God's two witnesses and their search for a Christ

Table Of Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Joseph's Boyhood Home. . • 5

II. Mrs. Fielding the Fortune Teller. 11

II

Mrs. Fielding, the Fortune-Teller.

The next day I read an interesting book, on which I had spent the forenoon. In the afternoon I went out for a long walk. On my return, I found Mrs. Fielding, with two other ladies whom I did not know, were mother's guests. On being introduced to them, I found that the two strange ladies were Mrs. and Miss Cramer, the women for whom Mrs. Fielding worked. They were seated at a table in the parlor and were having their fortune told by Mrs. Fielding. As my mother was last and most nearly through with her fortune, the ladies invited me to have my fortune told. But I told them that I did not believe in fortune-telling. I left the parlor and went in an adjoining room, where I seated myself comfortably, picked up the book that I had been reading all morning and began to read. As soon as I had read one page, Miss Cramer and my mother came in the room and begged me to have my fortune told, and to see for myself how great a fortune-teller Mrs. Fielding was.

table and asked Mrs. Fielding to begin. She took the cards, shuffled them, then asked me to cut them twice. I did so. When she was ready to start telling my fortune, the doorbell rang.

It was my father. I opened the door for him, then told him that Mrs. Fielding and Mrs. and Miss Cramer were there. Father asked me how they were entertaining themselves. I told him with fortune-telling. He was anxious to know if I had had my fortune told. I told him that the cards for my future were spread on the table, but that Mrs: Fielding had not told me anything yet. My father told me that he had come home on time to save me from a lot of hard luck. He assured me that Mrs. Fielding had a great power and was able to tell a person's past life and also the future. He said that she had told him his future many years ago, but that he wished many times she had not. He told me not to let her tell me anything. If I did that I would regret it, for Mrs. Fielding was using her power for a bad purpose.

We then entered the parlor. Father bowed to the ladies and greeted them in a friendly manner; seeing cards on the table, he asked Mrs. Fielding whose future she was telling.

She answered: "Your wife and the ladies wanted to hear your son's future; so this was to be for him."

My father said: "Mrs. Fielding, you know that you told me my future a long time ago. You made me suffer. I know what kind of a fortune-teller you are; so do you. You also know what you did to me when you told me the future. Now you want to do the same thing to my son, but in that you shall not succeed."

Mrs. Fielding replied: "O, yes, your son will get his future told just the same."

Father answered : "If I knew that he was so weak and unable to keep his word, I would rather see him dead than to be under the spell of that devilish power in which you would bring him. You always say that you are one of God's witnesses. I don't believe that you are. I think you are a witch and make every person unfortunate whose future you tell. You deserve to be burned just like all the witches were in olden days. For what you have done to me, with your fortune-telling, I could burn you at the stake."

Mrs. Fielding arose from her seat, and in a cool voice said:

"Mr. Carroll, you did not curse me, you cursed the Holy Ghost, and for that you will receive your punishment. When you will be sixty-three years old, you will walk through your shop, suddenly get caught by a wheel, which will smash you five times against the ceiling before it can be stopped. Every bone in your body will be broken, but you will remain conscious for four days. The words that I have spoken will make deep impressions on your memory, and will make your dying harder. If you had not cursed the Holy Ghost, you would die in the same age, only in a natural way."

After Mrs. Fielding had spoken these words, father turned pale with fear. He said : "What you have spoken, Mrs. Fielding, might come true, for I know that you are full of devilish power. The Scriptures say: 'Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out; devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works ? And then will I profess unto them I never knew you ; depart from me, ye that work iniquity/ You, Mrs. Fielding, will be one of those that will not be known."

Mrs. Fielding said: "It is possible that it will be that way, but what I have told you will happen to you."

