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 Answers to ever-recurrng questions from 
 
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ANSWERS 
 
 EYER-RECUEEING QUESTIONS 
 
 FROM THE PEOPLE. 
 
 %. Stqntl is i^t ^enttialiti.) 
 
 AUTHOB OF SEVEBAIi VOLUUES ON THE HABUONIAL FHUiOSOPHT. 
 
 "Bacll mania capable of rendering high servico to humanity ; but whether humanity 
 gets it from him. or the reverse, will ever remain for the world to decide. Now here am 
 I, acting faithfully in accordance with my personalities and its boundaries. If you know 
 how to use me, as my nature prescribes, I shall then yield you a permanent benefit ; but, 
 if in your ignorance of yourself, (and, therefore, of me), you do not put me to ih& hest 
 service, you will soon feel the penalty.'' — Penetralia, p. 16. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 WILLIAM WHITE & COMPANY, 
 
 168 WASHINGTON 8TEEET. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 BANNEE OF LIGHT BEANCH OITICE, 644 BEOAD-ffAT. 
 
 1868. 
 
UHiVERSITY 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1662, 
 BY ANDREW JAC K S N D A VI S, 
 
 In the Clerks O&ce of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Southern 
 iflttrltt of New Yoiii. 
 
PRE FAC E, 
 
 It may interest the reader, before entering upon an examination 
 of this volume, to know what brought it into existence. 
 
 About six years ago, I published a book entitled " The Penetra- 
 lia." It was filled with replies to questions put by investigators who 
 have been developed and multiplied, to an unexampled extent, by that 
 extraordinary and influential movement of modern days, commonly 
 denominated " Spiritual." In that volume is the following language . 
 " The author does not presume to believe that his replies will be 
 either final or gratifying to those who occupy different positions in 
 regard to the several subjects considered; and yet his spirit is ani- 
 mated with the hope that, to such minds, the following pages may 
 suggest, even more than they express, high thoughts and saving 
 principles." 
 
 That the " replies " communicated in that book were neither final 
 nor sufficient in variety to meet the ever-rising necessities of man's 
 immortal mind, is proved by the appearance of this volume. Here 
 are presented newly awakened " Answers " to newly arisen " Ques- 
 tions," which have been freely and frequently put to the author during 
 the last three years. The following interrogatories, which have not 
 been replied to in any previous volume, are selected from a formida- 
 ble pile of correspondence. Hundreds of questions have reached the 
 author from persons who have not read anything on the subject. To 
 such, the Answers hereby imparted will come like a revelation from 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 ii new world of Truth ; while to those who have read and investi- 
 gated, the following pages will seem " familiar as household words.'' 
 
 But the thinking, progressive public, will find in this volume many 
 new, curious, useful, and interesting truths touching the great facts of 
 Future Existence. These truths are to men's minds what air, light, 
 and moisture are to grains, grasses, flowers and fruit — the means of 
 fertility and expansion. Sometimes a single sentence will illuminate 
 the uneducated and unhappy mind, as a single flash of lightning will 
 light up a dark and dreary forest. 
 
 I have not written with the /eor of public opinion before my eyes, 
 but have approached the " Questions " with the conviction that " the 
 withholding of large truths from the world may be a betrayal of the 
 greatest trust." 
 
 That this sequel to the " Penetralia " may bring new light into the 
 world, and be the means of spiritual growth and happiness to man- 
 kind, is my very earnest prayer. 
 
 A. J. DAVIS 
 New York, October, 1862 
 
ANSWERS 
 
 QUESTIONS FROM THE PEOPLE 
 
 Mission of the True Spiritualist. 
 
 I. — Question : " "What is the position of the true Spiritualist ? 
 Is it possible for him to remain indifferent to the welfare of mankind ? 
 Does not such a faith tend to render its recipients wiser, happier, and 
 more useful ? " 
 
 Answer : Light is pouring in from the eternal Spheres. 
 
 It flings its radiance on every passing eye. The weary, 
 
 benighted traveler beholds it afar off. Nature, with an 
 
 impartial hand, scatters her truths everywhere; the same 
 
 at the poles as beneath the equator ; and thus the whole 
 
 globe is abundantly filled with their beauty and fragrance. 
 
 Unhappy, indeed, is that mind which can neither see their 
 
 proportions nor enjoy their hallowed magnetic principles. 
 
 Those immortal truths which 
 
 » 
 
 "heal, and soothe,'and bless, 
 
 Are 8C8-ttered at the feet of man, like flowers." 
 
 Do they not deserve universal attention ? They are gentle 
 in their lovingness, delightful in their fragrance, magical 
 in their tender touches of wisdom, sublime in their moun- 
 
6 , ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 tainous grandeur, holy in their significant teachings, and 
 Go'd-likein their boundless magnificence and eternal power. 
 In such truths we perceive the "breath of Nature, and 
 behold her endless bloom." She unbosoms her every grace 
 to the truth-worshipper. ~ Her disclosures are to those only 
 who love her wisely ; to the uncertain child, the ruthless 
 man, " her face is vailed " both day and night. But to 
 her devoted lovei's. Nature is lavish and tender forever, 
 and she is also just in all her requirements. 
 
 To the trtie Spiritualist (using the term in its largest 
 sense) are vouchsafed those immortal principles of Truth, 
 which exalt humanity and enrich eternity. The positive 
 radiance of individual immortality, breaking with infinite 
 light and luster upon this unhappy world, reveals our 
 manifold imperfections. Antiquated errors, and time- 
 cemented systems of injustice and wrong, betray their 
 hideous proportions. The abundance of good light exhibits 
 the darkness of evil in every place and nation. That 
 mind which has stricken off the shackles of mental slavery, 
 and which, with new-born gladness, realizes the eternal 
 dignity and birthright of individual life, is certain to sing 
 the songs of Freedom and of boundless Reform. 
 
 Hence, it is the undoubted province of the true Spirit 
 ualist to reverence the principles of Progression, and, at 
 the same time, to stand like a mountain of adamant against 
 the regressive waves of superstition. Perforce of his 
 powerful convictions, and in consequence of the incessant 
 urgings to righteous conduct emanating from his best 
 guardians in the Spirit Land, the believer is, of necessity, 
 an opponent to church-taught errors. A higher concep- 
 tion of Father-God dawns upon his awakened understand- 
 ing. Instead of infinite rage and inconceivable torments, 
 cf implacable wrath and unmerciful justice in the universe, 
 
MISSION OF THE TKUE SPIRITUALIST. 7 
 
 the true Spiritualist sees an unchangeably pei-fect Fount- 
 ain of deific principles, consisting of equal parts of 
 Love and Wisdom, by which the stupendous whole, with its 
 countless families of life, is enlivened .and progressively 
 carried onward forever. Nothing is lost; everything is 
 saved. " Not a sparrow falleth " beyond the realm of pro- 
 gressive law. The infinite good pervades and persuades 
 the material universe, which is the source of every 
 imperfection. Mind is positive to matter ; therefore good 
 (or God) is the master of evil (or matter); consequently, 
 in opposition to all church-errors the Spiritualist must 
 plant himself. He involuntarily works for the prevalence 
 of the best thoughts and ideas. The principles of eternal 
 and all-saving Progression are as dear to his heart as is 
 the spirit of God to the bosom of Mother Nature. Won- 
 der not, therefore, if the Spiritualist, instead of preaching 
 " hell and heaven " to the world, proclaims the igospel of 
 eternal advancement, with the philosophical effects attend- 
 ing man's disobedience. 
 
 Again, the Spiritualist must of necessity be an unselfish 
 friend of good political government. He cannot vote for 
 a well-known conservative in matters of national import. 
 Although his worldly interests say one thing, and, notwith- 
 standing the inducements of his most deeply-cherished 
 acquaintances, the hand of the true Spiritualist will act 
 responsive to his divine light. The degradations and dis- 
 cordances of the world, and the everywhere visible causes 
 of human unhappiness, move the noble nature to righteous 
 deeds. He yearns for the universal realization of true 
 spiritual and physical freedom. The palaces of the kings 
 are nothing compared with the mansions of happiness in 
 immortal spheres. The Presidential chair is a contempti- 
 ble niche in the nation's structure compared with a seat in 
 
8 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 the golden chariot of spiritual progression. The honor of 
 the first is like the rosy tints on spring flowers, which excite 
 and please for the brief season only ; but the honor of 
 comprehending a truth is dignifying to the soul forever ; 
 while no truth, even with worldly distinctions, is attended 
 with selfish action and ultimate disgrace. The true Spirit- 
 ualist, consequently, is a political reformer. 
 
 But there is a work in which the true Spiritualist may 
 be the agent of inconceivable benefit to the race. His 
 truth-invigorated soul, while living and laboring practi- 
 cally amid the din and bustle of the rudimental world, is 
 lifted to a loftier sphere of communion. The summum 
 bonum of his existence is not " to eat, drink, and be merry, 
 for to-morrow we die ; " but, while doing justice to the 
 physical opportunities of present life, he never sinks down 
 beneath his manhood's noble station. He sees the great 
 work of the world. With the poet he says : 
 
 '' Ages pass away, 
 
 Thrones fall, and nations disappear, and worlds 
 Grow old and go to wreck; the soul alone 
 Endures, and what she chooseth for herself, 
 The arbiter of her own destiny. 
 That only shall be permanent." 
 
 Impressed with the sublimity of this truth, the Spiritualist 
 is prepared to stand unmoved and sweet-spirited amid the 
 conflicting elements of sects and parties. His earnestness 
 is deep as the sea, and his opposition to prevailing errors 
 may be mighty as that of truth itself. Yet it is well- 
 tempered and universally charitable. He cannot say to 
 any man, " I am holier than thou," but he can say : " Here 
 is what I recognize as truth. I hold it as best for all men. 
 I did not originate it. It is yours; it is mine; it is 
 universal." 
 
 To be uniformly kind-hearted in his reform efforts, and 
 
NATURAL PRINCIPLES AND DEDUCTIONS. 9 
 
 forbearing with those who, less favorably organized, or 
 more unfortunately situated, do the deeds of darkness — 
 such is the privilege of the true Spiritualist. No fanatical 
 reformatory schemes; no invasion of others' homes and 
 territories ; no embarrassments thrown around the rights 
 of the neighbor ; no submission to palpable injustice done 
 by your neighbor ; do right yourself, and so help keep 
 others on the track — thus worketh the true Spiritualist. 
 For he well knows that the laws of progress, that the 
 opportunities for individual improvement, are not confined 
 to the present world. Thus the true Spiritualist is a fount- 
 ain of infinite HorE. However dark the day, he never 
 gives up to the treachery of despair. As germs of beauty 
 burst their embarrassments, so 
 
 " You and I, one day, 
 Sball burst this prison-house of clay; 
 And borne above by unseen hands, 
 Shall blossom in celestial lands." 
 
 Natural Principles and Deductions. 
 
 II. — Question : " You say, ' to the true Spiritualist is vouoli- 
 safed those immortal truths, which exalt humanity and enrich eternity.' 
 "Will you mention a few of such truths, with your deductions ? What 
 is a natural principle ? and how is man's mind related to it ? " 
 
 Answer: A natural principle, though million-phased 
 and invisible to the senses, is forever one and inseparable. 
 
 Man's mind, though submerged in matter and buried 
 in abject ignorance, is destined for 'harmony and wisdom. 
 
 Nature is the visible manifestation of God ; but God is 
 equally a manifestation of Nature : each inspires, directs, 
 companionates, and reflects the other. 
 
 You cannot learn orthodox theology from Nature; 
 neither can yoa obtain creedal religion from God ; for 
 God and Nature, though infinitely diversified, are essen- 
 tially and practically One. 
 
10 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 The great living principles of interior truth and good- 
 ness, which constitute the vitals of Christianity, are indige- 
 nous to the spiritual constitution of man. 
 
 When man's spirit is awakened in the direction of 
 truth and righteousness, whether by an angel's influence or 
 the tongue of man, then his intuitions arise to the pyra- 
 midal hights wherefrom great truths become visible and 
 attractive. 
 
 The Mussulman and Methodist are equally subjects of 
 inspiration. The Presbyterian is no nearer to God than 
 the Persian, or the worshiper of Brahma and Buddha; 
 for God and Nature are no respecters of persons or creeds. 
 
 Man's success in life will be in exact proportion to the 
 measure of his capacities, the propitiousness of his circum- 
 stances, and the extent of his obedience to the natural laws 
 of his body and mind. If he is good-spirited and truth- 
 loving, he will be benefited by every error and chastened 
 by every misfortune. 
 
 If it be true that John saw an angel standing in the 
 sun, or if it be true that any man at any time ever saw a 
 spirit, it is most reasonable to presume that the same experi- 
 ence will continue to form a part of all human history. 
 
 There is a divine power working in all that occurs in 
 human life and society — indeed, unless there be such a 
 power, life and society would be impossibilities. Without 
 rills and rivers there could be no lakes, no seas. " The 
 river of life, clear as crystal," is from the heart-currents 
 and love-rills of the infinite Father and Mother. 
 
 True religion is derived from Nature. Miracles innu- 
 merable are incessantly performed by Nature to attest the 
 divinity of her mission. Stars in the sky, and the grass 
 beneath, are her signs and wonders. And truth is the 
 golden door of entrance to the human heart. 
 
NATURAL PBTNCIPLBS AND DEDUCTIONS. 11 
 
 Where Nature is, there is no man-made theology. 
 Wliere there is a true child of Nature, there is no creed, 
 no falsehood, no hypocrisy. The children of Nature are 
 perpetually young. 
 
 Selfishness is the bitter lesson of existing forms of 
 society. Benevolence and natural generosity are checked 
 by the artificial restraints of civilization. 
 
 Nature is democratic, and maketh haste to break down 
 the barriers of selfishness and aristocracy, but creeds and 
 bigotry erect insurmountable fortifications. 
 
 The age of Nature will not come until men become 
 wiser and more respectful of whatsoever is natural and 
 reasonable. 
 
 The chaotic mind, viewing Nature with the senses, sees 
 no harniony or unity. 
 
 > The ancients believed in many contradictory gods, 
 because they experienced many contradictory influences 
 from invisible sources — somewhat as mediums in these days, 
 under similar influences, are impressed with difi'erent theo- 
 ries of the next world. 
 
 Polytheists were ancient Spiritualists. Their gods, in 
 these days, are called " spirits." 
 
 Men have faith or doubts from the operations of their 
 own minds; but their daily conduct is determined by that 
 influence which is the most powerful, either from within or 
 without. 
 
 The reason why Nature does not impart to some minds 
 a knowledge of God, is because such persons do not inter- 
 rogate her in the fullness of their hearts. If you know 
 what it is to love a Principle, though it be only the common 
 law of chemistry or gravitation, then you so far know what 
 God is, and wliat his will is, in Nature and iji you. It is, 
 however, more elevating to love the principle of Love, 
 
12 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 or Justice, or Truth, or Freedom, or Beauty, or Harmony ' 
 for by the sanctity and spirituality of love for such princi- 
 ples your soul is lifted magnetically toward the heart of 
 Nature, which is God. 
 
 Men love what is nearest to their state of mind and 
 body. A change in condition necessitates a change of 
 appetite. 
 
 All persons who are monotonous in character are 
 unchangeable in habits. Like strong wagons they roll in 
 the same ruts for a whole generation. Death is the lever 
 that lifts thousands of human-wagons out of earthly tracks. 
 Death is a pivotal event in human progress. 
 
 The Order of Things Eternal. 
 
 III. — Question : Is it possible for man to thwart the designs of 
 God ? Pardon me for seeking your impression upon this matter. I 
 am especially desired by my husband to write you, because our minis- 
 ter last Sunday preached a sermon, in which he took strong ground in 
 favor of man's power to break God's moral laws, and against the 
 fatality or Hindooism of modern times. 
 
 Answer : The stupendous panorama of material and 
 
 spiritual existence moveth to its appointed end, because the 
 
 whole is actuated by inter-intelligent principles, which 
 
 perform grand revolutions through eternal ages, with sure 
 
 and undeviating effects. The most trivial occurrence that 
 
 can be imagined, interfering with the established purpose 
 
 and universal order of things, would result in universal 
 
 dismay and destruction. Tell your minister that Father God 
 
 " Feeds the sacred fire 
 
 By which the mighty process is maintained, 
 Who sleeps not, nor is weary: in whose sight, 
 Slow circling ages are as transient days ; 
 Whose work is without labor, whose Designs 
 No flaw defects, nor difficulty thwarts, 
 And whose Benefiioence no change exhausts. 
 
 And tell your minister, further, that the Bible (his 
 
THE ORDER OP THINGS ETERNAL. 13 
 
 authority,) is full of this " Hindooism of modern times." 
 For example (See Phil, ii : 13,) " God worketh in you both to 
 will and to do of his good pleasure." If this be true, if 
 the New Testament authority is reliable, then the -Grreat 
 Positive Mind is beyond the reach of alteration. Every- 
 thing must occur in harmony with the unbounded sov- 
 ereignty of his unchangeable attributes. The old medium 
 Ezekiel (See ch. xxxvi, v. 26, 27,) makes God say, " A 
 
 new heart also will I give you And I will take away 
 
 the stony heart out of your flesh And I will put my 
 
 spirit within you. . . . And ye shall keep my judgments and 
 do them." 
 
 Is this fatality ? Is this Hindooism ? "We think it is, 
 and also that it embodies a great truth. It is innate, and 
 therefore natural, to all human consciousness. Only the 
 ignorant egotist is filled with theimaginary power to over- 
 throw the designs of eternal intelligence. More wisdom 
 reaches down to intuition, the well-springs whereof over- 
 flow with this sublime universal dependence and unchangea- 
 bility. Bailey, in his "Festus," thus writes: 
 
 " With God Time is not ; unto Him all is 
 Present eternity. Worlds, beings, years. 
 With all their natures, powers, and events, 
 The bounds whereof He fashions and ordains, 
 Unfold themselves like flowers. Time must not be 
 Contrasted with eternity; 'tis not 
 A second of the Everlasting Year." 
 
 In another place the same theological, yet intuitive poet 
 expresses the completeness of the all-powerful Father 
 
 " In thy hand is every spirit, 
 And the meed the same may merit, 
 All which all the worlds inherit, 
 
 Thine ! 
 'Tis not to thy creatures given 
 To scale the lofty ways of Heaven — 
 Always just and kind; 
 
34 ' ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 But, before Thy mighty breath, 
 Life aad Spirit, Dast and Death — 
 
 The boundless All is driven, 
 Like clouds by wind ! " 
 
 But no Poet hath better written our philosophy than 
 Pope, thus: 
 
 " If plagues or earthquakes break not Heaven's design 
 Then doth a Borgia or a Cataline ? 
 Who knows but He whose hand the lightning forms,. 
 Who heaves old ocean, and who wings the storms — 
 Pours fierce ambition in a Caisar's mind. 
 And turns young Ammon loose to scourge mankind? 
 Account for moral as for natural things ; 
 God's Wisdom good from seeming evil brings. 
 Why charge we Him in those, in these acquit ? 
 In both, to reason right, is to submit. 
 Better for us, perhaps it might appear, 
 Were there all harmony, all virtue here ; 
 That never air or ocean felt the wind ; 
 That never passion discompqsed the mind. 
 But Nature lives by elemental strife. 
 And passions are the elements of life. 
 i'he general order since the whole began, 
 Is kept in Nature, and is kept in man." 
 
 The System of Existence. 
 
 IV. — Question : " Are the doctrines of Aristotle — ' The fortui- 
 tous concourse of Atoms' — an all-sufficient explanation of the existence 
 of the world. Many think the hypothesis of' A Great First Cause' 
 is uncalled for ; since, by the light of science, all the phenomena of 
 creation may be accounted for on strictly atheistic principles. Will 
 you give a statement of the order of things from your standpoint ? " 
 
 Answer: The system of existence, as seen from our 
 standpoint, is, in brief, as follows : Gross and angular par- 
 ticles of matter make mineral organizations. When the 
 atoms become more symmetrical, they pass into the forma- 
 tion of plants. 
 
 The vegetable kingdom achieves an alteration and 
 Improvement in the shape and condition of the particles, and 
 
THE CENTEE OF THE UNIVERSE. 15 
 
 then the latter ascend the scale of being, and unfold the 
 animal. 
 
 From this point of atomic refinement, the human king- 
 dom commences ; and this connects the material and the 
 spiritual — the mortal with immortality. 
 
 The human race has gone, or is now passing, through a 
 similar system of progression. 
 
 All development goes by waves and cycles; the links 
 in the endless, spirally ascending scale of progress. 
 
 All things throughout the immeasurable domain of ter- 
 restrial and celestial existence — with their forces, laws, 
 movements, and developments — are reciprocally related to, 
 and inseparably connected with each other ; so that there 
 is formed or constituted a magnificent unitary system of 
 existence and causation, of which the Divine Being is the 
 great positive life-principle and regulating power. 
 
 In the subordinate departments of Nature, the order of 
 the system stands thus: Earth, Minerals, Vegetables, 
 Animals, Man. 
 
 The same identical system of cycles has been, or is being, 
 manifested by the progressions of mankind. The order 
 stands historically and absolutely, thus : Savagism, Barbar- 
 ism, Patriarchalism, Civilism, Eepublicanism. 
 
 The same system is exhibited in the normal life of every 
 individual, thus: Infancy, Youth, Adolescence, Manhoood, 
 Maturity. 
 
 The analogy is none the less perfect in the development 
 and association of moving principles, thus: Motion, Life, 
 Sensation, Organization, Intelligence. 
 
 The Center of the Universe. 
 
 V. — Question : " Do you recognize any center to this Universe ? 
 If so, does not a center imply a circumference? Do the suns belong- 
 ing to the six great circles revolve around the Seusorium 2 " 
 
16 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Answer : Wo are necessarily limited to the sphere of 
 our clairvoyant penetrations, aided by the observations 
 and conclusions of Reason. Consequently, it is not sup- 
 posable that our answer to any questions is a finality, but a 
 stepping-stone rather to analyzations and conclusions far 
 more profound and satisfactory. 
 
 With this understanding we make answer that the uni- 
 verse of matter (organically speaking,) is not boundless ; 
 yet that the universe of unorganized, but organizing mate- 
 terial, is boundless, so far as we can comprehend. Of that 
 portion of the already organized matter which men term 
 " the universe," the Sensorium is the Center. Of course 
 there is a circumference, but not to the infinite ocean of 
 perpetually forming material, which has countless centers 
 of positive powers. The different circles of suns revolve 
 about each other, or around solar centers in the depths of 
 space, a'nd all, as one rolling system of harmony, around 
 the all-sustaining Sensorium. 
 
 The First Indubitable Certainty. 
 
 VI. — Question : " Debating lately with a friend on the prevalent 
 systems of metaphysics, I had occasion to refer to the celebrated say- 
 ing, ' I think, therefore I am,- but could not recall the name of the 
 
 Greek Philosopher who uttered it Will you please give the 
 
 author's name, and your impression of the doctrine of the saying ? " 
 
 Answer : The famous utterance — I think, therefore 1 
 am — was made by a French philosopher, Descartes. He 
 ascended to the Summer Land more than two hundred 
 years ago. His was a mathematical mind; lucid in its 
 logic; skeptical to the verge of a demonstration. The 
 sum total of all his thinking and reasoning on the existence 
 of God and of immortality — was cogito ergo sum, or " 1 
 think, therefore I am." This climax of metaphysical 
 investigation is substantially the " know thyself" of Plato 
 
OBJECTIVITY AND SOBJECTIVITT. 17 
 
 Tliales, and Socrates. But Descartes, not a Greek, but a 
 Frenchman, gave the master-stroke to the statement. 
 
 Our impression of the doctrine is, that Consciousness is 
 the only indubitable fact. All else is relative and ques- 
 tionable. Self-existence is the primary demonstration of 
 existence. Mind is known to itself by and through its 
 consciousness. Your only perfectly clear idea is that of 
 your existence. You can mistrust every fact but the fact 
 of yourself. Consciousness is irresistible, absolute, irre- 
 versible, and beyond controversy. It is that which you 
 accept without question. You live in it, because it is your- 
 self. Descartes gave the world the true method of all 
 interior philosophical reasoning. He showed conclusively, 
 that it is vain to ask for a proof of that which is self- 
 evident. This statement is the basis of all spiritual 
 philosophy. " The consciousness of my existence is to me 
 the assurance of ray existence." All else is secondary, 
 relative, and may be doubted. " I know I exist, because I 
 feel that I exist.." This makes consciousness the basis of 
 all truth. [See " Central Ideas " in Harmonia, vol. 5. j 
 
 Objectivity and Subjectivity. 
 
 VII. — Question : " In reading the jargon of Grerman Rationalism, 
 I encounter sach terms as ' Objectivity,' and ' Inner Life,' and ' Sub- 
 jectivity,' &c., &o. Now, sir, do these terms mean anything that a 
 man of sense can comprehend ? To the mass of the people such 
 words are utterly unintelligible, and I am inclined to the opinion that 
 even Rationalists don't comprehend their meaning, if they have any. 
 Now and then I meet these terms in your volumes. What on earth do 
 they mean ? " 
 
 Answer : These words do convey very good thoughts. 
 
 For example : You (the subject) see a tree (an object); at 
 
 the same time you may be an object to another pair of eyes ; 
 
 or, closing your eyes, your mind beholds the tree (just seen) 
 
 pictured in memory. First, the tree is seen objectively, 
 
 and subjectively; or, it is seen first out of yourself, next 
 2* ■ 
 
18 ANSWEKS TO QDESTIONS. 
 
 within yourself; and by virtue of memory, or consciousness^ 
 it has become a part of yourself. Hence, although you 
 may never again behold the tree objectively, its subjective 
 existence and presence are absolute. It remains a part of 
 your consciousness (or memory,) for an unknown period of 
 time. Go where you will, the tree continues a part of you. 
 
 But let us give our answer a more practical turn, thus : 
 The Rationalist would say — " Man, first of all, sees his 
 nature as if out of himself, then he fiods it in himself. His 
 own nature is first contemplated by him as that of another 
 being." This explains why it is that theology everywhere 
 precedes philosophy. Self-knowledge is the last, because 
 it is best knowledge, to occupy the mind. That is, " Object- 
 ive" information is much older than "Subjective" 
 information ; which explains the reason why mythology 
 and old theology precede the Religion of Intuition and 
 the theology of Nature. 
 
 Therefore the Rationalist would say : " Religion (in the 
 popular use of the term) is a childlike or rudimental devel- 
 opment of humanity ; because the child alwa,ys sees himself 
 — man — out of himself; in childhood, a man is an ' object ' 
 to himself, under the form of another man. Hence the 
 historical progress of religion consists in this : That what 
 by an earlier religion was regarded as Objective is now 
 regarded as ' Subjective.' For example : What was for- 
 merly contemplated and worshiped as G-od (or Jesus) is 
 now perceived to be something human, or identical with 
 what is in its ' Subjectively ' — awaiting a resurrection or 
 practical expression. Hence, what was at first regarded 
 as a religion ' Objectively,' becomes at a later period 
 mere idolatry ; because man, by investigation into his own 
 religious history, discovers that he has been adoring the 
 higher attributes of his own nature." 
 
MIND, REASON, SPIEIT, SOUL. 19 
 
 Thus, by knowing a man "subjectively," you know 
 the character of his God " objectively ; " for whatever is 
 God to a man, the same is a revelation of the man himself. 
 The difference or paradox consists simply in the unlimited 
 expansion of consciousness, as compared with the limited 
 contractions of one's physical proportions. When a man 
 thinks of the latter, his God then seems to be " objective," 
 and not at all a component part of himself; but the true 
 thinker is always enabled to see that a man's God is the' 
 largest statement of the man himself. The proof is, that a 
 Presbyterian never sees a Universalist God, nor that the 
 disciple of Methodism sees the God of the Swedenborgians ; 
 but, as before stated, each man's " objective " God is mere- 
 ly a magnificent statement of his own " subjective " nature 
 and condition. Therefore we re-aflBrm that the words 
 convey good thoughts. 
 
 Mind, Reason, Spirit, Soul. 
 
 VIII. — Question : " The following six words are frequently used 
 in both speech and writing, but they are often confounded — viz : Mind, 
 Reason, Spirit, Soul, Conscience, Judgment. Please give your spi- 
 ritual definition of these six words." 
 
 Answer: Careful and conscientious thinkers employ 
 terms with fixed and definite meanings. For example, a 
 correct thinker will never use the word " infinite," unless 
 he intends to speak of that which is absolutely beyond all 
 human comprehension ; nor the term " eternal," unless he 
 really designs to convey an impression of unending ages. 
 But the world is full of persons who do not study the best 
 employment of language, and the consequence is manifested 
 in the " confusion of tongues " which everywhere prevails. 
 
 We would give our correspondent the following defi- 
 nition as the meaning we attach to the terms, both in 
 speech and writing : 
 
20 ANSWEKS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 1. "Mind." This word is a general term, used to sig- 
 nify all the opposites of Matter. Thus « Mind and Matter " 
 are natural counterparts, or friendly opponents in the 
 organization of everything, from the worm in the oozy 
 boitom of the sea to the brightest angel in the sky-homes 
 of eternity. 
 
 2. " Reason." This is also a general term, used to sig- 
 nify the total harmony of all the elements and attributes of 
 
 ■ Mind. Without such falance and equilibrium of all the 
 feeling and thinking powers, it is incorrect to apply the 
 term ; for, in such case, the state of the mind would be 
 more or less discordant, and consequently only partially or 
 proximately, and not absolutely possessed of Reason. 
 
 3. " Spirit," This term is employed to signify the cen- 
 termost principle of man's existence — the eternizing, 
 divine, and mid-most energy in man's motion, life, sensa- 
 tion, and intelligence, or the life of the Soul of Nature in 
 the constitution of the human mind. 
 
 4. " Soul." This term is used to express that fine, impal- 
 pable, almost immaterial hody, which clothes the spirit from 
 the moment of death to all eternity. In this life the 
 " soul " is composed of all the magnetisms, electricities, 
 forces, and vital principles, which, in more general terms, 
 are called motion, life, and sensation, including instinct. 
 
 5. " Conscience." This word, when correctly used, 
 signifies the internal knowledge of what constitutes right 
 and wi'ong — the intuitive power by which the spirit informs 
 the judgment what is, and what is not, just and righteous 
 for the individual to do under all circumstances. But it 
 should be observed that conscience is subject to education, 
 and, until Re.ason prevails over folly, the individual is as 
 liable to make mistakes as a child is to stumble while 
 learning to walk. 
 
NO ACCIDENTS IN NATURE. 21 
 
 6. "Judgment." This term is used to signify the occu- 
 pation and decision of the intellectual faculties. The word 
 " understanding " has a similar application and signifi- 
 cance. It is common for people to use the terms reason, 
 mind, judgment, intellect, spirit, soul, understanding, <fec., 
 synonymously, as though they mean one and the same thing ; 
 but by reflection you will perceive that you cannot properly 
 employ these words without meanings similar to, if not 
 identical with, the definitions above briefly given. 
 
 No Accidents in Nature. 
 
 IX. — Question : " Do you believe that there are no accidents in 
 K'ature "? Is everything pre-determiued, decreed, and over-ruled to 
 occur just as and where it does ? Some persons deny everything of 
 the kind, while others insist that the events of earth, and even of 
 individual life, result from the direct pleasure of God. What is your 
 opinion ?" 
 
 Answer : It is our present impression that the Universe 
 is intrinsically, vitally, organically unchangeable and or- 
 derly throughout. The omnipotent attraction of the cen- 
 tral Soul is irresistible, and unto it the humblest as well as 
 the mightiest beings instinctively yield all power and 
 praise. All ends are involved in all beginnings, and 
 nothing hangs loose over the abyss of uncertainty. The 
 minutest consummation of things is secured by the irre- 
 fragible logic of unchangeable laws. The sublime har- 
 mony of the universe is not jeopardized by the presence of 
 unfriendly accidents or by chaotic possibilities. The attri- 
 butes of the central Soul are illimitable. They sweep 
 with omnipotent force through the stupendous machinery 
 of this beautiful and harmonious system .of Cause and 
 Effect. And the unerring lines and the fixed courses of 
 the interwoven series of mutual dependencies are suffi- 
 ciently perfect to comprehend and accomplish the least 
 with the greatest ends. 
 
22 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Therefore, although we may believe that slight 
 impulses and trifling contingencies are not decreed or pre- 
 ordained, yet the spiritual philosopher cannot resist the intu- 
 ition that every event, that each item of earth or life, is 
 provided for in the -workings of the all-comprehensive 
 system. The most trivial circumstance ever thrown up by 
 the ceaseless waves of Time, is not a stranger — is not an 
 enemy — to the boundless Order, to the progressive develop- 
 ment, of the noiselessly rolling universe. Christian and 
 heathen alike intuitively believe in the all-lovingness, in 
 the all-comprehensiveness, in the all-mightiness of the God 
 of Nature. It is an affair of temperament and of country, 
 whether this Divine Mind is worshiped as a Personality or 
 as a Principle ; and to the true believer in the immutability 
 of Truth, the form which this worship assumes is of little 
 moment, the only question being, whether the worshipper is 
 emancipated from the horrible doctrine of the ancients, 
 that a portion of mankind is doomed to endless burnings ! 
 With reference to the general question of our correspond- 
 ent, we would, while protesting to the personification of a 
 principle, quote the words of Akenside : 
 
 '' From the wide complex 
 Of co-existent, natures, there shall rise 
 One Oedee, all inrolving and entire ; 
 For He, beholding in the sacred light 
 Of His essential Reason, all the shapes 
 Of swift Oontingence, all successive ties 
 Of action propagated through the sum 
 Of possible existence — He, at once, 
 Down the long series of eventful time, 
 So fixed the dates of being, so disposed 
 To every living soul of every kind 
 The field of motion and the hour of rest, 
 That all conspired to His Supreme Design 
 
 To nNIVBESAL OOOD." 
 
SURFACE OP THE MOON— NATURE OP COMETS. 23 
 
 The Surface of the Moon. 
 
 X. — Question : " Did you ever investigate the surface of the 
 moon by the use of clairvoyant sight ? " 
 
 Answer : The moon was the first heavenly object we 
 remember to have seen by clairvoyance. It was made 
 visible in this way, near the spring of ] 845. Its appear- 
 ance filled our soul with unutterable amazement. Forget- 
 ting, for the moment, the earthly existence, we seemed to 
 stand on the brink of an awful precipice, behind which 
 was a boundless prairie of broken rocks. It looked like a 
 sea of shattered strata, as if innumerable volcanoes had 
 broken thousands of miles of solid rock into fragments of 
 every imaginable shape. These rocky fragments were 
 tumbled in one confused mass over the vast field behind. 
 In front was the almost bottomless abyss — the fearfully 
 deep precipice — with rivers of lava pouring from its ragged 
 slopes. Not a drop of water, not a tree, not a shrub, was 
 visible in any direction. Deep down the fearful chasm we 
 saw volumes of black vapor issuing and ascending like 
 storm-clouds, and there seemed to be showers of fiery or 
 meteoric bodies, which appeared to form and fall incessantly 
 over the abyss. There were desolation, and gloom, and 
 destruction on every side. The vision was horrible — 
 .reminding one of the pit of darkness, or the hell of popu- 
 lar theology. But all at once we realized that we were the 
 only visitor and spectator, and this thought had the effect to 
 terminate our observations. Since, we have made many 
 interesting and instructive excursions thither. 
 
 The Nature and Motion of Comets. 
 
 XI. — Question : " Do Comets have a fixed path or orbit in the 
 
 heavens ? The prediction by an American Astronomer, that the 
 
 Comet of 1856 would return to us some time this season, calls out 
 some discussion in reference to them." 
 
 Answer : Noti.ing can produce such universal interest 
 
24 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 as the approach of a mighty and brilliant comet. Such a 
 celestial phenomenon has been in all ages associated with 
 great events in the history of nations. Comets have been 
 superstitiously regarded as extemporized "signs in the 
 heavens," as precursors of calamities, as supernatural 
 images indicative of wonderful and fearful changes in the 
 affairs of humanity. 
 
 Though the appearance of fiery comets cannot fail to 
 excite universal wonder and admiration, not unmingled 
 with reverential awe, we do not appreciate any reason in the 
 superstitious trepidation which some persons experience on 
 the event of their near approach to the earth's orbit. For 
 the principle of logic is not more exact and immutable 
 than is the path of the fire-clad comet. Its nucleus is 
 faithful to the fixed laws of attraction and repulsion. The 
 wondrous "tail," though of vast magnitude and far- 
 extending, is invariably obedient to the dictates of the 
 " head." No eccentric character is less to be feared than a 
 comet — the youngest born of the solar mother — the wild, 
 yet obedient child of the central producing cause. Behold, 
 how constitutionally well-balanced such offspring are— how 
 well-established in habits of good will and punctuality — - 
 never so much as deceiving those who calculate accurately 
 their magnitude' and period of revolution. 
 
 The Chinese, 178 years before the Christian era, and 
 about the time of the birth of Mithridates, described a 
 comet as bright as the sun. Its nucleus was tinged with 
 red, like the blaze of an intense coal fire, and its append- 
 age extended over a fourth of the sky. But its departure 
 was as noiseless as its advent, leaving our globe," and its 
 superstitious inhabitants, without spot or blemish. The 
 sword-shaped comet which appeared with a very remarka- 
 ble nucleus in the East, in 389 of our era, filled the 
 
THE KATURE AND MOTION OP COMETS. 23 
 
 supornaturalists with the greatest coiisteriiation. But uo 
 harm came of it, neither could there have been auy evil 
 from it ; for like every other juvenile of sidereal spaee, 
 it honored its parents and fulHUed the conditions of immu- 
 table law. 
 
 And such, in truth, is the established character of every 
 solar youtli. And yet nothing is more amazing than the 
 speed of these apparently reckless saurians of the upper 
 sea. Newton measured the comet of 1681, and determined 
 its velocity at the time of perihelion passage, and found 
 that its flight was 880,000 miles an hour ! Hundreds of 
 comets are yet to be discovered, for some of them require 
 from ten to twenty thousand years to traverse their appro- 
 priate orbits, and such have not, therefore, come within 
 the written history of mankind. The last great comet of 
 1 858, and which, on the eleventh of October of that year, 
 was seen from pole to pole, called Donati's, was among 
 the most brilliant and gorgeous spectacles ever presented 
 in our firmament. 
 
 Many comets almost graze the bosom of the sun. They 
 seem to seek the closest perihelion possible, without doing 
 their mother an injury. This close approximation to their 
 maternal source is powerfully suggestive of the inherent 
 principle of filial love in all matter. Although some 
 warm-hearted comets would seem to plunge headlong into 
 the homestead property, and appear with their unrestrained 
 impetuosity to threaten immediate contact and destruction, 
 yet never was the time when one of these eccentric children 
 of the sun wrought the least harm in the nebula- fields and 
 star-gardens of immensity. 
 
 That the saurian-like monster comets of the stellar sea 
 are ha.rmless is established, by science. And that these 
 wondrous bodies have fi.N:ed orbits is proved by the fact 
 
26 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 that astronoaiors have calculated their magnitude, ascer- 
 tained their speed of motion in perihelion, comprehended 
 their relative proportions, and, stranger than all, have pre- 
 dicted the precise period of revolution, and some of the 
 comets do not disappoint their earthly friends and observers. 
 If others have, the fact is attributable to the mistakes 
 of the asti'onomer in fixing his data; for the comet is 
 orderly in its travelings, and should not be blamed for 
 non-appearance at the appointed time. But we have some- 
 thing more to offer on these solar matters, which is reserved 
 for another day more fitting. 
 
 The Sun's Rays and the Earth. 
 
 XII. — Question : " Does the sun lose anything by parting with its 
 heat and light? Does the earth gain anything by receiving them ? " 
 
 Answer: According to observations, made in the 
 clairvoyant state, the sun is very gradually diminishing in 
 size ; but so imperceptibly, that a million of years could 
 hardly make the fact appreciable to our instruments of 
 solar measurement. The cause is referable to the incessant 
 formation of cometary bodies in the sidereal gardens of 
 space, and not to the impartation of heat, light, elec- 
 tricity, etc. 
 
 The earth, on the contrary, is slowly enlarging and 
 increasing in rarity. All solar and cosmical bodies follow 
 the law of growth, perfection, and decay. The earth, 
 however, is yet in its youth. Its greatest eras are to come. 
 Snakes, spiders, wild beasts, thorns, and every unwholesome 
 thing, will one day all die. 
 
 Explanation of Geologic Developments 
 
 XIII. — Question : " In the foregoing reply you say : ' Tl 
 is slowly enlarging and increasing in rarity. All solar and < 
 bodies follow the law of growth, perfection, and decay.' 
 
 "In ' Nature's Divine Revelations,' page 219, sec. 33 
 
 you say: 
 
EXPLANATION OP GEOLOGIC DEVELOPMENTS. 27 
 
 ' The primiiivo diiimotor of this great agglomeration of particles (the 
 earth) could nut be well deterraiuod, iuYil subsequently siuAconUnuaUy 
 decreased iu inaguitiide according to the coudeusatiou and oonaolida- 
 tiou of tile particles of the whole mass.' 
 
 " This last q'.iotatiou, which is in harmony with geology, as I under- 
 stand it, seems to be contradicted in the reply referred to. Will you 
 ])lease explain for the satisfaction of an inquirer "? " 
 
 Answer : Nature, iuterpreted by logical Eeason, will ■ 
 explain. She teaches us to behold consistency in opposites. - 
 In obvious contradictions, confounding the senses and 
 judgments of her children, (men and women,) she pronoun- 
 ces the choicest benedictions. Her antipodes are left and 
 right handed pivots. She converges and diverges, and 
 returns from the large to the small, whence she started, 
 with the precision of musical vibrations. "All discord is 
 harmony not understood." 
 
 A planet is one of Nature's significant beads on the 
 endless rosary, which consists of countless decades of orbs. 
 Our earth rolled out of the Sun's constitution — a vast body 
 of fire-mist, a comet at first, with a great nucleus, and 
 with a tail of most respectable length and dimensions. 
 How the principles of progressive solidification straight- 
 way proceeded to accomplish their appointed ends, and 
 how the vastly expanded primordial fii-e, fogs and chaotic 
 nebula, were cooled down and stratified into existing 
 spheroidal proportions, you will find fully set forth in the 
 aforementioned Revelations. And such descriptive pro- <: 
 cess is, we believe, sustained by the investigations and ' 
 deductions of the most learned geologists and astronomers. ^ 
 
 Strictly speaking, however, there was no earth until 
 the condensation had reduced the elemental chaos to the 
 smallest dimensions. When, in other words, the globe- 
 germ was formed, when the cooling-off process had reached 
 the minimum degree of reduction, when the smallest demi- 
 somi-quaver in the music of geologic progress was sounded, 
 
28 ANSWEES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 then, strictly speaking, the earth began to exist upon its 
 own account, with enough material centrifugated to form 
 for itself one satellite, and, as we are impressed, eventually 
 still another ! 
 
 Now let us inquire, and briefly: What are Nature'^ 
 methods subsequent to the organization of her minimum 
 points ? After the elements from surrounding space are 
 gathered together in the form of a germ, or globe, (which 
 is an egg,) what does she then proceed to accomplish ? 
 
 We answer, that, after condensing and solidifying her 
 fluids and gases down into a germ-center, Nature con- 
 tinues her work of progression through a series of growths, 
 expansions, rarifications, or until the maximum degree of 
 maturity is reached ; then the process of disorganization 
 commences, which is characterized by a shriveling, and 
 contraction, and reduction of the body ; and thus, when 
 our planet shall have moved onward in its expansion and 
 organic growth, until the maximum point of maturity is 
 established, then will it, like a fully ripened human being, 
 begin to dwindle, grow less year by year, contract and 
 shrink, (as its vitality departs,) and thus will our yet youth- 
 ful earth pass away. 
 
 The Earth a Magnetic Machine. 
 
 XIV. — Question: "Have you ever made any now discoveries in 
 regard to the subject of electricity, &c. ? " 
 
 Answer: The question respecting the generation of 
 the earth's magnetic currents has not occupied our atten- 
 tion for a long time. But the readers of Nature's Divine 
 Revelations, and of the Harmonia, vol. 1, will be pleased to 
 learn that "proud Science" has at last approached the 
 outlines of the Harmonial Philosophy on the subject of 
 terrestrial magnetism. Professor Challis, of Cambridge, 
 
MATERIALISM OP CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 29 
 
 England, lias put I'ortli the theory that magnetic currents 
 are induced in the mass of the earth b}' its rotation. 
 These currents are subject to modification by the earth's 
 movement of translation, and also by the want of perfect 
 symmetry in form. These deviations from symmetry deter- 
 mine the direction of the magnetic streams which" appear 
 from experiment to enter the earth on the north side of 
 the magnetic equator, and to issue from it on the south 
 side. The earth is thus a vast magnet, the streams of 
 which are of constant intensity, excepting so far as they 
 may be disturbed by cosmical influence. In this matter the 
 sun and each of the planets act their part. That of Jupi- 
 ter is likely to be predominant, on account of his large 
 size and rapid rotatory motion ; and the Professor says, it 
 is not a little singular that the periodic time of Jupiter 
 should coincide with the magnetic period discovered by 
 General Sabine. This period has been shown in this coun- 
 try to be the same as that of the waxing and waning of the 
 sun's spots ; and it may very well be that the three are 
 produced by the same cause. It is worthy of remark that 
 our philosophy of the terrestrial generation of the mag- 
 netic currents was promulgated over twelve years ago. 
 Wliy did nature reveal her secrets in advance of inductive 
 and speculative Science ? 
 
 Materialism of Chemical Science. 
 
 XV. — Question : " I have read somewhere, in one of your 
 volumes, a statement to the effect that Chemistry does not, and cannot, 
 in its present state, detect the real changes that occur in man's phy- 
 sical organism. What do you mean by this ? " 
 
 Answer: We mean that chemical knowledge at this 
 day is too material, or, rather, it is not enough spiritual 
 at the verge of its limitations, to reveal the relations sub- 
 sisting between soul aud the coi'poreal parts. 
 
 3* 
 
30 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Theoretical chemistry establishes as truth w]xa.t practical 
 chemistry proves to be erroneous. No modern chemist 
 pretends to tell why tea men, with varied temperaments 
 and diiferent dispositions, can feed and maintain their phy- 
 sical individuality and opposite traits of character on pre- 
 cisely the same articles of food and drink. Theoretical 
 chemistry proves that there is enough poison in every pint 
 of French coffee to kill an individual. But practical 
 chemistry establishes the fact that coifee-drinkers do not 
 terminate their earthly existence by such poison. Theo- 
 retical chemistry proves that the foul air of a small, 
 unventilated bedroom, is sulficient to extinguish life ; but, 
 practically, no individual was ever known to lose his life 
 solely from the exhalations of his own lungs, no matter how 
 confined his apartment. Chemistry can see no difference 
 between certain substances and compounds, which produce 
 very unlike effects when consigned to man's system, or 
 fed to animals. Oxygen in water is chemically the same 
 as oxygen in atmospheric air ; but, practically, the oxygen 
 in the air is capable of firing man's nerves and brain, 
 while the oxygen of water can only cool his fluids and 
 tranquillize his mental structure. Opium is a deadly poison 
 in theoretical chemistry, but in practice twenty times the 
 " deadly'' portion can be taken without producing even 
 sleep. The active principle of tobacco is a perfect 
 poison, yet in practical life the individual can chew and 
 smoke, and exist for half a century. The acid of the 
 common rhubarb plant is chemically known as " oxalic " — ■ 
 the active property of which is enough poisonous to destroy 
 the consumer — but practical chemistry establishes the fact 
 that the plant is good both as a food and as a medicine. 
 
