As the voice addressing me ceased, I ‘heard an angel from some choral band, say, "Marietta, come up hither!" and I arose into a cloud of light, which gently ascended. In its pavilion my spirit rested.

The change how great, how marvelous! A moment before I was with fear and wonder beholding an excited, suffering throng reveling in the madness of inflamed passions: passions cultivated while in the body to excessive indulgence. There, they had sorrow. There, were manifested, undisguised, the effects of evil of every character, of demoralizing habits, secret purposes, and hidden iniquity. There were contentions, murmurings, and dreadful blasphemies, while the actors and sufferers were drawn together and held by prevailing elements, the elements of their own perverted natures.

And from their condition I had learned that sin worked death, and happiness cometh not by disobedience, but by unsophisticated faith: faith in Jesus as the Redeemer which incites the true worship of God from a broken heart and contrite spirit. Moreover, I also learned, that deceit was the element of darkness and the source of many woes, as well as the covert for the concealment of the end of falsehood and the fruits of vice. And yet was plainly revealed the great truth that no deception however finely wrought, can shroud in the hour of trial; for he who essayed to portray the glories of nature, and sought by the display of the emblazoned canopy to allure the soul from the Cross, and proffer life and peace by other means, failed to conceal the drama moving. in the broad arena where congregate those who do not love God or regard his law—despisers of the holy religion of Jesus by which men are saved.

I was reflecting upon this scene when new light broke in upon me. I turned to see whence it issued, when, lo! above me, I saw a lovely being, clad in raiment bright as the sun, reposing in the glory surrounding her. Her countenance shone with heavenly goodness. Calmly she dwelt in the midst of the divine effulgence. She spake, and her voice filled me with delight, saying, "Rest spirit, rest. Let no care depress thee. Dismiss thy thoughts upon the scenes just passed. For every willing heart God hath in heaven a mansion prepared. And whoso seeks shall find the Lord a present help in time of need. Those thou hast seen are in the element they indulged while in the body. As he who falls from some dizzy height must bear the pain the wound imparts, even so he who lives and dies in sin, receives the counterpart. This is the law of being.

"Rest, Marietta, rest; for lo! angelic bands descend. List, sister. That harmony, how sweet! How gently it moves along the heavenly way! It nears us, Marietta; the volume swells upon the heavenly breeze. Its notes accent praises to our Redeemer. Heavenly anthems awake on every hand. Look up, Marietta; lo! we are near a city wherein dwelleth righteousness. No evil enters there. No false spirit shall ever pollute the holy temples thereof. Hark, sister spirit, an angel guardian of the holy hills, addresseth thee."

Then there came a voice saying, "Marietta, whence art thou? Hast thou left the world of mortal sadness? And why art thou inclined to scenes where evil passions reign? Does thy being vascillate between the spheres of good and evil? I have seen thee in the Paradise of Peace, moving with the blessed, where songs unite and anthems are ever ascending in softest melody. I have seen thee floating in the murky air friendless and alone: thence I witnessed thy sudden fall into the cloud that o’erhangs the arena of inharmonious, wicked beings; and then I saw thee observing every movement until the sight overcame thee; and sinking beneath the burdened vision. I heard thee call for help from God or for some kind angel to befriend thee. Learn from this, that he whose heart is not established in truth, whose nature is not controlled by the law of holy love, is exposed to the attracting influence of evil; for there is no safety for the soul not born of Divine Good. He who hath not this principle, is in moral condition exposed to those influences which tend to outer darkness, and the abode of those existing in the sphere of deadly magnetism. Remember that he who would be the disciple of Truth and enter into rest, must deny himself the gratification of the unholy inclinations of the perverted heart, which cleave to that which does not inspire reverence for God or a desire to be found doing His will; and he must convert the attributes of his being to the exercise of well doing, for thus and thus only can be secured through grace divine, everlasting good.

"Marietta, these scenes and the opening of thy spiritual perceptions are permitted for a wise purpose. The movement of human minds, unsettled in religious truth, thou hast represented when attracted to paradise, thence to vacant regions where Chaos and Night rule chief monarchs; and thence to scenes of wretchedness where are those whose characters have been formed by wrong indulged, and the love thereof cherished, until the receptive powers have become drunken with the excess of vice, and delirious under the influence of hallucinating pleasures. And where at last the elements of evil operate uncontrolled, and the soul made sensible of the nature of false influence, realizes the tendency and the effects of sin.

"Thus it is revealed, that when left to itself, the perverted spirit drives madly on under the insatiable action of evil, and by association devoid of restraint, spirits aggravate each other’s woe; and therefore those in the broad arena were mutual sufferers.

"So also in the world of mortality, sin is strengthened in proportion to the number of minds actuated by its principles. Thus one evil doer supports another in the ways of evil. And herein is seen how one sinner destroyeth much good. Sin added to sin enlargeth its capacity, and increaseth its movement, until families, tribes and nations arm themselves to do battle in its behalf. O, that mortals but knew the power of evil influence! Then prompted by the law of heavenly love, the Spirit of Grace, they would unite to prevent its workings in the carnal heart. Marietta, woe may well be written upon the dome encompassing the race of man, for by their indulgence in sin they embitter their mortal existence, and too often enter the world of spirits preponderating to evil, and thence become united to those existing where like elements prevail. But the grace of God if admitted into the understanding and affections, changes the character and inclinations; since Divine Life descending into the soul, causes the affections thereof to incline to its source. And such when they enter here, by the law of holy attraction, mingle in life’s sunstaining sphere, and from God receive the inspiration of holiness, the ever increasing spirit of divine attainments."

"Marietta, this is the city where thou hast beheld the infant nurseries, to which, from scenes of sorrow and death thou art permitted to return. From this position above the center dome of the infant nursery, thou canst behold the order and use of this temple of education. Here are congregated the schools of Infant Paradise, and here they are instructed in the higher degrees of useful employment."

As the spirit closed, suddenly the great dome below us opened, and presented at one single view its glory and magnificence. In it I saw united all the grandeur, variety and order of the entire paradise. Again, I saw in the center, the Cross. Around it were twelve spirits, in each of whose hands was a lesser cross and a harp. Each infant appeared to expect directions from the twelve spirits who were around the cross, upon whom they now fixed their attention. O, how blissful the silence that prevailed and which revealed the perfect order and Divine harmony of the place.