Class 
 Book 
 
 .A 3.5 
 
 Copyright^ . 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSHV 
 
A / 
 
 RIVULET FROM THE OCEAN OF TRUTH 
 
 AUTHENTIC AND INTERESTING NARRATIVE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ADVANCEMENT OF A SPIRIT FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT. 
 
 PROVING, BY AX ACTUAL INSTANCE, IHE 
 
 INFLUENCE OF MAN, ON EARTH, OVER THE DEPARTED. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY MD INCIDENTAL REMARKS, 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN S. V ADAMS 
 
 God's mercy is eternal and complete. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 PUBLISHED BY BELA MARSH, 
 
 15 FEANKLIN STREET. 
 1854. 
 
00hs 011 Spiritualism 
 
 BELA MAESH, No. 25 CORNHILL, 
 
 Has for sale a complete assortment of Books and Periodicals devoted to the 
 facts, philosophy, and advocacy of Spiritualism, which he will supply in any 
 quantity, on the most favorable terms ; a part of which are included in the 
 following list, with the prices annexed, together with the rates of postage. 
 
 Kevelations, &/C, by A. J. Davis, 
 the Clairvoyant 
 
 The Great Harmonia, Vol. I.— 
 The Physician, by same .... 
 
 The Great Harmonia, Vol. II — 
 The Teacher 
 
 The Great Harmonia, Vol. Ill — 
 The Seer 
 
 The Philosophy of Spiritual In- 
 tercourse. A. ,). D 
 
 Sequel to do. 
 
 The Philosophy of Special Prov- 
 idences — A Vision. A. J. D. . . 
 
 The Harmonial Man, by Davis 
 
 The Approaching Crisis: being 
 a Review of Dr. Bushnell's recent 
 Lectures on Supematuralism, by 
 Davis • • 
 
 Light from the Spirit World. 
 Rev. Charles Hammond, Medium . 
 
 The Pilgrimage of Thos. Paine, 
 written through C. Hammond, Me- 
 dium. Muslin, 75c, 12c. postage ; 
 paper 
 
 Elements of Spiritual Philoso- 
 phy. R- P- Ambler, Medium . . 
 
 Reichenbach's Dynamics of 
 Mesmerism 
 
 Pneumatology, by Stilling. Edited 
 by Rev. George Bush 
 
 Celestial Telegraph, by L. A. 
 Cahagnar • • • 
 
 Voices from the Spirit World. 
 Isaac Post, Medium 
 
 Night Side of Nature — Ghosts 
 and Ghost Seers. By Catharine 
 
 Crowe ............. ■ 
 
 Gregory* s Lectures on Animal 
 Magnetism, • ■ ■ • 
 
 The Clairvoyant Family Phy- 
 sician. By Mrs. Tuttle 
 
 Sorcery and Magic, by Wright . 
 
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 The Philosophy of Creation : un- 
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 Development of Nature, &c, . . » 
 
 Philosophy of the Spirit World, 
 
 Hammond, 
 
 The Spirit Minstrel ; a collection 
 
 of Hymns and Music, for the use of 
 Spiritualists, in their Circles and 
 Public Meetings. By .1. B. Pack- 
 ard and J. S. Loveland 
 
 The Religion of Manhood, by 
 Dr. Robinson, 
 
 Spirit Manifestations : being an 
 Exposition of Facts, Principles, etc., 
 by Rev. Adin Ballou 
 
 Spiritual Instructor: containing 
 
 Facts and the Philosophy of Spirit- 
 ual Intercourse 
 
 The Spiritual Teacher, by Spirits 
 of the Sixth Circle. R. P. Ambler, 
 Medium 
 
 The Macrocosm and Microcosm, 
 or the Universe Without and the 
 Universe Within, by William Fish- 
 bough. Paper bound, 50c; muslin 
 
 The Philosophy of Mysterious 
 Agents, Human and Mun- 
 dane, or the Dynamic Laws and 
 Relations of Man, by E. C. Rogers 
 
 Mesmerism in India. 
 
 Messages from the Superior 
 State, communicated by John 
 Murray, through John M. Spear . 
 
 Spirit Voices. Odes dictated by 
 Spirits for the use of Harmonial 
 Circles. E. C. Henck, Medium. 
 Plain bound, 38c.: extra bound . . 
 
 Familiar Spirits and Spiritual 
 Manifestations, by Dr. E. Pond, 
 Professor in the Bangor Theological 
 Seminary, together with a reply by 
 Albert Bingham 
 
 62 11 
 
 25 
 
 50 12 
 
 75 12 
 
 100 
 75 
 
 15 
 
 The Shekinah, a monthly Magazine, edited by S. B. Brittan. Terms, $3.00 
 per annum. 
 
 The Spiritual Telegraph, a weekly Paper, also edited by Mr. Brittan. 
 Price $2.00 per annum. 
 
 The New Era, published by S. Crosby Hewitt. Price $1.50 per annum. 
 
RIVULET FROM THE OCEAN OF TRUTH 
 
 AUTHENTIC AND INTERESTING NARRATIVE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ADVANCEMENT OP A SPIRIT FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT. 
 
 PROVING, BY AN ACTUAL INSTANCE, THE 
 
 INFLUENCE OF MAN, ON EARTH, OVER THE DEPARTED. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY AND INCIDENTAL REMARKS, 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN S. ADAMS 
 
 "God's mercy is eternal and completi 
 
 BOSTON: 
 PUBLISHED BY BELA MARSH, 
 
 15 FRANKLIN STREET. 
 1854. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by 
 
 JOHN S. ADAMS, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY 
 
 HOBART & BOBBINS, 
 
 NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDERY, 
 
 BOSTON. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 It has often been asked, " What good will Spiritualism 
 do ? " The question conies to the heart of the true spirit- 
 ualist as an outstretched hand from amid the darkness of 
 midnight ; for he feels, deeply feels, how heavy and dense 
 must be those clouds that gather around the mind that 
 puts forth such an inquiry. Feeling, as he does, the 
 purity, holiness, and angelic loveliness of his belief, he is 
 surprised that any one can doubt the happy result of the 
 operations of such a trinity of heavenly beatitudes. And 
 he would answer, from the depths of his inner being, but 
 finds no words adequate fully to express the feelings of 
 his soul. 
 
 The question has been asked, and answered, with refer- 
 ence to man's condition here, and the condition hereafter 
 of those, who, while in this present state, embrace the 
 truths made manifest by these revelations. 
 
 Much has been said of the influence of holy spirits 
 upon mankind, and thousands of instances have been re- 
 corded, in which their power to restrain and reform has 
 been vividly portrayed. The man who long had wan- 
 dered from paths of duty, whose ear no human voice 
 could reach, whose heart, hardened by evil indulgence 
 and frequent compromise with earthly passions and self- 
 ishness, no entreaty could move ; whose eye, practised 
 in the bold effrontery of the world, was stern and fixed, 
 
has been brought as a child at the feet of truth, clothed 
 and in his right mind, as the unmistaken voice of his 
 mother, whose earthly body he long ago entombed in a 
 distant village, fell upon his ear. He came to scoff and 
 to laugh ; he went away to reflect and weep. With many 
 words, and acts, and recitals of past events, — events of 
 his own childhood and youth, — she convinced him of her 
 actual presence, and having told him, that, having by that 
 interview been enabled to approach him, she would, 
 henceforth, ever be near him with her influence to guide 
 him from grossness and sin to purity and holiness, she 
 gave him her angel blessing, and bade him an affection- 
 ate " Good-by." He went away and became a better 
 man, for he felt a spirit-presence ever around him, and 
 he knew it was his angel mother. 
 
 I have in my mind several cases in which such a ref- 
 ormation was effected, and the once dissolute and pro- 
 fane became the circumspect and religious. And by 
 " religious " I do not mean a mere observance of cer- 
 tain formalities which some human council, at some remote 
 period of time, decreed as passports to heaven ; but, in 
 a broader sense, that inner religion — that which enters 
 the soul, and worships at God's high altar of eternal 
 truth — which takes hold of man's whole being, and 
 leads him, body and soul, to offer up that form of prayer 
 which is alone effectual — the prayer of personal action. 
 
 It is not my purpose, at this time, to speak of the good 
 works of Spiritualism ; the fruit thereof, as exhibited in 
 thousands of families around us ; but to direct the atten- 
 tion of the reader to another phase of the question, and 
 that is, the influence of man on earth over those who have 
 passed to the spirit-world. 
 
 It is conceded by all independent, intelligent minds, 
 
that, as the spirit leaves this world, so it enters the world 
 beyond ; — in other words, the change wrought by what 
 we call death, does not in the least affect the nature, dis- 
 position or inclinations of the real man, the soul. It is 
 not by it rendered worse or better, but is, the moment 
 after it leaves the physical body, precisely the same, in 
 every particular, as it was the moment before. If the 
 spirit loved earthly things, if it found its pleasure in the 
 indulgence of low, animal passions, it will retain those 
 characteristics in its new condition, and will, for a time, 
 continue its wanderings in darkness, thus delaying its 
 ultimate progression ; or it will, on becoming conscious of 
 the realities of its spiritual existence, be induced, by the 
 high glories above, to turn from evil and seek good, and 
 thus advance to living joys beyond. If, on the other 
 hand, the spirit, while in its earthly body, had aspired to 
 purity, holiness, and those joys which come only from an 
 intimate communion with God, as he is manifested in the 
 persons of high and holy spirits, — if he has sought and 
 employed every means within his reach to become more 
 fully developed in love, goodness, and truth, he will, on 
 entering the world of spirits, rejoice in being freed from 
 earthly encumbrance, and rapidly ascend in the direction 
 in which his soul has ever been turned. 
 
 It is evident, therefore, that there are very many 
 grades of condition in the spirit world. This is not only 
 a truth as regards that state of existence, but is one of 
 which we can be cognizant in this. Keflect upon the 
 countless forms of mind around you, and consider that no 
 essential change is effected by their removal from a phys- 
 ical to a spiritual body, and you will at once perceive that 
 there must be countless degrees of spirit-life in that 
 world, unseen by our physical organs. 
 2* 
 
6 
 
 Here, the different degrees of mental affinity are 
 mingled. The pure is often brought, by unavoidable 
 circumstances, in connection with the gross ; — minds 
 entirely at variance are brought together. Having no 
 affinity with each other, unhappiness is the natural result 
 of the unnatural alliance. 
 
 There, in the spirit- world, the relation of each to the 
 other is different. The law of affinity governs all things. 
 Those of like loves and inclinations flow together in one 
 harmonious association, and the result is happiness. 
 
 When the spirit leaves the body, it goes to its own 
 place ; and we are now, by our lives here, each one and 
 all, building for ourselves a habitation there, a temple not 
 made with hands, which we shall surely find ready for our 
 occupancy when we pass on. According as we sow, we 
 shall reap. If we wish to find our home in the future a 
 home of love and truth, goodness and wisdom, we must 
 cultivate and mould our thoughts with such principles 
 here. 
 
 It is the result of the operation of this divine law 
 of affinity that constitutes what are known to us as 
 "spheres." If we consider the innumerable grades of 
 mind that form the continuous chain of intelligence from 
 the lowest to the loftiest which our finite minds can 
 conceive of — and yet the chain goes beyond — we shall 
 at once perceive that the number of these spheres is 
 beyond the power of man to compute. 
 
 In an intercourse with the inhabitants of the spirit- 
 world, man can be in communication with high and holy 
 beings, or with low and undeveloped. He holds, as it 
 were, a medium relation to both. On account of being 
 surrounded with a material organization, thus existing 
 both as a spiritual and a physical being, he is rendered 
 
approachable by many classes of spiritual existences, 
 high and low. It is not unreasonable, then, to suppose, 
 on the contrary it is naturally intuitive in us to believe, 
 that as spirits above our plane of thought can, by enter- 
 ing into communication with us, teach us great and soul- 
 satisfying truths, so we, by entering into communication 
 with spirits below our plane, may teach them, and guide 
 them up from their less- developed state than our own, 
 and point them beyond to higher truths and purer joys 
 than even we, bound with earthly ties, can at present 
 know or experience. 
 
 On every atom of the vast universe of God, progres- 
 sion is written in ever- enduring characters. Nothing 
 acts abruptly, nothing suddenly, but every effect has had 
 a cause, slow but sure in the fulfilment of its design. 
 Could we at one glance look upon the spirit- world, and 
 behold its arrangement, we should perceive a gradual 
 blending of each lower with a higher degree of develop- 
 ment towards the unfathomable perfections of the Deity ; 
 one vast, interminable chain, the lower links large and 
 gross, and the succeeding gradually smaller and more 
 refined. 
 
 Having said thus much, which seemed to me necessary, 
 to those who may not have directed their thoughts to the 
 subject under consideration, I introduce to your atten- 
 tive reading an authentic narration of facts, which prove 
 more conclusively than any argument of mine can pos- 
 sibly prove, not only that spirits do progress from a state 
 of unhappiness, but that man, in this life, can exert a 
 salutary influence upon them. 
 
 In the continual unfoldings of these manifestations of 
 spiritual presence and power, truths, new to our minds, 
 are constantly being revealed. One of these is that 
 
8 
 
 man, for reasons before stated, holds a position in 
 the universe of great practical utility to spirits above 
 and to spirits below him. Through him those bright, 
 angelic beings of purity and holiness can send mes- 
 sages of hopa and incentives to advancement to those 
 whom the laws of affinity keep at an immeasurable 
 distance. Do not understand me to say that had not gen- 
 eral, tangible, spiritual intercourse been reestablished as 
 it now is, those low developed spirits would forever have 
 remained in their dark condition for the want of a medi- 
 atorial agency. Such a destiny is impossible, inasmuch as 
 it is the eternal purpose of God to draw all unto himself. 
 Holy spirits can employ agencies in the spirit- world by 
 which to influence and draw them up. Yet the advance- 
 ment of many will be far more rapid than it would have 
 been under less favorable circumstances than these now 
 happily brought to bear upon them. 
 
 The fact that spirits can advance in a future state — 
 that the few years of life passed on earth, which, in com- 
 parison to our existence, is infinitely less than a monad 
 to limitless creations multiplied by countless infinities — 
 is not our only state of probation — may be objected to 
 by some } on the supposition that it would, as they think, 
 lead man to indulge in all manner of iniquity, trusting 
 to some future period for amendment and redemption. 
 Let such read this narrative. Let them ask themselves 
 whether this spirit has not lost much blessedness, and, 
 though happy now, is not behind that position which she 
 would now hold, had she, when on earth, lived according 
 to the dictates of reason, and listened not to the prompt- 
 ings of earthly passions, or the false and goading doc- 
 trines of a demoniac creed. And this result is eternal. 
 Forever the spirit will be in the rear of the holiness and 
 
9 
 
 perfections which it would have attained had its life here 
 been rightly directed. Such a belief is a strong incen- 
 tive in every man's soul to the performance of every 
 known duty ; to such a cultivation of those heavenly 
 virtues here as will place him in an advanced and glo- 
 rious position there ; for it is a truth made doubly appar- 
 ent by the teachings we receive from the spirit-world, 
 that the better a man's life is here, the better will be his 
 condition there ; the more of God's holy truth he carries 
 with him to that world, the more readily and better pre- 
 pared will he be to receive and perceive its higher 
 glories and fuller developments, as they will be there pre- 
 sented to him. 
 
