LIGHT FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD.
THE
PILGRIMAGE
OF
THOMAS PAINE,
AND OTHERS,
TO THE SEVENTH CIRCLE
IN
THE SPIRIT WORLD.
REV. C. HAMMOND, Medium.
[Illustration: FOURTH THOUSAND.]
ROCHESTER:
D. M. DEWEY, ARCADE HALL.
NEW-YORK, FOWLER & WELLS, AND J. S. REDFIELD.
BOSTON, BELA MARSH, AND B. B. MUSSEY & CO.
1852.
Entered according to Act of Congress, by
CHARLES HAMMOND,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States, for
the Northern District of New-York, March 5th, 1852.
PRINTED BY LEE, MANN & CO., AMERICAN BUILDING.
STEREOTYPED BY J. W. BROWN.
Rochester, N. Y.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Conversation with his physician, and his indifference about death--The
minister sent for--Prayer--Meditation on life--Age of Reason--A
swoon--Sees a spirit--The effort of the spirit to identify herself--His
death--Funeral services--Doubting minister--Conversation with his
spirit companion--Benediction, and opinions of the people--The end
of wonders--Joy in his new sphere--The greeting--The woman and the
doctor--His mother--Her welcome--His grave--The thoughts of the grave
digger--Anxiety to reveal the truth--Promise to him of a coming time
when it could be done with safety to mediums--Origin of sight--The
thoughts of minds at his grave--Disclaims intentional wrong--Objections
to religion--Visit to the minister--Conversation between the minister
and servant--Prayer--Servant complains--Cheering conversation of Paine
and his companion--Proposes to relate his experience, and signs his
name.--[From page 13 to page 27.]
CHAPTER II.
Pleased with his new life--Recognition of rudimental associates--Reason
why Paine’s writings were unpopular--His opposition to revelation
considered--Penn makes an effort to show Paine his error,
but was defeated--Error acknowledged--Strife about opinions
condemned--Nature is never contradictory, but just--All wrong
induced by ignorance--Remedy for wrongs--Wisdom peaceful--The will
of resistance--The principles of nature enforced--Education in wrong
the cause of wrong--Non-resistance advocated--Penn takes him to a
temple--Enters an arch-door--Initiation into wisdom--Assumes an
obligation--A new song is sung--Receives a lesson--Description of
the temple--Name recorded--A book opened--Banner unfurled--Words
on the banner--Explanation of justice, wisdom, progression, order
and harmony--Duties enjoined--Charge of the master--Emblems
explained--Master and servant--Freedom of servants--Obedience
to nature demanded--Implements of masonry--Proof of masonry--The
High Priest instructs--The book opened and read--Interpretations
forbidden--Repentant mind--Conducted to the inner court--The white
stone--Name changed--Receives a new baptism--An anthem and ode were
sung--The temple by whom made, and its pillars--Hears a wail of sorrow,
and prepares for a mission.--[From page 27 to page 52.]
CHAPTER III.
The Cottage--Landlord impressed--Efforts of spirits--Maniac threatens
his family--Landlord advises to send for the minister--Wife wants
a doctor--Iron moved by a spirit--Nobleman and Mary confounded by
the sounds--Attributes the sounds to satan and witches--Becomes
agitated--Boasts of English courage--Gives Mary a half crown--Sends
for a physician--Maniac grows more ill--Tea and sugar bought--The
doctor comes and prescribes--Aid promised--Curate required to pray
at his home--The maniac dies--Grief of Mary--Parental counsel at the
time of her marriage repeated--Her husband buried--The family taken
to the Alms-house--Affecting conversation between the mother and her
son--The overseer questions Mary--Oppression of the poor--Voluntary and
involuntary servitude explained.--[From page 52 to page 64.]
CHAPTER IV.
The Castle described--The centurion alarmed--Faith proved by
works--Interpretations of the Bible disallowed--Penn called
an infidel--Dialogue between the centurion and Penn--Teacher
called--Dialogue continued--Theological opinions the cause of strife
and wrong--Paine and Penn retire--Conversation between them--Witnesses
beheaded--Dialogue between the Teacher and his Master--A wheel within a
wheel--Gold and silver the motive power--Attraction of affinities--Fear
and hope make slaves--The king’s palace--Conversation between Thomas
and William--Grand Master instructs Thomas--A new song--Consistency
wrong when minds are wrong--Experience the proper test of
principles--Some minds serve two masters--Works justify--Repentance is
salvation--Departure for the Temple.--[From page 64 to page 102.]
