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 V RICE F I F T E E N C E N T S . 
 
 the 
 
 mz 
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF 
 
 SPECIAL PROVIDENCES: 
 
 A VISION. 
 
 BY ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS, 
 
 Author of " Nature's Divine Revelations" fyc. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY REQUEST 
 
 BOSTON: 
 BELA MARSH, .25 CORNHILL 
 
 1850. 
 
 .£ A 
 
THE 
 
 PHILOSOPHY 
 
 OF 
 
 SPECIAL PROVIDENCES: 
 
 A VISION 
 
 W 
 
 BY ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS. 
 
 AUTHOR OF "NATURE'S DIVINE REVELATIONS," &C. 
 
 J)ttblisl}£& b£ Ueqnzst. 
 
 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 BELA MARSH, No. 25 CORNHILL. 
 
 1850. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY 
 
 HOBART & ROBBINS: 
 
 NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDERY, 
 
 BOSTON. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 If the reader will but imagine himself to be addressed by- 
 Truth, as my Guide addressed me. he may receive much 
 good, and many suggestions, by carefully examining the fol- 
 lowing pages. They contain two Visions, and an Argument. 
 
 The first vision placed me in that moral and intellectua T 
 position which the professed believers in supernatural mira- 
 cles and special providences generally occupy; — that is, it 
 made me see with the eyes and through the opinions of those 
 who base their faith and hope upon superficial perception and 
 human testimony. The second vision enabled me to examine 
 the seeming miracles and special providences, which are 
 recorded in the Bible and elsewhere, through the pure medi- 
 ums of Nature and Reason. But the argument is addressed 
 to the Understanding. 
 
 An honest, unprejudiced, impartial state of mind is abso- 
 lutely indispensable to a proper perception and comprehension 
 of divine Truth. In this mental condition, and in no other, it 
 is good to commence and pursue the present inquiry. 
 
 The Author. 
 
THE VISIONS 
 
 ARE THERE SPECIAL PROVIDENCES? 
 
 This interesting and important interrogatory re- 
 vives in my soul a multitude of the most impressive 
 meditations — visions so solemn and gorgeous as to 
 revolutionize the deepest feelings, and expand the 
 best conceptions to limits undefinable. The impres- 
 sion was too perfectly and forcibly imparted for me 
 to ever disremember the time when I was made to 
 realize what the majority of the world (especially the 
 Christian world) believe concerning Divine interpo- 
 sition. My mind had been exercised many days upon 
 the subject under consideration. The world-wide 
 interesting problem, Whether there had been, or were now, 
 supernatural interpositions among men, for the purpose of 
 changing, reversing, or regulating human affairs and de- 
 signs, was agitating my spirit almost continually ; and 
 I well remember the circumstances which attended 
 its final examination and settlement. And let me 
 here express — what I cannot but feel — the wish that 
 every inquiring mind could be enriched with a similar 
 revelation. I know, to the depths of my soul, that it 
 would emancipate the individual from the slavery of 
 ignorance, superstition, and bigotry. 
 
 It was the last* day of the beautiful month of June 
 when I received an authoritative impression, from the 
 interior life, to ascend the summit of a high but familiar 
 1* 
 
mountain. My native village (by adoption) was visible 
 at a distance on the opposite side of the river. This 
 mountain was my usual retreat ; nothing was there to 
 disturb — but all outer things, the solitude, the stillness 
 only broken by the song of birds, and the scenery, were 
 conducive to spiritual development, elevation, and vis- 
 ion. Upon this mount, and at this time, my spirit, in 
 its accustomed manner, was enabled to subdue and 
 subordinate the body to itself, and my interior princi- 
 ples of perception were opened, and were permitted 
 their easy and natural exercise. The problem to 
 be solved was resting heavily upon me ; and that in- 
 numerably diversified and mountain-high accumulation 
 of individual biographies — unphilosophically termed 
 personal and national history — were presented as the 
 materials by which I was to be made to realize the 
 general belief in a partial Providence, and the influ- 
 ence of such doctrine. 
 
 I saw the wide-spread Earth — its entire surface! 
 It is easy to converse about the Earth, its dimensions, 
 its scenery, and possessions — but it is not easy to 
 grasp a realizing conception of its magnitude and 
 appearance. When the mind beholds, at a glance, a 
 conglobated accumulation of matter, twenty-five thou- 
 sand miles in circumference ; and, instead of a single 
 great city densely inhabited, nine hundred millions of 
 living human individuals ; I say, when the mind beholds 
 all this overwhelming combination of spirit and matter, 
 the little material and space it itself requires as one 
 individual, is enough to beget conceptions of its own 
 weakness and insignificance. 
 
 When this view was given me, I ceased wondering 
 that the inhabitants of original Central America once 
 
believed their local habitation to be the centre of the 
 universe, and themselves the favorites of presiding 
 gods. Yes, I ceased wondering at, or blaming any 
 people, or nation, for believing the Earth to be the 
 masterpiece of divine creation, and themselves under 
 the special and immediate control of various divinities. 
 
 Down, down the rugged declivities and towering 
 pyramids of Humanity's History were my interior per- 
 ceptions directed ; and I beheld the many and differ- 
 ent events and circumstances which were and are 
 referred to the supernatural or miraculous interpo- 
 sitions of an invisible but especially overseeing Provi- 
 dence. 
 
 I saw approach, even to the margin of an awful 
 precipice, a man whose mind had been, for many 
 years, deranged ; he fell over the brink, and was 
 arrested, by some imperceptible cause, on his down- 
 ward way ; rescued, by his affrighted friends, from 
 this perilous situation, he was found to be unhurt ; and 
 from that hour, henceforth, he was sane and well. 
 The wise men and soothsayers of the city pronounced 
 his escape " an instance of the special interference of the 
 Lord." 
 
 I saw, situated upon the side of the sea, a beautiful 
 village, whose people were accomplished in the science 
 of agriculture. The sky blackened, the earth trem- 
 bled, the ground opened, and several villages, and 
 two opulent cities, were shaken and sundered into 
 pieces ; but the beautiful village remained wholly 
 unmoved and unchanged. The priests said, " It was 
 a manifestation of the judgment and justice of the great 
 Jehovah/ ' 
 
 I saw, standing before a splendid tribunal of Knights 
 
8 
 
 Templars, a female, clad in the garments of condem- 
 nation and death ; she was tried for sedition and con- 
 spiracy ; the judgment was rendered against her ; and 
 she was harshly conveyed to the Inquisitorial Hall for 
 execution ; the executioner placed her head upon the 
 block, uplifted the sword — and, lo ! the terrific light- 
 ning struck him to the earth : the temple was set on 
 fire, and scarce a person escaped unhurt except the 
 falsely convicted female, who was thus saved. The 
 people said, " It was the judgment and interposition of 
 Jehovah." 
 
 I saw a great and spiritually enlightened Reformer, 
 Jesus, condemned for heresy, and for rebelling against 
 the prevailing opinions and institutions of his age and 
 country ; the cross was erected, his body was nailed 
 to it ; the conquerors rejoiced in their supposed vic- 
 tory; and his few friends and disciples were convulsed 
 with grief. The blackened heavens frowned upon 
 the deed ; the voice of the thunders was heard ; the 
 city was engulfed in darkness ; the bursting earth- 
 quake rent the temple from its towering heights even 
 to its foundation; the rocks opened their yawning 
 mouths; and consternation was great and universal 
 among the people. The followers and disciples of the 
 martyr, young and old, male and female, said, "It 
 was the disapproval of the omnipotent God." 
 
 I saw, giving in his oath falsely, a man, Ananias, 
 Avho had disposed of some property for more money 
 than he claimed to have received therefor ; and while 
 vehemently affirming, upon his honor and all sacred 
 things, that he had not done what, in truth, he did do, 
 his lips trembled, his eyes started wildly from their 
 sockets, and he fell dead> in the presence of his ques- 
 
tioners, — a perjured and self-condemned man. The 
 public voice said, "It was a direct and immediate 
 manifestation of the judgment of God." 
 
 I saw an abused and long enslaved people, marshalled 
 together according to the directions of an educated 
 chieftain, (Moses,) leave an Egyptian city, and cross, 
 on comparatively dry land, a river which was parted 
 in an extraordinary manner ; the enslaver, Pharaoh, 
 and his army, pursued this adventurous band, with the 
 unrighteous design of re-capturing them ; he led his 
 armed hosts upon the dry land at the division of the 
 waters, but the waves instantaneously embraced each 
 other, and the king and his splendid army were as 
 suddenly overwhelmed and destroyed. The victorious 
 multitude, thus escaped from slavery, and from a grave 
 in the bosom of the mighty tide, said, " The Lord had 
 exercised special judgment and justice in the earth." 
 
 I saw, attired in the habiliments of wealth, and resid- 
 ing in a costly mansion, an individual afflicted with divers 
 and painful diseases ; disturbed slumbers, sleepless 
 nights, horrid dreams, frightful pains and palpitations, 
 headache, and suicidal melancholy : these were some 
 of the afflictions. Physicians could do no good, nor did 
 the sympathizers or prayers in churches relieve the 
 pain ; and the sufferer died. The people gathered in 
 the chapel, and the officiating clergyman, after admin- 
 istering to the friends of the deceased the consolations 
 of the Gospel, deplored this signal visitation of that 
 Providence whose " ways are mysterious and past 
 finding out." 
 
 I saw a beautiful and marvellously precocious infant, 
 the final response to earnest prayers sent up to God 
 and the idol of its parents, die in its mother's arms : 
 
10 
 
 tears were shed, and lamentations were heard, occa- 
 sioned by the unexpected removal of this priceless 
 jewel ; the village bell tolled the solemn knell, the 
 mourners knelt in the chapel, and the priest said to 
 the bereaved parents — " Providence gives and takes 
 away." 
 