 Early in the summer of 1852, Dr. A. B. Child, of 
 Boston, became interested in the subject of Spiritualism. 
 From that time until February, 1854, he had seen no man- 
 ifestations, and had had no strong desire to witness them. 
 He had read much on the subject, and became a believer 
 in its truth by a consideration of the reasonableness of 
 its teachings, and their perfect adaptation to the wants 
 of man's interior nature. In his investigations, he relied 
 more on reason and an intuitive perception of truth than 
 on the sense of sight and hearing. He had always 
 believed in the immortality of the soul ; and, acknowl- 
 edging the existence of those whom some called " dead," 
 it was no startling announcement to him that they could 
 make known their presence, and impart a fund of knowl- 
 edge to those who would listen to their teachings. 
 
 Nor was this belief of his in the truth of Spiritualism 
 a mere belief. It took deep hold of his entire being, 
 body and soul. Though never what the world would 
 call " desperately wicked," yet, in his daily intercourse 
 with the fashionable classes, he had acquired habits not 
 
10 
 
 strictly orthodoxical to the puritanic rule in their nature 
 or tendency. From the first reception of the truths 
 revealed from the world of spirits, he became conscious 
 of an unseen influence acting upon, and leading him to, 
 higher and holier paths of life, and instilling into his 
 soul better views of his own nature, of God and his gov- 
 ernment ; man and his destiny ; in fact, leading him 
 from grossness and sin to a nearer approximation to 
 purity and holiness. This influence was, indeed, a pow- 
 erful one ; for it freed him from bondage to unprofitable 
 practices, — habits that had long held him obedient to 
 their dictation. 
 
 Thus he became moulded into a new life ; but to 
 whom he was indebted for such a happy effort in his 
 behalf, that had wrought such a beneficial change, he 
 knew not ; until, on an evening in the month last men- 
 tioned, he visited the writer. On that occasion, Mrs. 
 Adams became entranced, and beheld a spirit around 
 him of a very high and holy character. She appeared 
 deeply interested in him ; seemed to rejoice over the 
 progress he had already made, and his willingness to be 
 led to still higher attainments. Mrs. A could find no 
 words suitable to convey the impressions she received, 
 and could only exclaim, "Pure and holy, beautiful and 
 glorious ! " That night and during one or two subsequent 
 days and nights, Dr. C. felt more sensibly than ever the 
 influence of an unseen attendant. 
 
 In about one week he again visited Mrs. A., when, in 
 ah entranced state, she addressed him in these words : 
 " There is a pure spirit hovering near you ; her name is 
 ' Love/ She bids you walk in cooling streams, whose 
 pure waters of truth shall flow into your soul. With 
 
11 
 
 dews of sweet affection she breathes upon your nature, 
 till you shall ripen in beauty and purity." 
 
 The spirit then wrote, through Mrs. A. : 
 
 " Wanderer on the sea of life, let angel-guards direct 
 thee. I saw thy course o'er rocks, rugged and steep ; 
 then, with celestial finger, pointed the way to safety. 
 Follow me, follow me. I will guide you. My name is 
 ' Love/ I dwell in the courts of affection. I visit earth 
 often, and know your earthly temple, and the spirit that 
 dwells therein. That worn spirit needs repose. Come, 
 bathe in celestial waters, open and free. Your passage 
 of life shall be sweet. Flowers of beauty shall bloom in 
 your pathway. Gather them in, and twine them in 
 wreaths of memory. They shall crown you with pass- 
 ports of goodness. You shall enter realms of glory. 
 Doubt not I come." , 
 
 Dr. C. continued his sittings with Mrs. A., and the 
 pure guardian spirit was always present, with words of 
 instruction and encouragement. Mrs. A. was enabled to 
 converse with her, and was often led away amid the 
 indescribable beauties of the spirit-world. The guardian 
 on several occasions, represented his progress by sym- 
 bolic visions. At one time, she pictured forth all the gen- 
 eral points of his past life, and shadowed forth those of the 
 future. At another time, she presented to Mrs. A. a 
 vision of a flight of steps, that led beyond the farthest 
 sight. They were formed of bright, green moss, of vel- 
 vet surface. The guardian spirit glided up these steps, 
 throwing wreaths of elegant flowers upon the path she 
 followed ; while, with gentle beckonings, and smiles 
 radiant with angelic love, she attracted the spirit whom 
 she would lead to joys beyond. He cheerfully followed ; 
 yet, at every advance, he lingered to feast his enraptured 
 
12 
 
 vision on the beauties and glories displayed around him, 
 and stood transfixed as by some magic spell, which was 
 broken only by the voice of the angel who showed him 
 those things, and who bade him yet ascend. And this 
 was a true vision of his progress. He had been led from 
 one degree of peace and joy to another, and yet he con- 
 tinued, led by that unseen influence which he could not 
 resist, and would not if he could. 
 
 On another occasion, this elevated spiritual being 
 came, and said she wished to give him a prayer for his 
 constant use, and, in a few moments, the following was 
 dictated. Near its close, Mrs. A. remarked that the 
 spirit had left, but soon returned, bringing with her a 
 choir of angels that chanted, as none but angels can, the 
 closing word. 
 
 " Great Fountain of Wisdom ! Let thy tributary streams fill me with 
 drops of celestial wisdom. This throbbing heart pulsates with new 
 life when fed by angel-hands, breaking unto it the bread of life to 
 nourish the soul for eternity. Not in high pillared domes doth my 
 soul bear incense to its Maker, but in Nature's higher temple, where 
 the spire of pure affection reaches unto its spirit home. There this 
 heart loves to worship. At the shrine of love let humility bear her 
 incense of gratitude ; angels catch the echo, and the dews of forgive- 
 ness fall on the thirsty spirit. Life of all Beings ! Soul of all Wis- 
 doms ! flow in, flow in to this weary spirit. Thou alone didst guide 
 me through the darkened night of error ; and now the luminary of 
 truth dawns over me. I pray for lasting light till the twilight of 
 death approaches, and this spirit rises triumphant over sin and gross- 
 ness ; then at this exhaustless fountain I will drink purer waters, and 
 springs of lasting happiness shall be mine throughout eternity. — Amen." 
 
 On the evening of March 20th, Mrs. A. said she 
 beheld a page of Eules for Dr. Child. " They are 
 given by your guardian," she remarked ; " they are writ- 
 ten by her, but they are so suited to your nature, it 
 
13 
 
 seems as though you breathed them forth with a wish to 
 follow them. 
 
 Resolved, To keep the spirit pure and bright, that I 
 may drink at angelic fountains of knowledge. 
 
 Resolved, To plant flowers of beauty in my pathway, 
 to cheer the barren path of the traveller. 
 
 Resolved, To keep Hope bright, with a garland of 
 immortal flowers on her forehead. # 
 
 Resolved, To scatter blessings in life's pathway, like 
 the fragrant rose at morning, that shall waft its sweet- 
 ness until the evening of eternal repose. 
 
 Resolved, To leave no known duty unattended, that 
 my spirit be not stayed in its flight to its heavenly home. 
 
 Resolved, To pave my pathway with eternal truths, 
 gathered in Nature's volume, — truths that shall abide 
 long after these mortal steps have trod the heavenly 
 pathway. 
 
 Resolved, To bring my heaven near me. 
 
 Resolved, To find my God pervading all nature. 
 
 Resolved, To water with dews of affection the less 
 favored plants in the garden of Nature ; to give them, 
 as I have freely received, heavenly culture." 
 
 After receiving the above, the events narrated in the 
 following chapters transpired. They are faithfully and 
 accurately reported, as far as the conversations are re- 
 lated ; but I have found it utterly impossible to describe 
 the various expressions of feature, the earnest tones and 
 the thrilling manner of the whole, on the part of the 
 spirit. And I deeply regret that some pen of more 
 ability than my own was not present to record them, if, 
 indeed, words can paint such living, acting realities. 
 2 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 FIRST INTERVIEW. 
 
 Monday Evening, March 20, 1854. — Mrs. A., being 
 in an entranced condition, read from a scroll held before 
 her internal ,sight the " Rules " before mentioned ; then 
 addressing Dr. Child, said, 
 
 " There will be a poor, undeveloped, dark spirit come 
 to you for you to lead to the light and direct upward. 
 The act will add another gem to your coronet. Your 
 guardian will stand at your side as a witness of your 
 course/ " 
 
 In reply to a question by Dr. C, she said, 
 
 " There is no tie but common humanity. You have 
 never seen the spirit in the body who will visit you. 
 The effort on your part will be another unfolding of your 
 spirit expansion/' 
 
 He inquired, " Can I do it ? " 
 
 " Your guardian spirit says you are willing to work 
 for her ; then work where she calls you. The undevel- 
 oped spirit will come to you soon. If your guardian can 
 control the medium sufficiently, she will come to-night/ ' 
 
 There was a short pause here ; after which the pres- 
 ence of the strange spirit was plainly observable. Mrs. 
 A. lost her personality to us, and the unhappy visitant 
 sighed heavily, clasped her hands at one moment, at the 
 next, placed them on her heart, as if some deep sorrow 
 weighed heavily there. Her face was strongly marked 
 with the outlines of agony. The body was contorted, 
 
15 
 
 the head at times bowed upon the breast, her hands 
 firmly clasped and elevated. 
 
 Dr. C. spoke to her in kindness. She seemed to mis- 
 take the voice for that of an unfriendly guide, and ex- 
 claimed in piteous, imploring tones, 
 
 " 0, don't take me there ! don't take me ! don't, 
 don't take me ! " 
 
 " Where ? " inquired Dr. C. 
 
 Her face, yet turned downwards, was marked with 
 terror, as if the whole soul recoiled from a fate which yet 
 seemed inevitable, as she said, 
 
 " Down, down, — I am going, going, — I am going ! 
 0, don't take me there, don't — don't take me!" 
 She raised her hands, and, holding them open in front of 
 her, made a motion as if she would shut from her sight 
 the dreadful scene, saying, " Away, away, dark spirit ! 
 away, away ! 0, demons ! Hell ! 0, agony ! agony ! 
 agony ! " 
 
 " Come with me," said Dr. Child ; " leave this hell 
 and these demons, and you may be happy." 
 
 As if chained with adamantine fetters to a hapless 
 fate, this despairing spirit again clasped her hands in an 
 agony which it was indeed terrible to behold, and ex- 
 claimed, addressing him who called her, 
 
 " Away, away! Not — not — not there! I belong 
 down, down where darkness and misery dwell. They 
 beckon me — they call me there ! 0, hold me, hold 
 me ! See them pointing ! I see, I see, — there 's no 
 light, no light ! " 
 
 She was now truly a picture of despair. Art has 
 often touched the canvas to portray such a condition, 
 but its strongest conceptions never equalled the picture 
 we now beheld before us. 
 
16 
 
 Himself almost overcome with the thrilling scene, Dr. 
 C. spoke, and bade her look up and hope. 
 
 " Cannot I assist ? " he said ; " I will hold you ; I 
 will do all I can to save you. Let me lead you from 
 this dark place. You can progress. Yes, even you. 
 See you not those bright ones above. There is light for 
 you.' 9 
 
 She listened attentively to these entreaties and assur- 
 ances, and, when they were concluded, said, 
 
 "Tell me — tell me where. 0, tell me where!" 
 Her soul felt the warmth of a slight ray of hope ; but 
 coldness came over it again as the scenes around her 
 forced on her mind the dread reality of her situation, 
 and she said, 
 
 " They call me. The walls are all written over with 
 blood, — dark, dark! 0, I had 4 a mother,' I had a 
 mother, — dear mother ! i" fell ! I sinned ! " 
 
 " You can be redeemed, if you did fall," remarked 
 Dr. C. " You can arise ; you can advance from your 
 present situation. God loves all, — he loves you." 
 
 " God has no love for me, — no love," she said, hope- 
 lessly ; and then, looking upon the spirit of Dr. C, 
 " You are too bright ; I cannot approach you. 0, my 
 hands are black — bloody ! " 
 
 Again entreating her to turn from those dark, un- 
 pleasant scenes, and to seek the light, she exclaimed, 
 " Light ! light ! " In her despairing condition she 
 thought any approximation to light was to her an impos- 
 sibility ; and she firmly, but in a kind tone, bade her 
 adviser to leave her, — to go from one for whom there 
 could be no hope, no help. 
 
 To his inquiry whether she did not wish to arise, she 
 responded, with much emphasis, 
 
i i 
 
 17 
 
 Cannot, cannot." 
 
 But," said Dr. C, " you can if you wish. You 
 can, by the help of higher spirits, ascend to happier 
 spheres, to joy and blessedness." 
 
 She hastily inquired, " To my mother ? " 
 
 " Yes, to your mother." 
 
 "To God?" 
 
 " Yes," answered Dr. C, " you can. Come with me ; 
 I will lead you, teach you. Can you not see even now 
 bright spirits above you ? " 
 
 She placed her hands upon her eyes and said, " Too 
 bright, too bright ! " 
 
 "0 no! " responded Dr. Child, "not too bright to love 
 and lead you upward. They would take you by the hand 
 and gently guide you till you reach heaven. Won't you 
 go?" 
 
 " To where there is light! " she exclaimed; "to all 
 
 those scenes of joy, those realms of hope and peace ? 
 
 0, no, no ! I am too sinful — too dark — " 
 
 We encouraged her to believe. We endeavored to 
 draw her soul from the contemplation of those thoughts 
 that clouded it with despair, and entreated her not to 
 turn back, for there was indeed light for her. 
 
 For a moment she realized the truth that there was in- 
 deed a brighter place than that she then held ; for a moment 
 cherished the idea that she might participate in the bliss 
 of that brightness. " Light," she said, as if overwhelmed 
 with the thought, "light! — But, 0, to come back to all 
 these scenes — to these torments ! " 
 
 We assured her that she would not come back — that 
 she could not ; that, having once turned her course up- 
 ward, every step in advance would make her progression 
 surer, and increase the impossibility of her return. Evi- 
 2* 
 
18 
 
 dently overjoyed with the thought that the bright realms, 
 of whose shining portals she could catch a faint glimpse, 
 might be her home forever ; that having once entered 
 those abodes, she would never depart, except on missions 
 of goodness, she exclaimed, while the first ray of hope 
 illumined her features, 
 
 "Togo! to stay! to live! — " 
 
 Then, after a moment's pause, the hope taking posses- 
 sion of her whole being, she sprang forward, and with an 
 earnest, thoughtful look upward, exclaimed, " Go ! to go 
 there ? " and, in the same meditative, imploring attitude, 
 she inquired, " Will God love me? — forgive me? — 
 pardon me ? — let me see my mother ? — will my mother 
 forgive me ? " 
 
 We replied affirmatively to all these. 
 
 " Do you know where heaven is ? " she asked, and in 
 a deeper tone, " Do you know where hell is ? " 
 
 " Will you not leave the past and press upward ? ''said 
 Dr. C. " I will teach you all I know. Look at me. Do 
 you see any untruthfulness in me ? If not, then trust me. 
 I will lead you, and, by the help of the bright Guardian 
 who has taught me and brought me up from darkness and 
 gloom, I will teach you and bring you up from those 
 clouded abodes." 
 
