Then with cruel hands they led him away amid the shouts of the rabble.

As this scene was closing, I turned and looked upon the infants and angelic spectators, who appeared more afflicted than at any former period. I then inquired, "Can there be sorrow in heaven? Do angels weep?" When I heard a voice say, "Well, Marietta, dost thou inquire. Angels have hearts to feel. And who in heaven could witness the manifestation of the betrayal of the Savior of sinners without a soul poured out in sad expressions?" "Amen!" uttered ten thousand voices. "And who can endure the sight? Behold the innocent sufferer. See! see! they beat him as they hurry along the rugged way. They mock, they deride him; they cruelly treat him. Let all the heavens pause as they behold the mournful scene; for lo! the Redeemer suffers in the hands of sinners. Awake, ye spirit sympathies; lo! Divine Good whom angels adore is despised and rejected of men."

As the voice ceased, I heard another angel say,—"Lo! from the highest heavens angels descend."—And I beheld far above the vast assemblage that witnessed the scene, an innumerable company of superior beings. They had palms in their hands and crowns upon their heads; and their crowns represented the starry heavens, being a miniature expression of the wreathed universes which encircle the throne of the Infinite. As they drew near, a dazzling light preceded them which pervaded the spiritual atmosphere, and was so exalted in its nature that the angels of the highest order who had composed the former audience could not steadfastly behold it. The approach of this light so revealed the imperfection of my nature that I sought to conceal myself; but nothing could be concealed in that holy light. I fain would have fled, but I had no power to control that desire. Surely, I said in my mind, if this is but a manifestation of what is in the higher heavens, how can mortals ever attain to that divine abode? How can vile man hope to enter that glory, which to the unprepared soul, would surely become a consuming fire?

While thus reflecting, I heard one of the cherubic beings say, "Angels, kindred spirits, inhabitants of the exalted heavens! bow down before your Lord, for He is worthy. Adore Him from the deep and immortal sentiment of your revering spirits; for lo! all angels delight to offer praises unto Him. He is worthy of all adoration. Praise Him! Praise the Lord, the Redeemer of Earth! While fallen beings mocking gather around Him and impiously hail Him King, let the harmonious universe be moved with reverence, and all intelligences humbly adore."

Then each bowed down in silent adoration, while feeble and bewildered men hasten him to the judgment hall. As the angels declared him God manifest in flesh, I wondered still the more that having power, he did not exert it and subdue those who sought to destroy; and also, as there were myriads of mighty angels, each having apparent capacity to disperse at will those who led their Lord away, that they too did not seek to avert the impending storm. Perceiving my thoughts the instructor said, "He came to seek and save, and not to destroy; he endureth the scoffs of the wicked, and offereth himself a ransom for sinners; and by his submission fulfilleth that prophecy which saith, A bruised reed He shall not break —He will not harm the helpless—and smoking flax He shall not quench—He will not extinguish the life or hope of man.—His is a mission of redemption, and not of judgment and execution."

Then I heard voices as the going forth of many waters, saying, "Be amazed, O Earth! for thy sins have brought upon thee unutterable woe, and pity hath prompted the offering, and thy Redeemer groaneth beneath the load."

Then said Mercy to Justice, "God as has been written, so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, a Ransom. This is the Ransom. In Jesus the nations of earth shall have hope. Behold the offering. In this offering there is a principle for the removal of sin and unholiness; and to establish a sympathy between the depraved race and that life which is above.

Then said the angel to the infants, "This is your Redeemer. In him alone is that Life which can quicken and save, and by him you were admitted into this paradise. Let each observe the scene as it shall advance, for by it Heaven purposeth to give an impression which shall enable all to estimate, according to their capacity, the value of the Redeemer to them." While the angel addressed them, their expression of sympathy displayed the purity of their being, and the tenderness and emotion with which they had observed the suffering Son. Then all with one accord said, "How shall we utter praises and thanksgivings to God, for this gift, the gift of life through his only begotten Son, our Savior?"

"Could we not relieve him? Can we not share his woe? Lo! he is in the midst of his foes. They know him not. They give him needless pain. Who can endure the sight? Let us fly to his relief!" exclaimed the multitude. "He is our Redeemer!" fell from the holy lips of the occupants of the infant paradise.

"He is our Lord; He maketh the heavens harmonious with the perfection of his being, and melodious with the euphony of his speech. He maketh bliss to arise as the golden morning, and shed its holy lustre and Divine Good upon the workmanship of his hands. Lo! the heavens declare his adorable name, and the peopled expanse vibrates with the soft and gentle cadence of his proceeding love. Yet in form of Divine Man we behold him hurried onward by fallen beings, as they bear him through discordant elements toward the haughty Sanhedrin of a heartless church—a church where Jehovah is named in empty sound, but not worshiped." Thus spake one of the mighty angels in the audience of the multitude which man could not number. Then as the voice of one man they uttered, "Let us arise and beat back the mockers of the Lord."

"Nay," said another voice; and I looked, and behold Justice stood in a cloud of exceeding brightness, holding the seven thunders in his right hand, from which issued lightnings and tempest, and these over spanned the globe, and enveloped the race both small and great, the living and the dead; in its awful cloud, and shook the foundation of earth, and caused the souls of men to quake with the greatness of the terror of the rolling thunderings and blackening tempests. And in his left hand he held a scroll, whereon was written in separate sections, an abridged expression of the eternal law of spiritual, moral, and intellectual being—abridged according to, and complying with the capacity of man, and in all respects adapted to his condition and necessity. Before him was the deformed being before revealed, wounded nigh unto death, and the blood from his wounds stained the earth whereon he lay.

Again repeated Justice, "Not so, the soul that sinneth must die. The result of violated law is irrevocable." Then I saw Mercy advance, and enter the tempest, and bending over the wounded being, in manner as on a former occasion, said, "Lo! He who was, and is, and is to come, descendeth to Earth, and by the incarnation of the Spirit, shall renew that sympathy with men which shall exalt them from their fallen condition, and restore the ruined soul, and harmonize by the perfection of his being the discordant race with eternal law; and then in him shall be perfected that reunion which shall restore the lost. planet. And here," Mercy again repeated, "Behold the ransom."

"Even so," said Justice, "the Offering is presented. But it is in the law of existence, and accepted in the law of grace, that he shall tread the winepress alone. And these," addressing himself to the angelic hosts, "seek to rescue the Offering, and prevent the issue."

Then said Mercy to the astonished millions, "Thus it behooves Christ to suffer. Keep ye the awful suspense, as ye witness the effects of sin upon the sinner’s sense and consciousness of right. Lo! the conflict heightens, and the Son of Man shall engage in warfare with the powers of death." Then said the multitude, "Permit that we do not witness the scene. Who can endure it?"

"Nay," said Justice, "should not the heavens behold and wonder, and Hades quail beneath the awful tread, as the God-Man proceeds to enter the death-gate, and conquer the foe of man, and bring life and immortality to light." "Amen," answered all who beheld and heard, "Even so let thy will, thou Eternal Spirit, in heaven and earth, and by us and all intelligences, be done, now and evermore; ever, evermore. Amen."

"Even so, let all heaven respond," said Justice, "that God shall be all and over all, now, henceforth, and for ever." "Amen! hallelujah! hallelujah! amen!" answered the meek observers of the scene: "Evermore thy will be done! Amen!"