O. I know you was a Scholar, Coul; and 'tis generally believed there is a
private Judgment, besides the general at the great Day. The former is
immediately after Death. Upon this he interrupted me, crying, No such
Thing, no such Thing, no Tryal till the last Day: The Heaven which good
Men enjoy immediately after Death, consists only in the Serenity of their
Thoughts, the Satisfaction of a good Conscience, and the certain Hope they
have of an Eternity of Joy when that Day shall come. The Punishment or
Hell of the wicked immediately after Death, consists in the dreadful
Things of their awakened Conscience, and the Terror of facing the great
Judge, and the sensible Apprehensions of eternal Torments ensuing; and
this bears still a due Proportion to the Evils they have done, when they
were living. So indeed the State of some good Folks differs but little in
Happiness from what they enjoyed upon Earth, save only they are freed from
the Body and the Sins and Sorrows that attend it. And, on the other Hand,
there are some, who may be said rather not to have been _good_ than that
they have been _wicked_ while living: their Condition is not easily
distinguished from that of the _former_, and under that Class comes a
great Herd of Souls, a vast Number of your ignorant People, who have not
much minded the Concerns of Eternity, but, at the same Time, have lived in
much Indolence, Ignorance, and Innocence.
O. I always thought that their rejecting the Terms of Salvation offered,
was sufficient Ground for God to punish them with his eternal Displeasure.
And as to their Ignorance, that could never excuse them, since they lived
in a Place of the World, where the Knowledge of these Things might easily
have been attained.
C. They never properly rejected the Terms of Salvation, they never,
strictly speaking, rejected Christ, poor Souls! they had as great Liking
both to Him, and to Heaven, as their gross understandings were capable of;
and as to their Ignorance, impartial Reason must make many allowances,
such as, the Stupidity of their Parents, their want of Education, their
Distance from People of good Sense and Knowledge, the uninterrupted
Application they were obliged to give to their secular affairs, for their
daily Bread, the impious Treachery of their Pastor, whom they heard
perhaps but once a month, or so, and thro' his unfaithfulness are
perswaded, that if they be of such or such a Party all is well; and many
other Considerations of the like Nature, which God who is pure and perfect
Reason itself will not overlook. These are not so much under the Load of
the Divine Displeasure, as they are _out of His Graces and Favours_, for
you know it is one Thing to be discourted, and quite anoyr Thing to be
persecuted with all the Power and Rage of an incensed earthly King. So I
assure you, men's Faces in this World are not more various and different,
than their Conditions are after Death.
O. I am loath to believe all that you have said at this Time, Coul; but I
will not dispute these matters with you, besides, some Things you have
advanced, seem to contradict the Scriptures, which I shall ever look upon
as the infallible Truths of God; for I find by the Parable of Dives and
Lazarus, that one was immediately carried up by the Angels to Abraham's
Bosom, and the other thrust down to a Place of Torment.
C. Excuse me, Sir, that does not contradict one word that I have said; but
you seem not to understand the Parable, whose only End is to illustrate
the Truth, that a Man may be very happy and flourishing in this World, and
most wretched in the next; and that a man may be most miserable and
wretched in this World, and most glorious and happy in the next.
O. Be it so, Coul, I yield that Point, and shall pass to another, which
has afforded me much Speculation since our last encounter, and that is,
how you came to know that I talked after the manner I did concerning Mr.
Paton and you on the j{st} Sabbath of February. Was you present with us
but invisible.
He answered somewhat haughtily, No, Sir, I was not present myself.
O. I would not have you to be angry, Coul; I proposed this Question for my
own satisfaction, but, if you judge it improper to answer it, Let it pass.
After he had paused, with his Eyes fixed, as I thought, on the Ground for
about 3 or 4 Seconds at most; with some Haste and seeming Cheerfulness, he
says: Well, Sir, I will satisfy you in that Point. You must know, that
from Time to Time, there are sent from Heaven Angels to guard and
Comfort, and to do oyr special Services to good People, and even the
Spirits of good men departed are employed on that very Errand.