 We are not by these remarks saying anything 
 derogatory to Science, nor in favor of using the poisons 
 
THE SOURCES OP VEGETATION. 31 
 
 named, but we wish simply to impress the reader that 
 chemistry, in its present status, is pre-eminently material 
 and short-sighted. It is becoming conventional, inexact, 
 and atheistic. Because it cannot detect by its tests and 
 retorts the presence of a " spirit," it is inclined to repu- 
 diate its existence. It is skeptical on Spiritualism because 
 it cannot detect and analyze the electricity by which a 
 spirit is said to lift a table from the floor. 
 
 We hold chemistry in high esteem, as the great pioneer 
 science of all the modern sciences, but it is not clairvoyant 
 in realms where matter is lost in ether and spirit. There 
 is a limit to the investigation of matter. The science of 
 the schools stops just where life is conjoined with matter in 
 the organic sphere. Until chemistry is capable of reveal- 
 ing the causes why the same articles of food will feed, and 
 preserve, and perpetuate black men as well as white men — 
 or sustain and reproduce a good-spirited man the same as 
 the discordant and vicious — it had better walk humbly 
 along the paths of human experience, and pretend to know 
 only what is material. Our best practical agriculturalists 
 are better chemists than those who live in the laboratory 
 and plod over records in the studio. The true science of 
 chemistry is yet to be discovered. It will come down out 
 of mind, not up out of matter ; and yet finer links in truth 
 will shine eflfulgently. 
 
 The Sources of Vegetation. 
 
 XVI. — Question : " Whence came the materials which enter into 
 the composition of the varied forms in earth's vegetable kingdom ? '' 
 
 Answer : The vegetable kingdom is composed of mate- 
 rials derived from the mineral kingdom, which is hidden in 
 the earth's deep bosom. Whence the materials composing 
 the mineral world? From the four primal elements of 
 all matter — viz : Fire, Heat, Light, and Electricity. 
 
32 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 In all searchings, we terminate in these four original 
 principles. By " Fire " is not meant the condition of 
 matter in flame or combustion, but the finest state of mate- 
 rial motion, out of which issue Heat, Light, and Electricity. 
 The finest motion of matter results in the illumination of 
 matter from its own inward sources. Electricity of immen- 
 sity is the conveyance of all vital action in the universe. 
 Fire, Heat, and Light are passengers in the omnibus of 
 Electricity. They get in this chariot of infinitude, and 
 the integral motive-principles propel it through every 
 avenue of boundless Nature. 
 
 The omnibus stops for a moment at the different stations 
 along the interminable highways of infinity ; and, at such 
 a moment, passengers enough leave it to start the organiza- 
 tion of a world like this globe on which we live. Fire, 
 Heat, and Light — ^the three grand primal principles of 
 matter — retire from the Electrical chariot in minute parti- 
 cles, and forthwith unite, chemically, for the origination of 
 a planet. [The first stage of a planet is invariably that 
 of a comet.] Then onward rolls the triumphant chariot 
 of Electricity ! Passengers are permitted to terminate 
 their ride at just that point in space where they experience 
 more attraction to sojourn than to proceed. But it is very 
 strange, yet true always, that only a suEScient number of 
 passengers (or particles) alight from the shining vehicle, to 
 commence the new planet in that particular locality. 
 
 Now you can easily trace out the answers to all your 
 other interrogatories. You perceive that Fire, Heat, and 
 Light — the primary principles of all matter — contain -the 
 requisite properties for the composition and ultimation of 
 all mineral, vegetable, animal, and human bodies. Of the 
 life-forces and spiritual sources of these different bodies, 
 we do not now say anything ; believing that, with the fore- 
 
GROWTH 01<' PLANTS AND TKEES ON EARTH. 33 
 
 going sketch of the origin of planets and of their elemental 
 primaries, you can settle the other problems to your own 
 satisfaction. Think, contemplate ! and you will see 
 
 "This vast terrestrial frame. How Fatlier God, 
 From tlie mate sliell-fish gasping oq the shore, 
 From men to angels, to celestial minds. 
 Forever leads the generations on 
 To higher scenes of being ; while supplied 
 From day to day with his enlivening breath. 
 Inferior orders in succession rise. 
 To fill the void below." 
 
 Growth of Plants and Trees on Earth. 
 
 XVII. — Question : " Perhaps I am asking sotxiething out of keep 
 ing with your knovrledge about creation. I am a gardener and farmer, 
 but cannot determine in my own mind what it is, or where it is, which 
 gives bulk and growth to plants, trees, &o. Have you ever investi- 
 gated such matters ? " 
 
 Answer : We do not know as much of the minutice of 
 plant-growing as we mean to ; every day this beautiful 
 Spring is tempting us to study " the tree of knowledge." 
 But what we now know on this question is at your dis- 
 posal. Thus : 
 
 The surrounding air contains all the essential elements 
 of vegetables, plants, vines, berries, &c: oxygen, hydrogen, 
 nitrogen, and carbon; these, in certain fixed proportions, 
 are the organic constituents of plants. 
 
 The old belief that plants derive all constructive sub- 
 stances and organic essential elements directly from the 
 ground, is well-nigh dead. " We are every day drifting 
 further," says a chemist, " from what but a few years ago 
 was considered one of the most fixed and beneficial princi- 
 ples of agricultural science ; viz : that a substance is 
 chiefly a fertilizer because it directly feeds the plant; 
 and are learning from the numerous recent and carefully 
 
34 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 conducted experiments with manures, tliat in very many 
 cases we cannot safely venture to predict wliat will be the 
 influence of a given application ; but find in practice the 
 strangest and most discordant results, it being possible to 
 show from the experiments of the farmer that almost every 
 fertilizer in use has, in some instances, proved beneficial to 
 every cultivated crop, and in other cases has been indiffer- 
 ent or even detrimental." 
 
 Our investigations in the kingdom of plant existence 
 have compelled us to afSrm that the invisible atmosphere is 
 the immediate fountain of substances by which vegetable 
 productions increase in size and growth. The earth is, of 
 course, the original source of the atmosphere. 
 
 The chief value of fertilizers consists in the temporary 
 equilibrium that they establish between the mineral ele- 
 ments of the ground and the organic constituents of the air. 
 Magnesia, soda, lime, potash, phosphate, &c., are the mineral 
 elements of vegetable formations ; and unless the soil be bal- 
 anced in these qualities with the aerial constituents, the 
 growth of the plant is imperfect ; but it cannot, we think, 
 be said that manures contribute to the development of 
 quantity in any other sense. 
 
 Let every horticulturist, gardener, and farmer remem- 
 ber that just between " the sun and the soil " is that 
 wondrous source of substantial life — the atmosphere. 
 
 The Perpetual Verdure of Elvergreens. 
 
 XVIII. — Question : " I am engaged in rearing evergreens, fruit 
 
 trees, vines, shrubbery, &o I am anxious to obtain your opinion 
 
 in relation to tlie cause or causes which keep the evergreen verdant 
 all the year round. .... Can you find the cause of this wonderful, 
 yet common fact ? " 
 
 Answer : This subject has never before come to us for 
 
 investigation. The question was asked fifteen months 
 
 ago, and no doubt the interrogator has long since ceased 
 
THE PKRPETUAL VERDURE OF EVERGREENS. 35 
 
 to look for our answer, but we have not been able to reach 
 it until within the last fifteen minutes. We think it is 
 good to study such manifestations of Nature. On the im- 
 pulse of this thought we proceed to divulge in general 
 terms what we deem the true explanation of such phe- 
 nomenon. 
 
 It will be found that evergreens, like certain vines and 
 grasses, are verdant all the year round, because they are 
 constituted, in their extremities, so that they can attract 
 and absorb more magnetism than other forms of vegetation. 
 
 From our first insight into the vegetable departments 
 of the earth, we have maintained that all matter is per- 
 meated by two distinct principles, called Electriaty and 
 Magnetism. These principles are both latent and free. In 
 the earth they are cold, crude, and inert, and are often 
 inappreciable to the thermometer and to human sensibility ; 
 while in the atmosphere, although essentially the sanae, 
 they are genial, refined, and inconceivably vivacious, and 
 are detectable by both man's sensation and the electro- 
 nometer. ' 
 
 These principles, being positive and negative (or mas- 
 culine and feminine) are concerned in the production and 
 perpetuation of all vegetable and organic life. Evergreens 
 flourish in Arctic regions and on the mountain-tops better 
 than in the tropics and in the valleys. Why ? Because 
 they attract and absorb abundantly of the earth's mag- 
 netic or warming principle. Their extremities are loaded 
 with innumerable fine-pointed termini, which serve as 
 lightning rods to attract from the atmosphere the warm 
 principle, while the electricity, (which is cold,) is dis- 
 charged and liberated in the same proportion. Hence the 
 atmosphere is invariably " cool " or chilly, often cold, in the 
 immediate neighbjrhood of an evergreen grove or forest. 
 
36 ANSWERS TO QOESTIONS. 
 
 Grasses and certain vines are perpetually verdant for 
 the same reason. Countless, indeed, are the points pre- 
 sented to the atmosphere by an acre of grass. The meadow- 
 is covered with fine green points, like the back of an ani- 
 mal with hair ; the ground, like the beast, presents innu- 
 merable points of attraction ; and thus the Arctic animals, 
 unlike those of the temperate or torrid regions, are thickly 
 covered with hair. And thus, too, the animals of the 
 " icy mountains" are as warm blooded and physically com- 
 fortable as those under the equator. Because, like the 
 evergreens, their innumerable fine points attract the warm 
 principle, (magnetism,) and give oif the cold principle, 
 (electricity,) thus producing an equilibrium of temperature. 
 Such animals and trees are the recipients of larger amounts 
 of heat to sustain them. The air is consequently cool or 
 cold wherever such beasts or trees are most abundant. 
 
 Development of Stones and Minerals. 
 
 XIX. — Question : " I have read both your ' Revelations ' and 
 ' Great Harmonia,' and beg to address you three questions, which I 
 t;-u8t you will answer. 
 
 " 1st. You say in your Revelations that, as everything material 
 develops itself, the mineral, as well as all other earthly bodies, grow. 
 Now, 1 would remark that this statement is antagonistical to the Prin- 
 ciples of Geology. Moreover, any body which grows must live, and 
 matter which lives must therefore want nourishment. According to 
 your olJassiflcation, minerals belong to the first class of matter, subject to 
 motion only. Being deeply interested in all that concerns minerals, 
 their origin, development, &o., 1 should feel very thankful if you 
 would explain that which, to your mind, may be quite plain. 
 
 " 2d. 1 do not want any more proof of immortality than that 
 which you have already given, but what I wish to know, is, ' What 
 compensation does Nature offer us for remaining here on earth while 
 eternal bliss, love, and happiness are in store for us above ?' If man 
 has a duty to fulfill on earth, what is that duty ? 
 
 " 3d. I have not seen the name of Spinoza in your ' Pantheon of 
 Progress,' or fifth volume of the Great Harmonia. If ever any 
 human being has declared and defended a progressive principle or 
 ' Idea,' it was he who first declared the immortality of God and His 
 Laws. I have always considered him as the father of Pantheism, and 
 the forerunner of Spiritualism. It will give me pleasure to hear from 
 you in reference to the omission of the name of ' Spinoza.' " 
 
DEVELOPMENT OP STONES AND MINERALS. 37 
 
 Answer : All the so-called primaries (sixty-four in num- 
 ber) are discoverable in the original rocks and subsequent 
 stratifications. The debridation of such rocks ultimates in 
 the formation of all the soils, which diifer invariably in 
 exact proportion to the presence or absence of the original 
 elements. In the primordial epochs of our globe, we 
 observe the universal fluidity of what are now denomina- 
 ted " solids." Fluids and gases, and not solidified sub- 
 stances, prevailed everywhere. When the condensational 
 process commenced, the primitive minerals were rapidly 
 formed and disposed in fragments and beds beneath the 
 equatorial zone first, then at the polar regions, by slow 
 deposit. 
 
 During this process of solidification the earth was 
 enveloped in dark folds composed of all the elements and 
 gases — oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbonic acid, etc. — 
 which, by means of such solidification, began very soon 
 to disappear from the enveloping atmosphere. Metals, 
 water, and the oxydes, absorbed oxygen. Carbonic acid 
 withdrew to the secret laboratories of limestone and coal- 
 beds, also into deeper crystallizations directly capping the 
 earth's igneous surface. And in like manner the many 
 and various elements did hide themselves from the atmos- 
 phere in the recesses and constitutions of rocks, minerals, 
 and dense fluids in valleys between them. 
 
 Now you will observe the necessity of growth among 
 the minerals, by absorption and appropriation of their 
 proper elements of nutrition, in manner analogous to the 
 growth of vegetable and animal organisms. The latter, 
 differing only in the method of attraction and digestion, 
 receive aliment Irom the atmosphere, increase their bulk 
 and weight, and unfold. In this way we teach that the 
 atmospheric sea, in which our globe is perpetually rolling. 
 
38 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 contains all the elements (but in a finer state) which are 
 found in the mineral or other ponderable bodies. Hence 
 coal minerals, lime-stone, iron, copper, zinc, silver, gold, 
 diamonds, &c., &c., are capable of feeding upon, and 
 growing by means of the congenial constituents which they 
 find in the everywhere present atmosphere. 
 
 If the different mineral beds and bodies do not grow and 
 increase in size, or in qualify, the cause thereof is, for the 
 most part, attributable to the action of adverse electrical 
 and magnetic currents over and through the globe. Add to 
 this another cause, namely, the isolation of the mineral beds 
 by the breakage or removal of the feeding-lajeve, by sink- 
 ing shafts and indiscriminate digging. The destruction of 
 these electric veins on opening a mineral bed, is tanta- 
 mount to cutting a tree's roots by which it grows and bears 
 fruit. Those who own valuable mines should study the 
 principle by which Nature deposited them for man's benefit. 
 
 If, in reviewing the foregoing brief reply, my Brother, 
 you should not find the explanation you need, we shall 
 expect to hear from you again. 
 
 Your second interrogatory is, perhaps, not less difficult 
 to answer. But our spirit goeth forth in joy to proclaim 
 that every part of Nature compensates and justifies the 
 existence of all other parts. The duty of this life is to 
 make progress in unfolding a materio-spiritual body within 
 the physical organization. This middle-most body is that 
 which clothes the innermost spirit at the moment of death. 
 Hence the importance of working and eating and sleeping. 
 These outward habits and periodical processes are essen- 
 tial to the elaboration of what is invisible and eternal. 
 The unfoldment of the social faculties and of the intellect- 
 ual endowments is also a duty. But in the final verdict 
 of science and common sense we are persuaded, that " to 
 
THE CAUSE OP THE WIND. 39 
 
 live righteously " ia all physical respects, will be esteemed 
 the grand primal peg, on which will hang " all the law 
 and the prophets." Secure ye first the kingdom of har- 
 mony in material things — in diet, activities, dress, &c 
 
 then all the innumerable blessings of virtue and progress 
 shall be added. 
 
 The law of equilibrium is the Nemesis which keeps 
 watch in all spheres. No merit is overlooked ; no offense 
 goes unpunished. The sanctuary of intuition is made very 
 holy by the presence of the fine conviction, that nothing 
 lives in vain, or is left to blind Destiny ; but otherwise, that 
 every existence is indispensable to the welfare and harmony of 
 the whole, wherein is found the complete gospel of compensa- 
 tion, and the fulfillment of every inherent expectation. 
 But the full value of this life to each mind cannot be com- 
 prehended except by much intuition and reasonable 
 experience in the ways of wisdom. 
 
 Your third question is answerable by the fact, that 
 Spinoza's Central " Idea " did not differ from that of 
 several minds who taught the unity of God and the immu- 
 tability of his Laws. But his philosophy should receive 
 far more attention. 
 
 The Cause of the Wind. 
 
 XX. — Qdestion : " Can you explain the cause of wind ? Why 
 does it change so frequently ? Whence oomca it ? " 
 
 Answer: The ancients, of every race and country, 
 entertained the most extravagant hypotheses concerning the 
 origin of wind. In the 10th chapter of Jeremiah, 13th 
 verse, we read that the Lord "maketh lightnings with 
 rain, and bringeth forth the vnnd out of his treasures." 
 This explanation is beautifully poetic, but it is far from 
 being philosophical and practical. The Prophet Ezekiel 
 
40 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 [37 ch. 9 V.J writes how the Lord God commanded him to 
 prophecy "to the wind;" and further he relates that 
 the Lord -himself said : " Come from the four winds, 
 breath, and breathe upon the slain, that they may live." 
 The Apostle John, [iii ch. 8 v.] said: "The wind bloweth 
 where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but 
 canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth — so 
 is every one that is born of the spirit.' 
 
 How unsatisfactory is all this ? Prof. Maury's philoso- 
 phy of storms and oceanic currents was not known in the 
 days of the apostles. The law of storms is the same 
 as the law of calms. The causes of atmospheric stillness 
 are the same as those by which the winds are awakened 
 and made to blow ; and there is no more mystery in being 
 " born of the spirit " than there is in the cause of sunshine 
 in one place and of storms in another. Any solar power 
 or local influence, which rarefies and heats the air in one 
 quarter of a country or continent, will cause the dense and 
 col'd air of an opposite direction to rush in and fill the 
 comparative vacuum. Kindle a hot fire in a tightly closed 
 room, the windows and doors all firmly secured, and in a 
 few minutes, as soon as the air in the room is sufficiently 
 rarefied by the heat, you will hear the wind rushing in 
 through every crevice and crack communicating with the 
 outside. 
 
 Thus, in like manner, if the sun has been for a long 
 term showering its h^at upon a level country, as upon the 
 prairies of the Great West, the atmosphere will become 
 heated and rarefied, so that the rushing in of wind and of 
 tempestial hurricanes from other regions, are effects as 
 natural as the entrance of cold air into a heated room. 
 On this principle, the true plan to render a public hall 
 or churuh cool and comfortable in the summer time, would 
 
THE PHILOSOPHY OP STOEMS. 41 
 
 consist of kindling fires in attic stoves ; because, as soon 
 as the upper stratum of atmosphere becomes duly rarefied 
 by heat, the cool breezes would begin to fan the brows of 
 the congregation. This effect is certain to follow, although 
 the outside air might be so still that not even a leaf would 
 stir on the nearest tree. Chains of mountains, plains and 
 valleys, the tides of the oceans, directions of streams, the 
 absence or abundance of trees — all have to do in deter- 
 mining the violence or mildness of winds, and in procuring 
 the development of rain. The law is as definite as the 
 growth of vegetation. 
 
 The Philosophy of Storms. 
 
 XXI. — Question: "Thy reply to the query, 'What causes the 
 winds ? ' to my mind is not satisfactory when applied to what we call 
 ' Storms.' I will state an objection or two : Suppose the air in some 
 section or district of country becomes rarefied to any conceivable pos- 
 sible extent. It is obvious, on a moment's reflection, that, instead of 
 causing what we commonly call a storm — such as tear down forests, 
 unroof buildings, &c., and which generally traverse but narrow strips 
 of country in width, and sometimes travel hundreds of miles in length 
 — the air would press in from all directions to fill the vacuum. This 
 might make a kind of general breeze or blow from all points in the 
 direction of the vacuum, but it could hardly make a storm. Again : 
 If we could imagine some barrier that would keep the air back from 
 all but one direction, it is obvious that the air next the vacuum would 
 rush iu first : theil the air which was farther back would follow, thus 
 making a Storm to commence at the vacuum and travel backward 
 from it, era)) fashion, till exhausted in distance, which is plainly not 
 the case. Will not somebody give a bettor theory ? " 
 
 Answer : We supposed our explanation of the cause of 
 wind at once plain and practical, and our statements to be 
 supported by the results of careful observation. One 
 thing, however, we should have added and dwelt upon at 
 considerable length, namely : that sudden changes of tem- 
 perature and violent storms are due in part to the action 
 of certain electrical currents, which take their rise from all 
 parts of the earth, and thence flow incessantly to the north 
 
 pole, from which they ascend in a combined body or mighty 
 4* 
 
42 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 stream, somewhat like a water-spout at sea, and pour forth 
 onward and upward through the heavens, mingling ulti- 
 mately with the vital forces of immensity. 
 
 Whenever a volume or stream of these earthly currents 
 is suddenly formed, as from the electrical emanations of a 
 recently opened volcano or iron bed, the distant strata 
 of the atmosphere are suddenly convulsed with perhaps 
 tempestial disturbances. These disturbances correspond to 
 " pains " in the human body, or to the fitful " paroxysms " 
 consequent upon a disturbance of harmonies between 
 organ and nerve. 
 
 As the earthly electrical currents move from various 
 angles towards the north, with a winding or twisting 
 motion, and as their inconceivable flight has the effect to 
 rarefy the sections of air through which they pass, so it is 
 natural to expect that tornadoes and cold storms will be 
 developed, and that they will follow very nearly in the 
 same direction. Sometimes, however, the exact opposite 
 course would be taken by the storm, owing to other and 
 superior electrical attractions, to which the air and clouds 
 would yield. You will find some account of these electri- 
 cal currents in " Nature's Divine Revelations ; " also in 
 the first volume of the Harmonia series, and in the " Har- 
 monial Man." 
 
 Of the Superior Condition. 
 
 XXII. — Question : " My mind is wholly at a loss to determine 
 exactly wherein the Superior Condition differs from that state in 
 which certain persons discern spirits and converse with them, as it 
 were, face to face. If there be a radical difference between these two 
 states, will you please define that difference, so that I may compre- 
 hend the facts ? -' 
 
 Answer : The Superior Condition, in contradistipction 
 to one's ordinary state, consists of a practical and conscious 
 growth of tlie intellectual and moral endowments. These 
 
OF THE SUPEEIOK CONDITION. 43 
 
 faculties are opened and lifted to a higher degree of opera- 
 tion. They are then inspired by their own constitutional 
 essences, and next by conscious contact with the life and 
 principles of things, by virtae of which they appreciate 
 Principles and analyze the essences of substances. The 
 result of such superior exercises is stamped upon the indi- 
 vidual's character, and the ultimate effects are interior 
 elevation and an education of the whole mind. l''he inspired 
 poet has truthfully described the " Superior Condition " as 
 
 "That blessed mood, 
 In which the heavy and the weary weight 
 Of all this unintelligible world 
 Is lightened — that serene and blessed mood, 
 In which the affections gently lead us on. 
 Until the breath of our corporeal frame, 
 And even the motion of our human blood, 
 Almost suspended, we are laid asleep 
 In body, and become a living soul ; 
 While with an eye made quiet by the power 
 Of harmony, and the deep power of joy, 
 We see itito the life of things.^ ^ 
 
 The medium state, on the other hand, while as a condi- 
 tion it tends to enlarge the judgment and spiritualize the 
 character, is not necessarily beneficial to the medium, 
 individually. Those who receive the lessons and witness 
 the tests of higher powers are more likely to be perma- 
 nently benefited. The true medium state is one of 
 complete positiveness or isolation to this world, and of 
 passive receptivity to the influences that may be showered 
 from higher realms of intelligence and love. The faculties 
 of tlie medium may be greatly excited, and very generally 
 stimulated to extraordinary activity, but it does not neces- 
 sarily follow that the medium's mind will be thereby per- 
 manently developed and improved. And yet it will be 
 observed that no good-minded and loving-hearted person 
 
44 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 can be a true medium for one year without manifesting 
 considerable moral growth and intellectual refinement. 
 But it is possible for a medium to be the channel of lessons 
 the most exalted and glorious, and at the same time it is 
 possible for that same person to feel nothing higher than 
 any other stranger to the truth. This fact, which cannot 
 be denied, is owing to the utter indifference in which some 
 mediums indulge themselves with respect to the divine 
 lessons of which they are the bearers to their fellow men. 
 In the Superior Condition nothing of this passivity or 
 indifference is possible. The mind is not only exalted to 
 the fellowship of eternal principles, where it can discern 
 the essences and properties of visible bodies, but the facul- 
 ties are active and conscious of inherent energy and truth. 
 One who methodically enters upon the Superior Condi- 
 tion is like an industrious student whose mind seeks and 
 finds the penetralia of things ; and the luxurious fruits are 
 intellectual refinement and moral growth, in musical accord 
 with immutable principles of Father God. 
 
 Human Character in the Hand--writing 
 
 XXIII. — Qdestion : " Is there anything in a man's hand-writing 
 which is a true index to his character? Can a person's motives be 
 detected by those who have the power to ' psychometrize ' a letter or a 
 bit of writing by the hand of the person ? What is the name of such 
 a power ? 
 
 Answer : Our interrogator is evidently but just enter- 
 ing the vast realm of truth in science and life. He seems 
 not to know that the writing of a human hand is a certain 
 indication of character. It is very natural to suppose that 
 the hand-writing may be artificial, or so trained as not to 
 exhibit the nature and feelings of the penman ; and it is 
 also natural to suppose that the uniformities and efforts of 
 the teacher may modify, or greatly remove the predominant 
 charactei'istics of the pupil's menta.l organization ; but lot 
 
HUMAN CHARACTER IN THE HAND-WRITING. 45 
 
 the world rest assured that, however modifying a.nd 
 restraining such influences may be at first, the hand-writing 
 is absolutely certain, sooner or later, to indicate and per- 
 fectly exhibit the mental condition and internal peculiarities 
 of the individual. 
 
 J»close observer of human nature will detect the cha- 
 racter and disposition of an individual in every muscular 
 movement. Walking, talking, eating, as well as writing, 
 denote condition and character. The rowdy may be seen 
 beneath every external appearance of a gentleman ; the 
 profligate may be detected behind a mask of virtue and 
 good manners ; the ignoramus cannot hide himself in the 
 assumed robes of refinement and cultivation ; for this is 
 true, that notwithstanding the artificial restraints and 
 studied disguises of the ingenious — the brain (the spirit's 
 fulcrum) is the source of every nervous and muscular move- 
 ment. In the writing movement, as much as in any other 
 action, the magnetism and condition of the individual come 
 spontaneously uppermost, and are therefore distinctly 
 visible to the perceptions of the clairvoyant and psy- 
 chometrist. . 
 
 The spirit letter-reader — i. e., one who can read the 
 spirit of the person who wrote the letter — is the best 
 phrenologist. It is not unfrequent to observe a variable 
 hand-writing in one and the same letter which denotes a 
 person of sensitive and variable disposition ; while another 
 person, inflexible in character and stern in feeling, will 
 write legibly, and rigidly, and uniformly, from first to last. 
 Few changes of style are visible in persons who, although 
 exceedingly sensitive and variable, habitually practice 
 great self-control ; but the lack of freedom, and the imper- 
 fect expression of the writer's real sentiments, are unfail- 
 ingly detected by the chirognomist. And from this point 
 
46 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 it is easy to penetrate behind the physical letter to the 
 real character of the penman. 
 
 You ask : " "What is the philosophy of this wonderful 
 power ?" The explanation of the mystery is easy, as already ^ 
 hinted at — namely, the brain-origin of every nervous and '■■ 
 Tmisadar movement. • l 
 
 If you carefully analyze the movements of a man's 
 hand while writing, you will be inductively led to the 
 source of such movements — the brain; and inasmuch as 
 the brain is but the physical agent of the mind, will, and 
 character, so it is easy to trace the primal cause of the 
 movements to the inmost disposition of the individual. In 
 the writing of a well-trained penman may be detected a 
 magnetic sphere — a concealed emanation, permeating the 
 very substance of the paper on which the beautiful and 
 graceful characters are traced — which, to the true seer, is 
 certain to identify and unravel the mental qualities of the 
 writer. An emotion of the intellect, a gush of affection, 
 a throb of passion or anger, will leave its impression on 
 the paper, and it seems to matter not how many years 
 elapse, or through how many strange hands the letter or 
 manuscript may pass, the aural impregnations remain, undi- 
 luted and unchanged, as indelibly as if written by the 
 finger of an angel in the Book of Life. 
 
 The moral iniliience of this power is mighty for good. 
 By means of its exercise a person may be measured and 
 analyzed, and furnished with the best principles of refor- 
 mation and progression. But there are as yet only a limited 
 number of mediums and seers so gifted. And even such 
 seem not to improve their endowments to the best advan^ 
 tage. They wait seemingly lor an unseen power to supply 
 them with all requisite perception for the reading of cha- 
 racter by letter ; whereas it is a divine Dower, like the' 
 
THE SOUL AS DISTINGUISHED PROM SPIRIT. 47 
 
 voice, and every other natural faculty, capable of develop- 
 ment and perfection at the option of the possessor. 
 
 The Eternity of an Idea. 
 
 XXIV. — Question : " Is the human mind so framed that it can 
 recall all of its past thoughts ? Or, is there any reason to believe 
 that ideas are immortal '! And does the mind improve forever ? '"' 
 
 Answer : The mind has no power to destroy the impres- 
 sion which an idea has made upon it. The inner memory 
 is immortal. In fact, man's spirit is a magazine of eternal 
 ideas, or impersonal principles. \See Harmonia, vol. 5. J 
 "The capacity of the mind for knowledge," says Prof. 
 Hitchcock, " is another of its wonderful powers. By every 
 accession of knowledge is that capacity enlarged ; nor have 
 the limits of that expansion ever been reached or imagined. 
 Indeed, the nature of the mind leads to the conclusion that 
 there are no limits. And it has already been shown that 
 whatever knowledge the mind acquires, it can never lose. 
 What a magnificent conception, to attempt to follow the 
 mind along the path of its immortal existence, and to see 
 it forever drinking in the stream of knowledge, whereby 
 it constantly accumulates strength, and has the sphere of 
 its capacity enlarged, yet remaining eternally infinitely 
 inferior to that of the Deity ! Yet who can conceive of 
 the vast amount of knowledge it will ultimately a^ttain, or 
 its more than angelic intellectual might ? " 
 
 The Soul as disting-uished from Spirit. 
 
 XXV. — Question: "I perceive you make a clear distinction 
 between the soul and spirit of a man. If you will define the soul as 
 distinguished from a spirit, to the understanding of an itnspiritually 
 minded man, you will confer a favor upon one who has been by the 
 phenomena of spiritual manifestations, so far converted from " ira/i- 
 4^ity " as to entertain strong hopes of a rational immortality." 
 
 Answer: You can easily comprehend the philosophical 
 
4« ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 differeiice between "soul" and "spirit."' But it will be 
 first necessary to fix firmly in your understanding the struc- 
 tural facts on which we predicate the distinction. Wo 
 will explain : 
 
 It is correct to say that a man is a two-fold or dual 
 individuality — compounded, in general terms, of Body and 
 Soul. By "Body" we mean everything physical; by 
 " Soul," everything mental or spiritual. But suppose, after 
 a close and conscientious analysis and classification of these 
 two grand couuterparts of man, you should find several 
 subdivisions, or a " wheel within a wheel " — what would 
 you do ? You would do what we have done ; and what 
 is always natural — viz : Make a more particular statement 
 of the structure, and give a name appropriate to each coun- 
 terpart or subdivision. Finding man's body animated by 
 a " soul," which, in every attribute and property, is the 
 same as the motion, life, and sensation of all lower organi- 
 zations, and that this " soul " was the cause of all corpo- 
 real sensations and propensities, we said : " There must be 
 in man something deeper, more interior, and higher, than 
 this 'soul' of the external organization." 
 
 Obeying the lead of this conclusion, just as the astrono- 
 mer discovered a new planet by the faultless logic of 
 legitimate induction, we approached the presence of the 
 deeper life, and, because of its inexpressible superiority to 
 the elements of physical sensation, we called it " spirit." 
 But we have met persons, who, while adopting this classi- 
 fication, prefer to transpose the terms — employing the word 
 « soul " as expressive of the centermost of man's men- 
 tality, and " spirit " as the part that animates the physical 
 structures. We have no controversy with terms ; only \% 
 is certainly more convenient for many minds, of one faith, 
 to speak the same language — using the same words to con- 
 
DYING SENSATIONS ON THE BATTLE-FIELD. 49 
 
 V03' the same meaning; for thus much misunderstanding 
 may be avoided. 
 
 Having been led b}' the light of reason to infer the 
 existence of a still more interior principle to man's beingj 
 we entered clairvoyantl)' and interiorly upon the investi- 
 gation, and the result was the announcement of the distinc- 
 tion between " soul " and " spirit," to which our 
 correspondent refers. In brief, then, the human structure 
 is trifold instead of dual, and there is as much difference 
 between " soul " and " spirit " as there is between the 
 body and the soul. The " soul " is compounded of all the 
 motive forces, life-principles, and sensational elements 
 which may be found, to a greater or lesser degree of 
 perfection, in all the lower organizations of matter. But 
 the '' spirit " is the divine part — the essence of all motion, 
 the master of all life, the lord of all sensations, and the 
 immortalizing crown of all intelligence in man. " Spirit '' 
 is the fountain of every sublime Aspiration — the flower of 
 immortal fragrance in the middle of the heart of man's 
 life — the indwelling "image and likeness" of whatsoever 
 is holy, beautiful, lovely and eternal. " Spirit " is the 
 source of Love and Wisdom — " soul " is the source of pas- 
 sion and knowledge. " Soul " is the life of the outer body 
 — " spirit " is the life of the soul. After physical death, 
 the soul or life of the natural body becomes the form or 
 " body " of the eternal spirit ; and hence, in the Spirit 
 Land, the spirit is surrounded by the physical imperfections 
 of the " soul." But the soul (or spirit body) is ultimately 
 purified by the " spirit," which is King. 
 
 Dying Sensations on the Battle-field. 
 
 XXVI. — Question : " My- faith in the principles of the Harmo- 
 nial Piiilosopliy, and in the fact of spiritual iuteruourse, grows firmer 
 as I grow oldur. In oontomphitiag the possibility of my becoming a 
 5 
 
50 ANSWERS, TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 victim to the misfortunes of War, I do not fear death from any fore- 
 bodings as to what my fate may he after the process is over; but 
 whatever dread I have, seems to be instinctive rather than rational. 
 1 dread the physical sutiering attendant on an unnatural and violent 
 dissolution, and also, as I am led to believe, by a perusal of spiritual 
 works, on the subsequent reorganization of the spirit. Were it not 
 for this dread I could face the cannon's throat, belching forth the 
 instruments of destruction, without a quiver of fear. _ If possible, will 
 you please describe what the sensations of death in battle usually 
 are ? I refer particularly to those which occur immediately after 
 the body appears lifeless. What changes and sensations does the 
 spirit pass through before its organization is completed ? " 
 
 Answer : It may be said with truth that, until the 
 advent of modern Spiritual Philosophy, mankind have 
 known almost nothing concerning the occult facts of death. 
 That every living organization, including man, is destined 
 to mature and die, has been the universally recognized 
 I'act ; but the world has not known until recently precisely 
 what sensations and clianges occur during the process. 
 But true scientific light has really dawned upon this hith- 
 erto dark and dreadful event at the end of life, and by 
 that light we are enabled to reply to the most interesting 
 interrogatory of our correspondent. 
 
 The true answer, which every man's reason can readily 
 apprehend, will be found in the character of the relations 
 subsisting between the body and the spirit. If the phy- 
 sical organism, with its multiform parts and forces, was 
 nothing more than a foreign habiliment, worn by the spirit, 
 as the body puts on and takes off a coat or dress, then the 
 changes and sensations experienced at death would be 
 analogous to those felt by the body when merely deprived 
 of its superficial garments. But the truth is that there are 
 numerous and most delicate chemical relations subsisting 
 between the spirit and the corresponding parts of the phy- 
 sical organization ; and these relations impress the intui- 
 tions of all men with the unavoidable conviction that 
 
DYING SENSATIONS ON THE BATTLli; -FIELD. 51 
 
 " death" is a very solemn and radical event — sonietliing 
 vastly more, and very uiirerent in effect, than the common 
 transaction of putting off artificial dresses from the surface 
 of the physical form. Between the body and its ordinary 
 daily garments there exist no inter-amalgamated affinities, 
 no commixture of kindred elements, and hence the separa- 
 tion of the two does not effect any radical changes in the 
 feelings and habitation of the individual. 
 
 But the fact is exactly otherwise with the event under 
 consideration. 
 
 The relation of the body to the spirit is homogenous 
 and essentially chemical, and the premature separation of 
 them is accomplished only by snapping and violently sun- 
 dering the countless threads of that relation. 
 
 First, then, what is the nature of the relation between 
 the body and the spirit ? We answer that the twain are 
 chemically associated by an intermediate combination of 
 elements which we term the " soul." Thus — 
 
 1. 2. 3. 
 
 BODY— SOUL— SPIRIT. 
 
 Q. Of what is the soul composed ? A. Of motion, life, 
 sensation, and intelligence. Q. What constitutes the 
 spirit ? A. The spirit is composed of impersonal princi- 
 ples — the life-element of Father God and Mother Nature. 
 Q. Of what is the physical body composed ? A. Of all ' 
 the elements of matter below man. Q. How is the soul j; 
 chemically related to the body ? A. By vital electricity, il 
 Q. To what clement of the soul does this electricity belong ? 
 A. To the element of Motion. Q. How, then, is the spirit ' 
 chemically related to the " soul" ? A. By vital magnetism. 
 Q. From what does this magnetism emanate ? A. From 
 the soul. It is an emanation from the soul, like the aroma 
 from the life of a rose, which is its atmosphere and fra- 
 
52 AASWKKS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 grance. Q. Do you mean to teach that the soul is united 
 to the body by vital electricity, and the spirit to the soul 
 by vital magnetism ? A. Yes, and the following scale is 
 the illustration : 
 
 MATERIAL ORGANIZATION, 
 
 VITAL ELECTEICITY, 
 
 INTERMEDIATE, OR SOUL, 
 
 VITAL MAGNETISM, 
 
 INNERMOST, OR SPIRIT. 
 The above scale gives the organization of man as it is. 
 Below the material organism are the lower kingdoms and 
 the physical world ; while above and around the Innermost, 
 or " spirit," is the spirit-world, and all that pertains to a 
 supernal existence. If a human being lives out the full 
 measure of life, then the vital electricity (which connects 
 the soul with the body) imperceptibly loosens its hold, and 
 dissolves the relation so gradually, that the spirit is not 
 even conscious of death until after the change is all over, 
 like the birth of an infant into this world. If, however, 
 the change is forced and premature, the spirit is compelled 
 to realize the fact, and also something of the unnatural 
 shock which had occasioned the death. 
 
 Within the past ten years we have observed several 
 deaths by concussions, strangulation, drowning, &c., and 
 the result to the spirit was in each case identical. Bach 
 person, whether young or old, spiritually experienced the 
 same singular sensations, which were caused by the unnatu- 
 ral and violent separation of the spirit from the body. It 
 is well-known that a sudden shock, sufficient to cause death, 
 produces instant insensibility. This fact is owing to the 
 confusion of the elements of the " soul " throughout the 
 nervous system. Its chemical affinities have been broken 
 up into a confused mass, making intelligent sensations of 
 
DYING SENSATIONS ON THE BATTLE-FIELD. 53 
 
 any kind utterly impossible. It is as though you had 
 struck a small stone with a hammer so powerfully and sud- 
 denly that the cohesion between the atoms was instantly 
 dissipated ; and what was before a solid mass, is now only 
 smoke and dust flying in the wind. In like manner th( 
 surprise of the chemical relations between soul and body^ 
 by means of a powerful concussion, results in the temporary 
 suspension of all sensation, and the spirit is simply intuition- 
 ally apprised of what has just occurred in the region of its 
 environments. 
 
 Several soldiers have returned from their new homes 
 in the Summer Land to tell the particulars concerning their 
 sensations immediateh' after falling dead by rifle or cannon 
 ball. They relate how they intuitively or spiritually (of 
 course somewhat vaguely) realized the nature of the acci- 
 dent, and that they had just died in the usual sense of the 
 word, but they did not feel anything like pain — being only 
 disposed to sleep very profoundly, regardless of the place, 
 and forgetful of what had happened to them. This indif- 
 ference has in many instances resulted in a kind of slumber 
 for many days in the other world. 
 
 Now it will be remembered that the " Soul " becomes 
 the body of the spirit after death. This, however, is not 
 the work of a moment. Whole hours, sometimes days, are 
 consumed in perfecting the work of this final organization. 
 While this beautiful process is going forward, the spirit 
 docs not feel anything physical or sensuous. It is all intui- 
 tion, and memory, and meditation, and love. Its person- 
 ality is not self-conscious, until thcweM senses in the new 
 body are completed and opened, and adapted to the use and 
 everlasting duration of the spirit. We repeat, when the 
 death is natural — and no death is natural, save that of 
 
 " ripe old age " — then the Spirit is immediately clothed 
 5* 
 
54 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. , 
 
 with its new body. It does not sleep, feels no suspension 
 of identity, realizes no penalty for physiological injury, 
 which is the effect of an accidental death, and thus the 
 aged one is young and happy, and free as is an uncaged 
 bird among the trees of the mountain. 
 
 Our correspondent need not " dread " the temporary 
 suspension of his personal consciousness, should he fall in 
 battle, because there is in the experience no pain — only a 
 confusion for a moment, a surprise of an instant's duration, 
 as though the whole world had burst into countless atoms, 
 succeeded by a flash of universal light which reveals a vast 
 darkness, and then — indifference, rest, happiness, slumber. 
 Directly the atoms composing the "Soul" begin to assem- 
 ble about you — the spirit — while you live in intuition, in 
 memory, in meditation, and in love — all unconscious of a 
 personality or locality, without apprehension, perfectly 
 free — indifferent, restful, slumbering. The sublime assur- 
 ance that you are floating in the Spirit of the infinite Father 
 and Mother — that no sparrow falleth unobserved — that 
 nothing is wrong — that everything is right where you are 
 • — this assurance, singing like the affectionate song of a 
 loving mother in your spirit's depths, will lull you to sleep, 
 dreamlessly and yet alive and thoughtful, in the downy 
 cradle of eternity. 
 
 Therefore fear not. the physical sensations consequent 
 
 upon a sudden death at the « cannon's mouth." Fear, 
 
 rather, the moral disadvantages accruing from a struggle 
 
 in which the inspiration of umversd Freedom is not at once 
 
 the main-spring and the end to be attained. 
 
 » 
 Questions Conoerning Body, Soul, and Spirit. 
 
 XXVIL— Question : " 1. Does the ' vital magnetism ' connecting 
 tlie soul with the spirit over dissolve, Icayiug the spirit without a body 
 and could the spirit exist thus disembodied ? 
 
CONCERNING BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT. 55 
 
 " 2. Is the organizatioa of the soul — from the ' chaotic and discord- 
 ant elements' composing it in this life — ever possible with any human 
 being after throwing oif the mortal body ? 
 
 " 3. You say, ' In oouiniou with the animals, each man has a 
 soul ; ' but has each human soul a spirit, which, in conjunction with 
 the soul, is to be rooked ' in the downy cradle of eternity ' ?' 
 
 Answer: 1. It is impossible that the magnetic connec- 
 tion, which links the soul to the spirit, should ever be dis- 
 sipated or rendered ineffective. The vital magnetism is an 
 enveloping ethereal emanation — a perpetual atmosphere — ■ 
 and is not only generated and renewed every moment, but 
 its intimacy and agency are every moment made more 
 chemically perfect and organically indissoluble. Spirit, 
 without a body, is not individualized. Spirit is the imper- 
 sonal essence of the omnipresent Father and Mother. It 
 is personalized and secreted from the universal ocean of 
 divine principles by means of the forming and containing 
 soul. Hence spirit cannot exist disembodied. It would 
 be swallowed up, like a drop of water, in the common sea 
 of infinite principles. 
 
 2. It is impossible for a spirit identity to be formed 
 and established independently of the physical organization 
 and its psychical energies. The material organism is 
 designed specifically and fundamentally to perform the 
 function of giving individuality to the spiritual elements. 
 The body is a mill. It puts, air, water, light, heat, vegeta- 
 bles, fruits, animal substances, and chemicals, into its hop- 
 per, and pulverizes them by digestion. The soul is fed and 
 manufactured out of the finest elements ~ and essences 
 extracted from the above-named substances. No body but 
 man's can elaborate the soul of a man; and no soul but 
 man's can ever subserve the eternal ends of the indwelling 
 spirit. If it were possible for any spirit to be clothed 
 upon for immoital life, without the aid of the physical 
 
56 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 body, it would then be absurd for any human being to be 
 born into this world. The fact that every inhabitant of 
 supernal lands was once born of woman, on this planet, 
 or on some other like this: in material development, demon- 
 strates the absolute indispensableness of the corporeal 
 organism to a future individualized existence. Therefore, 
 we answer that it is never possible for a new soul to be 
 organized about the spirit after death, except in the man- 
 ner heretofore explained. The spirit, after leaving the 
 mortal body, is always immediately clothed upon with that 
 particular soul which was manufactured for it by the 
 physical mechanism. 
 
 3. We do most distinctly affirm that every human soul 
 has a spirit adapted to an eternal life. But we do not say 
 that every form in human shape is necessarily human in its 
 internal organism. Sometimes it happens that human 
 parents produce false progeny, such as idiots and phreno- 
 logical monstrosities, who do not possess the functions ade- 
 quate to the manufacturing of the psychical organism. And 
 sometimes, also, among the inferior tribes of earth, we 
 observe bodies in human shape, possessing souls in common 
 with the animal world, but who do not reach sufficiently 
 high in the phrenological scale to take in and clothe a spi- 
 rit for eternity. Among all races of men these exceptions 
 exist. The farther back we investigate the physical history 
 of mankind, the more frequent the exceptions, until we 
 reach a point in the far past, where the animal world was 
 brought in its foetal development to the inception of the 
 imperfect human type in shape merely, when the exception 
 was on the side of immortality, and the rule in harmony with 
 the mortal destiny of the brute creation. Now it is rare, 
 among the so-called civilized races, that a child is born on 
 the strictly mortal side of life. But that there are such 
 
neak::ess of the spirit land. 57 
 
 cases is as certiiin as that there are counterfeit coins in 
 daily circulation in trade. Every peach-blossom does not 
 produce a peach ; nor is every peach capable of reproducing 
 its kind. 
 
 Nearness of the Spirit Land. 
 
