I

loved, all eager to greet me, and receive me to

their kind embrace.

Around us, and in this spacious room, appeared

seats in form of an amphitheatre, yet glorious beyond

description. Hereon we rested. Mingling

with them, were many old and familiar friends.

Although I knew them, their appearance was

unlike that while upon earth, each being an imbodiment

of intellect unassociated with the physical

form, in which 1 had known them before. Not having

power, or any means adapted to convey a just

idea, I can only give feeble utterance to my conceptions

of their nature by saying, they appeared all

mind, all light, all glory, all adoration, all love

supremely pure, all peace and calm serenity, all

united in sublime employ, all expression of heavenly

unfolding joy.

Freely did they converse, nor did they use the

language of human beings. They spoke and no

audible utterance attended, yet thought moved with

thought, and spirit was familiar with the mind

of spirit. Ideas associated with their heavenly life,

flowed from being to being, and soon I learned tliat

in heaven there is no concealment. Harmony

of soul, harmony of desire, hai*mony of speech,

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 53^

harmony in the swelling notes of adoring anthems,

harmony in instructive movement, harmony in increasing

thought, harmony was their life, their love,

their manifestation, and supreme delight.

Again with harps tuned in unison of harmonic

praise, and in the ascending octave, they chanted

a hymn to their Maker's name. My guide urged

me to unite in the animating song of redemption.

I could not join them, being absorbed in the contemplation

and glory of this long-sought home of rest.

When they closed that sacred hymn, my guide,

touching my lips again with the wand of light,

bade me mingle, a companion, with the members

of this divine abode.

Being after being pressed to mine, immortal lips,

and seemed anxious to fold me in their arms.

As a soul, new-born, they caressed me, after looking

up in thankfulness to their Kedeemer and

their Lord.

"And is this Heaven?" my spirit said. "Are

these happy souls those who once stmggled in forms

of clay ? Are these immortal visages, radiant with

the gloiy of this adoring mansion, the spiritual

countenances of those I have before seen in careworn

life? And where has fled that age and decrepitude,

ye parent spirits ?"

Often have I listened to you, my earthly teacher,

while laboring to convey to the understandings

of your audience, some faint idea of your conceptions

of immortal life. Often have I discovered

manifest grief when in spirit you appeared to realize

30 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

that upon most minds all was but an ineffectual

effort. And then I have asked, can heaven be thus

glorious? is not the picture too highly wrought? and

may man, if he attain to that blest abode, bask in

the sunbeams of such supreme delight ? And be

assured, the highest thoughts of man fail to approach

the reality and the delights of that heavenly

scene.

CHAPTEK IV.

Then approaclied me one whom on earth I had

seen bending tremulously over the pilgrim's staff. I

knew 'twas one familiar, one of age and emaciated

form, whose hoary head once told the story of a life

of woe. In immortal youth the spirit stood before

me; no staff was there; no trembling frame, no

grief-worn cheek, no hollow eye, no sickly form ;

but light and health and vigor were manifest. And

the spirit said, " Behold in me the efficacy of redeeming

grace. This heart was once the cage

of thoughts unholy. These hands were employed

in sin. These feet moved swiftly in the downward

road that led to sorrow and to death. This form

of mine, though not this form, yet that in which

I used to live, was worn with grief, corrupt and

dying with disease. But now, all hail that name,

Immanuel ! through Him, redeemed, I wear habiliments

of light and exist in immortal youth. This

song I chant, O death, where is thy sting? and

grave, thy victory now ? Worthy is the Lamb who

81

32 SCENES BEYOND THE GEAVE.

offered Eimself to redeem I Worthy—O give Him

adoration, ye comitless hosts, ye innumerable

throng ! Worship and adore Him, all intelligences 1

yea let imivcrses adore? Adore Him, for He is

worthy to receive anthems of imiversal praise !"

—

And while uttering this psalm, the peopled expanse

uniting, lifted on high an immeasurable

volume of notes divine.

Then appeared a company of children, who hand

in hand, moved around and theii' infant voices

chanted :

'* Praise Him, for lo ! while on earth He

6aid, ' Suffer infants and babes to come to me and

forbid them not; yea, suffer little children, and

Corbid them not, to come unto me.'"

CHAPTER Y.

THE GLOKY OF THE CROSS.

"When this new song was ended, light supremely

above that before witnessed, descended.

I looked, and lo ! the dome above me parted,

and beings far more glorious approached. Awed

by the presence of the light, and desiring to flee

before it, I approached my guide, who said, " What

thou hast seen Marietta, is but the earnest of joys to

come. Here thou hast been welcomed, and here

witnessed this manifestation of thy Redeemer, and

the harmony of this entrance to the divine abode.

But, behold! above thee the descending glory of

the Cross appears. Spirits, members of thy race,

redeemed, who are advanced to higher life, attend.

Mark the forshadowing of the glory of the Seventh

Sphere. These angels wait on thee."

Then visible above me appeared a Cross, borne

in the midst of twelve, on whose circle I read,

"Patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles." Above it

was written, " Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.**

Bowing at the feet was a spirit, whose raiment

3 33

34 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

was white, and expression that of holy adoration.

She kissed the Cross, and then descending, approached

me, and in music of speech, superior to

that of the anthems to which I had listened with

wonder and delight, she said, "Welcome spirit

fi-om the world of woe. Lo ! by the will of Jesus,

even that Jesus crucified, my Lord and Redeemer,

I come to commune with thee. 'Tis but by his

permission thou art admitted here ; and be not sad,

though thou shouldst be required to retiu'n to thy

friends on earth."

The thought of being subjected again to the sins

and misfortunes of my former life, so aflected me

that it seemed as if I was quitting the divine abode,

and rapidly descending to earth ; when lo ! I was

embraced by my guide, who said, "When thou

returnest, thou shalt go to bear a message of

holy love, to earth; and at an appointed time,

free from the power of mortal attachments, thou

shalt enter here, a member of the holy band."

The spirit who descended from the Cross then said,

" What thou seest, and the message I give thee,

thou shalt unfold to my son in mortality, struggling

in the vales of night. Eelate to him the story

of descending light. In dove-like form, bear from

eternity the olive-branch of Ti-uth. Press it to

his heart, and it shall bud and blossom, and

after much conflict, bear the ripened fruit.

"Marietta, thou hast been conducted here for

a wise end, and for that purpose I am permitted

to insti'uct thee in many things, pertaininjy to earth

SCENES BEYOND THE GKAVE. S6

and heaven. The thought of returning makes thee

sad ; yet thou shalt go laden with riches, the riches

of instructive truth, which as germs shall prepare

the way for gTeater light.

"First learn that all Heaven ee\t:kes the Ckoss.

Before it myriads bow, and around it the redeemed,

delight to linger. Earth's religions are but dreamy

scenes, compared to these.- Yague and imperfect

are the highest conceptions of the human soul,

relative to our condition here. 'Tis but just above

the plains of earth, where in perfect order begins

the Spiritual Heaven. Around it move the guardian

spirits. Mingling, as permitted, with the

inhabitants of earth are countless guardian angels

;

no day, nor hour, nor moment passeth, but each

mortal is watched by the spirit appointed to his

charge.

"Man knoweth not the natm-e of sin, nor the

fullness of Grace in 'his Redemption. He will

not believe, even though from eternity angels

gather round him, to tell the stoiy of immortality.

Numberless are the causes, to prevent the light

of heaven from reaching and controlling the race

of man, wi'etched and deathward tending. But the

time draweth near, when man shall become more

conscious of the reality of this abode; when his

attention shall be turned more fully to the truth

of Inner Life. Man's redemption di-aweth nigh.

Let angels swell the chorus ; for soon the Savior

descendeth, with holy attending angels.'-

She then led the heavenly diapason of an im36

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

mortal l^'inu, too full and too harmonious in

movement to be transmitted by human language.

At its close she said, " Sister spirit, rest thou in

the embrace of holy affection. Observe what passeth

around thee; for lo! shall be mirrored upon

thy mind a faint, descending and remote expression

of tlie joy that fills this land of peace. Tliou

didst notice when I descended, I kissed the Cross.

All saints delight themselves in thus expressing

theij remembrance and regard for their Eedeemer

who oflered himself a sacrifice."

A pause in the addi^ess ensued, dm-ing which,

voices, apparantly in the distance, arose in soft

and melodious alleluias. The accents moved like

li\dng beings, seeking to wake the song of redemption

in nvery spirit throughout the vast assemblage.

" Who are these?" I inquired. " These are they,"

she said, "who having come out of great tribulation,

cease not day nor night to raise their anthems high,

in exaltation of their Savior's name. The heaven

of heavens is animate with this celestial love.

From saints, who in earth's cottage humbly adore

and sing of redeeming grace, tln-ough pathways

of ascending life, is borne on high the soul inspiring

melody of heavenly adoration. Above thee

tliou dost discover, moving in primeval light, beings

of higher attainment.

"Wouldst thou dwell for ever in this world of

peace, joy and love divine? Wouldst thou bear

some humble part with tlie psalms of these im

SCENES BilYOND THE GRAVE, 37

mortal chonilists? Be thou admonislied of thy

former incredulity, thy want of faith and consecration

; for there are no other means than those in

Christ, the Redeemer, by which to attain inheritance

in this blest abode."

This last addi'ess revived within me remembrance

of my former doubts, my want of confidence in the

Savior, and of consecration to his cause. My spirit

drooped. I saw the justice of the mild reproof, and

inquired, "May I yet hope? Or is the opportunity

to secure this heaven of life forever gone? Fain

would I give myself, my all. Fain would I return

no more to earth. O, that I could forever dwell

where peace like a river gently iloweth, and love

mipolluted, rnoveth from heart to heart!''

"Be faithful then," said the spirit, "totlie light

given, and at last thou shalt enjoy the bliss of

heaven. "Marietta, the scene now passing before

thee, is one fraught with interest. In this assembly

are the Prophets and martyred Saints. See, theii*

raiment is white, pure and transparent. Upon their

breast is the manifestation of the Cross. In their

left hand is a golden censer, and in their right a

emaU volume."

