“ I WILL snxxr. ALL NATIONS, AND run nssxnn or ALL NATIONS SHALL COME; AND I WILL FILL arms nous): wrrn GLORY, SAITII THE Loan.”

Published Monthly, by, and under the direction of the Mt. Lebanon Bishopric.

VOL. I.

SHAKERS, ALBANY CO., N. Y., MAY, 1871.

No. 5.

Right and Light. J

The First Cause of all causes we call
God; by descending terms, Father and
Mother; Being and VVill; Truth and
Love; I am and I do; Spirit and Matter;
Religion and Science. The religious in-
stinct is inherent in the human race. A
recognition of God is the fountain of good-
ness, and source of truth. The desire to
be and do good, is religion. The desire to
know how, why, and when to be good, is
theology. Spiritualism is the soul of all
systems of philosophy.

The rudest of races have their philoso-
phical theologicol cosmogony; and some of
the most civilized and cultured of the
races have not been exceeded, in absurdity,
by the most savage, in their theories of
creation, the being and attributes of God,
the nature and destructibility of matter,
etc. This is under the general law, that
“light is sown for the righteous—the
doers of right ;i and darkness of the under-
standing for the violators of law, physi-
ological and spiritual.” '

It is a historical and present fact, that
a highly-civilized nation, like the French,
are, to a large extent, seeking happiness
through the exercise of the same passions,
and by the excitement of the same senses,
that it is sought for by the Hottentots.

“In Paris, pleasure, or more properly,
sensuality, appears to be carried to its
highest possible summit.”—Swedenborg.

The nobility and serfs of Russia, if not
equally sensual, in the use of their absorb-
ing and procreating powers, the balance is in
favor of the serfs, who, by poverty and the
necessities of existence, are kept in a more
simple physiological condition; their pas-
sions not being inflamed by abnormal ex-
citants, in drink and food; while the nobles
are as full-fed horses, each one neighing
after his neighbor's wife—-the abuse of
nutrition and reproduction.

It has come to pass, that while in the
wisdom of God, “the world by wisdom ”——
material and sensual the0logy——“ knew not

.God,” it has pleased God, by the foolish-

ness of preaching, and the ministration of
the Spirit of God, acting upon the same
senses that evil acts upon, has saved them
that believe, from the indulgence of glut-

; worlds !

tony and drunkenness, and from fruitless
sexuality, which has been more emphati-
cally the work of darkness, whether by
the married or unmarried, as it is_ the
most concentrated form of human evil.

The priests of N ature——Pythagoras, Di-
ogenes, Plato, Seneca, and the Stoics, en-
joined self-control, and, to a great extent,
self-denial of the senses, as did the Ava-
ters, like Confucius, Buddha, Zoroaster,
Jesus; they touched each other.

The material worlds! the spiritual
VVhy, is it not all spirit, in dif-
ferent stages of unfoldment, from the
stand-point of Deity? All spirit, more or
less externalized, down to the earths,
which are first, gas and ether, then granite,
rock and diamond. All matter, more or
less attenuated, sublimated, etherealized,
up to the lowest spirit sphere, and thence
up to the heaven of heavens.

Jesus inherited physiological and moral
conditions derived from a long line of
self-controlling, self-denying ancestry, con-
creted into an organized body like the
Essenes, who, throughout the Jewish his-
tory, did not eat animal food; nor did they
fight or marry. This gave Jesus an ad-
vantage over all other human beings,
Adam and Eve not excepted: because
their innocence and goodness was that of
the baby-hood of the race. As a child,
his aspirations were upward, towards the
seventh heaven. A comparatively-few of
his countrymen and women, of the Jews,
approximated the high religious status to
which he attained.

It should be distinctly remarked, that
it was in goodness, rather than in intellec-
tuality—in religion rather than in theol-
ogy, that he excelled. “Whence hath
this man this knowledge, seeing he know-
eth not letters," plainly indicates that he
belonged to the order of human beings
who were called to externalize God on this
earth in their lives, rather than in deep,
great, and grand philosophical and scien-
tific theories, explanatory of the mysteries
of creation to the human understanding.
His work was to make human beings good
and true lovers of God, and companions
of angels ; as social beings, to learn them
to love one another with a pure heart,
fervently; to pray, rather than study.

u.¢..a-

This was religion; and “none but a good
man can be a true philosopher.”

When Paul came up, who was also of a
good philosophical and intellectual stock,
and had been educated in all the learning
and culture of the Jews, he taught theol-
ogy——the science of the religion of Jesus.
It was an effort of the human mind to
comprehend the height and depth, and
length and breadth of the work of human
redemption, and to systematize and explain
it logically.

During the first three centuries, the
religious organizations having all things
common, created by the holy Christ
Spirits acting upon the emotions and afi'ec-
tions, and operating in the hearts of the
lovers of righteousness (not mere lovers of
knowledge), stood the test of internal cor-
ruption and outward persecution ; but they
finally succumbed, and a Gentile bishop
led the Jerusalem Pentecostal Church: a
fit type of the “ man of sin,” who was to
inhabit the most holy temples in the Gen-
tile world for twelve hundred and sixty
years of educational preparation of its
heathen people to receive the Christ of
God in the female Order, through a female
Messiah, as the Jews had received him in
the male order through J esus-——a male
and female Christ manifested through
male and female human beings.

During the reign of Anti-ehrist, Spirit-
ualism operated to create a mixture of
elements. Hebrew, Christian, Heathen,

Mahommedan, and everything in heaven"

and on earth——all the spheres being con-
fusedly blended together-——the relation of
the natural and spiritual worlds was
abnormal, represented by three unclean
spirits, like frogs (amphibious) proceeding
out of the mouth of the dragon—heathen-
ism; of the beast--the Catholic, Protest-
ant, and Greek Churches; and of the false
prophet-—the heretics and witnesses: false
miracles, false relics, false confessions and
absolutions; false piety, which thought
killing was doing God’ service ; false marri-
ages, doctrines of devils; false everything.
Whoredom, adultery, fornication, are
terms plentifully used by divine religion-
ists, to represent the commingled wicked-
ness of these so-called Christian Churches.
“Babylon the Great, the Mother of Har-

 .Q. C H

34:

THE SHAKER.

lot.s—Whores ; ” by which obnoxious
terms, the reforming daughters of the
Roman and Greek Churches, and State
Governments, are not inaptly designated.

As in the days of Jesus, the Essenes—-
the ancient Quakers; and the Sadducees—
the ancient Materialists-—€tlone escaped
his denunciations; so, in our own time,
the modern Essenes—-true Quakers; and
the modern Sadducees, organized into the
American Governments, in our day, of all
others, go the most unrebuked by the
“seed of the woman”-—the followers of
Ann Lee,——who are bruising, in them-
selves, the head of the sensual powers and
passions of Christendom, the lust of sexual
indulgence; the nude statue and black
crooks of this “ Murder of the Innocents”
age, which has legalized monopoly of the
life elements; thus making war and the
destruction of embryonic human beings a
society necessity, in order to hold in check
population, which continually presses on
the means of subsistence in cities, towns,
and villages.

It is said, that the private character of
Swedenborg, from youth to manhood, was
altogether irreproachable. He opened the
portals of the invisible world, which the
Protestants had closed, ‘to keep wicked
men and women from coming back to
them, as they had been in the habit of
doing under the Catholic rule; so that
they were like people who shut the door
against their enemies, by refusing to admit
even their friends, the angels.

