CHAPTER XIX AN EDUCATIONAL HALL FOR LADIES.

 

DEAR reader, I do not mean to be understood that the boy, Willie, had material marbles, or that his old wet material clothes were really here in the spiritual world. No. All those things, so far as coarse material substance was concerned, were left with his drowned material body; but the child's thoughts and habits were still with him, and the things which were in his mind were as real to him and to all present, as material things are to material sense.

 

Joey had been in league with the professor and Captain Daking, yet the child did not understand all which the older spirits endeavored to teach, therefore, when he found his own pockets supplied with marbles, he knew at once that they had been put or willed there, by Herman, for him to make use of in the game, also knowing that the professor intended by these means to teach the undeveloped spirit of little Willie valuable lessons. If these things were not so, if the thoughts of spirits and angels did not become objective and appear as real things, how could ignorant and undeveloped spirits and children be taught

 

or make any progress after the death of the material body?

 

No: spiritual things are the only real, imperishable things, and not the material. The material is fleeting and perishable; only heavenly or spiritual things are real and enduring.

 

Poor little Willie's material body, with its appurtenances, was lying at the bottom of

 

the sea, food for ravenous fishes, but his spirit which was his real self, together with all his former thoughts and habits, was here with us in this refuge for lost sailors; and he must be taught with and through those things which he loved best, those things which had become habitual to him and cherished most.

 

I might go on at great length, to tell my

 

readers how, after little Willie was taken into Professor Herman's school, he gradually grew weary of looking at his treasures, which were merely symbols of higher things, and how, one after the other, those symbolic cheques were presented at the bank, and their value paid in full, with compound interest, by his banker, Professor Herman. To sum it up briefly, however, little Willie's diamond signified pure truth unmixed with error; and as a diamond throws back all the colors of the rainbow, so truth and truthful principles reveal all the beauties of the heavenly spheres, that wisdom and truth are for ever blended together like the beautiful colors seen within a diamond. Next, that his ruby-red signified love; that true love should dwell within the heart of every man, woman and child, as well as within the souls of all spirits and angels, for every other man, woman and child, spirit and angel. Next; that his azure gem signified the ethereal, never-ending ocean of eternity, wherein all things live and move and have their being; that his pearl signified purity, in thought, word and deed; that his beautiful pearl-handled knife signified that wisdom, love, justice and truth possessed many bright, sharp blades, or ways and means, whereby to accomplish desired results; that the golden threads, or strings, represented the golden analogical chain that bound all things one to the other

 

his top, the great spiritual or magnetic attraction, that kept all things in rapid motion, so that stagnation and death were impossible

 

and that this same top, which his mother gave him, should always be a reminder, or symbol, that he could visit this mother whenever he pleased, because he was not dead, but alive, and in constant motion; and that this magnetic attraction, and power of motion, would carry him wherever his love and desire willed: that whatever wisdom, love, justice, or truth he had, could, and ought to be, divided and subdivided again and again, and given to every hungry soul that needed food; that at length, Willie himself should possess so much, that he would become a great banker, from whom, those more ignorant than he, could continually draw wealth of wisdom, love, justice and truth.

 

Willie was taken that very hour, by the professor, to visit his mother, little Joey going with them because he greatly desired to go; but the child's disappointment was very great when he found that his mother Could not see him, and did not know he was there with her. The professor comforted him by saying, that in time, when love and wisdom became triumphant, as they surely would, his mother would recognize him: in the meantime he was to attend school and learn all he possibly could.

 

Mr. Erricson concluded to remain awhile at the home, and assist Captain Daking with other lost sailors who might be brought in, and the captain told him that he would telegraph for his, Erricson's, nearest friends, who were in the, spiritual life, to come there and visit him: no doubt they would all be there in a very short time, to say the least.

 

Sigismund, Annie and myself concluded to return to earth for a short time, as my heart yearned for my loved ones there. My children here were all cared for in the most loving and beautiful way; no anxious thoughts for them disturbed me; but the dear little ones of earth: over them my soul brooded anxiously; things still remained there very much as I had left them. My first desire was now fulfilled, that of visiting the schools wherein the souls of my little spiritual children were being educated, and I now felt a greater desire to visit an educational hall for ladies, than I did to view a saint; for, said Sigismund:

 

"You will be far better able to understand the true meaning of the word, 'saint,' after you have visited an educational hall for ladies. There are; thousands of such halls within the heavens, but I think we will first visit one which is dedicated to St. Agnes, by ladies who were formerly oppressed and forlorn."

