Franklin, Swedenborg, Paine, and his companions visit a place near the castle--Old things become new--Process of change--Identity preserved--Self is a part of the body--All sympathize together in good and ill--Governments defective--Opposition to capital punishment--Origin of evil--How overcome--Success of the mission--Means must be adapted to conditions--Contradictory communications develop the condition of minds in the second sphere--Conflicting revealments harmonious with different degrees of wisdom--Writing mediums--Societies and forms of worship--Adaptation is harmony--Harmony should not be disturbed--The mission of spirits will be to regulate minds--Minds will change forms--Retire to a mansion--Onward is a passport--Dullness reproved--Dedication of the Pilgrimage.--[From p. 235 to p. 259.] PREFACE. Agreeably to announcement in the “Light from the Spirit World,” I am able to present this volume to the public, under circumstances which will be gratifying to all those who are the friends of Progress and Reform. No pains have been spared to present the precise words chosen by the author, and preserve the style and sense of the original manuscript. In regard to the merits of the production, it must speak for itself; for, whatever of merit or demerit it may possess, I am worthy of neither praise nor censure. Astounding as may be the assertion, that I had no will to write it, or exercised any other control, than to let my hand be moved by an invisible influence, and write as it would, without any volition on my part, yet it is, nevertheless, true. And, I am quite confident, that out of the two thousand writing mediums, now in the United States, no one in a passive condition will be able to contradict the assertion. Indeed, I have found by actual experiment, that, in a great many instances, the spirit who controls my hand, has succeeded in writing sentences contrary to my will, and while I was endeavoring with all my volition, to write something else. But, so far as the orthography and punctuation of the Pilgrimage are concerned, I have exercised supervision. And yet, much aid has been afforded me by spirits in this matter. They arranged all the paragraphs and sentences. The initials, which represent different minds, were added by myself, to aid the general reader; and also the division of the work into chapters, with the prefatory contents of the same. Never having written a book in my life, excepting with the control of spirits, who have now given two volumes to the public, in about eight months, it may occur to the reader, that other divisions would have been preferable; but I have made the divisions as they seemed to me most natural.