Never was the simile of the ladder
which Jacob saw, so appropriately illus-
trated as in the case of this seer. "He was‘
a believer and follower of Jesus in his
first advent upon earth. He began, as
Assessor of Mines in Sweden, and went
up the ladder of the sciences to the great
First Cause. Like his ante-type, John
the Baptist, he lived a celibate life.
“He complains that his scientific labors
were not appreciated ; that his productions
are looked down upon, by a number of
political blockheads, as mere scholastic
exercises, which ought to stand back,
while their presumptuous finesse and in-
trigues step forward. He said the begin-
ning of nature was identical with the
beginning of geometry.”

“He discovered the science of crystal-
lography, or law of crystals. Every metal
has particles of its own, of a peculiar form;
the same being true of all mundane sub-
stances, from the rocks to the most etheral-
ized elements. The various shapes of
these atomic crystals cause the different
tastes, smells, and feelings which attach
to them. He appears to have labored to
apprehend the origin and arrangement of
matter in the earths, and also, to appre-

hend the nature and condition of the in-
telligent atoms which compose their social
organizations, and are the inner worlds,
so far as he found entrance thereinto. He
aflirmed that the object of his mission was,
to ‘ dcm onstrate immortality to the natural
senses:’ that is, Spiritualism. His pre-
vailing idea was, that external objects
were the product of internal powers and
and forces.” 7

The Social Evil.

“ And now, also, the axe is laid unto the root of the
trees.” John, 3:10. ,

It was the peculiar mission of the first
founders of Shakerism to bear testimony
against the “social evil,” in all its phases,
legal and illegal, and in all its relations and
bearings in human life; hence, it was reported
that they condemned marriage; but this was a
mistake—thcy only condemned the abuses and
evils cloaked under it, holding it to be exclu-
sively a civil right, and not a Christian insti-
tution. And when it was incorporated into
the Christian system, in the outer court, in
the Apostles’ days, it was considered more of
an innovation than from divine authority—
hence, it was said: “Brethren, the time is
short that remaineth; that both they that
have wives shall be as though they had none.”

America is destined to take the lead in all
the reforms of the 19th century. Through the
power of the invisible, operating through a
visiblelagency, great and mighty things have
been accomplished, and still greater things re-
main to be met and overcome. Seeming im-
possibilities belong to the past and not to the
present age of the World. Various opinions
are entertained by reformers as to the best
manner of disposing of the “social evil.”
It seems to be a principle inherent in human
nature, and been handed down from time imme-
xnorial; like some old chronic hereditary dis-
ease, hard to eradicate, and too delicate a sub-
ject for public discussion. Yet, reformers say
something must be done, and this false delicacy
must be laid aside before science can be brought
to bear successfully against it. True!

But, we say, the reason why reformers in
the past have not been able to reform the
world, is, because they have not been suffi-
ciently radical on this point. Now we propose
to begin at the root of human depravity, and
put away the cause, that the effect may cease.
“ And now, also, the axe is laid unto the root
of the trees,” etc. Man in scripture is com-
pared to trees and known by his fruit; and it
may be that we have all, in the past, eaten
apples very improperly. Trees are in the
plural and implies both sexes, because both
sexes are involved in the social evil.

Perhaps there is no sentiment more com-
mon concerning its origin, which is implied,
if not expressed, than the fact, that had it not
been for the transgression of Adam and Eve,
in the Garden of Eden, We should not have
been found in this fix; or, in other words, the
social evil would never have existed.

The cause of the “social evil,” and the root
of human depravity is traced back to Adam’s
transgression; to a lawless principle, which
was never essential to the reproduction of the

human race—-the excessive indulgence of which,
is the great problem now up for discussion.
In scripture language, the principle is called by
different names; “lust,” “flesh,” “old man,”
“forbidden fruit,” “man of sin,” “ son of per-
dition,” “carnal mind,” “devil,” “dragon,”
“evil,” “ which the Lord shall consume with
the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with
the brightness of his coming,” etc. (2 Thes.
2:8.) Which are all synonymous in their
signification. But the great question is, what
shall we do with it? This is the problem :—
How shall we eradicate it without destroying
the human race? Science cannot do it; if it
could, it would have been done long ago.
Philosophy cannot do it; it has tried, and
proved a failure. But science and philosophy,
combined with practical obedience to law and
order, can do it; it has been done.

What has been done can be done again. It
is of so long standing and so incorporated into
the very heart and core of humanity, that we
admit the difliculty. The principle in and of
itself is law1ess—is not subject to any law,
neither indeed can be, when left uncontrolled
by a superior and higher power. The princi-
ple is bad——it is wicked in the extreme !——it
has been tried before the High Court of Heaven,
and found guilty of the most abominable crimes;
the earth, itself, bearing witness against it;
and the sentence pronounced by the Court and
Judge of all the earth, is, death.

It is doomed to crucifixion, by a daily cross
and self-denial; that is, total abstinence; starv-
ing it to death by inches, until the principle is
entirely eradicated from the soul. This can
be done without extinguishing the human
race, by recognizing two orders or people, viz.:
the natural order, and the spiritual order——
separate and distinct. These two orders com-
prise the whole family of man, and admit of
different grades and degrees. Each order is
governed by its own laws.

Two great problems have been solved in the
United States within the last century, viz.:
the actual practice of a “virgin life,” and
“community of interest,” without the aid of
nunneries and monasteries; where the sexes
enjoy social and daily intercourse, and preserve
their chastity from year to year, and have for
the last seventy—five years. They prefer keep-
ing the higher law. This was so new and
Strange at first, that the world did not believe
that this profession of life could be actually
produced and carried out.

Elder F. W. Evans, of Mt. Lebanon, N. Y.,
one of the most progressive minds of the age,
in a letter to North Union, dated May 25th,
1868, said: “ For the first fifty years, the ques-
tion of there being a resurrection order on the
earth, and quietly living pure, celibate lives,
was always met with the scoffs and jeers of
the world, with the charge that they did not
so live; that ended the argument. .

“ Thus the world called in question the fact
of any living lives of chastity. Eighty years
have passed away, and that fact, now, is no
longer called in question. Hundreds of men
and women have lived together, maintaining a
close, social relation, upon the basis of pure
celibacy, for eighty years in succession, known
to the thinking, philosophical mind as a prob-

THE SHAKER.

85

lem not to be (but is now) solved. This fact,
Henry Vincent will make known on his return
to England.” J. S. P., North Union.

Anastasis.

This word, which is rendered resurrection
in our English version of the New Testament,
has two important meanings attached to it by
Jesus and the Apostles, and these so intimately
connected that the use of one immediately sug-
gests the other. One signification is, a new,
spiritual life, which succeeds the sensuous life
in the Christian believer; and the other, an
endless existence. In fact, when the term is
applied to Christians, the two ideas, usually,
are completely blended. We see how closely
connected these were in the mind of Jesus,
fromthe words he addressed to Martha, who
was bewailing the death of her brother.
“Jesus said to her, ‘Thy brother shall rise
again—anastesetai.’ Martha said to him, ‘I
know he will rise again in the resurrection in
the last day—-en te anastasei en te eschate
hermera.’ Jesus said to her, ‘ I am the resur-
rection and the life; and whoever lives and
believes in me will never die.”’ The same
union of the two ideas is also observed in the
reply of Jesus to the Sadducees, who denied
that there was to be any anastasis-—-any rising
to a future life. Which of the seven brothers,
‘they ask, is to have the woman whom they
each married, if they all live hereafter? The
answer is, “ Those having been deemed worthy
to obtain that life and the resurrection from
the dead——tou aionos ekeinou kai tes anastaseos
tes ek nekron—-neither marry nor are given in
marriage; nor can they die any more.”