CHAPTER V.
Unity of work--Each receives a penny--Visits another temple--The
Master’s charge to Thomas--Advice of the chief--Counsel of the
commander--Explanation of the helmet, spear, sword with two edges,
arrows and bow, sling and pebbles--Trumpet--Directions to revisit the
castle.--[From page 102 to page 110.]
CHAPTER VI.
The deacon’s prayer--Thomas and Mary converse--Dialogue between the
deacon and Thomas on rewards, a day of judgment, and the atonement--The
deacon converted--Sung the new song--Departure for the temple--The
deacon initiated into the mysteries of wisdom, and the secret
explained--Thomas and the deacon revisit the castle.--[From page 110 to
page 126.]
CHAPTER VII.
The wonder in the castle--Dialogue between the chief, the deacon, and
Thomas--The senior consulted--The circle of the temple summoned by
the trumpet--Conversation between the Commander of the temple and the
senior of the castle on war--On rights--The conversion of 24 elders,
and 144,000--The Commander conducts them to the temple, where they were
initiated into that degree of wisdom.--[From page 126 to page 144.]
CHAPTER VIII.
Mission of Thomas and the elders--The king and guard--The elder
addresses the king--Conversation with him--He refuses wisdom--A
dialogue with a mind on fear--Calls a great multitude to the
elder--Address of the elder--Conversation with the circle--Imputed
righteousness--A thousand times ten thousand converted, and received
into the temple.--[From page 144 to page 165.]
CHAPTER IX.
Thomas finds two minds wrangling--Enters into conversation with
them--Refuses to give his name--Opposes teaching what the teacher does
not know--Opposes controversy--Rejects innate depravity--Discards
wrong views--Recommends facts for opinions--Explanation of sun and
moon, which stood still by the command of Joshua--Nature instructs
mind--Wrangling unwise--Wisdom will overcome wrong--Freedom induces
righteousness--Masters responsible for the doings of servants--Another
mind is converted--The work of the temple harmonious--Duty to avoid
discord--The assent is gained--The convert sees a light--William gives
him advice, and conducts him to the temple, when he receives a new
name, and a white stone.--[From page 165 to page 186.]
CHAPTER X.
Receives a visit from a superior mind--Proposition to advance
accepted--The seraphim sings--A pearl given--Enters a world of light
and song--Description of the works which he saw--The instruction of
the Worthy--The song of the free--Address of another mind on the key
of wisdom--The seven seals--Address of a third mind--Conducts to the
sixth circle--A lecture on social progress--Hope a reality--A lecture
on prophecy--Rules of prophecy the same as mathematical--Prediction
of communicating with the inhabitants of earth--Predictions,
opinions only of those below the sixth circle--A lecture on purity
and prophecy--Nature the standard by which to determine right and
wrong--Advancement to the seventh circle, or court of Beauty--Sees
a white throne and inscriptions--A little child leading a lion--A
serpent fastened to a rock--Twenty four pillars of wisdom--Minstrels
chant a welcome--Emblems explained--Prediction of events now taking
place--Contemplated mission to the rudimental sphere, and how it would
be received--The serpent to be destroyed--Evils to be overcome by
wisdom.--[From page 186 to page 235.]
CHAPTER XI.
Franklin, Swedenborg, Paine, and his companions visit a place near
the castle--Old things become new--Process of change--Identity
preserved--Self is a part of the body--All sympathize together
in good and ill--Governments defective--Opposition to capital
punishment--Origin of evil--How overcome--Success of the mission--Means
must be adapted to conditions--Contradictory communications develop
the condition of minds in the second sphere--Conflicting revealments
harmonious with different degrees of wisdom--Writing mediums--Societies
and forms of worship--Adaptation is harmony--Harmony should not be
disturbed--The mission of spirits will be to regulate minds--Minds
will change forms--Retire to a mansion--Onward is a passport--Dullness
reproved--Dedication of the Pilgrimage.--[From p. 235 to p. 259.]
PREFACE.