O. And do you think every Man has a Guardian Angel?
C. No, but a great many particular Men have, and there are but few Houses,
of Distinction especially, but what have one attending them. And from what
you have already heard of these Spirits, 'tis no difficult Matter to
understand, how he may be serviceable to each particular Member of it,
tho' in different Places, at a great Distance. Many are the good offices
that the Angels do to Men that fear God, tho' many Times they are not
sensible of it, and I know assuredly, that one powerful Angel, or even an
active clever Spirit departed, may be sufficient for some villages: But
for your great Cities, such as London, Edinburgh, or the like, there is
one great Angel that has the Superintendency of the whole; and there are
inferior ones, or Spirits departed, to whose particular Charge, such a
particular man of Weight and Bussiness is committed. Now, Sir, the Kingdom
of Sathan does ape the Kingdom of Christ as much in matters of Politicks
as can be: well knowing that the Court of Wisdom is above; so that, hence
are sent out Missionaries too in the same order. But because, the Kingdom
of Sathan is much better replenished than the other, instead of one Devil,
in many Instances, there are 2 or 3 commissioned to attend a particular
Family, if it be a Family of great Influence, Power, or Distinction.
O. I read that there are 10-000d Times 10-000d Angels that wait on God,
and sing his Praise, and do his Will; and I cannot understand how the good
Angels should be inferior in Number to the Evil.
C. Did I not say that whatever the Number be, yet the Spirits departed
were employed in the same Bussiness? So, as to the Number of original
Devils, whereof Sathan is the chief, I cannot determine. But you need not
doubt that there are more Spirits departed in that Place you in a loose
general Sense call _Hell_, by almost an Infinity, by what are gone to that
Place, which in the like Sense, you call _Heaven_, which likewise are
employed to the same Purpose. And I can assure you, by the Bye, that there
are as great Differences between Angels, both good and bad, as there are
amongst Men, with Respect to their Sense, Knowledge, Cleverness, and
Cunning or Action. Nay, which is more, the departed Spirits on both
Sides, out doe Severals, from their j{st} Departure, of the Original
Angels; This you'l think a Paradox, yet 'tis true.
O. I don't doubt of it, but what is that to my Question, concerning which
I am sollicitous?
C. Take a little Patience, Sir; from what I have said, you might have
understood me, if you had your Thoughts about you, but, I shall explain my
self to you. Both the good and bad Angels have their stated Times of
Rendezvous, and the particular Angel that has the charge either of Towns,
Cities or Kingdoms, not to mention inferiour Villages and Families, and
Persons; all that are transacted in these several Parts of the Country,
are then made open, and at their Encounters, on each Side, every Thing is
told, as in your Paroch, at Milns, Kilns and Smiddies, only with this
Difference, that many Things false are told at the living Encounters, but
nothing but what is exact Truth is told amongst the Dead. Only, I must
observe to you, that as I am credibly informed, several of the inferiour
bad Angels, or Spirits of wicked departed, have told mighty Things which
they have done; and when a more intelligent Spirit has been sent out upon
Enquiry, and, the Report of the former, seeming doubtful, he brings in a
contrary Report, and making it appear Truth, the former fares very ill.
O. Does ever the like happen among good Angels?
C. I believe never, for their Regard to Truth prevents it; for while they
observe Truth, they do their Bussiness, and keep their Station, and God is
Truth.
O. So much Truth being among the good Angels, I shall be apt to think,
that Lyes and Falshood will be as much in Vogue amongst the bad.
C. A gross mistake, and 'tis not the alone mistake, that the living Folks
labour under anent another World: for the Case is plainly this; as an ill
man will not stick at any Falshood, that may promote his Design, so as
little will an evil Spirit departed stand at any Thing which may make him
successfull; but in making Reports, he must tell the Truth, and nothing
but the Truth, or, Wo be to him; But besides their stated monthly,
Quarterly, and yearly meetings, or whatever they happen to be, the
departed Spirits acquainted can make a Trip to sea, and converse with one
another, yearly, daily and weekly, or oftener if they please. Thus I
answer the Question you are so much concerned about; for, my Information
was from no less than three, viz. Andrew Aikman, who attends Thurston's
Family, and James Corbet who waits upon M{r} Paton's for the Time, and was
then looking after M{rs} Sarah Paton, when shee was at your House, and an
original Emissary appointed to wait on your's.
O. At this I was much surprized, and after a little thinking, I asked him;
and is there really, Coul, an Emissary from Hell, in whatever Sense you
take it, who attends my Family?