These two meanings we find also blended in
the Apostle Paul’s argument in reply to those
persons in the Corinthian church who denied
the resurrection of the dead. “There is a
sensuous body—soma psuchikon-and a spirit-
ual body.” “ The first man is from earth,
and the second is from heaven.” “As we have
borne the image of the earthly, we shall also
bear the image of the heavenly.” “ When this
mortal shall have put on immortality, then will
be fulfilled the recorded saying, ‘Death is
swallowed up in victory.’ ”

These two thoughts, it is safe to say, are
the prominent ones in the mind of Jesus and
of Paul whenever they allude to a future life.
Life in God, the heavenly life, is the resurrec-
tion, and that is to continue forever. So com-
pletely does the idea of the Divine Life fill their
minds that it is as though there were no life in
the human race where that is not—-all else is
death. The Apostle Paul represents himself
as eager to rise out of this state of death.
“ If by any means I may attain to the resur-
rection from the dead,” that is, from among
those who are dead. All who are destitute of
this spiritual, heavenly life, are the dead. It
matters not whether they are in or out of the
physical body. This spiritual life is ‘.he life
of the last day, the day of the Messi: h, the
eternal age; and this he was strivi- g with all
earnestness to gain.

It is worthy of notice that, in his argument
for the resurrection addressed to the Corinth-
ians, he speaks only of Christians as actual
subjects of the resurrection. From this fact
some have drawn the conclusion thata part

of mankind, in the view of the Apostle, are to
be annihilated, or else to remain forever with-
out hope of everlasting life. This is because
they have supposed the Apostle to be speaking
of an event that is to be accomplished in a brief
period of time, and not to continue throughout
the Messiah’s reign until his work shall be
completed. A proper attention, however, to
the course of his argument will satisfy any
one that no such idea can be deduced from it.
Having given his proofs of the appearance of
Jesus among the living after his crucifixion by
the Jews and the Romans, he exultingly ex-
claimed, “Now has Christ been raised from
the dead, the first of the sleeping ones. For,
since death has intervened through a man,
resurrection, also, has come through a man;
for, us all die in /idam, so all will be made alive
in Christ ; but every one in his own order;
Christ, first, then those who are Christ’s in
his coming—-en te parousia autou. Then-—in
due course of time-comes the end—the com-
pletion of his work——-when he shall have de-
stroyed all rule, and all authority and power
opposed to God’s. For he must reign until
he put all enemies under his feet. Death, the
last enemy, shall be destroyed.”

It is to be observed, that the Apostle declares
all will be made alive, but they will be made
alive in Christ. None but Christians are sub-
jects of the resurrection, in the essential,
sublime sense of the term, yet none are ex-
cluded from the privilege of becoming such.
This he puts beyond a. doubt by the sweeping
declaration, “./Ill will be made alive in Christ,”
in which the all that are to be made alive in
Christ are contrasted with the all that die in
Adam. He speaks elsewhere, it is true, of
those who are to be punished in the time of
Christ’s coming, but the penalty meted out to
them is just that which their offenses merit,
according to the age in which they live. It is
the diken olethron aionion, a. term similar to
that which Jude employed when speaking of
the guilty inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah
-the diken puros aiouiou-—the penalty their
offenses demanded in that age. Death and
hell are to be destroyed; and, unquestionably,
the penalties resulting from violated law,
which are more severe the greater the light
which one sins against, are means which the
Being of Infinite Love uses for the destruction
of these enemies of everlasting righteousness.
There can be no escape; the penalty is just as

certain to lbllow crime as day to follow night.‘

And as transgression of the divine laws has
been, in one way or another, universal among
mankind, there was no impropriety in the
Apostle’s regarding all as in a state of death,
while he proclaimed a way of deliverance from
it for all men.

The mode of deliverance is not an arbitrary
one; not that of a partial, fitful, passionate
being, nor of one who takes pleasure in dis-
playing his power so as to overwhelm with
terror and amazement the human soul, and to
confound the sense of right and justice im-
plantedlin man. God works so as to confound

the plans of the proud and self-sufficient, yet’

always so that his methods of working com-
mend themselves ultimately to the highest
reason of his creatures. The Apostle Paul
speaks of the resurrection as occurring in. a‘

moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and yet it
is evident, from his statement that each person
is to be raised in his own order; that he refers
only to the commencement of the work in the
individual soul, which may, in fact, be as sud-
den as the language represents, and yet not
occur, in many cases, until after a. long prepar-
ation in the person for it. His own conversion
to Christianity was remarkable for its sudden-
ness, and yet he represents himself as striving
to the utmost to attain to the resurrection
from the dead. “ I have not yet gained, I am
not yet perfect, but I am pursuing so as to
gain the prize of my high calling.”

The resurrection, then, in its essential
nature, may commence in this state of being,
and in the case of the Apostle, it did so com-
mence. It was to him the introduction to a
condition of happiness of which, while he ad-
hered to his Jewish religion, he had no concep-
tion. It was a sun, illuminating his entire
spirit. It was the rain which waters the ten-
der plants of the new, spiritual life, causing
them to grow and become strong. It was the
inspiration of divine truth within himself,
which made him the effectual preacher of
righteousness wherever he went. It was the
opening of heaven to his internal view, show-

ing him the heavenly messengers descending

and ascending, earthward and heavenward;
showing him also, Christ himself, who stood
by him and encouraged him in his efforts to
advance his cause, and inspired him with
strength and courage to bear the numerous
persecutions to which he was subjected. The
resurrection was to him a spiritual, heavenly
life, whose characteristics were joy and peace,
gentleness, kindness, and the ardent and
abiding love of one who has been baptized into
the element of love, in the place of pride, self-
will, hatred and malice; unwavering faith in the
infinite goodness of God that purposes and plans
the welfare of all his creatures; the substitu-
tion of new and living hopes for old prejudices;
the breaking down of old barriers that had
been interposed by ignorance and folly between
different portions of human beings, enabling
him to love as ardently and work as earnestly
for his Gentile brethren as for those of his
own nation. This to him was a present resur-
rection; and so he represents it in his epistles
to Christians. “ If ye, then, are risen with
Christ,” he wrote to them, “ seek those things
which are above, where Christ sits at the right
hand of God.”

And yet it is plain, from his own words, that
he regarded the resurrection, in its fullest sense,
as something far beyond anything he had yet
experienced. He was looking forward to a
grand consummation of hopes that he had been
led to form. There was a prize at the end of
his course which he pvrposed to gain, a crown
of righteousness which, as victor, he expected
to wear. “ When Christ, who is our life,
shall be nianifeszted, ye also shall be manifested
with him in glory.” This glorious manifesta-
tion was to be the fulfillment of his hopes, his
complete deliverance from the state of death
in which he still found himself, though he had
been elevated already “to sit in heavenly places
in Christ.” That was to be not only freedom
from the power of sin, but from the liability
of ever again ‘falling into sin.

...‘.-..ii-. .v»">“«'|,'>A“‘x<*4 » 

 

36

THE SHAKER.

In addition to this expectation of a glorious
deliverance from the death of sin, there was
an assurance in his mind that this blessedness
was to continue forever. “For me to live is
Christ, and to die is gain. I have a desire to
depart and be with Christ, which is far better.”
His song of triumph, at the close of his argu-
ment for the resurrection, is not only that of
the assured victor over sin, but also of one
who expects forever ‘to wear his triumphal
crown:——“O death, where is thy sting? O
Hades, invisible world of the dead, where is
thy victory? Thanks be to God who gives us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Victory now, over that which gives to death
all its force and bitterness—-sin; so that we
are elevated completely above it, living lives of
purity and practical righteousness in spite of
the enemies by whom we are daily beset!
Victory in certain prospect over all the foes we
now have or may yet have to encounter, until
we shall, each, be able to say, ‘ I have fought
the good fight_, I have finished my course, I
have kept the faith,——henceforth the crown of
everlasting life is mine!’ ”

WM. H. BUssr.LL.