Agreeably to announcement in the “Light from the Spirit World,” I am
able to present this volume to the public, under circumstances which
will be gratifying to all those who are the friends of Progress and
Reform. No pains have been spared to present the precise words chosen
by the author, and preserve the style and sense of the original
manuscript. In regard to the merits of the production, it must speak
for itself; for, whatever of merit or demerit it may possess, I
am worthy of neither praise nor censure. Astounding as may be the
assertion, that I had no will to write it, or exercised any other
control, than to let my hand be moved by an invisible influence,
and write as it would, without any volition on my part, yet it is,
nevertheless, true. And, I am quite confident, that out of the two
thousand writing mediums, now in the United States, no one in a passive
condition will be able to contradict the assertion. Indeed, I have
found by actual experiment, that, in a great many instances, the spirit
who controls my hand, has succeeded in writing sentences contrary to
my will, and while I was endeavoring with all my volition, to write
something else.
But, so far as the orthography and punctuation of the Pilgrimage are
concerned, I have exercised supervision. And yet, much aid has been
afforded me by spirits in this matter. They arranged all the paragraphs
and sentences. The initials, which represent different minds, were
added by myself, to aid the general reader; and also the division
of the work into chapters, with the prefatory contents of the same.
Never having written a book in my life, excepting with the control of
spirits, who have now given two volumes to the public, in about eight
months, it may occur to the reader, that other divisions would have
been preferable; but I have made the divisions as they seemed to me
most natural.
This work has been written with uncommon despatch. Consequent upon
the issue of the “Light,” in November, 1851, I was seemingly wearied
with letters on business and inquiries, in regard to matters connected
with spirit developments; so that, in the brief period of four months,
I have received about two hundred, which demanded reading and reply.
This necessarily absorbed much of my time; especially, as very many
solicited information from spirits.
Near the close of December, 1851, I began to sit for this work. I
found my engagements such that I could only devote a part of each day,
and this part was frequently interrupted by strangers who desired
information on the subject. But the interruption did not seem to
disconcert the writer. Though often breaking off in the middle of a
sentence, the spirit knew exactly where to commence, even without any
reading of what had been written. Notwithstanding these embarrassments,
I found on the first of February, 1852, that my manuscript was nearly
equal to the desired contents for a book; at which time, I entered into
an arrangement with the publisher, Mr. Dewey, by which I am able to
give this work a more extended circulation, and at less cost, than I
otherwise could have done, which I trust will be abundantly obvious in
its mechanical execution and neatness.
Concerning my condition while writing this book, I will say, that when
writing, the whole subject matter was entirely in the dark to me. I
would take my pen, and place myself in the attitude of writing, when
all thought and care would be wholly abstracted from my mind. As my
thoughts vanished, my hand would generally begin to move, and a word
would be written. Then I would know what that word was. When the first
word was written, my hand would be uplifted so as to leave a space
between the words, and proceed as before. In this way the book was
written. But when the spirit chose, I found my mind often, very often,
though not always, impressed with the word which was being written. And
some mediums inform me that whole sentences are impressed upon their
minds at once; but with me it is a rare thing that I have more than one
word at a time, and that comes, as it were, while they are writing it.
Should the reader receive the instruction and pleasure from a perusal
of these pages, which I have while they were being written, the reward
will be very great. I shall condemn no one if they do not read it,
because, in my opinion, they will suffer sufficient loss without it.
There are none who need the consolation and reform which spirits
require, more than those who refuse to be instructed by them; but there
are many who will, as they have done, aim their darts at both. They
belong to a circle who deserve pity more than censure.
With the history and death of Thomas Paine, I know nothing, save what
has been written by an invisible influence with my hand. Having been
connected with the ministry for over twenty two years, I was not
inclined to read his productions; and since I have become a writing
Medium, I have found no leisure to read any book. In fact, my taste for
reading the productions of human wisdom is all absorbed in the divine.
The spirit proposes to write another volume, and when it is written, it
will be published.
The Diagram will serve to explain the circles of wisdom, as enjoyed
by minds in heaven. There are minds in the body who occupy the
first, second, third, and fourth circle, according to this diagram.