 

This pleased me, and so we floated onward; but Sigismund said he would leave us at the door, for gentlemen were not yet admitted within this hall. He smiled benignly upon us, and we were left to go in by ourselves.

 

This hall was a grand, elegant structure, and stood in the midst of grounds teeming with life and beauty. I would like to have my readers distinctly understand that this building, with its lovely surroundings, was entirely spiritual, although as plainly visible and real to spirits and angels as material things are to mortals.

 

If one within the body could have been transported here, and could have looked at this building with material eyes, it would have appeared very much to them as a rainbow appears, and if the rainbow could take on the form of an elegant hall, with all the beautiful colors in proper places suited to the building, with its lovely grounds filled with the most exquisite flowers, a faint conception can be had of this grand spiritual hall; the difference being, that a rainbow soon fades, but this hall was fadeless and immortal.

 

Annie and I stood gazing at it delightedly.

 

"Now, Mary," she said, "I shall try to make you understand just how this hall has been erected. You already know, my dear sister, that thoughts are real things, and that desire is a wish to clothe a thought in a visible garment. Now, in the earthly life, a company of ladies or gentlemen might desire to erect a hall, but before that hall could be built, it must first exist as a thought; and those persons must have a desire to clothe their thoughts, but having material bodies themselves, and being on the material earth, they must clothe their thoughts with material substance in order that they may be visible to others and themselves. Now, spirits have spiritual or magnetic bodies, and when they desire to clothe their thoughts they must clothe them with spiritual or magnetic substance, in order that they may be visible to others and themselves. If one with a material body were to stand here with us now, he could pass directly through this building as one could pass through a mist; it would be to him like a shadow, and vice versa: we can pass through his material walls of brick and mortar, or wood, precisely as though they were mists or shadows. Material substance is so coarse to us, it is as though it were nought; whereas, our spiritual substance, being so fine and ethereal, is to him as though it were nought. Spiritual things are objective. Material things are subjective. A man can pass through air and say, 'there's nothing here!' But what is more real and powerful than air? Likewise, he might pass through the spiritual world and say, 'there is nothing here!' But all spiritual things are more real and enduring than the material atmosphere. Air is as real to a bird as water is to man, and, spiritual things are more real to a spirit than material things are to man, for they are imperishable.

 

"Now, a company of ladies here in this realm, desired to erect this hall, that it might serve them as a place in which to care for, and properly educate, those who might be classed under the head of forlorn, despairing, and wronged; also, those who had false ideas of the life of the spirit. The ladies who desired to erect this hall consulted together, and all agreed on the style of the building needed, and when each point had been carefully weighed and decided, they earnestly threw their united thoughts outward to the spot where they wished the building to stand. A thought must, in the spiritual world, take on form and substance: the spiritual substance, which the thought attracts to itself as a covering, is a fine aura, yet it clothes the thought so completely that it is as impervious to a spirit as thoughts clothed with material substance are to mortal men and women."

 

"Yes," I replied, "that building is as real to me as any stone church I ever entered, or any other building which I ever saw before leaving the earth. Would that the people of earth knew how real and beautiful this life is. Oh I that the gulf betwixt the two worlds might be spanned!"

 

"That is right, Mary," said my dear sister.

 

Keep on wishing and praying with all your might; there are thousands of others here who are earnestly desiring the same thing, and when the proper time comes, you and I will join these spirits and angels; they intend to form large companies, who will consult together as to the best means to be used to accomplish the desired result. Mary, you will yet see your wish fulfilled; in the meantime, gather to yourself as much wisdom as you can, and labor diligently, for without wisdom you can do but very little."

 

"Do you think, Annie, that my precious darlings on the earth, will eventually know that I can be with them whenever I desire to be?"

 

Annie's face saddened slightly as she replied.

 

"Mary, I will never deceive you in the slightest thing. It is given me to know, that but one of all your little family on the earth, will ever be made aware of your spiritual presence, and that one is he, who, at the present time, you would consider the least likely to comprehend such things: your little boy of three will yet hold communication with you, will yet be an instrument in your hands to aid in spanning the gulf, but when the gulf is once spanned, you will desire to have something of importance to give to the men and women of earth; therefore, dear Mary, we will enter this hall; it will be to you an educational visit; others, who learn more slowly than yourself, remain there, often, for months."

