was, that the Spirit appeared to me and said I had
my wishes directed to the things of this world, and
not to the kingdom of Heaven, and that I should return
to the service of my earthly master—“For
he who knoweth his Master’s will, and doeth
it not, shall be beaten with many stripes, and thus
have I chastened you.” And the negroes
found fault, and murmurred against me, saying that
if they had my sense they would not serve any master
in the world. And about this time I had a vision—and
I saw white spirits and black spirits engaged in battle,
and the sun was darkened—the thunder rolled
in the Heavens, and blood flowed in streams—and
I heard a voice saying, “Such is your luck,
such you are called to see, and let it come rough
or smooth, you must surely bare it.” I now
withdrew myself as much as my situation would permit,
from the intercourse of my fellow servants, for the
avowed purpose of serving the Spirit more fully—and
it appeared to me, and reminded me of the things it
had already shown me, and that it would then reveal
to me the knowledge of the elements, the revolution
of the planets, the operation of tides, and changes
of the seasons. After this revelation in the
year 1825, and the knowledge of the elements being
made known to me, I sought more than ever to obtain
true holiness before the great day of judgment should
appear, and then I began to receive the true knowledge
of faith. And from the first steps of righteousness
until the last, was I made perfect; and the Holy Ghost
was with me, and said, “Behold me as I stand
in the Heavens”—and I looked and
saw the forms of men in different attitudes—and
there were lights in the sky to which the children
of darkness gave other names than what they really
were—for they were the lights of the Saviour’s
hands, stretched forth from east to west, even as they
were extended on the cross on Calvary for the redemption
of sinners. And I wondered greatly at these miracles,
and prayed to be informed of a certainty of the meaning
thereof—and shortly afterwards, while laboring
in the field, I discovered drops of blood on the corn
as though it were dew from heaven—and I
communicated it to many, both white and black, in the
neighborhood—and I then found on the leaves
in the woods hieroglyphic characters, and numbers,
with the forms of men in different attitudes, portrayed
in blood, and representing the figures I had seen before
in the heavens. And now the Holy Ghost had revealed
itself to me, and made plain the miracles it had shown
me—For as the blood of Christ had been
shed on this earth, and had ascended to heaven for
the salvation of sinners, and was now returning to
earth again in the form of dew—and as the
leaves on the trees bore the impression of the figures
I had seen in the heavens, it was plain to me that
the Saviour was about to lay down the yoke he had
borne for the sins of men, and the great day of judgment
was at hand. About this time I told these things
to a white man, (Etheldred T. Brantley) on whom it