 XXVIII. — ^Question : " Do you believe that mankind in general 
 ■will ever realize the close proximity of the Spirit Land ? " 
 
 Answer: It is not possible for everybody to become 
 clairvoyant this side of the tomb. But this fact will not 
 shut the Spirit Land from the world's consciousness. We 
 have the happiness to believe that the day will dawn when 
 the pathway to the tomb will be smooth and fragrant with 
 the breathings of angelic association. Harmonious intelli- 
 gence, if not positive clairvoyance, and intuitive conscious- 
 ness, if not open vision, will bring the Summer Land close 
 to the sympathy and affections of mankind. This blessed 
 reality will become a part of the world's every-day con- 
 sciousness, like the fact of existence itself, and thus will 
 " ministering spirits " form a part of human experience 
 and society. The sweet, mournful tones of the seolian 
 harp, when breathed upon the midnight wind, sound not 
 more attractive and holy than do the whisperings of gen- 
 tle visitants from other spheres. 
 
 Where is the Spirit World? 
 
 XXIX. — Question : " Does the spirit of man ever enter the spirit 
 world before the death of the mortal organism ? " 
 
 Answer : The spirit of man is never out of the spirit 
 world. [J5y the " spirit world " we do not mean the 
 Second Sphere, or Summer Land.] By the term " spirit 
 world " is meant the " silver lining to the clouds of mat- 
 ter " with which the mind of man is thickly enveloped. 
 There is no space between the spirit of man and this 
 
58 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 immense universe of inner life. Man's spirit touches the 
 material world solely by means of spiritualized matter both 
 within and without his body. Thus the five senses come 
 into contact with matter : 1. The eyes hj light. 2. The 
 ears by atoospAere. 3. The taste by _/?Mid5. 4. The' smell 
 by odors. 5. The touch by vibration. Reflection will 
 satisfy you that ymi (a spirit) never did and never can come 
 in contact with solid matter. Matter must be first attenu- 
 ated and set in motion before you can reach out and take 
 hold of it. Between your Will and the solid rock at your 
 feet there are several gradations of matter spiritualized, 
 but less and less refined as you go downward, until the 
 lowest condition of life \i. e., vibration, or motion,) reaches 
 and touches the stone. 
 
 By such conditions and attenuations of matter your spi- 
 rit (yourself) comes in contact with the outward world. 
 Interiorly you are already in the spirit world. You feel, 
 think, decide, and act as a resident of the inner life. 
 Death removes the " cloud of matter " from before your 
 spiritual senses. Then you see, hear, taste, smell, and 
 touch, more palpably and intelligently, the facts and forces 
 of the world in which, perhaps as a stranger, you have 
 lived from ths first moment of your individualized exist- 
 ence. It is not necessary to move an inch from your death- 
 bed to obtain a consciousness of the spirit world, or inner 
 life. Instantly you perceive the life of things, and the 
 shape and situation of the things themselves are also visi- 
 ble in a new golden light, and yet you may not have moved 
 twelve inches from the body just deserted. The duality 
 of man's nature is physiologically and spiritually perfect. 
 Being a spirit, in the spirit world every moment, man can 
 face matter and mold it into countless shapes. 
 
 The Summer Land is a vast localized sphere within this 
 universal spirit world. 
 
CAN SPIRITS SEE MATEKIAL OBJECTS? 59 
 
 The Summer Land. 
 
 XXX. — Question : " What do you mean by the expression 
 'Summer Laud'? If you designate the heavenly world by this 
 expression, why do you use these words more frequently than other 
 terms, such as Spirit Land, Spirit World, &c. ? " 
 
 Answee : There is a philosophical reason, for the ex- 
 pression : « Summer Land." The difference between this 
 world and the adjoining sphere is as wide and as marked 
 as between the seasons of winter and summer. In this 
 world we find, at best, nothing but the rudiments of the 
 next. Sickness and death terminate man's career on earth. 
 In the next world he can know, by experience, nothing of 
 either death or sickness. The minutes of man's life on 
 earth are counted by grains of iron and sand. In the next 
 life his time is measured by the ripples of love and wisdom. 
 Evil converts the present life into a stormy winter, and 
 the darkness of ignorance and suffering flings sadness over 
 the whole race ; but in the next world there is a summery 
 bloom on the cheek of every one, from the least to the 
 greatest, and the song of the thronging millions is filled 
 with the music of perpetual summer. But the time is 
 coming on earth when the will of the great Good " will be 
 done" as it is in the Summer World. The realities of the 
 upper life will at last shine into this life, and the " king- 
 dom of heaven" will have come with its everlasting ver- 
 dure, blending the two worlds so perfectly, that every part 
 of earth will be supremely blest and beautiful. Until 
 that holy day, with its omnipotent love and endless glory, 
 dawns all over the earth, it will be naturally and truth- 
 fully expressive by way of contrast, to think and speak of 
 the spirit world as the Summer Land. 
 
 Can Spirits See Material Objects ? 
 
 XXXL — Question : " In some of your writings you have put 
 forth this proposition : ' It is n Uvv of Nature that Spiritual things are 
 
60 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 seen only by Spiritual eyes, and material things by material eyes.' 
 'Ihen, on page 174, Penetralia, you say : ' "While the party enter- 
 tained themselves in conversation concerning the diagrams that were 
 hanging on the wall, we (Catherine and I) &c., &o.' Some persons 
 seem to think the statement of Spirits seeing the diagrams ' on the 
 wall,' contradicts the above proposition. Will you please explain V 
 
 Answer: Simplicity in expression is a partial test 
 of truth — not crudity nor flaunting extravagance of 
 style — and yet, some truths are so fine, so exquisitely 
 attenuated, that to treat them with simple words seems 
 somewhat like dressing a divine and gentle spirit in home- 
 spun sackcloth. We must bespeak attention, close and 
 patient, to the brief explanation we have to give. It has 
 been asked, 
 
 — " Who can paint a sunbeam to the blind, 
 Or make him feel a shadow with his mind ? " 
 
 Still, it becomes necessary to " paint a sunbeam," and 
 to feel a shadow, in classifying and explaining the class of 
 truths to which our correspondent refers. 
 
 Spirit eyes discern material and corporeal objects, by 
 means of the aura which emanates from the objects ; that 
 is, the eternal eye sees the rose through its fragrance and 
 its qualities, a stone through its latent life-principle, a tree 
 through its expanded life, a physical man through his ani- 
 mating soul, a diagram on the wall through the nervaura 
 within the markings of the artist, (by which subtile prin- 
 ciple a letter is psychometrized) and so on, throughout the 
 whole empire of material forms, the Spiritual eye discerns 
 physical bodies only through their Spiritual qualities, 
 showing that spirit-sight is exactly the reverse of bodily- 
 signt, just as matter is the opposite of mind ; and yet, 
 these exact opponents meet in one common center, as all 
 extremes do and must. 
 
ANIMALS IN THE SPIRIT WORLD. ,61 
 
 Animals in the Spirit World. 
 
 XXXII — Question : " There soem to bo contradiotorj accounts 
 through mediums, oouoerning the existence and noa-existence of birds 
 
 iind animsils in the Spirit World— some affirming, some denying 
 
 Can you throw any light on this question? " 
 
 Answer : Almost all misunderstandings, even contra- 
 dictious and animosities among men, arise from the use of 
 the same words with different meanings. If mankind 
 could use language so judiciously that one word would 
 always and everywhere sta,nd for one meaning, the contro- 
 versies of the world would quickly terminate, because at 
 heart all men are the same as one man, with identical intui- 
 tions, and with similar likes and dislikes under similar 
 circumstances. Joy and sorrow, happiness and misery — 
 birth, growth, maturity, death — are common to all men 
 everywhere. But men will use the same words with very 
 dissimilar meanings, and thus, where there is no essential 
 difference of conviction, they will quarrel with and hate ■ 
 each other. 
 
 In nothing has this confusion ,of tongues been worse 
 confounded than in the revelations through mediums from 
 the inner life. And yet in nothing is there more essential 
 harmony and mutually supporting testimony. For exam- 
 ple : An investigator, thinking of the Summer Land, will 
 ask a medium, or a spirit through the medium, " Do you 
 see any Birds and Animals ? " The answer will be, perhaps, 
 " Yes ; " or, perhaps, " No ; " and yet both statements are 
 truthful. Because what is the spirit world to one medium 
 or spirit, in one particular state of mediumship, is no 
 the spirit world to another in a different state. The words 
 are used, by different persons, in different states, with very 
 widely different meanings. 
 
 We have defined t]ie "spirit world" as the boundless 
 inner life, in which all physical planets, with their vegeta- 
 
 6 
 
62 ANSWEKS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 tion, and animals, and inhabitants, swim and revolve 
 through space. Consequently, to spirit eyes all objects, 
 both animate and still, are visible as parts of that inner 
 life, or spirit -world. Men, houses, villages, horses, cows, 
 dogs, fruit trees, vegetation, the landscapes, &c., on this 
 globe, are all distinctly visible (in a new light) to every 
 dweller of the Summer Land. Hence, in a certain sense, 
 it is true to say that in the spirit world everything contin- 
 ues to be just as it was on earth. This was Swedenborg's 
 gospel, and it is reaffirmed by hundreds now-a-days. But, 
 remember, the spirit world is not the Second Sphere. 
 
 Conflicting Testimony on Important Facts. 
 
 XXXIII. — Question : " I am much troubled with what I deem 
 irreconcilable statements concerning the location of the spirit world. 
 You seem to difier widely from Dr. Hare and the author of the ' Arcana 
 of Nature.' .... Why is this ? " 
 
 Answer : We do not feel called upon to explain the 
 causes why one mind has been impressed to differ from 
 another on this subject. If we had written after the 
 authors named, and had found cause to diifer as widely 
 from them as they have from us, it would then seem import- 
 ant to give the world a sufficient reason for the discrepancy. 
 We think it is an author's duty to give his readers what 
 he deems good reasons for making statements in conflict 
 with those who have preceded him. If a man should affirm 
 that the planet Saturn was located only 100 miles from the 
 earth, he should give his reasons for so " widely differing " 
 from the received demonstrations of astronomers ; but we 
 can see no justice in the public calling upon the astrono- 
 mers to explain why some particular author has been influ- 
 enced to make statements adverse to their system. There- 
 fore, would it not be wise and just to the general cause of 
 progress, if persons, who have been moved to differ so 
 
POE'S clairvoyant — SPIRIT OF FRANCES WRIGHT. G3 
 
 conspicuo'dsly and widely from us, would furnish the world 
 with their interior reasons for such differences? The con- 
 flict of teslimony must necessarily be very embarrassing to 
 readers and investigators. For our own part, we have up 
 to this day found no reason to essentially modify anything 
 we have published relating to the spiritual spheres. It is 
 important that investigators should have all the data of 
 correct reasoning. 
 
 The Story of Poe's Clairvoyant. 
 
 XXXIV. — Question : " In regard to your interview with Edgar 
 A. Poe Bome years ago, as reported in the ' Magic Staff,' in which you 
 treated his story as a reality — can you explain how the mistake 
 occurred ? " 
 
 Answer : There was no mistake in this circumstance. 
 We remember to have affirmed on two or three occasions, 
 previous to the interview with the gifted poet, that the 
 philosophy of ultimates, unpar tided matter, etc., (as set forth 
 by the clairvoyant in Poe's article) was a true philosophy 
 — but this endorsement did not extend to an assertion that 
 the clairvoyant was an actual personage. Upon this point 
 we did not seek any information. But we used the poefs 
 invention, by name, as men speak of Shakspeare's or Mil- 
 ton's characters — all equally fabulous, but -none the less 
 real, in common conversation. 
 
 The Spirit of Frances Wright. 
 
 XXXV. — Question : " I have been credibly informed that you 
 saw the spirit of Frances Wright, at High Rock Tower, in your vision 
 of the Spiritual Congress, some months previous to her death. If so, 
 how could it occur ? " 
 
 Answer : Your informant is wholly mistaken. The 
 authentic record of that memorable Vision may be found 
 in " The Present Age and Inner Life." On the occasion 
 referred to, the Seer is reported to have seen but four glori- 
 
64 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 fied beings. The members of the Congress were not indi- 
 vidually visible to his perceptions. He saw them en masse, 
 not particularly as to their features, and in conversation 
 he was addressed by only one of the four. (See the book.) 
 Months subsequently the same spirit, Galen, came with 
 an account of the proceedings of the different Sessions of 
 the Congress ; at which time the Seer acted in the capacity 
 of reporter simply, and reduced to writing the " exordia," 
 with the names given as members of the different Delega- 
 tions, as imparted by the spirit of Galen. Why the name 
 of Prances Wright was given as a member of the Ameri- 
 can Delegation we do not' know, unless it was done in pro- 
 phetic anticipation of her arrival and'co-operation. 
 
 Spiritual Habitations after Death. 
 
 XXXVI. — Question : " Will you be kind enough to answer the 
 following questions : Ist. Do spirits have local habitations ? 2d. Are 
 those habitations as diversified as on earth ? 3d. Do the races of men 
 retain their original color ? '"' 
 
 Answer : The homes of the loved, and not lost, are visi- 
 ble on every side of the Summer Land. Brotherhoods are 
 likewise visible — immense congregations of mutually 
 attracted natures — ^just beyond the homes and habitations 
 of the less gregarious. The divine light of immortality 
 glorifies the pathway of every inhabitant. In our Father's 
 and Mother's " house there are many " apartments— lovely 
 to the loving, glorious to the hopeful, filled with rest to the 
 harmonious — but you will discover that a man will certainly 
 find in his next life the effects of this, for it is a fixed law 
 that " as a man thinketh " so will the externals of that 
 world seem to him. The spirit's Home is a natural world, 
 regulated by natural laws, covered by a natural firmament, 
 animated by a natural Deity, populated by natural spirits 
 and angels who wpre once men and women, and it is there- 
 
WEIGHT OP THK SPIRIT BODY. 65 
 
 fore natural that dwelling-places should diversify the 
 landscape. 
 
 The physiological color of races does not continue, though 
 their mental peculiarities do ; but it is distinctly made 
 manifest that persons, in the spirit world, have complexions 
 in accordance with the state and degree of their moral 
 development. For example: An immoral Anglo Saxon 
 after death is likely to appear with a blacker face than 
 that of his simple-hearted, faithful African servant ; for it 
 is a fixed principle of mind that the exterior shall corres- 
 pond, both in shape and complexion, to the interior spirit- 
 ual state. 
 
 Weight of the Spirit Body. 
 
 XXXVII. — Question : " I would like explained a certain para- 
 graph which I find in the fifth volume of the Great Harmonia, page 
 406, in relation to the weight of the spiritual body, to wit : ' The 
 entire form would not, perhaps, weigh at spiritual birth more than three 
 ounces I ' Ivow what I should like to know is this — how can a substance 
 which weighs three ounces escape my sight and touch ? I can both 
 see and feel a substance, of the size of the human body, which will 
 weigh less than one ounce. I had supposed, and still think, that the 
 human spirit is as light as air." 
 
 Answer : Our interrogator is mistaken in regard to 
 the powers of his natural vision. He thinks he can " both 
 see and feel a substance of the size of the human body 
 which will weigh less than one ounce." Did he ever try 
 the experiment in a manner parallel to what the spiritual 
 body would be ? 
 
 Atmospheric air weighs 15 pounds to the square inch. 
 
 Can our interrogator discern the immense weight that 
 
 would fall within the compass of a human form ? A grain 
 
 of musk will diffuse its odor through every part of a large 
 
 house, and a pound of the same would saturate a wide area 
 
 of country air, yet neither the eye or the touch could 
 
 detect its presence or existence. 
 6* 
 
66 ANSVraRS.TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Trees and plants grow from substances absorbed out 
 of the circumambient air, but who can see or touch those 
 substances until they concentrate, through months and 
 years, in the appropriate external forms? So with the 
 spirit substance. It might weigh pounds instead of ounces, 
 and that substance and that weight might exist within the 
 dimensions of the physical body out of which it emanated, 
 yet no human eye or hand is fine enough to detect its pres- 
 ence. It is so rare, so refined, so ethereal, so attenuated ; 
 but neither of these attributes can lessen the actual weight 
 of the substance. 
 
 The Spiritual Substance. 
 
 XXXVIII. — Question : " You say that spirits' souls (their bodies) 
 are composed of substances. If this be so, does the earth grow smaller 
 by their leaving it. ... I ask for knowledge ; will you instruct me ?' ' 
 
 Answer: Take 'an acre of treeless and shrubless 
 ground. Weigh it, and mark the exact number of tons of 
 earth it contains. Now add a definite quantity of fertiliz- 
 ing soils and manures. Know how much it all weighs. 
 (There should be no communication between this acre and 
 the earth either beneath or at the sides.) Plant it with 
 apple trees. In ten years the trees are large, and their 
 combined weight would be many tons ; but, on weighing 
 the earth in which they grow, you would be astonished to 
 find not a pound missing. This is true. The experiment 
 may be tried in an earthen flower-pot. The leeching, &c., 
 may be provided against or weighed from week to week. 
 Yet the plant which this isolated bit of earth produces, 
 although weighing several ounces or pounds, will not 
 decrease the weight of earth in which it grew. So with 
 the spirit's body. Like plants, flowers, fruit, &c., the soul 
 obtains its substance mainly from the air. 
 
PHYSICAL OSGANS AND SPIRIT LIFE. 67 
 
 Striking the Spirit's Body. 
 
 XXXIX. — Question : " If a disembodied spirit were standing 
 before me, and I should take a stick and quickly swing it through the 
 space occupied, would it in any way disturb the elements composing 
 that spirit body ? " 
 
 Answer : According to our investigations and obser- 
 TatioDS, we answer, " yes." The spiritual body would be 
 disturbed by violent contact with any grosser substance. 
 But we have never known of an instance of this kind, and 
 we think such accidents never happen to the inhabitants of 
 any Spirit Land. On one occasion a spirit seer, in a 
 moment of fright, struck several times at a spirit-person- 
 age standing before him, but he found, much to his conster- 
 nation, that his mighty blows were turned oiF harmlessly 
 on either side of the spirit. Over and again he attempted 
 to strike straight and hit the apparition, but his cane 
 glanced aside every time, with the speed of thought. It is 
 our present belief that no man can injure the body of a 
 spirit, simply because the spirit is perfectly endowed with 
 the power of self-preservation. Accidents happen only 
 where ignorance or carelessness are characteristics of the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 Physical Organs and Spirit Life. 
 
 XL. — Question : " In this world we can easily understand the 
 uses of physical organs, such as the organs of reproduction, &c ; but, 
 unless the other world is also a place for reproduction, it is difficult to 
 understand why they should continue as part of existence. And yet, 
 as spirits are both male and female, I conclude that such organs do 
 remain with the spirit after death. How is this ? " 
 
 Answer : All things are regulated by a basic law oi 
 USE, which is deeper than the surface functions performed 
 in the presence of the senses. Beneath the common duties 
 of an organ there is a finer class of uses, which is seldom 
 conceived of by physiologists, and never by persons who 
 
68 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 accustom themselves to sensuous processes of reasoning. 
 For example, the teeth seem to be designed solely for the 
 purpose of biting and masticating food, and this is the only- 
 use for teeth which many perhaps see. but it is clear that 
 the dental organism is adapted to the performance of duties 
 far more exalted. The teeth are necessary to the beauty 
 of the mouth, and to the symmetry of the wholo face, and 
 yet more are they necessary to the correct pronunciation 
 of words. And they have yet other uses. 
 
 So of the organs of reproduction. To most observers 
 these organs are adapted to the propagation of our spe- 
 cies, and, incidentally thereto, they perform several purely 
 physiological duties for the benefit of bodily health. But 
 the deeper Seers recognize a world of deeper offices and 
 uses in the principles of which those organs are expressions. 
 And therefore, in the Summer Land of pure delight, the 
 reproductive organs (without receiving a full outward 
 development as they do in this world) perform offices 
 inseparable from friendship, affection, and communion. 
 The sexes are distinctly visible, not so much from any 
 external organs, as from the general form and bearing. 
 Spirits are virtuous, or commit adultery, " in the heart." 
 But no spirit is virtuous as a consequence of being deprived 
 of the means of intercourse. Bodily perfection in the 
 other life, as in this, is impossible without perfect develop- 
 ment of all the organs. The same is true of character. 
 
 Reproduction in the Spirit Land. 
 
 XLI. — Question: "What are the relations of the sexes in the 
 Second Sphere, or Spirit Land ? Do they reproduce iu a manner cor- 
 responding to this world ? " 
 
 Answer : We repeat, the divine law of Use is the 
 source of every organ and function. Nothing lives a day 
 after its real usefulness in the boundless economy of the 
 
DO SPIRITS WEAR CLOTHING? 69 
 
 universe has absolutely terminated. This world is the manw 
 factory of individualized mindsi adapted to a future life. 
 The productions of this existence are gathered iato that 
 which is to come. The organic machinery of our terres- 
 trial bodies, by which reproduction is carried forward, is 
 not demanded by the law of Use in the Spirit Land. 
 
 But the relation of marriage, between the sexes, is far 
 more perfect in the next life. Love, not passion, prevails. 
 And the objects of lov^ are exalted far above the repro- 
 ductive impulses of the blood. The wondrous and beauti- 
 ful cerebi:um, or front and superior lobe of the brain, 
 spiritualizes the blood just in proportion to its predominance 
 over the cerebellum and its visceral appendages. 
 
 In the other world, where the moral and intellectual 
 powers are naturally balanced and supreme, the reproduc- 
 tiveness of blood is transferred to that of spirit. Thus 
 the correspondence is kept up. The offsprings of Spirit- 
 love are high-born acts of wisdom and philanthrophy ; and 
 it is worthy of all consideration and gratitude, that in the 
 Spirit-world, no great individual deeds are possible outside 
 of the true marriage. Indeed, without union between 
 adapted natures there is neither happiness nor progression. 
 
 Do Spirits Wear Clothing? 
 
 Xldl. — QoESTiox : " In your ' Philosophy of Spiritual Inter- 
 course,' page ISl, you describe the formation of the spiritual body of 
 a man who was killed by a well caving in upon him. You say you 
 saw ' a form finely wrought, a body beautifully, organically, and sym- 
 metrically constructed.' Did the body appear clothed or naked ? 
 Another question : Can a Spirit enter a house through a wall, or any 
 solid substance ? , 'J'here seems to be much difference of opinion exist- 
 ing amongst believers in Spirit intercourse in regard to the ability of 
 Spirits as to seeing, hearing, &o. Why is this? Cannot their habits 
 and powers be ascertained correctly beyond any doubt ? 
 
 Answer: While engaged in the perception of the 
 
 apotheosis described in the work in question, we could not 
 
 discern corporeal and material things, for the reason that 
 
70 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 tlie Spiritual eyes can see only what is essential and celes- 
 tial. But garments suitable for the dress of the Spirit- 
 body, had there been any, would have reflected themselves 
 upon our vision. There were no habiliments born with . 
 the Spirit-body, and hence it was raised naked and uncon- 
 cealed, just as you and we were delivered into this world . 
 at the moment of birth. The query regarding the power 
 of Spirits to pass unimpeded through " a house, wall, or 
 solid substance," is answerable in many ways. 
 
 Spirits can travel through all substances by reflection, 
 or by vision, or by extemporaneous energy, but not in 
 organic form, not in bodily personality, as we can walk 
 through water, or as we do separate the abounding 
 atmosphere whenever moving through the spaces. Where 
 there is one seer or one Spirit who asserts the power of 
 unembarrassed penetration through material bodies, there 
 are ten seers and as many Spirits who will, from a 
 superior and more philosophical plane of discernment, 
 testify directly for the decision above expressed. The 
 reason why certain seers and Spirits testify differently, 
 can be found in the want of inmost and upward judg- 
 ment. They resemble the a«fe-astronomical nations, who 
 held that the earth was a boundless plane of land 
 and water, and that the sun was God's gorgeous 
 chariot, in which he drove with lightning speed around 
 this immovable and all-important mass of flat matter. 
 And why? Because nothing, they thought, could be 
 more evident to sight, and therefore to reason, than the 
 flatness and immobility of the earth, and the rotundity 
 and rotation of the fiery source of every blessing ; while, 
 in fact, it was the flatness and immobility of their own 
 heads, and not that of the globe, which covered their 
 judgments with such absurd convictions. 
 
WHY DO SPIRITS APPEAR IN EARTHLY DRESS? 71 
 
 We say all this merely as a practical suggestion to 
 our interrogator : in part explaining why men, and spi- 
 rits, and seers, differ upon matters where opposite con- 
 victions seem impossible. Wisdom, besides sight and 
 testimony, is required. 
 
 Why Do Spirits Appear in Earthly Dress ? 
 
 XLIII. — Question : " Why do spirits — so very many of them — 
 appear to their friends as if they still suffered from that which caused 
 their death ? If a person is drowned, he appears to his friends as if 
 wet, clothes dripping, &c. I know the case of a woman who thus 
 appeared several times, and always as if suffering. Now, is there 
 any suffering there ? If not, why should the wife choose that condi- 
 tion to appear in — knowing, of course, that it must give pain, or at 
 least, less pleasure to her family than if she looked well and happy ?" 
 
 Answer: It should be remembered that our spirit 
 friends are not always regulated by the calm laws and 
 pleasant ways of Wisdom. If they were, a few of them 
 who now revisit their earthly acquaintances would remain 
 in the retirements of Educational temples in the Summer 
 Land. The most ignorant spirits, but with the very best 
 motives for doing good and teaching mankind, are the first 
 to confabulate and palaver at a " circle." Their garrulous- 
 ness and verbose sermonizations, on many occasions, are 
 remarkable, and exceedingly hard to be patient with. 
 Meanwhile the really wise and gifted in the other world, 
 as in this, are uncommunicative — -are patiently, gently, 
 modestly silent. American investigators must not suppose 
 that the Summer Land is populated exclusively with the 
 progeny of tea-drinking Yankees — chatty, voluble, impa- 
 tient, self conceited, and irrepressibly inquisitive. Other 
 nations, and older children, are far in the ascendency, both 
 in numbers and enlightenment. Of course, then, other tem- 
 peraments prevail in the several departments of supernal 
 Wisdom. The sages are naturally meditative — do not 
 make haste to speak. They are beautifully patient. Hun- 
 
72 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 drods of years have run their sands through the life of 
 thousands of celestial intelligences, who have not yet attempt- 
 ed to give mankind a single word of instruction. When such 
 minds come to speak from the closets and inner chambers 
 of their star-gemmed temples of thought, the earth's inhab- 
 itants will not longer need physical manifestations. 
 
 Those spirits who, in the haste and afflictions of the 
 moment, rush from a scene of death to apprise a medium 
 or their friends of the accident, &c., usually take the first 
 and most impressive method to " tell the whole story at 
 once." Hence they establish their individuality, and relate 
 both the occasion and manner of their death, by exhibiting 
 themselves (jisychologically) as they were at the moment of 
 departure. It is simply absurd to suppose that persons 
 continue to look and to suffer after death exactly as and 
 what they did just previous to physical dissolution. 
 
 These appearances are intended merely as reminders 
 and as tests of identity. All intelligent spirits are great 
 artists. They can psychologize a medium to see them, and 
 to describe them, in the style which would produce the 
 deepest impression on the receiver. The Will-power, and 
 the knowledge of the intimate connections between mind 
 yet in the body and mind disembodied, are familiar to most 
 spirits. They can easily represent themselves as being old 
 or youfig, as in worldly dress or in flowing robes, as is 
 deemed best suited to accomplish the ends of the visitation. 
 They substitute pantomime and appearance for oral expla- 
 nations. 
 
 The Speech of the Soul. 
 
 XLIV.— Question : " Will it be asking too much to solicit from 
 you some illustration or esplanatiou of the speech or voice. of a 
 spirit? I road of ' spirit voices,' &,o., but my miad can form no idea 
 ol' what the sound can be." 
 
 Answer : The speech of spirits drops upon the internal 
 
 tympanum like music from over the sea. The words are 
 
TUE SriiECH OP TUE SOUL. 73 
 
 distinct as bugie notes, but they affect the mind as child- 
 hood's kisses do the lips, leaving a sweet presence and 
 boueiaction behind them. Words of wisdom spolten by 
 angel lips exceed the melody of all earthly music. If you 
 ca\i fancy the voice of silvery streams flowing over cascades 
 of golden sunbeams, or the musical throbbings of death- 
 less joys flowing through the roseate chambers of the pure 
 heart, then you may Conceive somewhat of ' spirit voices,' 
 as heard by those who have ears to hear. We know not 
 how radiantly beam the countenances of those who converse 
 ■wholly in the language of the soul. It is the most expres- 
 sive, and the least demonstrative. The griefs and cares of 
 the heart — its fairest flowers and the saddest experiences — 
 tremble together in the crystal chalice of pure speech. 
 The voice of a spirit is like the spirit of truth — most elo- 
 quent when manifested in deeds — for thus the higher intel- 
 ligences communicate their thoughts to those beneath them. 
 The universal speech of Spirits is an elemental out- 
 birth of the internal — a language of thought and feeling — 
 which takes the form of that language with which the 
 guest is most familiar. For example: a person speaking 
 the native Portuguese will, on entering the spirit-land, 
 imagine that every other spirit, with whom he converses, 
 is acquainted with only the Portuguese language and idiom. 
 The modus loquendi must be universal in the other sphere, 
 otherwise a universal language were an impossibility. 
 Water is a universal solvent because it is not partial and 
 arbitrary, but readily takes any shape, and freely pene- 
 trates to every center. So with Spiritual language, in its 
 ultimate freedom. It takes the form of any conceivable 
 tongue, idiom, or speech, and thus establishes instant fellow- 
 ship between Spirits of exactly opposite nations, with dif- 
 ferent education. 
 7 
 
'''4 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 CoQcerning the Spiritual Vocaliulary. 
 
 XLV. — Question : " Are spirits confined, in their utterances 
 through media, to the vocabulary of words actually possessed by the 
 medium ? Or can they impress words which the medium never saw 
 or heard of? Again: Can our medium powers be unfolded while 
 asleep as well as when awake ?" 
 
 Answer: The influence of spirits acts upon many media 
 lilte an uncontrollable mental stimulant, which pervades 
 the most impressible faculties, and thus exalts them above 
 their ordinary capacities and actions. The effect ensuing 
 is a larger and grander exhibition of the medium's natural 
 abilities. 
 
 The transition from the normal condition to the com- 
 manding altitude of inspiration, is many times sudden, like 
 a flash of lightning. Hence the marvelousness of the 
 manifestation. 
 
 In such cases, it will be observed that, although the 
 medium is impressed to discourse upon exalted themes with 
 considerable profundity of reasoning, yet the construction 
 of sentences, and even the terminology, are characteristic 
 of the individual when not under spirit influence. This 
 plain and very common fact has led manj' to question the 
 co-operation of spirits in any instance. 
 
 But when the control is perfect (which is rare) the 
 medium can be made to speak in " unknown tongues," and 
 to employ words in any past or present language, with 
 which the same person is wholly ignorant when not 
 influenced. 
 
 Our medium powers do not open easily during sleep, 
 but the spirit is often built up in strength at night. 
 
 Vocal Converse after Death. 
 
 XLVI. — Question : " Do spirits converse vocally among themselvss, 
 or with mortals, as mankind do with each other on earth ? I ask, 
 because, in your fifth volume of Harmonia, ' The Thinker,' on page 
 422, you say: ' These words are written just as Brother Wilson pro- 
 
VOCAL CONVERSE AFTEK DEATH. 75 
 
 iiounced thcra I'epeatedly in my hearing.' And again, page 423, 
 ' VVtieu he opened his lips to reply,' &c." 
 
 Answee: This often asked question has already ap- 
 peared with an answer. But there remains on this subject 
 much more to be written. 
 
 Inasmuch as spirits are tr£.nsparent in respect to their 
 thoughts and affections, therefore, they can never say one 
 thing and mean another, as mankind, alas ! too often can 
 and do. They cherish no thought, entertain no secret, 
 foster DO affection, but what they are willing should beam 
 forth upon their beautiful faces, and be expressed in their 
 harmonious speech. 
 
 With regard to Brother Wilson's discourse, and the 
 seeming difBculty he experienced in imparting his thoughts 
 to the clairaudient ear, we may, in reply, judiciously quote 
 from Swedenborg : 
 
 "The speech of the celestial spirits cannot easily flow 
 into the articulate sounds or vocal expressions known to 
 man ; for it cannot be, adapted to any word in which there 
 is any harshness of sound, or in which there is a harder 
 duplication of consonants, nor in which there is any idea 
 from the scientific ; wherefore they seldom flow into speech 
 otherwise than by affections, which, like a flowing stream, 
 or an aura, give softness to the expressions. The speech 
 of spirits who are intermediate between the celestial and ,; 
 the spiritual, is sweet, flowing like the most soft and gentle! 
 atmospheres, soothing the recipient organs, and softening; 
 the very expressions ; it is also quick and determinate. [ 
 The flowing and agreeable style of their speech is from 
 this, that the celestial good in their ideas is of such quality, 
 and that nothing of the speech dissents from the thought ; 
 everything in the other life that is sweet and harmonious, 
 is from goodness and charity. The speech of the spiritual 
 
76 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 18 also fluent, but not so soft and tender ; and it is these, 
 chiefly, who speak." 
 
 Is the Universe Overflovring? 
 
 XLVII.^-QuESTiON : " Are there any more spirits now than there 
 ■were a million years ago ? If so, will not the universe eventu- 
 ally be filled with spirits ? And if there are no more, what becomes 
 of them-?" 
 
 Answer : Your important questions require a more 
 elaborate consideration than we can just now bestow upon 
 them. They are the ever-rising queries of mind when it 
 begins to work from mathematical premises for the ascer- 
 tainment of truth. 
 
 Suppose we put your questions thus : " Are there any 
 more truths now than in any previous age ? Answer, yes. 
 Are there any more truths individualized to-day than in 
 any previous age? "If this be so, will not the whole 
 universe be filled with individualized truths ?" Answer, 
 yes. And yet, with respect to quantity and essence, there 
 will then be no more truth than there was in the remotest 
 cycle of Eternity — for G-od lives through all Nature, and 
 Nature lives in the Omnipresent life of God — being in 
 quantity and essence unchangeable, " the same yesterday, 
 to-day, and forever." 
 
 The Inhabitants of Jupiter. 
 
 XL VIII. — Question: " Why do you represent the inhabitants of 
 Jupiter as walking in a bent posture, and not erect like the human 
 race ? " 
 
 Answer : We have no explanation to aiford for making 
 the declaration referred to, save this : Our first observa- 
 tion of the inhabitants of Jupiter was probably confined to 
 the Troglodytes (the man-monkeys, or gorillas,) of the side 
 of the planet next or nearest to our claii-voyant perceptions. 
 We think that we did not perfectly view the inhabited 
 portions, though we recall a conception of their existence. 
 
GUAEDIAN ANGELS CNIVBRSAL. 77 
 
 Accidental Death and Suicide. 
 
 XLIX. — Question : " Do not persons whose earthly lives have 
 been terminated suddenly, as by a steamboat disaster or the falling of 
 factories, suffer as much as those who terminate their earthly existence 
 by means of suicide ? " 
 
 Answer : Persons who die by sudden accident do not 
 suffer intellectually and morally, because their misfortune 
 is purely physiological and physical, (the same in this 
 respect as that of the suicide) ; while the deliberate or 
 desperate taking of one's own life is attended, in the other 
 world, with the superaddition of all the intellectual dis- 
 qualifications and moral darknesses which were antecedent 
 to, and consequent upon the state that led to the ignoble 
 act. No individual can go self-sent and abruptly into the 
 Spirit Land, without ultimately discovering the secret cause 
 of the deed to have existed within his own mental consti- 
 tution. This is certain, no matter how great the earthly 
 provocation which primarily induced the person to consum- 
 mate the act. It is the vivid consciousness of this indi- 
 vidual unworthiness, that, for a lengthened period in the 
 other life, causes the regrets and sufferings of the suicide. 
 
 Guardian Angels Universal. 
 
 L. — Question : " Are there guardian spirits watching over us at 
 all times, and, if so, do they participate with our joys and sorrows '? 
 and further, when we arrive in the Spirit Land, do we take the place 
 of our guardians and perform similar offices for those yet on earth ? " 
 
 Answer : As a general principle we observe that each 
 member of the human race is provided with two or more 
 guardian angels, but there are times, days and weeks, per- 
 haps whole years together, when it is impossible for the 
 lower and the higher to form a positive, conscious conjunc- 
 tion. Of course, not being in contact with us, the angels 
 do not invariably experience our sensations. This is a 
 wise and beautiful provision of the syrapatlietic law. If 
 
78 ANSWERS TO QUESTIOKS. 
 
 it were otherwise, if the love-laden sonls resident above 
 our sphere could at any moment intersect the path of our 
 experience, they would gladly shield us from much suffering, 
 and consequently from much education. Therefore, we 
 have not, " at all times," guardian spirits over us. Your 
 second question is answered affirmatively. 
 
 Explanation of S-wredenborg's Guardianship. 
 
 LI. — Question : " Canst thou enable me to assure one or two of 
 my fViends that there is always as good an understanding between thy 
 old friend Swedenborg and thyself, as there was when he used to 
 meet thee on the mountain near Poughkeepsie as thy angel guardian, 
 and when thou hadst not been required to expose his imperfections 
 while on earth. Thy honest dealing with regard to him, though to 
 many it may seem like ingratitude, appears to me one of the most 
 beautiful instances of friendship that we have on record, as correcting 
 for him errors which he had lacked wisdom when on earth to avoid 
 or correct. And I always imagine him thy prompter in this and 
 many other duties. It is sweetly encouraging to think that angels 
 may be blessed with the power of finishing up, through mortal instru- 
 mentality, the work which they had left but partially done." 
 
 Answer : The first visit of the spacioas-minded Swe- 
 denborg was unheralded, and the effect produced was won- 
 drous beyond utterance. His mystic words confounded my 
 youthful understanding, but they awakened a yearning 
 fountain within me, a stream of righteous aspirations for 
 the possession of eternal truth and knowledge. The noble 
 Swede did not announce himself as my guardian angel, but 
 was rather a smiling fountain of hope and trust in what is 
 steadfast and divine. He admonished me to search the 
 fields of Trutli, and to sound the serene depths of infinite 
 Wisdom and Love, to the full extent of my every spirit- 
 ual power. 
 
 For these counselings and other bestowments I have 
 ever felt the profoundest degree of gratitude. In pursu- 
 ance of the admonition and encouragements imparted, and 
 
EXPLANATION OP SWEDENBORG'S GUARDIANSHIP. 79 
 
 Bolely by strict obedience to the harmonious laws of body 
 and mind, I began the investigation of an hnndred streams 
 of golden truths, both in physical works and in the books 
 of men — always by " impression " and " clairvoyance." 
 (For explanation of my use of these terms see the " Magic 
 .^taff.") Among other discoveries thus made may be 
 'Jassed the naturalness of all spiritual truths, whether 
 revealed in the Bible or in the highest degrees of the celes- 
 tial universe, and also may be mentioned the perfect spi- 
 ritualness of all natural things in every region of life, 
 animation, and intelligence. 
 
 Swedenborg's works, like the revelations of several less 
 voluminous authors, came up for analysis. The above key 
 enabled me to look into the crystal cup of his psychical 
 experience. The laws of his impressions, and the reason 
 why he described subjective thoughts as objective realities, 
 were perfectly plain to my understanding. What my 
 impression of his works are, may be found wi'itten else- 
 where. That the good Swedenborg looks down with 
 righteous love upon the tumultuous world, and that the 
 faith of his charity far transcends the religious imagina- 
 tions of his sectarian followers, I do not, because I cannot, 
 question for one moment. He enjoys the liberty which 
 all may have — the freedom of progress and expression! 
 And still the awakened fountain within me flows onward 
 to mingle with the far-off pulses of the infinite sea of 
 celestial Truth. That* the gentle and royal Swedenborg, 
 standing upon the margin of that throbbing sea, will be as 
 grateful for an exposure of his errors as I am for the 
 disclosure of his friendship, is too probable to require a 
 word of argument. 
 
 It is indeed encouraging to think and know that angel a 
 — the world's great authors not more than our departed 
 
80 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 brothers and sisters— may return " and finisli up the work 
 which they had left but partially done." 
 
 What is an Apparition ? 
 
 L7T. — Question : " May not we, while living men and women on 
 earth, he present in spiritual forms in places far from our physical 
 bodies ? . . . . Do we not dwell in two spheres at the same time ? " 
 
 Answer: We have examined this problem sufiS- 
 ciently to answer the last interrogatory affirmatively. The 
 greater comprehends the lesser; so the earth, with its 
 weight of humanity, rolls in the presence of the spirit 
 sphere ; but this does not render positive duplicature of 
 personality any more than possible. 
 
 Our correspondent, however, presents a case in himself, 
 which we willingly take for an illustration of our philoso- 
 phy. It harmonizes with much in Mr. Owen's " Footfalls 
 on the Boundary of another World." 
 
 He writes : " Recently my mother went to her Spirit 
 
 Home While on a journey, in March last, I passed 
 
 into a sort of reverie, and was scarcely conscious that I 
 was driving my horse. ... 1 seemed to be at the bedside, 
 or in the room, where my mother was dying. I was speak- 
 ing to her of the Spirit Home and of the friends there to 
 whom she was about to take her fliglit. . . . When I 
 aroused I was somewhat surprised and saddened by the 
 words which had fallen from my lips, for I had, at the 
 time, no reason to suppose that my mother was unwell. On 
 my return next day I received a letter which informed me 
 that my mother was dangerously ill. She died on the 9t,h 
 of the present month, (April,) and in her last words said 
 to her weeping friends that she ' saw me in the room and 
 called to me twice ! ' Thus was my reverie turned to a 
 prophecy, every part of which was perfectly fulfilled. May 
 it not be true (asks our correspondent) that since my spi- 
 
WHAT IS AN APPARITION ? 81 
 
 ritual presence was with my mother 1,200 miles from my own 
 hmne, that I may also be present in angel' form with my 
 mot'acr in the spirit home ? " 
 
 ^Ve hold that any philosophy which, being natural and 
 instinctive, comprehends and explains the ever-rising phe- 
 nomena of life, is the best friend of humanity. It is the 
 inisfeion of philosophy to make plain that which is hidden 
 and mysterious. Theories and hypotheses are not philoso- 
 phy, though they may be, and often are, truly philosophical 
 and effective. The Harmoni.al Philosophy, like truth, is 
 progressive. Its teachers and receivers may err ; they 
 may fail to make clear distinctions ; they may be illogical 
 at times, and thus obscure their principles ; but in the end 
 every one is the possessor of much truth and consequent 
 happiness. 
 
 The philosophy of apparitions is identical with the phi- 
 losophy of stereoscopical and photographical operations. 
 Man's mind is a vaulted chamber, and many of its opera- 
 tions take place on the principle of the camera obscura, by 
 which images of external objects are distinctly imprinted, 
 with all their minutije and native colors, and motions, too ! 
 on the reflective and retentive faculties within the vestibule 
 of the temple. Phosphorus is ever present in the living 
 brain, and it is, in part, by means of this semi-electrical 
 principle that the human spirit is enabled to receive and 
 impart impressions. 
 
 The case of friend B , which is analogous to many 
 
 illustrations on history's page, is thus explainable: Hia 
 mind was abstracted from external things, and then con- 
 centrated upon the condition of his mother, by the kindly 
 and tender offices of their guardian spirit. This accom- 
 plished, and his mind thrown into the optical form of the 
 camera obscura, the object (1,200 miles distant) became dis- 
 
82 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 tinctly visible and blended with individual consciousness. 
 If, at this moment, the object could be comdous of the spi- 
 ritual operation, it would at once think that the presence is 
 absolute. That is, if the moon could be conscious when 
 the astronomer aims his reflector at its surface, it would in 
 a few moments embrace both the observer and his telescope, 
 just as the astronomer now takes the orb into his own imme- 
 diate presence and consciousness. Thus two objects in a 
 like state of sympathy, will, regardless of either time or 
 space, blend into each other's actual presence. 
 
 This similarity of feeling is almost invariably the result 
 of spiritual intervention. If, in addition to this proximity 
 of the reflections of distant objects, a spirit should prepare 
 the atmosphere for the picture, the apparition will then at 
 once become visible to external observation. That is to 
 say: The shadow takes on the semblance, and colors, and 
 motions, and even the thoughts of the substance or object, 
 which may be hundreds or thousands of leagues removed 
 from the representation. This is one of the subliraest facts 
 in the science of spirit-life. All enlightened spirits com- 
 prehend the workings of these cerebro-camera obscural pow- 
 ers of mankind, and such seldom hesitate to experiment 
 with them whenever some good end can be thereby subserved. 
 Such is the philosophy of " apparitions." 
 
 Tlie Cause of Haunted Houses. 
 
 LIII. Question : " Thero is a report in town that a particular 
 house in the vicinity is haunted. Sometimes there are startling 
 sounds — as of cannon bulls being thrown and rolled about the floor. 
 
 Occasionally voices are heard, as of people in a merry mood, 
 
 &c Now, sir, can any reliance be placed in such reports? Is 
 
 there something besides fancy in tales of haunted houses ? " 
 
 Answer : Of course there are stories of haunted 
 houses that have no foundation in truth. Perhaps the 
 report referred to by our correspondent is one of them. 
 
THE CACSE OF IIAUKTED HOUSES. 83 
 
 But we have positive knowledge of houses that have been 
 " haunted," and so absolutely that no family could be 
 induced to dwell within their walls. 
 
 Not far from the banks of the Hudson, fifteen years 
 ago, we entered a dwelling which was said to be under this 
 mystic spell. We took some pains to ascertain its history. 
 It was originally built by a Southerner, an arbitrary man, 
 with a large property. His riches had been filched from 
 the labor of enslaved men and women. They had cultiva- 
 ted his plantations, and had dragged out miserable years 
 of toil in his factory. His beautiful wife, exceedingly sen- 
 sitive and sympathetic, and a beloved friend to all around 
 her, was made wretched by his miserly habits and unjust 
 requirements. An only son, highly endowed by Nature, 
 and thoroughly educated, became dissipated. One cold 
 night, in the depths of winter, he committed suicide in that 
 house. In that house, also, two sweet little children were 
 destroyed by fire. By some unexplained accident their 
 garments were enveloped by the fearful flame, in the absence 
 of the customary attendant. 
 
 Oh, the intense agony, the exquisite sufi'ering of that 
 poor desolate mother-heart ! Her fine spirit, not finding 
 its delight in worldly pleasures, was utterly broken. In 
 unutterable sorrow she lifted up her voice — but she could 
 not be comforted. In the midst of anguish, her mind lost 
 its balance. She became frantic with a bitter, desolate 
 agony, which no medical treatment could reach. In a fit 
 of ^ffild frenzy she opened the chamber window and threw 
 herself to the stony earth, so far below ! She soon died 
 from the physical injuries thus received. 
 
 The wealthy man very soon disposed of all his property 
 save this one house, and embarked for the tour of Europe. 
 Bodily disease and terrific disasters by water followed him. 
 
84 AKSWEES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Fatigued in body and worn with anxiety, he returned to 
 America. He reached this lonely house on the morning of 
 his death. He died in the chamber where his wife's heart 
 was broken, where the son committed suicide, where the 
 two children were burned to death, and where the frantic 
 motlier threw herself from the window. 
 
