The Pilgrimage of Adam and David: With Sketches of Their Heavenly Employment

Front matter

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Preface

TO THE SECOND EDITION.

I have long believed that true religion would be honored, could the great men of the heathen world be fairly contrasted with the great men of the Bible. Nowhere on this earth does the human mind unfold its powers to such purpose and perfection as where the light of revelation shines. When a young worshipper of the true God was brought into the court of a mighty heathen king, and stood there amidst renowned statesmen, talented counsellors, and profound politicians, and gave his opinions and his advice to the. king, Pharaoh said unto his servants, " Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the spirit of God is ? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art : thou shah be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled : only in the throne will I be greater than thou." (Gen. xli. 38 — 40.) Now, what was true of Joseph in the court of Egypt, is true of the great men of the Bible in every department of society. The Bible legislator and the Bible historian has no parallel in the annals of the heathen world. In like manner, the faithful friend, the deep politician, the eloquent orator, the patriot soldier, and the great general, portrayed on the sacred pages, are unequalled where the true religion is unknown. It is remarkable that at a single touch the pencil of inspiration

4 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

places the whole living man before you. The student of the Bible sees Jonathan, the friend of David, as plainly as ever an American saw Lafayette, the friend of Washington. He knows Ahithophel as perfectly as an enlightened Frenchman knows Talleyrand. He understand* Hushai the Archite as well as an old Virginian understands the character of Patrick Henry. And he becomes as well acquainted with Joab as the Tennessee&n is acquainted with General Jackson.

The following book was prepared with a view of introducing the reader to the great men and the thrilling scenes of the Bible, and with a belief that thus many might be led to take a deeper interest in the sacred volume. The experiment has been successful. Rev. Thomas Brainard, pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, writes, June 6, 1849, " I have reason to love the book. Mrs. Judge Burnet, of Cincinnati, sent a single copy to my little son in Philadelphia, when he was eight years old. He read it six times through and through. He literally devoured its contents; he learned to repeat its dialogues ; he set to work to search out the Bible history on which it is founded ; — and after three years, his eyes still sparkle when any thing in the Bible recalls to his mind Adam and David's Pilgrimage. His book has been lent with a similar result in other families. It is now lent in Massachusetts. This is the only copy I have personally seen ; but I hope the youth of our land will see thousands.*'

A Missouri senator met me in the streets of St. Louis. " Why, sir," said he, " I have been reading your book. I never knew there were such interesting characters and scenes in the Old Testament. I thought it was all fulfilled and done away. But now I have set in to read it through, and I am greatly interested, and I hope profited." Such testimony has been received from many others. May the Lord cause the publication to promote his glory and the prosperity of his Zion.

[unrivsasiTY

PREFACE

TO THE FIRST EDITION.

TO THE

YOUNG MEN OP THE UNITED STATES.

My Young Countrymen :

The writer of the following work respectfully presents his book to you. His object is, to encourage you to study the Bible ; not as a book of religion merely, but as the great storehouse of general knowledge. No book takes hold of the four corners of the human mind, and " lifts it up," like the book that God has written.

Almost every American has felt that there was an intellectual superiority possessed by Dr. Franklin, which caused him to shine as a luminary of the first magnitude among the worthies of the revolution. You take up a newspaper ; you cast your eye on the first page, and see " Debates in Congress. 11 Perhaps you will not read them. On the second page you see, " Dissertation on Political Economy." This, also, you pass over. On the third page you find, " Anecdote of Franklin." You are sure to read it. Among Americans, nine hundred and ninety-nine in a thousand will read it. 1*

6 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION*

There is an intellectual charm about Franklin, that is felt by the whole American people.

Why is this ? What was it that imparted to the mind of Franklin that clearness and power which were so conspicuous through all his history ?

I answer, that one prominent reason k this : Early in life, his fine intellect was enriched with an uncommonly intimate and thorough acquaintance with the sacred Scriptures; and the Bible-reading habit, which he formed when very young, he continued to cultivate until old age. This appears on almost every page of his public life. Few, if any, of the political men of that day, approached him in the accuracy and extent of his scriptural knowledge; and this is one chief reason why Franklin towered " a head and shoulders " above his fellows, in, perhaps, every assembly of which he was a member.

An anecdote or two will illustrate this subject.

When quite a youth, Franklin went to London, entered a printing-office, and inquired if he could get employment as a printer ?

" Where are you from ? " inquired the foreman of the establishment.

" America," was the reply.