Mrs. and Miss Cramer seemed not to have heard what passed. The ladies brought up a different subject, and the quarrel between my father and Mrs. Fielding had been entirely forgotten. My brother and his two friends, Murphy and Condon, came home from fishing, each one having a long string of fish. After showing them to the ladies, my brother asked them if they would want to take some of them home. The ladies gladly accepted his offer. Mrs. Cramer began to drum a tune on the piano. Her daughter and I were singing. When we finished, mother and brother, who were listening, asked us to sing once more, as our singing was fine. After we had spent a half hour playing and singing, mother asked the ladies to step in the dining room and have a cup of tea, with some cake. After refreshing ourselves, we sang and played a few more selections, and then the ladies decided to leave for their homes. Before going, Mrs. Cramer invited us to come to their home on the coming Thursday, when she was giving a birthday party to her eldest daughter, Ethel. We promised we would come.

My brother brought the parcel of fish and gave it to Mrs. Fielding to carry. Mother thanked them for their visit, and asked them not to forget to come and visit us soon again. The ladies wished us a pleasant good-night and departed.

My father was going for his usual evening walk, and asked me to go with him. Slowly, we went toward the green forest. On the way father spoke to me about the disaster that Mrs. Fielding had foretold how he would die. "What that woman says happens, but I do not care v/hen or where it does happen," he said. That it did not change his opinion about her in the least; that he thought she was a witch with devilish power and had made hundreds of people unfortunate with her cards.

He assured me that I would have been one of them if he had not stopped me in time. He reminded me to be very careful and not to stay in the house when she was there, saying that he was afraid that she might get me under her control and make me consent to have my fortune told.

He said that he never believed in fortune-telling, nor in anything of that kind, until he met Mrs. Fielding; that she had proved to him through his own experience that there are real fortune-tellers, that the fortune can be foretold from the cradle to the grave. I asked my father what she had done to him.

He said that she had told him his fortune, and then wanted him to do some thing, and that, when he had not done what she had told him to do, she cursed him and told him many things which he had to do, and by doing that he became a poor man; that he was still chained by an invisible force, and he feels that if he reveals any of the things that she had spoken to him it will cost him his life.

A.s we stood near the forest and looked about for a resting place, we noticed the gathering of black clouds above us, and it had already started to rain. We walked in the forest and there looked about for a place which would keep us from getting wet. The best shelter we could find was a large and bushy tree, under which we stood and patiently waited for the rain to cease. It rained hard for about twenty minutes; then it stopped, and the sun began to shine.

We started on our way home. It was supper time and we knew that mother and brother were waiting for us.

The next day I went to see my father in his machine shop. I looked at everything in the shop until I got tired. Then I walked in the office where the bookkeeper and his assistant and a draughtsman were working. The draughtsman was busy ; he had more work than he could finish by the time it was wanted. I asked him if I could help him in his work. He gave me the necessary tools and showed me what he wanted me to do, and what was supposed to be ready for the next day. I worked from a sketch and got through with my drawing- in four hours.

At five o'clock father and I went home. Father was tired; he had been watching the work of a new machine all day, as he wanted to find out if it was worth the money which was to be paid for it. Shortly after we arrived home that evening we had our supper. Then we went out in the garden, seated ourselves on a bench beneath the trees and conversed on different subjects. Late in the night we retired to our beds.

III. A Strange Prophecy

The next morning, when I awoke, and looked through my window, I saw that it was raining very hard. I ate my breakfast and took a book and began to read. Mother informed me that my brother had left with father, that he wanted to make himself useful in the machine-shop. I read all morning, which made the time pass quickly. It kept on raining until two o'clock in the afternoon, when it stopped and cleared up. Soon after two, that afternoon, Mrs. Fielding stepped in the house; she said that she was on her way to the dry-goods store to do some shopping, and, as she passed the house, she thought she would stop and see what we were doing. Mother was glad to see her, for the day seemed long to her.

After Mrs. Fielding had told us all the news, mother asked her if she had the cards with her. Mrs. Fielding said, smiling: "You know well that I have them with me all the time, and am willing to tell the future to any one who wants to have it told." Mrs. Fielding

I went with them in the parlor, sat at the then took her cards out of her hand-bag, shuffled them, asked my mother to cut them, and began to spread them on the table, eight in a row, and made four rows. Her pack consisted of thirty-two cards. After she had spread them on the table, she began to tell mother's future. I listened to her saying that mother would receive a letter from her sister within two days, and all the rest was trivial.

