Utye JFUght of life Coat 8>nul flrv. MtlUatn fflariirll Han&rrhoff. S.fl. 2 ■4 rt\ W. W. VANDERHOFF of thr Host ^nul The scenes of earth are passing fast, A premonition comes to me, That I from time must soon be cast To try a vast eternity, Already looming into sight, My hold on life is getting slight. My body once so well and strong, So many years my earthly home, Where dwells the power of right and wrong And with it I am free to roam, But now, while here I wish to stay, Some force unseen draws me away. Some higher power must exist That lays its mighty grasp on me, So great that I cannot resist, I know not what this power can be, Nor where it is, nor how concealed, I only know that I must yield. It seems so strange that I must go, And cannot longer here remain; How hard and cruel is the blow That cleaves a being thus in twain ; But from this force I cannot hide, My soul and body must divide. A parting comes, of me and mine, Between myself and earthly life, All worldly wealth I must resign, Possessions gained by toil and strife Have now no power to hold me here, When sounds this death-knell in my ear, I shudder at the thought of death, Which like a fiery scorpion comes. I feel its touch consume my breath, Somewhere a noisy movement hums; Ah ! now I glance beyond this world And wonder where I shall be hurled. Why inward horror, secret dread? What racks my soul, why fear my fate? There is no future I have said, No other worlds my soul await, No God to meet, no heaven nor hell, When I this world shall bid farewell. how I tremble, and I shrink From this dense darkness stretching far, For I am standing on the brink Of an abyss without a star, No planet, sun, nor source of light, But all is night, the blackest night. My Body, I must sever now The hold T had so long on you And to the hand of death must bow, Which seems my being to undo, For here I can no longer dwell, But where I go I cannot tell. A vision now appears to me Which does appalling scenes display A strange pale horse I plainly sec. On which sits Death with power to slay, His very being all ablaze, Why must this vision meet my gaze? 1 see him coming nearer still, And what is that which follows there, That does my soul with terror fill, Wha-t coukl so frightful image bear? Ah, did not God this scene foretell? I know what follows must be hell. And has this rider come for me, To call my soul from earth away? Must my probation ended be? And is there none his power to stay? Oh, is there nothing I can grasp, No saving hand my own to clasp? This urgent message somes to me, From that death angel which now stands- One foot on earth and one on sea, With oath most solemn he commands, That time for me shall be no more, To fly to some eternal shore. My body, yes a long adieu, This self of mine must take its flight Where each man's sins shall him pursue And sin forever curse and blight; Immortal now and I must dwell Amidst the wrath of conscious hell. I heard them say who watched by me : "I think he's past all suffering now." Ah, me ! beyond what they could see I shivered terribly some how, And felt the throb of awful pain, But still unable to explain. No soul on earth could comprehend My feeling at my parting breath, All fears and horrors seem to blend While passing through the gates of death ; My destiny, though faintly seen. Appeared to me with frightful mien. 'Twas Father Time who cut me down, When with his scythe he did appear/ But who is this with awful frown, I see with hand uplifted, near. To push me now from where I stand, Beneath this precipice to land? No form more fierce than his could be, Created how or when or where? And with his bottomless-pit key, \<> other creature can compare Willi this, so horrible and mean, His like before was never seen. And why does he appear to me? And tell me wherefore am I here? This sudden change, why should it be? How did I reach this wretched sphere? Who sent me here? How was I hurled From earth into this misty world? 5 How dense and deep and dark this smoke, It hides the earth and veils the sky, "Tis that of which the Bible spoke, The smoke of torment rising high, But shall it evermore ascend, Without cessation, without end? Oh, for another day of grace, An opportunity again, Among the saints, to seek a place. To rid myself of sin, and then The happy heights of glory gain, Through Christ the Lamb for sinners slain. When on the earth, I always said, A future hell was all a sham, For when, at last, a man is dead, There's nothing left for God to damn ;: But, Oh ! I see my error now, For I live on, I know not how. I thought the prophets all were wrong And all apostles were astray, That every gospel hymn or song And all the Bible had to say, Were very far from being true,. That sin could never man undo. I thought that even Christ the Lord, Some great mistake had surely made, When he declared throughout His word, That sinners all, who disobeyed, At last to judgment should be brought, For every act, and word, and thought. The king, Destruction, opens wide, The smoking, bottomless abyss That sinners into it might slide Who foolishly did heaven miss ; Then scorpions are sent to sting All just to please their fiendish king. I am a real being now, There is reality in hell, As God at first did man endow, These powers still within me dwell, And active are in any place, Increasing as I sweep through space. In my receding life, I saw But little good that I had done And evil, much, God's broken law, His great salvation I had shun — Saw these against my soul unite, But saw no way to stop my flight What made me thus? Ah, it was sin! And shall its nature never change But for the worse? Without, within, I feel its weight so sad and strange, Oh, must I bear it on and on, And shall it never more be gone? & I cannot fly from self away, Oh, how I wish that this could be, Or had I power myself to slay, I'd quickly put an end to me; I cannot change my dreadful state, My sinful nature, nor my fate. I live, I live right on in woe, I cannot order otherwise, I would to. God it were not so ! I wish, I wish for power to rise; But Oh, I sink, down, down I go To deeper, darker worlds below. Why do I onward, downward go? It is this load, this weight of sin, — This burden, what a weight of woe! Oh could I tear it from within! But then, on earth I did despise, That power by which I now might rise. 8 By God's almighty power flung Beyond creation's boundaries, By sin, I still am being stung, — I fly, ere greater horrors seize. In terror, on and on I haste Through darkness and unmeasured waste. My sins they follow where I go And no escape from these I find. Their presence I must ever know While I remain a thinking mind, And such I am and such must be On through a long eternity. 