The scene expanded and I saw that from the

centre, and around which the multitudes were con

gregated, arose a pyramid whose column was composed

of pearls and most precious stones, set with

crosses of spiritualized diamond, up n which were

engraven the names of those who had suffered

f-^r their love of Truth, and who not counting

3S SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

their lives dear, had endured persecution even

unto death. Upon this colmiin stood three spirits,

in the attitude of meekness and adoration, holding

in their hand, and above them a Cross from

which floated a banner ever unfiuiing,—"These,"

said my guide, "are select, one Patriarch, one

Prophet, and one Apostle. They represent the

tiiune circle of commissioned saints who shall attend

the reappearing of the Son of Man, and shall

go forth in the day appointed, gathering together

the elect from the four winds, fi'om the uttermost

part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven."

" Tlie volumes the spirits hold in their hands unfold

the order of creation, the redemption of man,

and the principles which govern the obedient, world

without end."

CHAPTER YI.

THE child's narration.

As the former scene closed u])oii my view, the

spirit who kissed the Cross, raised her hand, radiant

with the light of life, and two childi-en drew near.

As thej approached, they bowed gracefully, and

each placing a hand in hers, with meekness

looked into her lovely face and smiled.

Addi'essing me she said, "These children leffe

the fonn while in their infancy, and being innocent,

were conducted to the paradise of innocence in the

Seventh Sphere; which is a state of moral purity

and intellectual harmony."

The eldest of the two, thus introduced, said,

"Marietta, I rejoice to commune with thee, since

thou shalt return to those who loved us and who

mourned our departure from the valley of death.

"When thou art again conversing with mortals,

say to him who now sits by thy body, that we

have learned that though parents may grieve for

ns, ours is a cup overflowing with gladness to the

spirit made free.

" Marietta, this is the world we know. Here we

first awoke to the reality of our existence. Earth ^

39

40 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

we visit, conducted by our guardian angols, but it

is unlike lieaven. There we witness soitow, pain

and death; here, harmony, happiness and life

abide."

He then looked down as if in deep meditation

and all was silent. I thought the subject which

had engaged his mind, had made him sad, but soon

saw that liis attitude was occasioned by the approach

of an angel who in ascending had passed

just above us. O, how my being was affected at

the sight ! Light smTOunded her as a well wi'ought

garment. Her very movement was the harmony

of harmonies. I desired to follow, and said, "O

tell me, who is this so glorious ? I feel her sacred

influence, and ardently desire to enjoy the society

and the abode of such beings."

"This," said the spirit, "is an angel who belongs

to the Infant Paradise. Have you not read

in the Gospel, that blessed expression of the Eedeemer,

*' In heaven their angels always behold the

face of their Heavenly Father? This angel has the

guardian protection of infants, and is commissioned

to meet infant spirits as they leave the external

world and enter into the spiritual. She pauses in

her ascension for thee. She holds out her arms,

and what sei'st thou. Marietta?" "A small pale

light," I answered.

The angel then breathed upon it, as if imparting

life, and pressed it to her bosom in fondness infinitely

above that manifested by earthly mothers.

I knew tlic little spirit was at rest. Feeling the

'She pauses in her ascension for thee. She holds out her

arms, and what seest thou, Marietta?"

SCENES BEYOND TIIE GEATE. 41

heaven that encompassed and pervaded the angel,

again I wished to fly away, and with the infant

be forever blessed. But while I was stmggling

to ascend, the angel arose—one flash of light and

she disappeared.

Then a far difierent scene was revealed—^l^elow

me in a little room, I saw a female kneeling by the

lifeless body of her departed child. She convulsed,

and at times tears streamed from her eyes, and

then her face was as marble, her eyes set and

glassy, and her whole form quivered while she

pressed kiss after kiss upon the cold cheek of her

lost babe. At this juncture a man di-essed in black

gravely entered. The group gave way and he

silently approached the weeping mother, and taking

her I'.y the hand said, " Sister arise. The Lord gave

and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name

of the Lord. Jesus said, sufier little children to

come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is

the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, their

angels always behold the face of their Heavenly

Father."

Next I saw that mother, sitting beside a coffin,

in an earthly assemblage. Her eye was fijxed

upon the ceiling. Her countenance wore an expression

of despair. Before the coffin stood the

grave looking man, whom I had seen enter the room

of death. He read a Psalm, ofiered prayer for the

afflicted, and then encouraged the mourners, by

endeavoring to prove from the sacred text, that

the babe, though dead shall live again, and that

4:2 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

an angel had conveyed it to Abraham's bosom.

The assembly disappeared, and the child ad

dressed me saying, "The lifeless form just seen in

the vision, was the representation of m}^ own body,

the weepmg mother was my own mother; the

scene was that which transpired when I left that

body ; the grave looking man was the minister of a

congregation in the outer world.

"The angel who while passing us paused, was

the bright spirit who conveyed me far above the

influence of evil magnetism, to a place prepared

for the young and delicate infant, where spirits

appointed, are ever occupied in nom'ishing infant

minds. Dost thou wish to visit that nm-sery?"

Thus saying he looked up to the spirit, as if to

ask permission to conduct me there.

CHAPTER Vn.

ARTISTIC ORDEK OF INFANT PARADISE.

In a moment we were ascending in the dii'ection

of the angel who had borne along the infant, and

w^ho had disappeared in the light. Soon we drew

near that which at first appeared like a city built

in the midst of a floral plain. There appeared

stately edifices and streets lined with trees whose

foliage cast a lovely shade; on whose branches

birds of all colors appeared ; and although all were

singing with different notes, all mingled in one full

and perfect harmony. Many corresponded to those

on earth, and yet were as superior to them as the

Paradise itself was superior to the mortal world.

As we advanced, the beauty and harmony increased,

and new scenes appeared. The architecture

of the edifices, the sculptures in the open air, the

fountains that sparkled in the light, the trees that

waved their extended branches, the flowers and

flowering vines becoming more majestic, interwoven

and beautiful. There were also many avenues, each

of which, slightly ascending, led to a common

centre toward which we pursued our way.

43

4:4 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

As we advanced, I perceived before me a vast

and complicated structm-e, whose outer walls and

towers appeared formed of marble, that was in appearance

delicate as snow. This served as the foundation

of a vast canopy, like a dome, though far

too extended to be expressed by the earthly architectural

meaning of that tenn. We di-ew near this

building, and I perceived that the dome was susj)

ended over the vast circular space. "This," said

my guide, "is the place where all infants from thy

globe are gathered for the instniction and support

of their infant natures. Thou didst discover, as

we moved along the avenues, on either side edifices.

Each of these corresponds to what mortals call a

nm-sery for the young. There infants are first

conducted, and there nounshed beneath the smile

of theii' guardian angels. Each, though somewhat

varying, is a miniature of this vast temple of instnictive

manifestation, and each is a home for

the infant spmts who enter there, until they attain

to higher degrees, and enter the Paradise of more

advanced youthful existence, for degrees of instruction

adapted to a more intellectual condition. Over

each of these are appointed seven maternal guardians.

Thou seest. Marietta, that no two edifices

are perfectly alike in interior beauty, external

form or decoration, but that all harmoniously

combine; and also, that each guardian angel is

different in the radiative light and individuality

of the face and form. This thou art permitted to

know.

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 45

"Whenever an infant dies on earth, the angel

guardian who bears up the spiiit to the Land of

Peace, perceives its interior type of mind, and

according to its type it is classed with others of like

order of intelligence ; and as the skillful gardener

on earth in one floral division trains the various

species of the lily, and in another compartment

roses, and in another the camellias or the honeysuckles;

so here angelic wisdom classifies the

infant spirits, and according to their variety of

artistic, scientific, and social tendencies, assigneth

each a home best adapted to the unfolding of its

interior germs of life, into intellectual, artistic or

industrial harmony.

" Over each edifice preside seven guardian angels,

who collectively form one octave of instruction,

each angel being of that type of mind which agrees

with his associates, as one note harmonizes with

the associate tones and semi-tones of the harmonic

scale.

"Each of these seven guardians is the superior

of a subordinate octave of more youthful spirits,

who perform duties assigned to them, according to

their type of being, in the harmonic system of paradisical

instruction ; and each of these presides over

a separate class of infant beings.

"Seven of these edifices compose one greater

family, and each separate palace of instruction,

which is embosomed in its own separate gardens

and enclosures, is one of seven of associate variety,

and of like degree; and seven of these in their turn

46 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

form the subordinate divisions of one more composite

and magnificent palatial temple, whose

centre pavilion is adapted to instruction in more

exalted degrees of paradisical truth.

"The centi-e palace of each ward is thus a magnificent

temple of instruction, encircled in artistic

splendors and floral harmonies, corresponding to

its degree, and this is surrounded by seven lesser

pavillions of architectural beauty, encircled by corresponding

adornments adapted to their subordinate

but exalted conditions; and each of these

last is also the centre of a lesser octave of edifices,

also adorned with stately forms of blooming and

sculptm-ed perfection. In these last the infants

dwell, and are led forth each day, or each successive

period corresponding thereto, to the superior palaces,

and to the centre pavilion, for the education

of their unfolding natm-es.

"As soon as these infants arise to a degree

suitable for the general assembly in the gi-eat and

centre dome, or temple of instruction, they are led

first from their several homes to their separate

centre school, and then all emerge from the difl:erent

wards and move beneath a cloud of angel choralists,

who chant loud alleluias to their Prince a^d Savior,

and with whose harmony the infants mo"^« toward

the outer temple."

CHAPTER Tm.

THE PARADISICAL NUKSEKY.