But I would inform the reader, that whatever may be the circle to
which minds belong, in the rudimental or second sphere, it does not
separate one from another by an impassable partition, so that one
can not hold intercourse with another, though occupying different
circles. As different circles in the body may converse together, so
different circles in the spirit world may do the same. The circles do
not represent arbitrary lines of division between spirits, but simply
degrees of wisdom. That the higher circles mingle with the lower, for
the purpose of making them wiser, is apparent from the whole body of
this work. I consider, therefore, that circles express the degrees of
wisdom and bliss which each spirit is qualified, as it is developed, to
enjoy, and not as forming a line of separation among the inhabitants
of heaven. The wisdom of heaven differs essentially from the wisdom of
earth, in regard to the real merits of the mind, and its qualifications
for enjoyment.
The style of some parts of this volume is unusual. A circle is
sometimes addressed in the singular number, where it would seem to
require the plural; but this departure from grammatical accuracy, may
be justified on the ground, that the circle were all of one mind, or
sentiment.
C. HAMMOND.
ROCHESTER, March, 1852.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM,
REPRESENTING THE DIFFERENT CIRCLES AND SPHERES
IN THE SPIRIT WORLD.]
[EXPLANATION.]
1. Wisdom, wholly selfish, or seeking selfish good.
2. Wisdom, controlled by popular opinion.
3. Wisdom, independent of popularity, but not perfect.
4. Wisdom, which seeks others’ good and not evil.
5. Wisdom, in purity, or a circle of Purity.
6. Wisdom, in perfection to prophecy.
7. Wisdom, to instruct all others of less wisdom.
CHAPTER I.
SICKNESS, DEATH, AND BURIAL OF THOMAS PAINE.
Conversation with his physician, and his indifference about
death--The minister sent for--Prayer--Meditation on life--Age
of Reason--A swoon--Sees a spirit--The effort of the spirit
to identify herself--His death--Funeral services--Doubting
minister--Conversation with his spirit companion--Benediction,
and opinions of the people--The end of wonders--Joy in his new
sphere--The greeting--The woman and the doctor--His mother--Her
welcome--His grave--The thoughts of the grave digger--Anxiety to
reveal the truth--Promise to him of a coming time when it could
be done with safety to mediums--Origin of sight--Thoughts of
minds at his grave--Disclaims intentional wrong--Objections to
religion--Visit to the minister--Conversation between the minister
and servant--Prayer--Servant complains--Cheering conversation of
Paine and his companion--Proposes to relate his experience, and signs
his name.
In the progress of mind to the unseen world, there is no wonder
within the range of human perception, analogous to the transition
of the spirit in what is called death. I will relate the incidents
of my experience. For some weeks previous to my exit, my attending
physician gave me up as incurable. Still, he continued his visits,
and experimented in every possible way his ingenuity and wisdom could
devise, to control what he foresaw would terminate in my dissolution.
At length, approaching my bedside, he said in a tremulous tone, “I
fear you will not live to see the light of morning.” I replied, in a
whisper, “I see no one, then, to do what will be required at my demise.”
“What do you require?” said the doctor.
“Only that my body be decently interred,” I responded.
I saw he felt moved by my indifference, and I requested him to invite
the parish minister to make a prayer. He did so. I was still unmoved by
his pathetic appeals to Heaven to bless my soul with the outpourings
of his grace upon me. I felt no solicitude about my fate. All seemed
dark and hopeless, with no ray of light to gladden the soul of a dying
unbeliever in revelation. I was willing to see, but no light came
to my relief. In this state of awful gloom, when midnight blackness
offered no consolation, when the idolatry of monkish mockery gave no
satisfaction, and when no ostentatious show of worldly gain or honor
wearied my mind with their cares, I said, “what is life?” I answered,
“’tis but a dream.” “Then what have I done which is not a dream?” I
wondered. “There is my Age of Reason, and is that a dream?” I saw no
dream in that work. It was a reality. It was my work. I saw it was not
a dream. There was what the minister had not disturbed. He did not
overthrow what it contained. He prayed against my infidelity, but he
did not lessen my convictions in any position I had taken. No: weak
and worn out with disease as I was, he made no issue with my attack
upon his faith. He went away, and I saw him no more, till no more of
flesh and blood imprisoned my spirit. I was well satisfied he was
afraid of me. I was never more satisfied of the truth of my book.