The English, at that time, had an opinion, sufficiently prevalent among them yet, that America is a land of wild, uncultivated forests, and of wild, uncultivated minds.

" Ah," said the foreman, " from America ? A lad from America seeking employment as a printer. Well, do you really understand the art of printing? Can you set type? "

Franklin stepped to one of the cases, and in a very brief space, set up the following passage, from the first chapter of the Gospel by St. John : " Nathanael saith unto him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ? Philip saith unto

him, Come and see." It was done so quick, so accurately, and contained a delicate reproof, so appropriate and powerful, rtua? igi to thh nmr i&tfwfn 7

that it at once gave him standing and cliiraeter with nH who were in the office.

Similar anecdote*, in great numbers, might be given, t shall at present, however, mention hat one more*

When, after the declaration of independence, Franklin was minister from the United States to France, he was invited lo dine with a French nobleman, in company with the British ambassador. After dinner, they were taking a glass of wine, and it was proposed that each should git e a sentiment, or toast. The Englishman led the way, and gave, "George the Third : like the Sun in his meridian glory, he is the admiration of the world ! "

The French nobleman followed next, and gave, —

" The Queen of France : like die Moon in her bright path through the heavens, she enlightens and influences the earth. 1 '

Both now turned to Franklin, confident that he was thrown very far into the back ground. But Franklin, with great composure, took up his glass, and gave, —

" George Washington : like Joshua of old, he commands the Sun and the Moon to stand still, and they obey him.' 1

Many have an impression, that as the Bible is a book of religion, religious improvement is the only- benefit to be derived from its perusal. The mistake is mischievous. It is true, the Bible is the great source of religious instruction. Its chief design is to teach us to glorify God and prepare for a future world. But it is also true, that it is the great mag* , asine of useful knowledge ; and that an intimate acquaintance with its sacred pages, is immensely profitable for the " life that now is," as well as for the " life that is to come."

You have never seen a man " mighty in the Scriptures,' but that man was very respectable for his general knowledge. You have never seen a grossly ignorant man, a grossly ignorant family, a grossly ignorant neighborhood, but that man, that< family, that neighborhood, had grossly neglected the book of God.

8 MUUTACft TO THE FIRST EDITION*

Now, the Bible is not read. This is a reading age. Bat alas ! a large portion of the reading community do not read the Bible. Their time is spent in reading light, frothy, vapid trash, " written by a moonbeam, and dictated by the nightmare/' while the golden treasures of God's book are neglected. There are many instances of men, in public life, who go halting all their days, because, in their education, that best foundation of general knowledge was not laid. They go through life a laughing-stock to Sabbath school children, because they are ignorant of the hook of God.

I will give a few examples.

An editor of one of our newspapers, when giving an obituary notice of a worthy man, remarks, " We may say of him, as the Holy Scriptures have so beautifully expressed it, —

" An honest man 's the noblest work of God/'

A certain lawyer, pleading for an old culprit, makes this appeal : " You know, gentlemen of the jury, that the Bible says,—

" While the lamp holds out to burn, The vilest sinner may return."

Two members of a state legislature, at the close of the session, addressed a circular to their constituents : " We hope the course we have pursued, and the votes we have given, will meet your approbation. We hope you will say to us, as Nathan said to David, * Well done, good and faithful servants/ "

" Mr. Speaker/ 1 said a member of a legislative body, earnestly opposing a measure before the house, — " Mr. Speaker, I would no more vote for that bill, than I would fall down and worship the golden calf that Abraham made. 1 '

" Mr. Speaker," said another member, " the gentleman is wrong. It was not Abraham that made the golden calf; it was Nebuchadnezzar."

PRETAGE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 9

Instances of this kind might be given by the dozen, by the score, by the hundred.

The Bible contains the most instructive history in the world — the richest biography. No book delineates character with such accuracy, clearness, brevity, and power. It abounds with the sublimest poetry, the loftiest eloquence, the most overwhelming logic, and, indeed, all the higher beauties of literature; while, at the same time, it lays before us a map of the road that leads to a brighter world. Tet the Bible is not read.

But a short time since, I conversed with a gentleman, who had* been assisting the Bible Society to supply every family with a copy of the blessed book. He told me frankly, it was a book he had never read himself.

Now, to direct the attention of his young countrymen, in this great and growing republic, to the rich, though neglected treasures contained in God's precious Word, — the thrilling interest of Bible themes, — the unrivalled beauty of Bible history, — the unparalleled grandeur of Bible truth, — the unequalled sweetness of Bible religion, — the vast and inexhaustible variety of Bible instruction, is the aim and object of

The Author.