POETICAL.

“ The Shaker.”

Hail! hail, thou welcome messenger of truth-
God speed thee, and sustain thee, thou art forsooth
Answer to long, long years of earnest prayers

And supplication to God that somewhere,

Or somehow his holy truths we should declare.

Thy sacred pages yet will light unfold,

More precious to a sin-cursed world than gold,
Diamonds and rubies; all the gems of earth
Fall before thee—-of more intrinsic worth
Thou art by far. Thou art a chast’ning rod
Wielded in the mercy, truth and love of God.

That all may read and understand the Truth
From hoary-headed sage to prattling youth,

That whoever will, may come and be partaker
Of heaven’s choicest boon, we send THE SHAKER,
Which will reveal the new and living way,

From darkness to an eilulgent day.

The mission of THE SHAKER to fallen man [Ann,
Is, God‘s love revealed through Christ and Mother
To teach mankind that unto him is given
To do _God’s will on earth, as done in heaven,

To break the shackles, let oppressed souls free,
Proclaim abroad the glorious jubilee. [sword
To unsheath the bright and glittering two—edgcd
Of Gospel Truth. the spirit and power of God ;

To enlighten souls, convict them of their sins,

And make them feel and know ’tis Truth that wins
Aye, Truth alone will stand, all else will fail,

’Tis God's decree that Truth shall yet prevail.

0 speed, speed on thou sweet angelic sound,
Convince the skeptic and the wise confound;
Strengthen the weak,-—conflrm the strong
To battle for the right, and to subdue the wrong.
Teach all mankind this Truth to fully know,

That in the depths of earthly hearts do grow
Germs of unrest, and, all learn this, would

You feed on heavenly manna—Angels' food,

And be forever happy, then BE GOOD,--

Take up thy cross and follow Christ the Saviour,
Serve God with thy whole heart, also thy Brother
Love as thine own self; and, wouldst thou at last
A home in heaven secure ? All that thou hast,
Forsake ; houses and lands, children and wife,
Brothers, Sisters, Father, Mother, thy life——

Thy carnal life surrender, lay it down

If thou wouldst reign with Christ and wear the crown
Of Everlasting Life prepared for those

Who’ve conquered sin, and all their inward foes.

Aye, friend, know this, and do this Truth believe,
That Christ lies not, nor yet doth he deceive ;
Wo11ld’st thou be his, and enter heaven's door,

Sell that thou hast and give it to the poor ;
All selfishness be wholly laid aside
And all thou hast be willing to divide.

By this we do not mean that we must hate

The person, or the thing——the selfish state

The carnal mind, that loves a selfish few,

This is the meaning, the good and true

Are all of God, and we must love them all ;
These are universal—belong not to the fall,-
These are Christ’s conditions, none else will do,
For those who would the narrow way pursue.

Yea truly, ’tis a straight and narrow road

That leads the Pilgrim home to heaven and God,
No vulLure's eye hath e’er this pathway seen,
Nor lion's whelp hath ever trod therein ;

No ravenous wolf or other beast of prey

Can walk this pure and holy, heavenly way,
That leads the soul to Life. and to eternal Day.
Many shall be called——the Chosen few-—

’Tis they alone who daily will pursue

The strait and narrow way, forsaking all

For Christ’s sake and the Gospel ; who will fall
Upon the rock, and there will broken be,

And from all dross and sin be purged free,
Who'll wash their robes in Blood, that of the Lamb,
Through living works come up, the great I AM
Alone to serve ; who’l1 strive to know and do
His holy will, the narrow way pursue,

W hose every breath to Father, Mother, Son,

Is, Not my will, but thine O God be done.

E. E. F.

My Shaker Home.

1
In a hamlet, remote from the thronged thoroughfares,
VVhere business and pleasure with folly abound,
I dwell in retirement, and breathe the pure airs
That flow from the mountains which circle me
round.
My home is so pleasant, contentment draws near,
;‘.And bids me rejoice in its pleasant retreat
So closely allied to that heavenly sphere,
Where discord no more may her tauntings repeat.

 

2

No edict from monarch nor empress I dread,

In a President’s frowns nothing piercing can see ;
Christ, in his true order, I own as my head,

And love is the magnet which captivates me.
To the goddess of fashion we never bow down,

Thus saved from the trouble her votaries share,
A cap, smooth and modest, a neat tidy gown,

\’Vith kerehief and collar, my Sisterhood wear.

3 .

Our shoes are for comfort, and made to the feet,

Not so small to compress them and freedom destroy;
Yea, our understanding: would be quite a treat,

To such slaves of folly as “ Miss Afong Moy.”*
Not with jewelled fingers our work we perform,

And pendulums hang in our clocks, not our ears,
No pearls, nor yet ribbons, our persons adorn,

They are deemed quite as useless as crocodile tears.

Our costume throughout is: well fitted for those
Who prize health and comfort, ’bove fashion or
pride,
And find in a neat humble garb, more repose,
Than the gay, pimping lady, whose heart is outside.
What can adorn woman like virtue and love ?
A heart full of kindness and heavenly grace,
These deck her with jewels and charms far, above
All that art can devise for the form or the iace.

5
0 let me be clothed in garments ofthcse,
And thankfully toil in my plain Shaker dress ;
For Wisdom's bright treasures which give the heart
case,
And clothe me in raiment of true righteousness.
I’ll toil for these blessings, these jewels of love,
Ills patiently suffer, that cannot be cured,
From under the cross never seek to remove,
To be by the world, or its follies allured.
B. K., Canterbury, N. H.

*A Chinese woman who exhibited her small feet in
this country some years since.

 

More easy than to live it, thrice,
Was always found to give advice. '

Who plauds the great, who helps the poor
That spirit hate, this one adore.

Love is a gem of priceless worth,
Aye, more than all the gems of earth.
E. E. F.

Is War Compatible with Christi-
anity?

How strange, that in the nineteenth century
of the Christian era, there should be a doubt
upon this subject! but, inconsistent as it is, a
majority of the professedly followers of the
“ Prince of PEACE ” would, no doubt, answer
unhesitatingly in the aflirmative. How often
in religious tracts and biographies are soldiers
taken as models of piety and of exemplary
Christian conduct, and among their other vir-
tues they are often described as being very
much attached to their profession! their horri-
ble trade of blood, masked with the name pro-
fession! How often is a beneficent God in-
voked for a blessing on the murderous weapons
of war! ,

Across the Atlantic we behold one of the
fairest countries of Europe devastated by a
most needless and cruel war, where two mil-
lions of men endeavored to destroy each other
by every means which ingenuity could devise;
and the melancholy results of the confiict are
now seen :——a desolated country,—toWns laid
in ashes—thousands upon thousands of men
slaughtered in the prime of life; with hundreds
of thousands of wounded and disfigured human
beings; together with an immense burden of
debt that will weigh heavily on their descend-
ants for ages. Friends of humanity, listen,
for a voice of woe is heard through the land!
The weeping of desolate widows! The wail
of the bereaved mother in her agony of grief,-—
and the pitiful sobs of orphan children! Even
the victors, who, by the chance of war, are
spared a desolated and ravaged country, bear
a heavy share in its miseries: four hundred
fathers killed in one regiment, in repulsing a
sortie from Metz, leaving 1,070 orphan chil-
dren, tells a mournful tale.