As the spirit closed, I saw on our right a portion

of one of the lesser temples remove, as if an invisible

hand gathered it in a manner corresponding

to the removal of a suspended cm'tain, and lo ! to

my already astonished spirit, there appeared visible

the interior of one of the nm'series, supremely

light with the glory thereof, and adorned with

artistic beauty correspondent to the majestic appearance

of the paradise of infants. At first I was

greatly abashed, feeling my own unfitness to behold

any abode so pure, lovely and majestic. " There,"

I unconsciously uttered, " is heaven." My reflections

were perceived by my instructress who observed,

"Marietta, behold the manifestation of

infant life in Paradise. Let us enter, and there

thou shalt learn the true condition of those who

as babes leave the world of son-ow, and who are

immediately conveyed to this place and are henceforth

happy. Little do mortals know of the blessedness

attending their little ones who leave in the

morning of their existence. Those who believe in

Christ, become reconciled to the loss, but this is

47

48 SOEJ^ES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

mostly iipoi? condition of the law of submission established

in the Clu-istian's heart. I was once a

mother in the world of sorrow and loss. There I

learned to weep, and there I also learned the

priceless value of faith in God's mercy through our

Lord Jesus Christ ; there, Marietta, did I bid adieu

to the infants, who lived but to pain a mother's

heart at the parting.

"Thrice I pressed to my fond heart the loved

babes, flesh of ' my flesh, bone of my bone and life

of my life, and looking up to God, adored him for

the precious gifts. But scarcely had I with hope

illumed the futm-e, and placed my heart upon them,

ere, like young and tender buds they were nipped

by the frost of death, and 1 was left wounded and

forlorn. I hoped in J^sus, and consigned them to

him, believing they were well ; but, Marietta, had

I only known, yea could I have but seen what

thou now seest, then would my soul have had from

knowledge added to faith, greater rest, for here the

babe who has left its parents in woe, but waits

their amval, and here it is safe fi'om the contaminations

of the vices and sins of the fallen race. See,

Marietta," she continued " these germs of immortality."

I beheld and lo! the interior that was opened

before me was that of a temple gloriously adorned.

In circular tiers, one rising above another, were

niches or segments of circles, as wi'ought in gold

and overshadowed with a seraph. In each reposed

an infant spirit. Before each was an attending

^*"*'*—*—"^WILL, I .1 1.

THE!-- '

f

' PUBLi: '

ASTOF?, Li:

As they arise thej float as with wings pf pure light amid the angek

Page 4^.

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 49

or guardian angel, whose employment consists in

fitting for higher life the genn formation of the

spirit for its eternal existence in holy usefulness.

The angel breathes upon it and every breath causes

its capacity and life to expand, for the breath is

that of holy love and inspiration, as her life is

in God whose Quickening Spirit pervades all angels

in the heavens.

As we entered, I saw that those infants, as they

awoke to still greater consciousness, and as they

beheld theii' angel bending over them, wore an

expressive smile, and were happy.

Could I portray to you this one nursery, and so

fix it in your mind that you could realize its glorious

magnificence, then would I be more content, hut 1

cannot. N^o means are given me ; no mortal can

know. Could you enter there with me, you would

behold in the centre, held in an angel's hand, a

Cross, as of pm^e, transparent, and spiritualized

gold ; and on either hand maternal spirits directing

youthful maidens while employed with the newlyarrived

infant spirits committed to their charge.

From the silken, cradle-like resting place, adorned

with blossoms of every hue, overshadowed with the

seraphim, were constantly arising those who had

been laid there by those spirits who had received

them at the hands of bereaved parents. As they

arise they float as with wings of pure light amid the

moving angels who conduct them as they learn to

move and to observe the nature and employment

of the family of spirits who watch over them.

50 SCENES BEYOND THE GEAVE.

Each angel also has many forms of external imagery

by which to impress the first principles of truth

upon their minds, as best befits their organism and

capacity.

Tliere are also angels appointed, who touch in

softest notes, the varied instruments upon which

is made melody. This music is ever mingling with

that of angelic voices of sweet and heavenly utterance.

The dome or temple is so constructed as to

echo, in gentle undulations, each strain, which

appears to move with the life of the place. So soft,

sweet, and meloc'ions was that music, that it served

as life to give action and strength to the spirit

nerve of those who were reposing beneath the smile

of their guardians. " This," said the spirit who had

conducted me there, " is but one of the many of

these great temples, and corresponds to all in this

degree. Here—oh ! that earthly parents could realize

it—is, as it were, the birth-place of those who are

not permitted to tarry in the outer form until understanding

awakes witliin them. From this they

ascend to places prepared. But, Marietta, thou hast

not witnessed the most delightful of all the realities

connected with this temple."

CHAPTER IX.

INFANTS EECEIVBD BY THE SAVIOE,

As she spoke, each of the guardian angels arose

with the infant of her charge, and poised in the

great space within tlie galaxj of choralists, and

around the angel who held the Cross. Instantly

a light, infinitely superior to that in the temple,

descended from above; and I was awed with the

august presence of a retinue of angels, in whose

midst was one like unto that glorious Being I had

been informed was lit Redeemer.

As they approached the centre, the manifestation

of the Cross disappeared before the greater light ; the

angel retinue paused, and the Being whom they

attended smilingly said, " Suffer little chikben to

come unto me, and forbid them not." The sweetness

and gentleness of the expression, and the love that

ehone ft'om his face as these words moved from his

lips, overcame me, and I sank at the feet of my

heavenly conductor, who raised me up, and drew me

to her angel breast.

I would that the world could see and hear what

then occurred. As he spoke, those guardian angels

drew near, and each presented him with their ti-ea-

61

52 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

sure. He moved his hand above them, and goodness

like dew-di'ops, fell therefrom, and the infants

appeared to drink as from a fomitain of living water.

They were blessed. The emanation from that Being

was the breath of life. The temple wore a new

aspect. As the scene was closing, the angels who

attended him played upon stringed instruments,

and sung of Eedemption. He moved his gracious

hand as if in approbation of what the guardian

angels had done; and they all bowed, and veiled

then- faces in the garment of glory that encompassed

them. Suddenly music, like the voice of many

waters, arose from every temple in the broad nursery

of the great city. And as the utterance moved

forth in one swelling w^ave of angelic song, that

Being, with those who had accompanied him, reascended,

and the angels of this temple resumed

their former movement.

" Tliis," said my guide, " is but the more simple

portion of the heavenly exercises connected with the

pleasing occupation of those who are appointed to

rear infant spirits, in preparation for unfolding

their being into enlarged capacity and useful employment.

The earth, if man had not there departed

from pm-ity and harmony, and thence from affinity

and companionsliip with beings of an exalted nature,

would have been a proper nm'sery for new-bom

spirits.

" Sin, Marietta, removed the condition of the sinner

from that of angels ; for by it his moral nature

])ecame changed. Angels are pure. No stain is

SCENES BEYOND THE GKAVE. 53

found upon them,—no evil desires ever awaken improper

energies within them. From them emanates

life in its pm-e element. That life nom'ishes a like

element. More dependent spirits arise within their

halo of divine existence. They are, in like manner,

moving within the glory that encompasses the societies

more exalted than themselves ; and these are,

in like manner, moving in the light, and enjoying

the life-sphere of a still higher class of beings. Thus,

all pm'e spiritual beings united, exist in spheres of

higher life ; and, as one being of greater capacity,

exist in the life descending from God, the Life of all.

Superior orbs and systems, in like manner, move in

the spheres of those more exalted ; and, receiving perpetual

supplies from them, are refined and exalted,

until the terrestrial becomes the spiritual, and the

spiritual the celestial.

" The discordant are severed from the affinity of

those natures above, and their loss is that relation

which blends them with the harmonic laws and

beings of celestial order. Men do not know the

loss they sustain, while in the darkness consequent

upon their condition, and therefore they do not properly

realize the necessity and benefit of a Savior.

Whoever restores the affinity lost, is the Kedeemer.

But since one degree of harmonic life descends to

another, and one receiving from, rises to another, by

the Spirit of God, the Life of all, thou canst readily

perceive that none but He who controls life could

cause harmonic life to descend to degrees opposite to

itself. And thus is made manifest the great truth of

64 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

Kedemption by the Incarnate Spirit of God. Here

those who are matui'e are enabled to understand the

law of salvation, even Kfe in Christ, and by means

of this knowledge, are led to acceptable adoration

of Him who is their Eedeemer.

" Thon didst notice, that as He who blessed these

little ones ascended,- all the nnrseries of this great

city chanted as* one, praises to God and the Lamb.

This was spontaneous ; for those who know the consequences

of sin are the better prepared to behold in

Jesus condescension and mercy infinite, and from

their inmost being, to adore him. But when he

moves in their midst, they utter songs silently,

which, as he is withdrawing from them, assume

outward expression. These happy beings. Marietta,

could no more refrain from that full manifestation of

joy and thanksgiving, than life could cease to flow

fi'om Him who is the Author of Life. Thus it is

throughout all heaven, and more especially all

abodes of preparation for spirits of the redeemed.

Dost thou not realize that each breath of those beings

around thee is but a separate volume of praise to

God?

" If men in the body knew the goodness of God

in redemption, they would cease from evil, and learn

righteousness and the ways of peace. Marietta,

understandest thou this ?"

I felt the reproof, knowing my former infidelity

as to salvation through Jesus, and fain would have

veiled my spirit from the scrutiny of that spirit who

thus addressed me. I knew I had doubted the imSCENES

BEYOND THE GRAVE. 55

mortality of tlie soiil, and man's restoration from

evil through the Lord Jesus Christ. And now I

beheld that he is all and in all; the source of every

pnre and holy delight, and the theme of all I had

been permitted to see in the world of spirits.

This, beloved Pastor, is the lesson which all the

redeemed study with supreme delight, and which,

when learned, inspires them with love too great for

expression. And while I seek to describe it to you,

I feel my own inability to express, in human language,

the extatic fulness of that holy passion, and

the weakness of human language to declare the sense

of that love.

As soon as the angels had resumed their former

positions, my guide informed me, that those infant

spirits I had just beheld blest by the Redeemer, had

been given into the charge of other angels, whose

delight was to gently train the mind by means

adapted to their advancing condition ; and that now

was approaching a scene in which I should witness

the reception of infants just from earth. As she

closed, I saw above and around, angels poising in

the serene atmosphere, waiting with their treasures

the moment to arrive for them to enter the temple.

Wlien the former angels had given up their charge,

and were preparing to receive another class, these

entered and occupied the centre around the Cross.

At first their movement was irregular, but not disturbed.