NOTE.

One word as to the manner of the following work. As my design is to interest the reader in Bible scenes, Bible characters, and Bible truth, I have preferred to use, in the dialogue, the modern rather than the ancient style. This feature of the book is the result of mature deliberation.

10 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITIONS

Again : it is no part of my plan to delineate the character of the fallen angels. Their conversation is used solely as a medium for bringing past events and ancient men before the reader. Should any one object, that the demons are not bad enough, I reply, that this feature of the work, also, was deliberately chosen, as best calculated to answer the design of the Author. This style of presenting Bible subjects was adopted with the hope that many who neglect to read com* mentaries and sermons, may thus have their attention awakened, and their minds directed to the rich treasures contained in the Holy Oracles.

Contents

PAOB.

Chaptbb L — The Cavern — The Congress of Fallen Angels, ... 13

Chaptbb II. — Lucifer's Narrative — His Excursion through distent Worlds— He finds that departed Saints are employed in spreading through the Creation the Knowledge of Man's Bedemption — He finds Adam thus employed, 20

Chapter I. The Cavern

The sun had gone down behind the distant mountains, and the shadows of a calm and beautiful evening were gathering around. As the daylight faded away, I had been reading the missionary's account of a volcanic eruption in an island of the Pacific Ocean. The narrative excited the highest interest. The trembling of the whole island ; the thunders of the convulsed mountain ; the immense volumes of ascending smoke, that turned " day into night, and night into darkness ; " the volcanic lightning, that now shot up to an inconceivable height, and now, branching out like some gigantic forest tree, glared over the mighty crater; the flood of burning lava, that the mountain vomited forth, which, rolling a river of fire, broad and deep as 2

14 THE CAVERN.

the Mississippi, swept through a tall forest for more than forty miles, and then over a huge precipice discharged its terrible flood into the vexed and boiling ocean.

After the excitement produced by this awful description began to subside, I gradually sunk into a gentle slumber. But the deep impression was still on the mind. In my dream I saw before me a volcanic mountain. Its height was very great, but its fires were extinguished and its thuuders were hushed. No column of smoke streamed upward from its lofty summit, and the vast bodies of lava which it had once thrown out, were now crusted and cold as the granite rock. On the majestic mountain side, however, though scarred and blackened with the traces of former eruptions, I could distinctly mark, even to a great elevation, the successful attempts of nature to throw around it her bright mantle of 'green.

At the base of the mountain was the yawning mouth of an immense cavern. On the one side was a wall of primitive rock, which, rising to a great height, seemed to overhang a large portion of the open space. On the other side, black masses of solid lava formed the boundary. Whether successive eruptions, pitching the lava from the brow of the projecting cliff, had left this mighty opening, or whether it had been formed by some tremendous convulsion of nature, it was now impossible to determine.

In the strange illusions of a' dream, I resolved to explore this remarkable mansion, and proceeding cautiously along through the " darkness visible," I had gone a considerable way, when my attention was

^oigle

THE CAVXmN. 15

caught by a dim light, that feebly twinkled through the gloom. On turning toward it, there appeared, as though hewn out of the solid rock, on one side of the cavern, an immense hall, fitted up for the accommodation of some mighty congress. There was the lofty chair of the speaker or president ; and there the long ranges of curving seats, rising gradually one behind another, for the use of the members, while here and there, at regular intervals, suspended lamps were dimly burning. But no living form appeared. All was silence and desertion. After gazing on this extraordinary scene for fifteen or twenty minutes, two unearthly beings suddenly appeared at the further extremity of the spacious hall, and engaged in earnest conversation.

" I am greatly troubled," said one, — and the voice was unlike any sound that ever before had fallen on my ears, — " I am greatly troubled at the long and unaccountable absence of our chief. I fear it portends disaster to his empire."

" Perhaps not," said the other : " he is doubtless engaged in guarding and fortifying his heathen dominions against the encroachments of the gospel. The modern movements of the church are absolutely beyond endurance. In scarcely one of the heathen nations is our cause now exempt from annoyance. Great Lucifer, who once could proudly point to ' all the kingdoms of the world ' as his possessions, and claim ' the glory of them ' as all his own, is now threatened with utter disfranchisement. ' I doubt not that this is the cause of his long absence. Indignant at the attempts to expel him from the abodes of men, he has grasped the great war-club of hell, with which h% battled against the

16 THE CAVBBM.

church in the days of Paul and Peter, and with this he is beating off the Bible and the missionary from his heathen dominions."

