Leaders in the great progressive march of Society will find but few equals, and consequently few who could ever respond to them; and even these, by the many accidents of life, will be often turned aside. Yet this is not to discourage the great and lonely ones who have risen to high places; for they keep the gates of Exodus, only through which can the Human Race be led out into truer conditions. Then let them work on in faith, giving their light to shine before men, ever sustaining a True Marriage, as the very corner-stone of all virtue; or daring celibacy rather than ill union. With good words, and lives of great and holy power, they shall yet triumph over all misdirection, and at length gradually lift up the human spirit into that high atmosphere, where it can behold the Image in which it was made, and comprehend something of its own sanctity. As these higher minds are related to ordinary men, so was Adam to the inferior races of the primeval world. But he found his companion; and if they may not do this-if the worst come, and they are denied for a time that sympathy which their higher nature craves-and craves all the more, because it is high, let them still keep the gem unsullied; for that angel of the truer life, who can best appreciate and love, it shall yet claim, and be enriched by its immortal power and beauty. With these incidental remarks, which may have a word of comfort and assurance for some lofty and lonely Soul, let us now return to the History. A It happened, just at the close of the rainy season, that Adam, having retired to rest more lonely and depressed than his wont, fell into an unusual train of impressions. pair of turtle doves had built their little love-nest close by his own solitary bed; and between the intervals of dashing rain, he heard them, in low, loving whispers, talking to each other. He had been listening for some time, with that sense of irritation, which the near approach, or semblance of a blessing, that we greatly desire, but cannot have, often causes. He knew not that he dreamed; but at length he saw the female bird leave the nest. She came and sat on a bough that hung over his couch. Had she, the mated, the happy, come to taunt him with his poverty-to make his misery more intolerable by contrasting it with her own happiness? The soft eye, so full of pity; the low, loving tones, forbade such a thought. There was a mysterious power and expression, in the whole presence and action of his little visitor, which irresistibly awakened hope. Ashamed of his suspicion, he stretched out his hand, with an inviting gesture. Softly and timidly, the dove crept to his bosom. She folded her white wings, and nestled there, looking up in his eyes with a soft sweet note of rapture. He was bound by a spell of fascination. He dared not stir, lest he should break the charm; and with the blessed thought in his heart, that there was something to love him, he soothed himself away into unconsciousness. A touch, as of a strong hand laid on his arm, aroused him. He looked up; and the Angel, whom he had often seen, stood before him, saying; "Arise and go forth; for this is reality." The simple toilet and morning meal were soon dissipated, when, staff in hand, he set forth resolving to trust himself to his impressions, which he had already begun to respect. Thus he journeyed for many moons, finding such shelter as he could, by night or noonday, following the course of the great river Euphrates away to the north-east, until at length he drank of its fountains among the tall cliffs of Ararat. Thence continuing his course due north, he entered one of those charming vallies, that bloom like gardens among the mountain of Circassia. It was evening; but the traveler rested not, though many a way side cave invited him to shelter and repose. The setting sun dipped into the waters of the western sea, leaving only an arc of gold above the horizon. This also at length was gone; and the purple and saffron faded away, leaving a mellow luster, as of liquid amber, diffused in the air. The earth was bright with bloom, the air ladle with the scent of flowers. The sound of running waters and the hum of insects mingled harmoniously. Birds lingered on the wing, as if the sense and spirit of beauty had wiled them from repose; and small animals came out of their nestling places, and sported freely in the clear evening air. As the traveier passed on through this scene of wondrous beauty, he saw various marks of intelligence, which led him to think he might be approaching some human habitation; for such he conceived to exist, although he had not seen them. Bowers were scattered, here and there, as if designed for luxury and repose--for the pleasures of the mind, and the rest of the body. And there was a certain decorative order in the wild pomp of nature, which led him to exclaim, "Who has done all this? At length he approached a perfect cloister of embowering vines. Clambering roses wove their fragrant blossoms into the verdant canopy; and the pale stary flowers of the aromatic myrtle peeped out of the greenness, with a perfume delicate as their own spotless petals. There was a profound shadow on all sides. It was only open to the sky, whose deepening blue now began to be studded with a few pale stars. Adam lifted the silvery fringes of the Clematis vines, that closed the entrance, and looked in timidly, and yet confidently, as if expecting that there should his'steps be stayed. Was the form that stood there, draped in the full flood of that wondrous light, one of those angelic beings, that sometimes smiled upon his dreams, only to point with a keener sorrow the loneliness of waking? The serene blue eyes, the long fair hair, whose sunny waves, like the golden light itself, hovered round her; the glowing hue of the polished skin; the modest sweetness of the whole figure; the grace and symmetry, which he felt must live in every motion, though as yet she stirred not, bound him in a willing thrall, until his whole consciousness was merged in one intense and overwhelming sense of beauty. He saw the timidly outreaching arms, the softly inclining head, and the radiant expression of joy, when he recognised in her his old friend and playmate, whose loss he had never ceased to mourn. And she, too, expected and recognised him, as he did her. They were drawn toward each other by an irresistible attraction; but the Angel came between, and lifting Adam from the ground, where he was nearly sinking, he took him by the hand, and blessed him, as he did also the beautiful stranger. And he gave them to each other, to be husband and wife, Father and Mother of all human generations: Adam was no longer alone: "For when she came in Nature's blameless pride, Bone of his bone, his Heaven-anointed bride, All meaner objects faded from his sight, And sense turned giddy with the new delight. Those charmed the eye; but this entranced the Soul- Rapt at the view, in ecstacy he stood; And, like his Maker, saw that ALL WAS GOOD." When the Angel was gone, and they sat together side by side, a sense of holy joy filled their hearts; for the deep pathos of their long loneliness had made them purer-worthier of each other, and of their present happiness. Adam led his wife home to Eden; and when they restel by the way-side, they told their stories to each other. In all respects they were the same, except that the spiritual unfolding of the woman had preceded that of the man by a few days. This had happened at a time when the bright and lovely young creature had fallen nearly into a state of despair for the loss of her mother. Thus, all inferior relationships had been opportunely remove; and they alone were all in all to each other. They dwelt together in that wholeness of heart, which is the normal condition of marriage. They knew that they were created for that beautiful union, to which God and Nature and the good Angels had so truly led them. And when the young wife brought forth her first-born, Adam named her Eve, because she was mother of all the Living. WITH THE PLATFORM. BY CHARLOTTE B. WILBOUR.* ITH the advent of the Spiritual Philosophy of this century, came the corroborative spiritual phenomena; and both were hailed with delight by a few waiting souls scattered over the hills and valleys of the Earth. Like all other recipients of great truths, they were unselfish and non-exclusive; but with love and good-will toward their fellows they would disclose the wondrous evidences of Immortality that had been vouchsafed to them, that all might participate in their joy. But where should the proclamation be made? From what proper place should their burning words of hope and fruition be pronounced? Remarkably practical questions;-that thrust the sharp points of their interrogations into the very faces of the would-be Evangelists, and taunted them to reply! The Pulpit was locked behind the Preacher, and it was, besides, the sole property of the church, whose very walls were built to hold in the old revelation, and wall out the new. From the dome of St. Peter's to the "little church round the corner" waved the flaming sword of the defending angel of the old faith, till from absolute necessity the new disciple * An Address, delivered on occasion of the Twenty-sixth Anniversary Exercises, before the Assembly of Spiritualists, convened at Robinson Hall, New York city, March 31. 1874. |