The Teacher, whom these warring nations
profess to follow, said: “ Lode your enemies.”
“ Bless them that curse you.” “Do good to
them that hate you.” “ I say unto you that
ye resist not evil.” “ If a man smite thee on
thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Instead of doing this, they aim the deadly rifle
at a. brother’s heart,—-plunge the cruel bayonet
into his breast-——mow their brethren clown in
ranks with the ponderous ca.nnon—ball, or cast
their mangled bodies on the blood—stained
ground -with their worse than diabolical shells.
What a. commentary on human consistency is
a battle-field,——a Christian (.9) battle-field!
where enlightened 0) men professing to follow
the gentle and loving Jesus of Nazareth, meet
in hundreds of thousands to tear each other
limb from limb, like wild beasts! What a
picture! it makes the Angels weep! But,
some will say, “ It cannot be helped; it is im-
possible to avoid it.” Did Christ teach im-
possibilities? It has been avoided, and it can
be avoided. The example of William Penn
and his peace-loving Quakers, for 70 years in
Pennsylvania,—where the government was
sustained without any weapon more danger-
ous than the constable’s staff, and during
which there was not one drop of Quaker blood
shed, surrounded as they were by powerful
tribes of what have been called, “ treacherous
and merciless savages ; ” while the neighboring
colonies were the theatres of Indian wars and

-'—*"!.=:.~;.’:'.—.~. =.:~‘.c~r: ' -"
'. --5

THE SHAKER.

3'7’

bloody massacres-defiantly contradicts the
assertion! Neither soldiers nor savages will
fight an unarmed peaceful people: Tecumseh
when asked why he did not attack the Shakers
at Busrow said: “ What! attack a people who
will not fight? It would be a disgrace to the
name of an Indian!” Witness again the in-
stance recorded in history, when Alexander,
incensed at the Jews for refusing to violate
their oath to Darius by furnishing food for his
army, marched to Jerusalem, with the inten-
tion of chastising them severely. They went
out to meet him unarmed, dressed in white,
with the high-priest, Jaddus, at their head.
‘What a change was wrought in his conduct!
After treating them with the greatest kind-
ness, paying marked respect to their high-
priest and exempting them from the payment
of the seven years’ tribute, he left them in the
most friendly manner.

Non-resistance, as has been demonstrated
in this and thousands of other instances, is
practical, politic, humanitarian and Christian;
war, on the contrary, is unwise, impolitic, un-
christian and diabolical.

We appeal to you, friends,——brothers and
sisters of our great human fami1y—to unite
your influence to banish from the earth this
great curse of our race! Let all nations see
in the calamities of unhappy France, the fate
that has, or will, sooner or later overtake
every warring nation. Let all who profess
Christianity, see if their practice will bear the
only test of discipleship, as given by its founder.
“ By this shall all men know that ye are my
disciples: rum YE HAVE Lovn one FOR
ANoriina;” and let those who would con-
tinue the barbarous anti-christian practice of
war, hear his last warning, which has been
fulfilled among the nations of the earth from
that day to_ this: “ They that take the sword
shall perish by the sword.”

W. C., Mt. Lebanon.

Plain Talks——No. 2. _

Our warfare and weapons are not carnal;
but spiritual and mighty when exercised with
earnestness and wisdom. We are bold ad-
venturers in a most extraordinary endeavor-—
overcoming the world! We have taken issue
with the world; and against its allurements
we mean to wage the most unrelenting warfare
——knowing no such word as failure. The
world, against which we turn our efforts, is
composed of “the lusts of the flesh, of the
eyes, and the pride of life!” VVe are charge}
with being contracted in our religious life-
workiiig only to the overcoming of the lusts of
the flesh. We know this to be the root of the
great tree of evil; and had better work eter-
nally here, than attempt to kill the tree of evil
by pruning among its branches. VVe find,
that success in battling against the lusts of the
flesh assures us of that peace which humanity,
generally, know not of; nor can they know
until, beginning as children in the school of
Christ, they learn that A, B, C is self—denial
to their animal appetites, that have made their
souls so dyspeptic that the least morsel of
truthful testimony against a carnal, fleshly
life, afflicts them like a vomit, and they pour

cutions against the mediums of this testimony.
Thousands, while knowing the lusts of the
flesh to be their greatest enemy, implore of
the Shakers not to destroy this god of sensu-
ality.

We find that sensuality does not pay, physi-
cally nor spiritually; and that it is very un-
christian in its mildest attacks——as observed
in marriage, etc. We do not abhor marriage-
we get along with it in our warfare against
fleshly lusts, just as our great Captain did——by
letting them severely alone! We ask of Chris-
tians to do no better with them. And here the
argument comes in: “It is natural to desire
marriage! ” So it is; and our choice is to aspire
above earthly desires, to inaugurate on the
earth “thy kingdom come,” which shuts out
marriage, private property, and their conse-
quences-—misery, disease, war and famine;
these are of theworld and belong not among
the resurrected !

Truly, we have taken an advanced step in a
life of purity-—under the self-denying restraints
of a celibate life—-while living as spiritual
Brethren and Sisters in a common household—-
God’s spiritual house l ‘ And while the unself-
denying Would feign disbelieve in our accom-
plishment of this, and picture to themselves the
horrors of “the eunuch for the kingdom of
heaven’s sake,” we assure them there is a con-
tinual increase of comfort on our journey
through life; that we never suffer anything, in-
consequence of self—denial, that will compare
with their self—indulgences, even of the first
nuptial evening—-and then, how different the
results of their sufferings and of ours! This
brings an increasing purity, eternal in charac-
ter; that brings with it disgust, disappoint-
ment, bitter anguish and soul—defilement, that
grow not less with increased indulgence, but
constantly make wide the gulf between their
souls and God! “ Oh, for a closer walk with
God ! ” “ Nearer, my God, to thee !”

And while, as before intimated, some choose
to disbelieve our position in life, as regards
our testimony against all fleshly lusts, in
whatever form of indulgence, we mean to
advance still farther in the work of self-denial,
and leave all who love the world still farther
in the rear. “ Away from the world of fleshly
lusts! ” was the first of seven trumpets; six
more are to sound ; and the worldly will
observe true Shakers engaging in advanced
works of self—denial———progressing “ from faith
unto faith.”

VVe view the habits of a worldly life—intem-
perance in fleshly lusts, in eating, drinking,
swearing, tobacco-using and fighting——to be the
refusal of the soul to increase in godliness; no-
thing can suppress these; but something can sup-
plant them. And that religion is a false and
worthless one, that does not present its sub-
jects with substitutes for these, that speak of
eternal enjoyment; that does not supplant
them with food that stops that yearning for
something—which something is spiritual ad-
vaiicemciit, and the true remedy, resurrection
of life, and in our ways of lifc,——living as
Christ lived; who neither lived in those lusts
which the world glory in; was not a tippler;
was never seen with cigar, pipe nor quid ; would

forth the vilest thoughts, feelings and perse—  not fight; had good health—the result of tem-

perance in all things. W'e admit the world
of humanity, generally, to be in our advance
on the outward run; but, on the home-stretch,
we feel ourselves nearer our Father’s and
Mother’s home. *

“Time is Money.”

Seated in an easy chair, last evening, after
the muscles had performed their share of the
duties of the day, my eyes fell upon the above
motto, ingeniously woven into an advertise-
ment. lt was an incentive to industry.
Summingup the spare moments that frequent-
ly slip oy unimproved, I thought how much
of the symmetry and beauty was lost from
our ideal of perfect manhood.