" That was my opinion until of late, but it is now fully ascertained to be a mistake. I have conversed with Belial to-day, and he assures me that scouts have been despatched, and that they have diligently searched every dark corner of Europe, Africa, Asia, America, and the islands of the sea, and they have searched in vain."

" Why, you astonish me ! "

" No doubt now remains that Lueifer is gone from the earth. No tidings of him can be heard, nor the slightest traces of his movements found for the last fifteen years-."

" Can that be possible ? I fear, then, that the days of his kingdom on earth are numbered. I have long dreaded the accomplishment of that ancient oracle, uttered by the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos. I was near him at the time. His form, his attitude, and tone of voice, are fresh in my memory till this day. He came to the verge of the island to which he had been banished. He stood upon a naked rock, that over* hung the roaring ocean, and while the Seabreeze lifted the long, white locks from his aged countenance, that glowed with the sublimity of divine inspiration, he stretched his hands towards the dwelling-place of the nations his Master had come to redeem, and pronounced these awful words : —

" ' I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold pn the dragon, that old serpent,

THB CAVERN. ~ 17

which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be ftllfilled. ,

" I am startled," said the demon, " lest this terrible oracle has been fulfilled, and our great master is now in chains of darkness, shut up in the bottomless pit."

Here a group of anxious and haggard visages appeared around the speakers. . Presently the hum of a moving multitude was heard. Innumerable forms from without were hurrying into the spacious hall. In a moment, the long ranges of seats were crowded.

I gazed on this singular assembly, and was much impressed with the indications of powerful mind that appeared among them. Here were a multitude of beings that once shone among the stars of heaven, cherubim and seraphim hurled by sin from exalted stations on high, who yet appeared "majestic though in ruins."

I had often marked the strong language of the Bible concerning the power of fallen angels — "a roaring lion ; " "a great red dragon ; " " the prince of the power of the air ; " " rulers of the darkness of this world ; " and other kindred expressions ; and the vision now before me seemed fully to justify the emphatic language of the sacred writers.

Another fact that arrested my attention was this — the resemblance which the several classes of these demons bore to the several nations among whom they had been employed. I learned that all the hosts of hell, from heathen and from Christian lands, had been summoned to attend this grand council. It appeared that 2*

1JT THE CAVEJWi.

each, for ages, had been employed in his separate charge, according to the appointment of their great leader.

The Scriptures declare that the heathen idolaters worshipped devils — offered their sacrifices to devils. Now we know that the idea of local deities was prevalent among them- Some of their idol gods were gods of the hills, but not of the valleys. Some of their deities had power in one district, but not in another.

This belief among the ancient heathens comports fully with the statement that the rebel angels have each a separate charge among the nations assigned them by their mighty chief. Now this was very observable in the great assembly before me. This group reminded you of the dignified and proud Englishman ; that brought to your mind the volatile and mirthsloving Frenchman ; while a third led you to think of the cloudy and mysterious Spaniard. Here you saw the cold, calculating German ; and there the haughty and whiskered Russian. The representatives from Turkey, China, and Tartary occupied seats in one quarter ; and in another appeared those from Central and Southern Africa, and the islands of the sea ; while a distinct group, with copper-colored visages and fierce, savage appearance, seemed to personify the North American Indians. I looked on this company, and thought of the names of those powerful Indian chiefs that were the terror of our country in the days of its early settlement — "Red Jacket," "Double Head," " The Bloody Fellow," and, " The Hanging Maw."

From remarks interchanged, in a low tone of voice, by individuals in this congress of Rebel Angels, I

THJt OAVB&tf,

learned that the general impression was had reappeared; that this council had moned by his authority, and that his presenc^^jtoc ~ / them was every moment expected. The anxiety o&Ia picted in many countenances was great, and relentless-^"-- - ness and impatience began to be visible in various parts of the assembly ; when suddenly rising on the platform in front of the speaker's chair, the prince of hell, v

"In shape and gesture proudly eminent, Stood like a tower."

Profound silence pervaded the entire multitude, while he cast his eyes around, and for several seconds surveyed this vast host of collected confederates. At length he spake. " Friends and allies, you have doubtless been perplexed and amazed at my long and unexplained absence ; and although beforehand I judged it important to lock up the design in my own breast, yet, now that the enterprise is over, it will gratify me frankly to tell you all."

