Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-09-14
A VISION OF HEAVEN.
One of Rob Burdc,tc.s Queer st,

OHc VI hhop huFut'tch VuccF StorieS
A Congregational minister of Cleveland
had n vison of heaven recently. He tells
how he "walked about with two young
girls, who held him by the hands" Well,
now, that's heavenly enough, goodness
knows? A worldly, sinful young man of
2i would be satisfied with that kind OF
heaven. But about this "young girl
business. 1t seems to us that nearly all
the ministerial visions of heaven we ever
read save ouly that of one st. John, who
had quite vivid, impressive and we'll
authenticated vision some years since
while residing on the Island Of Patmos-
run to this ''young girl idea very largely.
An emident pagan long, long ago invent
ed this "young girl heaven. and Chris
tain ministers who have visions of heaven
often seen unable to improve on the pagan
patent. Now, 1t was all right for Rev. Mr..
Man of Cleveland to go wandering about
in heaven with ''young girl cllnging to
each hand. We don't know whether Rev.
Mr.. Man is a married man or not. He
didn't say anything about seeing Mrs.
Man while lie was i'll heaven. but he saw
beautiful maidons in profuson, beside the
ones who never let go OF his hands. Now,
as we said before we repeat. this is all
right. We don't object to young girls"
down here, and we Think we would enjoy
their company in heaven but can't the
good men who see visions of heaven kind
of look around while they are there, and
let go of the girls long enough to shall e
hands with some of the good old mothers
in Isreal, who were saints even before
they died. Just think what novelty it
would be for the next preacher who goes
to heaven in vision to come back and
tell us that he walked about the golden
streets "with two old women who held him
by the hands !" 1t would be delightful
to have little variation on this young
girl business. Now, st. John, the divine,
whose vision Of heaven was about as clear
as that of any man in Cleveland, doesn't
seem to have gone about handcufled with
''young girls. He mentions several
women whom he saw ga woman clothed
with the sun" and hateiully perverted by
the "grcat red dragon :" and another
"woman arraycd IN purple and scarlet" ="
''having golden cup in her hand full of
denominations, sitting "upon n scarlet
colored beast full of names of blasphemy,"
and this woman was drunken with the
blood of the saints" and martyrs. But he
doesn't mention any ''young girls" or
maidens. Brethren, it takes rapt seer
of the nineteenth century to have visions
in which the seer is the only man in heav-
en- and we propose to have little variety
in these visions. Surely, there is some
body else in heaven besides a multitude!of
young girls" and one person. Give the
rest of us little in these visions, or we
will utterly cast aside all these modern
prophets, abide by the vison of st. John,
wherein all the angels are men, and are
called he and MIN. Everyone of them
and all the women are terrible. We don't
object at all to II certain .judicious mixture
Of the 'young girl" element in beatitic
and celestial visions but there is namby-
pambyism abut it when the entire pre-
scription is compounded of one part good
man and ninoty-nine parts young girl
that is utahly unpalatable cast OF Salt
Lake City. Go, get thee to nunnery, or
else revise your effeminate visions of
heaven. Why, man alive, cant you see
it's belittliug subject of inconceivable
sublimity and grandeur to fashion heav-
en- on the model of an ice creamsaloon on
Saturday night?