1 have descended into hell, To find not God, but wrath is here, To punish as no tongue can tell; My sins, the only lash, to fear, For sins and crimes that 1 have done, I suffer for them, every one. In darkness oft there comes to me, A memory clear of sin or crime And haunts me terribly to see, — Increased with all the weight of time ; For crimes on me are being hurled. Like mountains, from that uppei world. 9 Pollution wrought by sin is deep, And men, if in their groans and cries, As many tears for sin should weep As rain-drops fallen from the skies Since dawn of first creation's day, — These could not wash one stain away. How melancholy is my fate, I am immortal now, I know; If God could but annihilate And let me into nothing go, I would escape this fearful doom, I only thus can drop from gloom. As here realities endure, And truth forevermore abides, Our punishment is ever sure, For caverns here no spirit hides From just pursuit of sin and shame < >r memory, that deathless flame. The suffering of conscience felt, When sensible of guilt and sin, Is hotter than the fires that melt And purge away the dross of tin; For agony, spiritual, Is greater far than physical. K> The gate of heaven at first f saw, But found I could not enter iii, It -crincd it was not force of law, Nor hate from God, hut weight of sin. That dragged me down, is dragging still, It was not ( Jod's, hut my own will. < hi earth, tin- gospel urged all men, God's likeness on the soul to take, Let that he done by faith, and then They would sure work for heaven make. I's likene>> here can never come Nor hell he reached by Christendom. In Eden, old, so bright and fair The Devil's nature there was mixed With mail's, to bring man to despair; A mixture most securely fixed; By one transgression came the char. < >f natur< to evil, stran Still man a moral being is, A thinking and immortal soul, Tremendous mental powers are his. But all within his will's control. With choice of right and choice of wrong Becomes responsible and strong. 11 Then in probation he is placed And as he journeys on through time A vast eternity is faced < >i' gnawing want or joy sublime; With all his powers of soul to guide 1 Ie must his destiny decide. God willed that 1 should e'er rejoice, Wherever conscious self might dwell, But I determined on my choice This gloomy destiny in hell, For God's provision I did scorn And hence eternally must mourn. Ah, God is not a tyrant great, That shuts to man the gate of heaven, But sin, which Ciod did not create, The foe by which the man is driven, To chafing misery in time, Increasing here in this dark clime, A moral being man was made, With voice of conscience in his soul, The first foundation there was laid, Of retribution's harsh control. For man with power of conscience given, Must know the right and truth and heaven. 12 I should have been convinced, thai sin. With permeating, sad effect, When once man's faculties within. No power could then my soul pr< That utter ruin must be wrought, By every deed and word and thought I f man, a moral nature, has. The \\<>rld a n;«>ral Governor, A Being truly just, then . A man his sin must answer f< >r, Mis punishment, himself, he draws From all unmended broken laws. I knew if conscience truthful was, Then retribution would he sine. It was a plain effect and cause That I must penalty endure If with an unforgiven sin 1 should eternity begin. God's love is great, his son he gave A willing sacrifice for man, But still with l<»ve he cannot - The sinner who ignores his plan And will not on the Christ believe, And pardon through his name receive. 18 While man was totally depraved. Yet under grace, on earth, is born, And while his nature is enslaved, The power of grace does still adorn, And man is what he would not be, Without the Christ of Calvary. By sin the human nature fell, But in its helplessness was caught. And in probation placed to dwell Where free salvation could be sought. But when beyond probation's line It looses all that is divine. I find, indeed, T cannot throw, Responsibility on God, He made me wise my end to know, T chose myself, tlie path I trod ; I knew that sin to souls would cling \"d death would retribution bring. On earth, my soul invited sin. When in, permitted it to dwell, My -ntirce of torment is within. For sin has made for me a hell;— A hell within I feel, I know, And hell without where'er I go. 14 Immortal attributes of mind, Arc here intensify d in hell, The worm of conscience here we find Amid these powers shall ever dwell, And havoc work in human souls, As on eternity still n >lls. The God of love \\ ill do his best, every one for whom he died, Bui for the spirits that infesl This world, he was not crucified,— No, nol for devils here in hell, Who once from earth or heaven fell. God said, "Now is Salvation's day And now the time accepted is, Believe on Chrisl withoul delay And be at death in heaven his." That dispensation was for earth, Where man immortal had hi^ birth. Analogies of nature's lav 1 >■> retribution's doctrine teach, And man intelligent, should pause And listen to. her warning speech; Like nature's promises and threat As man may SOW OF give, he [ 16 All! whatsoever man may sow In life on earth, he here must reap ; In hell he cannot help to know, As on through darkness he may sweep, That sins of earth torment the soul, As on forever ages roll. The voice of History did speak, In language plainly understood, That man. responsible, should seek A life of faith, of doing good; — To sow iniquity and shame, Would surely mean to reap the same. Removed from out the world of light, From all environment of good, From all incentive to do right, With evil passions unsubdued, Where sin develops more and more. There must be wrath still worse in store. The consciousness of sin and guilt. Makes conscious, constant hell for man J In characters that men have built, Is where despairing hell began ; For hell from character must flow, Wherever sinful spirits go. L6 ( Kir characters by deeds arc built, While living in probation's state, And by i obedience < >r guilt Vre plain!)