When Mrs. Fielding was through with mother's future, she asked me to have mine told. I told her that I did not want to have it told ; that I thought it all nonsense. My mother also asked me to have it told, saying that she would like to hear my future.

Forgetting what father had told me, I finally consented.

Mrs. Fielding, just as before, asked me to cut them, then spread them on the table. My future was very pleasing. No one could ask anything better than that what she had told me. Mrs. Fielding had laid the cards three times on the table, and with that had told me my future for three years to come. My future pleased mother very much.

Mrs. Fielding put the cards back in her hand-bag, and asked me how I liked it. 1 praised her, told her that she was a great fortune-teller and that she would have to tell me more the next time she came; that I wished every word she had told me would come true. Mrs. Fielding said, everything what I have foretold you will come true if you will not get your fortune told by me any more. After Mrs. Fielding had left, mother asked me what I thought about her fortune-telling. As I knew that my mother believed in fortune-telling, I told her that Mrs. Fielding was a great fortune-teller, and would have to tell me more about my future the next time she came. I had already forgotten that Mrs. Fielding had told me not to let her tell me any more about my future.

The next day, I was home by myself; my mother had gone out to attend to some business. I was sitting in the garden, looking at the fleeting clouds, when suddenly I heard a voice, and as I turned to see to whom it belonged I saw Mrs. Fielding standing in the doorway. She was calling me. I arose from the bench and walked to her. She asked for my mother. I informed her that my mother had gone out, but that she would be back soon. As I knew she had enough time, I asked her to wait. She said that she would, if she would know how soon my mother would return.

I told her that I expected mother back in forty minutes. She decided to wait. I asked her to step in the parlor, where we sat at the table. Mrs. Fielding began questioning me about Chicago and I soon found that she thought very little about that large city, and would not let me say anything good of it. She said : "Sodom and Gomorrah were not only in olden days, they are here today, only under different names: New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Every one of these cities could change their name to Sodom or Gomorrah; that the majority of people which enter these cities are lost. They lose faith in God; they lose that which human beings owe toward one*' another. Their hearts grow as hard as stone, and they become the devil's tools.

"In those cities are many with perfect bodies, but with imperfect souls. I have never been there, but I know it just the same. I would never advise any one to go there. You were four years in Chicago, and are getting ready to go back. I told you your future yesterday, the cards showed you that you will do well there and make a success ; that means that you will have success for three years."

As soon as Mrs. Fielding mentioned fortune-telling, it reminded me of everything she had foretold me the day before.

I asked her if she could tell me my future still further.

She answered : "A few days ago you would not let me tell you your future. Now you can not get enough told. I have told you your future for three years. It is good. If you want to have it still better than I have told you, you can have it; but you must remember that it will not be me speaking to you. It will be some one else speaking through me; and, when he will have told you everything, he will ask you to do something. If you do what he will ask you, every word which he will tell you will come true, and you will become a great man. So do you want him to speak to you?"

I hesitated for a minute. Then I asked : "Who will be he that is going to speak to me and ask me to do something for him?"

She replied : "It will be the Holy Ghost."

I told her that I would do anything in my power.

She said a prayer, and then said : "Now he will speak to you. Listen carefully so that you hear every word.

"Joseph, when you were born, the moon and the stars were shining and the angels rejoiced in Heaven, as they knew what a great chance would be given you, and how great a man you would become if you would be willing to do what was asked of you.

"In your younger days, you were very religious. You offered your prayers daily. You did not pray only for yourself, but for all the poor that are suffering. God has heard your prayers, and as truth and justice prevail in your mind, God has chosen you for the man through whom he will reform the world and make you a Second Christ.