“ Time is money.” ‘We can account for the
origin of so singular a proverb, when We con-
sider the fascinating influence of money on the
human mind. Could three other words ex-
press so much of the hearts of men? Vilhile it
speaks to us of the virtue of industry, it would
have us toil at Mammon’s shrine! The Angel
of VVisdom lifting us upon the platform of the
World! 'We will not object to the elevation.
If we are below it, we must need come up; but
I trust we shall not consider it the acme of
human development.

Sentiment is at fault if it points us no higher.
If it provides only for the body, it leaves a
void within. Industry should be one of the
first lessons of life. It is the secret of growth;
but if that growth is too much toward materi-
ality, it blunts the liner feelings and develops
the animal rather than the angel.

VVhen we weave our garland of mottoes to
adorn the crown of Industry, we will write it,
by putting our hands to work and giving our
heart to God: TIME is MORE THAN MONEY.

J.  C.

“Hark, from the depths!” This wail
comes from Philadelphia: “ I look upon the
present laws and relations of marriage, as the
direct source of more pauperism, crime, dis-
ease, and death, than rum, tobacco, war, pes-
tilence, and famine; and I. speak not at ran-
dom when I say this. Tobacco, rum, and
war, are chiefly male accomplishments: pes-
tilence and famine are confined to a few lo-
calities; but marriage is nearly universal.
No condition, sex, nor locality where hu-
man beings exist, is exempt from the curse of
this human foe! "“ ”" "" ”* Perhaps I
write too severely; if so, it is because I feel
deeply that this truth is too true. "“ ”" *
I have been in the camp of marriage; I know
the rottenness of every fibre of this gilded
monster, and nothing shall shield it from my
piercing shafts, until its death-throes say—-
‘ the deed is done!’ ”

Comments: There are thousands, who,
having been caught in the beautiful spider’s
web of marriage, feel as the above cor-
respondent. But this individual, and the
majority of his sympathizers, would be among
the last to live totally abstinent from the
gratification of their sexual appetites. The
Shakers look upon marriage, under Mosaic
injunctions, to be honorable; but neither it
nor the practice of any laseiviousness is, or can
be Christian. Neither Jesus, Angels of God,
nor the Shakers are ever afllicted with the
pangs of matrimony ; neither soiled by sexual
uncleanness nor individual vices. *

38

THE

SHAKER.

War between Freedom and
Slavery,

FROM THE CHRISTIAN STANDARD.

“ Those whom Christ makes free are free indeed."

W'as .Mother flnn the first Enfranchised
Woman?

Taking a view from the highest earthly
standard, she was truly the pioneer in the
battle between Slavery and Freedom, as touch-
ing the human soul.

She was divinely inspired, and illuminated
by the light of truth. She broke the shackles
which pinioned her to the affections of man on
the earth plane; and by degrees arose, one

_ fetter after another being severed, and falling,

which gave new impetus to hope and freedom.

VVith agony of spirit, so intense as to pro-
duce bloody perspiration, her mind being in-
vulnerable, she persevered with invincible
courage, praying to God day and night, until
she triumphed. N o wonder she was reduced
to a skeleton, under such extreme travailfor
the birth of ' freedom. In this prepared condi-
tion, the Christ Spirit proffered aid, illumina-
ting and extending the hand of sympathy,
which endowed her with wisdom and power to
break the heaviest and strongest shackle, caus-
ing it to fall powerless. Then she arose in
queenly majesty; in royal grandeur! Beauti-
ful ; especially to those baptized with the
Christ Spirit. N o powers of Earth nor Hades
shall forge those fetters again. The powers
of Liberty and Truth triumphed. There was
joy in the New Heavens, a grand celebration!
“A woman compassed a man! ” “ The wis-
dom of the wise was confounded! ” This was
the commencement of a new era, the beginning
of the New Creation, the manifestationof the
second Eve—-coming forth, opening the graves
of conventionalism, unloosing the mantle of
creeds and dogmas, which bind both hands
and feet. Thus untrammeled she was compe-
tent to“ compass man in every respect. She
penetrated the dark recesses of the heart; no
iniquity was hid from her searching eye. Man
quailed and sank into insignificance before her
penetrating spirit. Her love was equal to her
justice. Merciful, divine; forgiving her ene-

mies, their bitter and cruel persecution, their

malignant slanders, scoffs and frowns. At
length she reached the summit, where she
stood emancipated, clad in her freedom suit-
elevated above every sensual appetite and pas-
sion--“ having the light. of the Sun in her
countenance, the stars in her forehead, and
the moon under her feet.” In this condition
she could attract and lift mankind up to a
higher standard, regenerated and emancipated.
And shall not her followers, who are baptized
by the Christ Spirit, who are living the same
life, reach this summit—have the same power
to lift up humanity, and set all captives free?
OLIVE, Har.
The fool gets madat almost every call ;
The wise man ne'er gets mad at all.
This rule is simple, certain, true,
Who takes offense will give one, too.
I ask no greater treasure. than
To be at peace with God and man.

To possess Emulation without envy, is a most envi-
able possession. E. E. F.
1

Light and Right.
Health.

“It may be both interesting and profit-
able to notice the views and habits of
Swedenborg, in relation to physiology-
health. ‘Seership, as a general rule, is
coincident with abstemiousness, which is
the directest means of putting down the
body, and (by the law of the balance) lift-
ing up the soul; and, where seership is
thus of itself, it leads to new demands
from the soul, or new exigencies of tem-
perance. W'e might instance the Hindoo
seers, as examples of these remarks; or
we might support them by numerous cases
occurring in Europe, and even at the pre-
sent time; not to mention that the germs
of the experience are within every man’s
knowledge.”

As the man depends so much upon the
dinner, and the dinner upon the appetite
and the self-control, it is advisable to know
what was the diet of a man so industrious,
peaceful, and deep-eyed as Swedcuborg.
The following is his account of his first
baptism into the spiritual world:

“I was in London, and dined late at
my usual quarters, where I had engaged a
room, in which at pleasure to prosecute
my studies in natural philosophy. I was
hungry, and ate with great appetite. To-
wards the end of the meal, I remarked
that a kind of mist spread before my eyes,
and I saw the floor of my room covered
with hideous reptiles, such as serpents,
toads, and the like. I was astonished,
having all my wits about me, and being
perfectly conscious. The darkness attain-
ed its height, and then passed away. I
now saw a man sitting in a corner of the
chamber. As I had thought myself en-
tircly alone, I was greatly frightened,
when he said to me, ‘Eat not so much.’
My sight again became dim; but, when I
recovered it, I found myself alone in my
room. I went home, and the following
night the same man appeared to me again.
This time I was not at all alarmed. The
man said, ‘I am God, the Lord, the
Creator and Redeemer of the world. I
have chosen thee to unfold to men the
spiritual sense of the Holy Scriptures.
Iwill myself dictate to thee what thou
shalt write.’ The same night, the world
of spirits—-—hell and heaven—was convinc-
ingly opened to me, where I found many
of my acquaintance, of all conditions.”

Again, he says: “In the middle of the
day, at dinner, I heard an angel saying
that I_ should not indulge the belly too
much at table; and there clearly appeared
to me, as it were, a vapor exuding from
the pores of my body like a mist, extreme-
ly visible, which fell towards the earth
where the carpet was, upon which the

vapor, being collected, was changed into
various little worms under the table,
which burnt, or flashed off, in a moment,
with a noise or sound. Seeing a fiery
light in this vapor, and hearing a sound, I
thought that thus all the worms that could
be generated from an immodcrate appetite,
were ejected _from my body, and thus
burnt, and that I was then purified from
them.” From this time his diet became
a constant harmony and preparation of his
seership.