Still, it was not what I wanted. It did not aid me in my lone chamber
of weakness and destitution. It gave me no solace, save the reflection
that I had served the cause of human freedom, and had triumphed over
the dogmatical assumptions of a miserable theology. I was not wholly
satisfied that I was altogether right, but I was very certain that
religionists were wrong. I saw the corruption and hypocrisy of those
who professed to be Christians, and I was persuaded that what they
taught upheld them in their hypocrisy. In this frame of mind, I neither
felt wounded by their assaults upon my work, nor was I afraid of what
would be my condition after death.
Near the close of my earthly life, I fell into a swoon, and I saw what
was more evidence to me of a future life, than all I had ever heard
or read. I saw my wisdom isolated, and torn in fragments. There came
near me one whom I loved in my youth; one who was dear to me when I
was in my years of prime; and who cherished an attachment for me,
which even death had no power to dissolve. She had passed away. I had
wept over her grave. I had mourned her death as the severest of all
possible calamities. We were united. Nothing but the form of marriage
was wanting to make us one in the sight of the world. We were married.
I loved her as I never loved another. She was my idol; and never was
homage more sincere and fervent than that which I gave her; never was
my soul so willingly captivated as when I enjoyed her affection. Never
was my distress equaled as when I saw her coffined for the grave. Oh,
sadness! thou hast no wisdom for the bereaved! From that day to the
period above related, I had no music like hers to cheer me onward
through the night of my corroded sympathy, nor was there hope that we
should meet on the plain of conjugal affinity which we now enjoy.
In that swoon, I saw her as in the bloom of her virgin innocence. She
came to me and said, “Thomas! be of good cheer, I am with you.”
“Half wise am I to believe in an apparition, or have I lost my reason
that I should see a ghost by my bedside?” I wondered to myself.
“Be not deceived. Do you not see me? Here is my hand, and here the ring
with my name engraved, and do you not know my voice?” she replied.
“Indeed, your voice I know; I know all; but what are you?” may I ask.
“I am your betrothed, your confiding companion. I have watched over
you with more care than you would have deemed necessary, had I been
formally united with you in marriage. I have come now as a spirit to
remove your doubts, and conduct you to a circle where the weariness of
the world will disturb no more.”
“A spirit! a spirit!” I said in amazement.
“Yes, a spirit, a spirit you mourned as dead, is with you.”
“Is it possible? it is not--no, it is not.”
“It is possible. Never question what you know, Thomas.”
“I doubt not my senses, but my sight.”
“Then take my hand, as you once plighted your love to me, and bear me
witness that what you feel is not a delusion, nor my speech a mockery
of heaven.”
I gave her my warm hand, and never doubted again. But, ere the morning
sun had appeared, I passed the portal of death, and saw the neighbors
and friends preparing for the funeral. The minister was sent for.
He came. With uplifted hands he besought God to comfort the weeping
circle; but I saw he had no confidence that his prayer would be
answered. He bewailed death as a curse, and mourned that Adam and all
his posterity had no hope in heaven, only in Jesus. He opened what he
said was the word of God, and read, “There is hope of a tree, if it
be cut down, that it will sprout again;” but what is man, that the
Almighty should call him to a new sphere, he did not seem to comprehend.
As I stood near him during the whole service, I felt moved to say, “Oh,
thou of little faith; wherefore dost thou doubt?” But my companion
said, “He will not believe though one go to him from the dead; he has
Moses and the prophets, Jesus and the apostles, but will he not dispute
their sayings?”
T. Can he dispute what he shall see and hear?
C. And did not _you_ doubt me, Thomas? When I spoke, and when you saw
me, you said, “It is not possible.” Though you saw my hand, and the
ring on my finger, you would not admit my presence. Then you said, “I
doubt my sight.”
T. And will he, a believer in spirits, do the same?
C. He will not deny spirits, neither will he admit what he sees.
T. Why?
C. He will say, as you said, “I doubt my sight.”
T. But will a believer in revelation doubt, as I doubted?
C. A believer in revelation doubts, and will doubt, his sight as soon
as an unbeliever. Both cavil with the only rule which nature has given
them to determine the existence of things, and their relation to each
other.
T. Who, then, are believers?
C. “Hath not God concluded all in unbelief, that he might have mercy
upon all?” All are unbelievers. The minister does not believe that you
and I are present, and hear his speech. He does not believe what we
know, that his belief is unbelief of the truth in many things: so is
his unbelief a denial of the truth in other things.