 I saw, on the holy Sabbath, sailing in a pleasure- 
 boat, with other youths, a boy of some fourteen years. 
 His parents, especially his mother, had admonished 
 him repeatedly, on the morning of that day, against the 
 dangers of breaking the Sabbath ; but, instead of 
 heeding their counsel or obeying their commands, he 
 gathered about him associates, and sought pleasure on 
 the water. A storm arose ; it increased and raged 
 violently ; the boat was far from shore ; the sails were 
 rent in twain ; the slight vessel w 7 as thrown upon its 
 side ; the disobedient son was suddenly plunged into 
 the river, and ere assistance could reach him, was 
 drowned. The parents, the minister, and the people 
 said, "It was a striking rebuke and dispensation of 
 Providence. " 
 
 I saw the only and much-beloved daughter of 
 wealthy parents, prostrated upon a bed, suffering the 
 intensest agony ; she was w 7 eeping, beseeching, pray- 
 ing for relief; physicians came, and learned consult- 
 ations were held ; but, though thus cared for, thus 
 loved — and though hers was the flowering spring- 
 time of human life — she suffered and died. The 
 clergyman sought to soothe the broken-hearted 
 parents by saying, that, " Though he was not in pos- 
 session of those evidences of her reconciliation with God, 
 which he hoped other young friends in his congrega- 
 tion, being warned by this early death, might furnish 
 
11 
 
 him, yet he felt assured that Providence had acted 
 wisely in removing that young spirit from earthly dan- 
 gers and temptations. " 
 
 I saw wide-spread pestilences — epidemics — infec- 
 tious diseases — famines — wars and national inva- 
 sions. I saw cities ravaged by fire, and destroyed by 
 earthquakes ; and all of these afflictions, personal and 
 national, were referred to special dispensations of Prov- 
 idence. Earnest and wordy prayers were uttered by 
 clergymen and their congregations ; the devout sent 
 up their orisons to God for " the widow and the 
 fatherless in their affliction' ' — for the mariner on the 
 uncertain ocean — for the coming harvest — for the 
 officers of church and state ; and I beheld that the 
 widow and the fatherless were mainly preserved from 
 absolute destitution ; that the mariner escaped from 
 the destroying power of storms ; that the harvests 
 gave forth their increase, and yielded abundantly ; 
 that official duties were discharged : I saw all this ; 
 and was thus made to realize the force of that belief 
 which makes God to preside over the wondrous 
 earth, direct the lightnings, pour out the rain, and 
 hold the winds in the hollow of his hand ; and to 
 especially and locally bestow blessings or curses on 
 human souls, designs and deeds. And it was given 
 me to perceive that all these things, thus progressively 
 presented to my understanding, were representations 
 of numerous* and similar events and personal expe- 
 riences which had occurred in the past, and were 
 occurring at present, in the world. And thus I saw 
 how universal was the practice or habit of referring 
 extraordinary human events and circumstances, to the 
 special interpositions of Providence or God. 
 
12 
 
 The Scene was vast, and the Vision wonderful ! my 
 soul was made to draw in, and appropriate to itself, 
 a so universal belief, the exemplifications of which 
 were thus presented, and I experienced the legitimate 
 influence of such a profoundly sacred conviction. And 
 this result seemed to be the object for which the 
 vision was given me. And now the mighty earth, 
 with its inhabitants and their multifarious convictions, 
 receded from my view ; my spiritual perceptions 
 were closed, and, in a few minutes, I was restored to 
 my ordinary state. I could see nothing but myself, 
 the mountain, the river, and the distant village. My 
 memory was almost submerged with the wonders of 
 my vision, the spirit of which had passed into my 
 mind, and I experienced a greater attraction than ever 
 before experienced towards mankind, their religious 
 opinions, and the earth. I could not think of any 
 vaster creation than an orb of twenty-five thousand 
 miles in circumference, and peopled with nine hundred 
 millions of separate and dissimilar individualities. It 
 seemed no longer strange nor to be questioned why 
 the Deity should concentrate his works thus ; why 
 his Son should have left his native home, to accomplish 
 great and mighty works upon the earth ; why prayers 
 were necessary and efficacious ; and why especial visi- 
 tations of Divine judgment and justice, vengeance and 
 disapprobation, were received and believed in, by the 
 more advanced multitudes of the wondfously mighty 
 earth. I could understand, and perfectly sympathize 
 with, those dictatorial passages in the prayer recom- 
 mended by Jesus, — "Give us this day our daily 
 bread," — "Forgive us our trespasses," — "Lead 
 us not into temptation," — " Deliver us from evil." 
 
13 
 
 Yes, I could comprehend the conviction that it is 
 proper to inform God what we want, and to implor- 
 ingly command him thus to gratify our individual 
 desires. I could understand that, though the Deity is 
 perpetually observing nine hundred millions of different 
 souls, he cannot comprehend, at the same moment, 
 their diversity of desires, unless verbally or orally 
 informed of them ; and that he would respond accord- 
 ing to the righteousness of the individual petitioning. 
 In a word — I had observed instances of (so called) 
 Providential interference, and viewing them, together 
 with all material creations on the earth, in an exter- 
 nal and superficial light, just as the majority of en- 
 lightened classes view them, I was fully persuaded of 
 their truth, and consequently the legitimate influence 
 of such a conviction was impressed upon my mind. 
 
 On returning from the mount to my home, I well 
 remember the conflicting sensations which were de- 
 veloped in me by the vision. I knew what it was to 
 fear God, — I knew what it was to tremble before, and 
 shrink from, a Being who, I was persuaded, could be 
 influenced to exhibitions of approbation or terrible dis- 
 pleasure, by individual prayers and transactions. I felt 
 that I did not know what village might next be con- 
 sumed by fire, or what city destroyed by earthquake. 
 I could not imagine what manifestations of super- 
 natural interposition were to be next developed. 
 When I walked upon the hills, my soul was not 
 perfectly sure that they would not fall upon, and crush 
 me ; or, when a comet was announced by astronomers 
 to be approaching our sun or earth, I was not confident 
 that it would not, according to Divine intention, strike 
 us into the oblivious depths of chaos. I had no as- 
 2 
 
14 
 
 surance of safety anywhere. If in the village, I was 
 not sure but the Deity, because of the many and 
 frequent transgressions of its inhabitants, was contem- 
 plating, at that moment, its total annihilation. If on 
 steamboats, or railroads, or where dark storms 
 gathered over my head, I knew not but some ven- 
 geance was impending — some fearful crash, or thun- 
 derbolt about to fall. If where pestilential diseases 
 environed, I was not sure but that destruction awaited 
 the whole community, because of its corruption and 
 wickedness. And now it was easy to believe in 
 the chimeras of Millerism, — it was possible to believe 
 that this great mass of matter, twenty -five thousand miles 
 in circumference, was to be literally dissolved and con- 
 sumed by fire, — that millions would be crushed by 
 falling mountains, and millions would ascend, through 
 roofs and any material obstructions, to meet the Lord 
 in the air. Yes, I was, for five days, in the secrets of 
 my own heart, a forced believer in such literal mani- 
 festations of Divine intention. I was ready for, and 
 would not have been surprised to hear, the thundering 
 sound of that awful trumpet which was to awake 
 millions to everlasting happiness, and millions to end- 
 less misery ! 
 
 In truth, this universal conflagration of Nature was 
 now not so much a source of surprise to me, as was the 
 apparent indifference, manifested by the greater portion 
 of mankind, with regard to this impending event, in 
 connection with the received opinion of the suscep- 
 tibility of God to be influenced by human action and 
 prayer. All acknowledge that "the prayers of the 
 righteous are answered ;" but why human actions did 
 not correspond to (what seemed to me to be) the 
 
15 
 
 most awful and terrific convictions possible to conceive 
 of, was a profound mystery. Clergymen and laymen 
 recognized this belief in their theology ; but their 
 practices were so divorced from their theories and 
 professed belief, that I could not resist the impression 
 that their actions gave the lie to their convictions. 
 
 It was now just six days since the foregoing change 
 had been wrought in my mind ; and my countenance, 
 the index of the spirit, showed the withering effects of 
 such convictions. I walked the pathless meadows in 
 the vicinity of the village, and meditated upon the 
 awful but sublime disclosures made to me on the 
 mountain's summit. I contemplated the ways of God 
 — what he had done for mankind ; how he had been, 
 and was continually, importuned, invoked, com- 
 manded. Again and agaia I thought of the nine 
 hundred millions of inhabitants ; and how national and 
 personal individuality had been marvellously preserved 
 in the midst of the ten thousand surrounding and 
 absorbing influences ; and how myriads and myriads 
 had appeared upon the stage of the world's vast 
 theatre, acted some particular part in the universal 
 drama or tragedy of life, then made their exit, to live 
 and act, upon another stage, an eternal repetition of good 
 or evil. And then I contemplated poverty, destitution* 
 and crime, — how well do I remember this soul-chilling 
 contemplation ! 
 
 Now the day was drawing to a close, and the sun 
 was setting gloriously in the west, — Nature seemed 
 to smile, and to pantomime the indications of joy. I 
 had wandered to a retired spot, and had seated 
 myself beneath the clustering foliage of some luxuriant 
 trees, and there the local development of previous 
 
16 
 
 conflicts and disturbances came forth from my soul in 
 the form of interrogatories, and an invocation to God, 
 whom, with every faculty fatigued and subdued, I thus 
 addressed : Our Father who art in heaven, (for thus I 
 am told to address thee,) who hearkeneth to the pray- 
 ers of thy children, and who answereth the solicita- 
 tions of the righteous; I beseech thee grant me 
 audience. Justified by the example of those of the 
 earth's inhabitants who claim to be thy children, and 
 keepers of thy commandments, I presume to remind 
 thee of many things which I think should be done, not 
 to augment my interests, but the happiness of thy 
 universal family, Mankind. In the first place, I 
 earnestly desire to inform thee that I am perfectly 
 aware of thy omnipotent power, and of thy disposi- 
 tion and habit of exercising the same at will. I gaze 
 upon the greatness of earth, upon its mighty waters, 
 upon the glorious sun, upon the bright stars with 
 which thou hast written on the skies ; I look upon thy 
 wide-spread family, and dare to call myself also one 
 of thine ; and I behold everywhere wonderful displays 
 of thy power and disposition to create and make 
 alive. But from that combination of books which thy 
 professed followers call the Holy Bible, I learn that 
 thou residest in heaven, and yet that thou art a jealous, 
 avenging, and revengeful God ; and from those pages 
 I also learn that thou art a perfect Being, — infinite 
 in Power, in Goodness, in Justice, in Mercy, and in 
 Truth ; and that thou art Omniscient, Omnipotent, and 
 Omnipresent. Pardon me then, I pray thee, Father 
 if I venture to ask — why, being all goodness and all 
 powerful, thou permittest Want, consequently Crime, 
 and consequently Misery ? — Why permittest thou 
 