 Years afterward, when these events had nearly van- 
 ished from the people's memory, the dwelling was occupied 
 by a new proprietor. One winter night, when the husband 
 was gone from home, the family were awakened and fright- 
 ened by the sound of footsteps in the fatal chamber. It 
 was now used only as a store-room and general wardrobe. 
 The thoughts of robbers naturally occurred to the fright- 
 ened listeners. While they listened a light female form 
 glided across the room, before their very eyes, although the 
 apartment was dark as midnight. 
 
 They screamed for help. Presently a neighborly far- 
 mer lighted his lantern and came over to ascertain the 
 cause of the cries he had heard. They explained what- 
 had occurred as well as they could, which only excited his 
 rairthfulness. Yet he carefully examined the premises. 
 Nothing had been disturbed. The doors were all locked 
 and bolted, and the supposition of human " footsteps " was 
 pronounced absurd. 
 
 Nothing further occurred until some six months subse- 
 quently, when, in the night time, as before, sounds of voices 
 were heard in the same chamber. Again, too, a clearly 
 defined human figure glided across the room in which the 
 husband and wife and a child were, or had been sleeping. 
 Upon investigation, nothing satisfactory was developed. 
 From that time, with intervals of a few nights of silence, 
 the strange sounds, and voices, and moving figure, contin- 
 ued. These interruptions during the night at last became 
 
THE CAUSE OF HAUNTED HOUSES. 85 
 
 frequent and alarming beyond endurance. Clothes were 
 pulled from the beds by invisible hands, logs of wood 
 seemed to be rolling over the floor, tin pans were thumped 
 and jets of wind would suddenly extinguish the lighted 
 tapers. The people in the neighborhood gave no credence 
 to these reports, but so real and fearful were the facts to 
 the occupants themselves, that they soon moved far away. 
 They could not be happy anywhere near such a dreadful 
 habitation. 
 
 At length the old house was shut up, and was deserted 
 l^ everything human. It was in a state of dilapidation 
 when we first visited it. The doors were nearly rusted 
 from their hinges, the windows were broken, and every 
 foundation stone was covered with the mildew of decom- 
 position. But there was, however, a purpose in our visit, 
 which may be hereafter disclosed. The cause of the 
 " haunted chamber " was made quite intelligible. Our 
 extremely sensitive temperament was the means of the dis- 
 covery. There was instantly upon us a feeling that there 
 was something human in the very plaster and woodwork 
 of the haunted apartments. This mysterious feeling, in a 
 dwelling so long uninhabited, led to clairvoyant percep- 
 tions. We found the electrical particles of the former souls 
 of the son and mother still lingei-ing in the mildew and 
 atmosphere of the chamber. We seemed to breathe the 
 very life of the wretched suicides. ' 
 
 Since that day we have discovered and established, at 
 least to our own satisfaction, that particular I'ooms in a 
 house may become mediumized. The bodily emanations of 
 a person while in extreme distress of either mind or body, 
 will, under certain states of the atmosphere, completely 
 impregnate and saturate the particles of a room ; so that, 
 for years afterward, it is possible for spirits to manirost 
 
86 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 themselves, in various ways, in the discharge of some par- 
 ticulSr uses or duties. In such cases we say that 
 the house is " haunted." In reality, the room is a " phy- 
 sical medium," and the manifestations are attributable to 
 the presence or influence of persons no longer in the ter- 
 restrial body. 
 
 Precisely what combination of mental forces and electri- 
 cal emanations is requisite to mediumize an apartment, we 
 cannot say ; but that the human mind is adequate, under 
 peculiar trials, or by the magnetic use of the will-power, 
 to the production of " haunted rooms," is too well-known 
 to be denied. 
 
 It is well to remember that the human world and the 
 spirit world are interblended and inseparable. 
 
 Spirit Facts versus Philosophy. 
 
 LIV. — Question : " On page 12 of the Telegraph's Answer to Eev. 
 Asa Mahan, Mr. Brittan holds the following language : ' Spiritual- 
 isni is chiefly concerned with the extraordinary psychical facts devel- 
 oped in the life of Mr. Davis, rather than in the contents of his books. 
 "W hother truth or error predominates in the latter is a consideration of 
 secondary importance, as it regards the question of our immortality 
 and the nature of the soul's life.' What I want to ask is, whether 
 the foregoing, is what you deem a true estimate of your relation to 
 the truths of Spiritualism ? " 
 
 Answer : From the first we have unmistakably defined 
 Harmonial Philosophy as a complete body with two wings 
 — Facts on one side and Reason on the other — by which 
 its influence will be universal, and its progression endless 
 in duration. 
 
 We do not object to the above incidental and well- 
 meant estimate of our individual position and experience. 
 But to say that astounding private psychical facts, instead 
 of eternal principles, are chiefly important to the success of 
 Spiritualism, is defining the latter to be exclusively a Mira- 
 cle-system, full of wonderful signs, and productive of innu- 
 merable demonstrations of immortal life. 
 
AN EXCESS OP SriEITUAL OPERATIONS. 87 
 
 Id thjs view, which is bo very popular just now, Spi- 
 ritualism is conceded to be but one wing of the Harmonial 
 Dispensation, which definition we esteem as philosophically 
 correct. The facts of Spiritualism can be interesting only 
 to those who do not, or cannot, study and comprehend the 
 immutable principles of Nature. Of this class there are 
 millions of minds, and there will, therefore, come millions 
 of facts, for Nature is ever ready to adapt means to the 
 ends contemplated. 
 
 An Excess of Spiritual Operations. 
 
 LV. — Question : " Please divulge the precise reason why you do 
 not favor constant circle-holding for the development of spiritual 
 facts ? » 
 
 Answer: We do not oppose, but rather encourage the 
 holding of Circles, as the quickest route to the acquisition 
 of a " living demonstration " of individualized life after 
 the death of the body. 
 
 But when this fact is established, when it is fully ascer- 
 tained that the individual really survives the mysterious 
 chemistry of death, we can see no particular good to the 
 mind thus convinced, in persisting in circle-holding with 
 the expectation of becoming wiser and more spiritualized. 
 These last desirable results do not often follow a constant 
 attendance upon spiritual circles. The laws of mental 
 growth do not depend upon the operations and sessions of 
 such circles. The lust of some minds after " facts " in 
 Spiritualism reminds us of the people, under Moses, who 
 kept up a sickly cry, (Num. xi : 13,) saying, " Give us flesh, 
 that we may eat." The Lord very properly became 
 intensely angry with the hungry folks, (see verse 33,) and 
 declared, in a previous " whisper " to Moses, (see verse 20,) 
 that the people should be compelled to eat of the quails, 
 &c., until the excess thereof should " come out at their nos- 
 trils." 
 
88 ANSWEBS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Now it seems to us that this terrible curse has befallen 
 more than one gormand in the " facts " of Spiritualism 
 They hunt up physical " demonstrations " until their men- 
 tal stomachs overflow with sentimental platitudes. All 
 excess is vicious — whether it be excessive praying, exces- 
 sive piety, excessive quail eating, excessive Spiritual fact- 
 ism, or excessive devotion to the commandments of one 
 idea. Let us handle the proofs of our immortality very 
 tenderly, for they are of all evidences the most sacred to 
 human progress; but let no man dare degrade them by 
 over-consumption and irreverent familiarity. 
 
 The Mysteries of Memory. 
 
 LVI. — Question : " It will greatly please and benefit us to receive 
 your answer to the following question : ' What is Memory, or rather, 
 how do we remember anything "? ' " 
 
 Answer : Our answer just now must be brief. Per- 
 haps, for this reason, it will not be wholly satisfactory — 
 but we may impart more at another time. Please think 
 deliberately of what is now communicated, and do not for- 
 get to apprise us of what is still obscure or seemingly 
 unsound. 
 
 Memory is the profoundest wonder of our spiritual 
 nature. We have frequently said that the inmost of man 
 — his eternal spiritual self-hood — is composed of inter- 
 intelligent principles. These principles are methods, ten- 
 dencies, and attributes not only, but — what is of far more 
 importance — they are constituted of sublimated atoms. 
 
 We term these atomic substances, " unparticled matter," 
 signifying the highest condition which a real substance is 
 capable of attaining. The indivisibility of these atomic 
 principles renders them "Impersonal" — or everywhere 
 distributed — and, in consequence of this refinement and 
 universality, men endeavor to conceive of them as though 
 
THE MYSTERIES OF MEMORY. 89 
 
 they were unsubstaBtial, like a statute law, or the ordi- 
 nance of a government. 
 
 The last definition is unsound when applied to the con- 
 stituents of mind, but it is applicable to many of the 
 dispositions and habits by which man's spirit is distin- 
 guished from his more external parts. 
 
 The arcanum of this truth is bewitchingly seductive to 
 the lover of metaphysical realities. For, having discov- 
 ered that spirit is compounded of substantial principles, 
 the next question naturally is, what do the wnatomized 
 atoms perform in the life of a man ? What (to use another 
 paradoxical expression) connection is there between the 
 wTjparticled particles and the faculty of Memory ? 
 
 We have seen and do testify that in the mind's princi- 
 ples there are more atoms than there are globes or stars 
 in immensity ! Millions and millions infinite, are the par- 
 ticles that compose the single human spirit. No computa- 
 tion of ours can reach the whole number thereof; and each 
 is the record of eternity ; or, in other words, each of these 
 spirit atoms is an organ of Memory. 
 
 It is impossible to give a perfectly clear illustration to 
 so obscure a truth, but the nearest to one is this: Suppose 
 you hold in your hand a diamond, provided with countless 
 surfaces, and each surface capable, in the twinkling of an 
 eye, of taking on a perfect picture of whatever touches it, 
 either by reflection or contact immediate ; and then add to 
 your supposition, that each surface is endowed with the 
 power of retaining such picture through all time, in spite 
 of every exertion to rub out and obliterate its outlines and 
 internal minutiffi. 
 
 This diamond is an exact illustration of one of the 
 ttwparticled particles that compose the principles that con- 
 stitute the eternal spirit of man. Each one is a treasury. 
 6* 
 
90 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 of memories. And each, in the revolution of infinite ages, 
 is capable of taking on an infinite number of impressions. 
 iSo that, according to our philosophy of mind, it is unscien- 
 tijic to regard Memory as the production of a special organ 
 or faculty. It is all in all. Self-hood is a compound of 
 countless personal recollections. Tim spirit rememiers 
 everything. But intellect cannot always recall the picture. 
 Memory, in a word, is the line which divides existence from 
 annihilation. 
 
 What is a Dream ? 
 
 LVII. — Question : " I am a great dreamer. * * * Some of 
 my dreams are pleasant, but none of them very instructive, and all of 
 them are exceedingly fatiguing to my brain and body. * * * 
 What is a dream? " 
 
 Answer : For a general reply to your question see the 
 philosophy of dreaming, in the third volume of Harmonia. 
 Rarely a dream is caused by the whispering of a guar- 
 dian spirit. Occasionally the mind is touched during sleep 
 by sympathy with distant scenes, persons, or events. Some- 
 times the brain is made a play-ground for the unsleeping 
 imagination. Mostly, the mind is occupied with the recon- 
 structions and eccentricities of its own restless memories 
 and thoughts. But, in all cases, the character of the dream 
 and the hereditary character of the person resemble each 
 other closely. Character lies at the foundation of every 
 dream. However sweet your daily life, or exemplary your 
 conduct in society, rest assured that a bad dream is a sign 
 of wrong, evil, disease, or inharmony in yourself. Be thou 
 whole. 
 
 Why the Mind may not Dream. 
 
 liVIII. — Question : " Can you resolve me the cause why now I 
 never dream ? I was used years ago, in my lighter and lovelier life- 
 time, to dream every night. And in the mornings, the remembered 
 snatches of these dreams were my staple breakfast talk. But now I 
 
WHY THE MIND MAY NOT DREAM. 91 
 
 never dream. I cannot recall the period of the change. But at the 
 time of life whence memory draws these dreams, I had no near, dear 
 friends in spirit land. Kone till after marriage. A few years after, 
 death clutched Avife and her babe — which latter left me the inheritance 
 of its sharp, shrill cry only, and then died into immortality. I have 
 never di'eamed since. Why ? •"' 
 
 Answer: The constitution of the mind is double 
 throughout. The individual, consequently, has two lives 
 in one. I'he events of the outer life are linked into a chain 
 by the faculty of memory, but this chain may greatly differ 
 from the golden links of the Inner Life. 
 
 The External memory is a recorder of that which has 
 just transpired — it reports the events of hours, days, weeks 
 — but this power may be greatly weakened by disease, or 
 crippled by affliction. 
 
 The Internal memory, on the part of the Inner Life, 
 can never be injured. If it be active at all, its action is 
 prompt, and spontaneous, and eternal. It takes notice of 
 nothing but impressions, principles, truths, ideas J for these 
 are vividly remembered in the deeps of intuition, which is 
 all memory. 
 
 The power to dream is immanent in all the mind. But 
 the recalling faculty is a part of the intellectual or front 
 group, and belongs, therefore, to that portion of the brain 
 which is denominated "the voluntary region." Now, 
 when our Brother lost his faculty of recalling the dreams 
 of the night, it impressed his judgment with the conviction 
 that his whole Inner Life was idle, or dreamless, during 
 the hours appropriated to slumber. But one of these days 
 or nights, he will begin to get reports from his more inte- 
 rior Memory, which is the treasury of dreams innumerable, 
 awakened or deposited by unseen wingless visitors Irom tlie 
 Summer Land. 
 
 The reason why he experienced a suppression of the 
 
92 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 dreaming power is, the shock which the affectional (or pos- 
 terior) portions of mind received at the departure of his 
 companion and her babe. This sad experience reversed 
 the magnetic poles of the brain for a time ; so that the 
 External memory ceased to notice and recall night-thoughts. 
 
 The Light of Inspiration. 
 
 LIX. — ^Question : " Recently, while receiving instrHCtion upon inspi- 
 ration, the Spirit said : 'The man that leans on the Magic Staff is inspired 
 to reveal wisdom ; he possesses the receptive or open condition through 
 which the light of inspiration speaks — electric force made visible to 
 spiritual vision in the form of light.' W e asked if he was controlled 
 by Spirits, and it was answered : ' Spirit intelligence, but not control 
 of Spirits — universal intelligence diffused through matter. The recep- 
 tive condition is one that gathers from electric forces in light positive, 
 which causes the intelligence to culminate at the focus of electric 
 light.' What do you think of this ?" 
 
 Answer : It is hard to elucidate an impersonal reality 
 to the personal powers of thought, and we do not, conse- 
 quently, much expect to succeed in translating the forego- 
 ing into plainer propositions. 
 
 Knowledge derived from impressive contact with 
 " universal intelligence diffused through matter," bears 
 upon men's judgments with all the mystery of a supernatu- 
 ral revelation, simply because most minds do not realize 
 any connection with " the focus of electric light," which 
 means the fountain of impersonal principles within man's 
 Spiritual constitution. 
 
 What is true in man is equally true mit of, and beyond 
 him. If one human mind is consciously a " focus of elec- 
 tric light," is intuitively or instinctively and spontaneously 
 in rapport with the impersonal principles of divine " intel- 
 ligence diffused through matter," (to which the human 
 spirit owes its essence and entity.) why may not every 
 other mind, one of these days, awaken to the same sense of 
 fullness and to a sweet communal identity with the princi- 
 ples of its own constitution ? 
 
THE SPI11IT"S ETERNAL SUN. 93 
 
 When this condition is attained, the person's interiors 
 are at once and naturally opened to that sphere " through 
 which the light of inspiration speaks." It is, in short, the 
 unity of the Spirit's inmost life with the principles of Divine 
 Love and Wisdom, by which principles each man liveth, 
 nioveth, and hath his being. This condition of oneness 
 between man's spirit and the spirit of Nature, we hold to 
 be possible to every human being. It is the holiest com- 
 munion with Mother Nature and Father God. 
 
 The Spirit's Eternal Sun. 
 
 LX. — Question : " Can you explain what you mean by the terma 
 employed in your pamphlet on ' Special Providences,' such as God, 
 ' the great central Magnet of the Universe,' and the ' great Positive 
 power, which attracts all spirits towards itself,' &c., &c.?" 
 
 Answer : We will try to ezplain. By the great Posi- 
 tive Mind we mean the strongest and divinest Center in 
 the Spiritual Universe. In ancient phraseology that Center 
 is called the " Throne of the Most High." But we prefer 
 our terms as expressive of the fact as it is : the same 
 truth, however, is differently stated by different writers, 
 but to the same general effect, viz : that the Center of the 
 Universe is the Sun around which all spirits revolve, as 
 planets roll about their primary. Perhaps you will think 
 that we are entirely alone in our philosophy on this subject. 
 If so, allow us to refer you to the poet, Akenside, whose 
 pen long since wrote that 
 
 " As flame ascends — 
 As bodies to their proper center move — • 
 As the poised ocean to th' attractive moon 
 Obedient swells, and every winding stream 
 Devolves its searching waters to the main ; 
 So all things which have life aspire to God — 
 The Sun op Beino, boundless, unimpaired, 
 Center of all souls I Nor does the voice 
 Of faithful Nature cease to prompt their steps 
 Aright; nor is the care of Heaven withheld, 
 
94 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 From granting to the task proportioned means ; 
 That, in their stations, all inay persevere 
 To climb th' ascent of being, and approach 
 Forever nearer to the Life Divine." 
 
 Now you will perhaps ask : " Will not the Central Sun 
 (God) absorb alllesser bodies, such as the spirits of men 
 and angels ? " No, because the spirit's central, integral 
 attraction, is equivalent, is greater, eventually, than the 
 attraction of the central Magnetism. Mutual attractions 
 and mutual repulsions explain all. 
 
 Shakspeare's Interior Light. 
 
 LXI. — Question : " Is it your opinion that Shakspeare was a 
 medium for spiritual impressions ? " 
 
 Answer : All minds are, at times, receptive of the psy- 
 chaural influence of higher spheres. We say of the Bard 
 of Avon that he was spiritually intuitive. His knowledge 
 was instructed by unfolded wisdom, He discerned truths 
 inside of facts, principles behind events, life within death, 
 and lessons of "good in everything." With what touching 
 pathos, in the play of Henry V., he makes York, " all 
 haggled o'er," breathe pure Spiritualism into the dying 
 Suffolk's ear and soul, thus — 
 
 " Tarry, dear consin Saffolls ! 
 My soul shall thine keep company to heaven; 
 Tarry, sweet soul, for mine, then fly a-breast ; 
 As in this glorious and well-foughten field, 
 We kept together in our chivalry ! 
 
 So did he turn, and over Suffolk's neck 
 He threw his wounded arm, and kissed his lips ; 
 And so, espoused to death, with blood he sealed 
 A testament of noble-ending love." 
 
 The Cock-lane Ghost. 
 
 LXII. — Question : " Is it true, as I have somewhere read or 
 heard, that Dr. Johnson, the gre*>t philosopher, helieved the Cock-lane 
 ghost story ?" 
 
UNSOUGHT AND CXLOOKED FOR PHENOMENA. 95 
 
 Answeb : Yes, Dr. Johnson was too much of a philoso- 
 pher to doubt the evidence. He further says that he had 
 a lively recollection of his mother calling him " Sam " 
 three times in the night after her death. Such evidences, 
 he says, might help our skeptical minds, " as we could not 
 have too much evidence of the immortality of the soul." 
 Dr. Johnson was philosopher enough to see that there was 
 everywhere a blending of the known with the unknown. 
 To probe the mystery, and to dissipate the doubt of judg- 
 ment, was his characteristic effort. The uncomprehended 
 and the misapprehended arrested the philosopher's atten- 
 tion, and challenged his best powers of reasoning. The 
 question of immortality was so important that he could 
 not turn away from any evidence of its literal truth. 
 
 Unsought and Unlooked for Phenomena. 
 
 LXIII. — Question : " Do you regard the present manifestationa of 
 spiritual intelligence and power as soon to cease, or will they change 
 into some other forms ? " 
 
 Answer: The mysterious phenomena of this day, like 
 those so-called miraculous transactions of all departed 
 ages, came among men unsought and unlooked for. They 
 are designed to indicate the existence of a law in man's 
 spiritual constitution. Science has made accurate and curi- 
 ous discoveries amid the mysterious and occult departments 
 of matter. But the great mass of the human race is yet 
 immersed in thick darkness with regard to the law of 
 immortality folded within the dreamy individual chrysalis 
 of this existence. 
 
 These modern manifestations we regard as notifications 
 served upon mankind — saying that the chrysalis of igno- 
 rance is about to yield up the life that is in it; that the 
 Good of the Universe has not introduced abnormal phan- 
 tasms to mislead and distract earth's children : but, on the 
 
96 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 contrary, we believe that the benignant purposes of the 
 invisible heavens shine through the spontaneous and unfor- 
 tuitous phenomena of the present day. And we also believe 
 tliat. as soon as the world's attention is reverently attracted 
 to the cardinal truths of man's immortal destiny, the most 
 of common Spiritual phenomena will be withdrawn for a 
 period. 
 
 Origin and Mission of Thought. 
 
 LXIV. — Question : " What is the origin, mission, and influence of 
 thought ? This is an interesting subject to me, and I would be pleased 
 to know your thoughts relative to it." 
 
 Answer: The human mind is like a lake of living 
 water. Its encompassing margin is the human body. The 
 streams and rivulets, that flow in from the surrounding, 
 country, are the senses. The fruitful trees and flowering 
 plants upon its margin are the external objects of attrac- 
 tion. When there is no atmospheric agitation, there are 
 no waves — no thoughts — and the lake slumbers in dream- 
 less tranquillity ; but let one breath of wind (sensation) 
 stir the overhanging foliage, and instantly the rivulets 
 throb and the lake vibrates with wavy commotion. 
 
 This, then, is thought. It originates in the realm of 
 sensuous agitation. If the breath of an angel stir the 
 waters of life— that is, touch the surface of human sensa- 
 tion — the waves (or thoughts) will correspond to the pro- 
 ducing cause. But the supposition of some, that every 
 thought is a special dispatch either from hades or from 
 heaven, is absurd and hurtful to the progress of common 
 sense ; and not less weak and unphilosophical is the other 
 supposition that the Almighty has an eye open to perceive 
 every thought of silly mortals, which the recording angel is 
 required to write down in the ledger-book of life. 
 
 The mission of thought is to agitate, enlighten, and 
 
COXTEOL OF OKES THOUGHTS. 97 
 
 ;)urify the soul. This work is prosecuted throughout count- 
 less spheres of spiritual progression. 
 
 The influence of pure thought is like the breath of 
 heaven upon flowers ; while low thoughts fall like the 
 vapors of pestilence. They blast the beautiful, like shafts 
 of lightning. 
 
 Control of One's Thoughts. 
 
 LXV. — QoESTioN : " Why can I not control my thoughts ; or can 
 a man control his thoughts ? " 
 
 Answer: There is but one road to victory in this 
 direction, and even such conquest will be partial, so that 
 you will conclude that thought is uncontrollable. The 
 straight road is concentration of mind. This habit is favora- 
 ble to self-control. It is the opponent of chaos, and sets 
 the mind in order. For the acquisition of this mental 
 custom, and in the prosecution of studies we cannot do 
 better than quote Tranio's advice to his master in Shak- 
 speare's "Taming of the Shrew," as follows : 
 
 " The mathematics and the metaphysics, 
 Fall to them as you find your stomach serves you : 
 No profit grows where is no pleasure ta'en ; 
 In brief, sir, study what yon most affect." 
 
 The human mind, being a substance, acquires a momen- 
 tum by exercise. When once set in motion it performs 
 like a ball projected from the hand, and keeps rolling, (or 
 thinking,) until the primal impulse is exhausted, just as a 
 ball will stop when the original force is wholly spent. 
 This fact in the mental constitution demonstrates its essen- 
 tial substantiality. The melancholy poet said: "My 
 thoughts on awful subjects roll — damnation and the dead." 
 We suggest a more cheerful exercise. Some minds can 
 easily control their emotions, and even their thoughts, suffi- 
 ciently to tix them upon a given subject; but others, impetu- 
 y 
 
98 ANSWEES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 ous and enthusiastic, and chaotic by turns, think over and 
 over the same few unwelcome themes. Still others are 
 
 -" Like a gate of steel, 
 
 Fronting tlie sua, that renders back 
 His figure and tils beat." 
 
 Flowers in Wisdom's Garden. 
 
 LXVI. Question : " There is much mysticism in the writings of 
 
 modern Spiritualists — too mystical, I think, for general comprehen- 
 sion — and my object in addressing you, sir, is to inquire whether the 
 ancient Spiritualists were equally mystical ? " 
 
 Answer : We do not recognize as much figurative lan- 
 guage in modern Scriptures as in the ancient books of Spi- 
 ritualists. For example : See the book of Revelations by 
 John, the Seer. John Bunyan was the most figurative of 
 all modern Spiritualists. The following is an example of 
 figurative writing : " Three kinds of most beautiful flowers, 
 (says an ancient Seer,) are to be sought, and may be found 
 in the garden of the Wise : damask colored Violets [love,J 
 the milk-white Lily [purity,] and the immortal Amaran- 
 thus [immortality.] Not far from the fountain, at the 
 entrance, fresh violets do first salute thee, which, being 
 watered by streams from the great golden river, put on the 
 most delicate color of the dark sapphire ; the sun will give 
 thee signs. Thou must not sever such precious flowers 
 from their root until thou makest the Stone ; for the fresh 
 ones cropped off have more juice and tincture ; and then 
 pick them carefully with a gentle and discreet hand ; if 
 fates frown not, they will easily follow, and one flower 
 being plucked, the other golden one will not be wanting ; 
 let the Lily and the Amaranth succeed with greater care 
 and labor." In this passage the interior reader sees 
 thoughts and ideas quite independent of the words. 
 
USES OF THE UKIM AKD THUMMIM. 99 
 
 Uses of the Urim and ThumiTiim. 
 
 LXVII. — Question: " Will you please give me your opinion of 
 the Urim and Thummim, mentioned in Kxodus xxviii:30; Deut. 
 xxxiii:8; and 1st Sa,m. xxviii:6? I know the opinions of commen- 
 tators, Bible-dictionary makers, &c. — but 1 now want your opinion." 
 
 Answer : In most ancient periods it was customary for 
 tribes to choose tiie last born of several sons to study the 
 wonders of magic, which wonders in these later days are 
 called the " secrets of wisdom." The youngest of seven 
 brothers, in the first periods of civilization, was supposed 
 to be the favored of heaven — the particular son or heaven- 
 chosen messenger of Jehovah to the children of men. He 
 was accordingly set apart, and anointed with great cere- 
 mony, as the precious or sacred person. At a proper age 
 he entered upon the discharge of the duties of his high 
 commission. Upon his breast was fixed a holy and costly 
 plate, ornamented with two signs. One, which was a 
 metallic stone gem, was indicative of the Wisdom of magic ; 
 the other, which was a transparent tube, filled with holy 
 oil and hermetically sealed, was representative of Divinity, 
 or the incarnation. The first, which had descended from 
 generation to generation as a gem-gift from Jehovah, was 
 called Urim, literally signifying the "eye of light," or 
 the window of wisdom; the second, the tube of oil, which 
 had also descended from the gods and the ages, was called 
 Thumjnim, literally signifying " The Perfection," or the 
 presence of the Spirit of God. The young man, when suffi- 
 ciently advanced in years, was called " a priest," and was 
 accordingly revered and obeyed in everything. The sacred 
 signs and symbols, or emblems, were wrought upon his gar- 
 ments with exquisite particularity. When the sage seventh, 
 son spoke the words of prophecy, or whenever he talked 
 like an oracle, it was supposed that he had been looking 
 into Urim, or the eye of wisdom ; and whenever he gave 
 
100 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 counsel, as " from the Lord," he was supposed to have 
 touched his tongue with a drop of T/iummim, which mys- 
 teriously, like the widow's crucible, never lost in quantity 
 from age to age. 
 
 It is our impression that the state of clairvoyance, or 
 the condition of spirit mediumship, was occasionally induced 
 by looking into the Urim. The reader will find a parallel 
 instance, which fully explains the uses of the ancient stone, 
 in our autobiography, the " Magic Staff." Further expla- 
 nations in this place are deemed unnecessary. 
 
 Solution of Mathematical Problems. 
 
 LXVIII. — QoESTioisr : " Meredith Holland, of this city, solves in a 
 moment of time difficult mathematical problems without the use of 
 figures. He says at the moment a question is asked, the answer comes 
 to him without any effort. Outside of mathematical subjects Mr. H. 
 is below par. Now does he not answer difficult mathematical the 
 same as mediums answer knotty theological or scientific ques- 
 tions? From what you know of such cases, what is your opinion? 
 If philosophy and figures come from the spirit world, may not rascality 
 and all sort of iniquity come from the same source V 1 will confess 
 that my philosophy, as applied to this or the spirit world, does not 
 reason well." 
 
 Answer: The human spirit is the foundation of future 
 intelligence, even as this globe is the germinal fountain of 
 that sphere which we term spiritual. Hence, although it is 
 fossihle for the spirit world to pour its mathematical or 
 other kinds of intelligence through some sufficiently 
 impressible mental organ, yet it is not probable. In every 
 instance of poetical or mathematical inspiration, which we 
 have carefully examined, we have observed that the mind 
 of the person concentrated its intuitive and lightning- 
 reasoning powers at one burning focus, by which all other 
 faculties were measurably debilitated and comparatively 
 eclipsed. The instrumentality and co-operation of super- 
 earthly intelligences are generally exhibited in the sudden 
 
HAND-COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE SPIRIT-WOELD. 101 
 
 exaltation of the liuman intuitions, (and reasoning facul- 
 ties,) from the ordinary condition to that sublime altitude 
 where the soul must stoop " to touch the loftiest thought." 
 Evil and good do not flow from the same fountain. '* Every 
 good and perfect gift cometh from above." 
 
 Hand-Communieations from the Spirit-World. 
 
 LXIX. — Question : " What are the laws which govern hand-oom- 
 municationa from the Spirit- world ? Does the medium come into 
 rapport with the spirit, or is the writer psychologized 1 How can one 
 decide whether himself or the spirit produces the writing?" 
 
 Answer : Our answer, to be of any service, must rest 
 on the laws of mind. The question is, "How can a me- 
 dium tell when he is receiving a communication from a 
 spirit?" We reply that the medium cannot be mistaken, 
 unless he is indifferent or negligent as to the operations of 
 his own mind, while having his hand mechanically moved 
 to write. All the faculties and organs of the human mind 
 are constituted on dual principles of action. Each is capa- 
 ble of acting both from the impulsions of volition, and from 
 the instigations of purely inherent forces. In the animal, 
 all faculties are moved constitutionally, or by a sort of auto- 
 matic necessity ; in man, when not indulging his idle pro- 
 pensities, the same faculties are self-conscio'ns, and act from 
 the impulse of volition. Of man, when educated and re- 
 fined, we say that he is, throughout, self-conscious j and 
 from this fact, men start out to fix upon themselves the doc- 
 trine of moral accountability. 
 
 Now, although it is easy for a man to lapse momenta- 
 rily into the passive automatic life which is natural to the 
 animal, yet it is not his province to do so, except while dis- 
 eased and disabled, or when asleep and self- forgetful in 
 Nature's protecting arms. It is his prerogative to be self- 
 conscious, and wholly a lord over the world without, which 
 
 9* 
 
102 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 includes every organ and function of his own physical organ- 
 ization. For this reason man is endowed with a marvel- 
 ous power of Will, which is the agent of both the impulse 
 of Ids love and the dictates of his highest wisdom. 
 
 With such prerogatives and endowments, it is needless 
 and wrong for a man or woman to become so unconscious 
 or indifferent, as not to know whether action is self- 
 originated or mechanical. If a medium does not accustom 
 himself to know, he will, of course, soon lapse into the self- 
 indulgent state of not being able to determine anything 
 with intelligent discrimination, and this condition is pro- 
 lific of doubts, and evils, and disappointments, almost innu- 
 merable. 
 
 In saying this, we do not mean to overlook the nice and 
 occult distinctions that occur in the delicate blending and 
 commingling of the voluntary with the involuntary powers. 
 ■For example, a pianist may become so perfectly a master 
 of the mechanical uses of the instrument as to perform 
 gracefully and grandly upon the keys without so much as 
 thinking about the various details of manipulation. In 
 such case he is supposed to be unconscious of the volition 
 employed by himself in developing the music ; and, if he 
 were not particular about facts of consciousness, he might 
 affirm that the performance was mechanical, or that it was 
 governed by a spirit. But the case would • be wholly dif- 
 ferent if the pianist performed a piece of music, to which, 
 previously, he was a total stranger. The evidence, in such 
 a case, is positive in I'avor of foreign — we say, spiritual^ 
 influence and control. 
 
 Self-deception is excluded from every case where the 
 medium is pre-determined not to be deceived. The medium 
 sits passively in the attitude of a penman. Of one of two 
 things he must be absolutely certain, if his hand be moved 
 
HAND-COMMONICATIONS FROM THE SPIEIT-WOELD. 103 
 
 to write, either that it is moved by his own will, or else by 
 the unseen presence of some intelligent power. If his hand 
 is moved by his own will, and not by any foreign power, 
 he must be entirely conscious of the fact, for the power of 
 will implies a self-consciousness on the part of the mind ; 
 on the contrary, if his hand is moved by some extraneous 
 force, and not by the effort of his own volition, he must be 
 equally conscious of the fact, because no sound mind is so 
 benumbed as not to know when it is designing and willing. 
 
 We, therefore, decline the exercise of any discrimi- 
 nating power for others. Let each judge for himself, and 
 " try the spirits " in truth and candor. 
 
 But we do not mean to overlook the fact that some 
 writing mediums, like the skillful pianist, may become un- 
 mindful of the details of manipulation. The spirit may 
 commence the movement of the hand, and many thoughts 
 may be imparted, not premeditated by the possessor of the 
 hand ; but, presently, the medium's mind may catch the train 
 of thought, and instantly and unconsciously (for the moment) 
 continue what the spirit was supposed to be about to say 
 next, and next; and so, for a length of time, the medium 
 may, and sometimes does, take up the thread of the commu- 
 nication and terminate sentences, on the impulse of the 
 suggestion, directly contrary to what the spirit intended to 
 have imparted, and this, too, sometimes with the best and 
 most innocent intentions, half unconsciously, and yet so 
 unfortunate, and malapropos in effect, as, occasionally, to 
 impress the receiver that an " evil spirit " was dictating 
 the message and controlling the medium. In conclusion, 
 then, we admonish every one to be passive while the hand 
 is under a foreign influence, unless the motions are painful 
 and absurd, in which case the true way is to indulge the 
 operation no longer. 
 
104 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Concerning Providential Interpositions. 
 
 I-XX. — Question : '' Does God himself directly operate upon con- 
 ditions sui-rouuding persons, or upon the persons themselves, in cases 
 where great dangers are escaped, or fatal consequences prevented? 
 '1 here are incidents in history going to show that pious persons, by 
 prayer to God in faith, seem ti) save the lives of their relatives. In 
 the present war more than one instance of miraculous escape from 
 death has occurred, by the bullet striking a pocket-Bible which the 
 soldier carried as a gift from his pious mother, with her prayer that 
 God would support and protect her son. The churches all teach that 
 God hears and answers the prayers 'of faith. If this doctrine is true, 
 for humanity's sake let everybody believe it. Will you be so kind as 
 to turn your attention to these divine mysteries ? " 
 
 Answer : These " divine mysteries " have frequently 
 occupied our thoughts, and we think that, by experience 
 and philosophy combined, we have fathomed them. 
 
 Students of the New Philosophy have met with our 
 principal explanations in the "Magic Staff," and in the 
 little work styled " The Philosophy of Special Providen- 
 ces." But for our new readers' sake it may be wisdom to 
 explain further and add somewhat to things already 
 published. 
 
 Our correspondent asks his question from the stand- 
 point of old theology. This theology is a huge superstruc- 
 ture, built upon the ancient doctrine of Anthropomorphism. 
 This is the dogmatic assumption that God is a man. It is 
 yet a popular doctrine, teaching by means of educational 
 instillations, that the system of creation is regulated 
 by forces as much outside of and disconnected from God, 
 as the energies of a steam engine are distinct and inde- 
 pendent of the engineer. All who believe that God is an 
 almighty man, separate from the organization of Nature — 
 that he is a local personality, having hands, feet, form, 
 weight, senses, and passions, like human beings — all who 
 adopt this phase of religious faith, are Anthropomorphists, 
 and are the most superstitious and the most ignorant of 
 Ouriritiaus. 
 
CONOERNIXG PROVIDENTIAL INTERPOSITIONS. 105 
 
 This doctriue is great-uncle to Polytheism, and the 
 great-grandfatlier of Dualism, or Diabolism, and is the 
 source of the popular superstition that God is personally 
 interested in the affairs of men. Polytheism is the doctrine 
 of the ancients, teaching that there are a multiplicity of 
 deities, who take special interest in human actions, having 
 their favorites and their foes, and who are supposed to 
 have the power to arrest the laws of matter in their course 
 and do other equally mighty works, for the benefit of 
 friends and the destruction of enemies. 
 
 All the germs of truth in this doctrine are quickened 
 into life by the facts of modern Spiritualism. Polytheism 
 is the first and crudest statement of Spiritualism. Under 
 the sway of science and philosophy, the extravagances and 
 absurdities of the ancient faith are modified or displaced by 
 the reasonable and rational doctrine of special angel minis- 
 trations. All special providences hitherto supposed to be 
 from God, receive an ample explanation beneath the vast 
 temple of modern spiritual experience. Violations, 
 infringements, or suspensions of Nature's laws, are simply 
 impossible. The genius of scientific discovery has forever 
 refuted the professions of Anthropomorphism. Polytheism 
 is lost in the all-explaining verities of modern Spiritualism; 
 and Dualism (or the doctrine of a big God in one place 
 and a big Devil in another) is destroyed by the truths of 
 that divine Philosophy which reveals to all souls the unerr- 
 ing principles of the Infinite Father and Mother. 
 
 Christianity, when seen in its best light, is Pantheism. 
 It teaches that " God is a spirit " — that, being a spirit, 
 "he seeketh such to worship him." He is universal, in all 
 matter and in all space, hence is universal in his providen- 
 tial operations, which are, in common phraseolog}*, the 
 active forces and established "Laws of Nature." One of 
 
106 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 the grand perfections of this universal and unerring provi- 
 dence is its particularity and speciality. It works as per- 
 fectly and as unmistakably in the minutest particle as in the 
 vast operations of the immeasurable universe. It is man's 
 limited comprehension that stops to question whether God 
 is in the storm, the earthquake, the deluge, the catastrophe. ■ 
 The large-visioned mind " sees God in clouds and hears 
 him in the wind." In war, as in peace, the Infinite speaks! 
 In falling sparrows, as in the revolution of the heavenly 
 constellations, the omnipresent is never absent. All tempo- 
 rary afllictions are subservient to final and universal ends. 
 The bursting of a bombshell is as providential — as much 
 under the administration of divine, unerring law — as the 
 bursting of a rose-bud. If we take Christianity separate 
 from its theology (which latter is all a speculation, a mere 
 fabrication of learned ignorance,) we shall find it to be 
 spiritual Pantheism — the doctrine that " God is all in all," 
 as defined by Paul in his epistles, or by Pope in his poetry. 
 But our correspondent quotes a case where the £ible, 
 given to a son by a pious mother, saved the young soldier's 
 life. The incident is called "providential." Hundreds 
 imagine that, in some unexplainable manner, the great God 
 thus answered the mother's prayer. Very respectable 
 religious journals quote such instances to illustrate the 
 power of God. Leaders of Bible-classes, and smooth- 
 headed parsons in fashionable pulpits, refer to such cases to 
 enforce honest superstitions. " The finger of God," they 
 say, " was in it." And they will utter the same sentiments 
 in order to bring on revivals of religion, to induce or pro- 
 duce conversions, &c., while the intuitions and the reason- 
 ing faculties arise in lofty opposition to the utterance. 
 The least whisper of skepticism is met by a " Satan tempts 
 you," and thus the mind of youth and the intellect of un- 
 
CONCERNING PROVIDENTIAL INTERPOSITIONS. 107 
 
 educated men and enfeebled ■women are " converted " to 
 Antliropomorpliism, to Polytheism, (or the Trinity,) and to 
 Dualism, which is the popular form of theological igno- 
 rance and superstition. 
 
 Now and then there is a Spiritualist who has not re- 
 covered from a bad theological bite of years ago. Such 
 will incline to believe that, if God himself did not keep 
 the bullet from penetrating the Holy Bible, the result was 
 accomplished by the interposition of spirits. 
 
 We have no such explanation to offer. While we know 
 that persons, when sufiSeiently impressible, are many times 
 saved from injury and accident, and otherwise aided and 
 befriended by spirits, we also know that they do not pre- 
 serve individuals and aid them on each special occasion. 
 The prayer-laden Bible was no more of a safeguard than 
 would have been any other equally compact physical sub- 
 stance. The bullet did not enter the son's body, because it 
 struck an intervening substance which it could not pene- 
 trate, and that is all the " Providence " there is in the 
 premises. In further illustration of how life in war is 
 " miraculously " preserved, we will quote two incidents 
 which occurred at the battle of Pea Ridge. The first case 
 is thus related: 
 
 " A private of the Twelfth Missouri was advancing 
 toward the head of the billows on Saturday with his regi- 
 ment, under a heavy fire from the enemy on a hill above, 
 when he was struck by a musket-ball near the heart, and 
 thrown heavily to the ground. The poor fellow thought 
 no doubt his last minute had come ; but after lying some 
 minutes on the ground, and feeling no pain, he thought he 
 would see, if possible, where he was hit. He rose, and 
 opened his vest, and discovered a large bullet half imbedded 
 in a large, thick, moist layer of tobacco, which he had 
 
108 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 stolen the day before aud placed uader his garment for 
 concealment. The moist condition of the tobacco had pre- 
 vented the leaden messenger from fulfilling its fatal mission." 
 
 But our correspondent may object to the tobacco as not 
 parallel to the Bible case. As the word Bible means 
 " book," there can be no objection in relating an instance 
 where " a " look saved the possessor's life. It occurred 
 at the same battle: 
 
 " One of the 36th Illinois troops carried a comic song 
 book in his cap, and a small rifle-ball passed through the 
 cloth and stunned him. He afterwards found the bullet 
 had gone through one of the covers of the book, and when 
 he removed it, the metallic fate fell from the leaves. I can 
 only account for this phenomenon, that the verse of the 
 song was so execrable, that the ball, like any reader of 
 good taste, could not, by any possibility, get more than 
 half way through the extremely stupid contents." 
 
 In conclusion, we urge you to analyze the elements of 
 every instance which is styled " providential." Spiritual 
 beings do often work wonders in the midst of human 
 affairs ; so also do " coincidences." These coincidences 
 have all the semblance of " providences," and a loose- 
 minded person (that is, one who thinks loosely and illogi- 
 cally,) may confound one with the other. If you wish to 
 know what is truth, you must think honestly and legiti- 
 mately, not take any religious doctrine on " hearsay ; " but 
 ponder well, for the time will come when you may be call- 
 ed upon to give a reason for the faith within you. 
 
 The Relation of Faith, to Kno-wledge. 
 
 LXXI. — Question: " In some of your writings you say, 'What 
 ■vre dt) now know, however, is exactly what we believe, and we believe 
 nothing more.' Now, if a man can believe nothing but what he 
 knows, it must bring down the lirako upon the wheels of progress, so 
 
THE RELATION OF FAITH TO KNOWLEDGE. 109 
 
 as to almost, if not entirely, stop advancement in the raind. Am I 
 right in this conclusion? If not I wish for more light." 
 
 Answer : The relative value of Faith and Knowledge 
 has been considered at length in 5th volume of Harmonia, 
 and incidentally in several of our previous works. Perhaps 
 we may make our meaning yet more transparent by a few 
 additional sentences. 
 
 First : It is a fundamental proposition of the Harmonial 
 Philosophy that man's inner-spirit-essence is compounded of 
 all the infinite principles. Spiritually considered, man is a 
 finite representative — a microcosm — of the infinite totality 
 of Nature and Deity ; " the image and likeness" ('so far as 
 constructive principles and immortal essences are con- 
 cerned,) of the immeasurable universe, both material and 
 spiritual. With this proposition our Brother is quite 
 familiar. Perhaps he believes it. 
 
 Second : As a corollary of the foregoing fundamental 
 principle, we teach that what is truth and a reality outside 
 of the human mind, is likewise true and essentially as real 
 within his spiritual constitution. The universe without and 
 the universe within hold private sympathy through their 
 essential correspondence and twinship — just as a tiny drop 
 of water is an essential likeness of the boundless ocean, 
 and vice versa, which is the foundation of sympathy between 
 them. 
 
 Third : Now it further follows, as a corollary of the 
 above, that the human mind cannot intelligently or profita- 
 bly " believe " anything different from the four sources of 
 its " knowledge," to wit : Intuition, Rejkction, Perception, 
 and Testimony. And we should have said that we put 
 faith only in the affirmations of the above four fountains of 
 Knowledge (and Wisdom.) "Intuition" includes every- 
 thing spiritual and eternal ; " Reflectioi," everything log!- 
 
110 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 cal and reasouable ; " Perception," everything external 
 and sensational; "Testimony," everything historical and 
 ab extra to private consciousness. 
 
 Fourth : To believe, or to attempt to invest faith, in 
 "what is not aflErmed by one or more of the private (or 
 interior) sources of knowledge, is to be superstitious and 
 absurdly unsound. The world's religious history is over- 
 flowing with excessive follies and bloody wars — all origin- 
 ating in arbitrary " faith" (without knowledge) in certain 
 dogmas and doctrines, which were and are contradicted by 
 the world's private (or spiritual) experience. For example : 
 thousands of human beings have been persecuted because 
 they could not believe in an impossibility, such as the im- 
 maculate conception (literally understood), or the standing 
 still of the sun, or the physical resurrection, or the sacri- 
 fice of one man in part payment of moral debts due from 
 the universal family, &c., &c. 
 
 ■ — Such superstitious " belief " and such arbitrary 
 " faith " can find no welcoming hospitality in human con- 
 sciousness. Some children, unfortunately, are born with a 
 peculiar twist in the direction of some particular superstition 
 ■ — inherited from the ignorance of their parents, with 
 other infirmities and moral weaknesses. Thus, there are 
 minds organically Presbyterians, or Methodists, or Ma- 
 hommedans, or Brahmins. But other children, free-born in 
 the matter of religious twistifications, are subsequently 
 psychologized and wheedled into some popular form of 
 superstition, which such minds cherish during after years 
 as though it were the truth of God. But our Brother 
 knows that we peremptorily repudiate all such " forms of 
 faith" as worse than useless. 
 