 " Will you ? " she asked. " But will not those holy 
 spirits send me back to hell ? " 
 
 Dr. C. replied, " No, they will not. They love you, 
 and it adds to their bliss to see you rise. I have told 
 you, and now repeat, that it will be impossible, having 
 once seen and participated in the joys above, to turn 
 back." She here began to comprehend the idea of hap- 
 piness — a state of bliss even for her, and exclaimed in- 
 quiringly, and with much earnestness, " Go ? up ? " 
 
19 
 
 " Yes, upward, onward forever," we replied, and then 
 she asked, " To stay ? " She was answered " Yes." 
 
 She now sprang back as one naturally would upon 
 meeting suddenly an intense brightness. Forgetting for 
 the moment that she might enjoy the light, and her mind 
 reverting to the past and her now wavering condition, 
 she inquired, 
 
 " Where did you see my mother ? " and after a mo- 
 ment's pause, " Does she want to see me ? I killed her 
 — /killed her. She died with sorrow." 
 
 A thrill of agonizing thought now pervaded her entire 
 being. She feared that on'e so sinful had nothing to hope 
 for. Despair again carved its living lines upon her coun- 
 tenance. She could not believe that we were sincere in 
 our assurances of a possibility of her advancement. Yet 
 she could but realize the fact that she was, even now, in 
 some degree raised from a depth in which she had once 
 dwelt, and she said, 
 
 " Don't carry me back ! don't, don't, don't! " and then 
 in a calmer tone she spoke to Dr. C, and said, " Who 
 told you to come to me ? " 
 
 He replied, "A brighter spirit than mine." 
 
 She seemed surprised, and inquired, " Any brighter ? 
 Can /arise and be pure ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "0, no, no ! " she quickly responded, " they told me, 
 they told me. They stood about me, and I heard sound- 
 ing in my ears when I died, God has cursed you — God 
 will never forgive you — torment is eternal. It 's written 
 there — there on the walls. In blood it 's written. 0, 
 I see it — I see it ! " 
 
 " They told you wrong," said Dr. C. ; " erring, falli- 
 
20 
 
 ble man told you so, but he was in error. He knew not 
 God as he truly is. He knew not his goodness " 
 
 Breaking in upon his remarks, she exclaimed, " Good- 
 ness ! what is that ? I have seen that word some- 
 where " A pause, as if in thought, and then she 
 
 said, " Goodness is not like evil, is it? Goodness like 
 my mother 1 — that 's goodness ! " 
 
 " You want light," said Dr. C. ; " won't you come 
 with me, come up ? " 
 
 The gloom that had overshadowed her began to depart. 
 Could we keep her mind from the thought of that fearful 
 error, that had been as a mill-stone around her neck, 
 drawing her down to despair, that God had cast her off 
 forever ; that he had decreed her misery, and that it were 
 useless for her to attempt to become better and thus hap- 
 pier, we might soon lead her to truth and Gocl ; but oc- 
 casionally that error, like a huge mastodon of evil, came 
 up before her, and it required all the persuasion that 
 could be brought forward to hold her in the slightly ad- 
 vanced position to which she had been led. 
 
 " May I know hope ?"" she asked. " I knew once what 
 they called hope, but 0, it was before I sinned — before 
 my mother died " 
 
 Dr. C. told her that her sins would be forgiven. 
 
 " Forgiven ! forgotten ! " she exclaimed. " Can I go 
 where you are ? " 
 
 " Yes," Dr. C. replied; " don't you see light now ? It 
 is the first ray of a glorious light for you, that will grow 
 brighter and more beautiful forever." 
 
 " I see it," she said, " I see it. I see it coming. I 
 see the light. Say, can it shine on me ? Can I look at 
 it ? " 
 
 " Yes," answered the Dr., " you can. You can as- 
 
21 
 
 cend to where I am, and higher. A good spirit has led 
 me in the same way I now lead you, away from sin and 
 darkness." 
 
 With brightened looks she rapidly inquired ; " Light 
 
 as you? Bright as you? -Go higher than you? 
 
 Tell my mother to come." 
 
 Cheered to see her thus enthusiastically putting forth 
 her hands to grasp eternal truths, we said that she 
 would ere long see her mother ; that doubtless she was a 
 witness from her high home of this strong effort of her 
 wandered child to return, and that all her efforts were 
 put forth to assist her to advance to where she stood with 
 angel arms outstretched to welcome her. 
 
 As a thought of her low condition came to her mind, 
 she inquired with much feeling, " Will she look on me ? " 
 
 Assuring her that she would ; that she loved her yet ; 
 that to her she extended her hand, and would raise her 
 up, she seemed encouraged. 
 
 But here came in those terrible errors. Here, as she 
 held out her cup, and heaven's pure, crystal waters were 
 being poured in, a bitter drop came from the overshadow- 
 ing past, and the memory of what those misguided ones of 
 earth told her, as her spirit left its mortal tenement, cast its 
 shadow upon her path. They told her that she was vile 
 and worthless ; that God's anger was roused against her, 
 and his punishment of her would be eternal ; and now, 
 after all we had told her, after seeing, further on upon the 
 path her feet had begun to tread, bright forms and happy 
 homes, that belief, so strongly impressed on her mind, 
 filled her with despair, and she was about to give up all 
 hope and fall back to the dismal scenes beneath, when, 
 by a strong effort of her own, she threw aside the fetters 
 
22 
 
 of a false doctrine, and asked Dr. C. if he came from 
 heaven. 
 
 Telling her that he was of the earth, she seemed sur 
 prised ; and as he alluded to the truths in reserve for 
 her, she said, with great earnestness, 
 
 "Give them to me — talk to me — guide me — lead 
 me — teach me. Carry me up, up, up there." 
 
 She asked whether it was possible for her to look at the 
 light which others beheld. We told her to look up, to 
 hope, to have the desire to be, and she would be enlight- 
 ened. 
 
 " Can /find happiness ? " she asked, and, pressing her 
 hand upon her heart, " here, here ? " 
 
 After a pause, during which her attitude indicated an 
 endeavor to look upward, and grasp some higher round 
 in the ladder which angels had placed for her relief, she 
 exclaimed, 
 
 " Hope ! hope ! give me more, more And I grow 
 
 like you? " 
 
 Her joy was great when we told her yes, and she said, 
 " I ask no more. Who told you to come to me ? " 
 
 Dr. C. replied, " My guardian spirit. It has been by 
 her efforts that you have been led to where you now are. 
 She sent me to you." 
 
 "To me ! to me I " she exclaimed. " Is there one in 
 the universe of God that loves me ? — too light — too 
 bright." 
 
 She was much affected at the thought that any one 
 loved her, she had been so low. And the more 
 when she felt that so bright and high, pure and holy a 
 spirit as the guardian one bestowed upon her a look of 
 kindness. 
 
 Being told that by continual advancement she would 
 
23 
 
 become like those she beheld above her, she inquired 
 with much emphasis, 
 
 « Bright?" 
 
 Dr. C. replied yes ; and saying that God himself would 
 assist her, she remarked, 
 
 " I see hope ; " and then, as if doubtful that such a 
 glorious hope could be true, and remembering her former 
 views of God's character, she inquired, " Will God let 
 me come 1 When I am getting up will not he send me 
 back ? " 
 
 " Look at the guardian spirit," said Dr. C. ; " is she 
 not truthful ? She wishes me to say to you that God will 
 not turn you away. They spoke falsely when, around 
 your dying bed, they told you God casteth away his 
 people. He will help you on. He sends holy spirits, 
 and by them will lead you up to bliss of which you 
 cannot now conceive. c God's mercy is eternal and com- 
 plete: " 
 
 She seemed to have been contemplating the spirit 
 under whose guidance Dr. C. had spoken, and enraptured 
 with the pure excellence of the angelic being, she said 
 in measured tones, and with a softer and happier voice 
 than ever before, " Holy, — holy, — holy." 
 
 Urging her to press on and not turn back, she said, 
 " Go back ! no, no, no. Can I linger with you ? Live 
 on your hope ? Grow with your soul ? Feed on your 
 nourishment ? 1 'm coming, I 'm coming, coming." 
 
 We congratulated her on the step she had taken. A 
 sweet smile played upon features a short time before dark 
 with despair, and she said, 
 
 " 0, I 'm happy. No load, no load. 0, don't for- 
 sake me now ! Give me food. I 'm starving. My soul 
 is starving for food." 
 
24 
 
 After speaking most tenderly of her mother, and of 
 her determination to press on until she met her, she said, 
 
 " Let me go in solitude and think of the bright spirits, 
 and pray till I meet you again. I see a little spot where 
 I can sit down, where no one can molest. Let me go 
 and repose in that bower which you to-night have built 
 for me. Do you always bring flowers ? Bring flowers 
 for me. I go now. I shall look for you to come. Come 
 again.' ' 
 
 Thus this spirit left us, and for a time we sat in si- 
 lence, deeply impressed with the sacredness of the time 
 and place. 
 
 By the bower alluded to was understood a condition of 
 mind induced by the conversation the spirit had during 
 this interview with Dr. C. She had been led to view 
 God in a somewhat better light. This bower was formed 
 of the strong supports of Truth. The bright, green ten- 
 drils of Love entwined around it. Flowers of Hope were 
 breathing their fragrance amid its beauties, while the 
 star of Immortality glistened in the sky above, and the 
 glorious sunlight of Heaven shone in rich effulgence upon 
 all. 
 
 In a few moments the guardian spirit of Dr. C. ad- 
 dressed him as follows, — 
 
 " Another gem shall deck your coronet. One soul 
 from misery reclaimed. Celestial attendants beckon you 
 onward, upward, on mossy steps of progress. 
 
 "Come, spirit, come home, where your heart is; come 
 here in sympathy, but stay there in body where your 
 work is. 
 
 " Come, pilgrim, sailing on life's sea, till in the harbor 
 of eternal repose your spirit shall find rest in the haven 
 of love. 
 
25 
 
 Well done, faithful one. Your labor to-night was 
 watched. Keep that spirit bright. Ere long another 
 angel-stream shall flow into your soul. From that now 
 fettered spirit shall come to you streams of eloquence, of 
 heavenly love. I will reward you." 
 3 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 SECOND INTERVIEW. 
 
 Monday Evening, March 27, 1854. — Mrs. A. became 
 entranced, and, after giving an interesting account of the 
 spirit attendants of Mrs. Child, who was present, the 
 spirit who had visited us on the previous Monday even- 
 ing obtained control, and said, in a quiet, soliloquizing 
 manner, 
 
 " 0, where is that bright spirit ? Shall I here meet 
 him ? In the bower he made me I have had sweet 
 repose. He told me I could go up higher. He told me 
 never to go back.' 0, will he come to me now ? " 
 
 Dr. C. spoke to her, remarking that he had come as 
 he had promised. He had come to give her new light. 
 
 " To me !" she exclaimed; " come to me to bring me 
 new light, — to bring me food ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied he. " You wish such food, do you 
 not " 
 
 She interrupted him, as a thought of joyous realms 
 came to her mind, and said, with a deep, earnest tone, 
 " You told me of a place they called heaven.' ' 
 
 In reply to the inquiry whether she had been happy 
 since our last interview, she said, " Most happy. I have 
 waited in this bower till you might come. I have been 
 most happy." 
 
 She again inquired who sent him to her. Dr. C. 
 replied, 
 
 " A bright spirit, — my guardian. She who has led 
 
27 
 
 me up has sent me, that I may do the same kind act for 
 you." 
 
 "A bright spirit knows me ! " exclaimed this inquiring 
 one. " She could not see me from her home. Did God 
 send her ? " 
 
 " Yes, he acts through such agencies. His love 
 caused her to come to me, and from me to you ; thus 
 are you reached by God." 
 
 " Me !'" she exclaimed. " God send her to me ? " 
 
 In the first joy of a ray of that hope whose full light 
 we were endeavoring to lead her to behold, a thought of 
 her dearest earthly friend came over her mind, and she 
 asked, in a sweet, childlike manner, " When shall I go 
 to my mother ? " 
 
 " When you have more light," we replied. 
 
 She now earnestly inquired where she should get it ; 
 and, being told that she would be led to where she might 
 obtain a full supply, she appeared for the time oppressed 
 heavily with the remembrance of her former course and 
 her late condition. The light of hope that had a moment 
 before illumined her features was clouded, and she said, 
 in a sad, desponding tone, " Not bright enough to go ; 
 wicked, wicked." 
 
 We had during her progress thus far met with a simi- 
 lar crisis, and now, as then, we endeavored to cheer her 
 mind, and guide its thoughts to the source of all hope, 
 and the fountain of all truth. 
 
 " Your sins will be forgiven," said Dr. C. " Forget 
 the past. The future is open for you. Plant flowers 
 upon its path by turning to God with all your heart. 
 You will as you seek new light receive it. You will 
 become happier, purer, holier, and by and by you will 
 see your mother." 
 
28 
 
 She listened attentively. As the last word fell upon 
 her ear, she broke forth with the exclamation, " My 
 mother ! My mother told me God would forgive her 
 erring child " 
 
 Here some objects new to her attracted her attention, 
 and she said, in a happier voice than before, 
 
 " I see high, bright mountains and silver forms.'' 
 
 We asked her if she could not ascend those mountains. 
 She seemed to think that a too familiar acquaintance 
 with them for one who thought herself so unworthy for 
 any bliss, and she humbly inquired, 
 
 " Can I look on them ? 0, I cannot go ! I cannot 
 go ! Will they let me look on them ? " 
 
 We told her they would ; that they wished her to do 
 so, and encouraged her to take the first step ; but so 
 humble was she, so deep was the consciousness of her 
 sins and her feeling of unworthiness, that she replied, in 
 a somewhat dejected tone, " Go up there ! No, no. Too 
 wicked — too wicked ! " 
 
 " But," said Dr. C, " it is an evidence that you are 
 receiving light that you see your sins so vividly. Be 
 hopeful, then ; for yet more light will come, and by its 
 glorious rays you shall see your sins forgiven." 
 
 She was much interested, and asked, 
 
 " Do you live up on those bright clouds ? " 
 
 Being told that earth was his residence, — that he was 
 far from possessing the angelic purity of those forms she 
 beheld, that he was sinful, she said, " Can I grow bright 
 like you ? Up like you ? You sinful ! " 
 
 We told her that all sins would be forgiven. That her 
 own, however dark they might appear, however deep the 
 stain of guilt they bore, would be forgiven, — would be 
 blotted out forever. 
 
29 
 
 " Forgiven ! forgotten ! " she exclaimed. " Not send 
 me back ? " 
 
 She was reminded of what she had been taught on the 
 previous evening : that she would never go back, — that 
 she could not. 
 
 Looking up, she remarked, in a quiet tone, " 0, see 
 those bright forms ! Can they have dwelt on earth 
 where I dwelt ? " 
 
 To the inquiry of Dr. Child whether she could see 
 his guardian, she replied, " One brighter than all that 
 throng, I see beckoning to you." 
 