Here, as if the well-remembered voice of their renowned chief waked up emotions that could not be controlled, the whole assembly burst forth into the most tumultuous cheering. Hall and cavern rang again. It seemed the very mountain shook, and the earth itself, for leagues around, shared in the strong agitation. Often, as die deafening shout began to subside, it was renewed, reiterated, and prolonged with the most extravagant demonstrations of fiendish ecstasy, Lucifer at length waved his hand, and immediately the multitude was calmed and reduced to order.

tO LUCUEfc's NARRATIVE.

Chapter II. Lucifer's Narrative

" More than thirty years ago I marked in the Christian church the waking up of a spirit which at once I recognized as that of the apostolic age — mighty efforts to send the Bible abroad in all the languages of the earth; religious truth by means of printed tracts, diffused through every nook and corner of society J children by tens and by hundreds of thousands collected into Sabbath schools, and taught to lisp hosannas to Him who died on Calvary ; while the living missionary in the north and in the south, in the east and in the west, was scaling the walls that for long ages have surrounded my heathen dominions, and sounding the trumpet of the gospel jubilee.

" Signs of the times, like the budding of the trees when summer is nigh, were appearing all abroad. A spirit of inquiry seemed to be stirring up the nations. Idols that had stood firm for three thousand years, were beginning to totter, and a strange, portentous trembling penetrated the heart of the empire of darkness.

"But what increased my alarm was this: I found that the attention and interest of heaven was now directed with uncommon intensity towards earth. Ministering angels in unusual numbers were clustering

Digitized

«v Google lucifer's nawutivju 21

around the heirs of salvation, And while they roused their immortal energies to forward every gospel enterprise, there was an air of animated, confident expectation in their visages and in their movements, such as I had not witnessed before. Their whisperings were of < conquest, victory, nations disinthralled, and a renovated world.' It was evident that throughout all their ranks there was strong assurance that the great harvest foretold by ancient seers is at hand, when the sceptre of sin shall be broken, and earth shall be transformed into the garden of the Lord.

" In my attempts to oppose them, I found, from month to month, the work becoming more and more difficult In stratagems against the church, success was slow and hard to be won. Many favorite and deep-laid devices were wholly baffled, or so crippled in their results as to afford little triumph in the review j while the river of life seemed to be continually swelling in its channel, and rolling onward with a bolder and a broader tide, threatening ere long to overflow all its banks, and extend its wonderful influence to the thirsty and perishing nations.

"After an arduous struggle, continued through many years, I became fully convinced that the modern movements of the gospel cannot be overcome or arrested by direct resistance. An invisible power from above has come down, as though the ' set time to favor Sion ' had arrived.

" No army that I could muster could vanquish in the open field the armies marshalled by Him who rideth on the white horse, with his crown, his sword, and his bow.

5J2 lucifer's narrative.

" I saw the necessity of attempting some important change in the circumstances of the war between heaven and hell. I had known earthly warriors, when discouragements and disasters thickened around, and success at a given point was impracticable, to change entirely the field of contest, and thus secure the most decided triumph. Thus imperial Rome, when Hannibal, for sixteen successive years on the plains of Italy, overmatched her generals, cut to pieces her armies, and shattered her strength, and it became perfectly conclusive that no force she could bring into the field could stand before the terrible invader — the crafty mistress of the world despatched Scipio with a strong Roman army to Africa, kindled there the flames of destructive war, laid siege to Carthage itself, and thus effected the recall of Hannibal and the ruin of Carthage. By this artful device, Victory, which so long had seemed to hesitate, was induced finally to perch on the standard of Rome.

" I resolved to attempt a similar stratagem, though on a somewhat larger scale. I was persuaded that many portions of the creation, distant from earth, must be ignorant of its history, and that if rebellion against the Creator could be excited there, it would powerfully draw off the attention of heaven from earth, to quell the newly-excited insurrection, which might, perhaps, be extended far and wide."

At this declaration of Lucifer, a strange commotion was visible throughout the entire throng of rebel angels. Troubled looks were exchanged, and here and there some mighty leader rose to his feet, as if anxious to make an inquiry. Lucifer paused, and the following question was propounded'by several voices at once : —

" Would your majesty, then, think of abandoning your possessions on earth, and allowing the gospel to achieve its triumphs among men, without resistance ? Is it your plan to found your empire permanently in some different and distant world ? "