 Fifth, and lastly : There is, nevertheless, an essential 
 Faith — an interior conviction of truth, towering above all 
 
LOOKING TO GOD FOR EVERYTHING. Ill 
 
 the sources of scientific knowledge, and projecting far in 
 advance of all external experience — which is to the soul 
 an irresistible Magnet, attracting it inward, onward, out- 
 ward, and upward. The logical possibility of a matter 
 may animate the mind long, very long, in advance of reali- 
 zation and embodiment. This sort of " Faith" is homo- 
 geneous and identical with the consciousness of mankind. 
 It is not arbitrary and educational, but intuitional and 
 inseparable from the soul's constitution. 
 
 It was this species of Knowledge, as the basis of our 
 belief, which we stood upon while answering the question 
 to which our correspondent refers. What we know (in 
 the above definition of the sources of Knowledge) that 
 we also believe, and we believe nothing more — nothing 
 arbitrary and foreign to Intuition, Reflection, Perception, 
 and Testimony. 
 
 Looking to God for Everything. 
 
 LXXII. — Question : " It is my religion to belieye in looking to 
 God for everything — little things as well as great ; for the answers I 
 have received have convinced me that there is an over-ruling Provi- 
 dence who hears my prayers. My neighbor tells me that you do not 
 believe in any such Providence. If so, please explain my experience." 
 
 Answer : It is natural to believe in an over-ruling and 
 all-wise Providence. We do not regard this faith as su- 
 perstition, but instead, as an involuntary yielding of the 
 soul to the universally perfect and gracefully operative 
 principles of Nature's God. It is superstition, however, 
 for an intelligent human being to imagine that the univer- 
 sal Mind has heard and answered his particular prayer. 
 This superstition teaches a person to believe that his faith- 
 ful petitions or mental requests, made to &od in humble 
 and earnest piety, will draw Jehovah's attention and obtain 
 from his bounteous hand favors which he would not vouch- 
 safe to the individual in the natural course of events. In 
 
112 ANS\yEES TO QUESTIONS.' 
 
 this view prayer is deemed a transcendent power, outriding 
 the sweep of all natural laws, and resulting in a display of 
 supernatural manifestations. History and autobiography 
 equally unite in repudiating the grounds of such a doctrine. 
 But our correspondent's experience is coincidental with 
 thousands of persons in all ages of the world. Answers 
 come to earnest petitions. The prayer of faith is answered 
 by the natural flow of events, or by the direct interposi- 
 tion of over-hearing spiritual intelligences. But that is a de- 
 lusive enthusiasm, which causes the individual to repose 
 indolently upon the bosom of God, to the neglect of those 
 exertions by which men help themselves. 
 
 Sincere Expressions of Veneration. 
 
 LXXIII. — Question : " Do you not suppose all sincere expressions 
 of veneration, or of devotional feeling, reach their proper destination ? 
 Or do you doubt they have any destination, or any rational origin 1 
 I do not exactly understand you, Brother. While many prayers are 
 ■wordy and absurd, may there not be such as help to bring us into 
 more intimate conjunction and communion with the spirits of light, 
 and with the perfect foi'L of all, and make us more receptive of 
 all noble, divine, and elevated impressions?" 
 
 Answer : Wc are a full believer in the doctrine that 
 every faculty of man's mind is designed and adapted for 
 use. The office of each organ is not confined to one duty, 
 but its duties are various and manifold. Filial love, as 
 expressed through Aspiration, is unto superiors. In its 
 highest moods it breathes forth aspirations toward the 
 celestial and heavenly. This is one of its proper exercises. 
 Hence prayer, " the soul's sincere desire," is natural. ( 
 
 And the effect of such prayer is ofttimes salutary. 
 The windows of the mind are opened skyward. Atmos- 
 pheres from higher intelligences sometimes pervade the 
 soul of the supplicant. At such seasons the individual is 
 rendered " more receptive of all noble, divine, and eleva- 
 
SINCERE EXPUESSIONS OF VENERATION. 113 
 
 ted impressions." As an experience, or as a remembered 
 exercise of veneration, it is perfectly private and sacred. 
 Either to talk it or to write it is to make a historical affair 
 of it — a sort of memorandum account of the soul's " pri- 
 vate and confidential " communion with what is higher and 
 supreme. 
 
 Viewed in this light, and from our standpoint, all oral 
 prayer is an indelicacy — an impertinence — offensive to the 
 silent workings of the devout and truly reverential spirit. 
 " Let us engage in prayer " — an expression common with 
 clergymen — is an impossibility to most minds. To bow the 
 head and the knee, to whisper invocations, to respond to 
 the orisons of priests and elders, are possible ceremonies. 
 But no hypocrisy is deeper than that which makes a whole 
 congregation prete7id to pray to God with the minister at a 
 tap of the " bell," or when notice is served from the 
 "sacred desk." No soul can pray sincerely unless it feels 
 a need, or is filled with joy, thanksgiving, and adoration. 
 In either condition, the individual is moved by filial love, 
 through the channel of Aspiration ; and the effect is pre- 
 eminently sanctifying and promotive of moral beauty in 
 the person. But it is our impression that the "Perfect 
 Soul of All " is no more kindly disposed towards that per- 
 son than he was before. The Father-soul, who is by all 
 acknowledged to be " without variableness or shadow of 
 turning," is not likely to " change his policy " or modify 
 the " proclamations " of his subordinates or vicegerents to 
 suit the " popular voice " of any wealthy and respectable 
 Christian Church. A God that is not untouched and un- 
 changed by the " invocations " and " prayers " and 
 " praises " of this planet's population, should not have his 
 name begin with a capital letter, for such a being only fills 
 the measure of polytheism — merely a Jupiter — a " god " 
 
 lu* 
 
114 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 in heathen mythology, and is ifot entitled to the unbounded 
 veneration of the expanded human soul. 
 
 You will therefore deem us very sincere when we 
 speak irreverently of oral or written prayers ; and equally 
 sincere when we advocate the beauty and efficacy of that 
 " silent " Aspiration which opens the heavens to the indi- 
 vidual. We confess our inability to appreciate " a prayer- 
 book," or the value of a written address to the " Almighty," 
 through the columns of a newspaper. But we believe that 
 there is a world of wisdom for us to learn, and our "prayer" 
 is that all may make rapid advancement in all good ways. 
 
 The Uses of Family Worship. 
 
 LXXIV. — Question : " Is it necessary for a religious-minded 
 man to practice stated family worship ?....! have never mkde a 
 prayer out loud in all my life, but I often yearn for spiritual strength, 
 and I am at a loss to determine how to begin, or whether at all ia 
 this world. What is your opinion on these points? " 
 
 Answer : It is natural to love and worship whatsoever 
 we devotedly and profoundly love — a wife, a child, a sister, 
 a brother, a husband, any object, absent or present, which 
 extracts and commands pure affection, is an object of vene- 
 ration. The truest family worship is daily effort to estab- 
 lish complete integral unity and happiness. 
 
 But there is a fascinating power in reverential words, 
 by which will is subdued and the reason is for the moment 
 disenthralled. The weary soul sometimes weeps out its 
 secret grief upon the bosom of the silent, all-pervading 
 spirit. Oftentimes the heart (the mind's inmost) will pray 
 for answers to all its questionings, for faithful friendships, 
 in time of need, for clearer light upon the path- of daily 
 duties ; and ever and anon there come notes of celestial 
 melody, golden dew-drops of supernal wisdom, and sudden 
 gushes of strength within the charmed circle of home and 
 the family — within the private soul also. 
 
MORAL, BUT NOT RELIGIOUS. ] 1 5 
 
 But do you suppose that the Great Spirit is a respecter 
 of persons ? Docs he bless and curse like an earthly 
 being? Let wisdom shine upon your heart. When you 
 pray (a«d you always do when it is necessary) the effect will 
 be to prepare your faculties for higher influences, and this 
 again may result in opening heaven's beautiful portals, so 
 that the combined effect is salutary and chastening to the 
 moral aspirations. But formal prayer is arbitrary and 
 non-availing. 
 
 Moral, but not Religious. 
 
 LXXV. — Question : " I have no fault to find with your work as a 
 ■srhole — though, of course, you sometimes give publicity to views which 
 my mind is not in mood to adopt as correct. Although you at times 
 let forth streams of deep religious feeling and devotion, yet this is not 
 io common with you as my cravings would be glad to find. Were 
 your religious nature called to more frequent and vigorous action, 
 your volumes would be more to mi/ taste. Perhaps, in your own 
 judgment, the general tone of your writings is religious. I should 
 characterize it (unjustly it may be) as moral and intellectual, rather 
 than religious and emotional. If the two cannot be harmoniously 
 hlended, the kind you furnish is better common daily food than the 
 other would be. JBut do you not believe that if the food you place 
 upon your table were seasoned a little more with the effusions of the 
 heart, it would be appropriated with greater relish by some of your 
 guests ?" 
 
 Answer : It seems to us that the world has been too 
 long under the sway of feeling, impulse, and emotion. It is 
 time that the age of Thought and Investigation should 
 dawn. It is time to influence the " effusions of the heart," 
 and to cause them to flow in the harmonious channels Of 
 wisdom. Perhaps we do not make many emphatic demonstra- 
 tions of delight, but we feel very deeply, reverently, and emo- 
 tionally, all the truths we advocate. We do not " shout and 
 pray," nor make a parade of our quiet spiritual enjoyments, 
 because we do not feel moved to testify our emotions and 
 joys in such manner. Persons who think but little are 
 generally loud-mouthed and explosive in public. Many 
 such will pray openly on Sunday and defraud their neigh- 
 
116 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 bors on Monday. Our experience is, that ministers of the 
 gospel do not so earnestly search for truth, nor speak it as 
 devotedly as do persons who have reputations for being 
 only "intellectual and moral." Furthermore, we have 
 observed that, as a general thing, the " religious and emo- 
 tional ■' people are the most unreliable in word and deed. 
 We know persons in the ministry, of every sect, who are 
 very beautiful, refined, and trustworthy. Such have not 
 been intellectually and morally injured by indulging their 
 " religious and emotional " feelings. But these instances 
 are extremely rare in the sects of Christendom. Of a 
 noted preacher it was said that " he was too much of a 
 man to tell a lie and too much of a priest to tell the truth," 
 We would rather be a Man than a minister. It is rare to 
 meet a minister who is both a Man and a Brother. The 
 profession is unfavorable to a full, fresh, trustworthy de- 
 velopment of powers purely "intellectual and moral." 
 Last year. Dr. Spring, of this city, boasted that he had 
 been in the Christian ministry half a century without alter- 
 ing his mind on a single cardinal point. Of course the Doc- 
 tor has been long and devotedly faithful to feelings purely 
 " religious and emotional." But what shall we say of his 
 powers " intellectual and moral " ? He stands just where 
 he stood fifty years ago ! Boasts of his conservatism, and 
 yet lives in the most living Age ever known on earth. 
 
 No, reader ! This age is designed to promote intelli- 
 gence and morality, not at the expense of " religion and 
 the emotions " of worship, but rather at the expense of 
 superstition, bigotry, sectarianism, and empty ceremonies. 
 We work and write for the " discovery and application of 
 Truth" — for progression in Love, Wisdom, and Liberty — as 
 on earth, so also in the Summer Land which succeeds the 
 " winter of our discontent." 
 
FAST DAYS AND ACTS OF HUMILIATION. 117 
 
 Fast Days and Acts of Humiliation. 
 
 LXXVI. — Question : " I am not one of those who believe fully 
 in Spiritualisu), nor do 1 believe fully any other phase of religion — 
 yet it is my wish to get your opinion on the utility of ' Fast Days,' oi 
 days set apart for purposes of general humiliation and prayer. Do 
 you believe in them ? And do you keep them in any degree ? " 
 
 Answer : We think favorably of the plan of fasting — 
 voluntarily abstaining now and then from all ordinary food 
 and customary drink. The laws of Physiology sanction 
 the plan, and what is physiologically good cannot be spi- 
 ritually evil, for truth is everywhere sacred and consistent 
 with itself. 
 
 Besides, in a social point of view the plan is not objec- 
 tionable. Mortification, if not confined to the corporeal 
 frame, is self-co,rrective. Humiliation, if it does not cost 
 more than partial abstinence from a good dinner, is not 
 hard to endure. We like to fast, just as the Roman Catho- 
 lics do, in the period of Lent. In the spring of the year, 
 when the stomach needs some relief from winter diets and 
 habits — so that the blood, and all the solids of the body, 
 may be prepared for a warmer season — then it is most rea- 
 sonable to fast and not to " prey " on substances procured 
 from the animal kingdom. The Oriental Brother who 
 wrote the book " according to Matthew " (see chap, vi,) 
 expressed our convictions in these words : " When ye fast, 
 be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance." The hypo- 
 crites referred to must have been a very religioiLi class in 
 community. We wonder whether there are any " hypo- 
 crites " living in these sectarian times ? If so, won't they 
 please read the ancient author, who exactly conveys our 
 definition of Fast Days and Thanksgivings ? All days 
 should be sacred, and so kept. Yet it may be best to 
 make a business of fasting and praying, just for a day, 
 rather than not do anything in the line of mortification 
 and repentance. 
 
118 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Ceremony for Funeral Occasions. 
 
 LXXVII. — Question : " We very- much •want some form or cere- 
 mony to be used at funerals. Can you inform us if there is anything 
 in print which you can recommend as suitable for such occasions ? It 
 is impossible at all times of the year to get spiritual speakers, and long 
 habit has made it necessary to have some ceremony observed more 
 than putting this earthly tabernacle under ground." j. 
 
 Answbe : It seems a desecration of the sacred silence 
 of the chamber of death to break it with any sounds that 
 are not musical. Words from human lips do not . meet the 
 solemnity and exigencies of the occasion. When the spi- 
 rit of your friend, or relative, or babe has flown — be still ! 
 Dress the rejected casket for the under world. It is cold 
 and useless to mortal man. Wrap it- in its sheet and lay 
 it quietly in the tomb. ' But before proceeding to fulfill the 
 last kind, sad ofiBce, let there be music in the house of mourn- 
 ing. Let sweet singers relate the beautiful processes and 
 lessons of death, or let them sing the song of welcome, 
 such as angels chant over the birth of a human spirit. 
 Speaking on such occasions should never be long or argu- 
 mentative. A few words fitly spoken, or a spiritual hymn 
 sung, constitutes the most beautiful proceeding. A lengthy 
 discourse in the midst of mourning is a profanation, an in- 
 delicate intrusion, a positive outrage on the sanctities of 
 sorrow. But there's a world of sympathy in appropriate 
 music. It may be well to read a few sentences from some 
 book, either prose or poetry, but the act is more ostenta- 
 tious than appropriate. 
 
 And a change of dress is equally inconsistent with the 
 dictates of sorrow. No crapen vail, however black, can 
 relieve the bereft soul. The custom dictates that your 
 outside garments shall be black. But your under clothing 
 is as white as before the bereavement. There is, therefore, 
 a strong presumption of insincerity. 
 
THE PERSONALITY OF DEITY. 119 
 
 We counsel Spiritualists and Philosophers to make no 
 displays over their dead. Ceremonies and expensive pro- 
 cessions are Oriental — from the land of bombast and super- 
 stition — and civilized nations in the great Western world 
 should abolish them. Let us work and bless the living ; 
 the dead body needeth little attention. 
 
 The Personality of Deity. 
 
 LXXVIII. — Question : " At least twenty times I have heard the 
 assertion that your system confounds God with Nature — that you be- 
 lieve in no God to love, adore, and worship. Although I think your 
 accusers are mistaken, I have no arguments with which to refute their 
 statements. I have not read your published works. Please give your 
 true position on the above question." 
 
 Answer : ©ur individual position is that of a child who 
 is learning to know and love the Father by means of the 
 gentle teachings and loving guidance of the Mother. We 
 belong to the infinite Future, which floats upon the sea of 
 never-ebbing progression. 
 
 What, therefore, we sliall hereafter believe, we do not 
 know. What we do now know, however, is exactly what 
 wo believe concerning the subject in question. If it will 
 aid a Brother or a Sister to learn what we now believe, 
 relative to the infinite Father, we cheerfully haste to 
 make the same undisguisedly manifest. We believe — 
 
 1. That it is natural for the youthful human spirit to 
 crave the protection and to enjoy the communion of a Su- 
 preme Intelligence. 
 
 2. That, in thinking of this Intelligence, it is natural 
 for the adoring soul to locate its habitation in the purest 
 and most beautiful spot in all the heavens. 
 
 3. That, in striving to individualize and comprehend 
 the Supreme Intelligence, the young mind (all men are 
 young,) loses its conception of infinity. 
 
120 AUSWEES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 4. That, with the loss of this ennobling conception, it 
 is natural to believe that the local God is infinite in power. 
 
 5. That, being infinite in power and finite in personali- 
 ty, it is natural to conclade that the Divine Mind institutes 
 and repeals laws according to his sovereign will and 
 pleasure. 
 
 6. That, having man-fashioned attributes and a moral 
 government also man-conceived, it is perfectly natural for 
 the young mind to believe that God can be appealed, and 
 petitioned, and finally moved by his favorite children to 
 grant things good and withhold things evil. 
 
 7. That, as the human mind is constructed upon pro- 
 gressive principles, it is natural to conclude that youth will 
 give way to the estate of spiritual Manhood, which will 
 bring newer and wiser conceptions of the Father. 
 
 8. That, when the lofty condition of spiritual manhood 
 shall have been attained, it will then be natural to believe 
 that " God is a spirit," pervading all space and vivifying 
 all Nature. 
 
 9. That Nature, being the temple of the living God, 
 is the only exponent of hia personality and attributes, of 
 vhich individual Life is the recipient, and individual Reason 
 the miniature embodiment or finite expounder. 
 
 10. That, being thus animated and inspired, the human 
 mind will conclude that, as man's spirit animates all parts 
 of the corporeal body, so does the infinite Spirit of all Spi- 
 rits animate the material organs of the universe. 
 
 11. That, as two things essentially different cannot be 
 one and the same, it will be natural to believe that the 
 natural universe is not God any more than the corporeal 
 body of man is ,his spirit. i 
 
 12. That, the material universe, being an organization 
 
MAN'S PEOGBESS TOWARD DEITY. 121 
 
 of parts and forces, Nature is something deeper and more 
 comprehensive than the wholeness of things physical. 
 
 13. That, the equilibrium of infinite and equall}- intel- 
 ligent principles being the only possible foundation for an 
 eternal harmony, it will be perceived that Nature is the 
 maternal counterpart of the Father Spieit. 
 
 14. That man, being the ultimation of progressed pri- 
 maries and the fruit of the divine Duality, will be esteemed 
 as a portion of the Infinite Father and the Infinite Mother ; 
 and finally, 
 
 15. That, inasmuch as the highest mathematical intelli- 
 gence can add decimates to infinity without reaching the 
 climacteric unit, so may individual progression be extended 
 through eternity without transcending or even approaching 
 the central pep.fection. 
 
 — For the present (^. e. to day,) this is our belief in 
 relation to the existence of the Spirit of G-od. It will be 
 perceived that we believe that Nature is not God, and that 
 God is not Nature, and yet that the twain are conjugally 
 and eternally One and inseparable. 
 
 Man's Progress to^ward Deity. 
 
 LXXIX. — Q^JESTIO^' : " I have been studying for some time on 
 eternal progression. I believe that God is all perfection ; therefore, 
 that he cannot progress. Xow my question is, Will not the immortal 
 part of man, in the future ages of eternity, become equal to the Deity ? " 
 
 Answer: We can fully realize our reader's intellec- 
 tual perplexity. But if he will consider that spiritual pro- 
 gression does not take place in a straight line ; that the 
 eternal process is undulating, and spiral; that, at the up- 
 permost point of one spiral, the spirit merges upon the 
 base line of a new divergence, from the pivotal goal of 
 the last experience; that the human mind cannot, as does the 
 
 Infiuite Spirit, include in its consciousness all principles at 
 11 
 
122 ANSWEES TO QUESTIONS. % 
 
 one and the same moment — if our i-eader, in his future 
 contemplations, will give these facts of eternal progress 
 their full weight, he will be no longer perplexed with his 
 question. In this connection let the poet speak. We 
 quote from Bailey's Festus : 
 
 '* Through the ten thoasand times ten thousand grades 
 
 Of blessedness, above the world's and man's 
 
 Ability to feel or to conceive, 
 
 The soul may pass, and yet know naught of heay'n, 
 
 More than a dim and miniature reflection 
 
 Of its most bright infinity ; for God 
 
 Makes to each spirit its peculiar heav'n ; 
 
 And yet is heav'n a bright reality 
 
 As this, or any of yon worlds ; a state 
 
 Where all is loveliness, and power, and love ; 
 
 Where all sublimest qualities of mind, 
 
 Not infinite, are limited alone 
 
 By the surrounding Godhood — and where naught 
 
 But what produceth glory and delight 
 
 To creature and Creator is ; where all 
 
 Enjoy entire dominion o'er themselves, 
 
 Acts, feelings, thoughts, conditions, qualities. 
 
 Spirit, and soul, and mind — all under God." 
 
 Does not the poet give out the golden rays of pure 
 reasoning ? We do not like the unphilosophic terms, such 
 as « Creator," « Created," "Himself," &c., but the thought 
 within the poetry is princely rich with philosophic lore. 
 The same author elsewhere asks : 
 
 " Can imperfection from Perfection come ? 
 Can God make aught less perfect than Himself? — 
 There are in all things but these three proportions: 
 The greater, equal, less. God could not make 
 A God above Himself, nor equal with — 
 And thus is He necessitately Highest. 
 So, if He make, it must be lesser minds, 
 Little and less, from angels down to men. 
 Whose natures are imperfect, as His Own 
 Must be All Perfect." 
 
 The Harmonial Philosophy is perpetually urging the 
 
NATOEE AND NATURE'S GOD. 123 
 
 gospel of harmonious proportions " from angels down to 
 men " — indeed, from the central fountain of Perfection 
 down to the lowest and least of things — in beautiful re- 
 lations and friendly quantities of great, little, less. Begin- 
 ning thus at the lowest and least, we continue the eternal ' 
 pilgrimage toward the Infinite, and yet never arriving at a \ 
 perfect knowledge of the Whole at any one moment. Thus : 
 
 "Step by step and throne by throne we rise, 
 Continually towards the Infinite, 
 And ever nearer — never near — to God." 
 
 Nature and Nature's God. 
 
 LXXX. — Question : " Having read your productions, at least the 
 most of them, 1 am constrained to believe that you do not make any 
 very plain distinction between matter, or Nature, and God. Yet here 
 and there I find what seems to be considerable distinction. Can you 
 express your views more clearly on this subject ? "Will you explain 
 the diiierence, if there be any, between the laws of matter and the 
 laws of God?" 
 
 Answer : For the fabrication of that complicated and 
 wonderful piece of mechanism, the human body. Nature 
 and Nature's God brought forth their best tools and the 
 finest of all material substances. But the principles by 
 which they were governed, in the construction of this sym- 
 metrical organization, are simple as eternal truth itself. 
 The essential principles of man's body and mind are the 
 same as the essential principles of Nature and of Nature's ;. 
 God. For a better comprehension of the subject we would ' 
 delineate the principles of man's being as the fixed life- 
 energies of both God and Nature. Men seek in vain, and 
 strive ineffectually with their ambitious logic, to separate 
 the Deity from the principles of Nature. But we are more 
 and more persuaded that the higher and grander the intel- 
 lect, the less and less does it attempt to draw a line of dis- 
 tinction between the Laws of Nature and Nature's God. 
 
124 ANSWEPS -TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 The conception of an omnipresent intelligent spirit — which 
 is the professed conception of all Christians — is nothing 
 less than a conception of everywhere intelligent principles. 
 Bean-vinos are, therefore, intelligent in climbing poles ; 
 and potatoes are intelligently "impressed" to take a dif- 
 ferent course : that is to say, the vines and the potatoes 
 cover principles that are self-intelligent, in accordance with 
 which they grow and arrive at their legitimate fruition. 
 
 All science is concerned exclusively with phenomena. 
 Philosophy, on the other hand, proceeds to cultivate an 
 acquaintance with Principles. A material philosophy will 
 discover only those laws by which matter and mechanism 
 are universally regulated. But a spiritual or internal phi- 
 losophy will probe the mountains of materialism — will 
 sweep over and all through the vasty deeps of matter's 
 " pomp, show, and circumstance " — and cannot arrest its 
 flight till the divine heart is felt, and the central brain 
 is seen, as the fountain-source of all recognizable embodi- 
 ments. 
 
 Thence flow all the love of life and all the wisdom of 
 order. The Brain elaborates the order of the universe, 
 and the Heart circulates all the principles of living love. 
 Thus, all bodies are actuated to and from one another. 
 This explains the secret of gravitation between bodies in 
 space. For want of better combining language, we venture 
 to name the Divine Heart " Mother Nature," and the Cen- 
 tral Brain " Father God." Wherefore it is unreasonable 
 to make any absolute distinction bet\^een God and Nature, 
 but it is, at the same time, wholly unphilosophical to affirm 
 that Matter is either Nature or Deity. For Nature is no 
 more matter than God is Nature. Matter is the chariot in 
 which both " Father and Mother," with their innumerable 
 angel-family of all worlds and spheres, drive through the 
 
VARIOUS PATHS LEADING TO ONE GOAL. 125 
 
 immeasurable fields of tlie universe, distributing the prin- 
 ciples of love and wisdom. 
 
 All the foregoing has been ■written for those who are 
 painfully groping their way through theories and creeds, 
 asking — " Where is God, and what is Nature ? " Our 
 words are no doubt poor instruments for the transmission 
 of our impressions, but we have, as far as possible, avoided 
 circumlocution and useless redundancy. Perhaps the read- 
 er will discern the meaning of our words; if so, he or 
 she may also discover wherein more light is required. Let 
 each contemplate reverently and fraternally consider the 
 everlasting and incomprehensible subject before us. 
 
 Various Paths leading to one Goal. 
 
 LXXXI. — Question: "I desire your opinion respecting the con- 
 flicts of society and governments. Among other human discords and 
 apparent antagonisms, I observe that the communications of spirit 
 mediums contain contradictory reports regarding matters of fact in 
 the other world. How do you explain?" 
 
 Answer : With reference to the discords of mediumis- 
 tic testimony, we may here remark, by way of explanation, 
 that we do not find every one a subject of unadulterated 
 intercourse with departed spirits. Very many good per- 
 sons, supposing themselves to be mediums, are mistaken as 
 to their station and capacity. That every member of the 
 human family is susceptible of spiritual illumination, we 
 fully believe and know from principles ; but not every one 
 who is excited spiritward can be denominated a reliable 
 agent for the transmission of supernal intelligence. Aij 
 large per centage of what is called Spiritualism is refera-'; 
 ble to personal idiosyncrasies and terrestrial influences. 
 Purblind persons do not see, neither do deaf ears hear, as 
 well as those who-ie senses are sound. 
 
 "With respect to the diSferent occupations and social 
 
 11* 
 
126 ANSWEES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 conflicts, we can but quote the beautiful rhetorical delinea- 
 tion from Shakspeare's Henry V, as follows : 
 
 " heaven doth divide 
 
 The state of man in divers functions, 
 
 Setting endeavor in continual motion, 
 
 To which is fixed, as an aim or butt. 
 
 Obedience : for so work the honey bees — 
 
 Creatures that by a rule in Nature teach 
 
 The art of order to a peopled kingdom. 
 
 They have a king, and officers of sorts, 
 
 Where sonie, like magistrates, correct at home ; 
 
 Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad ; 
 
 Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings, 
 
 Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds, 
 
 T/Which pillage they with merry march bring home 
 
 To the tent-royal of their Emperor, 
 
 Who, busied in his majesty, surveys 
 
 The singing mason building roofs of gold, 
 
 The civil citizens kneading up the honey, 
 
 The poor mechanic porters crowding in 
 
 Their heavy burthens at his narrow gate, 
 
 The snd-eyed justice, with his surly bum, 
 
 Delivering o'er to executors pale 
 
 The lazy, yawning drone. I this infer, 
 
 That many things, having full reference 
 
 To one consent, may work contrariously ; 
 
 As many arrows, loosed several ways, 
 
 Come to one mark ; as many ways meet in one town ; 
 
 As many fresh streams meet in one salt sea ; 
 
 As many lines close in the dial's center ; 
 
 So may a thousand actions, once a-foot, 
 
 End in one purpose, and be all well borne 
 
 Without defeat." 
 
 The Divine Spirit in All Things. 
 
 LXXXII. — Question : " In a recent sermon against modern infi-. 
 delity, you were frequently referred to as a 'Pantheist.' Please 
 inform me, if not inconsistent with your convictions of propriety, 
 whether the accusation be a truth." 
 
 Answee: Our reply will convey the truth so far as we 
 are self-conscious. We are self-conscious of being a be- 
 liever in the Pauline doctrine that " God is all in all." Is 
 
IS PANTHEISM A NATURAL BELIEF? 127 
 
 this Pantheism ? When not in harmony with the stupen- 
 dous totality of Nature, and when unmindful of the omni- 
 present good (or Grod) in everything, we then find it easy 
 to sympathize with those who adore an abstract person- 
 al intelligence. In short, when our mind is pervaded by 
 littk conceptions of men and the universe, we are inclined 
 to Monotheism in the orthodox sense. We fear that we 
 are neither good enough nor large enough to be a Pantheist. 
 But our watchword is " Progress," and therefore expect to 
 become pure enough to discern the Divine Spirit in all things. 
 
 Is Pantheism a Natural Belief? 
 
 LXXXIII. — Question : " Do you regard 'Pantheism' as a natural 
 •belief? that is to say : If our children were left to themselves, would 
 they become Pantheists ? " 
 
 Answer: On the start let this fact be remembered: 
 that the human mind is constitutionally progressive. It 
 grows from plane to plane with a sure and permanent 
 growth. It increases in knowledge not only, but also in 
 quantity, and in its quality as well. Let the principle be 
 established, therefore, that Man's soul grows and unfolds 
 year by year just as the flower in the garden unrolls its 
 inner life day by day ; that human life follows the divine 
 law of progressive growth with respect to its essential attri- 
 butes, in its sensations also, and in all departments of its 
 intelligence. 
 
 With this basis, as a point of departure, we proceed to 
 answer our friend's question. It would be neither natural 
 nor possible for the young mind to receive and believe the 
 Idea of a universal wholeness. The infantile and adolescent 
 spirit is plus ignorance and minus capacity ; it cannot 
 entertain comprehensive conceptions. All Truth is a One- 
 ness — which is the fundamental proposition of Pantheism — 
 a conception impossible to the limited mind. The harmony 
 
128 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 and the perfection of all things is a truth not yet made 
 manifest to our highest Christian scholars ; they almost all, 
 twisted and dwarfed by the magnificent routine of classic 
 ignorance, imagine the creation to be groaning and travail- 
 ing ill pain, under the wrath of an offended Deity. 
 
 Children, left to themselves, would begin with the sup- 
 position of polytheism. They would imagine the existence 
 of a countless host of wonder-working Deities — a special 
 God over every event and for every natural manifestation. 
 Fetichism and Polytheism, and Dualism, and Monotheism, 
 '(with a touch of the supernatural in the conception,) are 
 the progressive forms of Theism ; as in the individual, so, 
 also, in the whole human family. They succeed each other 
 naturally, like the growth of a tree, or like the four parts ' 
 of language — orthography, etymology, syntax, and proso- 
 dy — but the expression of thought by means of words is 
 superior to the grammatical construction of words. 
 
 So, too, would a final and comprehensive Theism (a com- 
 plete conception of God) be superior to all the imperfect 
 forms of faith from which it was elaborated. When the 
 human mind is expanded from within — when its elements 
 assume " form and order," and when its attributes become 
 harmonized and reconciled to each other — then a spiritual 
 kind of Pantheism will be natural and only possible to the 
 mind. Such a mind will believe that God is an omnipres- 
 ent, intelligent, and loving spirit-principle — " All in All " 
 — the beginning and the end — -the center and the circum- 
 ference — " One fold and One Shepherd " — that the '• Lord 
 God (or One spirit) omnipotent reigneth," &c. — and thus, 
 as you now perceive, the human mind will become more 
 •pantheistic as it advances in goodness, and wisdom, and 
 harmony. ■ 
 
 As for ourself, we repeat, we feat that we are neither 
 
THE BIBLE THE AXTIDOTE OP ATHEISM. 129 
 
 large enough uor good unoLigh to see the finger of God (or 
 Good and Wisdom) in everything everyM'here. But the 
 poet Bailey,, the author of Festus, obtained a glorious 
 glimpse of the ultimate conception, thus — 
 
 "Time there AatATjeen when only God was AH, 
 And it shall be again. The hour ia nam'd 
 When seraph, cherub, angel, saint, man, fiend, 
 Made pure, and unbelieTably uplift 
 Above their present state, drawn up to God 
 Like dew into the air, shall All be heav'n ; 
 All soids shall be in Gody and shall be Godj 
 And nothing but God 6e." 
 
 The Bible the Antidote of Atheism. 
 
 LXXXIV. — Qdestion : " A few days since I heard a, preacher 
 say that without the Bible the world would have no knowledge of 
 God, of a future life, or of any duties we owe to ourselves, to each 
 other, or to God. "What do you think of this statement ? " 
 
 Answer : We think it is a false statement, showing the 
 preacher's ignorance of human history, and that he is 
 teaching a dangerous theory, destitute of fact. Bibles are 
 books of recent origin. Printing is a recent invention. 
 On the other hand, the ■ human race is (according to the 
 Chinese record) almost forty thousand years old. The 
 pyramids and other works of former ages demonstrate the 
 history of mankind to extend far behind the 6,000 years 
 fixed by the Mosaic record. But bibles and books of poe- 
 try are not half so old. Hence the time was when men 
 received impressions concerning God, the Future, and Duty, 
 independently of books and religious teachers. Mankind 
 have from the earliest ages believed in and worshiped God. 
 Atheism was not much known until popular theology began 
 to be promulgated in oriental lands, some two thousand 
 years ago. The doctrine of a future life is thousands of 
 years older than anybody's religious book. Souls are in- 
 spired to day as they were before books were known ; and 
 
130 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 the Eternal Spirit spoke to the consciousness of men aa 
 much before bibles as since. The Bible is no more neces- 
 sary to a true knowledge of God, than Homer is necessary 
 to a true knowledge of poetry. Do you believe, that the 
 existence of some standard book on Physiology is necessa- 
 ry to digestion, assimilation, and growth? "Was it neces- 
 sary that some Agriculturist should write a standard book 
 on farming before mankind could plow, harrow, sow, reap, 
 and enjoy the abundance of the fields ? 
 
 Atheism is a recent development. It is the re-active 
 phase of existing theological doctrines. Infidels were not 
 known until "pious frauds" were mixed up with true 
 spiritual revelations. 
 
 The Church is a down-right materialist, because, in 
 affirming that the Bible is necessary to man's knowledge of 
 God, &c., it denies to man the possession of spiritual 
 receptive faculties. Now phrenology proves that man is 
 endowed richly with intellectual, moral, and spiritual attri- 
 butes. What is the office of such attributes ? What is 
 the office of the eye ? To see. Of the ear ? To hear. 
 Of the tongue ? To speak. What, then, is the office of 
 moral and spiritual organs in man's mind ? By parity of 
 reasoning you would naturally answer : To discern moral 
 and spiritual truths. The moral organs percieve duties, 
 and the spiritual organs give intuitive glimpses of a future 
 life. The intellectual organs, perceiving the harmonious 
 adaptations and fixed proportions of Nature, educate the 
 whole man to believe in a God. 
 
 The plan of man's organization has not changed. It is 
 the same t6-d&,y that it was when the first men walked out 
 from the lower kingdoms. Therefore men have always 
 been possessed of intellectual, moral, and spiritual facul- 
 ties, as much as they have had eyes, ears, tongues, and feet. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE HOLT BIBLE. 131 
 
 And as it was not necessary for a book on Optics to pro- 
 cede siglit, or a Bible on Audition to teach the art of 
 hearing, or a volume on Philology to induce mankind to 
 make sounds with their tongues, so it was not necessary 
 that a Bible should be written to instruct the intellect to 
 believe in God, the moral faculties to discern Duties, and 
 the spiritual organs to perceive as by instinct the reality of 
 a Future Life. 
 
 Many times we have urged that books are important 
 aids, valuable as records of human thought and experience, 
 necessary as teachers — and the Bibles of the different sects 
 of the world are merely books — and as many times have 
 we protested against the deplorable superstition that any 
 book, record, or creed, is necessary to mankind's knowledge 
 of God, of Duty, and of Immortality. 
 
 Origin of the Holy Bible. 
 
 LXXXV. — Question : " On every investigation as to the origin of 
 (he Bible, these questions naturally occur : ' When was the Bible 
 formed ? by whom ? and where ? ' If you can communicate all the 
 historical information at your command on these points, you will 
 greatly please the writer of this, although it may equally displease 
 tliose who, from long habit, ' love darjinoss rather than light.' " 
 
 Answer: We are compelled to reply with brevity, 
 withholding, as a consequence, many facts bearing upon 
 the solution of this religious mystery. 
 
 It is certain that no Christian positively knows hmo, 
 when, or where the Bible was compiled as an authority. 
 
 We have access to all the ecclesiastical history in the 
 world, and consequently can know just as much as the most 
 learned Doctor of Divinity knows upon these sensitive 
 questions. What the Church can tell we also can tell, and 
 we will. 
 
 The Nicene Council, under the command of Emperor 
 Constautine, is the pivot upon which all ecclesiastical his- 
 
132 ANSWEKS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 tory turns. And yet, what is most surprising, scarcely any 
 part of the history of the Church has been unfolded with 
 such negligence, or rather passed over with such rapidity. 
 The ancient writers are neither agreed with respect to the 
 time or place in which it was assembled, the number of 
 those who sat in council, nor the bishop who presided in it. 
 No authentic acts of its famous sentence have been commit- 
 ted to writing ; or, at least, none have been transmitted to 
 our time. (See Mosheim, Eccl-. Hist. ch. v., § 12.) 
 
 The New Testament, which is by every religious author- 
 itarian considered all-important to the scheme of salva- 
 tion, was put together by the first Council of Nice. 
 
 Lest, however, the supernaturalists may delude them- 
 selves by the imagination of Divine interposition on that 
 august occasion, we will refer them and you to Jortin's 
 Rem. on Eccl. Hist., vol. ii., p. 177, from which the follow- 
 ing items may be gathered.* It will be recollected that 
 this Council of Nice was held early in the fourth century. 
 Jortiu says : 
 
 Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, and Arius, who was 
 a presbyter in his diocese, disputed together about the 
 nature of Christ ; and the bishop, being displeased at the 
 notions of Arius, and finding that they were adopted by 
 other persons, " was very angry." He commanded Arius 
 
 *Jortin was born in London, in 1698, and departed for the Second 
 Sphere in 1770. He was totemporary of the poet Pope, by whom he was 
 engaged in the preparation of important notes to the Iliad. Jortin was a 
 scholar, a clergyman, a critic, and a historian of undoubted veracity. He 
 was the author of several volumes. 
 
 We quote from his " Remarks upon Ecclesiastical History,'' as prepared 
 by the author of the preface to the Apocryphal New Tesiament. His tes- 
 timony is that of a Christian minister with reference to a subject of deep- 
 est moment to himself and the world. Hence the impossibility of any 
 reasonable objections to its a'missibility on the question of the Bible's 
 origin. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE HOLY BIBLE. ] 33 
 
 to come over to his sentiments, and to quit Iiis own ; as if 
 a man could change Ids opinions as easily as he can change 
 his coat! He then called a council of war, consisting of 
 near a hundred bishops, and deposed, excommunicated, and 
 anathematized Arius, and with him several ecclesiastics, 
 two of whom were bishops. 
 
 Alexander then wrote a circular letter to all bishops, in 
 which he represents Arius and his partisans as heretics, 
 apostates, blasphemous enemies of God, full of impudence 
 and impiety, forerunners of Antichrist, imitators of Judas, 
 and men whom it was not lawful to salute or bid God 
 speed. 
 
 There is no reason to doubt the probity and sincerity 
 of those who opposed Alexander and the Nicene Fathers : 
 for what did they get by it besides obloquy and banishment ? 
 Mmiy good men were engaged on both sides of the controversy. 
 
 So it was in the fourth century, and so it hath ever 
 been since. Busebius of Nicomedia, and Eusebius the his- 
 torian, endeavored to pacify Alexander, and to persuade 
 him to make up the quarrel ; and Constantino sent a letter 
 by the illustrious Hosius of Corduba, to Alexander and 
 Arius, in which he reprimanded them both for disturbing 
 the Church with their insignificant disputes. 
 
 But the affair was gone too far to be thus composed, and 
 Socrates represents both sides as equally contentious and 
 refractory. 
 
 To settle this and other points, the Nicene Council was 
 summoned, consisting of about three hundred and eighteen 
 bishops — a mystical number, on which many profound re- 
 marks have been made. The first thing that they did was 
 to qnarrel, and to express their resentments, and to pre- 
 sent accusations to the Emperor against one another. So 
 
 say Socrates, Sozomen, and Rufinus. Theodoret favors his 
 12 
 
134 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 brethren in this affair, and seems to throw the fault upon 
 the laity. 
 
 But the whole story, as it is related by them all, and 
 even by Theodoret, shows that the bishops accused one 
 another. The Emperor burnt all their libels, and exhorted 
 them to peace and unity ; so that if they had not been re- 
 strained by his authority, and by fear and respect, they 
 would probably have spent their time in altercations. 
 
 At this time, in this place, and in this circle of circum- 
 stances, the. Bible was originated. 
 
 Religious Councils Uncertain. 
 
 LXXXVI. — Question : " I know but very little of ecclesiastical 
 history. My brother is a Methodist minister, and says that you do 
 purposely misrepresent the religious Councils of the past. Is that so ? " 
 
 Answer : Some people may be likened to certain fishes 
 that sleep in their shells until very hungry, then slowly 
 they run out their heads to see what's going on for them- 
 selves. But on the least disturbance or agitation, in go 
 their cowardly heads beyond the reach of sunlight and 
 fresh air. It is hard to hit such a head, even when you 
 aim at it. But we mean to aim at our Methodist Brother, 
 with a passage from John Wesley : " What a company of 
 execrable wretches have they been (one cannot give them a 
 milder title,) who have almost in every age since St. Cyp- 
 rian, taken upon them to govern the Church. How has one 
 council been perpetually cursing another, and delivering all 
 over to Satan, whether predecessors or cotemporaries, who 
 did not implicitly receive their determinations, though 
 generally trifling, sometimes false, and frequently unintel- 
 ligible or self-contradictory ! Surely Mahometanism was 
 let loose to refdrm the Christians. I know not but Con- 
 stantinople has gained by the change." See " Lives of the 
 Wesleys," page 443. Ask the good and truthful Wesley 
 
THE NEW SACKED MANUSCRIPTS. 135 
 
 whether we " misrepresent " the religious councils of 
 ancient days. 
 
 The History of Human Writing. 
 
 IXXXVII. — Question : " Can you give a brief explanation of 
 the law of growth in regard to writing ? " 
 
 Answer : Our investigations have conducted us to the 
 following synopsis: In primordial periods there was no 
 writing — man just emerging from the animal instincts, as 
 in the Papuan, Esquimaux, Hottentot, and Patagonian types 
 of this day; then followed the Pictorial age, current in 
 the ante-mcmumental days of Egypt and China, as seen upon 
 ancient Peruvian and Mexican monuments, and now prac- 
 ticed by American Indians, Polynesian, African, and Asiatic 
 barbarians ; then the Hieroglyphical and semi- Alphabeti- 
 cal age on pyramids and tombs of Egypt, and Babylonian 
 inscriptions; finally the Alphabetical age, the printing- 
 press and phonography. 
 
 The New Saered Manuscripts. 
 
 LXXXVIII. — Question : " Several hrief allusions have, of late, 
 appeared in the various papers of the day, in reference to the new 
 manuscript Bible discovered in the monastery of Mount Sinai. Can 
 you say as to whether said MS. differs essentially from the Vatican 
 MS.? and what is the nature of the additional books? Please give 
 what information you can conveniently on this subject? " 
 
 Answer : The new discoveries in the dust of sacred 
 history will divulge nothing new, save in one particular : 
 the probabilities of Hebrew and Egyptian history, as given 
 in the Talmud and the Vulgate translations of the Bible. 
 The primitive fathers will be, to some extent, sustained in 
 many of their assumptions, but the Tischendorf discoveries 
 can have no other bearing. That the promised translation 
 of an older MS. will lead to a more searching scrutiny of 
 the Bible claims to infallibility, we do not doubt. Layard 
 
136 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 and Rawlinson, strengthened by their researches in ancient 
 Nineveh, were once tempted to rigk some reputation in a 
 Christian country, and said that " the prophecies of Dan- 
 iel were undoubtedly written after the events to which 
 they refer had taken place, and that the whole of this 
 book is probably nothing but a political satire ! " This, 
 though suppressed by Layard in his work, has been com- j 
 municated to the Londoii Asiatic Society, by Major 
 Eawlinson, and will probably soon appear in its published 
 transactions. 
 
 " In one of the works upon Egyptian Hieroglyphics 
 recently published in Germany, which has come under our 
 notice, is a table of Commandments copied from an inscrip- 
 tion of the date of one of the elder Pharaohs. These are 
 more in number than the Jewish Decalogue, but some six 
 or- eight of them are the same." But we believe that these 
 renowned travelers have never published the facts under 
 their own names, because, doubtless, they know that their 
 books were printed and published for Christians. 
 
 Authors of Biblical Contradiotions. 
 
 LXXXIX. Question : " Do you not know that an exegetical volume 
 appears in the English catalogues, entitled 'Bible Reconciler Enlarg- 
 ed; wherein above three thousand seeming contradictions throughout 
 the Old and New Testament are fully and plainly reconciled. Small 
 folio, London, 16G2.' In your hostility to the Book of Books, you 
 might have saved yourself some trouble and perhaps learned some 
 things never dre.amed of in your philosophy, had you taken the pains 
 to import a copy of the foregoing old book before issuing your pseudo 
 ' Contradictious.' 
 
 Answer : We thank our interrogator for his expressions 
 of 'vital interest in the health and prosperity of the Book, 
 and more especially for his patent medicine adapted to the 
 removal of the discrepancies of the Old and New Testa- 
 ments. All persons, then, who are so extremely miseduca- 
 ted as to believe that there are l'4i unreconcilable Contra- 
 
AUTHORS OP BIBLICAL CONTRADICTIONS. 137 
 
 dictinns in the Book, may seelc to be perfectly cured of their 
 iuteilectual malady by reading somebody's " Bible Recon- 
 ciler Enlarged ! " Our readers will certainly thank the 
 interrogator for the information necessary to a correct 
 understanding of how " twice two are seven," and how 
 to comprehend the seeming absurdity that " twice seven 
 are two," or how two exactly opposite accounts of one event 
 may be equally true and infallible. 
 