 She was reminded that that spirit so bright, high and 
 heavenly, had led him. Realizing the worth of such a 
 glorious attendant, she said, addressing Dr. C, " Wor- 
 ship her. Worship her." 
 
 He told her that his guardian wished him to lead her 
 up in the same fair, joyous path in which he had been 
 led. 
 
 For a short time she was rilled with wonder and de- 
 light in the contemplation of the shining ranks hovering 
 above her ; but suddenly a shadow came upon her happy 
 face, and in a sad, deeply desponding tone, she said, 
 " Those are the bright ones whom God hath chosen. 
 They told me *he chose some to bliss eternal. Yes, yes, 
 yes ! I know it. They are the chosen. I am of those 
 he did not choose, — of those he sent away, rejected — 
 rejected." 
 
 Crushed beneath the ponderous weight of such an 
 error, we beheld the spirit we were endeavoring to raise 
 again pressed down, tortured and bleeding. We felt the 
 poisonous arrows of a false doctrine drinking up her blood 
 and chilling ours, when Dr. C. said to her, as she clung 
 to his hand, with bowed head and sobbing voice, " Do 
 
 o 
 
30 
 
 not believe it is so. God has chosen none. He has no 
 elect. He is no respecter. of persons. There are none 
 he will have happy to the exclusion of others. His truth 
 never taught such a doctrine. Forget those errors. You 
 will believe that bright guardian whom you see beckon- 
 ing. She says you can go up where those bright ones 
 are as soon as you get more light, — more of the food of 
 truth." 
 
 She became more hopeful, and said, with tender ear- 
 nestness, " Can /grow bright ? " 
 
 Being told that she could, she remarked, " Many, 
 many ages. See, my form is not like theirs. It is not 
 perfect. Deformed, deformed ; sinful, sinful ! Can I 
 tread in those paths ? This form ? " 
 
 We told her that every advance she made prepared 
 her for the next. That as she approached light, her 
 body lost its dark hue, and became luminous ; and that 
 as she partook of truth, she gained strength to arise. 
 We bade her think of her present situation in comparison 
 with what it had been, and to relax not in her efforts to 
 progress. 
 
 In an ecstasy of joy at the thoughts we had given her, 
 she felt how blest she was, and said, " 0, let me stay 
 here, where I learned that truth ! It 's enough, it \s 
 enough. I ask no more. ,, 
 
 Being told that she could go higher, learn truths new 
 to her, and see more light, she seemed unable to compre- 
 hend any idea of greater bliss, so enraptured was her 
 soul with its enjoyments, and she said, "I don't deserve 
 It. 0, I don't deserve it ! " 
 
 Dr. C. urged her not to cherish a view of her present 
 situation that would deprive of joy beyond. Looking 
 thoughtfully upon him for a moment, she broke the 
 
31 
 
 silence by inquiring, " Why do you work for nie ? Who 
 gives you your reward ? " 
 
 He replied, "It is by doing thus that I compensate 
 the beautiful spirit for her labors in my behalf. I have 
 been wicked, — as wicked as you ; but she has led me 
 to wisdom's paths ; she has nurtured my soul with 
 heavenly culture. To show my love and gratitude to 
 her, I come and take you by the hand, to lead you as she 
 has led me." 
 
 " And what can I do for you ? " she inquired. 
 
 She was told "Nothing." 
 
 She grew sad at the thought that she could not repay 
 him, and exclaimed, with great emphasis, 
 
 " Nothing ! Nothing ! and you so kind as to take me. 
 My mother did n't come." 
 
 We said that as soon as she had risen higher, she 
 would meet her mother, at which she was much pleased, 
 and remarked, " I see three steps. 'If I can get up 
 there, I ask no more of heaven. They are Love, Good- 
 ness, Progression." Addressing Dr. C, she said, "You 
 are on the last step. 0, /shall never get there ! ,: 
 
 Being asked what step she was now on, she said, 
 " 0, not any ! " 
 
 In answer to a question respecting her mother, she 
 said, "I loved her, I loved her! but I am not bright 
 enough to love her now." 
 
 She was asked whether she did not love the guardian 
 spirit of Dr. C, — that bright being who had brought 
 about an interview that had led to so happy a result as 
 her present advancement and future progress, and she 
 said with much feeling, " 0, I worship her ! " 
 
 " Then you are on the first step," said Dr. C. " Do 
 
32 
 
 you not see you are ? for you cannot worship a being 
 without love." 
 
 She quickly inquired, " What is love ? Tell me what 
 is- love. I never see that word in that dark, dark place. " 
 
 She remarked that she had loved once, but it was 
 before her mother died. That event seemed to have 
 blotted from her memory the word. Despair had crowded 
 from her mind an idea of its holy meaning. She ex- 
 pressed a fear that she might be drawn down again to 
 the depths of darkness and sorrow, and occasionally the 
 earnest entreaty would fall from her lips, "Don't take 
 me back ! 0, don't- take me back ! " 
 
 We assured her that she could not return, if her whole 
 desire was to advance, and urged her to relinquish her 
 thoughts of the past, and press on to the future in hope 
 and rejoicing. She answered that she beheld nothing 
 but truthfulness in her adviser, and would not doubt. 
 
 Yet, though she endeavored to bring her mind to a 
 position in which it would not doubt what we told, she 
 seemed unable to forget the past and her own unworthi- 
 ness. To our inquiry whether she did not now love 
 her mother, she replied that she was not good enough to 
 love ; and, after a short pause, she said, in a low, sub- 
 dued tone, " I killed her ! " 
 
 " God will forgive you," said Dr. C. "He would 
 not give you any light, did he not wish you to have light. 
 You have hoped some ; you have seen angel forms ; you 
 have been beckoned to approach them ; you have been 
 told that it is possible for you to become like them ; you 
 have been told how to do so. All these things are from 
 God. He exhibits to you in them his goodness, and he 
 says, Come, and your sins shall be forgiven. Do you 
 not see your onward course ? " 
 
33 
 
 " I see the mountains, but I don't see my path," she 
 replied. 
 
 She asked Dr. C. if he lived on earth, and how he 
 came to be so bright. She seemed to think all on earth 
 were dark, for she had been ; and those whom, when on 
 earth, she looked upon as friends, had either forsaken 
 her, or taught her evil ; taught her, even when her soul 
 was passing away, that she had no God, — no loving 
 father in heaven, to whom she could carry all her griefs, 
 and find all her sins forgiven. 
 
 We spoke of the steps, and Dr. C. encouraged her to 
 make an effort to ascend them, and to believe that she 
 was really on the first, — Love, — because she loved the 
 guardian even to adoration. 
 
 She said, " The step is soft, mossy ; but my feet are 
 not for it. I shall soil the step if I tread upon it. My 
 whole body is sinful, sinful."' 
 
 Speaking again of the step, she said, " It 's so fine, — 
 I 'm coarse." Then looking up to the bright, angelic 
 beings she had yet in view,' the sight of whom at times 
 overwhelmed her with adoration, she said, " I must not 
 make those bright bands I see unhappy by going into 
 their midst. My form is not like theirs, so pure and 
 fair." 
 
 Still gazing upward, she suddenly inquired, "If I 
 love God will God love me ? " 
 
 We told her that he would. 
 
 " Me ! " she exclaimed. "If he loves me, I will 
 love him." 
 
 Here, again, her soul was darkened with the memory 
 of the fearful, despairing errors of man. They had been 
 sounded in her ears when she left the earth, and they 
 had haunted her ever since. Could they who taught 
 
34 
 
 her that God had cast her away have been with her spirit 
 through all its dark wanderings since they last beheld 
 her ; could they have seen how what they told her kept 
 her in darkness, — kept her from God, and wrote, in 
 burning letters, " Despair " on everything within and 
 without her to her eyes, they might learn a great lesson, 
 and, by a change in their teachings, save from hopeless- 
 ness here and despair hereafter many a now misled mind. 
 
 We interrupted her as she alluded to the past and its 
 teachings, and Dr. C. inquired whether she would not 
 rely upon his sincerity and the love and guidance of God 
 as manifested in the guardian spirit. 
 
 She replied that she would not doubt him. 
 
 " Then believe me," said he. " You do not wish to 
 return to those dark spirits. You are on the step of 
 Love. You are just beginning to advance. Is not the 
 bright spirit beckoning to yo,u ? " 
 
 She replied, " No, no ; it 's to you ? " 
 
 " She beckons to me to lead you on," said Dr. C. 
 
 She seemed cheered with this thought, and inquired 
 of him, " When you step off the step may I step on 1 " 
 
 She was yet humble in her hopes. Being told that 
 she could follow up as Dr. C. in spirit led the way, 
 another thought came to her mind, and she asked, 
 
 " Am I worthy to come on the next step to you ? " 
 
 Receiving an affirmative answer, she yet questioned 
 her worthiness to take such a position. Being inquired 
 of whether she wished to know what made her worthy, 
 she replied, in gentle tones, " Yes, yes." 
 
 Dr. C. told her that it was because she was sorry for 
 her sins, and wished to advance to where she might do 
 good and enjoy good. 
 
 At this point she sprang forward, and, clasping Dr. 
 
5 
 
 C.'s hand energetically in her own, exclaimed, with 
 much earnestness, "0, I'm starving! I'm starving! 
 Give me food ! " 
 
 " Yes," said Dr. C, " you need it, and you shall 
 have it. Truth is the food your soul wants. It will 
 nourish it, strengthen it, and you will grow better and 
 more in affinity with holy spirits." 
 
 Her features became illumined with a calm, sweet 
 smile, and she asked, " Shall I grow bright ? — beauti- 
 ful?— see heaven?" 
 
 " Yes, you shall," we replied. " Did you see those 
 bright spirits when you were in that dark place ? You 
 are rising towards them. You have already risen to a 
 position in which you can see them. Keep on, and you 
 will some time be with them. Don't you find yourself on 
 the first step ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Is it pleasant ? " 
 
 "0, yes ! " she replied. " How soft the step is ! I 
 never saw this step before ; " and then, as if doubting 
 whether a condition so beautiful was lasting, she asked, 
 " Will it not pass away ? " 
 
 . We told her No ; that the next step would be yet 
 brighter. She seemed unable to take in in a short time 
 the joys and beauties which the progress she had already 
 made presented to her thirsting soul, and she said, " Let 
 me stay here." 
 
 Being asked if she was happy, she expressed her deep 
 feelings in the inquiry, " Is this heaven ? " 
 
 Telling her it was the first step to that blest state, she 
 inquired of Goodness, and asked whether it was the next 
 step. 
 
 Alluding to the new beauties that surrounded her, she 
 
36 
 
 said that she could not speak of them to-night, but would 
 repose in the arbor of Love. 
 
 Dr. C. promised to come again. She rejoiced at this, 
 and, to our inquiry whether she was happy, replied, 
 " I 'in in heaven."* 
 
 Turning to Dr. C, she said, " When I become bright, 
 what shall I do for you ? " 
 
 He replied that to see her progress was an abundant 
 recompense for all his labors. 
 
 Still desirous of making some return for the good she 
 was receiving, her mind reverted to the past and to her 
 former companions, and she said, " Can I go and bring 
 up some dark spirit ? " 
 
 She was told that she could. 
 
 "0, can I go ? " she exclaimed, with joyous emotion. 
 " Can I go get one ? I love it. I love it if it is low. 
 Will you tell me how to tell it to come up here ? " 
 
 Dr. C. advised her to rest for the present, saying, that 
 soon she would be able to lead others to the light, whose 
 cheering rays were beginning to shine upon her path. 
 
 " The bright spirits are calling me," she said. " 1 11 
 repose here. You '11 come again ; I cannot go on with- 
 out you. You will come again. Don't leave me. Bright 
 spirits are calling me, — calling me." 
 
 A calmness rested upon her features, more heavenly 
 than ever before, and soon the spirit left us. 
 
 In a few moments the guardian of Dr. Childs, address- 
 ing him, said, 
 
 * Heaven, as spiritualists define it, is a condition, not a place. An ad- 
 vance from a state or condition of darkness, and consequent unhappiness, to 
 one of more light, even though it be hut a small degree, is productive of 
 joy. In this instance the new condition of the spirit led it to exclaim, " I 'm 
 in heaven," and with all truthfulness, for it was indeed heaven compared 
 with its former condition. 
 
37 
 
 " That gem now sparkles anew with brighter radiance. 
 Thou art still faithful in thy work. Water that plant 
 with words of heavenly truth and wisdom. 
 
 " Another. unfolding of the bud. Another ripple in 
 the waters of Progression. Another stone added to the 
 eternal foundation of Wisdom. Another soul reclaimed 
 from sin and eternal misery. Another spirit-birth in the 
 broad universe of progression. Another choir of angels 
 chanting over the happy effort. 
 
 " No wave of the ocean rolls on alone. Millions move 
 on from the first commotion, dashing to the shore of 
 Time. So that spirit, raised from the lowest depths, 
 beats against thy soul's progression. Your spirit flowing 
 on to that higher attendant, — that spirit then passing on 
 through space infinite, unlimited, — to the shore of Eter- 
 nity." 
 
 4 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THIRD INTERVIEW. 
 
 Monday Evening, April 3, 1854. — Mrs. A. became 
 entranced. She took Dr. C.'s hands, one in each of her 
 own, and said, " Your guardian spirit has your right 
 hand in hers ; the spirit who is being led up has your 
 left hand. Around your hand and your guardian's is a 
 wreath of beautiful flowers. It represents unity.' ' 
 
 After a pause, she said, " Your guardian will stand 
 above, while the other spirit converses with you." 
 
 Soon the latter came, saying, 
 
 "Waiting for knowledge, waiting for light. Happy 
 repose! 'tis all I ask of heaven. 'Tis enough for me 
 to be on this mossy step of Love. Yes, he told me he 'd 
 take me up higher. This is greater heaven than I 
 deserve." 
 
 Dr. C. asked her if she was glad to meet him again. 
 She recognized his presence, and said, 
 
 " My Instructor, teach me how I can repose on this 
 step, and be worthy of the position. I do not ask to go 
 any higher." 
 
 She was asked whether she did not wish to go higher. 
 
 She replied, " Yes ; but I know I am not capable of 
 going higher. I have too much here." 
 
 " You are happy now ? " said Dr. C, inquiringly. 
 " You believe me now — that I tell you the truth ? " 
 
 " Yes, I believe. I do not doubt you." 
 
39 
 
 " Will you not, then, believe me when I tell you you 
 can go up higher ? " 
 
 "I don't doubt you," she said, with much feeling; 
 " I know you tell me I can go up higher, but will I be 
 pure enough to breathe that atmosphere ? " 
 
 We encouraged her to hope and advance, telling her 
 that as she progressed she would gain more light ; she 
 would unfold in knowledge and truth, and become fitted 
 for blessed abodes. 
 
 She comprehended our meaning. Her soul became 
 strengthened with the food we gave her, and she re- 
 marked, in a calm and gentle voice, " Since you left me, 
 I have lived only in Love. I thought I saw heaven. I 
 have been dreaming of my mother." 
 
