WILLIAM B. It means, he should believe in the word of God.

AUGUSTINE.

Our spirits are the Holy Ghost.

FRANK. A man that has a great deal of truth and goodness is a holy ghost.

MR. ALCOTT. Are there any holy ghosts in Boston ? FRANK. No very holy ghosts here.

ALEXANDER. Holy ghost means about the same as angel, but not so innocent.

JOHN B. God is the best Holy Ghost. Jesus is the next best.

ANDREW. John's having the holy ghost, means that he did not give up to his body.

EDWARD B. I think holy ghost there means God. But generally ghosts mean troubled spirits.

(Here some conversation ensued on popular superstitions, and some ghost stories were told. Mr. Alcott ended with saying, But this child was not filled with such ghosts, but with pure thoughts, good affections, a holy spirit.)

Spiritual
Culture.

MR. ALCOTT. What is meant by his turning the hearts of the fathers to the children"?

(See

FRANKLIN. The children should turn the hearts of their fathers from idolatry by their goodness. Note 60.)

MR. ALCOTT. Are there any idolaters in Boston ? AUGUSTINE. A great many. They worship money. (See Note 61.)

FRANKLIN. Gluttons are idolaters.

EMMA. Their bodies are their idols.

CHARLES. The spiritually minded may make idols of their spirits and neglect their bodies. (See Note 62.) MR. ALCOTT. What is "the wisdom of the just "? LUCY. Spiritual beauty.

CHARLES. Knowledge of justice.

Intuition of
Conscience.

MR. ALCOTT. How does Gabriel stand in the presence of God?

FRANK. That means to be good; but I don't see how Gabriel could stand in God's presence, when he had made Zacharias dumb just because he did not believe him. (See Note 63.)

MR. ALCOTT. Perhaps Zacharias was made dumb, in order that he might not communicate his doubts to others. The paternal sentiment cannot be uttered, its sign is feeling; it is inward.

How do feelings get into your minds ?.

SEVERAL. God sends them.

MR. ALCOTT. Do you take them all?

LUCY. No; we are not good enough.

AUGUSTINE. We have not room enough for all. MR. ALCOTT. How many of you think your own spirit stands in the presence of God?

(Many held up hands.) (See Note 64.)

When you do wrong- does it?

EMMA. God sees us even then.

MR. ALCOTT. Do we see God then?

WILLIAM B. No; if we did, we should never do wrong.*

* This remark is very characteristic of the child who made it. His mind was, in many respects, of a precocious developement. His physical organization seemed to cast him early in life upon the religious sentiment, for happiness; and he had become somewhat mature in religious experience. He was very serious in disposition, and had the germs of very fine reasoning powers, as will be remarked in much that he says. But an ardent temperament, together with his feeble physical organization, exposed him to great inequalities of spirits, and gave him great moral difficulties to master within himself. He was deeply sinand every one of his words may be depended upon as a perfect transcript of his mind for the time being. REC.

cere,

MR. ALCOTT. Do you think that this vision was in the mind of Zacharias, and that no visible shape appeared to his eyes?

EDWARD B. I do not believe mere imagination could make him dumb. (See Note 65.)

(Anecdotes were here told to show Edward B. that a mental condition was always one link in the chain of causes, that produced an outward effect.) EDWARD B. Yes; I understand now. And I think Zacharias did see the angel within his own spirit.

Conception of Spirit.

MR. ALCOTT read,- "After those days Elizabeth conceived." What does conceive mean?

LUCY. She found out in her spirit.

MR. ALCOTT. It would not do for children to be born without their parents being prepared to take care of them. Mothers always have signs and feel disposed to keep hidden, or retired, and think about it; and it is right they should, for it is a great thing to have the care of a child. (See Note 66.)

GEORGE K. It has been a very interesting conversation this morning.

MR. ALCOTT. How long have we been conversing? LUCY. I should think about half an hour.

MR. ALCOTT. Why does time seem to be destroyed while we talk?

EMMA. Because we are not thinking of time.
LUCIA. Because we are in eternity.

MR. ALCOTT. Our subjects have but little to do with time. All who have been very much interested may rise.

(All rose smilingly.) (See Note 67.)

You seem to be deeply interested in this account of the preparation for birth, or the appearing of spirit to the external senses.

CONVERSATION VI.

ANNUNCIATION OF SPIRIT TO MATERNITY.

CHASTITY.

VI. EVIDENCE OF MATERNAL SENTIMENT.

Vision of Mary from the Sacred Text.- Maternity. - Purity of Body.Heralds of Genius - Idea of Dreams. - Integrity of Dreams. — Origin of Disease. Maternal Faith. Perpetuity of Holiness. - Divine Instinct of Human Generation.- Angels of Conception. - Holiness of Maternity.

=

Mr. Alcott called the attention of the children to the subject, and then read the

Before the Vulgar Æra, 5. Julian Period, 4709.

Nazareth.

* Dan. vii. 14. Mic. iv. 7.

VISION OF MARY.

LUKE i. 26-38.

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee,

Maternity.
named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33* And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

Before the

Vulgar Era, 5. Julian Period, 4709.

Nazareth.

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

After reading this passage, Mr. Alcott asked the usual question.

CHARLES. I made a picture in my mind, of the angel's coming to Mary; but I cannot describe it.

LEMUEL. I do not think Gabriel ought to have told Mary until after John was born, because John came to prepare the way.

SAMUEL R. I do not know what was the Purity of Body. use of John's coming to announce Jesus. (Mr. Alcott here remarked, that John's announcement of Jesus was a moral preparation. He described his ministry, as one of Temperance. To discipline and purify the body, was a natural preparation for the unfolding of the spirit. I wish I could have preserved this fine discourse. He ended with remarking, that great men were generally thus announced.)

Heralds of
Genius.

WELLES. Did Socrates have a forerunner?

MR. ALCOTT. Anaxagoras, (you see his bust over the book-case,) is thought to have prepared the way for Socrates, by teaching that God was Thought. Others had taught that God was Water, or Fire, or some material substance. None seem to have had the idea of spirit. (See Note 68.)