The minister concluded his service, and my body was deposited in
the grave. I waited to hear the benediction: “Dust unto dust is the
law of nature; but the spirit must appear before the bar of God to
receive the penalty of violated law,” he said, in mournful solemnity.
The circle departed, saying, “he was more charitable than was to be
expected. Paine was an infidel, and what could he do less than speak
what he believed. He was satisfied that the deceased had no eternal
life abiding in him, and it was his duty to warn his neighbors of their
danger.”
I left them, and said, “How long shall it be to the end of these
wonders?”
My companion replied, “The end is not yet. Progressive developments
of wisdom will appear, when the dark cloud of superstition shall be
removed, so that the light of heaven shall not involve those on whom
it falls in the trouble of wicked men. The spirits of this sphere have
waited for the coming of that day, and come it will, when opinions
shall not triumph over facts, and truth shall not be rejected because
it disagrees with the errors of religionists.”
But to return to my exit. When my companion gave me her hand, I faintly
said, “God be praised,” and languished into life. There was no other
spirit near me, when I closed my race on earth. I was not without her
presence a moment, though a short interval elapsed in which I saw no
one. She saw me in my chamber, and she came to conduct me to wisdom
which I had not known. As a dear spirit, I loved her; but when I found
myself where I could see the body I once bore, and the countenances I
was well acquainted with, it was a scene so wholly unexpected, that I
was overpowered with joy, and my whole nature suffused with intense
gratitude to that divine Being, whose name and mercies I had derided
in my weakness and ignorance.
The first object which I saw was my companion. She smiled and said,
“Thomas, thou hast passed over the valley; fear no evil; I am with
thee.” I could see what they were doing with my body, when I was
conversing with her.
It was not over an hour after I left it, till my spirit was conscious
of all that was passing in the house. I saw the woman, who occupied the
house, interested in preserving my features from discoloration, and
bathing my mortal casement with wet cloths. She was not well satisfied
with the physician. He wanted her to ask the minister to make a prayer,
but she refused. He told her it was customary on such occasions to
invite the minister to pray. She said “he would soon need something
more, and I am not in a condition to pay him for his services.” He told
her that he would settle all, if she desired. “I will not make a mock
of the thing,” she replied; “but to tell you the truth, doctor, I do
not believe in praying over the dead.”
The next wonder, which I was permitted to see, was the spirit of my
mother. She was a mother; I was now a spirit, and she came to me, and
said: “My son, my child, I call you, my child. The storm of contention
has passed. The angry tempest is now gone by. Here, my son, are the
realities of happiness. I have labored to make you wise in the wisdom
of nature, but alas! I was not successful, only in a degree. I have
now an opportunity to conduct you where wisdom will be unfolded in
measureless profusion.” So saying, she bade me follow her.
In the mean time, my companion stood by my side, and we both instantly
obeyed. The angel mother led our way to a grave, which was being dug
for my remains. “There,” said she, “is the end of all flesh. There is
the grave of your dust, and though it shall be deposited in it, your
spirit will live forever. Such will be the end of all living. Do you
not hear the workman?” I listened, and the thoughts of the poor man
came up to my spirit in wonderful sweetness, as he moved the shovel
with its load of earth. “Ah!” said he, “there are many who respect the
talents of the dead, but few who care for the living.”
I saw him as he filled the grave. I heard him say, mentally, “No man
liveth and dieth not. I have dug many graves, but where is the man who
will not work when human bodies need a burial? Oh! what would I give
to know that, when my body is wasted in dust, I shall live in heaven.
But, alas! what do I ask? My soul weeps to know what God has refused to
mortals.”
“Do you see,” said my mother, “that nature is true to human good, while
ignorance conceals her worth?”
“I see,” replied my companion, and we went away.
As we left the grave I was well satisfied that the reflections of the
poor man were mournfully true. I was not without misgivings that my Age
of Reason sought not to gratify the mind in its hope of immortality.
I said, “when will the day come that I can make known the truth, and
correct the errors of my work?”
My mother replied, “The world is not yet prepared to hear such news. I
will not wrong the truth by an attempt to reveal it.”
T. But will not a day come when spirits can unfold to mind in the body
the wonders of this sphere?