 At previous interviews she had expressed an inability 
 to love her mother. She felt too sinful, — most un- 
 worthy. She had almost forgotten what love was. She 
 had not known it in the dark place in which she had 
 dwelt. To-night, she said she loved her mother. And 
 Dr. C. asking whether in her present position she was 
 not filled with love, — whether she did not love every- 
 body, and whether she knew what it was to love God, 
 she said, 
 
 " Can I use the word, love Him ? " Being told that 
 she already began to love him, she inquired, "Did he 
 tell you to come to me ? Did he point you the way ? 
 The Dr. said that a bright spirit led him, though God led 
 the bright spirit. Then, with much emphasis, she said, 
 " You have been on Love, — on the step I am now on. 
 You know it." A short pause, and, as a smile of hope 
 lit up her countenance, she remarked, " You said I could 
 get on to Progression." Being asked whether she 
 wished to go to-night, she recollected the order of the 
 
40 
 
 steps, and said, " After I go to Goodness ; " then asked, 
 " Will I never go back to those dark places ? " 
 
 Dr. C. replied, " Except to bring up those dark ones." 
 
 With much earnestness she exclaimed, " 0, will they 
 come to where I am ? Can they come like me, — like 
 me?" 
 
 " Yes," said Dr. C. " You can go back, and bring 
 one up. Do you love them ? " 
 
 She answered, "0, my soul is filled with pity for 
 them." 
 
 " You'll never go back to live with them," we re- 
 marked. 
 
 " No, I cannot," she said, " for I have been to dwell 
 in Love. Now I see I cannot. I did not see when you 
 told me before how I could not. But I see it now." 
 
 We asked whether the low spirits could behold her 
 now. She answered, " No, no ; they are far, far back." 
 And, after a moment's pause, during which, with face 
 turned downwards, she appeared to contemplate the 
 depths below, she said, with much emotion, " 0, did I 
 come from that dark, dark, dreary state — dreary, dis- 
 mal ? Where did you first find me ? " 
 
 We asked her whether those dark spirits were friends 
 to her. She replied, " No, no ; that word is not known 
 there." 
 
 " Were they your associates ?" 
 
 " No, not companions," she said; " we were only 
 together. No friendship there, — no love, no goodness, 
 no progression." - 
 
 " Do they enjoy each other's society, or is there hatred 
 between them ?" 
 
 She replied, " Each one seems to spite the other be- 
 cause he is there. Down so low, where /was." 
 
41 
 
 We inquired whether she perceived a desire in any 
 one of them to come to truth. " 0," she exclaimed, 
 c ' if they saw a bright light would they not go to it ? 
 They'd like to." 
 
 Asking her whether they could now see her, she said 
 they viewed her as a distant star. She said she wished 
 to go to them when she got on Goodness, which was the 
 next step to Love, on which she now stood. Addressing 
 Dr. O.j she said, " Where do you get your reward ? " 
 
 He told her he asked no reward other than to labor for 
 the guardian spirit that had led him along. 
 
 She looked earnestly upon him, and inquired, " When 
 she takes you off of one step, may I follow up ? " She 
 was pleased at an affirmative response, and again asked, 
 " Can I go up when you ascend ? " 
 
 " Dr. C. told her that she could, and bade her take 
 his hand and follow him. Then, as she thought that he 
 might not comprehend her full meaning, she said, ear- 
 nestly, " Forever, I mean." 
 
 " Yes," he replied, " onward and upward forever, 
 from one step to another. As you grow wiser, you will 
 ascend higher in knowledge of God." 
 
 She felt sad as she thought of a possibility of Dr. C.'s 
 advancement to positions in which she could never con- 
 tribute to his wants, and remarked, " But you will al- 
 ways be a step above me. I can never give you any truth." 
 
 Dr. C. said, " I don't know that it will be so. I think 
 you will bring truth that I have not, and I can give you 
 such as you may not have." 
 
 " Will you help me ? " she inquired. " It will be as 
 a garden of flowers. You have the full garden, and I 
 have small flowers, — flowers I got from you. But I 
 will water your flowers ; that is all the way I can help 
 
42 
 
 you. I got my truths from you. They were transplanted 
 to my garden. I cannot give you any variety that you 
 have not, but I will water your flowers/' 
 
 " It is the bright spirit that gives you new flowers/ ' 
 said Dr. C. ; "I'll give you all the truths she gives 
 me." 
 
 Modestly she said, " Only share them." 
 
 "Yes, I can give these truths," remarked Dr. C, 
 " and still retain them myself. I have no less light when 
 you also live in its cheering rays. I work for my guard- 
 ian spirit." 
 
 " Then I must work for you to pay you for what you 
 have done for me." 
 
 " When you are on Goodness." 
 
 She quickly inquired, " Can I go to Goodness ? " 
 
 " Yes, to-night." 
 
 " Now ! " she exclaimed. 
 
 " Yes, you are now on Love. You have only to leave 
 all your sins — all your inclinations to evil." 
 
 She said that now her mind was wholly filled with the 
 beautiful scenery she had seen on the step of Love, and 
 inquired whether such a condition of mind was right. 
 Being told that it was, she spoke of her mother, and soon 
 after asked whether she lost Love when she advanced to 
 Goodness. We told her that Love would grow stronger. 
 
 She advanced. She began by actual experience to 
 realize what was told her — that love would increase as 
 she progressed to new heights. From a higher position 
 she now said, 
 
 " Now I see. Yes, on the step. I see that same 
 scenery, — hills and valleys, trees, rivers, streams, rivu- 
 lets and beautiful flowers. I see the same. It looks 
 more beautiful, now I 'm on Goodness. I 'm higher up ; 
 
43 
 
 I see better now. It 's just the same scenery, but it looks 
 different/ ' 
 
 She was enraptured with her new situation. Heaven 
 seemed nearer, yea, it was even within her own soul, so 
 great was the joy she experienced. 
 
 " I must work here," she said, " I must work on this 
 step; but I love to do it." 
 
 Thus we see how beautifully the philosophy of truth 
 develops itself. Love first, and that leading to goodness, 
 brings about action. 
 
 We asked what duty she now beheld, and she answered 
 with the true spirit of heaven, "To bring some others 
 that they may look on, too." 
 
 Dr. C. inquired whether she wished to go on her mis- 
 sion to bring up a spirit from its misery, to where it may 
 see light and be happy. 
 
 She replied, " Yes ; I want some, others to look at this 
 scenery and see it as I do. They are beneath it, and I 
 am above it. I cannot go alone. If I go alone they will 
 not believe that I have found anything bright." 
 
 We told her that they would see that her spirit was 
 bright. 
 
 There was here a short pause. She cast her eyes 
 downward, and passed to the lower spheres of being, say- 
 ing as she made the descent, 
 
 "Down, — down — down — deep, dark " Then 
 
 catching a view of her former abode, she exclaimed with 
 emotion that at times almost choked her utterance — 
 " There — 0, see the forms ! The same — the same. 0, 
 they look more miserable to me, because I know there 's 
 light. 0, I cannot stay! See those tears — tears — tears 
 dropping through eternity. No hope ! See that sobbing 
 soul. 0, take it up ! I love it." 
 
44 
 
 We asked her to speak to it and to take it by the hand. 
 
 " It is an old, old man," she said. " I speak to him, 
 but he don't look up." 
 
 Dr. C. asked whether it was the spirit she wished to 
 lead up. 
 
 She replied, " Yes. 0, I pity him! I love him. I 
 love them all. But I feel the most pity for this one." 
 
 We asked her if they knew her. 
 
 She answered, " Yes, they look on me with astonish- 
 ment. Let me take this one now, and when I grow bright 
 I '11 come back and take them all." 
 
 Dr. C. wished her to speak to him so that we might 
 listen to the conversation. She did speak, and said, ad- 
 dressing the unprogressed soul, 
 
 " Dark, sad spirit, there is hope for you. Look up." 
 
 We inquired, " Does he look up ? " 
 
 She said, " Yes, and shakes his head so mournfully." 
 
 Asking her whether he would ascend with her, she 
 replied. "He looks at me. I cannot go so near those 
 forms as I used to. I try to get to him to take his hand, 
 but I cannot." 
 
 Dr. C. asked her to take his hand and place his within 
 it (spirit hand), but she replied, "No, you are higher than 
 I am." 
 
 We said, " If you cannot reach him, call to him, per- 
 haps he will hear you." 
 
 She then conversed with him, and the only means we 
 had of understanding what he said, was her exclamations 
 and answers. 
 
 " Look up — No ? There 's one brighter than I am, and 
 he says one brighter than he is ." 
 
 He seemed to have said that they were always 
 bright — never dark, like him, for she replied, " No, they 
 
45 
 
 grew bright — they were not always bright. Come up, 
 sad one." 
 
 He bade her leave him. " No, I can't leave you." 
 
 " Point him to me," said Dr. Child, "tell him my 
 hand is extended to lead him, that I was once a dark 
 spirit in tears like himself." 
 
 He seemed to have gained hope by this offer, for she 
 said to us, " He almost smiled." 
 
 " 0, see those gray, gray hairs! " she continued; " he 
 has only been waiting for some friend. He's waited for 
 some one to lead him." Then with much delight she ex- 
 claimed, " He 's coming — he 's coming. He 's wiping 
 away his tears. See his brow all wrinkled." 
 
 " Has he come near you ? " we inquired. 
 
 She replied, " He says, move on, that I may fol- 
 low — " 
 
 " Let us move on, then," said Dr. C, "on to light, 
 love, truth and happiness." 
 
 She interrupted him in his earnestness, and said, " Not 
 too fast — he 's feeble — he 's old. Gently, gently, deal 
 gently. His soul 's not had light for years — deal gently 
 with him — take him as an infant. He comes as fast as 
 his feeble steps will convey him. 0, how he longs for 
 light!" 
 
 " Tell him he shall have it — light, heavenly light," 
 said the Dr. 
 
 " 0," said this sweet spirit, who, having been led to 
 the light herself, was now leading others over the path 
 which had so recently been new to her own feet, "0, 
 how rapidly, now, he comes, with his arms stretched 
 out ! How he longs to embrace you. He calls you Sav- 
 iour. He is by my side, now. He is going to my arbor 
 where I first reposed. He is weary now ; let him 
 
46 
 
 rest there. He has had enough for to-night. He is re- 
 posing. He is in a sweet slumber. What are those bright 
 forms that hover around the arbor ? 0, so very bright ! 
 — but he cannot see them. One lovely lady — one angel 
 lady, it is the bright guardian spirit, with seven others,' 
 hovering around the bower. They are clad in such 
 bright robes of white. So bright and pure, while the 
 poor old man reposing is clothed in rags. But he will 
 have raiment, pure as their own lily garments. And 
 then his form will grow bright and young, and he shall 
 pick the flowers that grow in angels' gardens.' ' 
 
 " Does not this act of yours add a gem to your coro- 
 net ? " asked Dr. C. 
 
 She replied, with a sweet, placid smile on her face — 
 " A gem to your coronet, and a finer view for me to my 
 heavenly landscape." 
 
 " I almost know what heaven is," she continued. " I 
 have plucked the first fruit that grows in heavenly gar- 
 dens — love and goodness. If I ask for other fruit, it is 
 not that this has not been sweet." 
 
 As looking over the past she saw how she had been 
 led, and felt the deep gladness of peace, she remarked, 
 " If the joy of those who partake is so great, boundless 
 must be the bliss of the giver." 
 
 Look at this beautiful comment of a spirit, who, a short 
 time since, was crushed beneath the ponderous weight of 
 a dark sorrow, and a darker despair. 
 
 Dr. C. remarked, " You speak of the bliss of my 
 guardian — she is the giver." 
 
 Quick and with much emphasis she replied, " You, you 
 are my guardian. Let me bestow my praise to you, and 
 you carry it up to your guardian spirit. When I reach that 
 high step, Gratitude, then my soul can speak to you." 
 
47 
 
 What a beautiful idea was here expressed ! She could 
 thank, and love, and labor for her guardian, but she felt 
 that she could not speak to him from her own soul, to tell 
 its true feelings towards him, until she had attained a 
 higher position. 
 
 The spirit left. In a few moments the guardian of Dr. 
 C. addressed him as follows, — 
 
 " Look back on the past. From the mountain scenes 
 catch a glimpse of the valley where you once wandered. 
 Call back the hour when first I beckoned you to these 
 heavenly heights. 
 
 " Keview the past. See how thy feet have trod upward, 
 culling in thy pathway buds of beauty, twined by angel 
 hands to deck thy brow in thy earth passage. These buds 
 shall bloom in heaven. 
 
 " Look back again. See how thy soul has been nour- 
 ished. Thou would'' 'st not return. See, too, in thy pro- 
 gress upward, thy footsteps have been followed by other 
 travellers to the mountain of wisdom. Were it not for 
 thy foot-prints, they would not have been guided. Ke- 
 joice that I called thee hither ; — and rejoice again that 
 by thee other pilgrims have found a pathway for repose.* 
 
 * At this point the guardian ceased to speak to us. Mrs. Adams remarked 
 that the spirit had been called by one who was taking its departure from 
 earth. It was one whom she had known when in this world. She then 
 spoke as follows, in relation to the departing, after which the guardian spirit 
 returned and continued her remarks. 
 
 " She is lying on a couch. The room is warm. A gentle breeze comes in 
 at the window. 0, how rapid come in the spirits to the birth ! The dust 
 goes to its kindred dust, but 0, how her bright spirit is borne up by your 
 guardian ! 0, how they go through the air ! They meet happily, joyously, 
 as friends long parted. No spirit goes home alone. I see that form inani- 
 mate, lying on a couch. I see the mourners round, and the tears, and I see 
 the birth of that spirit in its home. This picture is brighter than the other. 
 The other will fade away. This will never be effaced." 
 
48 
 
 " Look back again. In the valley I called thee from, 
 thy soul could never see the heavenly scenery it now be- 
 holds. Each step upwards unfolds new beauties in the 
 scenery below, which your soul in its level could never 
 discern. 
 
 " Think on the past ; hope in the future ; and in your 
 now present happiness rejoice. I crown you with a 
 wreath of unfading laurels. Wear it ; keep it bright. I 
 hover o'er you. I linger near you. 
 
 " I now leave, but my spirit, my presence, my in- 
 fluence lingers here." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 FOURTH INTERVIEW. 
 
 Monday Evening, April 10, 1854. — Mrs., Adams 
 became entranced, and said, addressing Dr. Child, 
 " Your guardian spirit is here. She says, £ Still in the 
 path of duty. I will move on, that you may step in the 
 path I once trod in, and that the pathway you have left 
 may be filled with those saddened, dejected, sorrowing 
 spirits of darkness. I am watching your progress. Now 
 I go to join an angel gathering that will rejoice at this 
 new wave of progression.' " 
 
 The guardian spirit now left. In a few moments, the 
 advancing spirit who had, at our last interview, been led 
 to the step of Goodness, obtained possession of the me- 
 dium. She came in joy and gladness, and said, 
 
 " 0, I shall be in heaven ! I remember when I once 
 knew not, knew not the meaning of love, but now I feel 
 it. It fills my entire being. How bright the light when 
 it bursts upon the darkness ! How sweet the green 
 meadow to the weary traveller ! How pure is the foun- 
 tain to the thirsty soul ! I have found it. God lets me 
 come. Kind friends beckon, and my God points me the 
 way." 
 