Then the softest and most gentle music

commenced, as if harmony had awakened from her

Bacred stillness, and moved in almost silent utter56

SCENES BEYOND THE GKAVB.

ance, like some spirit breath, frora the heart ol

gentleness and love. I was surprised at the quiet

movement of this sweet music, and felt somewhat

impatient with desu*e for some angel to touch the

swelling notes now bm-dened with the melody which

appeared to me suppressed. But my guide relieved

me, by du*ecting my attention to a company of

maternal spirits, who were gathering around those

angels who had just entered. These moved to the

time and serenity of the music, while engaged

with each angel in nourishing the infants held to

their breasts. The music and movement of these

maternal spirits manifested great caution ; while all

others in the temple were motionless, as far as

I could discern, except three spirits, who appeared

to poise above the centre, from whom radiated a

soft and pm-e light. " Those angels," said my

guide, "encompassed in a light above that of the

temple, are ot a higher and more exalted nature.

From them proceeds a halo of superior light. This

light is the descending life of love. Dost thou not

see how it concentrates, forming a separate spirallike

embodiment, encompassing and overshadowing

those germinal existences in the arms of the guardian

angels ? Tliat which is nourished by each angel is a

spirit whose being is just begun, and who, by reason

of nature's violated laws, has been separated prematurely

from its infant form in the external world.

This soft music thrills every fibre of the being,

while the Supreme Spirit is reorganizing and giving

it enlarged capacity—fitting each organ to its fellowSCENES

BEYOND THE GEAVE. 57

organ in the harmony of perfection, thus establishing

tone and proper energy in the system. The lifelight

descending enters the sensorium of the infant,

and thence outbreathes as breath of life and soul of

love. The Quickening Spirit gives energy and

expansion to the life principle unfolding, so that the

intellect may perceive, the judgment operate, the

understanding embrace realities, and the being

enjoy the life thereof."

3*

CHAPTER X.

INFANTS RESTORED TO HARMONY.

Again I was tonched with a stream ot light, by

which I was enabled to discover those infants as a

complex and exceedingly delicate instrument unstiTmg.

Each separate or distinct portion had movement,

but not determination ; and appeared separately

to lie in a sort of spasm-like action, as if

prompted by an energy not altogether innate, but

applied. The movement was indefinite, but increased

in force, until each organ appeared as if a separate

being composed of numberless organs corresponding

to the infant embodiment. This continued to magnify

before my view, until it rose in appearance an

animated form, and began to procee<:l as if a living

being. This wonder of wonders overwhelmed me ;

and, ^vitli surprise, 1 impulsively inquired, " Is this

a being proper ?" No answer being given, 1 continued

to adcbess my guide, saying, " At first I saw

in the angel's arms the life-germ of an infant form.

This germ was so delicate, that I could not comprehend

how its gTiardian spirit could save the flickering

taper. Then I saw descending from above

a light which encompassed and pervaded the spirit.

58

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 59

Then it moved as if receiving life and energy.

Again I saw the separate tissue, apparatus, and system

of organs of tliat infant, and, lo ! all were

dissevered. And now, kind angel, I behold each

organ arise in form a living being, and the action

thereof indicates a distinct embodiment. And each

of these subdivided into their several and minutest

parts, appear clear and distinct, and, like the

former, are also deranged. Tell me, how shall these

so varied, complicated, and deranged unite in harmony

? How shall they proceed ? How shall they

be so attuned as to perform their office in the greater

stracture ?"

Again light encompassed my spirit, and its

brightness penetrated the secret chambers thereof,

in which perceptions most exquisite were awakened,

and a new being of my own appeared to arise and

look out upon the scene. Here I saw that numberless

spirit functions, existing in each of these least

organic departments, responded to the touch of some

invisible power, and, thus invigorated, every part,

fi'om their interior, manifested proceeding energy.

These being prompted, embraced each other like

animate and intellectual beings; and were, as if

moved by understanding, resolved to perfect appropriation,

so that each harmonized in perfect adaptation

; and as they embraced, they coalesced and

were lost in identity, until I could perceive them as

one ; and this moved as a being distinct, fuU and

perfect. Then each organ and function of the

infant I had seen encompassed within the light of

60 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

the three angels above arose, and, in like manner,

corresponding to the separate organs of these, embraced

each other, and so coalesced that distinction

was also lost ; and then my soul uttered unconsciously,

" Praise him for his mighty works,"—^for

my spirit looked upon an infant in all the perfection

of angelic life

; yes, an infant restored. I had perceived

it a flickering taper ; then as a complex

instrument unstrung; and then encompassed and

pervaded by the sphere of life from the angels above.

I had scanned each organ as it tremulously moved

while being operated upon by the spirit of life. I had

despaired of its restoration. I had mtnessed the

wondi'ous effect of its movement from its inmost

interior capacity. Yea, I had seen these arise quickened

from above, and, embracing each other, coalesce,

and then again arise, and, in like mannea-,

coalesce, until I now beheld that which was before

dissevered from its associate, and discordant, a welltuned

instrument, in form and being an angel spirit

;

and as it looked up into the face of the angels, it

smiled. That smile bespoke intelligence and harmony.

Truly I thought here is the exposition of

that text, '' Marvel not that I said unto you, ye must

be born again." And from what had passed before

me, I felt the force of that beautiftd expression of

David when he said, " We are fearftilly and wonderfully

made." And turning to my guide, I inquired,

" Is this real ? Is this a spirit redeemed ? Is thig

process absolute in the restoration of a soul born of

discordant elements ?"

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 61

" Truly," said my guide, " what thou hast seen is

real. It is the unfolding to thy understanding

the movement and power of gi-ace upon the spirit

that has been rendered discordant by sin, whch is

the violation of the law,—the law of being and the

law of God. The light descending from angels,

Marietta, could not restore, and the music could not

harmonize, nor could the maternal guardians supply

that which was lost. Theirs was to support the

external, while this dissevering process succeeded,

and the components were restored and fitted for

proper use by Him who is the Redeemer, and who

hath power to tune each fibre of the being, and

purify and inbreathe the life of holiness into the soul,

giving new life, tone, energy, inclination, and love

;

then to order their reunion unto perfect life in the

infant form. And now thou beholdest a spirit in

the consummation of the redemption. This spirit is

now prepared to rest in the soft and balmy bed of

repose, whence thou hast seen others arise to higher

life. Marietta, treasure this in thy soul ; but learn

while this has passed before thee, it is but one of all

this nursery of infant life which thou hast seen.

This period is, in like manner, devoted throughout,

and each temple in the expanse has been equally

occupied.

" And now the scene changes, and another approaches.

Listen, Marietta. The melody of angels

moves upon the holy atmosphere of the city. They

chant praises to God and the Lamb for their redemption

; for great is the number of these spirits re62

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

stored to the Iiaruiony of perfect beings. And thus,

Marietta, are thanksgi\dng3 offered to our Heavenly

Parent at each closing scene, Tvhich brings the newborn

spirit into the harmony and the possession of

heaven."

Oh ! how my spirit caught the heavenly flame as

it rose, volume succeeding volume, in ascending

praise, adoration, and gloiy, inexpressible and divine

!

As said the Revelator, " It was like the voice of

many waters."

It appeared that the whole city resolved itself into

the voice of praise. Oh ! is this heaven ? I said.

How blessed it is to be accounted worthy to entei

the city of God. And if this is only the Lifant

Paradise,—if this is the song uttered in view of the

restoration to harmony and heaven of this class of

infant spirits, though great their number, how vast

and incomprehensible must be that expression of

thanksgiving when redemption is complete, and the

Bride, the Lamb's wife, shaU toucli the golden harp

as they arise from the marriage supper, in that great

day when God shaU make up his jewels?

The bliss was so entrancing in its effects upon me,

that I felt like ascending with the divine aspirations:

but reflections upon my unfitness overcame me, and

1 fell into the holy arms of mv guide.

CHAPTEE XI.

OHEIST EEVEALED AS SUFFEKING ON THE

CKOSS.

As I lay in the arms of my heavenly guardian, I

looked into her face, which wore an expression of

deep emotion. With earnestness her eyes were fixed

above ; and her holy lips moved as if in prayer.

At first the expression of her featm^es was so soitowful,

that I thought she would weep ; but tears would

have been a feeble manifestation of that feeling

which, I could plainly see, continued to increase.

Truly, I said, in silent thought, do angels grieve?

Can sorrow enter tliis Holy City ? Tlie music had

ceased —its echo reverberated, and moved in the

distance. Silence reigned in the vast expanse. I

Btill leaned upon the breast of my blessed protector,

anxiously observing what was passing. Light fi-om

above shone upon her brow with increasing brilliancy.

Her eyes were still fixed ; and, to employ

earthly expressions her bosom began to heave, her

lips became motionless, and her glowing countenance

had the appearance of reverential awe. Her

looks were so expressive, that I felt like shrinking

from her arms ; and was so awed, that I did not

63

Q4: SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

notice the cause of her excitement, until she gently,

without turning her eyes, laid her hand of snowy

white and spotless purity upon my head, and then

removing it, raised it upward, until it pointed in the

direction indicated by her fixed attention, and to my

utter astonishment 1 there beheld the cause of her

silent reverence, and the wondrous admiration which

pervaded the inhabitants of the city. There—oh!

that all the world but knew it !—there hung upon

the Cross—and from all I could discover, bleeding

and dying—my Lord and Kedeemer ! Oh ! that

sight ! No human heart can know its efiects upon

the spirits who attend in the Infant Paradise. The

crown of thorns, the nails, the mangled form, the

flowing blood, the look of compassion, were so

plainly manifested and combined, as to convey to

the soul an idea of sufiering the most intense and

excruciating.