 It seems to us to be quite in keeping with the demands 
 of truth, to say that we are not the author of the " One 
 Hundred and Forty- four Contradictions of the Bible."* 
 Many intelligent and loved persons have charged upon us 
 the fearful responsibility of being the compiler. An 
 explanation is therefore demanded, which we give in justice 
 to the startling pamphlet in question. Be it therefore 
 known that the author or authors of the " Self-Contra- 
 dictions of the Bible " do not reside within twenty thou- 
 sand miles of this metropolis ; that we do not know who 
 did authorize and cause to be written the Contradictions 
 aforesaid ; but it is our best knowledge and belief that 
 they were authorized many centuries ago, and were written 
 out in Hebrew and Greek by the several unknown authors 
 and compilers of the curious combinations of Book of 
 Books called "the Bible," all which we beg leave respect- 
 fully to submit to the world's candid consideration. Reader, 
 undeceive thyself! Do you allow yourself to suppose that 
 the world is destitute of God's greatest gift to man — \ 
 Immortal Reason ? Do you imagine that error, mythology, . 
 priestcraft, and superstition, are more lasting than man- 
 kind? Which will first decay and disappear — men or 
 books ? Make the Bible a record of ancient spiritual 
 
 *This 18 the title of a small pumphlet publishod for the compiler aad for 
 salu at the office of the " Hk.iald ow Pkogiress." 
 12* 
 
138 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 experiences — having authority only when its statements are 
 corroborated by modern discoveries in Life and Science — 
 and the " Book " becomes at once one of the best Spiritual 
 volumes in the world. As an authority, per se, it is 
 worthless. 
 
 The Age of the Human Race. 
 
 XC. — Question : " If convenient, will you please state where and 
 what is the clearest evidence that men existed on this earth previous io 
 those of the Mosaic account ?" 
 
 Answer : If our interrogator had asked : " Where and 
 what is the clearest evidence that the earth, our planet, is 
 more than 6000 years old? " we should have an eea^j task 
 in accumulating most unanswerable evidences. We could 
 adduce many simple proofs that the globe is a very ancient 
 institution like every other orb in this part of the atmo- 
 spheric universe. But his laconic question, which refers so 
 explicitly and exclusively to the age of the race of man, 
 gives us not a little labor — more especially because our 
 individual clairvoyant testimony, however truthful in itself, 
 passes as yet for naught among the skeptical in the world 
 of science and creeds. Hence, as our interrogator no 
 doubt well comprehends, we must attend to the evidence in 
 a manner quite external. Two things, to begin with, 
 should be borne in mind : first, the exceeding poverty of 
 all external history of man's earliest existence on earth ; 
 and, second, the fact that the essential discoveries in Orien- 
 tal lands have been either modified to meet the Mosaic 
 record, or suppressed altogether by Christian publishers ;' 
 so that, from an outside standpoint, it is next to impossible 
 ior the genuine investigator to get access to the absolute 
 facts. Several important admissions, however, have been 
 squeezed through the crowd of religious prejudices, a few 
 of which we herewith present. 
 
THE AGE OF THE HUMAN RACE. 139 
 
 To the question: " What evidence that man existed 
 anterior to the Mosaic date ? " we answer : 
 
 First, Hierologists, although looking through theologi- 
 cal spectacles, have, notwithstanding, interrogated the pyra- 
 mids and obelisks of Egypt to some purpose. The records 
 and statistics of those insensate monuments have forced 
 certain historians to reject the Mosaic time-table, and to 
 reconstruct the world's chronology. (See Gliddon's volume 
 entitled " Ancient Egypt."; The chronology and histori- 
 cal statements of Manetho are confirmed by the translated 
 hieroglyphical writings of Ancient Egypt. And Mane- 
 tho's history reports three hundred and seventy-eight kings 
 from the reign of Menes this way. All these kings were 
 of Egyptian origin, and they reigned successively in an 
 unbroken line of government, on the wondrous throne of 
 dim and distant Egypt. 
 
 The study and revelations of the symbols of Egypt's 
 monuments, remember, taken in connection with the plain- 
 est translations of the hieroglyphics, confirm and establish 
 this most ancient record of Manetho. 
 
 And what does that record teach ? It -teaches that 
 Menes was successor of all the interminable kings above 
 mentioned ; and further, that the time when Menes ascended 
 the throne extends to an obscure period— ^ue thousand and 
 seven hundred years before the commencement of the Christian 
 Era ! When Menes began to rule in Egypt, the civiliza- 
 tion of the people was indicative of a very remote origin. 
 
 Thus Egyptian chronology, established by Gliddon and 
 not contradicted by others, carries the history of man 
 2000 years back of the Mosaic account — or nearly eight 
 thousand years anterior to the present 1862. 
 
 Archaeologists and hierologists, with any considerable 
 information, do not conflict with the history of Manetho. 
 
140 ANSWERS TO Q-UESTIONS. 
 
 (See John Lamb's " Hebrew Characters derived from 
 Hieroglyphics," published in London, 1836. Also, Pri- 
 chard's " Egyptian Mythology," Gliddon's " Ancient 
 Egypt," &c., &c.) ( 
 
 Geologists and fossil-diggers cannot as yet contribute 
 any very indubitable evidences on this head, but what they 
 have given is incontrovertible, and directly to the point 
 under examination. 
 
 Human bones of the North American Indian type have been 
 exhumed from the Delta of the Mississippi — the well named 
 " Father of "Waters " — whose tides have flowed, (according 
 to recent discoveries,) more than one hundred thousand years. 
 Away down below the level of the fourth forestial depo- 
 sit, those human bones were found, giving the unavoidable 
 inference that they must have reposed there fully forty 
 thousand years ! 
 
 There are several incidental items in the works of Hum- 
 boldt which bear directly and favorably upon the question 
 of man's extreme antiquity. Indeed, nearly every archas- 
 ologist and Oriental traveler report the exhumation of 
 relics establishing a very ancient civilization. 
 
 Prof. AgEissiz, speaking of human remains found in the 
 limestone of Florida, says: "There still remain ten thou- 
 sand years, during which the mainland was inhabited by 
 man." (See "Types of Mankind," p. 352, et seq.) The 
 researches of Stevens in Central America, and those of 
 Layard and Rawlinson in the Orient not less, furnish data 
 against the chronology of Moses. Learned Chinese de- 
 clare that they have a catalogue of kings, emperors, 
 teachers, &c., whose combined ages extend backward over 
 forty thousand years. Positive historical evidences are 
 not numerous, but of the inferential sort their name is 
 legion. But there arc no facts to support the Mosaic record. 
 
PROPHECIES IN THE BOOK OP DANIEL. 141 
 
 Prophecies in the Book of Daniel. 
 
 XCI. — Question- : " Having just heard a very able discourse on the 
 prophecies of Daniel — the learned divine assuming that the old 
 prophet was inspired of God to reveal the destiny of the human race — 
 J. take the liberty of asking for an expression of your opinion in rpgard 
 to the authenticity of the book." 
 
 Answer : When the pure Hebrew tongue ceased to be 
 vernacular, and the Jews had returned from Babylon, there 
 was immediately formed a sacerdotal organization, and a 
 committee of Rabbis was appointed to collect and preserve 
 all the known Uebrew manuscripts. This was done, and 
 the parchments placed in the Sacrarium. It was not, how- 
 over, until many years after the return of the Jews from 
 the Babylonish captivity and exilement, that most of the 
 books of the Old Testament were heterogeneously bound 
 together. This was, properly speaking, the " Babylonian 
 Canon ;" because it was originally made by the Chaldeanic 
 Rabbis. But many years subsequent to this collection 
 there arose some considerable dissatisfaction and discussion 
 among the younger Rabbis concerning the heterogeneous- 
 ness of the first Canon. Hence, by permission of the sacer- 
 dotal authorities they rejected some books, arranged others 
 in a different order, interpolated a few passages, and made 
 another Testament. This is properly termed the " Jeru- 
 salem Canon ;" because it was made by the Jews of Pales- 
 tine. During all this time, owing to local oppressions and 
 temporary emergencies — books, by the Jews, containing 
 multifarious speculations and national prophecies, multi- 
 plied very rapidly. Parties and preferences became 
 numerous, and began to create dissatisfaction in regard to 
 the last Canon which was formed ; and so, apparently to 
 keep up with the demands of the times, another Old Testa- 
 ment was formed — the " Alexandrian Canon" — in Egypt. 
 All these compilations, be it remembered, were different. 
 
142 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 At this time, the book of Daniel was generally regarded as 
 the creation of an eccentric old Jew, who was talented, and 
 a seceder from the regular priesthood. Hence, that inter- 
 esting part of the present orthodox Old Testament was not 
 then universally received as containing reliable inspiration, 
 and we do not yet see any very cogent reasons for supposing 
 Daniel a better authority, or a more reliable medium, than 
 many inspired persons of our day who see visions and 
 dream dreams. 
 
 Jonah's Life in the Whale. 
 
 XCII. — QoESTiON : " Will you please give us a little information 
 in regard to Jonah ? It is not our object to reflect in the least on the 
 authority of the record. But the wonder is why the great fish should 
 be rendered ' Fish ' in the Old Testament and ' Whale ' in the New. 
 It is said in Matthew, that, as Jonah was in the Whale's belly three 
 days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the 
 earth. Jonah appears to have possessed a large share of human 
 weakness, and much of the spirit which prevails at this day, for he 
 became very angry with the Lord because he would not destroy the 
 great city of Nineveh, wherein were more than six score thousand 
 persons that could not discern between their right hand and their 
 loft. If God took such particular care of a rebel like Jonah, is there 
 not hope for the most of sinners like ourselves ?" 
 
 Answer : Our questioner is evidently a searcher after 
 traditional history and mythological intelligence. But 
 there is some difficulty in the way of an explanation. If 
 our questioner were a whaler, he would doubtless know 
 all about the swallowing capacities of the whale aforesaid ; 
 or, if it had fallen to his lot to officiate as a pulpit com- 
 mentator, then the problem of fish in the old writings 
 would not becloud his faith in things impossible ; but the 
 iron leaf of Fate hath a record of a different kind for our 
 interrogator, and hence the stumbling-blocks in the path of 
 his theological convictions. 
 
 It is generally known that no whale's throat is large 
 enough to swallow the body of a man. But if the Lord had 
 power to induce the unintelligent whale to swallow the un- 
 
JONAH'S LIFE IN THE WHALE. 143 
 
 ■worthy Jonah, the natural inference is, either that the throat 
 was made larger to receive the man, or the man was made 
 smaller to suit the throat. We are not a " Doctor of Di- 
 vinity," and cannot, therefore, dissect this patient ; but no 
 doubt there are professional gentlemen who will undertake 
 the case, desperate as it may seem to the benighted inhab- 
 itants of this rudimental sphere. 
 
 Many minds may indulge the opinion, however, that the 
 miracle was wrought upon the man. We would style him 
 an imperfect Missionary, evidently very small, exceedingly 
 reduced and diminutive ; was treacherous, unfaithful, peev- 
 ish, a prosy preacher, uncharitable, and proud. His anger 
 was too hot for the health of the gourd, and his feelings, 
 on being made a false prophet, must have been indescriba- 
 ble. He was ambitious of Leadership, or wanted to be a 
 true prophet of evil. " The irrepressible conflict " in his 
 interior must have been terrific, and we fear the evils 
 thereof have descended to our modern politicians by heredi- 
 tary transmission. Our interrogator wants to know — con- 
 sidering the spiritual care that was taken of Jonah — • 
 whether " there is not some hope for the most of sinners 
 like ourselves ? " Don't deceive yourself, good reader. 
 Perhaps you are a larger man in every sense than the 
 medium Jonah ! He was exceedingly angular and spirit- 
 ually undeveloped — went in .and out through a small 
 orifice. Perhaps you will require a much larger opening. 
 Our modern politicians might possibly follow in the wake 
 of their " predecessor," and many popular teachers of old 
 theology might go through an aperture not larger than the 
 swallow of Jonah's whale, but all this can give no reliable 
 assurance to our friend and fellow sinner, the questioner. 
 Finally : be a teue man ! TJiere is no other ticket to 
 the goal of Happiness. The story' of Jonah's whale is a 
 
144 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 whaler; it hath a strong fragrance of " fish" about it ; 
 and we would urge you never to " swallow " a morsel of 
 it ; for it can never be digested by the mind that enjoys 
 the teachings of Nature and Reason. 
 
 Substance of Noah's Ark. 
 
 XCIII. — Question :"IIaving read the opinions and criticism of the 
 standard writers relative to Noah's ark, but not knowing your opinion 
 on the subject, I venture to solicit from you an expression as to what 
 was the ' Ark' in which Noah saved two of every kind, &c. ? " 
 
 Answer : Our interrogator is secretly wishing to get 
 from us a spiritual significance or interpretation of the 
 flood and the wonderful ark. In order to give such a ren- 
 dering to the account, we should be obliged to occupy com- 
 fortable quarters, and to possess a fine telescope, on the 
 summit of Mount Ararat, which spot, according to most 
 maps and geographies, is inconveniently remote from the 
 familiar desk whereon these sentences are being written. 
 Therefore, we must, for the present, content ourselves with 
 answering in Bible language. (See Gen. vi : 16.) Direc- 
 tions are therein given to the effect that the ark should be 
 built three stories high ; which language, if received with 
 considerable dictionary emphasis, would seem to answer the 
 question. Webster, the great lexicographer, in his fifth 
 definition of the word, says : " A trifling tale, a fiction, a 
 fable ; as, the story of a fairy .... Sometimes, a softer 
 term for a lie." Now there are a long list of atmospheri- 
 cal, geological, historical, and biblical reasons for believing 
 that Webster's definition is not inapplicable to the sub- 
 stance of which the ark was built. If the ark was three 
 stories high, it is but reasonable to conclude that the same 
 materials were used in the length and breadth, altogether 
 constituting the largest storij ever bequeathed by early his- 
 torians to posterity. 
 
IS INSPIRATION THE SAME AS REVELATION? ]4& 
 
 Adam and Eve in the Garden. 
 
 XCIV. — Question : "Do you not see a spiritual trutli in the account 
 of Adam and Eve ? " 
 
 Answer : A few great religious authorities delight to 
 revel in the literalness of the Eden-life as depicted by the 
 writers of the Old Testament. That there is a spiritual 
 truth hidden within the external legend, no symbol-reader 
 ever for one moment doubts. But Milton, whose authority 
 for literal truth in religious theories is just as reliable as 
 the opinion of any other person who knows 'nothing about 
 it, thus pictures the " attractive industry " of the fabled 
 first pair in Eden. Eve, whose heart delights to throb 
 through tender words of love, turns to Adam and says : 
 
 "Let us divide our labors ; thou where choice 
 
 Leads thee, or where most needs ; whether to wind 
 The woodbine round this arbor, or direct 
 Tlie clasping ivy where to climb; while I, 
 In yonder spring of roses, intermixed 
 With myrtle, find what to redress till noon." 
 
 There is, as you probably well know, a philosophical 
 side to this oriental conception, which is not called for by 
 your interrogation. 
 
 Is Inspiration the same as Revelation? 
 
 XCV. — Qojestion: "Please favor me with your impressions of 
 the following text selected from the third chapter of Timothy, 16th 
 verse : ' All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable 
 for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous- 
 ness.' " 
 
 Answer: Our impression is so clear and comprehen- 
 sive, that, without particularizing, we can impart it in a 
 very few sentences. 
 
 Inspiration is the inh eathing of that general psychau- 
 ral influence which rests upon humanitj', from celestial 
 worlds in the surrounding immensity. The word " Scrip- 
 ture" sirrnifics sometliing that is written ; so that tlie term 
 
 13 
 
146 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 is applicable to any kind of manuscript, whether the result 
 of inspiration or not. 
 
 The true rendering of the above text, however, is this : 
 " All Scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable," 
 &c., (the translators were not inspired ;) so that the pas- 
 sage teaches good sense; implying that there may be 
 volumes of Scriptures not at all given by inspiration. Any 
 one acquainted with the Bible or with any other book, 
 either sacred or secular, will surely coincide with the last 
 named possibility and universal fact. Inasmuch as " inspi- 
 ration " must take the form of the mind into which it is 
 poured, and be correspondingly expressed to the outward 
 eye and ear and judgments of men, so let no one look for 
 infallibility or entireness in the Scriptures of any one indi- 
 vidual or age of the world. 
 
 Eevelation, on the other hand, is equivalent to moral 
 and intellectual comprehension. When the reason and 
 conscience of a person grasp the principles and ideas devel- 
 oped by inspiration, we then say, and with philosophical 
 truth, too, that that individual is a receiver of " Revela- 
 tions " which are, perhaps, profitable for doctrine, reproof, 
 correction, &c. 
 
 Is Christianity a. Religion? 
 
 XCVI. — Question : " Why do you call Christianity religion ? 
 From its earliest history it has the mark of the beast upon it. It is 
 stained with blood, and is, therefore, not a religion. " 
 
 Answer : Perhaps, in this instance, an apology is the 
 best explanation. We ask the world's pardon for every 
 word, written or spoken, which implies or teaches that 
 Religion is dependent upon any system of sectarianism. 
 
 The term " Christianity " is commonly used to signify 
 the system of salvation, founded by the honored and 
 revered Son of Joseph and Mary. As a theology it is 
 
THE RELIGION OF NATURE. 147 
 
 utterly devoid of religion, if the woi-d " Religion " be 
 employed to convey an idea of devotion to truth. But if we 
 use the word to signify the soul's interest in whatsoever is 
 spiritual and eternal — including the sentiment of Brother- 
 hood, and of doing good in return for evil — then (and wo 
 often so use the terra) the identification of the teachings of 
 the Nazarene with those of pure Religion, is beyond 
 controversy. 
 
 By " Christianity " we mean the " Religion " of 
 Humanity and Spiritualism, which was inculcated by Jesus 
 and by all good teachers. But popular " theology " is a 
 fledgling of Doctors of Divinity — a monstrosity, a ghastly 
 theory of stupidity and despair — wholly destitute of reli- 
 gion, and unworthy a place in the memories of mankind. 
 
 The Religion of Nature. 
 
 XCVII. — Question : " Please instruct me in what is meant by the 
 Keligion of Nature. At school I have acquired considerable knowl- 
 edge of geography, astronomy, &c. ; but somehow I fail to obtain any 
 religious instructions from such material sources. What is the Reli- 
 gion of Nature ? " 
 
 Answee: Natural Religion is the opposite of that 
 which is fictitious or " supernatural." It is the doctrine 
 of Truth, Justice, Righteousness, as taught by the harmony, 
 equilibrium, and happiness of the universe. It is impossi- 
 ble to get any broad estimate of Truth from a superficial 
 study of any one branch of geography, astronomy, or 
 science, as such branch is presented by the routine system of 
 a modern school or academy. 
 
 If you would learn of Truth — exact, never- varying, 
 beautiful, stern, and perfect — examine the laws of planet- 
 ary motion, the principles of cause and effect in all things, 
 and the adorable proportions of bodies in their respective 
 spheres. Justice, rigiit, and love, and the beauty of holi- 
 
148 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 ness, are lessons breatlied from the constitution and adap- 
 tation of every natural object. Search tlie sacred volume 
 of Nature through. Let its divine lessons burn their 
 glories into your very heart. Life and joy supreme — trans- 
 porting life and enrapturing joy — come to the pure in heart. 
 The spirit of Nature, and the precious presence of the 
 Father, will burn in every bush of roses. In tree, in bird, 
 in sky, in star, in your parents, in everything human, behold 
 the Love, and Will, and Wisdom of Deity. 
 
 Universality of Religious Temples. 
 
 XCVIII. — Question : " How does it come that almost every form 
 of Eeligion has its altars aad trained ministers to perpetuate its pecu- 
 liar faith at the annual expense of millions of dollars; and that 
 Science has not yet a single temple devoted to its claims, nor a single 
 permanent teacher to unfold its principles, and to show its beneficent 
 influence upon the world ? "Why have we thousands of churches, and 
 no temples, or halls, except schools for the young, consecrated to Sci- 
 ence, for the systematic instruction of the masses ? " 
 
 Answer : Our interrogator wants us to explain why 
 mankind are so universally prone to support a costly 
 system of Religion and of Worship, and why the same 
 people are so unwilling to make personal sacrifices and to 
 expend large sums for the advancement of Science and 
 Philosophy. 
 
 We answer, because the human soul is intuitively 
 impressed with the reality of a Future State. The loves 
 and the sentiments, and their inversions (producing passions 
 and cruelties,) naturally precede the growth of Intellect and 
 Reason. The strongest undefinable love at the center of 
 man's soul is the love of individualized Life ; and the most 
 powerful sentiment in man's spiritual constitution is the 
 sentiment of Religion. By Religion, we here mean the 
 soul's natural sense of relationship to Father God, who is 
 in perpetual harmony with Mother Nature. 
 
UNIVEESALITT OP RELIGIOUS TEMPLES. 149 
 
 This inwrought love of Life is inseparable from the 
 intuition of, or hope for, an endless future existence. And 
 this intuition, or hope, is inseparable from the moral sense 
 of dependence on the Divine Mind — the ever-present sub- 
 lime Mystery which surrounds and envelops the human 
 soul. 
 
 Now, inasmuch as the loves and the sentiments (with 
 their subversive and inverted manifestations) precede the 
 development of Intellect and Reason, it is natural that 
 mankind should do many expensive, and cruel, and childish 
 things, for the gratification of their most powerful and 
 mysterious sentiments. 
 
 And philosophers, seeing that the multitudes do not 
 think or reason on matters of Religion, silently agree to 
 the popular customs of church-building and worship. 
 
 Political and legal minds also, seeing that the ignorant 
 and brntal vulgar are restrained only by the majesty of 
 Law and the mystery of Divinity, do very generally advo- 
 cate the inculcation and perpetuity of both the State and 
 Church. 
 
 Such minds pretend to believe that a small village can- 
 not be governed without some form of Religion in which 
 the masses have been educated to .put their faith. Hun- 
 dreds of infidels approve of church-building, and will 
 subscribe to support a Priesthood, on the ground that the 
 ignorant and superstitious cannot otherwise be subdued and 
 controlled. 
 
 And thus, between the mistaken reasonings of infidels'? 
 
 and the misguided benevolence of believers in theology, ' 
 
 the various systems of Religion flourish, while the temples 
 
 of Science are " few and far between." But it will not 
 
 always be thus; the masses are beginning to realize a 
 
 Divinity in Science ; and Use, which is the handmaid of 
 16* 
 
150 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Justice, will one day dominate all lifeless forms and god- 
 less ceremonies. 
 
 Religion and Reason. 
 
 XOIX. — Question : Please give your shortest definition of true 
 Keligion. I would also be pleased to get your definition of Reason in 
 its broadest sense." 
 
 Answer : It seems to us that the best, shortest, broad- 
 est definition of true Religion, is Universal Justice ; which 
 is a divine temple, founded upon the eternal rock of selfr 
 justice (or right-living,) and Justice to the Neighbor. 
 Piety is the emotional uprising of the spiritual faculties — 
 a spontaneous breathing of the organs of Sublimity, Vene- 
 ration, and Hope — resulting in gratitude to the Supreme 
 Being, adoration, submission, and worship. Reason, on 
 the other hand, in its broadest definition, means the highest 
 revelation of God and Nature to man's inward spirit. We 
 do not mean the conclusions of the reasonings of one man, 
 nor the philosophical deductions of the reasonings and 
 perceptions of any number of men or angels, but the assem- 
 bled and concurrent Intuitions of the countless intelligences 
 in the whole universe. Reason, then, is the embodi- 
 ment of all that " stupendous whole " — called Nature and 
 God — in which all individualized intelligences "live, and 
 move, and have their being : " the least reflecting the shape 
 and properties and harmonies of the greatest, as one drop 
 taken from the Atlantic is a faithful representative of the 
 ■whole ocean, whence it derived its existence and properties. 
 
 These are the broadest definitions within the scope of 
 our present comprehension. "We have given several less 
 sweeping statements, which, doubtless, would at first seem 
 more satisfp-ctory, 
 
WHAT IS THE FEEHDOM OP TKUTH ? 151 
 
 What is the Freedom of Truth ? 
 
 C. — QuK^TioN : " In what sense does Spiritual TrutH liberate the 
 human spirit? What is error? .... Can you direct the steps of a 
 Truth-seeker, one who, like myself, surrounded by every worldly 
 luxury and loving relatives, is expected to conform to the ways of thj 
 world, and attend church each Sabbath ? " 
 
 Answer : Truth, a divine principle, expands and im- 
 proves the spirit of man, as the sun opens flowers and rolls 
 the globes of space. Error is the misapprehension of 
 Truth. Evil consists in knowingly advocating what is 
 misapprehended. By error and evil the spirit is embar- 
 rassed and enslaved, because they push it out of tune with 
 the Eternal Order ol things. Truth and goodness, on the 
 other hand, are tho sovereign principles of existence, and 
 in their boundless? flight there is unutterable freedom. 
 
 You will in one short year discover that the eternal 
 Truths of Deity, distributed throughout the illimitable 
 universe, will loom up harmoniously before your enrap- 
 tured spirit vision. You will discover, also, that those 
 Truths traverse and penetrate through all the vast spheres 
 and abyssmal depths of sentient being ; whitherward 
 you, together with each one of us, and all the world, 
 are hourly and momently hastening. How reverently will 
 bow thy humbled soul before the beautiful lovingness and 
 ineffable grandeur of immortal Teuth ! Look up and far 
 away. Pear not. Go forth like a child into the open 
 fields, while others " go to meeting on the Sabbath," and 
 there, with an earnest mind, learn your reason to behold 
 in works the Worker — in Nature the God who "fills, 
 bounds, connects, and equals all." 
 
 "We miglit remind you, who are "a Truth-seeker," of 
 the comparison between the magnificent spectacle of God 
 in Nature, and the sorry ink, paper, and leather idol that 
 men can slip in their coat pocket. It is the mere shadow 
 
152 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 of what was at best, and in the very beginning of its 
 teachings, but a record of the spiritual and religious 
 experiences of ancient inhabitants. Every one, not blinded 
 and enslaved by the popular chains of error, must see the 
 absurdity of Bible-worship. Cogent and powerful reason- 
 ings are multiplying on every hand against an error so 
 dishonoring both to God, and to every lesser form of intelli- 
 gence. And such reasonings are being pressed home upon 
 the intuitions and common sense of mankind. The effect 
 in due time will appear in the form of unbounded freedom 
 and comparatively equal happiness among men. 
 
 With these views, your spirit will grow young again ; 
 for the years' of your earth-life are yet few. Gro out each 
 Sabbath beneath the broad embracing sky. . Your heart 
 will beat in unison with the melody of celestial Truth. 
 Its thoughts will involuntarily rise up like the flowings of a 
 hidden fountain, and they will refresh every faculty in the 
 crown of thy spirit. Seek to know the Truth of Spirit 
 Life, and take at least as much care to acquire it as yon 
 would to learn the piano. When you get a new Truth 
 clearly fixed in your heart you will have indubitable evi- 
 dence thereof, for you will breathe with freer aspirations 
 and experience nobler thanksgiving to the Infinite 
 Father. " God " is the shortest word for Good, and 
 Devil the metaphoric term for Evil. With this commen- 
 tary we quote: 
 
 " The Will of God is all in all. He makes, 
 Destroys, remakes, for his own pleasure, all. 
 After inferior nature is subdued, 
 AUBvil is confin'd. The elements 
 Conglobe themselves from chiios, purified — 
 The re-begotten world is born again. 
 Moral corruption with the body ceaseth, 
 Spirits rise up, and link and rule with heav'n. 
 The soul-state is search'd into; dormantDeath, 
 
THE NATURE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. 153 
 
 Evil, and all ilu' ilavk goJs of the heart, 
 
 And the idolatrous passions, overcome 
 
 And worsbipleiis are seen; and then the Word 
 
 Heard and obeyed, next comes the Truth divine 
 
 Reintegrate ; then Evil's last and worst 
 
 Essay is vanquished by Almighty Good. 
 
 The universe all expurgate of evil, 
 
 And hell for aye aholish'd. — AU Create, 
 
 Redeemed, — their God all love, themselves all bliss." 
 
 The Nature of True Repentance. 
 
 CI. — Question : " My mind has been greatly troubled of late on 
 the subject of what constitutes true repentance, or rather redemption 
 from sin. If you can find time to say a word on this point, I will be 
 very much obliged for it.'' 
 
 Answer: Our explanation is not hard to comprehend, 
 but it may be difficult of application. Repentance unto 
 life is a resolution taken in your Wisdom faculties, renounc- 
 ing a personal evil habit, before the whole angel-world, 
 whose aid you invoke — a resolution carried out, practically, 
 in every subsequent act of your life. 
 
 The outward and ordinary means and acts are charita- 
 ble and wise efforts to ameliorate the condition of mankind 
 — efforts to instruct youth, to elevate the down-trodden, to 
 ennoble intellect, to promote genius, to harmonize national 
 interests, to create equitable industrial relations between 
 the different classes, to purge existing governments, to 
 reform creed-born religions, to abolish servitude, to bring 
 the harmony of Truth on the whole earth. 
 
 The works of righteousness are not easy. They are 
 even more difficult than " the Cross," which the Church 
 bids you take up and carry. If you abandon the society 
 of mirth-lovers, discard the ways of the world, attend 
 Church punctually, assist to support a priesthood, take the 
 sacrament once every four weeks, and do a few kindly acts 
 contrary to the dictates of selfishness, the saying is that you 
 
Jc-t ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 have " taken up the Cross." But we want you to compare 
 the real acts, of repentance with church requirements, 
 and then iuforin us which are most like the deeds of right- 
 eousness. But we do not teach eternal destruction to the 
 wicked, even if, by personal incapacity or neglect, a soul 
 should fail to establish a true repentance. "We ask, in the 
 poet's language, a very important question : 
 
 "When Time and Death o'ercqme the. ills of man, 
 Shall God, who is all Love, reverse, reserve. 
 In cruel fires, ages hence, those crimes ? 
 And crown the acme of aU ill with woes 
 Unending, for an instantaneous wrong? 
 Shall that be Justice ? It were more than Vengeance ! 
 Y«t spch the Deity men fable, such 
 The Hell whereto they damn themselves." 
 
 Did you ever conimune with the beautiful works of 
 Nature ? Did you ever look into a flower so tranquilly 
 and receptively that the life of it became a part of your 
 own? Did you ever stq,nd by the brookside and lose your 
 life in the healjng melody of its waters ? Did you ever 
 see a field of ripe grain, and thank the Great Spirit for it? 
 Did you ever love the influence of truth among men ? Did 
 you ever do a. day's work for the human family? Do you 
 worship the good you see in others ? Do you experience 
 the joys of harmony? If so, you know somewhat how 
 they live in the higher spheres. 
 
 The Book of Life. 
 
 CII.^-QuESTiON : "Sometimes I meet with the expression 'Book 
 of Life,' &o. Now aa I know you do not accept the popular orthodox 
 theory of a ' Recording Angel ' and a ' Day of Judgment,' I am al 
 a loss to determine what you mean by the term ' Book of Life.' " 
 
 Answer : The Book of Life is composed of the human 
 body and mind. The lids are made of the body, the folios 
 of the mental faculties. Upon tlieir leaves are written the 
 
AN UNBAPTIZED CHILD, 155 
 
 many deviations of the individual from tlie patli of recti- 
 tude. The recording angel is the Law of Right — the 
 central positive principle in Nature — which is harmony. 
 The mark of transgression is upon the brow. The indi- 
 vidual — the Book of Life — is immortal; it soon passes 
 away to the Spirit Land. The record of misdirection 
 appears on the living faculties — is manifest in their deform- 
 ity and decrepitude — in their inability immediately to 
 advance with the higher spirits upon the eternal highway 
 of Love and Wisdom. 
 
 Death of an Unbaptized Child. 
 
 cm. — Question : " Perhaps my question is inappropriate. Last 
 week my child sickened and died. It was very young, and had not 
 received the infant baptism that is believed so necessary to future han. 
 piness. What is your belief? Can you give me any views more 
 
 consoling ? My family are all members of the church. We 
 
 know nothing of Spiritualism." , 
 
 Answer: Spiritualism is another word for knowledge. 
 It rests entirely upon present facts, and upon the historic 
 experiences of all mankind. The Church is another 
 word for faith. It rests entirely upon present theory, and, 
 upon the imperative repudiations of every human heart. 
 AH men are intuitive believers in that which is truly spirit- 
 ual. But orthodox religion is rejected alike by reason 
 and intuition. No human soul need be educated by priest 
 and Sunday-school teacher to believe in Spiritualism. But 
 it requires systematic effort in churches, and colleges, 
 and prayer-meetings, to impress old theology upon the 
 attention and credulity of parents and children. In a 
 word, the difference between popular theology and modern 
 Spiritualism is marked by the difference between faith and 
 knowledge ; the first being mere speculation, while the 
 lattor is absolute scientific truth, resting upon a broad 
 foundation of undeniable facts. 
 
156 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Those who have returned to tell mankind of the world 
 beyond . the tomb, report that a good life, and not the 
 observance of religious rites and ceremonies, secure happi- 
 ness to the individual in the spiritual spheres. It is an 
 unhappy superstition that teaches the eternal importance of 
 religious ordinances. Many a poor soul, deluded by the 
 teachings of old theology, has been made unspeakably 
 wretched. A Connecticut mother was induced to believe 
 in Calvinism. She was in deepest sincerity. For this 
 cause her brain reeled and her heart was broken, under the 
 thought that she was eternally lost. " The unpardonable 
 sin " she imagined herself to have committed. Shutting 
 herself within a darkened room, and excluding the light of 
 Nature and Reason, she permitted this one pujpit error to 
 shadow every hour of her life. Let the Insane Retreat 
 yield up account. The day of settlement is rapidly 
 approaching. Then old theology, however petted by the 
 superficial and insincere, will realize the fate of the "Mer- 
 rimac." The fire of reformation will burn in her vitals, 
 and the law of Progress will " blow her up " with an 
 intensity and power that can neither be met nor weakened. 
 
 Moreover, those who have returned from the Summer- 
 Land report that infants, and the young of every age, on 
 leaving the earth, are received in the happy homes of the 
 wise and loving angels. The Father and Mother of all do 
 not " belong to the Church." They are not " members " 
 of some rich and powerful « religious body." You can 
 therefore trust your babe with them. Hopeless and faith- 
 less though you are, be not afraid to let your darling go 
 up with the guardians of love and light to dwell in glorious 
 homes in the temple " not made with hands." You will 
 meet your darling in the great future. It will be baptized 
 in the waters of truth, unpolluted by the fingers of the 
 
WHAT IS THE HUMAN HEART? 157 
 
 priest, and you will then rejoice in ■ the glory and good- 
 ness of God. Be not afraid to trust your child with the 
 Spirit of the universe. 
 
 What is the Human Heart ? 
 
 CIV. — Question : Is the human heart capable of any mental emo- 
 tion, impulse, passion, or desire ? If not, why is the word so frequently 
 used by our best writers and speakers. Physiologists and Spiritualists 
 not excepted, with almost any adjective or participle prefixed ? " 
 
 Answer: As we have many times explained, the spirit 
 is connected with the body by and through the sovl. The 
 blood and the nervous system are the channels and media 
 in and upon which the soul lives, circulates, energizes, and 
 acts. The heart is the organ through which all the blood 
 flows, as the brain is the organ for the centralization and 
 distribution of the nervo-dynamics. The blood could not 
 flow a moment without the presence and influence of the 
 brain's energies. Whatever disturbs the brain disturbs the 
 flow of the blood ; and whatever disturbs the flow of the 
 blood, disturbs the heart as its regulating and distributing 
 organ. Hence, it is natural to speak of the " heart " 
 when alluding to whatever affects deeply and vitally the 
 feelings, affections, emotions, or sentiments — not that it is 
 intelligently conscious of emotion, but because it is the reci- 
 pient and center of the quickest and deepest disturbance of 
 the Boul. 
 
 The Change of Heart. 
 
 C'V. — Question : " Will you give a ' seeker for truth' an abridged 
 but explicit definition ol what is called the change of heart, which is 
 witnessed in Methodist religious excitements ? I have read consid- 
 erable on the subject, but am yet at a loss to account for that electric 
 thrill which pervades the whole being, and that joy and happiness, 
 and love for all mankind, which is felt at this change." 
 
 Answer : A religious excitement is an excitement of 
 faculties and feelings in the upper departments of the 
 14 
 
If) 8 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 mind, or brain. At such times the intellect is almost 
 asleep. Indeed, an active and well-informed mind, in a 
 healthy body, is never converted at a religious revival. The 
 social feelings are frequently appealed to by the propagan- 
 dist — such as the awful agony of mothers being parted 
 from their beloved children at the "Judgment-seat of 
 Christ " — and in connection therewith the religious sensi- 
 bilities, which are exceedingly impressible in some persons, 
 become extremely anxious for the friendship of God. 
 
 As soon as you experience the conviction that such divine 
 love is felt in heaven for you, that moment you are exalted to 
 a high state of unselfish joy and praise. Instantly, or when 
 the feeling that heaven has adopted you has fully possessed 
 your affections and imagination, your whole soul is lifted 
 and bathed by the magnetism of spiritual enthusiasm. 
 
 In some natures such a " change " is as rapid as the 
 influence of magnetism. Others, not easily magnetized in 
 their religious faculties, remain incorrigible and " uncon- 
 verted." The influence of magnetism on the religious 
 organs is spiritualizing. The faculties sometimes become 
 semi-clairvoyant, and sometimes the " convert " is ren- 
 dered medmmwiic — so much so as to attract spirits to 
 superintend and augment the " change of heart." 
 
 We do not object to these magnetic changes of heart, 
 but to the surrendering of reason which is too common 
 among new converts. The conversion is nothing but a 
 temporary exaltation of the religious faculties. We advo-' 
 cate a like elevation of reason and intuition. 
 
 Kind and Gentle Manners. 
 
 CVI. — Question: " What is the new dispensation doctrine with 
 
 regard to personal manners"? I have a particular reason for 
 
 ankiiig you this question." 
 
 Answer : Our Maimers Book is not written, unless we 
 
 take the Inscriptions of Nature on the spiritual heart. 
 
ARCHITECTURE QP REFORM MEETING-HOUSES. 159 
 
 Society is teemiug with vulgar-minded persons — some of 
 them are pai-ents — who vitiate the sentiments of the young 
 both by speech and example. 
 
 The true woman is always a lady, as the true man is 
 always manly and gentle ; but the vulgar person, though 
 well dressed and decked with jewelry, is invariably cha- 
 racterized by coarseness and selfishness. A true lady 
 never imposes upon others' rights, either in society or at 
 home. She is truthful, warm-hearted, gifted, refined, affec- 
 tionate, poetical, and yearns for association with the higher 
 order of human kind. The manly gentleman is open- 
 hearted, noble-minded, large in generosity,- just, reasonable, 
 and companionable, either at home or among strangers. 
 He is not less modest than the lady. 
 
 The true person is one who lives consistently with his 
 or her convictions ; but the spiritual person is known by 
 the simple refinements with which life is conducted. The 
 truly natural soul is regardless of the formal rules that 
 are said to regulate polite society. Good manners may 
 be taught, but only the truly refined will practice the 
 ways of gentleness. If a gentleman resigns his seat at 
 church or in a car for the benefit of a lady, she will, if a truly 
 refined woman, pleasantly thank him for the kindly ofiice, 
 hut the vulgar lady will accept the seat thanklessly and im- 
 peratively, as though she were entitled to it. The true man 
 will never pollute the air with profane language, nor with 
 tobacco, nor the home with examples of selfishness and 
 injustice ; but a halo of happiness will soon appear in the 
 habitation of the righteous gentle man. 
 
 Architecture of Reform Meeting-Houses. 
 
 CVII. — Question : " Churches here will not admit our Spiritual 
 speakers. Hence the necessity of building. But we have no plan of 
 construction. Have you any more progressive style for Public 
 Meeting-houses than the plans generally adopted ?" 
 
160 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Answer : Every intelligent and benevolent mind must 
 regret and ignore the bigotry of sectarian selfishness. It 
 is wholly at variance with that broad love of truth which 
 expands in buds and blooms in flowers, and which worships 
 God neither in Jerusalem nor in the mountains, but faith- 
 fully in Spirit and in justice to all of every creed. If sec- 
 tarians could but worship the Informing Presence — that is j 
 everywhere beautifully manifest in Nature — they would ' 
 not close their doors to Speakers on the New Dispensation. 
 They would not make it necessary — as they now do — that 
 freer minds should expend money in the erection of more 
 Meeting-houses, wherein the innovating and renovating 
 and purifying influence of Spiritual truths may be dispensed 
 to the multitude who have no sympathy with creeds and 
 dogmas. We do not believe in the utility of building 
 many more material Tabernacles. They are very expen- 
 sive, and cannot be constructed substantially upon any 
 very new architectural plan or principle. If possible, let 
 Reformers purchase public halls already in existence, or 
 obtain a lease and the use of churches for a definite pro- 
 portion of the time ; and thus, if reasonable progress be 
 made in attracting and unfolding minds out of ignorance 
 and bigotry, the uni'ted friend,s may convert not only the 
 people, but the material church, also, and remodel it to the 
 gospel of eternal truth and glad tidings. 
 
 But this method may not be practicable in old towns and 
 cities where old theology is rich, and its adherents consoli- 
 dated beyond the reach of Spiritual principles. If, then, 
 no compromise in the use of a public edifice can be effected, 
 and if a Lecture-room is absolutely or even much needed, 
 we would suggest simply that the style thereof be unos- 
 tentatious and economical ; not quite square within ; no 
 tolling bell ; but with a large dome, through the painted 
 
ARCHITECTURE OP REVORM MEETING-HOUSES. 161 
 
 glass of which the light of Heaven may descend in softly 
 blended hues ; no sectarian pens with locks, no fenced-up 
 pews for sale ; but firmly built, well cushioned, and sta- 
 tionary chairs ; let the .floor be gradual in its upward 
 .nclination from the speaker's platform, and the chairs 
 arranged apart on quarter-circle lines ; thus the audito- 
 rium would be constructed somewhat on the horse-shoe 
 magnetic principle — the best for a flow of sympathy between 
 the people and the speaker ; between the two poles of this 
 imaginary magnet, construct the Kostrum, a plain platform, 
 of consistent dimensions, which should be provided with a 
 perJ'ectly symmetrical portable desk-table ; this can be 
 fixed to the floor or removed in a few moments ; and in 
 order to produce physical harmony between speaker 
 and hearer, the lecturer's breast, while standing, should 
 not be higher than the heads of those occupying the middle 
 circle of chairs ; this will bring his (or her) beaming face, 
 while in the act of discoursing, nearly on a level, with the 
 faces of those occupying the most remote seats ; by this 
 arrangement all will be brought into sympathy of spirit 
 mainly from the force of constructive circumstances; no 
 galleries; music to emanate from chosen singers (with 
 whom the congregation might practice) from the anterior 
 circle facing the rostrum. No architectural angles about 
 the interior of the tabernacle to break the voice and 
 impair hearing ; but niches at regular intervals for busts 
 and statuary of noble men and women who have bravely , 
 " fought and bled in Freedom's cause " ; significant pic- " 
 tures and paintings to be suspended on the walls between 
 the statues and figures — in short, if we were to be engaged 
 in the construction of an edifice of this kind for the public, 
 we would suggest a perfectly neat, economical, well- 
 seated, well-lighted, well-ventilated, commodious Lyceum 
 14* 
 
162 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Structure, in which the living good and inspired of the 
 Age might explain and vindicate the laws of iieason and 
 the problems of eternal progression. 
 
 Motive-Povrer of the Sects. 
 
 OVIII. — Question : " Will you please give me some idea of what 
 constitutes the motive-power of Sectarianism ? " 
 
 Answer : There are a large number and variety of 
 
 influences, both external and moral, which conspire to build 
 
 up and sustain Sectarianism. We will mention only a few : 
 
 1. At first a few persons, rallying about the central 
 Idea of some theologian, organize themselves into a " reli- 
 gious body." Appealing to their acquaintances, with 
 extraordinary fearlessness and earnestness, they induce 
 many well-meaning men to join them. Thus a " Church " 
 is founded, and a minister is established to break the bread 
 of life to the flock. These earnest men, with their not less 
 faithful pastor, build the foundations of a sect. 
 
 2. The second motive-power is the sincere Fear expe- 
 rienced by ignorant and devout minds. The Church is 
 supposed to be to the " Devil " what a horse-shoe nailed 
 over the door of a dwelling is to " witches." In this 
 branch of your question a thousand minor influences are at 
 work, by which persons are induced to identify themselves 
 with a sect, 
 
 3. The third cause of church-building is commercial. 
 Men of property give freely and largely to get a handsome 
 edifice erected in the vicinity of their "corner lots." In 
 western States, as formerly in the East, it is common for 
 "moneyed men" to subscribe toward the construction of 
 any sectarian establishment that will enhance the value of 
 their possessions. They think " there is gain in godliness." 
 
 4. A fourth motive-power is social. The ladies 
 and children, as well as the unthinking portion of the 
 
MOTIVE -POWER OF THE SECTS. 163 
 
 men, of every community, are exceedingly fond of Sabbath- 
 day parades. In many villages the meoting-house is the 
 only place of " good and acceptable " diversion from the 
 corroding cares of family and property. Many persons 
 extract a sort of amusement from the personal appearances 
 of a congregation. The pure social element is a powerful 
 tie in religious assemblages. \ 
 
 5. The desire to do good, and to lend a helping hand 
 to those who are regarded as not in the " fold of Christ," 
 is another power of cohesion in a church. There is a vast 
 amount of very fine sentiment and of pure philanthropy dis- 
 tributed through sectarian organizations. Some of the 
 most generous minds on earth are kept in churches solely 
 because of the opportunity it furnishes them to express 
 their benevolent feelings in a popular and conspicuous way. 
 
 But perhaps you meant to inquire more particularly. 
 If so, our answer thus far has not given satisfaction. You 
 know there are several kinds of motive-powers. There is 
 (1) water-power, (2) wind-power, (3) steam-power, (4) 
 caloric-power, (5) screw-power, (6) lever-power, (7) horse- 
 power, and so forth ; and now the question is, " Which of 
 the motive-forces named is most used by the sectarian 
 organizations ? " We are disposed to reply that the Pres- 
 byterian establishment is run by screw-power; the Methodist 
 Church by wind-power; the Baptist Church by water-power; 
 the Congregational Church by steam-power; the Roman 
 Catholic Church by lever-power; the Mormon Church by 
 horse-power; and all " orthodox " establishments are 
 friendly to the caloric-'power, inasmuch as the presence of 
 heat in the nether realm is regarded favorably by their most 
 influential members. The Universalists, Unitarians, Qua- 
 kers, &c., are working hard to introduce new motive-powers, 
 with but limited success. Love-power, the power of truth, 
 
164 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 and the power of intellect, are not yet classed among " the 
 powers that be." 
 
 The following is the latest estimate of the numbers of 
 the various religious sects existing at present in the world: 
 Christians, 335,000,000; Jevvs, 5,000,0000 ; of various Asi- 
 atic creeds, 600,000,000 ; Mahommedans, 160,000,000 ; 
 I?olytheists, 200,000,000. Of the Christians, 170,000,000 
 are Catholics, 80,000,000 Protestants, and 76,000,000 of 
 the Greek Church. 
 