- marked to show our Fate, V' >r character alone can tell, For bliss in heaven or blight in heli The greatest, sharp* si element, In all our doleful cup of woe Is this, that our own follies sent < Kir souls to these dark- depths below, Hence this, our sad most hitter thought, Our fate upon ourselves we brought Sin lias no power, itself, to change And here no power or being can, So with its nature fierce and strai It here musl ever torture man, — Who sin could flee when earth he trod, By faith in Christ the Son of God. The laws of hell are these, we find. That souls by sin down here are sent, That God does not torment mankind. But rather we OUTSelveS ton » Kir sins against us testi And echoes of remorse reply. 17 The greatest tragedies of earth, I often think since here I came, Are how the souls of greatest worth, By sinful deeds are set aflame, Then here on this eternal shore, They stiffer on forevermore. The ruination of a soul, Though man may choose it for his lot, Stands forth on history's dark scroll, The blackest, vilest, basest blot. All other tragedies are small, Compared with this the chief of all. On earth, some spoke of endless sleep For sinful spirits gone from time, P>ut in this bottomless, vast deep Remembrance of each sin and crime Mast taunt the soul forever here And keep awake with constant fear. Some said, a crime would God commit, Should he create a moral child With endless life, then banish it Because it was by sin deflWl When he foreknew that chilu would sin Before that life, it entered in. 18 r.ut even God could not foreknow A life that is not, never was, And shall not be; there's naught to show Not even to the First Great Cause What any agent, moral, free, Should, in a state of trial, ho. When we, immortal man. survey The individual i- not As some may think, tossed like a Spray From waves of time and then forgol And life retreat itself, within. When dissolution shall begin. When severed was my deathless soul) From all environment of earth Then sin. with power beyond control. Made all in mc one perfect dearth, nice that sad, eventful day. 1 gravitate from God awaj . Vs man immortal i-. 1 find An immortality of >in. And that this world is of that kind That sinful beings now begin An endless world, to suffer "H With torments growing, never gone* 18 For here, as T the deeper sink. My sins, my being curse and gore While from the future I may shrink And may my sinful self abhor, But curses only to my curse Are added still, and I grow worse. The Bible clearly said on earth, That evil men wax worse and worse, If true in world where man had birth. How much increased must be the curse, In this cursed world, where evil reigns, \\ here hope is lost, where naught restrains. At first I saw the forms of those, Prom earth's probationary state, fust rushing, by the life they chose, To meet their sad and hopeless fate, The force of sin did downward send, The force of which shall never end. Descending I an angel met, A fallen angel, cursed by sin. He would, but he could not forget, How sin began and wrought within A change so great, he out was hurled Prom heaven down to this dark world. 20 Then devils more, 1 soon had found, Who once were angels bright and tair, These regions wide, with them abound, I -rem to meet them everywhere; Because on evil always bent, Themselves, they often here torment By power of sin were devils made And then this hell prepared for them, A world of lire, unquenched, unstayed, Because they did their God contemn. Twas sin that changed their natures pure, And now they must this hell endure. \- devils are immortal, they In sin forever must exist, No being can a ransom pay Which can the power of sin resist Without one ray of hope they dwell In what must prove etl rn;d hell. That which made angels, devils, has With all it- vengeance made me i This nature mine must he. lon| Eternal cycles onward run ; '.. not the sinning angels -pared. \or me, who in their sin has shared. This hell was not prepared for me, But still 1 here with devils dwell, And by a holy God's decree; For in his word he did foretell, That sinners must do worlds of woe And everlasting fire go, Because of sin I have been hurled For everlasting- punishment, Down to this devils' burning world, Where all the wicked shall be sent; With devils for companions here, I'm tortured by them most severe. The everlasting burnings here Can never purify the soul, The guilty conscience never clear, Nor any burdens from it roll; The sins that baffle fire and flood, Could have been cleansed in Jesus' blood, Ah ! 1 am destined now to be, A demon, demon, nothing more, On, on through all eternity, My wretchedness 1 now deplore, But then. I cannot hope for change, Just on and on through space I range. 22 The devils here are much the same, Though some were angels come from heaven Ami others men and from earth came, To each were evil natures given, Through sin against the God supremt Themselves, nol God, they should blaspheme. And Satan, chief of devils all. In earth or hell, is often here, To Urge his devils, mean, to gall And taunt all souls with greater fear, Yet, he mu>t wait for final swav. Till after God's great judgment day. Did 1 once ask, 1- dure a hell?' Have men within immortal souls? Is there a God? Shall he compel Mi- own creation he controls; — 1 li- child, beloved, to live in w Could any father thus do so? J hit Cod was not my father then. I chose the devil in his place, — The father ^i all wicked men. To guide me in my earthly race. And then his evil deeds I did, Kepi on, till into hell 1 slid. f find the spirits here in hell. Believe the truth to man revealed, That Satan did in heaven rebel, And thus by sin his fate was sealed, By heavenly forces put to rout, And with his angels was cast out. Then he at once began to plot, Against the monarchy of God, He sought his purest work to blot, In that bright world the Maker trod; Whatever God might place therein, The Devil meant to blight with sin. When God in his own image, fair, With pure and everliving soul, Created that first human pair, And then of earth gave them control, Then Satan moved with envy great, Resolved to mar their happy state. When God in Eden placed the man, Then Satan vowed to ruin him, And wisely tried temptation's plan. Brought death to earth that monster grim, And man through all eternity, Was doomed to death and misery. 