 Turning more directly to Dr. C, she said, " How 
 faithful and true thou art ! Here again to bless me ? 
 Come with more food ? " 
 
 He replied, " Yes, I have come with more truth for 
 you." 
 
 5 
 
50 
 
 " 0, give it unto me ! " she continued. " You will not, 
 I know, let my soul waste back to its once skeleton form. 
 You have fed me ; that you will feed me I know." 
 
 " Do you hunger for this living food ? " asked Dr. C. 
 
 She said, " More food, with the blest assurance that I 
 may feed on it. Tell me of Progress. Do we ever go 
 onward ? " 
 
 She made this inquiry with much earnestness. Being 
 told that the advancing spirit never ceased to advance, — 
 that it would be through eternal ages going on and on to 
 new glories, new views of God and his works, she could 
 scarcely comprehend so great a truth, — one that so filled 
 her whole being with joy, and asked, " Is there not some 
 point where the great God will send us back again ? " 
 
 We told her, " None." 
 
 " Are we ever stepping up to him ? " she inquired. 
 
 We answered in the affirmative. She wished to know 
 whether he came down to meet us, and was answered 
 that God was in all things, — that all things were by him 
 created. 
 
 " Did he make those steps of Progress I see ? " 
 
 Telling her yes, she remarked, with an exultant, joy- 
 ous voice, " Then he made them for his children to go 
 on. Did you say /was God's child ? " 
 
 " Yes, you are, — we all are," replied Dr. C. " There 
 is not one soul, high or low, that cannot look up to him 
 and call him father. He casts none away. His care, 
 his love is over all. The steps are for you as for me to 
 go on. Are you ready to step upon Progression ? " 
 
 She answered, in a thoughtful, yet happy mood, " No ; 
 I have an act of goodness to perform before I step 
 there." 
 
 We asked her what it was. She replied, alluding tc 
 
 
51 
 
 the old man whom she had before spoken of and con- 
 ducted up one step from his place of sorrow, " Calling 
 up that weary one you taught me to protect. Will you 
 go with me?" 
 
 Dr. C. expressed a willingness, a joy to do so ; and, 
 looking down, but apparently not far below her, she 
 seemed to descend to the place in which he had been 
 left. " 0, he has had sweet dreams ! " she remarked. 
 
 We inquired whether she beheld him now. 
 
 " Most there," she answered. 
 
 Looking upward, she said, " There are many steps in 
 Progression. Many — 0, how many!" and then she 
 asked, with much enthusiasm, " 0, can he come to Pro- 
 gress ? " 
 
 Being told that he could, she said, " 0, let me tell 
 him so ! " 
 
 After a short pause, during which she appeared to be 
 nearing the object of her solicitude, she said, " Here he 
 rests in his bower. How is he to get up ? Is he to 
 walk up ? He is feeble and old." 
 
 Dr. C. inquired if she had spoken to him. She re- 
 plied, " I have beckoned to him. He sees me. He is 
 feeble." 
 
 From the tone of her voice and the expression of her 
 features as she looked upon the old man, weary with his 
 long wanderings in darkness and sorrow, we realized in a 
 faint degree, an idea of his weak, helpless condition. 
 
 Dr. C. inquired why he was so feeble. 
 
 She said, " His state of starvation. No food to nour- 
 ish the soul." 
 
 " How long has he been thus deprived of the food of 
 light and truth ? " 
 
 " Many years. Ten — ten years with no food, no 
 
52 
 
 light, no hope. How feeble his steps are ! He wishes 
 to remain in the bower." 
 
 " Is he coming towards you ? " asked Dr. C. " In- 
 vite him to advance. Lead him to the food his soul 
 needs ? " 
 
 She shook her head, looked down in pity, and replied, 
 " He must have food carried to him to nourish him, — to 
 give him strength to come up. Send him some message. 
 0, how joyful he will be ! " 
 
 " Tell him I have come with you," responded the Dr., 
 " to lead him along to where he can get more food, more 
 repose, more strength." 
 
 With a calm, happy expression upon her face she 
 turned aside. In a few moments she again addressed 
 Dr. C, and said, " I told him. The joy is great, — too 
 great for him to take in in a moment. It will nourish 
 him. It will support him. He cannot rise to-night 
 from his bower." 
 
 " Does he begin to feel happy ? " we inquired. 
 
 "Yes," she answered; " I see no more tears upon 
 his face." 
 
 In reply to our question whether he smiled when he 
 beheld her, she said, "His face is bright; bright, but 
 not so bright as those angel guardians that attend him. 
 They are watching around the bower. Your guardian is 
 not there, but she is watching the whole progress." 
 
 She raised her hand, and pointed upwards, as, far 
 above, she beheld the holy one looking down intently 
 upon the work she had commenced. 
 
 The advancing spirit seemed to forget her own con- 
 dition, so deeply interested was she in the effort for the 
 one she was guiding up, and in the joy he experienced 
 in his bower of repose. 
 
53 
 
 " The old man has got as far as he can bear to-night," 
 she said. " He is overjoyed. He 's chanting the mes- 
 sage you sent him." 
 
 "What more expressive indication of his advancement 
 did we want than this ? He who once lay in despair ; 
 he who shook his head mournfully as he was told of bliss 
 — of light ; and down whose worn and wrinkled face 
 tears — bitter tears, flowed hour after hour, and, as he 
 thought, for eternity, now raised his feeble voice, and 
 sang. And sang of what ? Ah ! he sang that message 
 borne by one who once was like him, — that message 
 telling of hope and help. We could almost catch the 
 sound as, in accents broken by the rushing tide of joy 
 that swept through his soul, he sang those glad tidings. 
 For ten years he had been without them. Ten long, 
 wearisome years a tenant of the prison-house of despair. 
 And now that the door was opened, — now that he was 
 being led forth from his dreary captivity, he sang. Was 
 there not cause ? Angels sang. There ivas joy in 
 heaven when he stepped forth, and should not he echo 
 their glad notes ? 
 
 " Tell him," said Dr. Child, " that you are his guar- 
 dian. Tell him that we will be his guardians, and lead 
 him along ; and listen, tell me what he says." 
 
 She told him as requested ; and soon she said, 
 
 " Tears, but they are not like the tears I saw before. 
 Bright, rolling tears, that he tries not to suppress. He 
 cannot speak." 
 
 After telling us that the angel forms she had previously 
 alluded to as being near him would watch over him till 
 our next meeting, she suddenly exclaimed, " Hark ! 
 Hear that music. They 're singing round his bower. 
 He calls it heaven." 
 5* 
 
54 
 
 She left him thus. Blessed indeed was his state to 
 what it had been. 
 
 Having returned to her position on the step Goodness, 
 Dr. C. kindly invited her yet to advance and attain Pro- 
 gression. 
 
 She asked, " Am I ready to step on Progression ? 
 Will that little act carry me there ? " 
 
 Answering her that she might advance, she appeared 
 to do so, for she said, after a slight pause, " Yes, I know 
 now. I was on the first, — Love, — and I was filled 
 with love for all ; next, I was on Goodness, and I would 
 be good and do good to all ; now, on Progression, I feel 
 love and goodness thrilling through me." 
 
 We remarked that she did not lose any previous attain- 
 ment in the enjoyment of the last. 
 
 She said, " No, I feel it. I can see better. I can 
 look back now and see Love and Goodness. Those were 
 the steps that brought me here. Even / can grow bright. 
 Sinners can go where angels are, first leaving their sin 
 behind. And angels, even angels, come to me. They 
 know the steps. How fast they can descend ! Yes, for 
 they have passed over them ; they know them well. See 
 how their feet glide ; they do not touch." 
 
 She appeared to watch the coming throngs that ad- 
 vanced to meet her, and said, " They 're coming to meet 
 me ; " but in her humility her unassuming spirit could 
 not realize that such a joy was her own, and quickly 
 remarked, " No, it 's to you." 
 
 " They come to meet us both," said Dr. C. " Do you 
 see my guardian spirit now ? " 
 
 She replied, " Far, far above, I see her. In a beau- 
 tiful circle. Her form 's so bright ! Can I long to have 
 a form like theirs ? May I wish to ? " 
 
55 
 
 " Indeed, you may expect to," answered her adviser. 
 
 " Sin never made that brightness," she said, musingly. 
 " They must be ever bright." 
 
 Presuming from this remark that she supposed they 
 could have never been as low as she had been, Dr. C. 
 said, " Perhaps they were once like those dark spirits." 
 
 " Once dark ! " she exclaimed. 
 
 Dr. C. said, "I don't know; perhaps so. I know 
 that I have been once dark and wicked. Many spirits 
 who are now among those bright throngs, and are one 
 with them, were once as dark as you have been." 
 
 She comprehended the truth, and quietly remarked, 
 " Yes, after the dark night the morning light appears." 
 
 We asked her if she could not speak to them, and ask 
 them if it was not so. 
 
 She assented, and said, addressing Dr. C, " Will you 
 go with me ? " 
 
 Replying that he would gladly go, she began to pass 
 on, saying, "Up, up the steps. I long to go. Each 
 step I go up a bright one comes down." 
 
 She appeared to direct her course to some one above 
 her, — some one that appeared to attract her to itself; 
 for, on our inquiring whether she could speak to the bright 
 spirit, she replied, 
 
 "No, I shall not clasp that hand to-night. 0, how 
 joyous is the hour when I clasp that hand ! and 0, what 
 gratitude shall I speak to you for carrying me there ! " 
 
 We asked, " Is that the form of a bright spirit ? " 
 
 She replied, " 0, it 's a form I love ! " 
 
 Filled with joy too great for utterance at the prospect 
 before her, she replied to Dr. C.'s inquiry whether he 
 could lead her to the loved spirit. " You can lead me ; 
 and then, then, the spirit will take me off. Then, then 
 I shall never leave it." 
 
56 
 
 At this point a beautiful and most affecting scene tran- 
 spired. She raised her hands, beckoning to the holy ones 
 above. Her being was filled with a mighty power that 
 nothing could restrain, as the whole soul, energized by it, 
 stretched forth to joys and friends beyond. Smiles, deep, 
 soul-enkindled smiles, were painted in glowing, living 
 colors upon her up-raised countenance. Her attitude was 
 indeed more angelic than earthly. Each motion was as 
 graceful as mind can conceive, and all present felt that 
 their residence was, for the time, above this, and in the 
 world of spirits. 
 
 She then spoke as follows. The feelings of the soul, as 
 each act of the past came in review, were strongly delin- 
 eated in the countenance. Each sentence was spoken 
 slowly, very distinctly, and with much emotion : — 
 
 " One more advance, and then I shall clasp that form. 
 
 ' c That face I know. 0, memory ! 0, memory rolling me 
 back ! 0, where ? 0, where ? Yes, back to earth — 
 back to the home of my childhood. In the cradle of in- 
 nocent love. In the arms of a fond parent — nestling in 
 confidence on that bosom. 
 
 " And years flow on. 
 
 " That kind hand leads me. 
 
 " Years added to years, but not goodness to innocence. 
 Maturity comes. — Maturity of time, but not of spirit. I 
 no longer rest in that parent breast — no longer in the 
 bosom of love I nestle. That hand that once protected 
 me — I curse ! 
 
 " That kind spirit passes away — and sorrow and disap- 
 pointment was her shroud. On her grave no tears are 
 shed ; none to moisten the green sod, and it grew dry 
 and barren like her early hopes. 
 
 " Yes, memory rolls back, and it brings an agony of soul. 
 
 " That was my mother 1 
 
57 
 
 " Her form lay mouldering back to dust — and / was 
 mouldering back to misery. 
 
 " Years fled — and icy age came trembling on me. In 
 darkness I wandered. To eternal misery, as I was taught 
 to believe, my soul was fast hastening. 
 
 ' ' As J went down, that holy form went up. Another 
 
 dying couch. Memory played well her part. Like 
 
 arrows of conviction she pierced me. Dark as my own 
 nature were the beings about me — kindred to mine. 
 And their words — their words of consolation came pour- 
 ing in my soul — c God will condemn to eternal misery.' 
 
 < i Demons filled the room — darkness brooded o'er me. 
 — The spirit fled down, leaving hope in the grave . 
 
 " No stone marks the spot, — 'tis well ; sunken is the 
 mound, — 'tis better. Emblematic of my destiny. 
 
 " Then I passed where all were dark as me, each with 
 some guilty stain that stained the soul a dye of deepest 
 dye. We w T ere truly comp anions, *for no brilliancy ema- 
 nated from either soul — companions in woe ! 
 
 " And years fled on, carrying that loved one still up- 
 ward, till one dark, dreary night, I saw a star. None 
 other saw it. I called, I implored. It answered to me, 
 grew brighter, larger. It came in the form, human form, 
 like mine ; but 0, how bright ! Nearer he came. He 
 bade me rise. Joyously I hastened. He took me on. 
 He told me of other stars that shone far above him, 
 and that God would let me come up. He carried me to a 
 bright land. Me, in sin, unworthy, and 0, the debt of 
 gratitude that rests in this heart ! 
 
 " This is the one. (Dr. C.) He knows the course. And 
 now, through Love, and Goodness,- and Progression, this 
 deepest dye of humanity has passed, and I am going, 
 yes, going to that mother. 
 
58 
 
 " Happy reunion ! Let me go and rest." 
 No words of ours can add to such a narrative. The 
 features and attitude, as the last words were uttered, 
 were beautiful, heavenly, beyond earthly expression. 
 
 The glad spirit left. Soon the guardian of Dr. C. came 
 and addressed him as follows, — 
 
 " The labor of earth invigorates the body. The work 
 of the spirit in Progression nourishes the soul. The one 
 brings an abundant harvest, and the other never-fading 
 laurels to deck the brow for passports to celestial regions. 
 
 " Your work is well. It makes heaven echo with joy- 
 ousness. Each labor adds another flower-bed in the gar- 
 den of repose. 
 
 " Come upward and onward, but come not alone/' 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 FIFTH INTERVIEW. 
 
 Monday Evening, April 17, 1854. — The rapidly-ad- 
 vancing spirit came, and addressing Dr. Child, spoke as 
 follows, — 
 
 " I seem to be floating in a soft, bright, holy atmos- 
 phere. My form is changed since last I met you ; my 
 garments are changed, too. 'Tis bright, 'tis pure, 'tis 
 beautiful — and you was my saviour — you led me up- 
 ward. 
 
 " Now look ; behind that radiant star that glistens so 
 high, is my pure, my angel mother. I shall soon be 
 
59 
 
 there, soon press this happy heart to hers, soon lay this 
 head upon her breast. 
 
 " My flight is so rapid I shall soon reach her, and then, 
 though I am beyond you, it will only be like a small 
 stream removed from its great fountain. From amid 
 this happy throng, among these glorious treasures, these 
 heavenly beauties, I can gather them and flow them back 
 to you on the wings of gratitude. Here is the point and 
 the time where my soul can pour forth its grateful feel- 
 ings. 
 
 " The long-neglected flower, taken from its dark forest 
 abode, and transplanted to a heavenly garden, will shed 
 fragrance, will blossom in beauty to the hand that nur- 
 tured it." 
 