M. When minds emerge from the darkness of their superstition, and
spirits can control, without wrong to the medium, we can make known to
them the wonders of this world of life; but, while they are controlled
by their superstition, the revealment would subject the medium to
severe penal sufferings, and the execration of all who are not
controlled by us. The people are more tenacious of their creeds than
what is consistent with the safety of such, as will be required to act
in a wonderful manner to overcome their errors. I see, that when Jesus
came, he was not opposed with more violent measures than religionists
are prepared to adopt to suppress whatever contradicts their faith and
practice. But there will come a day when spirits can reveal the truth,
without involving the medium in trouble at the hands of its enemies,
and when the inalienable rights of mind will be protected by the voice
of public opinion. Be patient, therefore, my son; for the coming of
that day will change the gloom of the grave into the joy of immortal
rest. It will come with wonder, and mind will understand that the tomb
is not the home of the soul.
The sun was now sinking behind the western hills. Then I said, “why are
midnight and mid-day alike to spirits? Why is not the rudimental sphere
developed as mind is here?”
“I see you will wonder, Thomas. Are not the night and the day alike
unto God? Does he not make light, and create darkness? Are not light
and darkness the result of causes which harmonize in the well being of
mind in the body? Must not the spirit, wearied with its load of dust,
have hours of repose and rest?”
“Very true,” I replied; “but why do they not see as spirits see?”
“Our vision is not as theirs; when we see, it is because the
undulations of light, falling upon us, are unobstructed by other
things. You will find light without darkness in your path, because
there is more light in spiritual than earthly bodies. Light emanates
from particles of matter thrown off from dense globes in straight
lines, which coming in collision with each other, produce a concussion
in such rapid succession, as to evolve what is called light. The law
of what is called the solar system, governs worlds of other systems. A
ray diverging from the sun meets a ray from earth, which produces what
is called friction among the innumerable particles in their passage
from one point to another. This friction emits a blaze from the two
particles. These wonders are actually transpiring every instant, within
scarcely perceptible distances, so that no darkness can exist when they
occur. There is an ocean of rays commingling in their destined course,
and forced along their pathway by attractive and repulsive forces in
the great economy of nature. Now, it is only the grosser particles,
migrating from one globe to another, that make light to the inhabitants
of the rudimental sphere, while spirits are able to discover light, or,
as I would say, see the friction, or light, emitted by the friction of
lesser rays coming in contact with each other. When the sun is visible
to minds in the body, rays from it fall in direct lines to earth, and
rays from earth pass in direct lines to the sun. When rays pass in
direct lines and meet, the concussion or friction is greater than when
striking each other obliquely. Hence, the greater the friction, the
greater the light. And the nearer to earth the contact of the rays,
the more sensible the effect upon the retina of the human eye. This
accounts for the darkness called night, and the light called day. At
night, the rays, migrating from the sun to earth and earth to sun,
must strike each other obliquely, and at a greater distance from the
eye of man. But spirits are aided by the friction of infinitely more
refined particles of matter meeting the inconceivably more refined
particles of earth, occasioned by the influence of other planets upon
it. As the attractive and repulsive forces are equal to the density,
distance, and magnitude of the several orbs, so are the rays refined;
and you will find that the balances are in just proportion throughout
the immensity of the Creator’s works. We see that refined particles,
or rays, more clearly give light to us, than the grosser particles,
emitted by stronger attractions, do to minds in grosser organs of
sight. Every thing is adapted to its condition. Nothing is unwise in
the order of the divine government.”
But, when we were at the grave, I saw no mind relieved. “Thomas Paine
was an infidel,” said they. “He ridiculed the Bible. He was not moral,
even. He was addicted to intemperance. He lived with a strange woman.
He would not repent, and be converted; and he died without having
experienced religion. He must now atone for his conduct.”
I wished to say, but wishes were vain, “My wrongs were not wrongs of
injury intentional to others. I had erred; and I would, if I could,
have atoned for those errors; but my works were not worse than those
arrayed against me. I saw no religion worth possessing in the creeds
of men. I was not wise, but I could not find wisdom in the doctrines
taught by religionists. My desire was law and justice; but neither were
commended to my judgment, in the forms and ceremonies of the church.