24 For when the devil tempted I To eat the < Sod -forbidden fruit, Alas ! she did his word believe, And thus she did her self pollute, For when she ate there came a chang Throughout her being, sad and Strang Then with her devil-nature, she, Who had by Satan been deceived, Plied Adam with her art, till he, The same, by her deceit received; Because from holiness they fell, Tiny could no more in Eden dwell. As now man's holiness was gone, I [is spirituality was dead. Immortal Still, he must live OH, And alwa\ - be by sin misled Unless the Lord again shall bless Rest >ring to him holiness. Though God through Christ provision made, And offered heaven free to all, — ■ The ransom price the Saviour paid, A full redemption from the fall, But -till the 1 )evil ever sought, To ruin souls, that Christ had lxuigllt. 'J5 To every man the devil sends, His evil spirits one or more, And one at least, each step attends, And watches for an open door The sonl to enter, tempt and guide From heaven's peaceful path aside. These spirits, everywhere, unseen, In contact come with souls of men. To lead astray, to make unclean, To curse with bitter curse and then When full their cup of earthly woe, To send them down where devils go. Because invisible to man, A dangerous, deceitful foe, Beginning work where sin began Their wondrous skill we scarce can know They take advantage of us all, Commencing first with Adam's fall. We think of all their mighty powers, Remarkable intelligence, And with this human race of ours, Six thousand years' experience, Their work with evil always fraught It far transcends man's finite thought. 26 When ends al last probation's day, Some evil spirit still will cling To each deluded soul, display The power thai down to hell can bring The soul, all burdened with its sin, And evil spirits' weight within. Then these attendant spirits here— Pursue them in this lower world, And taunt to greater evil, f ar, And thus, as downward they arc hurled. Torment that same undying soul, Long as eternal ages roll. The nature once divine in man, That, devilish by sin became, God does not devils love, nor can Their evil natures hen- reclaim, For no at> >nement can he made. That can the depths of hell invade. Tis empt) knowledge here to know, There i< a Saviour for mankind. It mocks me everywhere 1 ^". No way to reach the earth. I find, Salvation for the sinner there. But here for him naught hut despair. LT At death my torments did begin, Increasing as I farther sink, This vile corroding curse of sin, Is more than human powers can think; The inconceivable is mine, A lot where torments all combine. I crave for pleasure once enjoyed, That life of sin and wicked deeds, That once on earth my powers employed, For these by nature yearns and pleads; With lust my soul is all on fire, With naught to gratify desire. Here, every sound my soul appalls, And terrors all take hold on me, The cries and wails of souls, seem calls, To deeper misery ; I dread the darkness, long for light, But find forever wretched night. With all my struggling, still I sink, For as I fly, I'm going down. But <»ft, how oft of heaven I think, Yet wisli that I these thoughts could drown, I >f all sad thoughts, for hopeless men, The saddest is, it might have been. 28 J meet \\ itti t vil spirits here, Who lived in righteous Noah's day, Who would not God their Maker ' His preacher's voice would not obey, The deluge swept them down to hell, Their suffering since no tongue can tell. They say "Christ came and preached t<> us Through Noah's message plain and clear, But then we were so frivol< >us, We would not lend a listening tar; We scorned the invitation sent \nd on in greater sin we went. "When Jesus through the spirit came, And opened wide our prison * 1« »< >r, We used our powers t<> shut the same, And find it -lint forevermore ; No evil "lie from here can flee, Nor ever gain hi- liberty." Some came from S'dum suffered there. Have suffered sadly ever since, They say their lot is hard to bear, But nothing once would them convince That their transgressions would require The vengeance of eternal tire. 29 No greater grief on vitals prey Than when one meets some being here", tie sinned against or led astray, They etirse with curses loud, severe, 'That seem to pierce your being through* Are keenly felt, because so true. As many spirits near me strayed I asked one whence he came and why? He said, "From earth where oft I prayed* But then a hypberite was I, A Christian I professed to be, Yet on in sin I iived, you see ! "Oh I remember many times When deep contrition filled my soul, I wished forgiveness for my crimes And have my burdens off to roll, But never did my sins confess, Went on in greater carelessness. "I trampled on the blood of Christ And to his spirit did despite, I was most willingly enticed From ways of wisdom, truth and right * i SC< »rned God's invitation given, And thus shut out my soul from heaven. "1 have my agi >nv <»f lire, Which tortures here the conscious sotilj These Barnes I know cannot expire, No poWer their fierceness ran control, For all the flames' of burning sin, Eternally will rage within. "Mow happy if these awful pangs 1 suffer here, were pangs of death, And I escape the wrath that hang Not On a life that ends with hreath, But spirit-life, eternal, sure, That Cannot end hut must endure." Another spirit said to me. "I am a heretic from earth And with God's truth did not agree, I thought it false, of little worth, Until 1 entered here, then knew That every word of Cod was tine. "I heard Naiah once proclaim ' \h ! who among us soon shall dwell, With fierce, devouring, raging flame, In everlasting, burning hell.' But sought not to escape this tire, Where torments never can expire. 