 The Doctrines of Jesus. 
 
 CIX. — Question : " I would be glad if you will tell me whether 
 you are an advocate of the principles of Jesus Christ. Some tell me 
 that you discard the doctrines of Christ. If so, I want to know it, for 
 1 have been trying to defend your doctrines." 
 
 Answer : According to our inspiration on the nature 
 and attributes of a Principle, it is impossible that any one 
 person or angel, or that any conceivable aggregation of 
 persons or angels, should ever become its perfect incarnation. 
 Persons may express and daily manifest only so much of a 
 Principle as they are capacitated to contain and embody ; 
 but the shape or form of such expression, will, in all cases, 
 resemble the individual's peculiar organization. Thus, for 
 example, twelve persons may be moved and actuated by 
 the Principle of Justice, or by the Principle of Fraternal 
 Love, but there will be twelve forms, and not one form, of 
 expressing it ; and, as a moral and philosophical conse- 
 quence, it would be exceedingly narrow and unreasonable, 
 though popular and conservative, to rally around om of the 
 twelve as a perfect embodiment, and thenceforth to pro- 
 claim his individual merits and doctrines as the only 
 infallible rule of faith and practice. And yet, as is some- 
 times the case, a particular person may manifest the Prin- 
 ciple more perfectly than hundreds or thousands of hia 
 
ORIGIN OP LOVE TO MAN. 165 
 
 fcllow-men ; whereupon we sa}', that instead of worsliip- 
 iug and deil'ying him or her as the favoiite of the highest 
 heaven, it is wise and profitable to regard such personage 
 as a " bow of promise " to the rest of humanity, indicating 
 what is possible to all by like obedience and completeness. 
 
 We therefore advocate and worship Principles, not 
 Persons. And yet we involuntarily love and reverence 
 Persons in proportion as they approximate in daily life to 
 the perfection of Spiritual Principles. 
 
 We believe that " Christ " was and is a central Prin- 
 ciple of divine Love — impersonal, universal, unchangeable. 
 It obtains an expression or an incarnation in your every 
 pure act of fraternal affection. This Love-principle is 
 anointed and christened of God in the inmost of every 
 human soul. He who becomes inspired and baptized in the 
 divine spirit of Truth, who stands pledged immovably to 
 Justice between man and man, is infilled with the spirit of 
 « Christ." 
 
 Jesus, on the contrary, was a man — one who lived in 
 daily harmony with the Fraternal Principle of Love — and 
 is valuable to the race chiefly as an exemplar. But the 
 Principle, not the man, is our Savior. 
 
 Origin of Love to Man. 
 
 ex. — Question: "My immediate friends, all members of the 
 Presbyterian Church, say that the idea of love to enemies originated 
 with Christ, the Son of God. Can you inform me whether the frater- 
 nal sentiment was inculcated by any person before Jesus Christ?" 
 
 Answer : It is a matter of historical certainty that the 
 principle of love, even toward all men, was inculcated 
 hundreds of years before Jesus or the era of Christianity. 
 Confucius, Pythagoras, Socrates, Philo, and many other 
 moralists and semi-Stoics, expressed their intense appreci- 
 ation of the principles of humanity, which is universal love. 
 
166 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Christianity, as an essence, is built upon the spiritual 
 consciousness of universal mankind. The humanitarian 
 principle was evolved by the Greek culture of moralism 
 and philosophy. From them the Jews imbibed something 
 of universal love, so that Philo^ a learned Jew, who went ' 
 as a deputation before Caligula, describes and celebrates ■■ 
 love to all men as the highest virtue. The learned Greeks 
 and Romans held to the extinction of national differences 
 upon the idea of universal love and philanthropic for- 
 bearance. 
 
 It was a central doctrine with the Stoics, that man was 
 not born for his own sake, but for the sake and benefit of 
 others. Thus Seneca, a so-called " heathen " philosopher, 
 opposes political force and patriotic narrowness, and 
 urgently advocates the innate principle of love, as the best 
 remedy for unjust differences and inequalities between 
 ruler and subject, master and slave. And you will remem- 
 ber the tranquil Emperor Antoninus, a heathen r'uler in 
 the old world's most mighty empire. He enjoined upon all 
 the exercise of love toward all — especially did he teach by 
 "word and government, as far as it were possible, the 
 doctrine of love, clemency, and humanity toward' the down- 
 trodden, enslaved, and malignant — in short, he believed in 
 and advocated " love of enemies " as a principle of spiritual 
 virtue, and was for these reasons called " Pius." 
 
 We sincerely pray that, in due time, your " immediate 
 friends " will see that the DiVine Mind is universally mani< 
 fested both in Matter and in Man. 
 
 The Advent of Christ's Kingdom. 
 
 OXI. — Question: " Not understanding your views, I beg to inquire 
 what you teacli in regard to the approach of the millennium. Do you 
 believe that the time is at hand when the Son of Man shall come in 
 his glory, and all the holy angels with him ? Is the time fast 
 approaching when Christ shall sit upon his throne for the dispensing 
 of i ustice to mankind ? " 
 
THE ADVENT OP CHRIST'S KINGDOM. ]67 
 
 Answer : We do not believe in the impossible and 
 absurd ; therefore we do not believe in the miraculous and 
 supernatural. We do not believe that a house can 'stand 
 upon a foundation of nothing ; therefore we do not believe 
 that the Son of Man will come on the wings of a miracle. 
 
 In the first century the Christians made a merit of 
 despising everything external and worldly. They were 
 exceedingly fond of postponing many questions of truth and 
 justice, in expectation of the sudden reappearance of the 
 Son of Man, whereupon the era of peace and righteouSnes 
 would quickly spread in the earth. Eighteen hundred 
 years have departed since those primitive believers pro- 
 claimed their faith,, and the world's history testifies that 
 the first Christians were mistaken : that the Son of Man is 
 no miraculous personage : and that the millennium is no 
 supernatural development of the heavenly kingdom. 
 
 But human intuitions are still faithful to the eternal 
 truth. They still believe in the Advent of the Son of Man, 
 and in the expansion of the heavenly state over the earth. 
 They believe steadfastly and unquestioningly in both ; 
 therefore men advocate them, and work in various ways to 
 speed their coming. 
 
 By the words "Son of Man," we understand, divine 
 love ; by the terms " Heavenly Kingdom," we get a con- 
 ception of DIVINE HARMONY. 
 
 Judging from the present condition of mankind, and by 
 all history, the advent of ueither will be sudden ; and in 
 the light of philosophical principles, they cannot come at 
 once to all men. Unreasoning Christians believe super- 
 stitiously in the speedy approach of "something." And 
 Christian Spiritualises accept about what is believed by 
 those Christians who do not, dare not, or cannot exercise 
 their reason. The world receives but little aid from such 
 
168 ANSWRES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 believers, and the Son of Man and the Heavenly Kingdom 
 still less. 
 
 What is theology?" Theology is the people's highest 
 theoretical statement. What is religion ? Religion is the 
 people's highest expression of piety. What is morality ? 
 Morality is the people's highest practical life. To sum up : 
 Theology is theory ; religion is sentiment ; morality is 
 practice. The laws and statutes of a people are the 
 people's highest ideas of theology, religion, and morality; 
 and the political and national life of a people are the 
 people's actual practical approach to the received theology, 
 religion, and morality. 
 
 With this scale of measurement let us go out into civil- 
 ization, and ascertain by it how much there is of divine 
 LOVE (" Son of Man,") and how much of divine harmony, 
 ("The Heavenly Kingdom.") 
 
 By their works ye shall know them. Scan the life of 
 the American people. What is their highest theoretic 
 statement? (We speak not of the few, but of the millions.) 
 The theology of America is arbitrary, supernatural,.unrea- 
 sonable, impossible. It has an absurd heaven of eternal 
 psalm-singing idleness, as a place of reward for all who 
 believe in " Christ and him crucified ; " beneath, it has an 
 over-crowded and poorly-ventilated hell of eternal groans 
 as a punishment for all who do not believe in being washed 
 in the blood of the Lamb. If a wicked man, even at the 
 last moment before death, avows his belief in this theology, 
 the minister will certify that the sinner has gone to the 
 abodes of blessedness. On the other hand, if a morally 
 good man should live and die a disbeliever in this theology, 
 the orthodox authorities consign him to the under-vforld of 
 eternal suffering. And such is the highest theological 
 
THE ADVENT OF CIHUST's KINGDOM. 169 
 
 statement of the millions ol' civilized aud highly-enlightened 
 America !) 
 
 Now what is the highest sentiment, the piety, the reli- 
 gion of the American millions ? It is the strictest atten- 
 tion to the rites and rituals, to the sacred ceremonies and 
 stated services of the established ecclesiastical system. 
 All churches, of whatever creed or denomination, have but 
 one test of vital piety, in substance as follows : (1) Habit- 
 ual Bible-reading ; (2) family prayer night and morning ; 
 (3) grace before meals ; (4) attendance upon public service ; 
 (5) long-facedness in the presence of sinners ; (6) disbelief 
 of Spiritualism ; (7) indifierence to the teachings of Science 
 and Philosophy ; (8) unqualified repudiation of everything 
 like common sense in religion. This, we think, is the " sum 
 and substance " of American piety — the highest expression 
 of the people's religious sentiment. 
 
 Lastly, what is the practical, actual, living expression- 
 of the people's morality ? Is it justice between man and 
 man ? Is it equal rights ? Are the poor helped out of 
 their poverty ? Are the enslaved rescued from their sla- 
 very ? Are the sorrow-stricken in the dust upraised by 
 men of money and of power ? Is mind higher than mat- 
 ter in the practical conduct of the people ? Do men do to 
 others as they would have others do to them ? Benevo- 
 lence, philanthrophy, love, justice, righteousness — do the 
 people work for the development of these divine attributes ? 
 
 The Son of Man cannot be quickly revealed in a world 
 so youthful as this, on a planet whose inhabitants have but 
 glimpses of heavenly principles. The theology, the religion, 
 and the morality of the people, are not yet free of igno- 
 rance and barbarism. The physical globe is yet very 
 young ; its population is also young. Hence the 
 
 rapid advent of spiritual manhood, moral symmetry, and 
 15 
 
170 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 social harmony, is impossible. We believe that the " Son 
 of Man " has come in every person who is spiritually born 
 out of envy and hate into Divine Love, which is pure and 
 unselfish, seeing and seeking only the good and happiness of 
 its object. We also believe that the " Heavenly Kingdom " 
 comes in every man's soul when he outgrows strife, selfish- 
 ness, and passion, and steps upon the high table-land of 
 peace, charity, and wisdom. 
 
 It is the ofiBce of every true reformer, every Spiritualist, 
 every mind of ideas, to hasten the day of such peace and 
 righteousness. 
 
 The Final Triumph of Truth. 
 
 CXII. — Question : "Will thee be so kind as to inform me impres- 
 sionally what are the ' signs of the times ' in regard to the triumph 
 of spiritual truth ? " 
 
 Answer : The spiritual signs are full of promise. This 
 is the most wonderlul period in the world's human progress. 
 From the mute shell-fish gasping on the open shore, to 
 celestial minds in the gorgeous realms of infinity — from the 
 lowest musclemen on earth to the highest beings of light 
 and love — the cause of Progress, of Agitation, of Aston- 
 ishment, of Disintegration, of Independence, of Brother- 
 hood, and of Happiness, will operate with a mighty and 
 irresistible force. 
 
 Our heavenly brethren know what things are needful 
 for all mankind. If ye, being selfish and undeveloped, 
 "know how to give good gifts to your children," how 
 much more shall your Father, which is in all Nature. 
 
 The whole world is moving toward redemption. The 
 distracted nations, under the blessings of higher spheres, 
 shall be delivered from the bondage of stupendous igno- 
 rance; they shall be gathered together "into the glorious 
 liberty " of the children of eternal truth and good. And 
 
THE FINAL TKIUMPH OP TRUTH. 171 
 
 all this will be accomplished through the pure wisdom of 
 divine Love. It is the only omnipotent spirit. 
 
 " Mightier far 
 Than strength of nerve or siuew, or the sway 
 Of magic, potent over sun and stars — 
 Is Love." 
 
 And yet, friendly reader, do not understand us as 
 teaching anything as possible beyond the established laws 
 of the spiritual universe. 
 
 Mistaking spiritual for literal truth, is a very common 
 error, and one easy to make. " Ship Zion " has Weighed 
 anchor in the ideal sea of many minds. The sentimental reli- 
 gion of a people is the people's sacred poetry. Miracles 
 interest the multitude, and literalized poetry is food for 
 undeveloped sentiment. John Bunyan's pilgrimage is inter- 
 esting to children, because its descriptions impress the 
 imagination with all the distinctness of literal reality. So 
 the Jews receive the Kingdom of Heaven in a literal sense. 
 
 They think that it is, or will be, a golden city. Golden 
 gates and streets — splendid palaces and shining temples of 
 immortal beauty — a new Jerusalem in reality. But Chris- 
 tians have greatly etherealized and spiritualized, and newly 
 interpreted, the early conceptions ; so that, to the modern 
 Jew, there is no solid truth for him to rest his soul 
 upon, save in the revelations of Moses and the prophets. 
 
 But the truth lies between these two extremes. We 
 believe in a land beyond the grave. We too have a ship 
 Zion, sailing on the bounding billows. Her timbers, ribs, 
 decks, knees, keel, masts, arms, spars, rigging, and helm, 
 are strong, and stern, and tough ; so that the rudest gale, 
 the longest storm, the roughest billows raving in the temp- 
 est, can neither break nor bend her from the settled course. 
 Her name is " Harmony." Our bold, true, gallant captain 
 
172 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 is Reason. We point due centerward. Our port and 
 destination is Truth. The freight is Humanity. Spirits 
 and angels are the crew that furl and unfurl her sheets in 
 obedience to the captain's orders. Will the reader embark 
 as a hand on this " Ziou ? " Will he assist in the Progress 
 of the whole world ? 
 
 The Doctrine of Correspondences. 
 
 CXIII. — Question : " Can you inform me, in brief, precisely what 
 Swedenborg meant by the term "Correspondence ? " 
 
 Answer : Swedenborg declares that the " Word is 
 written by mere correspondences," and teaches that " the 
 science of Correspondences is the Key to the spiritual 
 sense of the Word." The doctrine, therefore, is this: 
 Every natural object or historic event mentioned by the 
 Scripture writers corresponds to or holds something spirit- 
 ual, which is wholly different from what the common mind 
 would gather by reading the Word in its external language. 
 For example : A mountain corresponds to an elevated state 
 of love or charity; light corresponds to truth; darkness 
 corresponds to falsity ; Jlre, to love, either good or evil ; 
 the eye corresponds to the understanding or the power of 
 intellectual discernment; a, lion corresponds to the power 
 of truth, and so on throughout. 
 
 The foregoing examples will suffice. As you did not 
 seek our impressions concerning the tenableness or valv£ of 
 the " Doctrine of Correspondences," you will not be 
 disappointed to find that we omit to speak on those points 
 in this response. 
 
 It may be of service, however, to say a word respect- 
 ing the philosophy of correspondential writing. Sweden- 
 borg discovered and taught that the ancients wrote in the 
 symbolic or correspondential style. He found out by 
 inspiration what the most learned hierologists have since 
 
THE DOCTRINE OP CORRESPONDENCES. 173 
 
 demonstrated fully, that one of the leading modes of 
 writing in ancient times was to put the effect for the sup- 
 posed cause, which is the principle and philosophy of 
 Correspondences according to S wedenborg and his followers. 
 That is to say, natural objects and historic events are the 
 effects of internal or spiritual causes; but, in speaking of 
 the causes, the writers would employ words descriptive 
 only of the effects. Thus, instead of saying " love " the 
 writer would use the term fire; instead of saying " inno- 
 cence," the penman would write lamb ; and the consequence 
 is, that external and unenlightened Christians, and Bible- 
 readers generally, make the great mistake of taking literally 
 what was originally meant to be understood only in a spi- 
 ritual or correspondeutial sense. Hence, as the Sweden- 
 borgians declare, the natural mind is perplexed and 
 disgusted with the one hundred and forty-four contradictory 
 relations to be found in the external reading of the Word. 
 "Whereas, if such minds would but read the Bible with 
 Swedenborg's remarkable " Science of Correspondences," 
 as a Key to the internal or spiritual sense, the whole vol- 
 ume would instantly be transformed into a most consistent 
 and harmonious revelation of eternal truth— of the 
 greatest moment to the millions of earth. 
 
 What value we attach to the authoritative writings of 
 Swedenborg is fully stated in third volume of the Harmonia. 
 
 Most words have the most simple and literal meanings. 
 iSpinf originally signified "wind." If you read "holiness" 
 with its original meaning, you will think of " wholeness.'" 
 In like manner the word " heaven " signified at first noth- 
 ing more than the bending sky with its " up-heaven " 
 appearance, or the "firmament," which word the early 
 writers employed to signify a "frame-work " in which the 
 
 "handiwork" of Jehovah was manifested. 
 15* 
 
l'~4 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Language is an unalterable principle of the human 
 
 mind, but the forms of expression, orthography, and signi- 
 
 ficancy of words, are arbitrary and changeable. Men 
 
 have utterly changed the meaning of certain words in 
 
 common use, and thus, with the same phraseology, men 
 
 differ as widely as they do in politics and religion. Hence 
 
 we afiirm that nine-tenths of human discord in common life 
 
 arises from wrong constructions put upon language or words 
 
 which the tongue thoughtlessly rolls off from force of habit. 
 
 People many times mea7i much more and far better than 
 
 their half-formed words imply, if rigidly construed. 
 
 Uses of Internal Language. 
 
 CXIV. — Question: "What is the use of language? Or, rather, 
 I would ask, do spirits use words to express their thoughts, as we do ? " 
 
 Answer : It is impossible to think without words. Try 
 it for a moment. Though it is true that thought must pre- 
 cede language, in the operation of the mind, yet it amounts 
 to nothing unless clothed in words. Talleyrand was of the 
 opinion that language was made to " conceal our thoughts," 
 not to reveal or express them, but human experience has 
 established the essential importance of words to thoughts. 
 Feeling is not fond of words. The soul's choicest senti- 
 ments refuse the incarcerations of grammar and verbiage. 
 But the intellect can do nothing grand and worthy without 
 the presence of appropriate phraseology. The origin of 
 language is coeval with the origin of thought. Fix the 
 date when the first man evolved his first thought, and you 
 get the history of the origin of language. But feeling, 
 inspiration, sentiment, antedate the natal day of words. 
 From all this the inference may be justly drawn, that spi- 
 rits, when living and dwelling together in sweetest friend- 
 ship and love, do not employ words as means of intercourse. 
 But when they wish to impart thoughts to one another, 
 
FAITH IN RELATION TO KNOWLEDGE. 175 
 
 then the law of expression compels the use of language. 
 They are not transparent to each other unless they particu- 
 larly desire to be, and hence it is necessary for them to 
 employ words to convey meanings. 
 
 Faitli in Relation to Knowledge. 
 
 CXV. — Question : " Which, in your opinion, is the highest, Fo.ith 
 or Knowledge ? " 
 
 Answer: Such is the progressive constitution of the 
 mind of man, that the best, the highest, and the most 
 enduring, are the longest in appearing and the slowest in 
 ripening up to perfection and maturity. Human Spiritual 
 consciousness, without experience and knowledge, is an ocean 
 of boundless superstition. 
 
 " Superstition " is a word derived from two Latin roots 
 — super, signifying over or aSore, and sto, to stand — being 
 the first term used in theology to designate unbounded 
 " faith " (without knowledge) in the direct action of 
 unknown gods, and of supernatural or incomprehensible 
 beings, upon the life and destiny of individuals. 
 
 The limitations and extravagancies of man's primitive 
 and undisciplined faith mark the darkest pages in the 
 history of his undulatory civilization. The hidden fires of 
 cruelty break forth from every sectarian volcano. Nations 
 have slaughtered nations to vindicate " faith," and the 
 history of blind belief, even when its objects were insepa- 
 rable from the holiest truths, is a history of bloodshed and 
 fanaticism. But when " faith " is a legitimate child of 
 knowledge, when belief rests upon a purely spiritual or 
 wisdom basis, and grows on the tree of intelligence, as 
 intelligence grows upon the tree of sensation and life, it 
 then adorns the whole mind with immortal glory and 
 honor. Physical and Spiritual knowledge, being the 
 highest and best, is the slowest in coming to maturity. 
 
176 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Martin Luther was a great stickler for " faith." 
 Zwinglius, like Luther, diifered from the Koman Catholics 
 of his time oa many points. He was also, in many things, 
 far less superstitious than "Luther, who, on the subject of 
 eating bread and drinking wine, entertained the notion of 
 Christ's actual bodily presence. He held for example, that 
 although this transubstantiation was externally an illusion, 
 yet, internally, it was the greatest triumph of the virtue of 
 " faith " to believe that the illusion was no illusion, but 
 absolutely and mystically real. Zwinglius, on the other 
 hand, urged that the Lord's Supper was only of subjective 
 significance to the partaker, depending wholly upon faith, 
 as a sign is naturally different and separate from the thing 
 signified. 
 
 Thus you perceive how men differ on the importance of 
 faith. But we, too, entertain great faith. We believe that 
 the biblical expression " Sun of Righteousness " originated 
 in the oriental hemisphere, but yet embodies a glorious 
 future truth. All intelligent mythologies are based upon 
 a recognition of the radical principles of man's spiritual 
 constitution. The graceful metamorphoses of Ovid, no 
 less than the mystic wonders and supernaturalisms set forth 
 in writings of more ancient poets, foreshadow the hidden 
 realities of human nature. But here is our translation of 
 the passage : When the whole human consciousness shall 
 have unfolded and asserted itself, and shall begin, through 
 scieutific knowledge and Harmonial Philosophy, to reign 
 triumphant over the social or moral world, then " The Sun 
 of Righteousness " (i. e. pure Reason,) will arise, like a 
 new revelation of immortal effulgence — " with healing in 
 its wings." We have " reason for the hope " that such 
 faith inspires. 
 
WHAT IS AN OPTIJIIST ? 1 77 
 
 The Virtue of Asceticism. 
 
 CXVI. — Question : " AVhat is meant by the term ' ABceticiam ? ' 
 Who axe Ascetics in this country ? " 
 
 Answer : An Ascetic is one who delights in the prac- 
 tice or virtue of self-denial. Asceticism involves the 
 principle of temporal and physical sacrifice. Hence there 
 is truth in it, but the misapplication of the principle is 
 common in all religions. It began with the ancient races, 
 who imagined jealousy and anger as passions, in their gods. 
 
 All divinities were supposed to be easily offended, and 
 could be appeased and satisfied only by individual self- 
 imposed humiliations and sacrifices. The Jews were 
 ascetic, to some extent, and practiced the virtue at 
 times. They offered sacrifices of animals, of human beings, 
 and sometimes of whole nations (vide the destruction of the 
 Canaanites,) to propitiate a jealous and angry God. All 
 savage nations mispractice the ascetic principle of self- 
 denial and sacrifice. 
 
 Christians recognize the justice of God in the sacrifice 
 of his own Son — to satisfy the requirements of the offended 
 moral law which was self-instituted — hence, nearly all 
 Bible believers are worshipers at the blood-stained altar 
 of human sacrifice and of ancient asceticism. The more 
 refined forms of tliis practice are confined to the stiff and 
 grim sects of Protestantism. The Quaker frowns down 
 music ; the Shaker, marriage ; the Presbyterian, mirth ; 
 the Methodist, science ; and all sects combine to restrain 
 the growth of Common Sense. 
 
 What is an Optimist? 
 
 CXVII. — Question : " I do not understand what constitutes the 
 creed of an Optimist. . . . Will you define the faith ? " 
 
 Answer: An Optimist is one who believes that all 
 events — good, bad, evil, devilish, or indifferent — are 
 
178 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 ordered for the best good of all God's creatures. Such 
 persons have the happiness to believe that even the evil of the 
 world is a divine agent exerted by the Father for the good 
 of his children. 
 
 There are passages in the Bible that teach Optimism. 
 For example : " I (the Lord) have created the waster j 
 to. destroy." Isa. liv. 16. Again: « I form the light 
 and create darkness ; I make peace (or good) and create 
 evil ; — I, the Lord, do all these things." Isa. xlv. 6, 7. And 
 Job asks, " We receive good at the hand of the Lord, shall 
 we not [also] receive evil? " — Job. ch. ii., v. 13. In the 
 3d chapter of Amos, 6th verse, we read : " Shall there be 
 evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it ? " The writer 
 of Proverbs (chap. xvi. v. 4) says : The Lord hath made 
 even the wicked for the day [or doing] of evil." All this 
 may be properly termed " Optimism." If you believe the 
 Bible (every word of it) you must be an. Optimist. The 
 poet Cowper said — 
 
 " Happy the man who sees a God employ'd 
 In all the good and ill that checkers life ; 
 Eesolving all events, with their effects 
 And manifold results, into the will 
 And arbitration wise of the Supreme." 
 
 But you should remember that the Bible is extremely 
 contradictory on the subject of wine, drunkenness, &c. 
 For example, (see Deut. xiv : 26,) " Thou shalt bestow thy 
 money for . . . wine or for strong drink." But this privilege 
 is discountenanced in another place (see Prov. xxiii : 29,) 
 in these words : " Who hath woe — sorrow — contentions — 
 babbling ? . . . They that tarry long at the wine. Look 
 not upon the wine when it is red .... for at last it 
 biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." Yet in 
 the same book (Prov. xxxi : 6,) we read, " Give strong 
 drink to him that, is ready to perish, and wine unto those 
 
AGK OP THE RACE. 179 
 
 that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink and forget his 
 poverty, and remember his misery no more." 
 
 Age of the Race. 
 
 C XVIII. — Question : " ' In six days the Lord made heaven and 
 earth.' Do you infer from this that the globe on which we live is 
 more than 6,000 years old ? . . . . Were the first pair more perfect than 
 people now living ? " 
 
 Answer: In 1850 we declared that Science was rap- 
 idly invalidating and overthrowing the opinions of Chris- 
 tians. The cry of " infidel, infidel," was raised at once, 
 and boys re-echoed the hackneyed word in public streets. 
 But now we have with us almost all the scientific minds in 
 this progressive country. Prof. Agassiz, in speaking of 
 human remains found in the limestone of Florida, (See 
 Types of Mankind, p. 352,) says : " There still remain ten 
 thousand years, during which it should be admitted that the 
 main land was inhabited by man." 
 
 In replying to your second question, we remark that 
 whatever is right and authoritative derives its sanction and 
 power, not from popular opinion or statute law, but from 
 the true order and harmoniousness of the universe. Divine 
 revelations, so called, are nothing unless they coincide with 
 the teachings of Nature, whence such revelations derive 
 whatever of truth and authority they may inherently pos- 
 sess. The teachings of Nature are explicit to this point, 
 that the " first man " was born just as the first child in 
 any family is born, (while exceedingly young,) and that he 
 was not " created " in a perfect state of intellectual 
 development, but commenced the journey of life crowned 
 with every glorious endowment, yet clothed with ignorance 
 or inexperience. 
 
 Are the La-ws of Nature Divine ? 
 
 CXIX. — Question : " I understand Nature to be simply a means' 
 or medium, provided by the Creator to carry out his wise and benevo- 
 
180 ANSWEES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 lent designs, and that ovary law of Nature is as much a law of God 
 as any relating immediately to moral or spiritual things ; and that 
 they who violate the laws which relate to our temporal nature, are 
 guilty of violating the laws oi God. It seems very clear that all who 
 )ias8 into the spirit state must first have a being here, and that an 
 existence here is secured only by compliance with God's laws through 
 ISature. '1 have noticed that when any of God's laws are complied 
 wit)i agreeably to his design, the result is good ; and that when auy- 
 iliingis carried, beyond its proper use, it becomes injurious — that is, 
 ib good carried to excess becomes an evil. Does not this show the 
 wisdom and goodness of the Creator ?" 
 
 Answer : There is a large world of unprofitable con- 
 troversy based on the untenable belief that there is an 
 essential difference between God-life and the life of Na- 
 ture. We can discern no substantial reason for such dis- 
 tinction. It is true that mankind have, from the first, 
 observed a difference between the planes on which the laws 
 and operative vitality of God are unchangeably manifested. 
 Consequently, a corresponding classification has been made 
 by early metaphysicians, philosophers, and Christians. 
 For example ; It is seen that our bodily organs perform 
 certain functions, and metaphysicians have, like physicians, 
 attributed such operations to the constant presence of a 
 physiological law, which is never regarded as divine as a 
 moral principle. In this way the world has slowly grown 
 into a " false and foolish notion." Learned men are accus- 
 tomed to speak lightly and irreverently of Attraction, 
 Repulsion, the Chemical Law, Mechanics, &c., as though 
 such laws are not the very life and laws of Deity, as they 
 are. It is not believed that moral laws are inherent and 
 constitutional with matter and mind. 
 
 But in contradistinction to all this, we discern and 
 teach what we term " the unity of truth." In other words, 
 that there is no difference in the quality of the divine 
 Spirit, " wherever found," whether in the stones or among 
 Btars ; that the same Supernal Mind lives in mechanics as 
 
ARE THE LAWS OP NATURE DIVINE? 18] 
 
 in morals, in body as in soul, in matter as in mind, differing 
 only and merely in the quantity, extent, and degree of its 
 manifestations. The higher we ascend in the scale of the 
 universe, the more fine, the more beautiful, the more har- 
 monial and heavenly, are the manifestations of the eternal 
 Soul. And that mind is most expanded and spiritualized 
 in his thoughts and feelings, who sees " God in every- 
 thing." That law which holds two particles together in a 
 mineral compound is just as sacred and holy as the new 
 commandment, " that ye love one another" — with this dif- 
 ference only, that on the latter plane the Infinite Spirit is 
 more finely, lovingly, and beautifully manifested. The 
 God of Sunday is also the God of Monday — or, in different 
 language, the life of material bodies is just as holy and 
 divine as the inspiration of sacred books — God being as 
 " perfect in hair as heart," as pure, as perfect in the heart 
 of a fish as in the life of an angel. The higher we ascend, 
 the more full and complete the exhibition. 
 
 It cannot be said, in philosophical language, that 
 Nature is the " medium " for the manifestation of God. 
 This statement implies that there was a " time " when the 
 physical universe did not exist ; that once there was noth- 
 ing but God ; that, when the hour arrived for expression, 
 he called the "medium" (Nature,) out oi nothing, into 
 existence. This doctrine is not taught by anything in the 
 universe. (Of course we except in this sweeping remark 
 all books and bibles which inculcate Oriental tales concern- 
 ing theogony and cosmogony.) The physical universe 
 inculcates a totally different lesson. No chemist can dis- 
 solve matter until it is refined oat of existence. Substances 
 may be converted into fluids, fluids into ethers, ethers into 
 their original elements ; but here the work of dispersion 
 
 or destruction ends, for it is impossible that something 
 16 
 
182 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 should be pressed back and transformed into nothing. And 
 why ? Because nothing is not the source from which flowed 
 the physical universe. This is the lesson of Nature. 
 
 Hence we cannot truthfully and knowingly affirm that 
 God originally called matter into existence to serve as a 
 " medium " for the manifestation of his otherwise hidden 
 attributes. But we can affirm that Nature is the compeer 
 and companion of God — the feminine side of a perfect con- 
 jugal union — coextensive, inter-intelligent, copartners in all 
 departments of life and animation, the two halves of a 
 perfect stupendous whole. 
 
 "The unity of truth" means all this, and infinitely 
 more — it means also that he who lives unfaithful to any 
 one law of matter, is to that extent, and in that department, 
 unfaithful to the laws of the Divine Mind. There is, 
 therefore, no such thing as a sinless sick man ; no harmony 
 with God in the mechanic who disobeys a mechanical law; 
 because, in the language of inspiration, God is everywhere 
 — is all in all. 
 
 The Law of Compensation. 
 
 OXX. — Question : " Is there in Nature a Law of Compensation 
 as undeviating as all the natural laws are ? For instance : It is a law 
 of Nature that if any person should hold his hand in the fire, it would 
 be burnt. Now, the question I ask is this : If any person does a will- 
 ful injury to another, is there a law of compensation, the operation 
 of which will be as sure to react upon the wrong-doer, as if a person 
 should put his hand in the fire he would certainly be burnt ? " 
 
 Answer : We affirm that there is an unalterable and 
 
 universal law of compensation — a system of natural 
 
 rewards and punishments—which, if it could be made 
 
 philosophically clear, would very widely affect the actions, 
 
 .and even the thoughts, of mankind. 
 
 In society it is not unusual for. one man to thrive and 
 
 grow rich at ihe expense of those who deal with him. He 
 16 
 
THE LAW OP COMPENSATION. 183 
 
 accumulates a large fortune, enjoys the luxuries of a home, 
 and dies " one of the most respected and wealthy of citi- 
 zens." But look at the inmost of that man. He is really 
 a spiritual beggar, a miserable mendicant, and dies " the 
 poorest man in town." Poverty of spirit — hungering in 
 the spirit world for bread he neglected to eat on earth, 
 and thirsting for the waters of truth which he would not 
 drink during his rudimental life. " Blessed are the poor 
 in spirit," when their poverty is the result of causes and 
 circumstances not within their control ; but woe to the spi- 
 rit of that man who neglected to eat and drink at the 
 table of Truth, which is spread out over all the earth and 
 through the starry firmament. 
 
 In morals, as in mechanics, " action and reaction are 
 equal," or nearly so, and thus it is that men get what they 
 give — reap what they .sow — the legitimate fruit of their 
 actions, if not in this world, then as surely and fully in 
 that inner life which succeeds the present. 
 
 A man is punished invariably in accordance with the 
 nature and magnitude of his offenses, and the same man is 
 rewarded with success and happiness in accordance with 
 his obedience to right laws and conditions. It is not an 
 uncommon thing for a merchant to be, successful just so far 
 as he obeys the laws of business, and unsuccessful and 
 miserable just so far as he violates the laws of life and 
 health. An agriculturist may violate laws regulating the 
 seasons of seed-time and harvest, and sparse crops will 
 surely result to him, although he may attend church every 
 Sunday, and be a very exemplary citizen. On the other 
 hand, a judicious farmer, one who works his land in accord- 
 ance with the established laws of vegetation, will obtain 
 an abundance and be prosperous ; but if he neglect to 
 obey, or should he violate any of the laws of his social, 
 
184 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 intellectual, or moral nature, he will be impoverished, and 
 unsuccessful, and punished to the same extent. No man is 
 ever morally punished for a purely physical violation, 
 neither is he commercially punished for a moral violation, 
 but in all cases is he made to suffer in that particular place 
 and part wherein he deviated from the requisitions of the 
 undeviating law. 
 
 So of a Nation. The law of compensation is operating 
 very visibly in America. When our forefathers and fore- 
 mothers established the Constitution of the United States, 
 they did not exclude and preclude the practice of enslaving 
 the bodies and souls of a weaker race^ and the consequences 
 of that one overwhelming evil are now visited upon the entire 
 country. We are getting what we have given. We have 
 given national stripes to the weaker race, and as a result 
 of the wrong, we are losing our national stars. At the 
 same tiuie we have been prosperous in every department 
 where we have not violated the laws that governed it. In 
 commerce, in free public institutions, in the arts and 
 sciences, in mental freedom and education, we have been 
 prosperous because we have not gone radically counter 
 to the conditions and laws by which such efforts for human 
 good are regulated. But in that great national error, 
 behold we are receiving a national punishment. Because 
 we have for centuries been oppressing and brutalizing a 
 weaker race, we shall come very near the verge of national 
 shipwreck and annihilation ; for the law of compensation 
 is now making imperative demands upon the very vitals of 
 the millions who have perpetuated the unpardonable evil. 
 
 Every individual, also, who suffers wrong, or who does 
 an evil deed, is, sooner or later, called to a strict account, 
 and will be subjected to a corresponding amount of reward 
 and punishment. This divine law is' universal, and from 
 
THE USE AND ABUSE OP EVIL. 185 
 
 its legitimate operations there is no scheme of escape, no 
 vicarious atonement. 
 
 Progression is the path of deliverance, and blessed is 
 he who walketh in it. 
 
 The Use and Abuse of Evil. 
 
 CXXI. — Question : " On the 29th page of Penetralia you say, 
 ' Nothing is especially designed.' On page 64, History and Philosophy 
 of Evil, you say, ' Man is designed, (by whom or what, pray ?) ' for a 
 career of endless progression, to which process all evils and suiferings 
 are incidental, conditional, temporal, and educational— working out, 
 when not abused, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.' 
 And on page 59 you say, ' Evil, when not abused, is the dungeon-door 
 we pass through to reach the goal of absolute good." — Will you 
 explain clearly — Ist, what idea you intend to con'vey by the word 
 ' design ' "? and — 2d, what you mean by ' abusing evil ' ? Who abuses 
 it, and what are the consequences ?" 
 
 Answer: We supposed that we had sufSciently ex- 
 plained our meanings in the volumes referred to, but it 
 seems that we did not, and we therefore gladly add a few 
 explanatory sentences to former propositions. 
 
 The universe is a system of Causes, Effects, and Ends 
 — or Uses. The End, or Use, of a thing, is the measure 
 of the number and design of all the causes and effects by 
 which that thing was developed. A design presupposes a 
 designer, and a designer can be nothing less than Intelli- 
 gence. The only sensuous evidence there is of intelligence 
 " behind the throne " is the harmoniousness of the system. 
 Now we hold that the Father Soul is constituted of all 
 infinitely inter -intelligent principles, which reach out per- 
 petually toward Ends and Uses, in accordance with which 
 (ends or ultimates) the Central Soul " designs " and 
 spontaneously sets in operation all the golden chains of 
 producive and successive causes and effects. Although 
 nothing is especially designed, everything is comprehended 
 by a general system of efforts and adaptations ; so it is 
 
 wisest to say that, with the Divine Mind, all " designs " 
 16* 
 
186 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 are general, like his providences, but that the greater 
 always includes the less. [See our Philosophy of Special 
 Providences.) 
 
 With regard to the nature of Evil we may remark that 
 evil is a condition, or the result of a condition of mind. 
 This condition may be " made the best of," or it may be 
 compounded into a tenfold greater misfortune, just as the 
 wisdom or the ignorance of the individual may determine. 
 Suppose you are prostrated with a fever. Being a depar- 
 ture from health conditions, it is an "evil." Now, if you 
 choose, you may aggravate your evil by " abusing it." 
 How ? . By refusing to comply with the jus't and proper 
 conditions which regulate a fever ; for you know a disease 
 is as much under the control of natural laws as is health. 
 Obey these laws, let your fever have its legitimate effect and 
 use upon your vitals and nerves, and you will be benefited. 
 On the contrary, you may " abuse " the fever and lose your 
 life as the consequence. 
 
 It is an unwise " resistance of Evil " that works such 
 havoc in persons and society. In a wise resistance to evil 
 there is no antagonism ; you simply step upon it, keep it 
 under your feet, and march onward. It is an "-abuse 
 of Evil " to quarrel with it ; for then you morally come 
 down on a level with the evil condition ; and there your 
 every victory will be, in some respects, a signal defeat. 
 Kesist the temptation to abuse evil, and then the evil itself 
 will depart. But if you wish to convert your evils into 
 devils, who " will not down at your bidding," then fight 
 and contend with them, as does the world generally, instead 
 of going over your evils to whatsoever is good, better, or 
 best. (See Chap. I., in Harmonia, Vol. 4, for further 
 explanations.) 
 
THE DOER AND THE SUPFEEER OP INJUSTICE. 187 
 
 The Doer and the Sufferer of Injustice. 
 
 CXXII. — Question : " I have read your reply to an inquiry 
 respecting the law of compensation, and so far as it goes it is satisfac- 
 tory. But I have never felt so solicitous about the operation of this 
 law upon the doer of wrong as upon the innocent sufferers. If one is 
 without blame or fault on his part, the victim of injustice, there is 
 poor consolation in knowing that those who inflicted the injuries will 
 suffer a sure penalty. I lost my interest i fc.'ie oppressor when he did 
 the wrong. But in the victim my iuteresi aas deepened, and I ask, 
 Is there a law by whose sure operation there will come to him recom- 
 pense for his years of suffering and pain or oppression and injustice ? 
 "That all will ultimately be happy in the glorious future life, I 
 firmly believe ; but will the innocent sufferer be more happy for hav- 
 ing suffered wrongly, and will he know thatthis happiness is thus aug- 
 mented, and see therein the wisdom and justice of the great law of 
 compensation ? " 
 
 Answer : It has been wisely written that " the largest 
 IS always the truest statement." Thus, in contemplating 
 the' operation of the natural law of compensation, it is best 
 to ascend to the loftiest possible altitude in the moral uni- 
 verse, and thence view the harmony and perfect justice of 
 its application to every person in every sphere. 
 
 From such a hight you would see that the receiver of 
 an injury is no more a victim than he who was sufficiently 
 unfortunate to have imparted it. No mind does a wrong 
 without first being wrong in itself. This condition embo- 
 soms the penalty, from which the transgressor can find no 
 avenue of escape. He may elude all earthly tribunals, but 
 there is the covditicm, (out of which he committed the wrong,) 
 from which there is but one door of departure, viz., Moral 
 development. 
 
 In this process of interior development the receiver of 
 the injury is sooner or later interested. It is that pure 
 interest which love takes in whatsoever is lovely and most 
 desirable. The victim of a wrong is thus advanced and 
 influenced, by virtue of his own higher development, to 
 promote the progression and happiness of the soul that 
 
188 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 inflicted th'e wrong and consequent suffering. It sKould be 
 borne in memory that witli the cessation of suffcising goes 
 the vivid remembrance of it ; and that the unfoldment of 
 the higher faculties and feelings destroys the desire to be 
 happy as a reward for having suffered. i 
 
 There is a deep philosophy, which is the very soul and 
 embodiment of simplicity and justice, in the rewards and 
 punishments of the natural and spiritual universe. The 
 teachings of the different creeds on this subject are crude, 
 arbitrary, and totally ^epraved. For this reason we make 
 our declarations all the more plain and emphatic. We 
 affirm, on the score of careful interior investigations, that 
 no soul is made happier in the spirit world merely because 
 it was made to suffer in this world. All happiness, like 
 all misery, results from, or is the effect of conditions within 
 and circumstances without. Whether directly innocent, or indi- 
 rectly guilty of the causes of suffering, the recipient is not 
 arbitrarily rewarded, nor is the doer arbitrarily punished, 
 but each experiences the legitimate consequences of inter- 
 nal conditions. The higher the development of character, 
 the more impregnable does the individual become to the 
 causes and aflQictions of evil. You must not forget that, 
 for the most part, a man suffers wrong because his internal 
 conditions are not morally and spiritually good and strong 
 enough to have prevented it. There is, therefore, no possi- 
 bility that the doer of evil can be independently and solely 
 to blame ; because the receiver of the evil demonstrates, by 
 the fact of having received it, that his conditimi was equiva- 
 lent to a provocation or invitation. The culpability or 
 blame, if any, is nearly equally shared between oppressor 
 and the oppressed. It is natural, however, to let our sym- 
 pathies and assistance flow freely toward the " under doc 
 in the fight." The defeated and oppressed party in any 
 
THE DOER AND THE SUFFERER OP INJUSTICE. 189 
 
 struggle, either good or evil, naturally attracts expressions 
 of benevolence and elicits tokens of sympathy. 
 
 But remember we are now contemplating this subject 
 from a loftier position in the moral universe. Hence you 
 will allow your thoughts and intuitions of justice and truth ' 
 to ascend to the highest altitude. The law of Compensa- 
 tion is thence seen to be impartial in its operations. It 
 teaches that a man is not necessarily miserable because of 
 the commission of evil ; but instead, it teaches that his 
 misery or unhappiness is a consequence of his internal condi- 
 tions. Whether he has or has not afflicted a fellow being, 
 it matters little, because the effect of his internal state is 
 fully visited upon and in him. On the other hand, whether 
 a person has or has not suffered by another's instrumen- 
 tality, the happiness experienced will forever be in propor- 
 tion to and in consequence of his interior conditions and 
 outer circumstances. A jewel, though once buried in earth's 
 mire, is a jewel still. But does it shine whiter and brighter 
 for having been in the mire? No. If it did, every 
 lapidary in the land would be exceedingly anxious to put 
 his collection of precious stones and gems through the miry 
 ordeal. The truth is that the resurrected jewel shines 
 brighter, not because it was once enveloped in mud, but 
 because it possesses the qualities of brilliancy — because its 
 internal condition is pure, and because its circumstances 
 (as a "setting") lend additional attractions to its intrinsic 
 excellence and natural beauty. 
 
 Now you will apply the same reasoning to the soul of 
 man. You will see that in the spirit world he will not 
 necessarily shine brighter and be more happy for having 
 been a victim of physical or moral wrong and suffering in 
 this life. And you will also discover that no soul is darker 
 and more miserable for having caused another to suffer ; 
 
190 ' ANSWBES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 but this you will " learn by heart," that conditions alone, 
 and not the manifestations of them, are the sources of 
 happiness or misery. For example: A person is not 
 miserable merely because he is guilty of the act of murder, , 
 but his suifering in the moral universe is owing to his inter- > 
 nal condition which caused him to commit the deed. So a • 
 suicide is not troubled because of the deed, but because 
 of the moral weakness that led him to do the deed. 
 
 Thus hundreds of thousands of characters, who 
 have never been and who may never be guilty of a single 
 evil act, are yet very unhappy. Why? Because their 
 condition of soul is discordant and evil. The opportunity 
 for the evil act did not arrive to them, and that is all the 
 difference there is between actors and auditors, or masters 
 and subjects. The auditors provoke and invite the actors, 
 and the actors aflSict and punish the auditors, and thus is 
 developed the "strange, eventful history" of rewards 
 and punishments. 
 
 There is yet a point of great importance to be consid- 
 ered. It is the absurdity of the theological doctrine that 
 mankind are improved and refined by suifering, and that 
 happiness in the eternal world will be proportioned to one's 
 involuntary misery and personal sacrifices in this sphere. 
 If this were true, there would be a premium on victimiza- 
 tion and innocent suffering. Individuals, like the heathen 
 and the early Catholics, would " try to be miserable." 
 Self-imposed sacrifices, and passive submission to the perse- 
 cution and injustice of enemies, would be "popular." No, 
 reader ; such a doctrine is the quintessence of absurdity and 
 superstition. It is not true that you, or anybody else, will 
 be rewarded in the other world merely for trials and afflic- 
 tions experienced in this life. Conditions, not deeds, are 
 the sources of happiness or misery. If you have suffered 
 
THE EXTREME ABUSE OP EVIL. 191 
 
 wrong and injustice, 3'ou ai-e to some extent responsible for 
 it, because you were not good enough to have prevented it. 
 If you ever so innocently lead a soul " into temptation," 
 you are measurably responsible for the conduct of the 
 " tempter." The whole is summed up in that comprehen- 
 sive sentence, " Blessed are the pure in heart." 
 
 The Extreme Abuse of Evil. 
 
