MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS. 
a crown of twelve stars; the twelve 
stars being her twelve apostles, who 
with the second dozen oi believers 
makeup her four-and-twenty elders. 
Ip ier visitation it was told her, 
_ that the angels rejoiced at her birth, 
because she was born to deiiver both 
men and angels trom the insults of 
the devil. Let it be lawful for me 
to repeat these blasphemies, holding 
them up to merited abhorrence. The 
scheme of redemption, she says, is 
completed in her, and without her 
_ would be imperfect ; by woman came 
- the fall of man, by woman must 
come his redemption; woman pluck- 
éd the evil fruit, and woman must 
pluck the good fruit; if the tree of 
knowledge was violated by Eve, the 
tree of life is reserved for Joanna, 
Eve was a bone from Adam, she is 
a bone from Christ the second Adam. 
She is the bride, the promised seed 
who is to bruise the serpent’s head ; 
she it is who claims the promise 
made at the creation, that woman 
should be the helpmate of man, and 
by her the Creator fullils that pro- 
mise, and acquits himself of the 
charge of having given to man the 
woman in vain. ‘The evening star 
was placed ‘in the firmament to be 
her type. While she arrogates so 
much to herself, she is proportion- 
ately liberal to her followers; they 
have been appointed to the four- 
and-twenty elderships: and to one 
of them, when he died, a higher 
character was more blasphemously 
attributed ; she assured his relations 
that he was gone to plead the pro- 
mises before the Lord; that to him 
was to be given the key of the bot- 
tomless pit, and that the time was at 
hand when he should be seen de- 
*scending in the air,—for they knew 
not the meaving of our Saviour’s 
words when he said, *¢ Ye shall 
1019 
see the Son of Man coming in the 
clouds, in power and great glory?” 
The immediate object of her call 
is to destroy the devil: of this the 
devil was aware, and that it might 
not be said he had had foul play, 
a regular dispute of seven days was 
agreed on between him and Joanna, 
in which she was to be alone, ahd 
he to bring with him as many of the 
Powers of Darkness as he pleased : 
but he was not to appear visibly ; 
for, as he did not choose to make 
his appearance on aformer occasion 
when some of her elders went to 
give him the meeting, but had dis- 
appointed them, he was not to be 
permitted to manifest himself bodily 
now. ‘The conditions were, that if 
she hell out with argument against 
him for seven days, the woman 
should be freed and he fall; but if 
she yielded, Satan’s kingdom was to 
stand, and asecond fall of the human 
race would be the consequence. Ac- 
cordingly, she wentalone intoa solita- 
ry house for this conference.. Joanna 
was her ownsecretary upon this oc- 
casion, and the process-verbal of 
the conference has been printed, as 
literally taken down; for she was 
ordered to set down all his blasphe. 
mies, and show to the world what 
the language of hell is. It is by no 
means a polite language ;—indeed 
the proficiency which Satan displays 
in the valgar tongue is surprising. 
Of all Joanna’s books this is the 
most curious. Satan broughta friend 
with him, and they made up a story 
for themselves which has some inge- 
nuity, ‘+ It is written,” said they, 
“ Be still, and know that I am 
God ;” this still worship did not suit 
Satan; he was a lively cheerful 
spirit, full of mirth and gaicty, which 
the Lord could not bear, and there- 
fore cast him out of heaven. This, 
according 