17 
 
 War, Murder, Rapine, and Licentiousness ? — Why, 
 Father ! if thou art disposed to render universal justice, 
 why permittest thou the strong and powerful to 
 enslave the weak and helpless, and thus to mar the 
 form of humanity with prostitution and slavery ? If 
 thou art special and local in thy providences and regu- 
 lations, why art thou silent, and apparently impotent, 
 when the lightning rushes impetuously through the 
 heavens, and, in its darting from place to place, 
 destroys buildings, (perhaps the poor man's only 
 shelter,) and human life, and the beasts of the fields ? 
 Why permittest thou destructive catastrophes, Famine, 
 Disease, Sin, Death, and Everlasting Destruction ? If 
 thou art all good and powerful, Father, why didst 
 thou create me with attributes of justice, and capabili- 
 ties of happiness, the very consciousness of which 
 causes me to thank thee for my existence, and yet 
 make me so unlike thyself, as thy character is revealed 
 in thy partial government, and in the Book worshipped 
 as thy word, that my instincts of benevolence are 
 violated by thy, so called, special providences, and my 
 conceptions of the principles of distributive goodness 
 and equity, wounded by the manifestations of thy, so 
 styled, justice. And, Father ! if the combination of 
 books, written by different authors, who entertained 
 dissimilar views of thee, and of thy government — one 
 proclaiming thee to be " a jealous God/' another 
 declaring that thou art a " God of love;" one exact- 
 ing vengeance, — " an eye for an eye," — the other 
 teaching forgiveness, and "Love ye one another," — 
 Father, if this book be thy True Word, why are not 
 a greater number of the nine hundred millions of the 
 earth's inhabitants more acquainted with it, and 
 2 * 
 
18 
 
 obeying its commandments ? and, even among those 
 few who acknowledge it to be thy word, why permit- 
 test thou so much dissension and protestation ? 
 
 Thy children ask thee for thy approbation and favors, 
 Father ! as if thou wert not omniscient, as they teach 
 me thou art; following, therefore, the example of these, 
 named reverend teachers of righteousness, and of thy 
 so called only Son, I pray thee to confer upon hu- 
 manity, forthwith, the ability to behold Benevolence 
 in thy benevolence, Justice in thy justice, Goodness 
 in thy goodness, and Truth in thy word, whereso- 
 ever that word may be found. I pray thee to remove 
 Poverty, to remove Crime, to remove Misery. I pray 
 thee not to manifest thy attributes of Jealousy and 
 Vengeance upon thy defenceless and dependent chil- 
 dren, because such visitations will not improve the' 
 wicked, nor delight the truly righteous ; but rather, 
 Father ! displace Sin with Good, Slavery with Jus- 
 tice, Poverty with Plenty ; do this, and I know that 
 thy wayward and sinful ones will then have time and 
 cause to praise and bless thee, and the righteous will 
 be glad. 
 
 If thou hast, by voluntary volition, created the 
 heavens and the earth, and if thou hast destroyed 
 cities, led thy children to war, and cursed nations with 
 famine and disease, by the special and local exercise of 
 thy Almightiness ; then canst thou create vaster earths, 
 and build cities, give peace unto the world, and spread 
 it over with blooming health and smiling plenty. 
 Grant, grant me this my supplication, — this, the fo'st 
 request which I have ever presumed to proffer at thy 
 throne. And may I not ask thee, Father of my vision ! 
 — may I not ask thee why all things therein shown 
 
19 
 
 me cause me to fear thee ? And may I not learn 
 why, being good, and omnipotent, and so watchful 
 over the elements of earth and human affairs as thy 
 attributed special providences and local judgments seem 
 to evince, why it is that thou wilt not do something as 
 signal and as effectual toward removing Sin and Disease 
 from the world, and thus converting Earth into Heaven ? 
 
 gp ;jp ^ yfe ij$ 
 
 The legitimate influence of a belief in Special Provi- 
 dences, and consequently in the ability of man to move 
 his Maker by prayer and supplication, was completely 
 embodied in the foregoing invocation. The belief 
 begat in me what it cannot but produce in the mind 
 of every one who realizes it, namely — Fear, Discon- 
 tent, Presumption, and dictatorial Prayer. 
 
 Immediately upon concluding my address, I expe- 
 rienced the evidences of coming vision throughout my 
 entire system. In a few minutes my interior perceptions 
 were opened, and I beheld the person of my internal 
 and spiritual Guide. That his mission was to impart 
 some important and consoling instruction to my half- 
 distracted and exhausted spirit, I was absolutely certain. 
 His brilliant body and radiant mind constituted a 
 brighter sun than I had seen for several days. I was 
 in the society of truth and good. When my interior 
 condition was completely induced, and all my thoughts 
 and perceptions were perfectly bestowed upon his 
 glorious presence and mission, my Guide, fixing his 
 sweet but positive expression of countenance upon my 
 mind, thus addressed me: — " Thinkest thou, because 
 the earth is twenty-five thousand miles in circumference, 
 and because it is inhabited by nine hundred millions of 
 individualities, that the Great Supreme Spirit is engaged 
 
20 
 
 in particularly watching, specially influencing, and 
 locally governing, that planet, its elements, and the 
 people thereon ? Speak, thinkest thou these things ? " 
 And I replied: "The earth, with its inhabitants, and 
 the generally received evidences of special providences, 
 were presented to me on the mount, in a vision, in a 
 light more convincing of Divine interposition than ever 
 was such doctrine taught by the aged and the educated 
 about me in society/' The countenance of my Guide 
 radiated with even sweeter expression, as he again 
 spoke, and said: " Speak, thinkest thou that these 
 things are true, as they seemed to thee ? " And I 
 confessed my faith in special Providences by replying : 
 "I acknowledge that I believe them." Whereupon 
 my Guide threw the tranquillizing influence of his 
 spirit over me, and, notwithstanding his manipulations, 
 shut out the light of vision from my spiritual percep- 
 tions, and did not open my natural eyes, yet I felt as 
 one with him, and buoyant as air. In a few moments 
 I was wholly unconscious. 
 
 Anon, a sweet-toned and musical voice aroused me, 
 and, with my consciousness, there came from the 
 depths of my soul capabilities and powers which, pre- 
 vious to this moment, I had not known. Once more I 
 heard the voice, and he who spake said : " Behold !" 
 and instantly my perceptions were opened, and I saw 
 my glorious Guide, whose spacious forehead and up- 
 turned eyes impressed me with the sublimest thought. 
 Again he spoke, and bade me " turn and behold ! " 
 I obeyed, and, standing side by side with him, Our 
 faces in the same direction, I beheld the most mag- 
 nificently gorgeous representation of creative power. 
 It seemed that we stood before the stupendous heights 
 
21 
 
 of the universe, upon a turret of the temple not made 
 with hands ; surrounding us on every side were worlds 
 innumerable, and yet how noiselessly, how harmo- 
 niously, did they move around an unseen Parental 
 Centre ! There was not a world whose magnitude 
 did not transcend my even then exalted conceptions. 
 Their sublime beauty exceeded all language, and their 
 immeasurableness all known mathematical computa- 
 tions. 0, what an overwhelming scene ! Infinity seemed 
 wreathed with worlds, and every world was decorated 
 with lesser worlds, like mighty flowers of unutterable 
 grandeur. Each and all were flying through the bound- 
 less realms of infinite space, with the velocity of the 
 electric element, and yet they caused not so much 
 sound as the ticking watch. Their speed was incon- 
 ceivable, yet I could not see so much motion as there 
 is in an insect's heart. I gazed beneath, and my per- 
 ceptions enabled me to behold an awful depth, like 
 unto a bottomless abyss. It was a sea of worlds, and 
 so multitudinous were they, that in my attempts to 
 obtain something like analogous numbers, I thought 
 of all the drops of water on the earth, and yet the 
 worlds of that sea were unnumbered. Again I thought 
 of all the drops of water and grains of sand of which 
 the earth is composed, and my Guide said : " Behold! 
 thou hast now conceived of the myriads of worlds which 
 are congregated in yon distant group." And I looked 
 again, and beheld a deeper Depth, in a remote corner of 
 which was that group of assembled worlds more numer- 
 ous than all the atoms of our earth ; and with still 
 expanding and improved perceptions, I gazed and 
 gazed into the depths beneath, there beholding seas 
 of worlds upon seas of worlds — systems of worlds 
 
22 
 
 upon systems of worlds — and yet I saw no bottom to 
 that awful, but supremely magnificent vortex ! I grew 
 dizzy at the thought ; whereupon my Guide said : 
 " Thinkest thou that we stand upon the pinnacle of the 
 universal temple, and upon the topmost summit of the 
 vast creation ?" And I replied, while trembling at 
 the awful contemplation of the scene beneath, " I do." 
 Continuing to gaze upon me with serene expression, 
 and elevating his hand toward the heavens, he said : 
 "Be strong, and behold!" Directed by him, my 
 telescopic perceptions were turned on high, and I 
 beheld with awe, and with an amazement which I can- 
 not express, a vast ethereal concave, peopled with an 
 endless concatenation of transcendingly magnificent 
 Orbs or Worlds, too numerous to be conceived of, and 
 too beautiful to be described with human language. 
 Series, Groups, Degrees, and harmonious Organizations 
 of Suns, Planets or Worlds, and Satellites, were visible 
 everywhere ; and I could see no termination to the 
 height, nor to the depth, nor to the length, nor to the 
 breadth thereof. I saw that the stupendous Whole was 
 without alpha and without omega ; it was infinite and 
 universal ! 
 