31 "1 had the knowledge of the truth, And yet I wilfully did sin, Aware of penalty, forsooth, But still, I drank the evil in, Defying God's most righteous laws, ( Apposing mightily his cause. "My wretched life of sin on earth, I live again, for oft I rush. In thought, from death back through to birth For nothing can my conscience hush; The consequences sin has dealt, Is ever by my being felt. "O could I hut my thinking stopj Or if I could my memory kill, These powers of being somehow drop, That here accuses me of ill, There might be respite for my' soul, At times, as ages onward roll." Judas Tscariot I met, I fe still imagined in his hand Were thirty silver pieces yet,— T,,at n ' lln(1 his neck was still the band, Which sent his spirit here to dwell •Amid the miseries of hell. 32 There was no righteous reason why, That Judas, Jesus, should betray, For Christ, the Son of Man. could die, And Cod accept, some other way. And still fulfill his gracious plan, Redeem and save believing man. Christ in the garden could have died, There could haw shed his blood for sin, God's righteous law been satisfied And man have heaven on earth begin, And reach at last eternal day And no <>ne Christ condemn <>r slay. It never was the plan of ( k)d That one immortal soul he lost ' >f any who this earth have trod However great might be the cost, Man*- every sin on Christ was laid, The ransom price he fully paid. Vs God the future could foresee, Beheld man's hatred toward the Christ, That murdered he at last would be, For man by Satan was entice d. So God did simply thus foretell. What in the future, Christ befelL 33 A drunkard here was heard to say, "I wanted to be good in life, My appetite led me astray And caused within a constant strife, So still the appetite I fed, And in the downward path was led. "The word of God was plain, I knew No drunkard could inherit heaven, That Bible promises were true That I through faith could be forgiven; But more than Christ the cup I prized, For drink my seul was sacrificed." Another said, as I did learn, "I was on earth a selfish man, For others I had no concern, To get and keep was my life's plan, To live for self was my desire, But self now burns like flames of fire." One said, "I trusted in my lore, I was a man among the learned, I knew of languages, a score, But into hell I still was turned, Where this one truth is clearly known, Salvation is in Christ alone. 34 "The attributes within my soul, Shall cause me to exist, so here, — While endless ages onward roll, The power of thought, conception clear, And reason, consciousness, desire, And tear, can nevermore expire. "The first, great wise and Thinking- Cause, Created man a living soul. Then governed him with righteous laws, That man himself could not control; When violated, follow man. Escape them here, he never can. "My learning now however great Can never change my state or place; T studied not about my fate, Nor God's all-wise redeeming grace, Neglecting or refusing th< I cannot now ( '.< >d's wrath appeas "I once a creature was of choice. And chose tin- sinful ruined lot. 1 could have been where saints rejoice, Been happy there but 1 would not, And now I only find for me Eternal, dreadful misery. 35 "Some blame and sorely me abuse, Because in earth's short trial day, -\ly influence I failed to use To lead them from destruction's way; 'The blame is yours,' they say, mot mine, That I in hell must now repine.' ' He closing said, "I do not know If over mountains or through vales, Or if I only downward go, As on through space my being sails, All seems one boundless waste of night, With never light nor world in sight." A multi-millionaire I met, Who came to prison here one day, To God the King he owed a debt, That all his money could not pay, For all his millions could not buy, A mansion for him in the sky. 1 lis wealth avails him naught in hell, For he on earth left all behind, And here without his wealth must dwell, Like other devils of mankind, For all not rich in works and faith, Must die the everlasting death. Another from refinement came, I tad lived among the most polit< ] [e said : "It is a \\ icked shame, send me down to utter night, To mingle with so base a crowd, ►me so vile when once so proud. "But, ah! alas/ 1 at length he cried, " 'Tis not society that sa When 1 was numbered with the dead I was like other sinful -la\ And with the foulest here I moan, This company is now my own." A noted general T met. Whose spirit Long had been in hell. The carnage he could not forget Where soldiers by the thousand fell; No battles won, no earthly tame. Could Write in heaven that general's name. "My life. 1 for my country gave," I heard one to another tell. "My soul my country could not save, No power on earth could save from hell. For I. alas, rejected Christ, And was in sinful ways enticed. "I here am judged for deeds once done, While in my body in that world For which God gave his only son, From which at death I down was hurled. That was my only trial state, And by my choice I sealed my fate. "No Saviour died for this lost world And no probation here is found, We never hear while downward hurled Salvation's cheering, blissful sound ; No power now can change my lot, I knew my duty, did it not." Some mighty warriors here are found, ( m earth great victories they won, But here is heard no battle sound, The sound we hear is, "Hope undone," No victories are here to win By him there conquered by his sin. ( )ne was a statesman high and great, i lad served his country long and well, But all achievements for his state, Could never rescue him from hell; He did not of his sins repent. So lure, at last, his soul was sent. 38 Am >ther said, "I ua- not bad, I lived "ii earth a moral life, Was generous with what I had. Kind-hearted, honest, Free from strife, Was true, industrious and brave : But these arc powerless to save. "1 often think, J once was near, — So near the kingdom of the Lord That I the Saviour's voice could hear; In hell I ever haw deplored. My negligence to enter in, — To step from Satan's kingdom, sin. "1 sought for pleasures when on earth And now the penalty must pay; 1 could have had the second birth While living in probation's day, But 1 my powers in -in employed, And thus all hopes "i* heaven destroyed. '"It griev< - me terribly to think, 1 was SO near and yet refused, 1 had no reason then to shrink, Nor to have begged to he excused When Jesus strove to bring nie in And save me from the curse of -in." "I was a gentleman of ease," I overheard a spirit say. "On earth I sought myself to please, Desired my own and not God's way, Desires for which I lived and died, Can never be here satisfied. "By force of memory driven back To earthly pleasures, sweet and fair, I find that these the soul now rack, With endless vengeance and despair; A world of consequences here, Where sinful pleasures never cheer. " "Ah, me !" I heard a spirit cry, "A story-telling minister, Among the sons of men was I, And plainly I do now aver, No harm nor wrong did I intend, Imagined not the fatal end. "Because I saw my stories pleased, So, very often, when I spoke, The opportunity I seized To tell some pointed, comic joke. My Bible should have been my guide And language chaste have satisfied. U) "Though only harmless at the first Were all the stories that I told, But soon my talk was interspersed With speeches unrefined and hold. The end I should have seen and then Much wiser in my converse been. "But Step by step T onward went. Vel little did I ever think The stories, foul, thai out I sent My SOUl to these dark depths would sink; They dulled my sense of moral right, My lustful passions did incite. "They placed me in temptation's way. I yielded to a damning sin. And thus my life was led astray, Corrupted was my soul within, And by these stories that 1 told, M\ self to Satan I had sold. "] opened wide temptation's gate By smutty Stories told and heard And could not then escape my fate, Became impure by thought and word; That damning sin by which 1 fell Shut heaven's gate and opened hell." U When here a victim we may meet. One whom we tempted, led astray, How quickly hence we would retreat, I »ut seem compelled near by to stay, And how it forces home that crime Committed on the shores of time. Another said, "I did profane Jehovah's holy Sabbath days, Though he commanded to refrain From all our week-day work and ways- Each week the one day holy keep: For that refusal now I weep." A naked spirit, winged with fear. To sin escape, came flying by. He said, "My anger sent me here, My sin. my sin," I heard him cry, "My angry passions seem to swear At me and fill me with despair.'' Another being thus began: "A man of great profanity I was and cursed my fellow-man, Called life itself all vanity; I took the name of God in vain, — These sins are now a galling chain. 42 "Annoying language, cries of hate, Of curses vile, remorse and woe, Deep sighs and lamentations great, And shrieks of pain where'er 1 gi Arc- heard, with voices deep and hoarse Of blasphemy from every source." 1 heard a spirit shouting lend, "( Hi, fornication \\ hat a sin, How terribly its victims crowd Around the guilty here within And cry, 'Yes, you, you arc the one That caused my ruin, I'm undone.' "The many victims of my lust Continue here to torture me, Their words, like daggers, through me thrust, I cannot from my victims flee, And must henceforth this fate endure For making other lives impure." Here hell's most wrathful vengeance fell, ( Mi an adulterer, most proud. 1 le met his victims here in hell. Who did revile him long and loud, As devilish and sensual, A brutish beast, a criminal. All, man was never formed to live The life of brutes, but something higher, A life unto the world to give That would lead souls to heaven aspire; A life of virtue to pursue, And influence others so to do. Ah ! here we learn, if not before, That nothing more displeases God, No sin did he so much abhor In any place where man has trod, As that which drags down other souls And strands them on hell's fiery shoals. The spirit of a murderer, I heard most sadly to complain, That out of hell's deep sepulcher The spirit rises of the slain ; He said, "It comes my soul to haunt And with that murder me to taunt. "Then I imagine that I see The crime, all things about the place, The scene returns again to me And I behold that victim's face, That ghastly face, it stares at me, I Jut find I cannot from it flee." < Ine said, "1 s< night by suicide 1\ i end my wn tched, wicked life, 1 simply thought that if I died, That then would close all earthly strife; But 1 was only here removed, To be more frightfully reproved. "I i w eight of un forgiven sin, ( hi earth is heavy on the soul, How great that weight when rushing in, All sin like sweeping flood-tides roll, No power these rushing tides can stay, The soul must feel their mighty -way. "I low awful this catastrophe, There is no covering here for sin, The wrath of God abides on me, I feel it- scourge without, within; Where'er I go is always hell, I find no ether place t< ■ dwell." Another said. "I cannot throw My sins on others or on God, \\ e here must reap the In >w, I [ere ends the way of sin w e tr«>d ; The sinner here is sin-destroyed B) sinful powers once employed. 