About the Cross were congregating from every

part of the city, guardian angels with their infant

spirits. All, as they gathered in a circular form,

manifested deep humility and holy reverence. As

soon as they had assumed this uniform attitude,

they held out the infant spirits whom they had

ill charge, directing their infant minds to the

Cross and the Sacrifice. At this moment an angel

descended, clothed in bright raiment, and moved

around the Cross, holding in his hand his glittering

crown. Then bowing he worshipped, and Ms worship

was silent as had been that of all who had

congregated. After this, tm-ning to the guardian

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 65

angels he said, " Adore Him, for he is the Kedeemer

of a ruined race. Yea, let all Heaven

adore Him !" Then as he lifted up his right hand,

I saw in it a little book. In imitation all the angels

in like manner raised their right hands, in each

of which was also a book of like dimensions. Then

appeared, as fi'om an invisible dome, a choir of

angelic beings. These had palms in their hands,

and they with one voice sang praises to God and

the Lamb. Tlie fii'st I could not understand, but

they concluded saying, "SujGTer childi-en to come

unto me. Of such is the kingdom. Out of the

mouths of sucklings and babes Thou hast perfected

praise. Amen, alleluia, amen!" Tlien the guardian

angels drew still nearer the Cross, presenting

the spirits in their charge, while they were addressed

in a manner entirely beyond my comprehension

; at the close of which each infant was

touched with a sti-eam of light. They smiled and

bowed their heads, while holding up in their little

clasped hands the image of the Cross, which had

been given them by their angels. Again they were

folded in the arms of their protectors ; and again

the choir chanted a loud anthem, which, being

echoed by the smTounding spirits, filled the city

with one volume of holy melody. Then the Cross

and Sacrifice disappeared, and the angels retm-ning,

whence they had come, the city was restored to

its former appearance.

During this manifestation, my guide had not

moved nor uttered a word, but appeared to enter

5

66 SCENES BETONB THE GEAVE,

into the spirit tliereof, and to realize that a scene

of absorbing interest had been presented.

At length I inqmred, "Is there no heaven without

the Gross and the Sacrifice ? Each scene moves

around its manifestation. Each spirit reverences it

with holy awe, and each hymn of praise utters the

name of the Sacrifice." She replied with suppressed

accents, " Tlie Cross is ever before the vision of redeemed

spirits. In every cu'cle is seen the Cross.

Every fiower, eveiy artistic production, has the

Cross, as by an invisible hand, inwrought throughout.

And all instniction is based upon that blessed

symbol of redeeming love, and it is the duty

of the guardian angels to instruct the spirits of their

charge, in the great truth of redemption, thi-ough

Jesus, who sufiered upon the Cross, and for this

pui-pose each class of spiiits, as they pass from

their first guardian protectors, to the care of others,

are in like manner congregated. And by this

means the Cross and the Sacrifice are imaged and

enstamped within their interior sense; and hence

its nature and likeness grow into higher life and

more exalted being with them. All redeemed and

sanctified spirits are thus made to appear, l^o guile

can in any way be found in them. All angels can

behold the Cross as it shines forth from the soul

which has received its impress. From this cause

malicious spirits or beings cannot conceal fi'om

angels or the spirits of just men made perfect,

their real nature. Where the Cross does not shine,

there is no pure love; and the heart whereon

SCENES BEYOND TUE GEAVE. 67

it is not visible, is not at peace with God. Marietta,

in heaven there can be no gnile. But this,

mth other manifestations, is only an introductory

view of the principles represented, which,

in due time will be more perfectly unfolded in

manifestations more specific and enlarged."

CHAPTEE Xn.

THE OITT VIEWED FEOM A SUPERIOR

PLAIN.

Then I heard a voice from above us saying,

" Come up hither." At this moment I beheld a

circular expanse, like the interior of a tower, whose

spiral walls formed ascending galleries, winding

upward into the superior gloiy. This lovely pathway

seemed fonned of rainbows wi'eathed in spirals

of prismatic hue, and reflecting varying but everbeautilul

tints of matchless lustre.

Borne on a cloud of essential light, that like a

chariot gently ascended the spiral, we passed from

the surface of the city, and advanced along the rising

galleries of this tower of rainbow forms and

glories. Seated by the side of my companion, the

spirit who had kissed the Cross, a sense of calm

composm*e, full of holy peace and delight far superior

to any previous condition, captivated and pervaded

my breast. The spiral galleiy, which seemed

to undulate as if moved by breathing elements of

life, became more beautiful as we advanced, and

appeared to be composed of minute gems of floating

68

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 69

light, reflecting and pictni'ing in tlieir tremulous

smiaces each floral beauty, which had gladdened my

eye as I passed through the city from which I had

just arisen.

Time, however, was not afforded me to distinguish

between the several qualities and define their loveliness

; for soon we emerged from the ascending galleiy

of rainbows and stood upon an aerial plain, resting

in the transparent air above that magnificent and

lofty dome which crowns the centre temple of instruction

in the paradisical abode.

From this position I beheld the great city, reaching

on every side beneath my view, and was so

situated as to perceive at a glance the general featm-

es of its plan, and to contemplate it in its entire

form as a picture of surpassing loveliness.

Beneath me the sublime Temple of Instruction,

builded of most precious materials, and in a style of

architectm'e which I am unable to describe, arose in

air from the centre of a circular lawn of gi'eat extent,

whose green surface appeared covered with the softest

and richest vei'dure. Majestic trees in groups, and

at regular intervals arose, bearing a profusion of

fragrant and shining clusters of fiowers. Beneath

their shade, and on the more open spaces, appeared

minute flower beds, filled with every variety of

flowers and blossoming shrubs and vines. Fountains

of living waters also were visible, some just rising

from the green grass, and flowing through their

marble channels, or through beds of golden sands,

with a low and pleasant mm'mur; while others

70 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

gushed forth in full volume to a lofty height, and

descended in glowing streams of eveiy variety of

form, and were received in basins, some of which

were like diamond, and others like bm*nished silver

or the wliitest pearl.

This lawn was encircled by a lofty but open trellis

work ; and at its eastern side appeared a gateway

without doors, fi'om the centre of which flowed forth

a stream of living water, supplied from the fountains

within the enclosm-e.

I now directed my attention to the suiTOunding

city, and perceived that it was divided into twelve

gi-eat divisions by this river of living waters, which

flowing in a spiral course, was bordered on either

side by a wide and regular avenue, in twelve great

cm'ves or circles, proceeding from the centre to the

circumference. I also perceived that twelve other

streets intersected this spiral avenue, centering in

the consecrated gi-ound about the Temple, and radiating

to twelve equally divided points in the outer

limit of the scene.

As my vision followed the pathway of the flowing

river and the stately avenues, my mind became

absorbed till all sense of person or time was aierged

in the entrancing sight. The city was divided into

one hundi-ed and forty-four great wards or divisions,

arranged in a series of advancing degrees of sublimity

and beauty. From the outer limit to the

centre was one gently ascending and encircling

pathway of cveii-in creasing loveliness. Each degree

was marked by new and more beautiful forms of

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 71

tree, flower, fountain, statue, palace, and temple of

adoration. Each building was of vast extent, and

corresponded with all others as the perfect part of a

most perfect whole. Thus the entire city appeared

one garden of flowers ; one grove of umbrage ; one

gallery of sculptured imagery; one undulating sea

of fountains; one unbroken extent of sumptuous

architecture all set in a surrounding landscape of

corresponding beauty, and overarched by a sky

adorned with hues of immortal light, that bathed

and encircled each and eveiy object with an evervarying

and increasing chaiin.

I now beheld the movement of the inhabitants.

But faint is the idea that can be given, of what

was moving before my sight. I can only describe

it by saying, that the entire movement was melody.

All the angelic multitudes appeared animated from

one Inspiring Love, moving in the wisdom of one

orderly plan, and having in view the unfolding

of their infant charge into a condition of being

which should perfectly correspond to all that visible

perfection. IN'o angel manifested a separate,

personal movement, disconnected from the universal

harmony, but all appeared to co-operate and to

be inspired from one Superior Som^ce. I saw that

no rivalry, emulation, or desire of selfish glory

existed in the lovely groups of infants, but that

each group, and the inhabitants of each nm^sery

or palace, were united in holy afiection to the superior,

associate and more matm-e societies ; and

that each little child was filled with holy love, and

72 SCENES BEYOND TIIE GRAVE.

desii-ed to become advanced in holy wisdom and

fitted to be used as an angel of light and loveliness.

I saw also, that each delighted to learn

from those above, to communicate beautiful forms,

as gifts of holy love and wisdom to those below,

and to exercise the entire being in harmonic

and unselfish works of love. In this it

was revealed, that each child and each group of

children advanced in orderly series, from temple

to temple, from palace to palace, fi'om circle to

cii'cle, and that as one group advanced it occupied

the place just vacated by an older group and gave

place to a more youthftd family, in its former abode.

Thus like the movement of Spring upon some unfallen

Paradise, I saw each little child, as a living

blossom of immortality, unfold from beauty to

beauty, while all above was gloiy, and all around

was loveliness, and all within was harmonious

movement of unfolding life, love and knowledge

of heaven and adoration of the Savior, and inspiration

of undying joy.

Having thus beheld the City in its glory, usefulness

and magnificence, my vision expanded, and

beyond the extreme circle of palaces, I saw moro

perfectly, what I had seen before while in the City,

midtltudes of angels gathering around, in readiness

to enter the outer temples at the appointed

period. I saw that each class was congregating

accoroling to tlie class or school to which the infants

they had with them were best adapted.

These angels approached as on v:ing's of wind,

The Savior revealed in the cloud of night.—Page 73.

•/ vonx

i'^- -^i

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 73

and around them, enrobing them, was a bright

cloud, which made them appear to me as if clothed

with the sun. In their arms, as before stated,

were infant spirits whose existence appeared to depend

upon their care.

As they di-ew very near, each would pause a

moment, poising in the holy and serene atmosphere,

and then inclining to an appropriate position,

would rest.

This most glorious view in its delightful unfoldings

was now somewhat changed, and my

guide addressed me, saying, " Marietta, behold

the order and glorious wonders of the first and most

simple degree of a spiritual paradise. These angels

thou hast seen in their employment, are ever engaged

in this delightful duty. Here, as has been

taught thee, infants assemble from the world whence

we are ; and from this blessed realm they are conducted

to other and higher schools of instruction

:

but before thou art permitted to advance, a solemn

and instructive lesson shall be given thee.

CHAPTER Xm.

SCENE OF REVOLVING AND LIVING

THOUGHTS.

