Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1871-01-18

MI. IllNEhEAEh-- NAN - -
how can il contribute to your peace OF
mind 10 see and believe that il you go .
to hell from the world Of spirits, 1t .
will he because YOU will have become /
SO vile and lOathsOme I'm all the attri- 7
butes of your spiritual nature that .
YOU will prefer the society OF devils .
to that Of angels, and the wickedness .
and corruption Of hell y the purity T.
and holiness OF heaven?
THE REPORTER CAVES.
Reporter-Come to reflect upon it, /.
do not think my peace Of mind /
would be reinforced by such a belief. /
But want you to explain how people ]
go from the spiritual world to heaven /
or to hell.
Mr.. HitehcOck-Before do that I.
tell me what your idea of heaven is.
RepOrter-Heaven is the eternal
home OF the redeemed; it is the home
OF neyer-ending rest; it is place Of
eternal happiness.
Mr.. HitchcOck-What makes heaV-
en- place OF happiness?
Reporter Why, God makes II 90
OF course.
Mr.. HitchcOek-But how does He
make it so? In what does the hap
piness of heaven consist?
THE REPORTER's IDEA OF HEAVEN.
Reporter-Why, in being happy, l
suppose. And the redeemed are made
happy by contemplating the glories
Of their Redeemer; by singing end
! less praises to him; by wearing gold
/ en- crowns and robes OF spOtless white,
and roaming those sweet fields which,
as the old Methodist hymn says, be-
yond the swelling flood stands dressed
/ in living green.
Mr.. Hitchcock-Th is TO say, the
/ happiness of heaven, according TO
your views, consists in having what
might be termed n never-ending reli-
gions holiday, with nothing to do ex-
cept to sing praises to God, and feast
on what YOU call heavenly delights?
Reporter-Yes that is ABOUT it.
Mr.. Hitchcock-How would you
like that here on earth? How would
YOU like to stand in temple or gar
den for years, wearing a white robe,
and with gold crown on your head
and a gold harp in your hand, and
with nothing to do but to singpsalmso
Or, to put it briefly, how would you
like to live IN everlasting idleness
here, if you could?
Reporter-It would be intOlerable,
Of course. 1t would kill me, or drive
, me crazy.
Mr.. Enthusiastically; just as it
has killed or driven crazy many a
J man who, having amassed wealth and
! foOlishly imagined that it would be
heaven on earth to live in splendOr
} and i6leness, has supplied himself
with q luxurious home ahd quiet
: business to enjoy il. Does not every
} such man find out his mistake?
| RepoFter-Yes. / went up to Con-
? necticut last year and interviewed one
t of those very men. He had an earth
ly paradise, but the devil was in it, in
= the shape Of idleness; and the poor
rich old man told me he was going to
: start an orphan asylum, and run il
= himself, Just 70 have enough to do to
/ keep him from going crazy or COM
: mitting suicide.
: NEW IDEAS ABOUT GOING TO HEAVEN
Mr.. Hitehcock-You have hit it ex.
: actly. Activity is law of life. Idle.
! ness leads to stagnatiOn, and stagna-
tion is death. Every man must bC
! active. A good man wants to be al
! the time doing something useful; al
H AAAe44 " ants ~ bI al NA4E AAAAAN w
Z ing something harmful. The ole
= gentleman that you interviewed in
{ Connecticut being a good-hearted mar
his irrepressible craving for activity
burst out in q charitable direction
|, and he founded an orphan 5IsyIuu1.
U he had been a bad-man, his activity
. would have taken an evil direction
= In the spiritual world, every one ha
: the same passions aud desires that hu
= had here. The good spirits seek {,
. be useful, and the bad spirits seek &
II crafty their evil dispositions. Thu
The same laws govern the cOaiescencu
, Of the inhabitants of the world o
y spirits into societies of cOmmunitie
which govern the same thing here
y In this world the vicious seek out ant
u eOnsOrt with the vicious, and the goo
u seek out and cOnsort with the good
Take the people who arrive in thi
= city, for example, on any given Satul
y day night and Sunday morning iron
y all parts of the country. They ar
l. here relieved from the conventions
restraints which keep them in Orde
u st home, and every one is free
- crafty his appetites at his will 70
understand such things, and very We
know that many ofthOse persons who
= fiat home on that Sunday, would 8
~ to church and exhibit a deal Of hypC
y critical piety, will 90 to the haunts Z
~ vice in this city, and sCOff at TeligiO
- and wallow in wickedness. Ever
one of them who loves the cOmpan
y of the vicious will seek out viciOu
y companions, and 90 where he wi
y enjoy himself most. On the Othe
= hand, those who really love the Lore
lu and in their very hearts want to d
the right thing wherever they arr
le will seek out some church on tbs
le Sunday, or will in some way show OF
lI and act out the love for the Lord an
III his people which dominates thei
-. lives. So, when people arrive in th
T. spiritual world, where all convention
y al restraints are removed, every on
" acts out his real nature. The wicke
Ol graduallysOrt themselves out from Il
y good, and gravitate by choice to Il
u bells. A hell is simply a society j
which wickedness holds entire sway
o. and the worse the wickedness, Il
st, worse the hell.
i Reporter-But how about the pul
.c- ishment for sin? Is not hell a plaI
Ou of torment? and if it is, why do eve
the wicked like to go there?
" Mr.. HitehcOck-Whyd do the wickC
le 20 from choice into the hells of Il
~ ~ world, and voluntarily accept the los
~ disgrace, ruin, disease, suffering, al
- death which come Of going there =?
an People are the same in the world
y. spirits that they are here that is
III III say, they are human beings. SuppO
.s YOU and / should be struck dead In
moment and pass into the spiritu
u world. You would be you, wOuldn
you, and would be 1? We shOu
OF have the same spiritual natures whiC
n we have now. You would like the
what you like here and it would
m the same with me. # we really To-
nd God and our neighbor here and no'
nd we should love God and our neighb
there and then. If we love what
is pure and holy here, we should 10
what is pure and holy there. But
be- we really in our hearts love self al
2 8 the world, and evil and wickedne
* here, we should love the same theI
IN no matter what we may pretend
ne love here. And loving Wiekedne'
net we should go among the wicked, /
nd cause we would prefer to do so. Al
rd, being among the wicked, we should
VS.: course have a wicked and unhapl
ON time Of it, and grow worse and wori
eis aud become very devils, and be tC