A change of heart was more mystical to me than the mythology of the
pagans. A wise man hath said, ‘wisdom is mine,’ and what he said I
was not ashamed to allow: but I was ashamed to allow what I could
not explain, so that others could comprehend my meaning. I was not
without reverence for good, but what was good gave me some uneasiness
to determine. My rules were isolated, and sometimes contradictory.
Nevertheless, I would attempt to draw up rules which I thought
practicable, and when I saw what was not wise, I was never ashamed to
acknowledge it.”
During the evening of the day in which my body was interred, I was
with my companion and mother, who proposed to visit the house of the
parish minister. I wished not to go, for I was well satisfied of his
feelings. I was about to say so, when my companion resumed: “We may not
refuse crumbs when no more can be had. I see,” said she, “he will not
pray without wrath or doubting; but it is all we can expect under his
condition of mind. He is now waiting to call the family together for
prayers.”
“Then we will not stay long,” I replied.
“No longer than you wish,” she rejoined.
It was a still night. As we neared the house, the work of reading a
chapter was commenced by the servant of the house. She read, with
hurried words, the chapter which was offered her.
“That seems to be an awful lesson of judgment against the unbelieving,”
said the minister, with a sigh. “Oh! what would Paine give now, if he
had made his peace with God? I fear he is lost forever.”
“And why do you think so?” said the servant.
“Because he was a very wicked man,” said the minister.
“Are not all men wicked,” she faintly uttered?
M. Yes: but you know there is a sin unto death, for which even
Christians are not permitted to pray.
S. Did Paine commit that sin which is unto death?
M. I fear such will be found the case. He resisted the Holy Ghost. He
resisted prayer. He was opposed to religion. Alas! he is beyond the
reach of mercy. So saying, he arose, and said, “we will pray.”
He was nearly through with a long prayer, when he called upon God to
“remember all who remember not thee. Remember, Oh God!” said he, “all
who are out of the ark of safety; for we fear thou hast permitted one
of thy works to perish forever. Oh, God! spare thy rod, and let not
thine anger be kindled against thy enemies. Thou hast mercy for those
that love thee, and wilt thou not also have compassion on those who
need thy salvation?” When he had concluded, I heard the servant say to
herself, “Who is my judge?”
I responded, by a gentle impression on her mind, “He will judge others,
but not as he judges himself.”
“It is even so,” she seemed to answer. “I never was acquainted with
Paine,” she said, mentally; “but he was never convicted of any very
great crimes that I have ever heard; I wish others were as good as he.
Then, I should not be scorned because I am poor, and have to work for a
living. May be, it is all right, but I can’t see it.”
My companion rejoined, “Thus it is, and thus it will be, till wisdom
shall come from heaven, gentle as the dew, and free as the air, to
chase away the ignorance of a deceived world. Never will mind rise up
in the vigor of wisdom, till celestial light shall dissipate the wrongs
and woes of misguided mind. I have seen the mind of man groaning in
despair, and no one to lift the burden from his soul. I will not mock
my inferiors, nor envy my superiors; but I will lead you, Thomas, to
a fountain where no impurity can be seen, and where you may bathe in
water without shore or bound.”
“But where do we go?” I inquired.
“We go where the weary find rest, and the conflicting antagonisms of
human society disturb no more. We go where the pure will never become
vitiated with wrongs, and where rivers of light roll on, refreshing the
mind forever. We go where nature is understood, and her laws obeyed.
We go where truth is wisdom, and where no mockery of duty answers the
call of need. We go where we wish, and when we go, we will not cease
to remember that our return will be cheered with music, vibrating in
harmony with human redemption from the whirlpool of angry waters. We
will not tarry among the wrongs and evils of a mourning world, but we
will visit a wonder away from human cares, where order and harmony are
appreciated, and spirits concentrate to admire and glorify the Ruler
of unnumbered worlds. There is a world you have not seen, a music you
have not heard, a joy you have not experienced, where the storm of
contention lashes not against its shore, nor the groans of distress
reach the borders of my spirit home.”
We went in company. But, at every step of our journey, I saw new
wonders, which I propose to write, with the consent of this medium,
for the instruction and enjoyment of those who must ere long become
travelers over the same road, to a wisdom which none but celestial
beings enjoy. Therefore, wonder not who writes as you read; for my name
will be now recorded, as with the pen of a ready writer, by whose hand
I am permitted to subscribe myself,
THOMAS PAINE.