 The illimitable concavity, the interminable width, 
 the bottomless vortex, the indescribable beauty, and 
 the noiselessness of the mighty whole, overcame me 
 with a dissolving sense of my own nothingness. I 
 seemed to be losing my individuality, when my Guide 
 thus addressed me : " Thinkest thou now of the great- 
 ness of an Earth twenty-Jive thousand miles in circum- 
 ference ? " 
 
 I felt not a little rebuked, for I recalled what I had 
 once conceived of the earth's magnitude, supposing it 
 
23 
 
 of such great importance in the sight of its Creator, but 
 I was moved to reply, " No, my celestial Guide ! I 
 think of it no more — the greatness and magnificence 
 of what I now see absorb the little Earth as the ocean 
 drinks in the dew-drops. But now, speaking of the 
 minute world, the Earth, I feel moved to inquire con- 
 cerning its numerous inhabitants — are they not great 
 and important in the sight of the Creator?" Imme- 
 diately upon asking this question, the quality of my per- 
 ceptions was changed ; instead of being diffusive and 
 comprehensive, they were particular and penetrative, 
 and thus ramified into immensity. " Behold/ ' spake my 
 Guide, and he pointed to the infinite wreaths of worlds 
 which had been shown me before, " behold, and realize 
 the scene." I looked, and with amazement I saw that 
 every world which was shining in those wreaths was an 
 immense Earth, whose actual magnitude exceeds all 
 measurement, and whose surface was peopled with the 
 most elegant and celestial beings ; I saw them, male and 
 female, and they were wonderfully beautiful, and not 
 unlike the inhabitants of our earth, but they were infi- 
 nitely more perfect and refined. And I could see gor- 
 geous habitations — residences of exquisite grandeur, 
 having architectural decorations and structural embel- 
 lishments altogether too beautiful to be described. 
 Gazing into such a world, beholding millions of inhab- 
 itants so perfect, so symmetrical, and so harmonious, I 
 could not but exclaim, in my intense delight, " Surely 
 this is heaven, and these are angels ! " But my Guide 
 quieted my enthusiasm by saying : " Thinkest thou now 
 of the greatness and importance of nine hundred millions of 
 individualities ? Thinkest thou now that they require 
 and receive special attention? " Again I felt not a little 
 
24 
 
 rebuked for having so magnified small things, and I 
 replied : " In view of these myriads and myriads of 
 human yet divine beings, kind Instructor ! I confess 
 that my thought of Earth's inhabitants has passed into 
 nothingness, like the winged ephemera; but in a vision 
 I saw what seemed to me, at that time, positive evi- 
 dences that the people of earth do receive special atten- 
 tion from Him who created them." 
 
 As I ceased speaking, an atmosphere of spiritual, 
 mellow light suddenly enveloped my Guide ; and his 
 countenance, though sweet and attractive, expressed an 
 unusual positiveness of purpose, as he said : " Gather 
 thy perceptions within thee ; open thy understanding 
 and hear me. I employ thee as a vehicle to convey 
 my instructions to the inhabitants of Earth, and what I 
 impart thou shalt first understand, because the convinced 
 understanding can speak as one having authority. I was 
 near thee on the mountain during thy vision of partial 
 or local Providences, and also when, as a representative 
 of the most advanced theological and religious minds on 
 Earth, thou prayedst to God for those blessings which 
 thou didst need, in common with humanity. And 
 when I perceived thy misapprehensions, and thy inter- 
 rogatories, and thy importunities, I was impelled by 
 the celestial spirit of fraternal love (which is guardian 
 love) to convey thee to heights where I could bestow 
 a gift which is more precious than all thou askedst 
 for humanity, — the gift (/Wisdom! 
 
 " When thou didst think of the Earth's greatness, I 
 saw that a knowledge of the immense seas and realms 
 of Creation would improve thy thoughts and under- 
 standing. 
 
 " When thou didst think upon the greatness and im- 
 
25 
 
 pmiance of humanity about thee, in consequence 
 whereof thou didst believe in required and received 
 special benefits and punishments, I saw that a more 
 enlarged view of the universal family would elevate thy 
 mind unto the mounts of Wisdom. 
 
 " When thou didst think that God would spread 
 disease and destruction throughout cities and empires, 
 and that his pleasure or displeasure could be mani- 
 fested in answer to invocations, thoughts, prayers, or 
 deeds, I saw that a more comprehensive and truthful 
 understanding of his Character and Majesty would 
 cause thee to rest, and not fear ', but LOVE HIM. 
 
 " And perceiving that thy conceptions of the Supreme 
 Spirit, his attributes, his government, or his local 
 and fragmentary manifestations among men, were born 
 of Ignorance, or were evidences that thy mind was 
 suffering from a destitution of true knowledge, I there- 
 fore resolved to convey thee where such conceptions 
 cannot live, and where the causes of true knowledge 
 reside in abundance.'' 
 
 Here I felt impressed to inquire of my Guide, if he 
 would present to me a view of the Earth and its inhab- 
 itants, that I might the more vividly perceive the 
 amazing contrast between that world and the scenes 
 of infinity with which my mind was now filled. 
 
 "Gather within thyself," he replied, "and I shall 
 conduct thee thither." 
 
 We passed over an inconceivable portion of infinite 
 space, in what seemed but a few minutes, and arrived 
 at a beautiful planet. 
 
 " Behold," said he, pointing obliquely through the 
 thin-orbed immensity, "behold, and realize the 
 scene." I looked where he directed, and straining 
 3 
 
26 
 
 my perceptions in the unsuccessful effort to obtain a 
 view of Earth, I was forced to exclaim: " 0, kind 
 Instructor, I can see nothing !" And he answered : 
 1 ' Behold, once more;" and instantly I saw, in the 
 remotest distance, a small bright spot, which gradually 
 grew more and more distinct, and I could perceive 
 something like clouds upon it ; and as I continued to 
 gaze, the clouds assumed the appearance of hills, 
 divided by little streams of water. " There," said my 
 Guide, pointing towards it, "you now see the Conti- 
 nents, the Mountains, the Seas, the Lakes, and the 
 Rivers of Earth." Still observing the planet, I saw 
 accumulations of various forms and colors, — white, 
 brown, black, and of a smoky appearance, — manifested 
 in different directions ; and I saw numerous minute 
 dark bodies issuing therefrom, going in and out, 
 crossing and recrossing each other's paths, and some 
 jostling one another. I was surprised at the appear- 
 ance of such immense ant-beds or mole-hiils, as they 
 seemed to me, and could not but exclaim to my 
 Instructor, " Surely this is not the Earth!" But he 
 replied : " Thou beholdest now the numerous villages, 
 cities, inhabitants, conflicts, and the pugilistic battles 
 of Earth." Sensations of humiliation, and some- 
 what of dejection, crept over my spirit as these words 
 were uttered by my kind but positive Guide. But 
 continuing my observations, I saw, in every direction, 
 and indistinctly appearing, numerous miniature build- 
 ings of various construction. And in several of them 
 I could perceive some of those same little dark bodies, 
 which my Instructor had informed me were Earth's 
 inhabitants. 
 
 I was about to ask him concerning these buildings, so 
 
27 
 
 indistinctly seen, when he said : " You now see the 
 Churches, and the people who occupy them, in the 
 most enlightened portions of the Earth.' ' At this 
 announcement I was much astonished ; for I remem- 
 bered that clergymen, and those who built and supported 
 churches, believe and teach that their faith and works 
 shine bright before God. I asked my Guide for the 
 privilege of hearing what one of the many clergymen 
 was at that moment saying. This was permitted me ; 
 and, through the medium of my improved and concen- 
 trated hearing, I listened and heard these words : — 
 " We thank thee, Father, for the gift of thy Only 
 Son, and for thy Holy Word. We thank thee for thy 
 sacred promises, for thy protection, and for thy loving 
 kindness ; and we pray that we may be led to seek 
 salvation, through the sufferings, and the blood, (shed 
 for us,) of thy only begotten Son." And instantly I 
 could hear no more ; but that prayer awakened a 
 renewed interest in what I had seen, in my vision on 
 the mountain, concerning special providences ; the 
 startling and external evidences of which, though I no 
 longer believed them to have been rightly apprehended 
 by me, seemed now to require an explanation. Where- 
 upon, my Guide, instantly perceiving my thoughts, 
 immediately replied to them, and said : 
 
 " Thou art soon confounded by the falseness and 
 imperfections of thy natural birth-place, (the Earth,) 
 because thy understanding has yielded too much and 
 too frequently to its superficial erudition and testi- 
 mony ; and because also thy mind is not educated in 
 the immutable principles of the Divine universal 
 government. Thou desirest a knowledge of the inte- 
 rior and true Causes of those externally represented 
 
28 
 
 instances of Special Providences, the professed super- 
 natural organ of which thou hast, in common with those 
 about thee, sacredly believed. Listen, then, and I 
 will explain to thee. 
 
 " First. — Concerning the man who was rescued, 
 and cured of his malady, from the moment he fell over 
 the precipice, thou wilt perceive that the following 
 causes were engaged : He was an ardent student, and, 
 by pursuing his studies to an extreme deviation from 
 the invariable laws of life and nature, his cerebral 
 structure was thrown into a state of semi-paralysis. 
 He was affected with that species of insanity known 
 by physicians as Incoherence or Dementia ; the symp- 
 toms of which are incoherence of ideas, forgetfulness, 
 extravagant speeches and actions, attempts to accom- 
 plish impossible things, &c; and, in this state of 
 mind, he approached and fell over the precipice, as 
 thou didst in thy vision witness. But the sudden and 
 unexpected arrest of his falling body, owing to its coming 
 in contact with a mass of woodbine, and the full 
 realization of his perilous situation before assistance 
 could reach him, so thoroughly revolutionized the 
 circulation of the blood and spiritual life through his 
 system, that the paralysis was removed, and hence he 
 was instantly cured. Physicians are acquainted with 
 parallel cases — instances where vigorous and healthy 
 individuals have had their hair turned white, or been 
 cured of disease, or have died in a few hours, by the 
 sudden and unexpected announcement of distressing or 
 joyful news. And if thou wilt ponder upon these 
 things, numerous other instances will appear, each 
 accompanied with their producing causes. 
 
 " Second. — Concerning the saving of the beautiful 
 
29 
 
 village, while destruction was surrounding it on every 
 side ; know thou that the interior causes of this extraor- 
 dinary circumstance are to be found in the situation 
 of the strata upon which the village was built. The 
 primary and secondary stratifications were so inter- 
 locked and super-blended together, that, while other 
 and different strata were rent and broken by the efforts 
 of elements to regain an equilibrium between the inter- 
 nal gases and the external atmosphere, (commonly 
 Called earthquakes,) those strata upon which the vil- 
 lage stood sustained no injury or disturbance. 
 
 " Third. ■ — ■ Learn, that the condemned female was 
 saved from death in the inquisitorial hall, because the 
 executioner held a conductor of electricity in his hand. 
 Thou rememberest that his sword was very bright; 
 but for this superior magnet, the female might have as 
 instantaneously experienced the same fate as did her 
 executioner and other inmates of the temple. 
 