 Gazing upward, with hands reaching forward to the 
 bright goal to which this now happy spirit was tending, 
 she said, 
 
 " Fast, how fast I reach that form. 0, not for me are 
 those beauties — not' for me ! I can gaze, and whisper 
 the echo of their beauty to you. I will gaze for you. 
 I will aspire for you, and when after many, many flights 
 of beauty, love and holiness, I reach that holy form, that 
 pure, that angel being that called you upward, I will 
 whisper to her my soul-felt gratitude. I will breathe to 
 her of your kindness. I will echo it through that high 
 sphere till another gem shall stud her coronet, and 
 glisten, ay, brighter than the thousand that now orna- 
 ment it. 
 
 " A life of purity and a life of sin, will they meet ? — 
 Now I near that form, my mother. Her years have been 
 filled up with goodness. Mine ! 0, would they were a 
 blank ! And I, who once was sinful, so low, am passing, 
 passing upward. 
 
60 
 
 " There is a link that binds me to her. Between my 
 form and hers are other forms. One less brilliant than 
 her takes hold of her hand — then one less bright than 
 the last, and so downward to me, but they pass away as 
 I go upward." 
 
 There was here a pause, during which her animated, 
 joyous face told the story of her progress. 
 
 " 0, 1 feel I am nearing her ! " she said. "lam going 
 home — going to rest." 
 
 Remembering in her own fulness of joy those below 
 her where she once was, she said, alluding to the spirit 
 who had sought rest in the bower — " Go, bring that weary 
 soul up. Go. Let him hear what i" have heard. Go, 
 
 fill his soul with love. Soon, soon I join her. Go call 
 
 him upward. 
 
 " Mother, mother, take me home. Kind benefactor, 
 go call him up." 
 
 Turning more directly to Dr. C, she said, with much 
 tenderness, " I do not leave you. I go to join my mother. 
 I will come again with double purity. They say I shall 
 wear a crown of bright stars ! I will come stepping in 
 your pathway. Your goodness will keep those stars 
 bright on my forehead. I know they will be ever bright. 
 
 " Now I go. I go up, up. Go call him up, that weary 
 one." 
 
 She spoke no more. She had gone to join her mother. 
 Happy, indeed, was the smile brightening her features. 
 Glorious her passage to her mother's embrace. 
 
 This advanced spirit having left, the spirit of the old 
 man took possession of the medium, and Dr. C. was re- 
 joiced in being able thus to communicate with him, and 
 respond to the last request of her whose progression had 
 been so beautiful and rapid. 
 
61 
 
 He spake in a heavier- toned voice than the previous 
 spirit, and said, musingly, " This the bower they placed 
 me in. ,, 
 
 Dr. C. intimated that if he had got rest, it would be 
 well for him to advance. He seemed loth to leave his 
 present situation, fearing he might not find another, and 
 inquired, " Can I ? Can I find another bower ? " 
 
 Dr. C. asked him whether he had had rest. He re- 
 plied, " I have had visions. Forms, bright, brighter than 
 yours, came to me." Alluding to the places seen in his 
 visions, he said, " It's bright there, I know. It's happy 
 there, I know — but this is my home." 
 
 Being asked if he had obtained strength to go further, 
 he said, " I 'm strong, but I want knowledge. My mind 
 is dark." 
 
 " Will you go with me ? " asked Dr. Child. « Go with 
 me, I will lead you to knowledge." 
 
 He replied — " You are kind. I had a vision in my 
 bower of a place higher than this, where a bright form 
 was going home that you had led up. There was a great 
 throng of bright spirits around it. A spirit had wandered 
 in darkness — a mother had lost her child, and by your 
 means the child was returned. 0, there was great joy ! 
 And then, the music — 0, the sounds ! they brought me 
 out of my vision. I dreamt that I was an angel, too. 
 Was going up there ; and that you was making me little 
 steps, and here I am here. But 0, it 's a fine bower ! " 
 
 Dr. C. inquired whether he now saw the steps. He 
 answered, in a sad tone, " Too many steps for the poor 
 old man." 
 
 " But you can take one at a time, and thus arise," we 
 remarked. 
 
 He exclaimed, in a hopeful manner, " One step ! Then 
 6 
 
62 
 
 let me lay down and rest. I cannot take in so much as 
 the bright one." 
 
 " Do you see what is written on the first step ? " in- 
 quired Dr. C. 
 
 " I know it must he your name. It 's Love," he an- 
 swered. He then said, " But when I get there I must 
 rest, and you will weary coming hack for the poor old 
 man so often. He cannot rise fast." 
 
 Dr. C. assured him that he could never grow weary in 
 such a cause ; that it was pleasure for him to thus lead 
 him up. 
 
 Pondering upon the steps, the spirit said, " There 
 was a place where I lived — they called it earth. And 
 there were many steps, hut they carried me down. Was 
 I on the wrong ones ? I fear steps." 
 
 He would not fear steps that went up, we remarked, 
 for they are God's steps, leading up to Him. He was 
 cheered by this thought, and, musing upon the past, he 
 said, " Those steps I went on each was darker." 
 
 Urging him to ascend the first step, he asked, " Can I 
 go on these, and dream the same bright dream I dreamed 
 in my bower ? " 
 
 Y^e told him that he could ; that it would be even 
 brighter. He yet feared he might lose what he had 
 already gained in progression, and said, " When I go on 
 that step, and you leave me, some other one will come 
 and take the poor old man, and throw him back." 
 
 We assured him such would not be the case. 
 
 He then asked, "If I go there, and have another 
 vision, when I awake will you come ? " 
 
 Replying affirmatively, he inquired, "Have many 
 gone up here ? " 
 
 "0, thousands, thousands!" replied Dr. C. "I 
 
63 
 
 have been led up by niy guardian, and she led me to 
 guide up a spirit not long since as low as you are, and 
 now she has risen to happiness." 
 
 " I saw her go ! " he said, as a smile came over his 
 face, so long unused to smile. " I saw her go. My 
 vision iv as true. I saw her go." 
 
 Dr. C. remarking that he knew not her name, and no 
 knowledge of what to call her, he interrupted him and 
 said, ' ' She 's left a star. They put a crown on her when 
 she went there, and she took from it and threw back a 
 star to you." After a pause he said, "You are happy, 
 and the poor old man is happy. I must go rest." 
 
 Dr. C. inquired whether any one had been to see him 
 since he first rested in the bower. 
 
 He answered, " One — one bright form that loves the 
 poor old man. She is so pure she cannot stay long, and 
 when she goes I weep." After a short, musing mood, 
 he asked, " What will they do with the poor old man up 
 there ? The angels said they 'd take me ; but what can 
 they want of me there ? " 
 
 Telling him that as he advanced he would grow bright, 
 and become prepared for a happy home, he asked 
 whether he would become happy like him. 
 
 He was told that he would, and even happier. 
 
 He seemed now to have taken one step, for he said, 
 " I see better than I did in the bower. I see where the 
 angels came from." He pointed upward, and seemed 
 glad. But he could move but slowly. Long sunken in 
 despair, he was weak, now that the sunlight of hope 
 shone upon him, and he said, " Let me rest. I am old 
 and weary. I cannot go like youth. I will go rest. Go 
 learn to love. Do not forget, come to me again." 
 
 Promising to come again, Dr. C. bade him good-by. 
 
64 
 
 No more was said. He seemed, indeed, as we had 
 been told on a previous evening, to sleep in sweet slumber. 
 
 After a pause, the guardian of Dr. Child came, and, 
 addressing him, spoke as follows respecting the meeting 
 of the child with her mother in the spirit-world : 
 
 " Joyous was the echo in that spirit-land at the happy 
 reunion of that long, long separation. Each temple 
 echoed with gladness. Each harp was tuned to a 
 brighter strain. A new melody broke upon their ears, 
 for another soul came upward clothed in truth. 
 
 " And here " (taking Dr. C. by the hand) " was the 
 spirit-guide. Let your harp be tuned anew. Let your 
 song peal in louder strains, for the work you have done 
 is great. 
 
 "Her flight and progress was rapid, — far greater 
 than was looked for. Like your own bright course, — 
 short, brilliant. She will breathe upon you with breath 
 of eloquence. She will bring up your powers anew. 
 There now is double guardianship over your path. You 
 cannot grow weary ; you cannot go back only to bring 
 on the weary, the low and the less-favored. 
 
 " Her crown of stars will dazzle with heavenly radi- 
 ance. They will urge you on to gather for yourself the 
 same starry crown which shall be yours. 
 
 "Still another adornment to your spirit, — to your 
 own bower. It grows each day more like my own. I 
 tarry not long to-night, but I leave o'er you my influ- 
 ence, my approbation, my love." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SIXTH INTERVIEW. 
 
 Monday Evening, April 24. — The spirit of the old 
 man came, and spoke as follows : 
 
 1 ' And so he said he would bring me onward ; from 
 this step I might go to another. And then, 0, then that 
 form he led on before ! Yes, I know the face. How it 
 speaks — how it speaks of that mother's ! Long years 
 I wandered from her. Could I but know that now I am 
 on the step of Love ! " 
 
 He paused here, as if in thought of the past and his 
 present position. 
 
 " I once — I once loved her," he continued ; but how 
 could true lore turn to hatred ? I left her alone, for- 
 lorn. I wandered. I found no rest, till, in one dark 
 and dreary night, I laid me down and died. 
 
 ' ' I awoke in the midnight of despair. And I, the 
 basest of all — of all earth's children, am now walking on 
 these fine steps. 0, it was love — love that sent thee to 
 me ! 
 
 " And 0, that form, that face, — how like — how like 
 that wife is it ! Can it be my child ? God ! let me 
 go upward, too !" 
 
 He now inquired for Dr. C, who had not yet spoken, 
 and said, " He was all kindness when last he came. I 
 know he '11 lead me now. Without him I can never 
 reach them." 
 
 Dr. Child remarked that he had come to lead him on 
 6* 
 
66 
 
 — yet on to higher truths. The spirit heard him, and 
 feelingly responded, " That same kind voice. I hear it. 
 Yes, come to lead me on." 
 
 " Yes," said Dr. C. ; " I will lead you. You wish 
 to advance, and your efforts will be aided by brighter and 
 holier beings than myself. " 
 
 The penitent spirit was rejoiced ; yet his love for the 
 welfare of others prompted him to hesitate in his accept- 
 ance of the proffered help of Dr. C. 
 
 " But your steps are rapid," said he, " and I am old. 
 I would weary your patience." He then exclaimed, 
 with much earnestness, " Tell me of that bright form 
 that went on before me. I dream of her. I had a 
 vision, and she came in heavenly form, arrayed in white. 
 She came with a bright anchor and a crown, too, which 
 she said I should wear. And 0, I dreamt she called me 
 'father.' Why does that bright one hover around the 
 poor old man ? How far must my weary — my weary 
 steps travel before I reach that form ? ' ' 
 
 We told him that she would come to meet him. 
 
 He asked, " How many steps shall I ascend before I 
 reach that from which she took her flight ? " 
 
 " But two more, — Goodness, Progression." 
 
 He turned to Dr. C. and said, " And you will direct 
 me." 
 
 Telling him that he would, he cast his look to the 
 throngs and light above, and remarked, " She may have 
 gone to join that form. I led her to the altar ; the vow 
 was sealed to love and protect her. How bright, how 
 pure she was ! — ail gentleness, and I so sinful. May you 
 never know the agony that swelled this brain when the 
 messenger — death — came for my soul. How could I 
 join her ? She all light and holiness, and I darkness 
 
GT 
 
 and sin. She I led to the altar passed on, passed up- 
 ward, upward/' 
 
 After a pause, he continued, " Tell me what form so 
 like her that visited me." We told him that her mother 
 sent her to him, and yet she required not to be sent ; 
 she came so freely of her own will. 
 
 " Yes ! " he exclaimed ; " Goodness and love, she 
 sent her back to me, — her to me, the forlorn in sorrow, 
 in sin and wretchedness. She came. I dreamt she said, 
 ' a family reunited in heaven.' And 0, the starry crown 
 she wore ! She said her angel-mother had one brighter. 
 That every thorn that pierced her in agony on earth shone 
 a bright star in heaven." 
 
 A thrill of sorrow now vibrated his whole being, and 
 he said, " Those thorns were given by me. I crowned 
 her. But here I must rest till my soul becomes purified. 
 'T is all of heaven I can attain, — the visions, those 
 happy visions of those happy throngs ; take them not 
 from me. And yet too much for me, the sinner, — the 
 poor old man." 
 
 " Can't you ascend to the next step ? " asked Dr. C. 
 " If I lead you gently, will you not pass up to Good- 
 ness ? " 
 
 He quickly said, " And in the vision the bright one 
 said, 'learn to love goodness.' They bring me my 
 heaven. 'T is because I can't go. I 'm happy here." 
 
 As in the case of the other spirit, so with this. The 
 bliss was so great that it was indeed heaven to him. 
 Wishing to impress him with the truth that yet higher 
 attainments -might be made, and greater glories attained, 
 we encouraged him to make an effort now to advance. 
 Dr. C. remarked that he would lead him. " No, I will 
 
68 
 
 not retard your flight/' he replied. " Leave rne here ; 
 'tis enough, enough for me." 
 
 As he turned his gaze upward, and beheld how light 
 were those who attended these scenes of spirit progres- 
 sion, he said, addressing Dr. C./, " I see why you ascend 
 so rapid. Bright angel-forms take your hand." 
 
 " They lead me on as I lead you," said the Dr. 
 
 " I would step on Goodness," he said ; " can I come 
 back to Love ? They said when on Goodness a brighter 
 band would chant to me. And 0, that form that comes 
 around me ! It haunts my vision." 
 
 He appeared to ascend the step ; for, after a short 
 pause, he said, " I 've been where love filled me, and 
 now goodness thrills my soul, and love, too. I feel them 
 both. 'T is enough for the poor old man, — another step. 
 That bright form is coming. She will relieve you from 
 the labor. She can come on Goodness. She can take 
 me. She will give you gratitude." 
 
 " It is no labor," said Dr. C. ; " it is a pleasure. If 
 I can lead you it will be indeed a great joy for me to do 
 so. Do you not see my guardian ? Does she not smile' 
 at your progress ? " / 
 
 He gazed for a moment upward, then said, " One look 
 is too much. I could not, I could not gaze. My eyes 
 grow dim. I 'm feeble. I can rest on Goodness, feed on 
 Goodness, live in Goodness. Then that form will come, 
 and take me to Progression. Yes, your duty is o'er. 
 Your labor is o'er. Adieu, I may meet you again." 
 
