' he lift me up--above de 'arth--above de clouds--above de stars--'way
up to de high heabens, whar am de sperrits ob just men made perfect, who
hab been redeemed from among men, who hab gone fru great tribulation,
whose garments hab been washed clean in de blood ob de Lamb! 'Dis,' he
say, 'am de city ob de livin' God, de heabenly Jerusalem, whose
foundations am saffomires, whose walls am silver, whose streets am gold,
whose houses am jewels an' all precious stones! Here de sun neber sets.
Here de storm an' de hurricane neber come, an' here, Joseph, am a
dwellin' prepared fur you--'here, ef you'm faithful an' 'bedient, you
shill come when you' wuck on de 'arth am ober!'

The speaker had been gradually warming with his subject till he uttered
this last sentence, when his voice trembled, his face glowed, and his
upturned eye seemed gazing on the ineffable glories of the land he was
describing. A stillness like that of death fell on the assemblage, and
the simple blacks, hanging breathlessly on his words, looked up to where
Joe's hand was pointing, as if they too had caught the vision on which
his eyes were feasting. In a moment, he continued:

'I looked round, an' I saw dat beautiful city; I breafed its air; I
walked its streets; I hard its music--de neber endin' song which its
countless people send up to de throne ob de Great Father; an' I say to
de angel: 'Do brack folks lib yere? Kin _dey_ come to dis beautiful
country?' an' he say: You shill see.' Den he lead me fru dose shinin'
streets, out inter de open fiel's whar war pleasant pastures, greener
dan any on de 'arth, an' still waters, dat sparkle in de sun, jess like
missus' diamonds in de light ob de fire.' (I did not know that Mrs.
Preston wore diamonds--she certainly had not worn them in my presence.)
'He lead me out till we come to a great woods, whar fount'ins war
playin', an' birds war singin', an' flowers war growin', an' de air wus
full of fragrance; an' dar I seed a great crowd ob people gadered
togeder, a listenin' to one dat wus a talkin' to 'em. Dar wus Ab'ram,
an' Isaac, an' Jacob,--dar wus Moses, an' Joseph, au' Samuel--dar wus
David, an' Solomon, an' de prophets--dar wus Paul, an' John, an'
Peter,--dar wus 'most all de great an' good men who hab libed in de
worle; an' dar too, right aside ob de one dat wus speakin', wus de
blessed Saviour, wid de woun' in his side, an' de print ob de nails in
his hands. An' who do you tink wus a talkin' dar, to all dem