 " Fourth. — The Earthquake, which occurred at the 
 time the Romans crucified him whose name was Jesus, 
 was a simple instance of coincidental or concurring 
 circumstances. But thou must bear in mind this truth? 
 that the external of anything is not the innermost 
 reality ; because the development of anything is 
 colored and exaggerated, or deformed and subverted, 
 more or less, by those external influences by which 
 the development is surrounded. Thus, the written 
 account of this earthquake is greatly exaggerated and 
 unreasonably stated among some of the inhabitants of 
 the Earth. It has become a romance, not a reality, 
 — not a fact, but a fiction ! Coincidences are of daily 
 and hourly occurrence among the people ; not similar 
 in sublimity, but equally as wonderful, — such as the 
 3* 
 
30 
 
 sudden stopping of a watch, or the breaking of a 
 mirror, or the howling of the house-dog, or the going 
 down of the sun, at the hour of a spirit's departure from 
 the body. But the undeviating processes of Nature, and 
 the ordinary, and sometimes marked, coincidental meeting 
 of circumstances with those natural processes, furnish the 
 true explanation of all local and extraordinary events 
 which ever have or ever can occur. 
 
 ' £ Fifth. — -The sudden death of Ananias, while giving 
 in a false oath, was occasioned by psychological and 
 physiological causes, or rather by the mind acting 
 violently upon matter. He had a disease of the heart, 
 known by physicians as hypertrophy ; and, while 
 making his deposition, the conflict was so great 
 between interest and duty, between the consciousness 
 of right and wrong ; between the effort to conceal his 
 true thoughts, and to unhesitatingly speak false ones ; 
 that his heart was unusually agitated, the blood regur- 
 gitated into its chambers, and forthwith its operations 
 ceased — and this is certain and immediate death. 
 The heart is not always diseased when similar in- 
 stances of sudden death occur ; sometimes mental 
 excitement will burst cerebral veins, and cause 
 instant extinction of life. 
 
 " Sixth. — The crossing of the Red Sea on dry land 
 is another illustration of Actionized facts, of realities 
 changed to romance. The Children of Israel were 
 enabled to cross the Red Sea on comparatively dry 
 land, by having their escape from Eg} T pt predeter- 
 mined and prearranged, thus : In one part of the Sea, 
 there extended a bar, or miniature mountain of sand, 
 which, during the recession of the tides, was com- 
 pletely exposed to the heat of the sun. This exposure 
 
31 
 
 generally continued for several hours. Bonaparte and 
 his army once crossed upon this bar ; so did Alex- 
 ander and his army ; so also did three Egyptian 
 generals, accompanied by their armed hosts. It was 
 by this passage that the tribes, under Moses, prede- 
 termined to escape ; and, in order to render their 
 emancipation from Pharaoh and slavery doubly certain, 
 Moses calculated their departure from Egypt with 
 sufficient precision to reach and cross the sea just in 
 advance of the returning tides. Thus he was certain, 
 that, if Pharaoh pursued with his hosts, for the purpose 
 of recapturing the tribes, the tides would return, 
 while the army was on the bar, and overwhelm them ; 
 and his anticipations were fully realized. Thou seest, 
 in this instance, how fortunate and extraordinary 
 events are exaggerated by the benefited parties, as 
 being the astonishing approval and particular dispen- 
 sations of some attending Deity. 
 
 " Seventh. — The diseased individual, who believed 
 (as did the clergyman and people) that her sufferings 
 were punishments imposed by God, that she might 
 thereby exercise patience, and have wrought for her a 
 i far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory/ 
 was thus afflicted because she had lived in perpetual 
 violation of the laws of Nature. Having wealth and 
 servants in abundance, she was enabled to procure, 
 and subsist upon, the most expensive and therefore the 
 most unwholesome food ; the richest viands and 
 cloying dainties ; whilst indulging in luxurious idle- 
 ness, without occupation, and dressing in the most 
 unnatural manner, enslaving the freedom of the body, 
 and denying it its natural and absolutely required ex- 
 ercise. And consequently, instead of experiencing 
 
32 
 
 pain induced by foreign causes, she was reaping fruit 
 according to the seed she herself had sown. 
 
 " Eight. — Thebeautiful and precocious infant, which 
 thou didst behold, was thus developed and early called 
 away, by causes which were in operation previous to 
 its birth. The mother had sustained no injury, no 
 fright, no violation of Nature's reproductive laws ; but 
 she possessed a particularly studious mind, and had 
 been arduously engaged in intellectual cultivation and 
 pursuits after knowledge. And the child was a repre- 
 sentative of these peculiar circumstances (which is an 
 issue or result invariably to be expected) ; and its 
 spirit, being so prematurely developed, exhausted the 
 deficient forces in its physical constitution, and a 
 slight extrinsic cause produced its death. — I employ 
 the language thou art accustomed to hear and use when 
 speaking of a Spirit's departure from the body. 
 
 " Ninth. — The youth who disobeyed his parents, 
 and sought pleasure on what thou callest the ' Sabbath 
 day,' was not drowned because of his disobedience, 
 nor because the day was considered holy among the 
 so styled enlightened minds of the earth ; but simply 
 because he was on the water, and because the storm 
 raged at that particular hour. Truth is simple and 
 natural ; Error is compound and artificial. According 
 to this propositional rule, I would have thee contrast 
 what the people of the Earth said concerning the diso- 
 bedient son, with what I have said concerning the 
 causes of his death, and thou wilt most surely see 
 yjhich is the simple, and which is the compound, and how 
 to distinguish truth from error. 
 
 " Tenth. — The affirmations of the Clergyman will 
 appear to thee as weak and almost inexcusably unrea- 
 
33 
 
 sonable when I inform thee that the young and inter- 
 esting daughter, instead of having been removed from 
 her parents and the earth by a special Providence, 
 was herself the cause of her death. She had a consti- 
 tutional predisposition to uterine neuralgia ; and, by 
 frequently exhausting her system with dancing, and 
 by dressing herself in apparel wholly inconsistent with 
 the atmospherical temperature and with her state of 
 physical depletion, she acquired a severe cold ; this 
 induced inflammation and neuralgia, which, not being 
 relieved, resulted in vital mortification/' 
 
 The easy and natural manner in which my Guide 
 explained the various instances of seeming special Prov- 
 idences, which I had witnessed in my vision on the 
 mount, caused me to exclaim : " 0, kind Instructor ! 
 my understanding gladly drinks in thy explanations ;. 
 but I am educated, on the Earth, to believe that what 
 delighteth the understanding is frequently fatal to the eter- 
 nal interests of the soul — wilt thou instruct me in this ? " 
 As I spoke this request, the Earth disappeared from 
 my view, and I turned to look at and again to question 
 my Guide, when he said: "Dost thou remember the 
 innumerable and Immortal Orbs thou hast seen ? 
 Dost thou remember the myriads of Seas of Worlds, 
 whose tides flow so noiselessly through the boundless, 
 interminable Realms of Infinity ? Dost thou remem- 
 ber the unutterable grandeur, the inconceivable har- 
 mony, and the magnificent display of Infinite Love and 
 Wisdom ? Eememberest thou all this ? If thou dost 
 remember, then will I disclose to thee another Truth, 
 — then will I reveal to thee that thou hast not gazed 
 upon the Works of God from the Heights of its Uni- 
 verse, nor from a Turret of the Infinite Temple. 
 
34 
 
 Learn that thou hast but stood witn me within the 
 spacious Vestibule, and there contemplated only an 
 infinitesimal portion of the Greatness, the Harmony, 
 and Grandeur of the Universe. Those dazzlingly 
 brilliant and supremely beautiful worlds, to behold 
 which drew from thy spirit expressions of delight and 
 amazement — causing thee to exclaim, f This is Heav- 
 en!' — they are but planets, and their inhabitants — 
 those spiritually exalted and magnificently harmonious 
 beings, whom you gazed upon with wonder, raptur- 
 ously calling them 'Angels ! ' — they are but Men and 
 Women, in mind and body constructed upon the same 
 musical principles as develop the human sexes on the 
 Earth. Thou hast seen nothing compared with that 
 which is still unseen — nor couldst thou as yet have 
 conceived, from all thou hast beheld, one thought 
 worthy to be termed an idea of God. What thinkest 
 thou, therefore, now of thy doctrinal education on the 
 Earth? How seemeth to thee the most enlightened 
 teachers there ? Hast thou now still remaining upon 
 thy mind a fear that He who lives through and sus- 
 tains, and harmonizes, and perfects, the million-fold 
 of Universes and all their vast possessions — I say, 
 fearest thou that such a Being could or would make a 
 group of human spirits so imperfect as to cause the 
 heart and understanding to war with one another ? — 
 and I ask of thee, canst thou still, for one moment, 
 believe that such a Being is engaged in causing Wars, 
 Pestilences, Devastations, and the numerous other Ills 
 which the inhabitants of Earth have not yet learned to 
 prevent — the Evils they have not outgrown ? And 
 thinkest thou that the Great Moving Principle of the 
 Universal Revolving Heavens is to be importuned to 
 
 
35 
 
 abolish those ills, to remove Poverty, Crime, Slavery, 
 and Disease — to cure those Evils which are of human 
 origin, and must die where they originated ? I tell thee 
 nay! The Great Living Principle — the Great Living- 
 Cause — the Great Living Father of all Worlds, and 
 of their countless inhabitants, moves His Universe by 
 Unchangeable, Immutable, and Impartial Laws ! He 
 creates no World, no Spirit, no Circumstance, by any 
 other than General Principles ; and therefore He dis- 
 penses no Partial Blessings or Curses in the Eternal 
 Empire of His universal Government. " 
 
 Silence, submission, and conviction, pervaded and 
 penetrated my entire soul ; and I only found words to 
 reply : " I will remember — I will communicate what 
 I have seen and heard." 
 
 "Then," said my Instructor, " gather thy percep-" 
 tions and living powers within thee." I instantly 
 obeyed, and I experienced the sweet, tranquillizing 
 influence of his Spirit so thoroughly that a deep sleep 
 came over me, even to entire unconsciousness. Again 
 I was awakened by the music of his voice. I was still 
 in the state I name rny superior condition, and my 
 Guide said: "Thou art again on the Earth, in the 
 grove, under those trees where thou didst pray to 
 God for instruction ; henceforth, when Ignorance and 
 Error, Superstition and Prejudice, arise mountain high 
 before thee, and seem about to crush thee, — then 
 remember! — remember what thou hast seen — re- 
 member then that thou hast stood upon sublime and 
 stupendous heights, and upon eternal elevations, which, 
 led by pure Wisdom, all human Spirits may attain! 
 and whenever Earth's Theologies and Religions, those 
 phantoms of the people, arise like shadows before 
 
36 
 
 thee — then remember that thou hast read the Title 
 Page of the True Word, and that thou hast entered 
 the Vestibule of the Divine and Universal Temple — 
 the " Temple not made with hands, eternal in the 
 heavens!" 
 