She touched my forehead again, and lo! the

brightness and the glory of the scene departed, and

I immediately descended, and soon was in a low

and gloomy subterraneous vault. Darkness in thick

folds encompassed me, and a feeling of supernatural

dread entered my soul and shocked my being. A

quivering and spasmodic action wi'ought in feaiiul

conflict throughout. My spirit startled at eveiy

movement of my mind. Yea, it appeared as if my

thoughts wrestled amid the darkness. A distant

roar broke upon my ear, as if an ocean poured its

mighty waters foaming and sm*ging down some

craggy rock-bound cataract. In vain I sought to

grasp some substance by which to impede my rapid

movement, which appeared to force me downward

toward the awM abyss.

At this moment a blue sulphurous flash disturbed

the vault of nether darkness, and as it disap-

7^

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 75

peared all around me floated grim spectres, each

enveloped in the fire of nnhallowed passion. So

sudden had been the change and so dreadful its

efi*ects upon me, that no thought but that of horror

and despair had entered my mind, until these lurid

ghosts appeared ; then a more fearftd terror possessed

me, and I turned to seek refuge in the embrace of

my guide, and lo ! I found her not ! Alone and in

this di-eadfiiL place, no means are left me to express

the most faint idea of the agony of that moment.

At first I thought I would pray, but in an instant,

the whole scene of my life was before me. Then

I exclaimed, ' O for one short hour on earth ! for

space, however brief, for preparation of soul, and to

secure fitness for the world of spirits.' But my conscience,

as if some fiend, in a voice hoarse and

trembling, echoed, ' In thy day thou didst reject and

spurn the means adapted to thy necessities, canst thou

hope for successful suit in this dark scene of woe V

And then to add to my misery, my former doubts

and skepticism arose like living beings, looking upon

me with a piercing glare. They revolved around

me in condemning mockery, as though each was a

self-actuated body. Thus congregated my life's

meditations. JVb secret thought hitt novj oomjposed

a part of that attending throng ; even those

thoughts I had, as I supposed, forgotten, proceeded

in order and strength around me. Again they

changed, and each appeared an orb revolving in the

mental, spiritual, and moral atmosphere of my being,

and these, although first appearing in separate parts,

76 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

at length combined as components of myself. To

escape them was to flee from my own life. To annihilate

them would seem to blot out my own existence.

Then it was that I realized the force of the

Savior's expression, ^'For every idle word that man

shall speak, he shall give account in the day of

judgment."

Wliile thus my mental being seemed revolving

in outward vision about my despaiiing thought,

and while in the most absolute wi'etchedness my

spirit longed to be delivered from this nether

gloom, and to repossess the bodily form, another

scene most terrible of all was suddenly made visible.

It was the full and perfect representation of my

Crucified Eedeemer. Suddenly and in one continuous

vision my entire life of thought concerning

him, passed in a separate embodiment before

my mental view. In one compartment of vision,

dotted with appropriate imagery, appeared those

thoughts which I had conceived of him as a man.

In another compartment, also in correspondent

images, appeared a representation of my thoughts

in which I had conceived of him as Divine. In

another compartment still, appeared a representation

of my thoughts concerning his special atonement

for the limited number of the elect, and there

in fearful forms, appeared those thoughts which

had been mine when I had conceived myself to

be doomed to endless pimishment, because predestined

to reprobation from eternity. Still in

another compartment appeared, also in forms apSCENES

BEYOITD THE GKAVE. 77

propriate, my thoughts concerning the eternal

salvation of all mankind without the necessity of

special moral reformation, and without personal

and living faith in the Savior in regard to his

atonement. And still in another compartment appeared,

also clad in images significant of their

interior natm-e, those thoughts concerning Salvation

by morality, independent of a special interior

faith in Divine good. These separate compartments

blended in one revolving sphere around me,

in which were ten thousand confused and rapidly

combining and separating images, which at once

bewildered, excited and sm'charged my mind. Thus

my mental being moved in fearful vision about

my thought, and every phase of doctrine concerning

Christ, Heaven, Hell, Keligion, or Eternal Life,

which I had ever heard in discom'se, or which I

had conceived by study, or learned in conversation,

or evolved in mental action, made a part of the

tremendous sight.

Oh, how bewildering these conflicting yet associated

ideas of the Kedeemer ! As they encircled

me in one confused yet coherent cloud of imageiy,

I saw in each some distoited view of the Savior,

but from none in their separate forms, neither in

the entire cloud of changing views, could I behold

him as he is, and therefore the divine glory, honor,

majesty and perfection could not be manifested

in theu- exalting and redeeming power, and I could

not see him as a Prince and a Savior in that true

character which he sustains to the world.

CHAPTEK xry.

THE FOEM OF THE SAVIOK IN THE CLOUD

OF NIGHT.

Bewildeeed, and ready to abandon all hope

of ever escaping that abode, I had determined in

my mind that the sight was the last which was

to fill up the cup of woe, from which I had drank

already to agony, and which to all eternity could

not be drained, when lo! I saw the Savior extending

his arms toward me, while from his lips

in holy music fell the lovely and soul enrapturing

sentence, " Come unto me all ye weaiy and heavy

laden and I will give you rest."

How vast the contrast, when from the midst of

the cloud, was revealed that glorious Being encompassed

with the shining appearance of a sun. Inwrought

into the revolving surface of the halo of

light which encircled him, and which moved with

calm but rapid motion, I beheld a representation of

the true relation between the Divine Kedeemer and

the universe of light, where holy angels dwell, and

the awful disparity between my own nature and that

sphere of light and life, harmony and love.

I thus beheld him whom, in my madness, folly,

78

SCENES BEYOND THE GKAVE. 79

and skepticism I had so often rejected. At first I

wished to break from the mental embodiment which

was about my inner being, and mingle the veiy

elements of my life with this sphere of hght, and to

dwell in its beauty, peace, and joy ; but being unable

to enter into its reality by reason of the diversity

existing between its intrinsic exaltation and the

impure elements of my faUen mind, a feeling of

distrust and doubt again arose within me.

CHAPTEE XV.

THE PHANTOM SPHERE.

Suddenly a sable veil of nether night appeared

to ascend, pervading and encompassing my being.

My inner doubt seemed wrought into a cloud that

shut out the upper glory, and the spirit of denial

plunged me into the vortex of a deeper gloom. I

fell as one precipitated from some dizzy height. The

embodiment of darkness opened to receive me. The

moving shadow of a more desolate abyss arose like

clouds in dense masses of tempestuous gloom ; and

as I descended, the ever-accumulating weight of

darkness pressed more fearfully upon me. At length

a nether plain that seemed boundless was imaged

upon my sight, which, at a little distance, appeared

to shine with the resemblance of metallic ores, and

to be covered with the sparkling semblance of vegetation.

Luminous appearances, like waving trees,

with resplendent foliage, and flowers and fruits of

crystal and of gold, were visible in every direction.

Multitudes of spirits appeared beneath the umbrage,

and luminous mantles were folded about each

SO

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 81

rapidly moving form. Some wore crowns upon

their heads ; others tiaras ; and others decorations

of which I knew not the name, but which appeared

to be wrought of clusters of jewels, wreaths of golden

coin, and cloth of gold and silver tissue. Othei-s

wore towering helmets ; and others circlets filled

with glistening and waving plumes. A pale and

lambent phosphorescence was emitted by every

object, and all appeared a splendid masquerade.

The apparel worn by these busy myriads con-esponded

with the ornaments of the head; hence

eveiy variety of sumptuous apparel was displayed

upon their forms. Kings and queens appeared

arrayed in the gorgeous robes of coronation. Groups

of nobility of both sexes, also decorated with all the

varieties of adornment displayed in the pageantry of

kingly com-ts. Dense multitudes were visible in

costume proper to the highly cultivated nations

;

and as they passed by, I discovered similar groups

composed of less civilized tribes, attired in barbaric

ornaments of eveiy form. TVTiile some appeared

clothed in the habiliments of the present day, others

were in ancient attire ; but every class of spirits

manifested, in the midst of variety of m^de, a uniformity

of external pride, pomp, and rapidly moving

ftnd dazzling lustre.

Sounds of mingled import—^bursts of laughter

—

utterances of revelry, of gay sport and witty ridicule,

and polished sarcasm, and obscene allusions and

terrible curses broke upon my ear. These again

were intermixed with impure solicitations and back-

6

82 SCENES BEYOND THE GKAVE.

bitings, and hollow compliments, and feigned congratulations,

and all in one sparkling brilliancy,

agitated the pained, bewildered sense.

As I advanced, I walked as npon scorpions, and

trod as amid living embers. The trees that seemed

to wave about me were fiery exhalations, and their

blossoms the sparklings and the bm-nings of unremitting

flames. Each object I approached by contact

created agony.

The phosphorescent glare that surrounded the

various objects bm-ned the eye that looked upon

them. The fruitage burned the hand that plucked

and the lips that received it. The gathered flowers

had emitted a bm-ning exhalation, whose fetid and

noisome odor, inhaled in the nostrils, caused excniciating

pain. The fiery atoms of the atmosphere

burned as they were wafted by me. The air and the

blast that moved it, alike were bm'dened with the

yeiy elements of disappointment and wretchedness.

Upon turning to see if I could discover a single

drop of water to allay the fierce and intolerable

thirst ; fountains appeared, and ri\'ulets flowed amid

the herbage, and lay in calm and placid pools.

Soon, however, I discovered that these corresponded

with the former illusions, and the drops of spray

from the sparkling fountains fell like di'ops of molten

lead upon the shrinking form. The flowing rivulets

were like the molten river of metallic fire that

Btreams from a furnace seven times heated ; and the

deep still pools were as the white and waveless silver

SCENES BEYOND THE GEAVE. 83

in some glowing crucible, when every atom is bm-ning

with a fierce, intolerable glow.

When in solemn conteinplation of these fearful

scenes, a spirit approached me whom I had known

on earth. This being appeared externally far more

brilliant than when in the body. The form, the

countenance, the eyes, the hands, appeared endued

with a metallic lustre that varied with every motion

and every thought. Accosting me the spirit

said:

"Marietta, we are again met. You see me a

disembodied spirit, in that abode where those who

inwardly deny the Savior find their habitation when

their mortal day has ended.

