( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1372008101/?tag=2022091-20
(This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)
This book was digitized and reprinted from the collections of the University of California Libraries. It was produced from digital images created through the libraries mass digitization efforts. The digital images were cleaned and prepared for printing through automated processes. Despite the cleaning process, occasional flaws may still be present that were part of the original work itself, or introduced during digitization. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found online in the HathiTrust Digital Library at www.hathitrust.org.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006H3PAOA/?tag=2022091-20
(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1163128902/?tag=2022091-20
Joanna Southcott was born on April 25, 1750 in Taleford, England. Her father was a farmer and she herself was for a considerable time a domestic servant. She grew up in a devout religious atmosphere, being obliged to read a chapter of the Bible daily and discuss it with her father.
In 1797, Southcott left the service of the Taylors and went to work for several Exeter tradesmen in upholstering. She also saved some money for her eventual retirement. All this time her phophetic messages continued. She became convinced that she herself was the destined "Bride of the Lamb, " "woman clothed with the sun" in Revelation (12:1). She demanded that her messages be considered by a panel of clergymen. On January 5, 1801, she wrote again to five clergymen, asking them to prove within seven days that the messages were not divine revelations.
As Southcott's followers increased, she devised a strange sign of her mission, her famous "seal. " Years earlier, when working in the shop of Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, Southcott had found a seal with the initials "I. C. " and two stars. One day she formed the idea that these were the initials of Jesus Christ ("I" and "J" were then interchangeable as initials) and marked her prophecies with this seal. Now the idea came to her that this also indicated the sealing of believers as well as prophetic writings, as cited in Rev. 7:3: "Hurt not the earth till we have sealed the servants of our God. " She cut paper into squares and marked a circle on each square, writing inside, "The Seal of the Lord, the Elect and Precious, Man's Redemption to Inherit the Tree of Life, to be made Heirs of God and Joint Heirs with Jesus Christ. " Her followers received one of these squares after signing it, and it was folded up like an envelope and marked with the "I. C. " seal. Within a year she had issued several thousand of these "seals. " Unfortunately she was accused of selling them and making a handsome income, although she claimed the seals were freely issued without any charge.
From time to time, Southcott was genuinely tortured by doubts as to whether her inner voice was a delusion of Satan, and she toyed with the idea of giving up her mission and going back to the upholstery trade. Some of her prophecies had failed. After one period of depression, she published her doubts in a pamphlet titled "A Dispute between the Woman and the Powers of Darkness. " It seemed to be an honest work by a sincere woman, caught up in a strange mission that she had never sought. She continued to demand that the bishops examine her claims and prophecies and agreed to abide by their decision, but the church dignitaries were unwilling to become involved. Her mission continued to grow in spite of various unfortunate setbacks. One of these was the case of the infamous Mary Bateman, thief and abortionist, who had obtained a seal from Southcott and claimed that her hens were laying eggs with an inscription announcing the coming of Christ. Mary Bateman was executed for the murder of Rebecca Perigo, whom she had unmercifully fleeced for years by selling her charms against evil. For a time this scandalous episode of one of the "sealed followers" caused much embarrassment to the movement. But Southcott's writings sold well, and many people who had followed the unfortunate Richard Brothers now came to join her mission. During 1813 her ecstasies increased and she felt surrounded by angels.
Southcott was 64 years old when her "voice" commanded, "Order twelve gowns for thy wedding. " She was greatly disconcerted by this, as she had no desire for matrimony, but in early 1814 the voice added, "This year in the sixty-fifth year of thy age thou shalt bear a son by the power of the Most High. " Back in 1794, she had already declared her conviction that she was "the Bride of the Lamb, " but now the full significance of this dawned on her. This passage has confused and comforted many religious prophets, including Richard Brothers, who had declared at one point, "I am Shiloh. " Southcott believed Brothers misunderstood the passage; Shiloh was to arise in the Last Days. In March 1814 she declared her belief that Shiloh was her unborn child. A satinwood cradle for the baby was prepared at a cost of £200. Recalling her message to Pomeroy (the Cornwall vicar) that she was the bride mentioned in Scripture, Southcott concluded that she must make an earthly marriage so that Shiloh would have a foster father, as with Joseph and the child Jesus.
During November, painful doubts began to manifest in her mind, and once again she began to wonder if her voice had misled her. She called her close friends to her bedside and confessed despairingly, "Now it all appears delusion. " She grew weaker, and by December 16 the symptoms of pregnancy had vanished. She told her doctor she was gradually dying, and requested that after her presumed death her body be kept warm for four days, in case she was only in a trance. She died early in the morning on December 27. After the four days had elapsed, her doctor and 14 other medical practitioners examined the body and found no organic disease beyond a condition of dropsy, which may have enhanced the false pregnancy. She was buried in Marylebone Cemetery, London, on January 2, 1815, and her tombstone, evidently supplied by a follower, predicted great wonders yet to come but inaccurately stated her age as 60 instead of 64. The tombstone was shattered in a gunpowder explosion at Regent's Park in 1874.
( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
(This book was digitized and reprinted from the collection...)
(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