 There was silence around, and holy stillness. My 
 Guide said no more. The magnetic influence of his 
 Spirit passed gradually away, and I returned to my 
 natural condition. As I pursued my walk homeward, 
 my heart was filled with happiness and contentment. 
 The night had come on, and it was dark to the physi- 
 cal eyes. But the Sun-light of an Infinite and Eternal 
 Day shone brightly through the now unfolded portions 
 of my Immortal Soul ; and by that Light which knows 
 no darkness, I had learned not to Fear but to Love the 
 Supreme Principle ! 
 
 THE ARGUMENT. 
 
 That the Deity bestows particular attention upon 
 the Earth and its inhabitants, is an opinion which has 
 been long and universally entertained by mankind. 
 The Indian loves to believe that his tribe and lands 
 were bequeathed by the over-ruling Sachem ; that all 
 his hunting excursions and achievements on the battle- 
 field are rendered victorious in consequence of that 
 Power's supreme approval. The Savage, the Barba- 
 rian and the Patriarch, are equally impressed with a 
 corresponding conviction; but as individual and na- 
 tional experiences accumulate, and the principles of 
 scientific research and civilization are unfolded, the 
 Savage and Barbarian opinions become refined, sys- 
 tematized, and comparatively sublimated. In evidence 
 
37 
 
 of this statement, I refer the reader to the fact, that, 
 instead of the crude and petty manifestations of Su- 
 preme attention, recognized by the Indian, we find 
 the sublimer and more dignified exhibitions of Divine 
 design and power, in the writings and opinions of 
 modern Patriarchs, Priests, and Teachers. These 
 confine their attention not so much to the mere forma- 
 tion of our globe, as to the marvellous and sublime 
 manifestations of Power and Purpose, which they pro- 
 fess to recognize as proceeding from the Deity to his 
 children on the Earth some hundreds of years ago. 
 Thus, they recognize special and immediate interpo- 
 sitions of God in the birth and finding of Moses ; in 
 the captivity, escape, and multifarious experiences of 
 the tribes under his control; in his enlightenment, in 
 his miracles, in his commandments, and in his prin-" 
 ciples of government ; and in all that the various 
 Prophets were enabled to perform; and in the birth 
 of Jesus too, in his incarnation, in his life, in his teach- 
 ings, in his miracles, and in the kind of death which 
 he ultimately experienced ; and also in the endow- 
 ments and incarnations of Prophet, Apostle, Pope, 
 Priest, Bishop ; and in the supreme and absolute 
 authority invested in the Holy Bible by the institution 
 of the sacred Canon. Thus Patriarchs and modern 
 Teachers have advanced and enlarged upon the convic- 
 tions of the Indian, who only sees the particular favor 
 of the Deity in his successful hunting, and victorious 
 battles. 
 
 The origin of the belief under consideration may be 
 
 primarily traced to ignorance. It is unreasonable to 
 
 expect that any individual can have a more expansive 
 
 view of God than the Indian or Patriarch, if he is 
 
 4 
 
38 
 
 likewise persuaded that the Earth is the centre of 
 Creation, and that its inhabitants are the particular 
 children of the Creator. Those who acknowledge a 
 belief in supernatural manifestations, or Special Prov- 
 idences, have somewhere in the mind a defective 
 understanding of the Deity and his works. 
 
 But the belief in Special Providences has also a 
 secondary origin in Desire. Some nations and indi- 
 y viduals have a powerful desire to be considered par- 
 
 ticularly important and righteous in the sight of the 
 Creator. It is gratifying and supporting to some pecu- 
 liarly constructed minds, to think themselves divinely 
 favored, divinely commissioned, divinely endowed; to 
 believe themselves to be the chosen few particularly 
 in the possession of a "high calling;" and thus actu- 
 ated, such individuals, by first deceiving others, for 
 the purpose of receiving the approbation and emolu- 
 ments consequent upon such positions and endowments, 
 ultimately deceive themselves. I once came in con- 
 tact with an individual whose love of distinction, 
 approbation, notoriety, and personal power, were so 
 strong, and so predominated over his imperfectly 
 developed attributes of prudence and conscientious- 
 ness, that he was moved to set himself up as the Jews' 
 Messiah. At first it was but pretension ; but at last 
 he himself earnestly believed it ; and did many things 
 in demonstration of what he supposed to be his pecu- 
 liar and personal mission to that unadvanced and dis- 
 united people. But the belief we are considering can 
 also be traced to Education ; therefore, ignorance, and 
 doctrinal education, (which is mainly ignorance subli- 
 mated,) and desire, are, in numerous forms and states of 
 combination, the causes of a belief in Special or Im- 
 mediate Providences. 
 
39 
 
 There is, however, a belief of the understanding, in 
 the local and universal government of God, which is 
 adequate to supply every demand of the pure and 
 reasonable intellect. And this is the belief in the 
 Perfection, the Unchangeableness, and in the Univer- 
 sality of the Principles of Divine Government and Leg- 
 islation. These Principles are so admirably arranged 
 as to comprehend, protect and govern, the Mighty 
 Orb, the "falling Sparrow," the insect's Eye, and the 
 human Soul. These principles are simply the rules 
 or modes by which the Great Moving Principle governs 
 the Universe, and bestows his universal care and 
 blessings upon all created things. These Laws, by 
 which He thus governs, are so unchangeable and per- 
 fect as to render supernatural manifestations both 
 useless and positively impossible. 
 
 The miracle of changing water into wine, attributed 
 to Jesus, is in direct opposition to the established laws 
 of fluids and gases ; and again, the miracle of the res- 
 toration of Lazarus to life and health, subsequently to 
 the death and decomposition of his body, is in positive 
 antagonism to the determined laws of life and organiza- 
 tion ; and so, likewise, the miraculous birth of Jesus is 
 no less a positive violation of the immutable laws of 
 reproduction and procreation. 
 
 The proof that these exhibitions of Special Provi- 
 dences never did occur precisely as they are related, 
 is to be found in the fact that the Deity and his Laws 
 are perfect and unchangeable. But, it may be said, that 
 these miracles were performed according to preor- 
 dained but previously inactive laws, which laws were 
 called into effect, for the first time, when and where 
 those miracles were wrought ; and it may also be said, 
 
40 
 
 that the Deity, " knowing the End even from the 
 Beginning," did, in order to bring about these as- 
 tounding developments of might and design, institute 
 and make an eternal provision for the special action of 
 a set of principles, which, previous or subsequent to 
 the birth of Jesus, were not intended to be brought 
 into requisition. This hypothesis, entertained by the 
 most intelligent theologians throughout Christendom, 
 is refuted upon the ground that the Deity is an unal- 
 terable Being ; that his laws are proofs of his unchange- 
 ableness, and, consequently, that he cannot make a 
 set of laws for one age of the world, which in their 
 action will develop effects in direct opposition to his 
 universally established modes of being and doing in 
 every other age. For, should it be admitted that God 
 acted at one period in positive violation or contradic- 
 tion of his works in every other period, then are the 
 unchangeableness and the integrity of his character 
 impeached, and all true confidence in his Infinite 
 Perfection shaken and unsettled. 
 
 But again it may be urged, that God is All-power- 
 ful, and that he, therefore, can at pleasure suspend, 
 transcend, or destroy any set of Laws which originated 
 with him ; and that the miracles attributed to Jesus and 
 others, together with the many instances of Divine special 
 attention and interposition, recorded on the pages 
 of profane and ecclesiastical history, were developed 
 and performed, not by violating, but by suspending or 
 transcending the operation of those Laws which are 
 found to be, at other times, undeviating throughout 
 Nature. To this again the reply is, that the Perfec- 
 tion and Unchangeableness of the Laws of the Deity 
 render those miracles and divine interpositions both 
 
41 
 
 useless and impossible. And, furthermore, it is not to 
 be, for one moment, admitted that the Deity did create 
 those Laws which operate so consistently throughout 
 the illimitable Universe. 
 
 The Laws of Nature, like Nature itself and the 
 human soul, were not created by the Deity, but were 
 and are the spontaneous attributes of his divine Exist- 
 ence and Constitution. In other words, they are the 
 inevitable and indispensable developments of the 
 Divine Essence. Hence I affirm that the Deity did 
 no more create the Laws of Nature than did they 
 create him ; they are simply the outer manifestations 
 of the internal essential principles which constitute 
 his existence and Organization ; and consequently, 
 the Deity and his Laws are equally beyond the pos- 
 sibility of being changed, suspended, transcended, or de- 
 stroyed. All arguments concerning the possibility of 
 special providences, or of supernatural manifestations and 
 miracles of any character or extent, which are claimed 
 and believed by many nations, sects, and individuals, 
 can have their intrinsic value summarily determined 
 by the syllogistic form of demonstration : Thus — 
 
 1st Proposition. — Joshua claimed to have commanded 
 and caused the Sun and Moon to stand still for several 
 hours. 
 
 2nd Proposition. — The Deity and his Laws are 
 unchangeable. 
 
 3rd, Conclusion. — Therefore, Joshua was either de- 
 ceiving or deceived. 
 
 And again, — 
 
 1st Proposition. — Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and 
 modern Christian religious teachers, claim for Jesus a 
 4* 
 
42 
 
 supernatural birth, and a supernatural power of ivorking 
 astonishing miracles. 
 
 2nd Proposition. — The Laws of Nature are beyond 
 the possibility of being changed, suspended, transcended, or 
 destroyed. 
 
 3rd, Conclusion. — Therefore, Matthew, Mark, Luke, 
 and John were mistaken, and modern Christian religious 
 Teachers are deceived. 
 
 The consoling belief which flows from the under- 
 standing into the affections, and which is capable of 
 satisfying the reasonable demands of the soul, is a 
 belief that God is perfect and unchangeable ; that he 
 lives through all things, and has made life, harmony, 
 and happiness, attainable to all. When the human mind 
 conceives and believes that God is impartial, and that 
 he displays his natural and harmonious attributes 
 throughout Nature, and in the deepest recesses of the 
 Soul, then it will rest and be happy. An individual, thus 
 believing, is perfectly invincible to the invasions and 
 tirades of that fallacious education, and hereditary 
 prejudice, w T hich exist in the world. The convinced 
 soul is not disturbed by every " word of doctrine ;" it 
 is not moved by the preaching of miraculous manifes- 
 tations, as demonstrating the divine commission of any 
 man ; nor can the doctrines of physical resurrection, or 
 final judgment, or eternal condemnation, or any other 
 absurdity and fallacy of the popular schools, affect the 
 convinced understanding ; for such know that God is 
 an Eternal Magnet of concentrated Goodness, and that 
 man's pathway is eternally onward and upward to the 
 Supreme Attraction. 
 