"The praying, weeping and calling for help of the people is breaking through Heaven. God will not stand for it any longer. He has chosen a very strange way in which to appoint the reformer of the world. God will be with you, and do the work through you.

"It has been your most sincere wish that some one should get strength and power to help the poor, to do away with their drudgery. Now you will have the chance to do that which you have wanted to do for so long a time.

"Christianity has been preached for nearly 1,900 years, and has accomplished very little. Tomorrow you must go to that mountain which you see over yonder. You must take the Bible with you, climb upon the rock which you call Giant's Rock. On that rock you will find a seat chiseled in the stone. In that seat you must sit down and read the Bible. After you will have read the Bible for a while, you will look up in the sky. There you will see a large bird that will descend before you. His looks will surprise you much. The front part of the body will be that of a sheep, and the hind part that of a bird.

"As soon as he will have descended, he will speak to you, but you will not understand what he is saying. With his feet he will make a sign on your forehead that will cause a little pain. That sign will stay on your forehead forever. When that bird will have made that sign on your forehead, he will speak to you again, but you will not be able to understand him. Then he will fly whither he came.

"From that time on, the Holy Ghost will be with you. You will have power to do everything that you will want to do. That Great Spirit which delivers God's messages to you through me will bring God's message to you.

"You will do only that which God will want you to do. Your work will be similar to Christ's. You will begin to preach on the streets and cure cripples and all kinds of diseases that are incurable today. You will have power to prophesy. All your wishes will be granted you. You will become known all over the world. People will see you as a messenger of God; they will send you money with which you will build one of the largest temples that ever has been built for a true religious purpose. Many rich people will flee to foreign countries, when they will hear of you, because they will not want to contribute any of their money. All those that will flee to foreign countries will become possessed with four evil spirits. These four evil spirits will torture them. They will not find rest upon the face of the earth, unless they rturn whence they came and confess to you that which they have done and what kind of experience they have had. They will offer you their wealth, but you will accept it only from some of them.

"Those whose money you will accept will go preaching into all parts of this world. The Holy Ghost will also be with them ; and those whose money you will not accept will be unfortunate and will never find comfort.

"You must not wear jewelry, nor ride in vehicles of any kind. You must not smoke nor drink liquors, and must not have any more clothing than you will need. You will at all times know what to do. That Great Spirit which is with me will be with you. All your friends will be astonished when they will see you do your great work, as all will know that you were only a dentist.

"Your whole work will be finished in one year. At the end of that year five rulers of the earth will pay you a visit, it being their firm and steadfast belief that you are a messenger of God. They will congratulate, you and utter words of appreciation for the work that you have done. These five rulers will be at your service. They will be ready to do anything for you, whatever you may ask of them. They will ask you what they can do for you. You will tell them that you do not want to bother them with anything; but as you think that it will be a pleasure to them to do something for you, and as you know that you will die soon, you will request of them to give your body a decent burial.

"They will be very much astonished at your request. They will ask you no questions, but will give you their word of honor that they will do that which you have asked of them, and that over your grave they will erect one of the largest monuments ever placed .over a grave.

"You and these five rulers will be in the temple, and as soon as they will have promised you that they will take care of your body, you will bless them and they will then depart into their homes. People of all the nations will know about you ; you will be looked upon as a Second Christ throughout the world.

IV. Crucified by the Pope

"But all people will not like you. The Pope and his cardinals will be your most dangerous enemies, because you will not praise their religion. You can not help that, you must, and you must always speak as the Spirit, which will always be with you, will tell you to.

"When your work will be finished, the Pope of Rome, the head of the Catholic Church, will write to you. He will congratulate you, and at the same time will ask you several questions. You will answer them. The answers will not be satisfactory to Leo XIII. He will get angry, and from that day he will go after your life. He will call in session all the heads of the Roman Catholic Church. They will meet on a certain day, to which he will invite you. His plan will be to murder you in the sight of many of his disciples.