Sandel says, “He was never ill; be
always enjoyed most excellent health;
having scarcely ever experienced the
slightest indisposition, except when in
states of temptation. Health is the ground
which great persons cultivate, where-
by they exchange the light flying hours
into golden usage. To them it is industry
represented in its power,——the human
riches of time. The minute-glass runs
sand of centuries, when great ideas are in
healthful moments. So it was with Swe-
denborg. The powers of his mind were
matched with extraordinay strength of
body. Health, in its whole sense, is hap-
piness. His life, in all respects, was one
of the happiest that ever fell to the lot of
man. He says, ‘I have had joys and
happiness such as no other man, I suppose,
has felt in the universal world; and these
both were more and more exquisite than
any mortal can imagine or believe.’ ”

His biographer says, “It appears that
he abstained from animal food from die-
tetic considerations. At the same time.
there dwelt in his mind a vegetarian ten-
dency, pointing towards the future, or at
least, what is the same thing, crying out
from the past. He writes on the subject-
in his ‘Arcana,’ as follows: ‘Considered
apart, eating the flesh of animals is some-
what profane. The most ancient people
never, on any account, eat the flesh of
either beast or fowl; but lived entirely
upon grain, especially on wheaten bread,
on fruits, vegetables, and herbs, and vari-
ous kinds of milk, butter, etc. It was
unlawful for them to kill animals, or to
eat their flesh. They looked upon it as
bestial, and were content with the uses
and services that animals afforded them.
But, in process of time, when men became
as cruel as wild beasts, yea, much more
cruel, they began to slay animals, and ate
their flesh; and, in consideration of this
nature in man, the killing and eating of
animals were permitted, and continue to
be so.’ ”

God.

His first spiritual command of “Eat not
so much,” was placed over the portals of
his study. His childish supposition, that
God had appeared to him in person, was

TI-IE SHAKER.

39

owing to the gross physical condition of
his body, the consequent dullness of his
faculties, and his low spiritual state, at
that early period of his experience,—a
fallacy common to the seers and prophets

of all ages, from Adam to Moses; from

Moses to the modern spiritual mediums;
and from those mediums to the instru-
ments in the early Shaker spiritual mani-
festations. Subsequently, Swedenborg,
like his brother, John the Revelator, be-
came disabused, and declared that “God
cannot be seen in person by mortals on
earth, or in the heavens.” He says,
“there were angels who were sent to men,
and who also spoke by the Prophets; but
what they spoke was not from the-angels,
but by them; for their state then was
such, that they knew no otherwise than
that they were Jehovah. But, when they
had done speaking, they presently returned
to their former state, and spoke as from
themselves.” This is a true principle;
and no human being, Jesus not excepted,
has ever seen Deity.

Swedenborg further says, “The Patri-
archal Prophets, Psalmists, and Evangel-
ists, are not holy men; they are not even
venerable, for the most part; but the voice
of sacred history itself generally assails
them: their names are unknown in heaven.
There are no» saints with earthly names;
but only sinners, scarlet more or less.
God’s is all the glory. Abraham, Moses,
David, John, are plain mortals, like our-
selves, entitled to no great consideration,
when their ofiice is laid aside, and their
divine insignia put off. The men after
‘ God’s own heart’ are only so for a time
and a mission. Every one is after God’s
own heart for the functions that he does
best; holiness is not involved. The
‘ chosen people of God,’ were the worst of
people: for redemption begins at the
bottom.”

’ FRAGMENTARY IDEAS.

Stability of the solar system.—-“ Though
the solar system is liable to certain muta-
tions, in the form and eccentricity of its
orbits, of very long periods; yet its orbits
return again exactly to what they origin-
ally were, oscillating between very narrow
limits.” C

“At once, by a single effort of his
genius, worlds innumerable, in congre-
gated spheres, were beheld in harmonious
operation, without end or limit. The
boundaries of the Universe, so to speak,
became to man at once illimitable; and
the scattering goodness of the Divine
hand, strewing mercies and blessings
amongst unnumbered worlds hitherto un-
seen and unknown, and unconjeetured,
was a scene worthy of the Almighty.”

“The most glorious and magnificent
region in the material Universe,——the

heaven of heavens,—formed, as Sweden-
borg expresses it, of innumerable heavens
in congregated spheres beyond or outside
our own, was displayed, first to the intel-
lectual, and subsequently to the ocular
vision, when one universal blaze of glory
burst forth on an astonished world, who
beheld the Almighty traversing the in-
numerable spheres with the same flowing
richness, beauty, and care, as is so con-
spicuous on this atom of a world upon
which we dwell.”

Thus, witnesses for the day, were Swe-
denborg and his followers, the Spiritual-
ists. For long ages, the human race had
been religiously impressed, but their
rational faculties had been “held in dur-
ance vile.” ,

Man hungered after knowledge which
“State and Church” had withheld, by
taking away the key of science, and sub-
stituting therefor, the senseless dogmas
of superstition.

Light broke upon the religious world
through Swedenborg.

Rig/zt began to be established in the
religious world through Mother Ann.

In due time, these are now being con-
joined together, and they are building up,
or as Swedenborg expressed it, are “ form-
ing the new Heaven ”—-the New Church—
that will not lust after an adulterous union
with the State——the New Earth—-nor seek
to put together what God hath put
asunder. SEPTIMUS.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Teachings of Ann Lee.
( Continued.)

.10. “Labor to feel the life of God in your
souls; labor to make God’s will your will; let
it be your inheritance, your treasure, your
daily occupation. Labor for the good of your
souls, as though there were none on earth so
needy of salvation as yourselves.”

11. “In dealing with humanity, endeavor
to understand their temperaments, and deal
with them according to their creation. Some
will need the plainness and severity of the
testimony to bring them to a true sense of
their condition; others will be saved by mercy
and charity; they cannot be saved in any other
way. Who wins souls to Christ, must needs
be wise; but some never will find salvation
except by feeling the judgments of God! ”

12. To one who remarked that “he was full
of evil; ” Mother Ann replied: “ Not so; you
are not full of evil, for there is room in you
to receive good; the conviction you feel for
your sins, is good.”

13. Some one sent Mother Ann a pair of
velvet shoes; she returned them with the
remark: “ I choose to have my feet shed with
the preparation of the gospel of Christ.”

14. “ Eat and drink with temperance. Let
none abstain from food which they need; but
let them not fail to serve God by the strength

of their food. The wicked eat and drink and
consume it upon their wicked desires. Ye
must not do so; eat hearty and with thankful-
ness; then go and do the will of God.”

15. Some persons complaining that their
food did not satisfy their appetites, Mother
Ann replied: “ Your bodies are not hungry;
but your souls are starving for the bread and
waters of life. Confess and forsake your sins;
hunger after righteousness, and you shall be
filled to satisfaction.”

16. “Men and women can engage in the
gratifications of their lustful appetites in this
world ; but if they do not learn to crucify the
flesh, it will follow them into the world of
spirits. Death does not destroy the passions,
nor make them less powerful; souls in hell
feel the strength of their lusts a thousand fold
stronger than in this world; and finding no
Way to gratify them, their lust is their torment,
and torments them according to the proportion
of its rage.

‘fAnd further: they have to feel the wrath
of God against that filthy nature; and this
torments them, even worse than their lusts.
The more people yield to gratify their sexual
appetites, the stronger their passions grow,
and the more their lusts will rise in hell against
them; torment will take the place of their pre-
sent pleasures.