 God is sufficiently minute, local, and immediate, in his 
 providences, to impart life and beauty to everything 
 
43 
 
 throughout the innumerable ramifications of infinite 
 Creation. He possesses within himself the principles 
 of all Motion, all Life, all Sensation, and all Intel- 
 ligence. He is the Infinite Germ of the Great Uni- 
 versal Tree of Causation; and according to the abso- 
 luteness of self-existence, and consequent necessity* 
 his celestial essences and essential principles unfold 
 and flow, with the minutest precision, into the smallest 
 atoms and organizations in nature. 
 
 It is not good, nor is it true or elevating, to believe 
 that God originally designed and instituted an endless 
 succession of consecutive causes and effects for the 
 express purpose of giving birth to just such an organ- 
 ization as Jesus had, or such as any other individual 
 may possess. But it is very good and righteous to 
 believe that God unfolds and develops, from out of the 
 inexhaustible plenitude of his Infinite Life and consti- 
 tution, a vast combination of Laws and Elements 
 which will go on eternally, elaborating human spirits, 
 and will continue to improve and perfect them more 
 and more in proportion as the circumstances of birth, 
 of climate, of education and government, advance 
 toward intellectual development and individual perfec- 
 tion. Hence it is unreasonable and unrighteous to 
 believe that God takes special notice of those numerous 
 transgressions, by which individuals only injure and 
 experimentally educate themselves. Nor is it good to 
 believe that God exerts his omnipotent power, with 
 the express design of arresting the action of physical 
 laws or elements, or to send rain, or to bestow special 
 endowments, or signal privileges, or particular gratifi- 
 cations, in answer to the prayers of the, so styled, 
 righteous. For such a belief would be admitting God 
 
44 
 
 to be a " respecter of persons/' and also the cause of 
 inconceivable injustices and injuries to some — yea, it 
 would be making him a mutable Being. 
 
 Let us think of this proposition, — let us consider, 
 that, any clergyman, (it may be the present Pope 
 Pius,) thought by many to be a righteous man, — sup- 
 pose he prays for the protection of the king, for the 
 enrichment of the kingdom, and for the perpetuation 
 of a monarchial or theocratical system of government. 
 And suppose that at the same time, a representative 
 of the people prays as fervently for the downfall of the 
 king, and for the establishment of a republic instead 
 of a kingdom. Of course, these opposing supplica- 
 tions are addressed to one and the same God. Now 
 if the Deity who rules the universe should grant the 
 prayer of one of these individuals, the desires of the 
 other would necessarily be ungratified, — his particu- 
 lar favor bestowed upon the one party would perhaps 
 result in immense evils to the other. Again, a 
 righteous man, living upon the mountain side, may 
 earnestly pray for rain, to cause his fruit-trees and 
 agricultural productions to yield abundantly ; whilst 
 another equally righteous man, living in the valley 
 beneath, having already had a great supply of rain 
 upon his farm, in consequence of water accumulating 
 in his springs from off the adjacent hills, and knowing 
 that any more, just then, would injure his forthcoming 
 crops, he therefore earnestly prays to God for fair 
 weather. Now if the prayer of the one be granted, 
 the other will sustain great injury in his pecuniary 
 interests, and so, vice versa. Hence, to be just and 
 impartial, God must exist and govern according to 
 universal and unchangeable principles. 
 
45 
 
 In considering special and universal providences 
 with a belief of the understanding, the highest and 
 greatest comfort flowing therefrom is based upon the 
 glorious and already (to me) demonstrated truth > that 
 our earth is environed by a Spiritual World. And not 
 only is our earth thus surrounded, but so likewise are 
 all the earths or planets belonging to our solar system. 
 In truth, there is a great sphere of spiritual existences, 
 which, touching it, girdle the material sphere, a part 
 of which we are at present existing in ; and again, en- 
 circling that sphere, are a galaxy of greater spheres, 
 more refined and more magnificent ; which are in- 
 habited by spirits, drawn onward by the eternal 
 magnet of Supreme Goodness. Thus there is a chain 
 extending from man to Deity ! And all that we can 
 desire in the form of attention and dispensation is 
 abundantly supplied, and handed down to us, by and 
 through the spiritual inhabitants of higher spheres, the 
 links in that chain of Love ! 
 
 The human soul is constructed upon musical prin- 
 ciples, which impart to it a constitutional tendency 
 toward harmony and happiness. The various attrac- 
 tions to which its tones respond are Self-love, Conju- 
 gal-love, Parental-love, Fraternal-love, Filial-love, 
 and Universal-love. But what I desire to impress 
 here is, that these Loves are innate affinities which 
 draw soul to soul ; which cause the human mind to 
 feel attracted to corresponding loves or affinities in other 
 minds, without reference to time, space, age, position, 
 education or circumstances. Therefore, should con- 
 jugal-love prompt an individual soul to pray for conju- 
 gal association, and should that soul's true associate 
 reside in the Spiritual World, it is almost certain that 
 
46 
 
 the prayer of the yearning heart on earth will be cer- 
 tainly answered by the spirit, which is impelled by 
 this irresistible attraction to seek its true companion. 
 But here let it be remembered that all spirits and 
 angels were once men ; lived in physical organizations 
 as we do ; and died, as we die, previous to their de- 
 parture for the spirit-home. And we all have relatives 
 there — parents, sisters, and brothers, perhaps, and 
 also relatives according to spiritual affinities. And the 
 Spirit World is not far off; it is very near, around and 
 above us at all times ; and that which was truly joined 
 here is not separated there ; death does not divide, 
 nor does it remove the loved ones beyond the reach of 
 the spirit's desires or prayers. As conjugal-love is 
 answered by some spirit having a corresponding at- 
 traction, so are other loves responded to by corre- 
 sponding loves ; and thus there proceeds to us, and 
 that not unfrequently, a vast variety of good sugges- 
 tions and righteous impulses, from some of our natural 
 or spiritual relatives who now reside in higher spheres. 
 And thus, too, when the soul is earnestly praying 
 for knowledge whereby to direct social government, 
 or for light upon the great problem of reorganizing 
 and harmonizing society, it is perfectly safe and rea- 
 sonable to believe that the noble spirits who have lived 
 among us on the earth, and who are now particularly 
 educated in these questions, draw nigh, and, perhaps, 
 insinuate some valuable thoughts into the under- 
 standing of the praying spirit, — this would be a 
 response to the fraternal-love, or the love of the 
 neighbor. Hence we may truthfully say that Provi- 
 dence imparts special information — not by direct and 
 immediate design, but by the operation of those natural 
 
47 
 
 and unchangeable laws whereby are governed the uni- 
 versal combinations of Mind and Matter. Spiritual 
 intercourse is developed and rendered universally 
 practicable by the Law of Association, or by the Law 
 of Affinities. Therefore, whoever should truthfully and 
 sincerely desire or pray for light upon governmental 
 and social subjects, whereby to reform society and 
 develop harmony among men, he would, probably, if 
 susceptible to interior impressions, receive something, it 
 might be, from the now educated Moses — or Lycurgus 
 — or Solon — or Plato ; for each of these individuals 
 had their fraternal-love considerably developed and 
 rudimentally educated by the friction of social and 
 other circumstances previous to their departure for 
 the Superior Country. So also, should any individual 
 earnestly seek to be enlightened concerning spiritual 
 and religious truths ; should he pray to know more 
 of God and the Universe, it is more than possible, it 
 is probable, that the now advanced Paul — or David — 
 or John — or Fenelon — or some departed relative, 
 having the filial-love fully developed and in constant 
 exercise, would impart sweet instructions, and satisfy 
 the inquirer. 
 
 I desire the reader to seek an illustration and con- 
 firmation of this fact by disciplining and unfolding the 
 mind to the influx of spiritual impressions. 
 
 Responses from the Spirit World will never be con- 
 flicting ; and, therefore, should an individual pray and 
 receive what he considers a reply, and should this 
 reply contradict what others have said or revealed, 
 then the only criterion by which to judge of its truth 
 or falsehood is the unfailing standard of Nature and 
 Reason. For instance — if a person should affirm, 
 
48 
 
 after earnestly praying, or while in what is modernly 
 termed the magnetic state, that he had heard or per- 
 ceived that the sun and moon were stationary during 
 the period assigned by Joshua, then the statement 
 must be tested by Nature, and Nature must be tested 
 by Reason. Again, if an individual (Emanuel Swe- 
 denborg or Jacob Beman, for instance) should affirm 
 that he perceived in the Spiritual World that the Bible 
 is the Word of God — that it is a sacred embodiment 
 of Truth — that it contains no errors — then the truth- 
 fulness of such an affirmation must be tested by refer- 
 ring it to the unchangeable and immeasurable Standard 
 of Nature and Reason — thus : 
 
 1. The Bible is affirmed to be all true. 
 
 2. Joshua's miracle is recorded in the Bible, which is 
 not true. 
 
 3. Conclusion— The affirmation is false. 
 
 Nature and Reason are the only mathematicians 
 who can perfectly demonstrate and unfailingly exhibit 
 the true or false character of every statement which 
 the profoundly ignorant, as well as the educated mind, 
 may be moved to make, under any conceivable cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 The embracing nearness of the Spiritual World, 
 and its accessibleness, furnishes the spirit with every 
 advantage and gratification it should desire, through 
 the mediums of providential dispensations or Divine 
 interposition. But if the ambitious and aspiring Chris- 
 tian heart is dissatisfied with the mediate and indirect 
 manner in which its prayers to God are answered — - 
 dissatisfied because the Deity himself does not more 
 directly hearken to its invocations, then I desire to im- 
 press that heart with this truth : that no human spirit 
 
49 
 
 has yet conceived a thought, or uttered a word, as 
 it conceives of the Father, sufficiently magnanimous, 
 sublime, or expressive, to be applied to even one of 
 the glorious individuals, who, though once a resident 
 upon some Earth, now treads the beautiful paths and 
 flowering valleys of the Spirit Home. 
 