 

We now entered the lovely garden which was around this beautiful building. Annie paused that I might take in all the details of its architecture, but I will describe the garden first.

 

It was in the form of a square, enclosed on all sides by walls of amber, and in the center of each wall was an arched gateway of solid gold. The walls were about four feet high, the arches about seven: the walls were some two feet in thickness, and upon the top of them grew trailing vines, mosses, ferns, and many kinds of small, sweet flowers; and upon each corner was placed a statue, for we have statuary here far more beautiful than any on the earth. The statues represented four female forms, with the name of each written on its pedestal. My eyes rested first upon Hope.

 

The beautiful image stood like a thing of life, one delicate hand pointing upward, the eyes looking expectantly at something which could be seen in the distance. My eyes instinctively followed, and as I looked there appeared a picture, or vision, which made my heart quake with terror; then as my glance followed upward, my terror was merged into hope and joy.

 

The first scene seemed to be set in dark, angry clouds, that were whirling and warring together; in the midst of them were large armies of men, who were also warring and killing each other. The scene was horrible in the extreme. Blood, carnage and murder: men killing each other; men killing their brothers. Just above the black clouds hovered an immense eagle, with a long pennon streaming from its beak, on which I plainly read the word, Liberty!

 

"Blood must flow like water," said Annie, "before Liberty can arise on strong pinions above the black clouds of slavery and error. Truth and error are for ever at war, but truth is invariably victorious in the end; therefore, how foolish for error to try to slay his brother, truth. Slavery of any kind is error. Men will war and kill each other; liberty, or truth, will arise from the fray on strong pinions; error and slavery will be beaten back severely wounded, yet will they arise again in other forms.

 

My eyes now followed upward, and must have taken on the hopeful look that was expressed in the eyes of the statue, for over and above the terrible scene below, I saw immense congregations of angels and spirits, and they were constantly passing and repassing downward, in and out of the black, warring clouds, and each one ascending, bore upward a languid spirit of one whose body had just been slain. As far as my sight could reach, the expanse above the black, warring clouds, was filled by the spirits of the slain, and a bright angelic form was by the side of each one, who had thus been thrust forth from his body, busy in revivifying his spirit, and as soon as the slain soldier felt that he was alive and full of a new-born power, if he were on the side of liberty, he was soon taken back by the angel, and brought into close relations with a soldier still in the body and fighting; the spirit of that slain one would nerve the heart and brain of the one in the body, and impart to him agility, endurance, and strength, besides warding off danger as much as possible; but the spirits of the slain soldiers who were on the side of slavery and error, were not permitted by their accompanying angel to return and help those on the side of wrong, but were carried far on, away from the scene of warfare, and there restored to consciousness.

 

"Those on the side of error will not be allowed to help their brothers," said Annie. "Truth is always encompassed round about by an invisible host, and that is why she is at last victorious. Those spirits on the side of error will be shown the truth, and when they are able to perceive it, they will be carried down again, like those other soldiers, to aid on the side of truth, but not until they are able and willing to aid the right cause. Some will not be permitted to return until the war is over, because they are slow to perceive truth. Mary," she continued, "there is shortly to be just such a war, as you now see, on the earth which you have but so lately left, and this is a shadowing of that which is to be. This shadow is cast before, or upward, from the conflicting minds of political parties: it is, as it were, a mirage of that which is shortly to be, and is shown you as preparatory education, that you may be able to take an active part on the side of truth in the coming terrible warfare between Liberty and Slavery, Truth and Error!"

 