"You will go. God will be with you. In Rome, in the Vatican, you will be received, as no other man has ever been. As it is the custom that every man who enters the walls of the

Papal chambers to speak to the Pope must come to him on his knees, you would not do that, even if you were expected to do so. As soon as you will come to him, he will give you a kiss, as Judas gave to Christ, when he betrayed him. He will offer several hypocritical prayers. Then he will question you. You will answer his questions, as the Spirit of God will tell you. All your answers will be unsatisfactory to him. The last question which he will put before you will be: 'Am I worthy of the place that I am now holding — the place of Holy Saint Peter?' You will answer as the Spirit of God will tell you. At your last answer he will get angry. He will turn purple in the face. The Devil will be in him. In this raving condition he will give orders to his men to take you in the catacombs and crucify you.

"His men will execute his orders. He, the Pope himself, will be present at the crucifixion. He will laugh in your face, and do the most cruel and meanest things to you that only the Devil can think of. You will die on the cross, as our Savior did.

"But do not be afraid of death. You will not feel any pain. As soon as tbey will drive one nail in your foot, you will expire, and God's angels will take your soul to Heaven, and on the Judgment Day you will be at the right hand of Christ, and there you will never regret what you have done for the people on earth.

"As weeks will pass and your friends will not hear from you, they will become alarmed. They will know that you were invited to Rome. They will inquire for you there. The answer that they will receive will be a sarcastic one. They then will notify the President of the United States, who is one of these five rulers that a short time ago promised you they would take care of your body after death.

"He will inform the other four rulers, who also gave you their, promise that your body should have a decent burial.

"These five rulers will send their representatives to Rome to find o'ut when you came there and when you left. These representatives will have strict orders which they will obey. On their arrival in Rome, admission to the Vatican will not be granted to them. They will be told that the Pope is very ill. The Pope will not be ill, but he will give sickness as his excuse for not meeting them. These men will demand to see the Pope's secretary, whom they will see after hours of waiting. They will question him concerning ypu. He will tell them that you have been there, and left Rome, January 18, twenty-eight days ago; that you were accompanied by ten men, and that he was one of the ten men that accompanied you to the train.

"These five representatives will depart from the Vatican, and will telegraph the news to their rulers that you left Rome safe for home.

"In the night God will give every one of the five representatives three visions, which they will call dreams. The first vision that these men will see will be your departure from St. Louis. They will see you in the temple with hundreds of people about you, and will hear you offer your last prayer in your country.

"When they will have seen that view, they will awake ; it will be one o'clock in the morning. Neither one of them will think much about it, and will sleep again. Then they will have a second vision. They will see your arrival in Rome, and how you are received by hundreds of priests at the Vatican.

"They will awake and it will be three o'clock in the morning. As these men do not have dreams often, they will blame their stomachs, and go to sleep again.

"In thirty minutes another vision will be seen by them. They will see you sitting among hundreds of priests in the Vatican; will hear Leo XIII offer his prayers. They will hear every question which the Pope asked you. They will see how angry and disappointed all those men looked and how you answered the last question. They will see the Pope in his rage; how he became purple in the face, and how, in that moment he ordered his men to seize you, how you were carried in the catacombs and^crucified.

"They will hear the Pope mock and laugh at you. They will see that as soon as one nail was driven in your foot that you expired.

"When these five representatives will have seen all this in their dreams, they will awake. Their terror over the sight of that terrible deed in the catacombs will seem to have no end.

"When they meet the next morning, one of them will ask the others why they are all up so early. One of them will reply: T had a bad dream. It kept me awake all night.' Then he will tell them his dream.

"As soon as he will have told it, each of the others will say that they dreamed the very same thing. As one of them will be a very religious man, a believer in dreams and visions, he will say that the dream which all of them had was given them from God. Pie will then declare that you have not returned home, you have been murdered in the way all of them saw in their dream. He will tell them to inform their rulers of their dreams, and to say that you have not arrived in your country; the dream that they have had will mean that the crime of your crucifixion has been committed. The others will be of the same opinion.

' They will telegraph to their rulers the message of their discoveries concerning you.