 Think not, because God is so inconceivable in his 
 Greatness, so elevated above special prayer, and 
 special action, that he is far removed from our spirits 
 — no, he 
 
 " Lives in the soul, informs our mortal part, 
 As full, as perfect in a hair as heart ; 
 As full, as perfect in vile man that mourns, 
 As in the rapt seraph that adores and burns." 
 
 And so near is he, that in him we daily and hourly 
 " live, move, and have our being," — we are in him 
 and of him, and as the body, branches, twigs, leaves, buds, 
 blossoms and fruit of a tree are unfolded and minutely 
 developed from the essences and beginning principles 
 which were originally deposited in its Germ, so does 
 the Great Germinal Essence of the Universal Tree 
 unfold and develop the minutest branches, buds, blossoms, 
 and organizations, which perfume and adorn the Stu- 
 pendous Whole. 
 
 If a particular bud, or a chosen number of buds, 
 should set up a claim to special blessings and atten- 
 tions, and should they invoke and adjure the Germ to 
 dispense a large share of its life and fluids to them, the 
 other buds may remain perfectly satisfied that justice will 
 preside over every dispensation of the moving principle 
 which gave them birth. So, likewise, should any 
 individual, or class of individuals, make pretensions to 
 righteousness in consequence whereof they presume 
 5 
 
50 
 
 to invoke, importune, and adjure the Deity to grant 
 them special, immediate, and eternal favors, other indi- 
 viduals may rest perfectly satisfied that the Deity and 
 his Laws are Equal, beyond the possibility of Chance, 
 Suspension, or Separation; and hence, that Eternal 
 Justice will preside over the distribution of Divine life 
 and happiness to every flower and spirit, to every atom 
 and seraph, that has an existence anywhere in the wide- 
 spread gardens of God ! 
 
 Having ascertained that the Laws of Nature are un- 
 changeable, and that the Deity never alters his mode 
 of being, we may now, by way of an application of 
 these Truths, inquire — 
 
 WHAT IS MEANT BY THE SIN AGAINST THE 
 HOLY GHOST? 
 
 The sin against the Holy Ghost, which is generally 
 understood as being the unpardonable sin, is suscep- 
 tible of a more reasonable interpretation than the 
 learned scholars of early centuries, and the biblical 
 commentators of modern times, have bestowed upon 
 it. This question of the unpardonable sin has agi- 
 tated many noble and educated minds ; and it is not 
 unlikely that it has confounded and frightened many 
 honest and timid minds who have searched the primi- 
 tive history for truths and everlasting life. But those 
 clergymen and commentators who have inquired con- 
 cerning the true meaning of this passage in the Bible, 
 have been thoroughly satisfied, I believe, that it was a 
 sin they never had themselves committed. If it ever 
 was committed, they think the sin is certainly chargeable 
 upon some neighbor, or a certain class of individuals. 
 
51 
 
 Athanasius believed it was chargeable upon the 
 Pharisees, for their contempt of Christ and his works, 
 which they maliciously and wickedly imputed to the 
 agency of the Devil, being at the same time fully 
 persuaded that those works were performed in a good 
 spirit ; and in this imputation is an implicit disbelief in 
 Christ's divine and supernatural origin ; thus consti- 
 tuting, in the mind of a believer in supernatural and 
 mysterious things, a most formidable sin, one too 
 intrinsically evil to be forgiven. 
 
 The difference between a sin against the Holy Ghost 
 and a sin of ignorance, of forgetfulness, of neglect, of 
 inadvertency, and other minor sins against positive or 
 negative precepts and customs, consists in the former 
 sin being totally unpardonable, and the latter sin being 
 possible to forgive until seventy times seven. But, I 
 think it will appear to those who are accustomed to 
 the employment of their reason, that the punishment 
 which is generally affixed to the commission of the 
 unpardonable sin is entirely at variance with those fair 
 proportions which always characterize the principles 
 of justice and truth. 
 
 The relation between this crime and its punishment 
 is no more consistent, just, or intimate, than burning 
 a member of the body, or sowing seed, in America, and 
 feeling the pain, or reaping the harvest, in England. 
 Nor are we to suppose that an individual, who (com- 
 pared with the infinite Creator) is but a finite and 
 almost insignificant creature, can possibly commit a 
 crime which will be attended with eternal conse- 
 quences. For, let it be thoroughly impressed, that the 
 human mind can no more break or mar one of the eter- 
 nal Laws of Nature than it can render the Deity imper- 
 
52 
 
 feet or unhappy! To believe that God will punish in- 
 finitely human beings for any finite transaction is to 
 believe that God is unjust — yea, even according to 
 human principles of goodness and equity. Any 
 punishment, to be just, must be proportionate to the 
 magnitude of the transgression ; and, therefore, the 
 idea of an individual being punished with an ever- 
 lasting punishment for that sin, which (according to 
 true philosophy) is only an injury done to himself, is 
 an idea only suitable to the barren mind of the barba- 
 rian. 
 
 But the true explanation of the idea of an unpardon- 
 able sin, (which idea I am willing should remain 
 clothed in the terms, "sin against the Holy Ghost/') 
 is now deemed necessary. 
 
 The terms Holy Ghost are applied, in theology, 
 almost exclusively to the third person in the Godhead, 
 but this furnishes no clue to a proper interpretation of 
 the idea. The idea is simply as follows : — 
 
 The Great Positive Mind lives, moves, and governs, 
 in the vast universe of mind and matter, according to 
 certain fixed laws or rules, which constitute the Holy 
 Ghost, or Excellent Laws that proceed from his Spirit 
 into All things. The term Holy signifies excellent; 
 and the term Ghost signifies law or laws. The indi- 
 vidual is always under the control of three laws, which 
 laws operate with an undeviating precision in his 
 physical system, in his social relations, and in his 
 moral and spiritual connections, to the world without, 
 and to the world within him. These laws require the 
 individual to be harmonious in his physical organiza- 
 tion, harmonious in his social system, and in his mind. 
 Indeed, a perfectly healthy body, and situation, and 
 
53 
 
 mind, are absolutely demanded by the Holy Ghost, or 
 Excellent Laws of our being. Inasmuch as we are 
 governed by, and are only happy and harmonious 
 when obeying, the 'principles of our entire existence, it 
 is plain that any deviation from them would result in 
 discord and unhappiness, to an extent always propor- 
 tionate to the extent of the deviation ; and let it be 
 fully and indelibly impressed upon the mind, that there 
 is no possible way of escaping the legitimate and entire con- 
 sequences of any infringement upon the operation of these 
 Natural or Divine Laws. If you violate the laws of 
 digestion, of gravitation, of reproduction, of locomo- 
 tion, or of any of the functions of the body or mind, or 
 any of the natural relations which subsist between 
 individuals in society, you will receive the legitimate 
 consequences of your violation, and there is no other 
 atonement. 
 
 The answer to the question under consideration 
 naturally comes in at this point. It is this : 
 
 An infringement upon the operation of Nature's 
 Laws cannot be forgiven, but must be settled by the 
 individual's suffering the consequences of the infringe- 
 ment. In other words, a sin against the Holy Ghost, 
 or against Natural Laws, cannot be forgiven — cannot 
 be pardoned — cannot be mitigated — cannot be aug- 
 mented, but must be settled by a full and complete 
 experience of consequences, according to the nature 
 and extent of the sin. 
 
 It may be supposed that an individual is punished, 
 not according to what he has done, but according to 
 what he intended to do. If this opinion is entertained 
 with reference to the commission of the unpardonable 
 sin, and in justification of the eternal punishment of 
 5* 
 
54 
 
 the individual who commits it, then I would refer such 
 a believer, for a full refutation of his opinion, to those 
 laws by which we are unerringly governed. If an 
 individual intends to burn his whole body, and only 
 burns a finger, he does not suffer for what he intended 
 to do, but for what he did do, to his physical system. 
 Should an individual intend to murder a neighborhood, 
 but, failing to accomplish his original design, only 
 causes the death of one person, then he does not suffer 
 for what he did, but for what he inwardly believes, or 
 feels, to be the intrinsic evil of his intentions. The 
 deed which would make a civilized man unhappy, 
 would render an Indian joyful. A man is punished by 
 the physical laws for what he does, and by the moral 
 laws, for what he conceives to be the real wickedness 
 of his intentions. But when the wicked intention 
 ceases to inhabit the chambers of the mind, then the 
 individual is no longer committing sin, and is, conse- 
 quently, no longer punished. The punishments con- 
 sequent upon evil intentions are exclusively experi- 
 enced by the individual intending evil ; and the causes 
 of his suffering are to be found in those inordinate 
 desires or actions which generate discord in his in- 
 harmonious nature. Thus, anything which produces 
 discord in the physical, or social, or moral systems of 
 our being, will cause us to suffer a physical, social, or 
 moral punishment, and such punishment is always in 
 proportion to the extent and character of the disturb- 
 ance produced. But, inasmuch as the primary causes 
 of these disturbances are hereditary, educational, and 
 circumstantial, it therefore follows that when these 
 causes cease to exist, these disturbances will also 
 cease to exist ; and hence there will not be a per- 
 
55 
 
 petuation of effects or punishments throughout the 
 length and breadth of eternity, as clergymen generally 
 affirm. Now what it is well to believe is, that every 
 infringement upon the physical or moral laws of our 
 being will be followed by its appropriate conse- 
 quences — and from them there is no escape. Therefore, 
 such infringements are sins against the Holy Ghost, 
 and should every Christian in existence be executed 
 upon a cross, it would not lessen a single pang, or 
 save the individual from the legitimate effects of such 
 righteous and efficient causes. 
 
 THE END, 
 

 VALUABLE PUBLICATIONS. 
 BELA MARSH. No, 25 Cornhill, 
 
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 P 
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 touching the matter of Slavery. j 
 
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 MR. DAVIS'S jN t EW WORK. 
 
 Mr. Davis is now engaged in the composition of a work, the general title of 
 which will be " The Great Harmonia." It is to consist of a series of vol- 
 umes, each of which will have a bearing on some particular subject. For in- 
 stance, one volume may be devoted principally to Geology, another to Astronomy, 
 another to Theology, to Spiritual Visions, to Human Progress, to Social Reform- 
 ation, &c, &c. In a word, the work is to consist of all subjects, facts and truths, 
 concerning which his spirit is duly impressed. 
 
 The first volume of the series is to be entitled "The Physician," and is now 
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