We now turned our attention to the next corner of the wall, where another statue stood. This image was calm and grand beyond anything I had ever seen. Its broad, expansive brow was crowned by a wreath of immortelles: it was draped heavily, but very majestically: its features were grand and massive; the hands partly raised, the arms bearing up large folds of drapery, its feet encased within heavy shoes. Upon the pedestal was the word, "Immortality!" Its great, beautiful, calm eyes were looking straight into that which was before it in the distance. I also looked in the same direction, and there I saw a landscape spread out before my sight: it was something like one of earth, and filled with weary, plodding men and women: many were oppressed or in slavish bondage; many more were despairing and hopeless, because they had not the light of truth to guide their weary feet. Great buildings, wherein the rankest error was taught, reared their steeples toward the sky, and multitudes toiled slavishly to build these temples, and pay those in power to instruct them in error. Little children were taught the most horrible doctrines, from which at first their souls recoiled in awful terror; but as they grew, the erroneous teachings grew with them, and became a part of them. Many strutted about clothed in purple and fine linen, reared elegant mansions, fed upon the choicest viands, but always at the expense of their toiling brothers: the man who toiled and produced lived in poverty, ignorance, and often filth, while their task­masters lashed them with fears, unjust laws, besides threatenings of awful punishment to their souls after death. Thus the masses were kept under, that the few might ride over them rough-shod, and still the unequal warfare raged on until, what?—the masses rose and the few sank.

 

As old error always does and must," said Annie's sweet voice. "Look again, dear Mary: look higher, my sweet sister."

 

And once more my eyes were rivetted upon a landscape higher up, one above the clouds; one, as it were, on a level with where we stood, the other had been lower down; and just above the clouds I saw an angel rising, mighty and powerful; in one hand he carried a banner, in the other a lighted torch. Upon the banner I read the following words:

 

"TRUTH SHALL SET MAN FREE, AND ITS TORCH SHALL FIRE THE RUBBISH OF ERROR!"

 

In this upper landscape, I saw, as before, a multitude of spirits and angels hovering over the darker scene, and now I beheld small bands of men and women on the lower plane, whose minds had been cleared of error by the angel's torch, and the rubbish burned out; but they were very few compared with the masses. Now I saw spirits and angels ascending and descending: each one as it ascended bore by its side a new-born spirit from the lower plane, and when the new-born spirit had been revivified and instructed in truth, it was carried back to earth, placed by the side of its nearest and dearest loved ones, to enlighten, strengthen, and encourage their darkened minds, until the little bands of men and women who were warring for truth, became mighty and powerful; their numbers were added to until they encompassed all the land, and old Error was beaten down.

 

"But, he will rise again in some other form," said Annie; "still, immortality will be proven and stand firm, for Truth is ever victorious in the end."

 

We now turned our attention to the third and fourth corners of the wall. On one corner stood a female figure, on the other a male. His right arm was stretched forth toward the female, her left toward him. They were much alike in form and feature. His left hand pointed outward to an extended plain, her right hand pointed upward. On his head was a blazing crown of pure diamonds, on hers a chaplet of roses interwoven with pearls. I thought at first the figures represented Adam and Eve, but reading the names on the pedestals, I read, Wisdom for the male figure, and Love for the female. Over the archway of the gate, in the

center, I read:

 

"THE TRUE ETERNAL MARRIAGE OF LOVE AND WISDOM IS THE ONLY ROAD TOWARD HEAVEN AND HAPPINESS!"

 

And now I gazed out over the plain toward which Wisdom was pointing, and saw what at first appeared to be pandemonium. Certainly, it was the most incongruous sight ever seen, men and women mixed together in one promiscuous crowd; they all appeared to be care-worn, discontented, complaining, quarrelling and bickering.

 

I was now able to distinguish that the most of this throng were the so-called married, and I could see the secret motives which prompted the greater part of these unions. There were old men married to young girls, and occasionally the reverse; there were thousands of women married to men, whom they absolutely disliked, because they coveted position, money and a fine house; there were thousands of men married to women for the sole reason that they wanted a home, regardless whether the woman wag competent to make one for them or not there were strong men united to little, pun), girls, and men filled with crime, debauchery, and disease, to pure, lovely women, and sometimes the reverse; there were both men and women whose souls were starving and forlorn; there were men who beat and murdered their wives, and sometimes women who secretly poisoned their husbands. I saw all kinds of misery and degradation; one and all laboring under the mistaken idea that such relations, once entered into, must be perpetuated at all hazards; and I continued to see that from such marriages spring forth children of crime, disease, and vice. Oh! what a struggling, warring pandemonium it all was.

 

And now, as I looked above all this misery and crime, I saw two forms rising majestically upward; they were male and female. His right hand clasped her left, and arched above their heads was a bow like unto a rainbow, and set within the bow in letters of gold, above his head, WISDOM! above hers, LOVE! At the apex of the arch, resting upon it, was a golden crown; and set with diamonds, shining brighter than the stars of heaven, was the word, TRUTH!