Emblem of Humility. - Spiritual Insight.— Voice of Conscience. - Ideal Types.Idea of Angels.- Angelic Vision. — Original Holiness. -Emblem of Repentance.

Review.

MR. ALCOTT. Where did we leave John the Baptist ?

JOSIAH. He was preaching in the wilderness about Jesus being superior to himself.

ANOTHER. And talking of the three baptisms.

MR. ALCOTT. What do you remember about the baptisms?

CHARLES. That fire and water were emblematic, but that the Holy Spirit was not emblematic, for it was not material.

Mr. Alcott then read

THE BAPTISM OF JESUS.

MATT. iii. 13 to the end. MARK i. 9, 10, 11. LUKE iii. 21, 22, and part of 23.

Before the Vulgar Æra, 26. Julian Period, 4739.

Bethabara.

Mark i. 9.

Luke iii. 21.
Mark i. 9.
Matt. iii. 13.

Baptism.

* And it came to pass in those days, when all the people were baptized,

that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

*Matt. iii. 13.

Matt. iii. 14.

Matt. iii. 15.

Mark i. 9.
Matt. iii. 16.

Before the Vulgar Era, 26. Julian Period, 4739.

Mark i. 10.
Luke iii. 21.

Matt. iii. 16.

Mark i. 10.

Matt. iii. 16.

Luke iii. 22.

Matt. iii. 16.

Matt. iii. 17.
Mark i. 11.

Luke iii. 23.

Bethabara.

But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him :

And [he] was baptized of John in Jordan.

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water:

And straightway coming up out of the water; and praying,

la!

he saw the heavens opened

unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove,

in a bodily shape, like a dove,

and lighting upon him:

And lo!

there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age.

He then asked the usual question.

Idea and
Emblem of
Innocence
and Purity.

AUGUSTINE.

Was the spirit in the shape

of a dove, or did it descend like a dove? MR. ALCOTT. You have the same means

of judging that I have.

AUGUSTINE. I should think that the heavens opening was a sort of vision.

JOSIAH. The sky opened, and a white dove larger than other doves came from heaven. God sent it, but I do not know why he sent a dove.

GEORGE K. He sent a dove because it represents love. I think the angel Gabriel was in the dove. It stood on Jesus. I do not know what it means by the heavens opening. The voice came either from the dove, or from heaven above the sky.

EMMA. The dove represents purity. I think the voice was within the conscience of Jesus.

ELLEN. I think the dove represents love and innocence. God put love in that and sent it to Jesus, to express his innocence. God was pleased with Jesus

for his answer to John.

JOHN B. I think the dove represents innocence, but I do not think as George does, that it came from above the sky, but only from the sky. It was not a common dove. God formed a spirit into a dove and sent it to Jesus, because he liked Jesus better than any body else, for he was better.

ANDREW. I think John and Jesus saw a vision; it was secret to them; and no other person saw it. It was an angel that came; but God did not want the people to see an angel, and it appeared as a dove, which was a common thing to the people. The voice was within their souls.

MR. ALCOTT. Why should it be a dove, and not a serpent ?

ANDREW. Because a dove could fly, and a serpent could not.*

*The mind of this child is altogether unique. When it acts entirely of itself, it follows the highest law of imagination. All his thoughts "body" themselves forth; and all the forms of nature speak to him. He never abstracts; yet he is always in the spiritual.

Connected with this intellectual structure, he has a fine eye for drawing, and an obedient hand; and thus seems armed at all points, for communicating with his race, through the canvass or marble. His character was once given by the children, in the most natural way. Mr. Alcott was reading over a list of the disciples, and saying, like Lemuel, like Josiah, &c., of each name When he came to Nathaniel, he hesitated, and the boys spoke out, all round the class," like Andrew!" It was a

EDWARD J. A dove means goodness, innocence.

CHARLES. I think of a dove in the midst of rays of light, with an olive branch in its mouth, and on its leaves are the words, "this is my beloved son," and after that, the rays always stayed round the head of Jesus.

MR. ALCOTT. That is your fancy.

FRANKLIN. There were rays round the dove, and angels in the rays, though they could not be seen; and it was these angels in the rays that sung, "This is my beloved son."

SAMUEL R. The dove came from without, I think, and the voice from within.

MARTHA. The dove was the sign of purity and peace.

MR. ALCOTT. Did that dove ever come to you? (No answer.)

Or any thing like it?

(No answer.)

Did your conscience never say that you had done right? MARTHA. Oh yes; sometimes.

LUCIA. I thought, that as John baptized to show that sins were washed out, it was not appropriate for him to baptize one who was freer from sin than himself, and that was the reason he said what he did to Jesus, as if he would change places with him.

coincidence confirmatory, that I had anticipated them in my own mind, some minutes before, and hoped Mr. Alcott would be reminded of him, by "the Israelite in whom was no guile."

The reader loses a great deal of natural commentary on the conversation, in losing the manner of the children, which cannot be printed; but in no case is the loss more unimaginable, than in that of Andrew. It would be impossible to describe the difference of manner between the two last answers. REC.

ELLEN. Was Jesus any more pure after he was baptized than be ore?

MR. ALCOTT. I do not often give an opinion. What do you think about that ?

ELLEN. I do not think he could be purer, but he was not proud of his goodness, and thought he might be he was humble, the holy spirit had made him

better good.

Emblem of
Humility.

MR. ALCOTT.
baptize Jesus?

Why did John refuse to

CHARLES. Because he thought himself unworthy to touch him. Jesus had already been baptized by the Holy Ghost and was perfect, and did not need a baptism which was only emblematic of what he already had internally. But Jesus said he wanted to give a perfect example outwardly, as well as be perfect inwardly.

FRANKLIN. Jesus was baptized, to teach the people humility.

WELLES. It was humble to be baptized with water, when he was al eady baptized by the Holy Ghost, and the dove descended because he had humbled himself. I seem to see Jesus come out of the water upon the grass, and a dove la ger than an eagle descend upon him, and then the voice comes from heaven, and John stands in astonishment. A few people standing near saw the dove, but hardly any heard the voice.

Spiritual
Insight.

CHARLES, Heaven means where love and
truth are..
I cannot express what I mean.
I suppose the opening of the sky was em-

blematic of the opening of the spirit.

AUGUSTINE. The opening of heaven was seeing

more clearly into his own state of mind.

SEVERAL. I do not understand what it means.

ELLEN. The sky hides heaven from our view.