" Strange emotions agitate your bosom. Thus I

felt, looked, wondered, and moved in sad and bewildered

anxiety in the hour when my being here discovered

the theatre of its present existence. But I

experienced that which you have never yet realized

in the interior principles of mind. Strange and

incontrollable are the emotions causing me to relate

that inward sorrow which this brilliant exterior

would, if it were possible, conceal.

" My life on earth was suddenly brought to a close

;

and as I departed from the world, I moved rapidly

in the direction prompted by my ruling desires.

I inwardly desired to be courted, honored, admired

—to receive universal adulation, and to be free to

follow the perverted inclinations of my proud, rebellious,

and pleasure-loving heart—a state of existence

where aU should be pleasure without restraint

—

84 SCENES BEYOND THE GKAYE.

where each should be free to obey the promptings of

every passion, and where every indulgence should be

permitted to the soul,—where prayers and religious

instructions should find no place—where the Sabbath

should not be known—where no rebuke of sin should

ever fall—^where existence should be spent in gay

and festive sports, with no superior and restraining

power to molest or interfere.

"With these desires I entered the spirit world,

and passed to the condition adapted to my inward

state. I rushed in haste to the enjoyment of the

glittering scenes which you now behold. I was

welcomed as you have not been, for at once I was

recognized as a fit associate by those who here abide.

They do not welcome you, for they discern in you

an interior desire, adverse to the ruling passions

which here prevail.

" I was welcomed with gay and sportive sounds.

The beings whom you behold in the distance rushed

forward to embrace me. They shouted welcome!

welcome ! I was awed, bewildered, and yet mentally

quickened and energized by the atmosphere

of this abode. I found myself endued with the

power of strange and restless motion. A flood

of thoughts which had before existed in a germinal

state witliin my mental organism, burst forth and

filled the mind, until the mental edifice appeared

a minute but corresponding image of the dazzling

scenery and moving lustre of the plane, which had

now become my habitation.

Every organ sent forth and every pore emitted

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 85

a phosphorescent illumination, which condensed

about the head and formed the appearance of a

brilliant diadem, and reflected on the countenance

a wild, unearthly glow. The exhalation as it extended

became a flaming robe, enveloping my

form and causing it to conform in appearance to

the invariable likeness of my spirit associates.

"I became conscious of a strange pervasion of the

brain, and the cerebral organs became subject to

a foreign power, which seemed to operate by an

absolute possession.

" I abandoned myself to the attractive influences

that were around me, and sought to satisfy my

craving desires for pleasure. I reveled, I banqueted,

I mingled in the wild and voluptuous dance, I

plucked the shining fruit, I plunged in the ardent

streams, I sm-feited my natm'e with that which externally

appeared delicious and inviting to the

sight and to the sense. But when tasted, all was

loathing and a source of increasing pain. And

so unnatural are the desires perpetuated here that

what I crave I loathe, and that which delights

tortm-es me. My tortm-es create within me a

strange intoxication. My appetite is palled, and

yet my hunger is unappeased and unappeasable.

"Every object which I perceive I crave, and

I grasp it in the midst of disappointment and

gather it with increased agony. With every new

accession of experience I am immersed in some

unknown fantasy, delirium and intoxication. New

and strange phenomena are continually manifested

86 SCENES BEYOND THE GEAVE.

and add delirium to delirium, and fear to fear. I

seem to myself to become part of that which is

about me, and the varied scenes which are mirrored

upon the vision appear radiated from me, in

a thousand phantasmagorial deceptions. The voices

which fall upon my ear, again bm-st from me in

incontroUable utterances. I laugh, philosophize,

jeer, blaspheme and ridicule by turns, yet every

epithet, however interiorly impure, sparkles with

wit, glows with metaphor, and moves adorned with

eveiy rhetorical embellisliment. The metallic ores,

the waving trees, the shining fr-uit, the moving

phantasms, the deluding waters, seem to form a

dazzling and mocking spectacle, which is ever

before my eyes, and eveiy subject of reflection,

has its fellow in my heart, fi'om which, in its

mocking scenery, it meets a response. I inwardly

crave to satisfy my hunger and my thirst, and the

desfre appears to create without and around

me a tantalizing ilhision of cool waters I may

never di'ink, and grateful fniits I may never taste,

and refreshing airs I never feel, and peaceful slumbers

I may never enjoy. I know that the forms

around me are fantastic and delusive, yet every

object appears to hold controlling power, and to

domineer with cruel enchantment over my bewildered

mind.

" I experience the power of the law of evil

attraction. I am the slave of discordant and deceptive

elements and of their presiding vice. Every

object by turns attracts me. The thought of menSCENES

BEYOND THE GRAVE. 87

tal fi-eedom dies within the dying will, while the

idea that I am a part and an element of the revolving

fantasy takes possession of my spirit.

"This realm, curtained with a cloud of nether

night, is one sea of perverted and diseased magnetic

element. Here lust, pride, hate, avarice, love of self,

ambition, contention, and blasphemies, reveling in

madness, kindle into a burning flame. And that

speciality of evil which does not belong to and unfold

from one spirit, belongs to and unfolds from

another ; so that the combined strength of the aggregate

of all, is the prevailing law. By this strength

of evil I am bound, and in it I exist.

"Here are those who oppressed the poor; who

robbed the hireling of his wages, and bound the

weary down with heavy burdens ; the false in

religious faith ; the hypocrite ; the adulterer ; tho

assassin ; and the suicide, who, not satisfied with

life in the external form, has hastened its close.

"Did mortals but know the dark and dreadful

night into which they are sm-e to fall if they die

unprepared, they would desire to lengthen the day

of probation rather than to hasten its termination,

however multiplied their scenes of sorrow, and to

wisely improve the fleeting moments which quickly

number earth's probationary scenes. Is man's weary

existence fraught with grief while he walks the

gloomy dells of death, and gropes along the brambly

paths that mortals tread? Here, on either hand^

awake new and multiplied causes of accmnulating

gloom. Does hope of peaceful and happy days in

88 S0E1TE3 BEYOND THE GRAVE.

the outer world flicker like the dying taper ? In this

abode are ceaseless, unsatisfied, and unholy inclinations.

" Here also sense is infinitely more acute. What

with moiials would produce only a pang, enters into

the very elements of our existence, and the pain becomes

a part of us. And as immortality is tho

intellectual sensation of man unincumbered with

physical sense, and vastly superior in its ability

to endure to mortality, in like proportion is the

consciousness and capability of sufibring here,

superior to human suffering.

" Marietta, I feel 'tis vain to attempt the expression

of our deplorable state. I often inquire, is

there no hope? And my sense replies, How can

harmony exist in the very midst of discord ? We

were advised of the consequences of our course while

in the body ; but we loved our ways better than

those which exalted the soul. We have fallen into

this fearful abode. We have originated our sorrow.

God is just. He is good. We know that 'tis not

from a vindictive law of our Creator that we sufler.

Marietta, it is our condition from which we receive

the misery we endm-e. The violation of the moral

law, by which our moral natures should have been

preserved in harmony and health, is the prime cause

of our state. O sin ! thou parent of countless woes I

thou insidious enemy of peace and heaven ! why do

mortals love thy ways ?"

Here she paused and fixed her eyes, wild with

despair, upon me. I shrank from the dreadful

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 89

glare, for her appearance manifested inexpressible

torture.

While she was addressing me, a multitude of the

forlorn beings were moving around her, striving to

suppress their true feelings, while listening to her

relation of the reality of their sufferings. Their appearance,

her address and the scene which was before

me, filled me with horror ; and I sought to escape-

Upon discovering this, her grief appeared to deepen,

and she hastily said

:

" ISTo, Marietta, leave me not, can you not endure

for a short period the sight and relation of what I

am continually suffering ? TaiTy with me, for I

desire to speak of many things.

" Do you startle at these scenes ? Know then that

all that moves around you is but the outer degree of

deeper woe. Marietta, no good and happy beings

abide with us. All within is dark. We sometimes

dare to hope for redemption, still remembering the

story of Kedeeming Love, and inquire, Can that

love penetrate this abode of gloom and death ? May

we ever hope to be made free from those desires and

inclinations which bind us like chains, and passions

which bum like consuming fires in the unhallowed

elements of this world of wretchedness ?"

Overcome by her deep feelings, she yielded to the

manifestation of grief, and I heard her speak no

more ; whereupon another spirit drew near, and addressing

me, said

:

" Go, leave us to our lot. Your presence gives us

pain, since it revives the more active memory of lost

90 SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE.

opportunities ; the indulgence of propensities tliat

folded around the soul the elements of evil magnetism,

and pervaded the spirit with its deadly miasm."

Here the spirit paused a moment, then continued,

*' ]S"o, tariy

; prompted by a cause I know not, I am

desirous to reveal what we have learned while here,

relative to the power and influence of evil and its

magnetism upon the spirit of man, which, though

while man inhabits the tenement of clay is exceedingly

subtile, when the spirit leaves the outer

world and enters the interior world, forms the external

sphere of his existence. Here it is the more

external. In the world whence we came, it is the

invisible and inteiior ; but now it is our outward

dwelling. It arises from the deep. It unfolds from

the soul. It encompasses all, pervades all, controls

and inspires all. Mortals are opposed to this tnith,

and from the love and goodness of God, they reason

that there can not be suflfering in the spirit of man.

This reasoning charges evil upon God, since evil

and suffering exist with the family of man in the

outer world and with us prevail. The cause of this

is obvious, and yet men seek to reject the principle.

" When the harmony and movement of law is disturbed

or prevented, evil consequences ensue. Man,

by counteracting the movement of law in himself,

produces a contrary effect from what is indicated,

and therefore, that which was ordained unto life

—

that which should have perfected him—by improper

tendencies, is operative unto death ; sin therefore,

or tlie violation of law, unfits the being for

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 91

proper development, and hence, the violator being

removed from harmony, dies unto (ceases to exist

in) the law of peace and holy development.

" This great and irrevocable truth is manifest in

every degree of physical and moral movement,

where law meets with obstruction ; and we have its

fimits with us in abundant and fearful hai-vest.