“Isee now, in vision, souls suffering hell
enough to take natural life, for sins committed
through generative lusts. They are bound in
the prisons of suflering; and their torment
could be no greater, if they were in a cauldron
of molten lead.’’

17. “Souls who have had an offer of the
gospel of Christ—to depart from sin and live
a virgin life—but who reject the offer, will go
into the World of spirits and wander in deep
distress looking after God. I have seen some
wandering, in despair of finding deliverance
from the torments of their sins; weeping and
wailing until, to appearance they had worn
gutters in their cheeks! Flee, therefore, from
the wrath to come, by sacrificing the causes
of hell.”

18. “ You must forsake the marriage of the
flesh, or you cannot be married to the Lamb,

nor have any share in the resurrection of

Christ.”

19. “Some gifts of God are given to souls
in perverted nature’s darkness; not because
they have repented, but to lead them into a
repentance.” Some asked: “ What is repent-
ance? ” “To leave of the commission of sin,
is the only repentance God accepts,” said
Mother Ann; “and this no one can do, only
by an honest and faithful confession of every
sin that he has committed, to those who are
already saved from the sins he would repent

f.”
0 20. To some who kneeled before Mother

Ann, asking her blessing, she said: “Kneel
not to me; kneel to God; I am only your fel-
low—servant. If I reprove you, remember, I
also love you, and desire to bring your soul
nearer to my soul, and nearer to the Spirit of
God.” "'
“The Shakers never accept any, nor reject any;
they admit many, leaving it for the Holy Spirit to

prove whether they belong to their Society or not ! "
R. W. Emznsox.

4:0

TI-IE SHAKER.

To my Youth-No. 2.

Without watehfulness and self-examination,
you cannot progress a single inch——-without
self-examination you will stumble as you go
every day; not only so, but you will be a
stumbling block in the way of other souls. A
lack of the gift of self-examination is the
reason why young people need to be examined
by others.

They do things from an inward pressure of
evil. Against this pressure a cross has to be
borne. And that is the reason why Jesus
taught his disciples to bear a daily cross; and
it is just the same with you to-day as it was
with the young disciples in Christ’s day. And
when he Warned his disciples to watch and
pray, he, in the course of his labors, added
another word—pray and faint not—do not
give up to the enemy.

One of the reasons why youth do not ex-
amine themselves, is, because they do not

want to change. They want to remain the

I Same kind of persons they have been—to follow

their own natural way, and not God’s Way.
Now that will never do-—Jesus and his follow-
ers changed—turned from their own ways-
came not to do their wills. The youth who
stands stiff in his own will is not in a fruitful
condition. Another reason why youth do not
like to examine themselves, is, they do not
like to read the record of their own doings as
written on their memory—do not like to look
at themselves, because they have been yield-
ing here and there, from the path of right,
and so have been co-workers with Satan, and
so much under his power, as to be afraid to
say to him, “get thee behind me, Satan;” have
not simplicity enough to tell themselves and
their parents the truth, and so shame the
Devil.

In examining natural objects, men are not
content with their ordinary vision; they use
helps——-examine things microscopically, and
are much pleased to have the microscope open
up something they could not see with their
naked eye. Now, how is it possible for any
person to know himself, if he will not examine
himself with his own eyes. Those who do,
will have the help of other eyes, that see
clearer and further than their own; in this way
“God helps those who help themselves.” But
those who have eyes and see not, shall
wander-—stumble and fall in the dark—the
darkness of their own will. I

It may be asked, how can the gift of self-
examination be gained and maintained? The
answer is, by continually exercising it on all
you do, by night and by day. Persevere
therein, till it becomes pleasant—becomes a
delightful duty. Then you will know for
yourself, experimentally, and truly, that
“Christ’s yoke is easy, and his burden light.”
I omit saying anything further on this inter-
esting parable ; exercise your own mind upon
it, and gather information from others on the
subject. And when you get through with this
parable—this beautiful casket, there are others
equally beautiful.

There is the casket of the Fig Tree; of a grain
of Mustard Seed; of a little leaven; of the
Prodigal; of the unjust Steward; of the Beggar
and the Rich Man; of the Man who thought

too highly of himself; of the unjust Judge; of
the Man who went into a far country; of the
Man who planted a vineyard; of the VVoman
and the lost money; of the lost Sheep; of the
Tares; of the Shepherd and the sheepfold; of
the net and the Fishes, and the Casket of the
Pearl of great Price. Every one of these
caskets contains gems illustrative of the king-
dom of heaven; where lust has no place——even
the uncleanness of marriage is not permitted.

Blessed are those who have a part in that
kingdom, never to go out.

I will now say a few words on the two-fold
life in man. Jesus said, “flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven.”

Now, all the animal creation are flesh and
blood; and are brought forth through the
action of the propensities; and we, in common
with the lower animals, have the same kind
of life, and the same propensities; therefore,
that life can have no part in heaven.

Intellect, in connection with our animal life,
does not make it any better, nor change its
nature. In addition to that life, we have an-
other life—a life, that the word of God can
quicken; but no mere animal can be so quick-
ened. The Apostle said, “Ye hath he quick-
ened, who were dead in trespasses and in
sins”——hath he quickened into a higher life,
who were wont to live in the lusts of the flesh
and of the mind. And again, “if ye live after
the flesh ye shall die; but if ye, through the
spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye
shall live.” “And as many as are led by the
spirit of God, they are the sons of God,” and
no longer the sons of Adam. The testimony
of the gospel which you hear from time to
time, is the testimony of life to the inner man;
and no soul can ever be quickened, except in
obedience and subjection to it. You may
gather from these few words an understanding
which life is acceptable to God, and from you
to your Brethren and Sisters, and which life
is not. Remembering at all times, that ye
cannot serve two masters.

Which will ye serve? Carnal, fleshly nature,
or will you strive and pray that you may be
quickened into a newness of life; and living
the life of the Angels———maintain your virgin
characters—that never need to change to be
eternal in character .9 D. FRAZER.

One little cherub from New Hampshire—seven
years old—writes us some truths, which we are glad
to place before our little readers. Many long sermons
have been preached, without containing so much
simple Shakerism. The kernel when reached, is:
"Confess and forsake sin; live purely, and you
are a Shaker without knowing it—regai-dless of your
theology." ED.

How to make a Shaker.

To make a Shaker is to confess your sins
honestly, live purely like the little spirits in
heaven; you must not hide your sins, because
you do not like to confess them; you cannot
hold them forever; you will be found out be-
fore long, by the light of truth, which will
urge you to confess them. You cannot have
your own way unless it be right; but will
have to obey what you are taught; you will
not be allowed to be unclean, nor tell falsehoods
among the Shakers, without honestly confess-
ing and repenting of them. If you do not do

mm

this, you cannot make a Shaker, because the
people will not bear it very long.

This is true, for I have been taught all this,
and more. If I had room I would write you
some more about it.

Gnnrnunn, Canterbury.

To “owe no man aught but love and good
will,’’ is a fundamental principle of Shaker
faith. Any persons, therefore, trusting a
Shaker, for longer or shorter periods, must do
so at their own risks, and without the sympa-
thy of Society. None, within the precints of
Shaker Society, not excepting its officers, have
any right to contract a debt. *

Love is not lust ; these two are opposite. Oil and
water cannot blend; neither the generation of the
earthly with the resurrection of the heavenly. VVe

cannot live fleshly lives, and at the same time be Chil-
dren of the Resurrection. *

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Mass.
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Co., Me., Shakers.
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