Part 24 (1/2)
”For some time I could not understand one word that was sounded forth; but the first that I did understand were as follows: 'Hark! Hark!
hearken, oh thou child of mortality, unto the word that is and shall be sounded aloud in thine ears, again and again, even until it is obeyed.
”'And lo, I say a time, and a time, and a half-time shall not pa.s.s by before my voice shall be heard, and my word sounded forth to the nations abroad. But in the Zion of my likeness and true righteousness shall it be received first, and from thence shall it go forth; for thus and thus hath the G.o.d of heaven and earth declared and purposed that it should be.
”'Then why will you, O why will you, yet fear to obey? What would you that your G.o.d would do in your presence, that you might fear his power rather than that of mortal man?'
”From this moment I was not sensible where I was; and after a little time of silence the body of light, or pillar of fire, dispersed, and I saw a mighty angel coming from the east, and I heard these words:
”'Woe, woe, and many woes shall be upon the mortal that shall see and will not stop to behold.'”
And so on, for a good many pages.
The second work is called _”The Divine Book of Holy and Eternal Wisdom, revealing the Word of G.o.d, out of whose mouth goeth a sharp Sword._ Written by Paulina Bates, at Watervliet, N. Y., United States of America; arranged and prepared for the Press at New Lebanon, N. Y.
Published by the United Society called Shakers. Printed at Canterbury, N.H., 1849.” This book contains 718 pages; and pretends also to be a series of revelations by angels and deceased persons of note. In the Preface by the editors its origin is thus described:
”During a number of years past many remarkable displays of divine power and heavenly gifts have been manifested among the children of Zion in all the branches of the United Society of Believers in the second appearing of Christ. Much increasing light has been revealed on many subjects which have heretofore remained as mysteries; and many prophetic revelations have been brought forth, from time to time, through messengers chosen and inspired by heavenly power and wisdom.
”Among these it has pleased G.o.d to select a female of the United Society at Wisdom's Valley (Watervliet), and indue her with the heavenly light of revelation as an instrument of divine Wisdom, to write by divine inspiration those solemn warnings, prophetic revelations, and heavenly instructions which will be found extensively diffused through the sacred pages of this book.
”These were written in a series of communications at various times during the year 1841, '42, '43, and '44, with few exceptions, which will be seen by their several dates. But the inspired writer had no knowledge that they were designed by the Divine Spirit to be published to the world until a large portion of the work was written; therefore, whenever she was called upon by the angel of G.o.d, she wrote whatever the angel dictated at the time, without any reference to the connective order and regular arrangement of a book; for she was not directed so to do, for reasons which were afterwards revealed to her and other witnesses then unknown to her.
”Hence it was made known to be the design of the Divine Spirit that these communications should be transmitted to the Holy Mount (New Lebanon), there to be prepared for publication by agents appointed for that purpose, in union with the leading authority of the Church.
Accordingly they were conveyed to New Lebanon, and the subscribers were appointed as editors, to examine and arrange them in regular and convenient order for the press, and divine instructions were given for that purpose.
”Having therefore faithfully examined the ma.n.u.scripts containing these communications, we have compiled them into one book, in two general divisions or volumes, agreeably to the instructions given. We have also, for convenient arrangement, divided the whole into seven parts, according to the relative connection which appeared in the different subjects. And for the convenience of the reader we have divided each part into chapters, prefixing an appropriate t.i.tle to each.
”Some pa.s.sages and annotations have been added by _The Angel of Prophetic Light,_ who by inspiration has frequently a.s.sisted in the preparation and arrangement of the work, for the purpose of ill.u.s.trating and confirming some of the original subjects by further explanations. A few notes have also been added by the editors for the information of the reader. These are all distinguished in their proper places from the original matter.
”But although it was found necessary to transcribe the whole, in order to prepare it properly and intelligibly for the press, yet we have used great care to preserve the sense of the original in its purity; and we can testify that the substance and spirit of the work have been conscientiously preserved in full throughout the whole.
”This work is called 'Holy Wisdom's Book,' because Holy and Eternal Wisdom is the Mother, or Bearing Spirit, of all the works of G.o.d; and because it was especially revealed through the line of the female, being WISDOM'S _Likeness; and she lays special claim to this work_, and places her seal upon it.