45 "I never heard of Christ the Lord, But had an inborn sense of sin; I never saw his holy word, But had the spirit's light within, With nature's light without, and still Let evil all my being fill." All grades of sinners, good and bad, All who by sin themselves defiled, Or lived beneath the light they had, Would not to God be reconciled, In gloom, on every hand are found, These caverns with these souls abound. The fearful and idolaters, All souls with unbelief within, Whoremongers and the sorcerers And liars all ; the power of sin, All these into this lake shall turn, Which does with fire and brimstone burn. Here multitudes the curse endure Who kept their talents unemployed, They lived a life not bad nor pure, They did no harm, no good enjoyed, Shut out of heaven, they here must dwell, God could not say, "You have done well." 46 I find each spirit suffers here, All blackened with the curse of God, Amid despairing, endless fear, In feeling sin's avenging rod ; fn loss of -"ul there is no gain, f'.ut thai of penalty and pain. Here nothing is thai satisfies, The things for which my soul does Inst. ems some foe or fate denies, But still an eating, burning rust, Creates in me a greater thirst, I feel, F know, I am accursed. My memory, oh, how it burns! It burns my soul like flames within. As I remember what sin earns, This ghastly, aggravating sin, With which my tortured soul is rife, My cumulated -ins of life. No messenger of God is here. No gospel's sweet and joyful sound, N< '. not one word the soul to cheer, No pardoning God with mercy found; Here gospel light can never shine, So hope can nevermore he mine. 17 The blood of Christ I did despise, No other sacrifice is known, Not even God could one devise, That here for sinners could atone,— No other offering for sin, This wide, wide universe within. As I rushed on in sin, I heard The spirit's voice that cried return, But by my worldly pleasures spurred, That message I did always spurn, Neglected till too late for me The offers of salvation free. And now, a fearful looking for, Of fiery indignation great, When storms of wrath from Him shall pour, Who all iniquity doth hate, Who shall at last to judgment bring, Each evil work and hidden thing. For God cannot my consciousness Of sin and pain and hell remove, Nor send me back to nothingness, — So sin must always me reprove; No power can now my fate resist, Immortal, hence I must exist. ft docs not lessen pain, in hell. Though we get used to being here, With all our sins of earth we dwell, Disgusting us they still appear, All fascination worn away, Our sins upon our spirits prey. In life, the good I left undone, Each wasted opportunity, Rejection of God's only son, Here ever haunt and follow me; For each neglect in life's career, I pay a penalty severe. My sins on earth are living still, And yield a fearful harvest there, Are spreading far and wide and will Till greater power the breach repair, — The power of good, or hand of God, Alone can hide the path I trod. A social, sympathetic soul, My state is changed, my nature not, Now grief my senses all control, And loneliness must be my lot, 'Where friendly voice is never heard, No sold by sympathy is stirred. 4'.' With all his powers no man on earth, Ability sufficient has, To state the miseries and dearth, Of one lost soul in hell, and as It deeper sinks, no spirit tell The miseries of deeper hell. No soul by suicide can wrench Its being from this doleful state, Nor powers of memory can quench, Nor even misery abate. The powers of soul must here remain, Forever under fearful strain. God lives, and so each spirit must, That first from God himself was given ; All sinners perfect, made, and just, Through Jesus blood shall dwell in heaven;. Those who against the Christ rebel, As conscious spirits here in hell. Desire, insatiate desire, For something tangible and firm, With this my soul is all on fire, It tears me like a gnawing worm, Increasing as I onward fly, But live I must, I cannot die. 50 The spirits have dimensions here, As have material things on earth, Exist in space defined and clear As when at first God gave them birth, Though here in darkness spirits dwell, £ach has a form, distinct, in hell. Most hopeless spirits here are found From every age and every land, This yawning hell with them abound, And more I find on every hand Are coming, coming, coming still, But they this hell can never fill. The way that evil spirits greet, — In this abyss of deepest woe. The other spirits that they meet, Is but to taunt, to call a f< And each the other scourge and blame, For all their pain and grief and shame. I here have consciousness of self And my environment in hell, Not some imaginary elf; Here countless demons great compel The soul to suffer torture- new, Inflicted by a horrid crew. 51 No shelter, From the storms of wrath, That here come howling in, is found, \\m\ no escape, no outward path, No footing here, no solid ground, Through trackless void I still descend \ n lid fierce torments, without end. When saints commune with saints in heaven, Or join the angels there in praise, Sweet hope and comfort then is given, Which there flows on through endless days; But here the spirits only tell ( H dreaded horrors known in hell. Sins burden, harass, vex, affright. They seem to seize and torture all ; Willi efforts great, tremendous might. Men struggle to be free, but fall Down deeper still, with load on load, Each sin becomes a piercing goad. Here weeping, wailing, all around. And constant sobbing, stilled moans, Unearthly noises here abound, With shouts of wrath and frightful groans; Amid these mingled tones I sink. Must ever hear and of them think. 52 With my own evil thoughts, alas! I am so often left al< >ne, Thru all my sins arc seen to i In visions horrible are shown, A woeful life I live again, Incomprehensible by men. ( »n earth was light and life and hope, For man on earth God gave his son, Tn darkness none was left to grope, Christ gave his life for every one, And blessings through his death there came. Salvation through his precious name. While earth to man was hallowed ground, Where blessings came through Christ to all, Here only curse on curse is found, Where souls for mercy vainly call; Oh! that "ii earth this truth was known That man by sin is overthrown. A picture of myself in hell, Immortal soul with -in "ii fire. Reveals despair no tongue can tell, A mad unquenchable desire, something lure t<> satisfy, But \h. alas, in vain 1 cry ! On cardi, I saw how sin destroyed The bodies and the characters Of all in sinful work employed, But still deluded man prefers mi, and even when he knows, That sin the sinner overthrows. If that be true in that blest world For which the Son of God had died, Then what of those who have been hurled, As sinful being's to abide, Amid this darkness, sinking down, With naught our thoughts of