Page:Dealings with the dead.djvu/147

 blossom even on an arid desert; but the iceberg is never gladdened by the presence and growth of one green thing upon its crystal sides—not even moss, So with soul! It is bad to sin from impulse, but far worse to do wrong from settled purpose. There are two classes of persons who err. Those who do so from no evil intent at heart, soon vastate their load, and become residents of the Soul-world; those who sin from the head, pass into the Middle State and become the infesting demons of modern spiritual mediums. The deepest wrongs of human existence are those against the inward soul and sense of right. Illustration: Whatsoever earthly couple shall assume the dreadful responsibility, not only of imbittering each other's lives, but of incarnating a family of souls in discordant bodies, inevitably fashion a hell-sphere for themselves in the Middle State, whence they shall not go forth until the uttermost farthing is paid. The recent partial uplifting of the veil separating earth from regions beyond, has had the effect of removing the sense of accountability from the minds of a great many people, Who, having conversed with the dead through raps and tips, and hearing no valid accounts of a burning lake of literal fire and brimstone, straightway fall to laughing at the devil, and snap their fingers at the bare idea of hell. If they could but realize that Devil means Badness, and Hell is the synonym of suffering and self-inflicted torture, the laugh would not be quite so loud and long, nor the finger-snapping near so frequent, as at present.

Such persons reason very superficially—in this respect following the lead of one of their self-elected Prophets a "Regent, of Hell itself and Earthly Prime