" Why will not mortals reason and discover the

results of action, and by preventing the growth of

evil and by cleaving unto God, thi'ough heaven appointed

means, escape these fearful consequences?

Marietta, you are not one of us, else these elements

would have enveloped your being and absorbed

your life. But you will retm-n to realms of

peace. Madness and delirium arise and rage within

us upon being cited to scenes where love, pure

love, and peace abide. You are thus addressed

because of yoiu' return to earth. Tt^ll the inhabitants

thereof what you have seen, and warn them of

the danger awaiting those who persist in the gi-atification

of impure desires."

One hideous expression closed the scene; and

being overcome—for I knew what I had witnessed

was real—I was immediately removed. Those

spirits I had known on Earth, and when I saw them

there I knew them still. Oh, how changed ! They

were the very embodiment of sorrow and remorse.

How ardently I desired that they might escape and

become pm-e, and receive an inheritance with those

blessed spirits I visited in the Paradise of Peace.

CHAPTER XVI.

ADDKESS OF THE FALSE PHILOSOPHER.

DcRiNG these reflections I unconsciously passed

away from that sphere of gloom to a region

where I could perceive nothing but lonely space.

ISTo sun or stars were visible to my sight. Darkness

more dense, closed around me, and I felt that my

doom was sealed, and that I should soon become the

companion of spirits in those fantastic realms. And

when I began to agonize beneath the idea of departing

hope, I heard a voice as from the distance, in

tones soft and melodious, say, " Look unto Jesus :

He is the life of the soul." In a moment an inward

feeling arose in rebellion to the idea of adoring that

Jesus who was crucified; when suddenly all that

seemed to sustain me departed, and again I descended

as from an immeasiu'able height, into an abyss

inhabited by beings, whose condition I did not at

fii'st discover, but who were finally revealed as more

desperate than those from whom I had just escaped.

They gathered around me and commended me for

the doubt I had entertained concerning the Divinity

of the Son of God. Tlien a spirit of giant intellect,

approaching me, said :

•

02

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 93

" Religion, the Eeligion of the Bible, so much re

vered by many who live in darkness and are mideveloped,

is but a spiritual farce. The God of the

Bible whom Christians call the Savior of the "World,

was but a man. Religious faith circumscribes the

range of human thought, fetters the noble intellect,

and prevents the progression of the race. Those

thou hast just visited, are a class of spirits who,

blinded by the delusive dreams of Earth's religionists,

have entered the spirit world unprogressed;

hence they still cling to the idea of Redemption

through Clu'ist. They appear to suffer

;

their suffering is but imaginary. Light will ere

long reach them. Then will' they be enabled to

discover the folly of their religious education, to

which, though discarded by their better being,

they cleave with insatiable desires. We are free.

Our intellect ranges unrestrained, and we behold the

magnificence and the glory of the peopled universe.

We enjoy the rich productions of the sublime attributes

of mind, and thus—and not by the Religion

of the Cross—we arise into the more exalted spheres

of intellectual attainments, and the moving grandeur

of terrestrial things.

" Marietta, for so thou art called, we saw thee

when darkness overshadowed thee, and well did we

understand that for a moment, from the force of education,

thou wouldst have offered prayer for salvation

in the name of Jesus. We heard that voice

that spake from above thee, saying, 'Look to

Jesus ;' still that did not save thee. Learn, then,

94: SCENES BEYOND THE GEAYE.

that from the native unfolding of thy being cometh

salvation.

"What dost thou see, Marietta? Abandon thy

thoughts of the empty Religion of the Bible, and behold

the wonders of this sphere of existence. This

is the Second Sphere. Around thee gather minds

from the varied spheres of Earth, minds whose

strength of intellect could not yield to the force of an

imaginary religion. They were not awed into reverence

by the priestly garb, nor sang the idle notes

of psalmody, the heartless ' music ' of the church.

" These sing of nature, of which they are a noble

part ; and thus united, ascend the octave of mental

progressive harmony."

Here the spirit addressing me became greatly

annoyed; and the nebulous appearance which encompassed

him was agitated under the influence of

successive sliocks, which caused his veiy being to

convulse and writhe beneath its influence. I could

not perceive whence they came, and was greatly

terrified, as I saw the whole scene changed at every

successive touch, which v^^as attended with flashes

like broad sheets of lurid light, playing upon the

cloud-like form which enveloped him.

I could also perceive that he was intensely strug

gling to overcome some power which was about to

control him. Every energy was exerted to its highest

capacity, to roll back the tide that was overwhelming

him. Suddenly he groaned, as in the bitternesa

of one sinking to irremediable despair, and then

yielded to the intrusive influence, when, lo ! a vast

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 95

arena opened to my view, in which I saw at one

glance every imaginable species of vice, forms and

fashions of human society, government, clans, and

all the varied phases and forms of worship, originating

in every kind of religion, from the heathen to

fashionable chm'ch-going people, who heartlessly

worship mider the name of the holy Religion of the

Cross.

CHAPTER XVn.

THE PANDEMONIUM MOCK WORSHIP.

As this scene opened, I heard a voice from far

above me, saying, " Marietta, fear not ; but behold

a pandemonium, where congregate the self-deceived

; hopers in false philosophy, together with the

despisers of God ; and where also arise, in spectral

form, the false religions of Earth ; where hypocrisy

unveils its hideous shape, and religious mockery

speaks in its own language; where are exhibited

human wolves, who appeared in sheep's clothing,

that they might indulge their cupidity upon the

humble and unsuspecting. Hark ! listen to that

wild chant which breaks from the thousands who sit

in the galleries of song. They once sung—^heartlessly

sung—hymns dedicated to the worship of the

living God. Listen to the hoarse voice of the heavy

organ before which they are congregated. See, they

arise ; observe theii' manner, and seek to understand

what they utter."

As I approach the description of this scene, I

most sensibly feel my incompetency. Tlie reality

none can ever know, save those who personally behold

it. I am only able to say, that every evil device

96

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 97

wliicli prevails with man, appeared organized and

moving in a perfect scene, and each spirit was an

actor performing the part cultivated by him while in

the body. I knew that if they expected bliss, all

was unreal ; and yet all struggled to obtain enjoyment,

which, however, from its dreadlul fantasy,

recoiled upon the sufiering soul with inexpressible

horror. ^

As I looked upon them, the occujDants of the broad

galleries arose ; and as they sung, the hoarse voice

of the spectral organ jarred, as note after note ol

their attempted music fell from lips whose veryaccents

mocked the effort. My soul pitied them, as

I saw them sink back in utter despair ; and yet I

thought I could perceive design in their movements.

Below them were seated a fastidious audience, before

whom was standing, in a pulpit of Gothic architecture,

one clad in priestly garb—one who had dishonored

the cause of the Redeemer by hypocrisy and

the love of vain glory—who had made the cause of

the holy ministiy a by-word, by a soulless profession

of love for the gifts of grace. This representation of

speculators in religious things, moved in the mock

dignity of his clerical profession. Before him

lay an open volume, from which he attempted

to read , but every effort was bafflied. Bis voice

was shrill and piercing, and his accents inarticulate.

His features became distorted, and he writhed and

agonized. He then attempted to read again, which

resulted as did the first, increasing his sufferings,

until he burst forth in the most vehement expressions,

7

08 SCEJfES BETOIS^D THS GKAVE,

ciu'sing his own being, and all around him, and theB

blasphemously addi-essing himself to the Author of

Existence, charged God with all wrong, the som'ce oi*

eveiy soitow, and even desired to gather together

the strength o^f all created intellect with which to

cui'se the Creator of the Uniyer&e. His oaths, his

manner, and his insatiable passion, caused him to

appear so desperate, that 1 felt impressed with fear

that he had power to accomplish gi-eat destruction in

whatever direction he moyed.

Soon, however, my anxiety was relieved by the

sudden exhaustion of his entire force, and I saw

that he too, was limited in power, and was, moreover,

to a very great extent, under the will of his

audience.

One glance at the throng before him, was sufficient

to reveal the cause of much of his suffering.

There, were seated those whose countenances bespoke

interior hate, mingling with wild maniacal

relish; those who mocked his futile effort and

indulged in fiendish delight at the expense of his

dreadful sufferings. Yea, they relished his manifestation

of keen despair as the uneasy wound

relishes that friction which affords present maddening

pleasm-e, but terminates in more excited pain.

As he sank back, the expression of his countenance

was that of horror beyond description. His being

assumed every imaginable distortion. Around him

flashed lurid fires, and his entire outward expression,

revealed an inward consciousness as restless

as some burning crater. His whole appearance

SCENES BEYOND THE GRAVE. 99

bespoke agonies equal to the worst conceptions

of the relentless sinner's hell, and reminded me

of the language of Jesus, who said, '^ And they

shall go into outer darkness, where there shall be

weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth ; where

the woiTQ dieth not and the fire is not quenched."

While he lay enveloped in the fires of his own

unhallowed passions, one of his audience arose

and thus addressed him:

"Thou fiend of darkness! thou child of hypocrisy

! deceiver, matchless deceiver ! thine is

the hell of a heartless religious teacher. Adequate

sufierings thou canst never endure. Thou 'madest

merchandise of religion and the souls of men. Yea,

because of this, thou didst dwell in temples of

human glory, receiving the adoration of men ; then

thou didst wrap thyself in the garments of ease

at the expense of souls ; thou didst not seek to

reach the ruined heart with the soul-redeeming

Truth of Heaven, but to please the ear and charm

the fancy. ISTow thou art tormented. Arise ! thou

false teacher, arise ! and in thy silken gown display

the order of thy false apostleship. Speak to us

smooth things. Direct the movement of this broad

gallery of mimic song. Hold thy blasphemy!

vent not thy cursings, for lo ! thy Maker is just

;

wish not to move him from his throne. His august

majesty thou didst mock. Through thee, his glory

should have shown, and by that light thousands

should have been led to seek his face."

757154A

100 SCENES BEYOKD THE (jiKAVE.

At tliis sharp rebuke the sufferer sought to

escape, whereupon the speaker continued,