Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1851-12-01

pure and loving SPIRIT and whose chic
delight appeared TO be 10 do good; and, a
| thought other, saw her approaching.-
She drew near and joined the company
Oh! what a change! The bent bod,
was straightan graceful, and the sever
angles Of her suffering coun.enance hu
given place to surprising beauty. Ny
heart was touched with ad.niring wonde
as | looked upon her. gss .-.5 l-4eaz1 r
| Another whom / had known appeared
He was man who, while living in tht
world, had been covetons, and who ye
loved good reputation, and, therefore
concealed his real character under assum
ed forms Of benevolence and liberalty -
While in the natural body he was fair o
person, but now there was hideous abou
his countenance that made me turn from
him with shudder; and understood the
quality oi his life from the form and ex
preston Of his person and face, as clearly
as if .cove!ousness' had been written upon
his forehead,
'fhis man was Of goodly appearances ir
the world, said |, turning to my compan
ion. " H'i
His seen body was fair to look upon,
was replied; 'but his evil affection were
daily and slowly destroying, in the unseen
body, every trace Of beanty. Come with
me, aud ! will show you some Of those
who have become SO changed from the hu.
man form, through evil lives, as to appear
more like beasts than men, ..--
My companion took me to valley, be-
fore concealed from my view by dens e
forest, through which led winding path
ln this valley were companies of men and
women, engaged in various pursuits that
seemed to occupy their earnest attention
Look from this point, said my COM
panion, as we gained little eminence,
'and you will see them in their true forms.
looked for moment, and then turned
away, sick with the sight. ..., ..t.r..a
what did you see?' asked my compan>
ion
'Men and women, SO charged as TO np.
pear more like evil and filthy beasts than
forms Of human intelligence.' s.
AS you see them, so are they. While
in the natural body, many Of them had
beautiful forms, for which they were loved
and admired. But in their hfe in the
world, they married the form and features
Of their spiritual bodies by evil and beasuy
aft ,ctions. One had the cunning OF the
iox; another the cruelty of the wolf; and
another the filthy sensuality Of the swine
All this was hid from the natural sight
sight-it was the unseen. But the veil Of
flesh is removed, and what was the unseen
has become the seen. They are now be-
fore you in the forms that correspond 10
their true affections,
On! if men knew lhisP exclaimed.
Return and give ul.erance to the truth.
Publish what your eyes have seen and your
ears heard .-r..
But they will not believe said |.
'Tell it nevertheless a %
At this moment saw approaching one
whom | had loved with an affection more
intense than that Of q brother, and
whose loss | had mourned with unavaiing
sorrow. She had observed me, and was
hurrying forward. AS she came near, |
perceived that she was no longer beautiful
as before, Every fair feature was distort-
ed, and there was an expression Of evil in
her countenance that shocked me like an
electric current. Oh! she was hideous! |
turned to flee; but she threw her arms
around me, and uttered words Of endear.
ment; and her voice, instead of being flute
like in its tones croaked like the voice Of
the raven. In sorrow awoke. Long did
| lie bordering the strange vision.-
Dreams are, for the most part, fantastic
said /; 'but they often come in simiiludes
of truth. There is truth veiled here; feel
it, know it. And evil life must distort
the features Of our inner man, end change
them from beauty to deformity. We know
that the mind receives impressions, and re-
tains them Wary the mind in childhood,
and it ever after retains the unpleasng
form, which is ever manifesting itself by
means of the outer body. If we could see,
by spiritual vision, this mind or inner
body itself, we would see the distortion as
plainly as we perceive an unsighsly crook
in favorite tree.'
And if all this be so, and who will make
bold 10 deny it?-each one of US is, day
after day, either marring and deformlng
the unseen body, or rendering it more
beautiful. Every evil and selfish affection,
every unholy passion, every indulgence in
wrong feelings or actions. deforms the spir.
it; while every good and generous emotion,
and every act that springs from purified
and all embracing love Of our neighbor, is
rendering it more beautiful, and if contin-
ued to the end OF life, the unseen body,
it rises into the light Of the spiritual world,
will appear as lovely as the form of an an-
gel. .s
Reader, lay this up in your heart, and
ponder we'll the words Of the stranger
They are not idle sounds, like the tones OF
the p assing wind.
E.aa.l :a., of nm American Catizan from