”An _Appendix_ is added, containing the testimonies of various divine and heavenly witnesses to the sacred truth and reality of the declarations and revelations contained in the work. The most of these were given before the inspired writers who received them had any earthly knowledge concerning the book or its contents. A _testimony_ is also affixed to the work by the elders of the family in which the inspired writer resides, bearing witness to the honesty and uprightness of her character, and her faithfulness in the work of G.o.d.”
The main object of the book is to warn sinners of all kinds from the ”wrath to come.” Especial woes, by the way, are denounced against slaveholders and slave traders: ”Whether they be clothed in tenements of clay, or whether they be stripped of their earthly tabernacles, the same hand of Justice shall meet them whithersoever they flee.” It must be remembered to the honor of the Shakers that they have always and every where consistently opposed human slavery.
The ”Divine Book of Holy Wisdom” contains the ”testimonies” of the ”first man, Adam,” of the ”first woman, Eve,” of Noah and all the patriarchs, and of a great many other ancient worthies; but, alas! what they have to say is not new, and of no interest to the unregenerate reader.
These two volumes are not now, as formerly, held in honor by the Shakers. One of their elders declared to me that I ought never to have seen them, and that their best use was to burn them. But I found them on the table of the visitors' room in one or two of the Western societies, and I suppose they are still believed in by some of the people.
At this day most (but not all) of the Shaker people are sincere believers in what is commonly called Spiritualism. At a Shaker funeral I have heard what purported to be a message from the spirit whose body was lying in the coffin in the adjoining hall. In one of the societies it is believed that a magnificent spiritual city, densely inhabited, and filled with palaces and fine residences, lies upon their domain, and at but a little distance from the terrestrial buildings of the Church family; and frequent communications come from this spirit city to their neighbors. ”When I was a little girl, I desired very much to have a hymn sent through me to the family from the spirit-land; and after waiting and wis.h.i.+ng for a long time, one day when I was little expecting it, as I was walking about, a hymn came to me thus, to my inexpressible delight”--so said a Shaker eldress to me in all seriousness. ”We have frequently been visited by a tribe of Indians (spirits of Indians), who used to live in this country, and whose spirits still come back here occasionally,” said another Shaker sister to me.
On the other hand, when I asked one of the elders how far he believed that their hymns are inspired, he asked me whether it did not happen that I wrote with greater facility at one time than at another; and when I replied in the affirmative, he said, ”In that case I should say you were inspired when your words come readily, and to that degree I suppose our hymn-writers are inspired. They have thought about the subject, and the words at last come to them.”
I think I have before said that the Shakers do not attempt to suppress discussion of the relations of the s.e.xes; they do not pretend that their celibate life is without hards.h.i.+ps or difficulties; but they boldly a.s.sert that they have chosen the better life, and defend their position with not a little skill against all attacks. A good many years ago Miss Charlotte Cushman, after a visit to Watervliet, wrote the following lines, which were published in the _Knickerbocker Magazine_:
”Mysterious wors.h.i.+pers!
Are you indeed the things you seem to be, Of earth--yet of its iron influence free--From all that stirs Our being's pulse, and gives to fleeting life What well the Hun has termed 'the rapture of the strife.'
”Are the gay visions gone, Those day-dreams of the mind, by fate there flung, And the fair hopes to which the soul once clung, And battled on; Have ye outlived them? All that must have sprung, And quicken'd into life, when ye were young?
”Does memory never roam To ties that, grown with years, ye idly sever, To the old haunts that ye have left forever--Your early homes?
Your ancient creed, once faith's sustaining lever, The loved who erst prayed with you--now may never?
”Has not ambition's paean Some power within your hearts to wake anew To deeds of higher emprise--worthier you, Ye monkish men, Than may be reaped from fields? Do ye not rue The drone-like course of life ye now pursue?
”The camp--the council--all That woos the soldier to the field of fame-- That gives the sage his meed--the bard his name And coronal-- Bidding a people's voice their praise proclaim; Can ye forego the strife, nor own your shame?
”Have ye forgot your youth, When expectation soared on pinions high, And hope shone out on boyhood's cloudless sky, Seeming all truth-- When all looked fair to fancy's ardent eye, And pleasure wore an air of sorcery?