 In a position to which the bright forms could approach, 
 he could see angel-hands outstretched to lead him, and 
 he tenderly parted with that which had led him thither. 
 Dr. C. wished not to part with him forever, and asked 
 whether he would do so. " 0, no ! " he replied ; " the 
 
69 
 
 old man will not forsake his only friend ." He 
 
 paused in a listening attitude, as if to catch some distant 
 strain, and then said, " I hear a band chanting. They 
 will come take me. You will have reward. Conscience 
 will whisper sweetly to you. — I will go rest in this 
 bower. Your work, your work is over — " 
 
 Thus the once dark, sorrowful, weary spirit left us. 
 With hope in his soul, joy beaming upon and around him, 
 and a future, whose glories no tongue can describe, await- 
 ing him. Spirit-help would now be his. Angel-voices 
 would lead, and angel-hands protect him. Gladly, joy- 
 ously, we left him to repose in such a bower, and in a 
 few moments the spirit who had been led higher took Dr, 
 C. by the hand, and spoke as follows, — 
 
 " And 0, ? t is here that my soul speaks forth its grati- 
 tude to you. Were it not for this hand that led me up, 
 this hand would never have been tuned to melody. I 
 could never have played in the chords of celestial har- 
 mony. It was this hand that joined my angel-mother's 
 and mine. That act alone would swell an anthem of 
 heaven. You led me upward, we parted, and there was 
 an angel-union. It was home there, it was heaven 
 there, for there my mother dwelt. I, all freed, all ran- 
 somed from sin, came singing, came chanting, came home, 
 never more to wander. So soft now are my visions on 
 my mother's breast. With the already bright blazonry 
 of glory that surrounds you from that high form, my 
 lesser light shall blend in one eternal halo around your 
 earthly path. 
 
 " That light will carry you, carry you to flights rapid. 
 And 0, the double gratitude that my soul pours forth ! 
 The other form that you brought up ! It is, it is my 
 father. We will soon be a family united. Your soul has 
 
70 
 
 bathed in waters of benevolence. Your labor there is 
 done. I will lead him on ; but 0, for words to tell you 
 all I feel ! What I cannot speak to you 1 '11 echo in 
 angel choirs. The melody will reach you. The gratitude 
 of many I speak. The love of that angel-mother I bear 
 to you, and it comes pure as an angel breath. You have 
 many stars that will shine for you." 
 
 Overcome by the flood of gratitude that this ransomed 
 spirit poured forth from her soul, Dr. C. said, " You 
 acknowledge too much gratitude for my humble efforts. It 
 is to higher influences that this debt of gratitude is due." 
 
 " I do not, I do not," she replied ; " I cannot. All 
 things flow from the great Original. We drink from lesser 
 streams, from the rivulet and the brook, though they flow 
 from the great fountain-head. Thanks to the rivulet, and 
 gratitude, and heart-felt, and soul-felt, and eternal praises 
 to the great Original — still onward, onward. 
 
 " I go, that my place may be filled by that still brighter 
 one. I go, but not to forget. I linger around." 
 
 In answer to an inquiry of Dr. C, she said she would 
 come again, and come often. 
 
 " If I can bring you glad tidings," she continued, 
 " bring you of the glories beyond, I come joyfully. Here 
 an angel band are gathering, chanting the words of that 
 prayer your guardian gave you." 
 
 Being asked if the prayer was suited to her condition 
 as it was to the one for whom it was given, she replied, 
 
 " 'T is felt by all in this sphere. 'T is suited to us, 
 to you, to all. — I go now, that the brighter form may 
 come." 
 
 The guardian of Dr. C. soon gained possession of Mrs. 
 A., and spoke as follows, — 
 
 " Upward and onward, but not alone ! In your ascent 
 
71 
 
 other forms came upward. From your footprints the trav- 
 eller marked his course. This act of love has ended joy- 
 ously — not ended, it goes floating on, floating in the far, 
 far future, on to eternal ages. 
 
 " Wanderer coming home, you would not return. Look 
 upon the past, while I unveil the future. Go back to the 
 midnight of error, while I lift the curtain that shades the 
 bower of eternal repose. 
 
 " Go back to the footsteps of folly, while I give the 
 picture of angel-groups that attend thee ; of seraph 
 forms that attract thee. I do this all in love. 'T is love 
 that called me here, 't is love that bears you home. 
 
 " Look back to the dark grave that waited thee, to the 
 tomb of despair, and now look upward to your eternal 
 home, to that great fount where you shall drink, where 
 the soul shall bathe, be purified. 
 
 " Look, look in the future, to the world of intellect, to 
 thought and expansion, and the deep, boundless ocean 
 of wisdom. To those I bring thee. 0, breathe not a 
 wish to return ! I have watched this effort of labor, 
 this labor of progression. I guarded the steps you came 
 up, and the dark forms that you led onward. 
 
 " It is ended now. Soon, soon the happy reunion will 
 come. 
 
 " The effort is closed. I '11 bring you teachings yet. 
 I have a happy future, all laden with brightness and glory, 
 to bring you. 
 
 " This effort now is closed. Seal the volume. Write 
 the angel- witnesses. Write the names of the circle above. 
 Love, Truth, Sympathy, Affection. These are the spirit 
 names of the angels who have witnessed the effort. They 
 are your* guardians." 
 
 * Referring to Dr. C, Mrs. A., Miss 0., and the writer, who had been 
 present at the sittings. 
 
72 
 
 Having been urged by many spirits to issut, an ac- 
 count of these interviews in a printed form, we inquired 
 what name should be given to the work. It was an- 
 swered, "A Rivulet from the Ocean of Truth/ ' Dr. C. 
 remarked that to his guardian we and the advanced spirit 
 were wholly indebted for the pleasure we had received 
 in being used as instruments in so good a cause, and the 
 rapturous joy of those who had been led from darkness 
 to light " No, no," she said, " due praise to all." 
 
 We asked whether this advanced spirit would go back 
 to bring up others. She replied, " She goes to bring 
 back the aged father, and were she advanced ten-fold in 
 regions of light and beauty, she could, at the option of 
 love and duty, descend to bring up. And let the same 
 rule attend you in the duties of life." 
 
 Dr. C. asked, " Has this spirit advanced more rapidly 
 than usual ? " 
 
 She answered, " There have been others as rapid. It 
 is the innate, inborn love of goodness dwelling in each 
 soul. Though in some faint, it is not quite extinguished. 
 It can be kindled to a lasting flame." 
 
 After telling us that there was to be another effort, 
 through Mrs. A., by two spirits in the circle above, and 
 that we must not tax her powers too much, this holy, 
 truthful, angelic being bade us, for the time, adieu. 
 
Books bent bt Mail to ant Post Ovficb in thb United Statu. 
 
 A LIST OF BOOKS 
 
 Published and for Sale by Bela Marsh, No. 25 Cornhill, Boston. 
 
 Price. Post. 
 
 the Book of Notions, com- 
 plied by John Hayward, author of sev- 
 eral Gazeteers and other Works. (Re- 
 positories of choice thoughts are rich 
 contributions to the republic of letters.) 
 —Felt 60-12 
 
 i'he Science of Man Applied 
 
 to Epidemics ; their Cause, Cure and 
 Prevention. By Lewis S. Hough.— 
 (Man's Life is his Universe) 60—12 
 
 A Wreath for St. Crispin : be- 
 ing Sketches of Eminent Shoemakers. 
 By J. Prince' " How beautiful are thy 
 feet with shoes, O princes' daughter! " 
 —Song of Solomon, 7: 1 60 — 9 
 
 Hlight Historical and Critical 
 
 lectures on the Bible. By John Prince. 1 00 — 20 
 
 Human Life ; Illustrated in 
 
 my Individual Experience as a Child, a 
 youth, and a Man. By Henry Clarke 
 Wright 1 00-20 
 
 Unconstitutionality of Slavery. 
 
 By Lysander Spooner 75 — 20 
 
 A Defence for Fugitive Slaves. 
 
 By Lysander Spooner 25 — 4 
 
 Poverty : its Illegal Causes 
 
 and Legal Cure. By Lysander Spooner. 25 — 4 
 
 An Essay on the Trial by Jury. 
 
 By Lysander Spooner 1 00—20 
 
 American Politician. Embel- 
 lished with the Portraits of the Presi- 
 dents. By M. Sears I 00—20 
 
 Christ and the Pharisees, upon 
 
 the Sabbath 20— 4 
 
 Narrative of the Life of Fred- 
 erick Douglass 25 — 4 
 
 Narrative of Henry Watson, a 
 
 Fugitive Slave . 13—2 
 
 The Branded Hand : or Trial 
 
 *nd Imprisonment of Jonathan Walker, 
 it Pensacola, Florida, for aiding Slaves 
 to escape from Bondage 25 — 4 
 
 Walker's Picture of Slavery, 
 
 for youth i . . . . 8 — 1 
 
 Personal Memoir of Daniel 
 
 Drayton, for four years and four months 
 i Prisoner (for charity's sake) in Wash- 
 
 naton Jail. Including a Narrative of 
 .he Voyage and Capture of the Schooner 
 
 'earl 25— 4 
 
 ) Walker's Brief View of Amer- 
 ican Chattelized Humanity ...... 
 
 A History of the Mexican 
 
 War, or Facts for the People. By L. 
 Moody 
 
 The Church as it is : or, the 
 
 Forlorn Hope of Slavery. By P. Pills- 
 bury 
 
 Pious Frauds : or the Admis- 
 sions oflhe Church against the Inspira- 
 tion of the Bible. By P. Pillsbury . . . 
 
 Eugene Becklard's Physiolog- 
 ical Mysteries and Revelations 
 
 The Bustle, a Philosophical 
 
 and Moral Poem. By the most Extraor- 
 dinary Man of the Age 
 
 Facts and Important Informa- 
 tion for Young Men, on the subject of 
 Masturbation 
 
 Facts and Important Informa- 
 tion for Young Women, on the same 
 subject 
 
 The Fountain Minstrel; or 
 
 Tee Totallers' New Song Book. By F. 
 M. Adlinglon ....". 
 
 The Ocean Plague : or a Voy- 
 age to Quebec in an Irish Emigrant Ves- 
 sel. Embracing a Quarantine at Grosse 
 Isle, in 1847 With Notes Illustrative of 
 the Shi p Pestilence of that Fatal Year.— 
 By a Cabin Passenger » 
 
 A Sermon on the Mexican 
 
 War. By Rev. Theodore Parker . . . 
 
 A Discourse occasioned by the 
 
 Death of John Quincy Adams. By Rev. 
 Theodore Parker 
 
 Health Tracts for the Diffusion 
 
 of Knowledge on the Preservation of 
 Health. By Dr William A. Alcott . . 75—10 
 
 The Graham Journal of Health 
 
 and Longevity, lor the Year 1839. — 
 (cloth.) 1 
 
 Female Midwifery Advocated. 
 
 By Samuel Gregory, A. M 
 
 Six Years in a Georgia Prison. 
 
 Narrative of Lewis W. Paine, who suf- 
 fered Imprisonment Six Years in Geor- 
 gia, for the crime of aidins the escape 
 
 20—4 
 
 15—2 
 
 10- 2 
 25— 
 
 25— 3 
 
 12- 
 
 12— 
 
 12— 
 
 25— 4 
 
 15— 2 
 
 20— 2 
 
 00-20 
 12— 2 
 
 >f a Fellow Man from thai Stale, after he 
 had fled from Slavery. Written by him- 
 self 
 
 25-- 4 
 
A 
 
 Cinus. 
 
 Answers to Seventeen Objections against Spiritnal Intercourse, and Inquiries Relating to 
 the Manifestations of the Present Time. By John S. Adams. Price 25 cts. ; cloth, 38 cts. 
 
 Since writing the above work the author has changed his views in regard to the Bible 
 as the only revelation of God to man. In all other particulars his views are as therein 
 laid down. The work has been well received by all classes, and the arguments advanced 
 have been considered worthy of the careful consideration of all men of thought. All sec- 
 tarianism is avoided ; no doctrinal opinions are introduced ; but the "answers" rest on 
 the fundamental truths of scriptural revelation and undisputed facts. 
 
 Review of the Conclusion of Rev. Charles Beecher, Referring the Manifestations of the 
 Present Time to the Agency of Evil Spirits. By John S. Adams. Price 6 cents. 
 
 _ A" Rivulet from the Ocean of Truth. An Authentic and Intensely Interesting Narra- 
 tive of the Advancement of a Spirit from Darkness to Light, Proving by an Actual Instance 
 the Influence of Man on Earth over the Departed. With Introductory and Incidental 
 Remarks. By John S. Adams. 
 
 *** The above is just published. Price 25 cents. 
 
 It abounds with passages of the most thrilling and interesting nature. The words of the 
 spirit, at first fraught with every agonizing emotion, gradually advance to the expression 
 of the most pleasurable feelings of ecstatic joy. It is not a work of fiction. Every line is 
 as it was spoken by the spirit, and the volume is but a, record of facts as they actually 
 transpired. 
 
 A Letter to the Chestnut-Street Congregational Church, Chelsea, Mass., in Reply to its 
 Charge c 'Kaving become a Reproach to the Cause of Truth in Consequence of a Change of 
 Religiou, .lief. By John S. Adams. Price 15 cents. Just published. 
 
 The " Ministry of Angels" Realized. A Letter to the Edwards Congregational Church, 
 Boston. By Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Newton. Price 10 cents. 
 
 The authors of this letter were, at the time of its writing, and for many years previously, 
 members, in unexceptionable standing, of an Orthodox church ; and the letter was designed 
 to acquaint their brothers and sisters with certain extraornidary experiences of angelic 
 visitation and ministration which they were daily enjoying in the quietude of their own 
 family circle, and which had not only furnished to them demonstration of a higher life, 
 but had opened new treasures of love, wisdom and joy, flowing from celestial realms. 
 
 A Review of the Criticisms of the Congregationalist on the "Letter to the Edwards 
 Church," Including the Reply rejected by that Journal, and Embracing a Truthful Exhi- 
 bition of the, Unfairness, Injustice, Dogmatism and Phariseeism of its Editors, with a 
 Thorough Refutation of the Great Argument, the " Puzzling Hypothesis " of Orthodoxy 
 against Modern Communications from the Spirit World. By A. E. Newton. Price 10 cts. 
 
 Answer to Charges of Belief in Modern Revelations, etc., given before the Edwards Con- 
 gregitional Church, Boston. By Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Newton ; Embracing, also, a Mes- 
 sage to the Church from its Late Pastor ; the Withdrawal from Membership, and the Sub- 
 sequent Discussion before the Church. Price 13 cents. 
 
 The Religion of Manhood; or, The Age of Thought. By Dr. J. H. Robinson. With an 
 Introduction by A. E. Newton. Price 50 cents. 
 
 This is a valuable exposition of the theology and ethics of Spiritualism, as apprehended 
 by a cultivated and religious mind. It is accompanied by facts and arguments bearing on 
 the question of the origin of the phenomena, etc. ; and is especially addressed to thinking 
 men, who would know " whereunto these things will grow." The introduction, by Mr. 
 Newton, contains a logical and forcible exhibition of the true nature of Inspiration — 
 heretofore deemed so mysterious and miraculous — with evidence to show its recurrence at 
 the present day. 
 
 The above, together with many other works on Spiritualism and its teachings, published 
 and for sale at wholesale and retail by Bela Marsh, 15 Franklin-street, Boston ; Par- 
 tridge & Brittan, 800 Broadway, New York ; B. Percival, 89 South Sixth-street, Phil- 
 adelphia ; F. Bly, Cincinnati ; T. Wiggins, St. Louis ; M. Boulleret, Mobile ; J. C. 
 Morgan, New Orleans ; and by booksellers generally. 
 
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