hell to drown? Ah ! sin not only hurls us here. But send us whirling onward still Pursues us with its sting severe, I feel its conscious presence fill, Without, within, are horrors great, Forever more, the sinner's fate. 1 wander on in search of light, Where nothing visible is seen, Where every touch seems to affright, Where all is foul, depraved, unclean, Bewildered, lost, I wander on. The thought, I'm lost, is never gone. 54 Oil ' could 1 but return again, To my probationary state, — That world, where Chrisl has died for men, Then sin would never seal my fate, — T would believe in Jesus nai 1 would believe and heaven claim. Can it be news for mc to tell, Naught insignificant can be, Where sin has breathed the breath of hell where the devil's mark v These are the things which here we fear. Where- >in is reaped in regions drear. A human hi ing? No not ht • T am a demon, nothing ;• No <>ther beings roam this sphei \ demon's powers I now p With all his misery and v. They cling to me where'er I | Here no probation can he found, On ear'h. men only guessed at that. And let their lives in -in abound, But when they have arrived her< The penalty for all their sius. With great effect at <. how 1 long cor rest, Rest for my spirit, rest for me, With naught my being to mole-t \n.l be from this existence free. Oh! that some power could cast my lot, Where light is found and devils not. The physical found rest in sleep. The spirit rested then as well, But beings here awake must keep. No sleep nor rest for souls in hell, The painful consciousness of sin, Does ever sting and smart within. If for my restless soul had I A chance once more to choose my fate, To arms of mercy I would fly And not a single moment wait; My destined place would heaven be, And none of sin or hell for me. Christ told the truth, there is a hell, With cruel tortures for the soul, Where fiendish men and women dwell And wait the call of that long roll, That summons to the judgment seat, Where all mankind at last must meet. 66 At first I caught a glimpse of heaven, 1 ']> where the many mansions ai Where life and peace and joy are given, Where naught that peaceful world can mar; Where saints and angels join to sing And worship Christ their heavenly King. But HOW alas, no jasper walls, No gates of pearl shall meet nrj No angel voice of mercy calls From hell's dee]), dark and dreary \v. By flight I'm ever onward pressed, Naught gives my weary pinions rest. I [ere i >ver ofttimes and again, We count the self-same crimes and -ins Once done among the sons of men, For there our folly first begins When we reject the ransom paid, For every man that Cod ha- made. Mv thinking powers, O, how great! \nd yet 1 cannot measure time, No objects here to fix the date, ( )f years or ages in this clime, For here it only seems to be, Eternity, eternity. 57 The great apostle Jnde was right, When he of Sodom and Gomorrha spoke, And plainly lifted them to sight, As suffering from a judgment stroke, And their example since has been, A warning to ungodly men. Immortal beings, unconcerned, About the clear inspired word, The truth so easily discerned, Rush on as though they never heard, Denying God, at last expire And sink into eternal fire. Why do they come, do they not know? Has not the Lord revealed to them, That all, who sinful lives shall sow, And Christ on earth reject, must stem When here, the floods of wrath that sweep Like billows of a mighty deep? My >tate the scripture does confirm, For memory within me lies, And works just like a gnawing worm, Which never sleeps and never dies ; No matter what may be its shape, No souls its presence can escape. 58 I wish I never had been born, It better would have been for Than an immortal soul to mourn ( >n through a long eternity. And here endure this burning flame Too deep, too great to give a name. Or, if I must be born at all, Why then, — Oh how I wish, at Instead of man to hell to fall An insect, reptile, bird or beast, Might then have been my lot on earth. But not immortal by my birth. Hurled down into this foul abyss, Undone and filled with wrath, I am, With something worse to follow this, 1 feel that sin hath power t<> damn; I feel it> torturing sense within. A mental agony of sin. Oh, (V»d! some preachers on the earth, Pared down the doctrine of a hell, They thus made heaven of little worth And this a place not bad to dwell; But < >h, this world of dark despair, Ah, nothing with it can compare! 68 Great God, I plead, I pray, Oh send, From this abyss to sinful man, Some one who knows the sinner's end Has felt the scourge of hell, and can The sinner warn of regions drear, Of flame and thirst and torments here. But Lord, if none can go from here, Then send some messenger of light, Back from the dead, tell man to fear Hell's demons, grim, who seek to blight The deep remorse that ne'er expires, The wave-like world of quenchless fires. There can be naught but hell for man, Who does the Saviour Christ reject, For he who thwarts God's love and plan, Here only can God's wrath expect. If Christ rejected had not been, There would have been no hell for men. The consciousness of sin and guilt, Makes for my soul a burning hell, Talk not of fires that men have built, That water quenches, rains dispel, My conscience is a quenchless flame, A fiery torment none can name. 60 J hear a lost and shrieking soul, A flying spirit cursed by sin, Cry, "Lost, I'm lost," till echoes roll. From caverns deep this hell within ; Scream on, fly on, thou ruined one, For here is hope or mercy none ! A speck of quivering terror, lost Beyond the power of being found, Where nothing can my pain exhaust, Where beings terrified abound; i >h, horror of all horrors! I Sail on through space but cannot die. Losl spirits all repeat the cry, And join the death march chorus here, "I'm lost, I'm lost," no help is nigh, Tin echoes fly through regions drear, — These echoes thus the chorus swell, And mock the miseries of hell. Whatever we may suffer now, We still expect much greater gloom. When at the judgment we shall bow, And there receive our final doom; And hence all these despairing cries, "We die the death that never dies."