 CXXIII. — Question : " I thank you for your answers to my ques- 
 tions, but there is a dark point yet. If Evil, when not abused, 'is 
 reformatory, what is it when abused ? Is it, or is it not reformatory ? 
 If it is, why did you except it ? If it is not, is it not possible to so 
 much and so long abuse it, as to rende^ the term, " lost soul, " some- 
 thing more than fiction ? " 
 
 Answer : Evil is a general term for whatever is not 
 deemed good. There is, you observe, no universal agree- 
 ment on this subject. " What is one man's meat is another 
 man's poison." On one head all minds spontaneously har- 
 monize^that this world is a realm of imperfection. This 
 imperfection is called " evil." This evil is the friction 
 necessary to man's progression. It is the dead weight in 
 the hold of each man's ship — ballast. It is the " skeleton" 
 of every family. It is the " black sheep " of every flock. 
 It is the " dust " of every day's journey. It is the " ser- 
 pent " in everybody's garden. It is the " thorn " beneath 
 every rose. It is the " moth " in every man's wardrobe. 
 It is the "tiiief" in every one's treasury. And it is a 
 truth that the God-code works by and through, as well as 
 in spite of, such means and methods to the most perfect 
 ends and ultimates. 
 
 Now, in our light, all evil, when not abused, is over- 
 ruled and converted to good. The process, under such 
 conditions, is straightforward and effectual. The mind of 
 man is made better by the discipline. But it is possible to 
 make " the worst " of what at first is simply " bad." 
 
192 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 And what follows ? The unfortunate victim has a compouna 
 trouble to overcome. The struggle may weary his spirit, 
 break him down on the vestibule of life, and send him 
 away into the next world " before his time ; " but, in the 
 ultimate, the whole is contemplated by himself as promo- 
 tive of his individual growth in wisdom and experience , 
 and then, what was called evil, and what was evil in the 
 philosophic sense, becomes "good," and so develops the 
 love and glory of the Infinite. 
 
 It is not possible to abuse evil " so much and so long " 
 as to overthrow the Divinity that lives within it. For 
 example : A man may persist in drunkenness until the 
 laws of physiology refme to co-operate ; then he, not the 
 universe, diesj then he, not the whole world, is sent to 
 school under a new corps of teachers; then he, not all men, 
 must work out and live out the consequences of abusing 
 the evil of intemperance. Another man, also a drunkard, 
 ceases to abuse the evil. He avails himself of the lessons 
 of his errors. He goes upon the rostrum and proclaims 
 " temperance " to the multitude. He is " heard gladly " by 
 the poor and sorrowful. And his last days are golden with 
 health, peace, and happiness. But the other man, althougli 
 in the Summer Land, is yet working out the problem of 
 his abuse of the evil of drunkenness. He is surrounded 
 with penalties and benefits ; but, alas ! all the benefits are 
 pressed by main strength out of the penalties. Thus much 
 for abusing the evil of his intemperance. You will observe, 
 dear friend, that the evil is self-destructive. It is not the 
 spirit of a man that dies the everlasting death. 
 
 Justice is an eternal principle, and nothing can occur 
 but what is best and just. There is a place where a jour- 
 ney can be accomplished without " dust," and there wiii 
 yet be a family without a "skeleton " a flock without tne 
 
WHAT AND WHERE IS EYIL ? 1 93 
 
 ebony membor ; an Eden without the viper ; roses without 
 thorns; garments untouched by moths; treasures, where 
 there are no thieves. But the benefits of the evil must be 
 first obtained from the very penalties which it imposes upon 
 every member of the human family. He is a foolish man 
 who abuses the imperfections of his earth-life ; but he is a 
 philosopher who " overcomes evil with good," and lives in 
 the ways of wisdom. 
 
 What and Where is Evil? 
 
 CXXTV. — Question : " Please be kind enough to give me your 
 impression respecting the views of the theory that everything is right 
 every tiling is beautiful. Do you agree with Pope, that ' Whatever is, 
 is right'?" 
 
 Answer : Although a man may be clear in his hopes 
 and thoroughly Spiritual in his estimates of existence, yet he 
 may be obscure and unsound in that shadovvy, metaphysical 
 realm where integral consciousness meets with acquired 
 and sensuous knowledge. In the present sphere of rudi- 
 mentalism, it is next to impossible to be limpid in all our 
 statements, even when the truth itself ripples through the 
 soul with the transparency of heaven's pure light. Yes, 
 in the highest, widest, truest statement, everything is good, 
 is right, is beautiful. But this generous statement is for 
 the far-off Future, refers to ultimates, anticipates results ; 
 and is not, therefore, practically adapted to the conditions 
 and intermediates of the past or present. Because the 
 finger of wisdom and goodness is visible in everything, an:l 
 because there is a world of intelligences environing ours, 
 with which our life and destiny are interlinked and insepa- 
 rable, it does not follow that everything is as perfect, as 
 good, as pure, as beautiful as it can become, and will be, in 
 the " far-off future time," when every germ will have ulti- 
 mated its properties and the buds of earth will have 
 
 bloomed in heaven. 
 17 
 
19-± ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Progression implies imperfections to be overcome, as 
 action implies rest, day includes night, right covers left, &c. ; 
 but universal present perfection annuls the use of any 
 progressive law, and levels all the spirals of eternal spheres, 
 which are diversified and constitutionally different, because 
 unlike or unequal in their goodness, purity, wisdom, and 
 life. Ultimate truths and final principles, although consol- 
 ing and exalting to every sentiment of human nature, 
 cannot be facts in rudimental life — that is, they cannot 
 embody and describe what is, but only that which is 
 to come. 
 
 In the ultimate statement, then, we harmonize heartily 
 with the poet, but discord comes with the attempt to confound 
 •rudimental facts with ultimate principles. This result in logic 
 is easily accomplished ; but in fact, in experience, in sensu- 
 ous knowledge, no such logic is successful. It falls with 
 its own weight, or evaporate? into air. This life is germ- 
 inal, and, as such, it is " good, right, beautiful ; " but, 
 as compared with a better life — a state more right and 
 more beautiful — it falls below those adjectives, and suggests 
 that which is crude; cruel, and evil. Hence our voluntary 
 exertions to make progress toward what is more desirable, 
 or, at lealst, to unfold the present up to the standard of our 
 ideals. Of broadest and ultimate truth another poet hath 
 well said: 
 
 " Evil is to God what lightning is to light ; 
 Lightning slays one thing, Light makes all things live; 
 Bear then thy necessary ills with grace 
 No positive estate or principle 
 Is evij — debtor wholly for its being 
 And measure to defect— defect to good. 
 What God directly makes must e'er be good, 
 And what is good, in whole or part, He loves 
 And must; the others are but off-shoots. IH 
 Is limited: What pow'r could form a scheme 
 Of universal evil or eternal ? " 
 
EVIL AND SIN BEYOND THE GRAVE. 195 
 
 Evil and Sin Beyond the Grave. 
 
 CXXV. — Question : " You say that you do want your readers to 
 infer that departed men and women do not carry beyond the tomb the 
 desires for stimulants that they mtcy have had in the earth-life. Will 
 you please tell us what become of those desires? Give the philo- 
 sophy of the operation in as few words as you please, but clearly." 
 
 Answer : The philosophy of human life and death is 
 very simple, and "he who runs" may read- it, if he hath 
 only eyes to see and a heart to understand. 
 
 We do not teach that men disgorge their incongruities 
 and moral imperfections when they " shuflie off the mortal 
 coil :" we do not afiSrm that death transforms all men, nor 
 any man, " in the twinkling of an eye," into a pure and har- 
 monious angel of light ; we do not say that there will be no 
 necessity for intellectual labor and moral struggling to 
 attain higher conditions after death ; we do not inculcate 
 that all are equally beautiful, and happy, and progressed, 
 in the Summer-Land ; but this — the effects and consequences 
 of an evil earth-life do continue, in more or less active force, 
 beyond the grave. 
 
 This afhrmation does not include the doctrine that the 
 desires and passions continue in full blast after death, which 
 is the apparent experience and the recently canonized 
 dogma of some unscientific believers in Spiritualism. It is 
 possible that the " distinction " here made, between the 
 consequences of evil and the--< desires and lustings for 
 " more," may seem to be " without a difference." There- 
 fore, let us explain : 
 
 Suppose a man at forty-five to be, constitutionally, as 
 old and decrepit as most men are at seventy-five. His 
 premature old age may be the consequence of dissipa- 
 tion, or disease, or accident. To-morrow he dies. He 
 arises to his appropriate neighborhood in the Summer- 
 Land, with the traces and eifects of that early decay 
 
196 AKSWEES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 distinctly stamped upon the particles of his new body, and 
 not less within his mental structure ; although it is indeed 
 true that the externals of his form are beautifully rounded 
 out, and every organic part is completed, just as Nature 
 had designed them to become previous to his death. 
 Whether this man was the cause or the victim of his present 
 personal imperfections, or not, the fact that he yet retains 
 the effects of his earth-life, both physical and spiritual, can- 
 not be hidden from the observation of those with whom he 
 is attractively appointed to consociate. 
 
 Now it is philosophically absurd to affirm that this 
 imperfect man carried with him over the grave the causes 
 which occasioned his incompleteness and misfortunes. He 
 is, by the simple chemistry of .death, emancipated from the 
 region of the dissipation, or disease, or accident, one or all 
 of which caused the effects which he still preserves distinctly 
 in his book of life. 
 
 Or take the habitual drunkard and libertine. Now, it 
 cannot be shown that a man's innermost — the divine spirit 
 — was ever moved toward intemperance and sexual inter- 
 course. In truth, the spirit is always the accusing and 
 condemning '■• Voice " — the angel of light within, who 
 would lead the man out of his darkness and disgrace-- 
 the interior source of " ideas," of hope, of conscience, of 
 justice, of truth, of immortality. Whence, then, his desire 
 for intoxication and abandonment ? We answer : From 
 that middle nature — the battle-field of all discord and 
 passon — the " soul," which is between the outmost body 
 and the inmost spirit. In common with the animals, each 
 man has a " soul " — a playground of, as yet, unorgan- 
 ized elements and imponderable principles. From that 
 source, and from no other, spring forth all the desires and 
 passions which disgrace humanity and turn our beautiful 
 earth into " the lowest hell." 
 
EVIL AND SIN BEYOND THE GRAVE. 197 
 
 Now, What is death ? Is it nothing more than the 
 passage of an individual from one world to another i 
 Does a man drop his body just as he "shuflElesoff" his 
 overcoat, without the least alteration in the condition and 
 operations of his feelings and appetites ? Is it possible for 
 a very great change (as death is) to occur without working 
 bome radical improvement ? Even mildew works refinement 
 among old leaves in the forest. No stone is dissolved by 
 water and mosses without becoming finer. Everything 
 dies upward, so to speak — is better for the apotheosis — and 
 is man an exception to the universal law ? No ! is our 
 answer, upspringing from Nature's every source of truth 
 and reason. Death, to a human being, is a radical change. 
 The elements of the " soul," which, in all earth-life, were 
 chaotic and discordant, are organized and harmonized into 
 a body for the spirit. The electrical connections, so long 
 subsisting between the physical body and the mental struc- 
 ture, are permanently dissolved. And with this very 
 radical revolution comes a new set of relations and sympa- 
 thies between the body-soul and the inward Spirit. The 
 soul, before the master, now becomes a servant. The 
 Spirit is enthroned as chief Ruler, and the work of pro- 
 gress and regeneration is inaugurated on a higher plane. 
 
 Thus the drunkard or libertine appears immediately 
 after death. With death went his desire for rum and sen- 
 sual excitements; but the consequences of his earth-life are 
 visible on the particles of his new body, and in the feeble- 
 ness and darkness of his moral faculties. The desires for the 
 earthly pleasures have been chemically dissolved and 
 removed ; but the chemistry of death does not, cannot, 
 overcome and banish the evil effects which the gratification 
 of those desires has stamped upon the individual. Even 
 
 the habitual tobacco-ehewer and swine-eator, although his 
 17* 
 
198 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 appetite for both expires with his earth-life, is so much the 
 worse off ia spirit-life for indulging the bad habits 
 and diets. 
 
 We have not, in this reply, attempted any Very nice 
 analysis of the chemical phenomena of death. The world 
 is filled with conflicting sentiments on this subject, but we 
 have full faith that the progress of Science in this direction 
 will remove all religious vagaries. Harmonial Philosophy 
 opens the laws and conditions of life in all gradations of 
 existence, and " the ways of wisdom " are not more 
 " pleasant " than are its teachings to those who compre- 
 hend. What are called " facts " in Spiritualism require 
 something more than the mere oral or written assertion of 
 a medium, who, perchance, is either " psychologized " by 
 the opinions of the investigator, or else by the force of his 
 own foregone conclusions. It is well known that a Method- 
 ist medium will deliver Methodist communications, and the 
 same is true with mediums of every other shade of faith ; 
 therefore it becomes necessary, in pursuing this most glori- 
 ous subject, that we start with at least a fair share of what 
 the world calls ," Common Sense," and with only one 
 motive in the heart — " What is truth ? " 
 
 Is there no Passion after Death ? 
 
 CXXVI. — Question : " If the sexual passion dies with the body 
 (as you affirm) do the passions for money, show, revenge, &c. ? If so, 
 why argue that we are the same immediately after death as we are 
 before death ? And if these passions die, please tell me what traits of 
 character are manifested in their stead." 
 
 Answer : This question is asked on the presumption 
 that individuality, or identity, is composed of passions, 
 appetites, and practices. This presumption is unsound, not 
 to say absurd, and should not enter into a philosopher's 
 judgment. Suppose a man has a thirst for cold water ov a 
 
THREE I CHABACTEES IN MAN. 199 
 
 hot harvest-day. Does the slaking and cessation of his 
 thirst at night disturb his individuality ? Suppose he has 
 a powerful " thirst for gold " during his lifetime, and 
 some day he should cease to be thirsty — and thus dies, will 
 you not know him because his thirst is gone ? Passions, 
 appetites, habits, practices, &c., do not make or unmake 
 the internal and real man. They do not impair the consti- 
 tutional principles which enter into his particular form of 
 organization. He may be undeveloped and unhappy in the 
 Summer-Land in consequence of his passions and practices, 
 but the cessation of them cannot efface a single trait of his 
 individuality. 
 
 Three Characters in Man. 
 
 CXXVII. — Question : "You speak of the formation of Character 
 Please say what you exactly mean by the three Characters which you 
 seem to find in all human nature." 
 
 AjsrswER : We mean just this : First. Every man's 
 inmost life is divine, the Character of which is derived 
 from the joint contribution of the infinite Father and 
 Mother, or God and Nature. Second. Every man's mid- 
 most and intermediate life is derived from his finite parents, 
 or the earthly father and mother : and its character is in 
 accordance with the combination of temperaments which 
 they (the parents) involuntarily transmit. Third. Every 
 man's outside, or superficial life, is derived from the sphere 
 of circumstances by which he is molded and fashioned after 
 birth; and the Character thereof is likened unto the Cha- 
 racter of the circumstances which gain ascendency over his 
 feelings -and sway his judgment. 
 
 Respecting the period of the formation of the external 
 Character, there can be no great difference of opinion. 
 The completion of the work is commonly supposed to be 
 between the years of sixteen and twenty-five. Unques- 
 
200 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 tionably the habits of some precocious youth become perma- 
 nently established as early as the first mentioned age; 
 while many others, slower of ripening, pass twenty or reach 
 twenty-five before they may be said to have molded their 
 Character. 
 
 In this world the external form of Character is most 
 valued. You remember Shakspeare's comparison between 
 property and the worth of a good name : 
 
 " Good name, in man and woman, 
 Is the immediate jewel of their souls : 
 Who steals my purse, steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 
 'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands ; 
 But he that filches from me my good name, 
 Bobs me of that which not enriches him, 
 And makes me poor indeed." 
 
 We deem external character as the dust of progression. 
 The peculiar qualities of the spirit are exhibited through 
 the inherited temperaments. These give him fixedness and 
 stability; they suggest and modify his habits and manners; 
 and our counsel to every Brother and Sister is, to harmo- 
 nize the life of your interior with the requirements of the 
 shape of the middle Character. This harmonizing process 
 implies the overcoming of whatever is defective and dis- 
 cordant as inherited or acquired. 
 
 The Individuality of Character. 
 
 CXXVIII. — Question : " I understand by what you write that we 
 have three characters : First, the innermost, which is from God ; the 
 Bocond Irom our parents; the third from our surroundings. And I 
 understand' from you that the innermost is the same in all, but the 
 second constitutes the individuality; and yot that, finally, the inner- 
 most rises above all. Now I cannot understand exactly what consti- 
 tutes our 'individuality' after we shall have progressed beyond our 
 hereditary and educational characters. I hope you will make this 
 matter plainer." 
 
 Answer : Individuality is eternalized by means of the 
 
THE INDIVIDUALITY OF CHARACTER. 201 
 
 shape of the innermost. That is, the particular combination 
 of the temperaments, \7hich was the foundation of our indi- 
 viduality from the first moment, remains forever as the seal 
 of personal distinction. Overcoming the defects of birth 
 or parentage, and harmonizing one's inner life with the 
 peculiar type of organization inherited, does not necessitate 
 the obliteration of tlie individuality. 
 
 We teach that it is required of every one to become 
 perfect in accordance with his particular type of character, 
 or combination of t'emperaments. Every organization has 
 a beauty, a superiority, and a destiny of its own. It is 
 necessary that we employ wisdom in overcoming all such 
 hereditary predispositions and educational defects as are 
 found, by experience or otherwise, to antagonize with the 
 freest and fullest expansion of the innermost. This inner- 
 most life — when permitted its free, easy, spontaneous, and 
 natural development — will assume and remain eternally in 
 the shape of the type of individuality which each particularly 
 represents. It is not the hereditary organization, remember, 
 but the transmitted defects of parental organization, which 
 we are admonished to overcome. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that no man's character is 
 self-made. Do not, however, infer too much from this 
 remark. In judging human conduct We should endeavor to 
 appreciate the temperaments and constitutions which are 
 given by parentage; also the variety of influences that 
 have flowed in upon him from the circumstances of his 
 babyhood and youth. And particularly should we discrimi- 
 nate between faults and misfortunes, between follies and 
 vices, between what is the election of the person's will and 
 that which results from sympathetic contact with the will 
 of others. In short, let us be universally charitable. 
 
202 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 The Spirit's Recuperation. 
 OXXIX, — Question : " One question troubles me to answer in my 
 own mind. That is — if a human spirit leaves the earth, covered with 
 evil, and crime, and falsehood, can it ever recover and become a good 
 and pure spirit ? " 
 
 Answer : During the last fourteen years this world has 
 been frequently visited by spirits, who were once men of 
 low estate on earth, from whom we receive testimony that 
 individual progress is an eternal principle. But each spirit 
 brings tales of trials and ordeals experienced since death, 
 which leave no room to doubt that the few of .Justice is as 
 operative in the Spirit Land as are the principles of Love, 
 Wisdom, Truth, and Progression. 
 
 Therefore, you may behold the law of recuperation 
 operating in all such discordant characters. They are sent 
 to school in the Spirit Land. They are guarded and edu- 
 cated, and restrained from the indulgence of unworthy 
 impulses, by the kindly oSSccs and influences of the heavenly 
 philanthropists. It seems that the far-seeing Shelley saw 
 the certainty of this truth. He wrote thus : — 
 
 "Crime, misery, and evil are in earth, 
 Falsehood, mistake, and lust. But if the soul 
 In the eternal world shall yet be taint, 
 The Spirit shall provide effectual cure. 
 Some eminent in virtue shall start up. 
 E'en for the succor of perversest souls ; 
 The truths of their pure lips, that never die, 
 Shall bind the scorpion Evil with a wreath 
 
 Of everlasting flame. 
 Until the monster sting itself to death ! " ' 
 
 Let it be remembered that every good deed dropped 
 into the ocean of human life makes that ocean better. 
 Behold the earth, as it rolls beneath the sun's perpetual 
 smile — do not its buds and blossoms show solar heat and 
 light ? The subterranean sap, that fills the roots of trees 
 and climbs day by day through all their upper branches, 
 
THE SPUING OF HUMAN CONDUCT. 203 
 
 ultimates in fruit. And wliy ? Because the sun acts up to 
 its " highest light," whereby, its fertilizing heat and force- 
 rays are universally distributed for the world's good. So 
 a true man may give newer life to his race. A noble thought 
 may generate a thousand noble deeds. A single benevo- 
 lent act may eventually save a nation. The glory of man- 
 kind is exhibited in the unflinching integrity of soul. Act 
 well your part — " the world will be the better for it." 
 
 The Spring of Human Conduct. 
 
 CXXX.— Question : " In your writings you are understood to 
 look with disfavor, if not disdain, upon any human action from the 
 impulse of the moment. Now it is not clear to my mind that a man 
 can act ' from Principle ' (as you term it) under all circumstances. 
 What I want to know of you is this : Does virtue consist in acting 
 from the force of principle, or from thoughts and plans, of which the 
 actor is intelligently aware before he acts ? " 
 
 Answer : We hold that all individual action originates in 
 what is commonly called " Impulse ; " and further, we hold 
 that virtue, or principle, consists in integrity or coincidence 
 between noble impulse and noble action. Moralists usually 
 agree that actions are of two kinds, virtuous and vicious ; 
 but these writers are disagreed as to the sources of these 
 actions. Every one knows that the same kind of actions 
 may be traced to a great number and variety of impulses. 
 As, for example, two men may be equally benevolent in 
 conduct — one, because of the precepts of his religion : the 
 other, because it will adva;nce his credit and business inter- 
 ests in society. Or, two strong men may enter the army, 
 and both fight valiantly for their country's cause-^one, 
 because he is impelled by the force of inborn patriotism to 
 do duty for the right ; the other, because he is extrava- 
 gantly fond of popular approbation, of praise, and military 
 honor. Now we hold that the noble and virtuous man (or 
 the " man of principle ") is the man of integrity to the 
 impulses, which are projected like shafts of lightning from 
 
204 ' ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 liis superior or spiritual faculties. Impulse is the cause of 
 all Immati action ; but, invariably, such impulse is the test of 
 status or character. Know what are a man's most frequent 
 impulses, and you know the condition of his mind — his 
 character — whether good, bad, or indiiferent. 
 
 Can Mind Act without Motives? 
 
 CXXXI. — Question : " We usually accept man as perfectly phi- 
 losophical, yet there are things in his most intimate economy that 
 Heeni to perfectly stump the imagination. 
 
 " Metaphysicians sometimes present him to us as a mere machine, 
 and at times as the soul of all machinery, or even the great Mechanic. 
 Now, ' who shall decide when doctors disagree ? ' But is it really so 
 difficult to show what part of the Divine Drama he plays ? Cannot 
 his whereabouts be defined to the common understanding to know 
 whether he is an individual of duty and responsibility or not? 
 
 " There is certainly a vast deal of darkness, uncertainty, and error, 
 in relation to this, among those who have joined the reform disciple- 
 ship. Some consider themselves machines, and will rest in quiet till 
 they are operated upon; while others consider themselves souls, or 
 mechanics, and are ever positive and active, turning the world upside 
 down in reform, or deform, they little know or little care which. If 
 men are machines they are not responsible ; if they are mechanics, 
 they are. 
 
 " The above opens a great and important question. If mind can 
 act in the absence of predominant motives, he is a mechanic ; if not, 
 he is a machine. And it either can or cannot ; it is an absolute alter- 
 native, and no law can fail to have a direct bearing upon the yea or 
 nay. I therefore submit this question : Can mind act in the absence, 
 of predominant motives ? " 
 
 Answee : The most skillful navigator on the mystic sea 
 of metaphysics will sometimes misguide his ship. He occa- 
 sionally will, with the best phrenological chart and with 
 the best mental compass, steer into quicksands and founder 
 in sight of port. We have witnessed sad shipwrecks upon 
 rocks" with which far less intelligent pilots were perfectly 
 familiar. Time never was, and the day will not soon 
 arrive, when every man will escape the perils of progress. 
 The storms of discord are natural, and the disasters 
 consequent upon them are natural also, and we compassion- 
 ate and pity the mind that would fight against Nature. 
 
CAN MIND ACT WITHOUT MOTIVES? 205 
 
 Now we say, and witli due reflection, that certain men 
 with certain temperaments are natural fatalists, and such 
 are by necessity quite mechanical in nearly all their thoughts 
 and conduct. They are fixed' fast in the wheels of incor- 
 rigible destiny. They move with the motions of the world. 
 The laws of cause and effect — of Necessity — are, to such, 
 clear as the principles of mathematics. They are spiritual 
 Necessitarians, natural machines, fatalists, presbyteriaus ; 
 and there is no honest philosophy, no true logic, no natural 
 religion, that can drive them from their strong fortifica- 
 ti(jns. AVhy not ? Because they have not only the inexor- 
 able laws of logic to sustain them, and to explain their 
 positions, but experience also ; so that as our questioner truly 
 remarks, " there are things in man's most intimate economy 
 which perfectly stump the imagination." 
 
 Especially so, because there are other men, with 
 other temperaments, who feel an integrality of indestructi- 
 ble powers ; who do not act from sensuous impulses ; who 
 receive and yet control the influences by which others are 
 overcome and compelled to act; who give fashion and 
 shape to the circumstances about them, just as the potter 
 molds the moistened clay. They work from within, and 
 their action is in consequence of self-conscious and self- 
 authorized impulses. They believe in " free will," and in 
 self-originated motives for conduct ; and they laugh at 
 those who profess to act by necessity, in obedience to fixed 
 laws. Who will answer the question : " Can mind act in 
 the absence of predominant motive ? " Or, is not action 
 by man a result of some power superior to his will ? Is 
 not his will a subject, not a master, ih the circle of existence ? 
 
 Our reply (how unsatisfactory ! ) is yes and no. Differ- 
 ent temperaments, with different experiences concerning 
 
 the same matter, will entertain different convictions. Some 
 18 
 
206 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 are masters, while others are slaves, within the same set 
 of circumstances. Human experience and observation, 
 therefore, are ample on both sides of this question ; and 
 the consequence is, that doctors differ and erudite meta- 
 physicians disagree ; for Nature and truth are on both 
 sides of this question also. 
 
 And we experience no conflict when so contemplating 
 the answer. We perceive that man (i. e., mankind) is both 
 a Latitudinarian and a Necessitarian. Not every man 
 indeed, but only he who is rounded out. The true man is 
 seif-poised, self-intentional, and grandly responsible for his 
 conduct ; and yet, here comes the paradox, he is perpetu- 
 ally obedient to the fixed laws of the Infinite. 
 
 The human individual's responsibility is commensurate 
 with, or in proportion to, the mind's power to conceive of justice 
 and freedom. He who seeth the way to do better and yet 
 goeth not therein, moved thereto by his love of justice, is 
 responsible to the Divine presence which worketh within 
 both day and night. Let the gospel be full-spread every- 
 where, that Man, in the wondrous duality of his being, is 
 forever a master over conditions, but a subject of the laws 
 by which those conditions are generated. That is to say, 
 Man is subject to the law of digestion, but he is, or should 
 be, master, with respect to the conditions and kinds of food. 
 Are you answered ? 
 
 The Future of Present Acts. 
 
 CXXXII. — Question : " A gentleman, resident in the City ot 
 Churches, a member of the richest congregation, asserted yesterdaj 
 that your doctrine was dangerous, because it removed the restraining 
 influence which Christianity throws around the sinner. Not being a 
 reader of your philosophy, I could not deny his statement. Was he 
 right ■? " 
 
 Answer : All true logic, as well as all philosophic 
 religion, teaches' the inseparableness of actions and their 
 
thp: future of present acts. 207 
 
 consequences. To-day is the natural result of yesterday, 
 to-morrow of to-day, the third day of to-morrow, and so 
 forth through all the convolutions of eternity. In like 
 manner we trace the conduct of yesterday through the 
 moments of the present. Our philosophy is, that the deeds 
 of a human being do not die with the body, but continue 
 with the undying mind, until the full and legitimate eifects 
 have spent themselves upon and within the doer. The good 
 act and the evil thought (not executed) will live, and bear 
 fruit away over the grave. For the Spirit Land is but the 
 natural sequence of this terrestrial habitation ; just as to- 
 morrow will be the natural successor of to-day. We ask, 
 
 " Can such things be, 
 
 And overcome us like a summer cloud, 
 Without our special wonder?" 
 
 One day, in conversation with a highly philosophical 
 visitor from the other Sphere, we asked : 
 
 " Do you remember your earth-life ? " 
 
 " A living man," he replied, " is the fruit of many 
 earthly generations." 
 
 " How can this fact follow you into the spirit-world ? " 
 
 " Upon the same law," he answered, " as that by which 
 you retain in memory the acts of yesterday." 
 
 " But the acts of yesterday are not all in my memory 
 now, are they ? " 
 
 " There is," he responded, " an essence of immortality 
 in the life of every human act. It is this animus in the act 
 which imparts an image thereof to the memory." 
 
 " Does this memory of earthly deeds disturb you in the 
 midst of heavenly joys and physical beauties of the other 
 life?" 
 
 " There is," he replied, " not a thought, not an act, or 
 impulse, in the life of a human being, but starts a train of 
 
208 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 effects and consequences which roll on and on through the 
 most distant future, and nothing external can erase them 
 from the memory." 
 
 " Do you remember the evil as well as the good ? " 
 
 " Some natures recollect the causes and consequences 
 of evil with even more distinctness than the good of their 
 earthly lives." 
 
 " Indeed ! What is the effect of such recollections 
 upon them ? " 
 
 " Effects vary with different temperaments and disposi- 
 tions. Many spirits, by retrospections, realize how and 
 where, while on earth, they cruelly and selfishly diminished 
 the happiness of their fellow-men. Such are the the most 
 unreconciled and discordant residents of the Spirit-Land." 
 
 " Shall we never forget the earth-life ? " 
 
 " Memory is eternal," he replied, " but in the vast 
 future we recall only what was useful and good in the evil 
 and imperfections of the lower sphere." 
 
 If our correspondent will present this doctrine of indi- 
 vidual a^ts and consequences to the gentleman, and 'request 
 him to consider the practical influence thereof when 
 preached to the world, we are sure that a different con- 
 viction will pervade his mind with reference to our teach- 
 ings. We believe in no vicarious atonement or forgiveness 
 for crimes committed against the common humanity. An 
 evil deed must continue to punish the doer, until he is 
 lifted above the low state in which he committed it. There 
 is no escape either in this world or in the spirit-land. 
 Consequences will follow their producing causes, and death 
 of the body cannot hinder the effects of this life extending 
 into the next, any more than a night's sleep can obliterate 
 the memory of the acts of the previous day. 
 
.THE PROBABLE EXTINCTION OP HELL. 209 
 
 The Nature and Purpose of Punishment. 
 
 CXXXIII. — Question: " buppose punishment to be endless, aa 
 our evangelical ministers say it is, what can be the purpose of it?" 
 
 Answer : It is philosophically impossible for punishment 
 to be interminable. The endless duration of punishment 
 would utterly destroy the purposes of punishment. There 
 can be but one beneficent object in punishment — that is, 
 the improvement of the offender. If you aflBict a man. be- 
 cause he has afQicted you, the object is revenge or retalia- 
 tion, the motive is low and despicable, and neither party is 
 improved or corrected by the punishment. 
 
 The divine plan seems to be wholly beneficent, correct- 
 ive, and reformatory. Punishment, in the divine system, 
 is proportioned to the nature and magnitude of the offense. 
 As no man can be guilty of an infinite transgression, so no 
 man can be the victim of an infinite punishmen^. As there 
 must be a commencement and an end to his violation, so 
 must there be a beginning and a limitation to his suffering. 
 Punishment means correction. How can endless correction 
 be possible ? The time must surely arrive when the end 
 of the punishment is accomplished. Then the offender is 
 relieved from the rigors of the penalty. 
 
 The theory of our modern pulpits, that individual 
 human suffering for sin will be endless, is worthy of the 
 dark ages. It unphilosophically teaches that punishment 
 is nothing but vengeance, and that " hell " is the unven- 
 tilated " black hole " of an avenging and malignant God. 
 This doctrine will vanish in proportion to mankind's 
 growth in reason and goodness. 
 
 The Probable Extinction of Hell. 
 
 CXXXn'. — Question : " What can you say concerning the pro- 
 bable duration or ultimate extinguishment of the fires of the bottom- 
 less pitV Will you not present an argument from an orthodox point 
 of view — that is, employ Jjible-texts as the foundation of reasoning ? " 
 J 8* 
 
210 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Answek: We would gladly print our Brother's argu- 
 ment, and furnish Bible-texts to prove the probable 
 extinction of hell, but we deem the treatment of the late 
 Rev. E. M. Pingree sufficiently explicit : " In looking over 
 Rev. Stephen Remington's Lectures on Universalism, a few 
 days since, I was struck with the sentiment expressed on 
 page 7 J. He there says on the word Gehenna, quoting 
 from Greenfield's Greek Lexicon, ' the Valley of Hinnon, 
 south of Jerusalem, once celebrated for the horrid worship 
 of Moloch, &c., hell, the fires of Tartarus, the place of 
 punishment in Hades.' And so said Dr. Ely, also. So 
 then we learn that Gehenna is in Hades. Now the common 
 orthodox believers suppose that Hades itself is hell, just as 
 much as Gehenna ; so that xe have hell in hell. 
 
 "But reading along to page 104, I was still more 
 astonished at the following expression, in relation to ' the 
 particulars' connected with the general judgment-day : 
 ' 4. The abolition of death, or mortality, and hell, (Hades,) 
 the place for separate spirits, which will then be no longer 
 needful ; because soul and body will be reunited, never 
 more to be separated.' And what follows from this ? I 
 asked myself as I read the sentence. The learned orthodox, 
 1 knew before, believed that Hades was to be abolished ; 
 but they also contended that Gehenna would exist forever, 
 but now that Gehenna is IN Hades, and the latter place to 
 be destroyed, what will become of the former ? Who can 
 tell ? Will not that be abolished also ? If so, where are 
 your endless hell torments ? 
 
 "It would not do to say that Gehenna, or in other 
 words, that one hell will be preserved, when that hell is 
 abolished in which it is located. To illustrate : If Ham- 
 ilton County should be sunk, Cincinnati would be sunk 
 also, because Cincinnati is in Hamilton County. Again: 
 
DREAD OF ANNIHILATION. 211 
 
 If a house be burned the things in the house will be burned 
 
 also — unless they are taken out ; and who will say that 
 
 when Hades, or one hell is destroyed, Gehenna, or the other 
 
 hell, will be taken out? 
 
 " Let it be /"emembered, then, that the orthodox believe 
 
 in at least two hells — one greater, the other less — the less 
 
 in the greater. Now, will somebody answer the following 
 
 question ? — If the greater hell be destroyed or abolished, 
 
 what will become of the less hell which is in HI I pause 
 
 for a replj'." 
 
 Dread of Annihilation. 
 
 CXXXV. — Question : " Will you have the goodness to notice a 
 request which is to me of infinite importance ? Is it possible for the 
 spirit to have the form before the physical death ? My husband is 
 laboring under a deep mental despondency, and imagines that the 
 vital spark has departed from him. He has lost all hope, is utterly 
 inconsolable, and says that he has read something in your writings 
 that corroborates that idea." 
 
 Answer : Your unhappy husband is laboring under 
 " a strong delusion" of his own unharmonious mind. It is 
 true that a few Spiritualists and a less number of mediums 
 have taught the doctrine under which your husband now 
 lies, like one crushed beneath the Juggernaut of error, 
 but no such philosophical absurdity can be found in 
 any work bearing the glorious impress of the gospel 
 of Nature, Reason, and Intuition. We do not befteve 
 in spiritual dispossession of the physical body prior to 
 death, nor do we teach or believe that any .spirit (save 
 one's own) can occupy the present apartments of the 
 earthly tabernacle. It seems to us that all theories incul- 
 cating a different or opposite doctrine will be peremptorily 
 repudiated by every intelligent reader of Harmonial Philo- 
 sophy. Assure your dear husband, therefore, that his 
 immortal spirit yet inhabits his ponderable body and brain — 
 that it is the inner source of every noble impulse and prin- 
 
212 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 ciple. Yousay that he is "inconsolable." Why? Because 
 his spirit very naturally yearns to live forever, as it will, 
 but his external faculties of judgment are at present dis- 
 qualified for recognizing the inward reality. His wretched 
 despondency originates among the exterior faculties of i 
 thought. Put on the will-power and thus recover your 
 self-possession. (For directions see the "Harbinger of 
 Health." 
 
 The Body and Mind. 
 CXXXVI. — Question: "Is it true, as many unhesitatingly teach, 
 that large physical development is unfavorable to mental purity and 
 progress ? " 
 
 Answer : No ; a thousand times . no f The Greeks 
 were the best scholars and the finest Athletae. Beautiful 
 bodily forms are impossible without promoting healthful- 
 ness of soul. Grossness is a disease ; sensuality is a 
 disease ; vulgarity is a disease ; just as are vagrancy, 
 idiocy, insanity, idleness, and crime ; but with purfe phy- 
 sical development come "golden opportunities" to be pure, 
 and loving, and wise, and progressive in all things. Some 
 spurious theorists on this subject impress us to quote the 
 quaint couplet, as descriptive, perhaps, of themselves : 
 
 " Darbyshire born and Darbjshire bred, 
 Strong i' th' yarm, and weak i' th' yead." 
 
 But 'tis our happiness to believe that men's minds and 
 bodies are capable of equal benefits so long as this life 
 shall continue. 
 
 Parental Obligations and Duties. 
 
 CXXXVII —Question • '' Does the fact that the child acts averse 
 to the will, wish, and judgment of the parents, release the parents 
 from the obligation resting upon them to treat such child kindly, 
 afiectjonately, and justly ? " 
 
 Answer : The relation existing between parents and 
 
 offspring is so tender and spiritual — so exuberant of love, 
 
 and so correspondingly deficient in wisdom ofttimes — that 
 
PARENTAL OBLIGATIONS AND DUTIES 213 
 
 many intelligent fathers and mothers find themselves 
 incompetent to govern the impulses of their children. The 
 remedy in these cases is in the possession of kind friends 
 and trusty teachers, into whose control the fractious and 
 impulsive child should for a time be consigned. By such 
 a change made in very early years, many noble children 
 may be rescued from the evils of no-government at home. 
 
 But no parent is authorized to treat an erring or willful 
 and stubborn child with coercion and cruelty. An intelli- 
 gent stranger, with a broad, benevolent soul, can regulate 
 such a child by simple words, when parental scoldings and 
 whippings would have no beneficial or controlling influ- 
 ence. When parents cannot control the impulses of their 
 offspring by an appeal to wisdom through love, it is time to 
 institute some wiser relations in the sphere of fraternal 
 affection. In such cases, " home " should be a place for 
 children to visit ; not a place where the young are per- 
 mitted to overthrow the peace and rights of those who 
 gave the home an existence. 
 
 You ask " whether kindness and charity are duties 
 or attractions." Our reply, on the general principle, is 
 that a duty implies a responsibilitj^, which the individual, 
 if left to himself, would assume loosely or shirk from alto- 
 gether. Such responsibility grows out of man's neces- 
 sary relations to his fellow man. The well-balanced and 
 spiritually unfolded person is superior to the coercive 
 doctrine of duty. Such minds discharge their duties toward 
 relatives and society from a sincere attraction felt for the 
 principles of justice and righteousness. But the many 
 persons everywhere who are not advanced and lifted above 
 the sphere of force, and who, consequently, invade or 
 evade the realms of social harmony, are reached and regu- 
 lated only by the doctrine of rewards and punishments. 
 
214 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 A Word about the Devil. 
 
 CXXXVIII. — QuKSTioN : " Is there anything unreasonable in the 
 hypothesis that Evil came from the Devil ? Does such a supposition 
 detract from the majesty and goodness of God ?" 
 
 Answeb : This correspondent's diabolical and theo- « 
 logical questions may be, as they have been, met in the 
 following style : If evil came from the Devil, then the 
 Devil, in infusing evil into God's creature, acted either with 
 God's consent, or without it. If he acted with it, then, of 
 course, God saw that it would not injure the creature, since 
 he had methods of turning it all to the creature's superior 
 profit, and so proving the Devil a fool for his pains. If he 
 acted without God's consent, then, of course, you give the 
 Devil not only a superior power to God, but a superior 
 power over God's own work, or in the sphere of God's 
 own activity. That is to say, you make the absolute crea- 
 ture of infinite Good ' confess himself the offspring of a 
 deeper paternity — the paternity of infinite Evil. 
 
 The Reflex Action of Evil Spirits. 
 
 CXXXIX. — Question : " On one occasion I heard a Spiritualist 
 lecturer use the following language : ' Your bodies were made for 
 your spirit. You eat for your spirit and not for your body. The 
 same wants, appetites, and passions move the spirits in the other life as 
 in this mundane sphere. Our bodies are the mere servants of the 
 in-dwelling spirits. It is possible for spirits to gratify their desires in 
 the other world, as well as here, by coming in sympathy, in rapport, 
 with spirits on their plane of life. There are spirits who gravitate to 
 the plane of lust. They, swarm around houses of ill-fame and bar- 
 rooms, and their feelings blend with those upon that plane, and the 
 indulgence of the mortal enhances the pleasure of the spirit.' "What 
 I wished to ask is, whether, in your opinion, as based upon your 
 spiritual experience, men and women are no better off after death 
 than they were before." 
 
 Answer : We know of nothing in the whole realm of 
 spirit-life to substantiate the above statement. It is true, 
 and the proposition is susceptible of every rational demon- 
 stration, that men and women are immediately after death 
 
THE REFLEX ACTION OP EVIL SPIRITS. 215 
 
 exactly what they were just before that event. But it is 
 not true that they are still the victims of uncontrollable passions 
 and appetites. Death is something more to the. individual 
 spirit than a mere passage from one room to another 
 through an open door. That operation would be a 
 geographical change only — a mere alteration of personal 
 locality — while, in fact, death is a chemical change through- 
 out. Death is quite as thorough a change to the spirit- 
 individual as birth is to the infant human being. In some 
 respects, the change of life-method is total.- 
 
 We repeat, the soul is not the spirit. Spirit is dispas- 
 sionate, pure, and beyond the reach of contamination. 
 The soul, on the other hand, is the source of tempests and 
 discords. The soul-organism is between the outer physical 
 body and the inner spirit. Body and soul grow up 
 together, closely sympathizing with and affecting the con- 
 struction of each other, while the innermost is quietly 
 unfolding and preparing to gain the supremacy. 
 
 Passions and vices do not inhere to spitit ; they pertain 
 and adhere to the constitution of the soul only. The spirit 
 is disturbed and aggrieved by the conduct of soul-and-body, 
 but the discords and appetites of the latter do not involve 
 the spirit's heart. Desires and passions, therefore, are tho 
 effects of the ten thousand psycho-chemical relations sub- 
 sisting between the soul and the body : somewhat as acida 
 and alkalies, heat and tire, electricity and thunder, are the 
 effects of the chemical meeting of opposite elements in the 
 external world. Separate the element of fire from gun- 
 powder and there will be no explosion. In like manner, 
 " death" is a chemical separation of soul from its perpetual 
 antagonist, the body. The soul is in full sympathy with 
 the material organism until death — then, for the first time, 
 (except when the person is in spiritual and clairvoyant 
 
216 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 slates) the soul repudiates the body and becomes subject to 
 the Spirit. The progressions and improvements conse- 
 quent upon this change of government may be somewhat 
 imagined. 
 
 We will, in conclusion, simply remark that many good 
 Spiritualists have taken the testimony of mediums instead 
 of the dictates of an enlightened Reason and Intuition, 
 and the consequences are dissensions and innumerable 
 contradictions. 
 
 Which — Revenge or Forgiveness ? 
 
 CXL. — QoESTiON : " If there is any refuge-room in your heart for 
 a poor, suffering mortal, permit the writer to occupy it at least long 
 
 enough to receive some counsels and bespeak your sympathy I 
 
 have knowledge of a case of extreme private anguish, caused by the 
 intense selfishness and diabolical sensualism of an infernal destroyer, 
 and now the question ai-ises : What can be, or what ought to be, done 
 
 in the premises ? [We omit much of our correspondent's letter 
 
 descriptive of the lady's excessive and desperate sufferings.] .... 
 Poor thing ! In the clear light of your beautiful Philosophy, pray 
 tell me how ought I to act toward the demon-scoundrel, the hated 
 author of this hellish deed ? " 
 
 Answer : There are times and events when a " righteous 
 
 indignation " is as legitimate and natural as heaven's 
 
 stormy thunderbolt. The conjugal sanctities of a human 
 
 spirit are the holiest of all interior sensibilities. They are 
 
 the finest, and highest, and most confiding. The filaments 
 
 of every other affection center in the marriage-love of the 
 
 soul. Salvation or damnation — contentment or desperation 
 
 — hang upon the delicate thread of the conjugal relation. 
 
 It is the root of all the exquisitely fine fibers of life and 
 
 progress. Hence any disturbance of the conjugal cord 
 
 vibrates through the entire moral instrument, and it is 
 
 long — oh how long ! — ere the last wave of such a fearful 
 
 discord sings itself into perpetual sleep. As the conjugal 
 
 relation or love is so inexpressibly delicate and all- 
 
 compreheusive, so are its transgressions and abuses unutter- 
 
WHICH— REVENGE OR FORGIVENESS? 217 
 
 ably deplorable and shocking to every intellectual and 
 moral sensibility. The betrayer of this sacred Love is 
 usually next hated as a monster of the demonic world. 
 
 But. the betrayed ! What of her ? She is immediately 
 hurled from the altar of honor and purity. Educational 
 silliness takes on a religious form. Society, overflowing 
 with vice, pursues her with merciless indignation. " Shame" 
 is written upon her brow. She looks out upon all man- 
 kind as her unforgiving enemies. Every cheerful face is 
 turned away. Her supposed truest friends of yesterday, 
 are to-day filled with empty wails and contemptuous 
 lamentations. They pity her ! Their sympathies are embit- 
 tered with insidious contempt. 
 
 Meanwhile, what of the accomplished sorcerer ? What 
 of the juggler and magician who deceived her heart? 
 Why, he is borne up by her accusers. They quietly open 
 the front door whenc er he rings for admission. " He is 
 slandered, poor fellow !" and the hearts of the righteous 
 and sympathetic grow warm toward him. The flattering 
 laurels of victory bedeck his brow. But his tremulous, 
 repudiated victim — half-dead with suffering and loneliness 
 -r-how is it with her ? Horrible injustice ! Who will love 
 lier with tender magnanimity ? Who receive and treasure 
 her misdirected heart ? She is the same worthy and unsus- 
 pecting daughter and sister. Who will be broad and good 
 enough to sustain her now? And who accept her noblest 
 affections as gifts from the common Father and Mother ? 
 
 What is to be done ? Good, and not evil. 
 
 First: Negatively, perchance, some temporary good 
 
 might be done by the full and dispassionate exposure of 
 
 the unprincipled magnetist. It is very likely that he will 
 
 treat the accusation as a malicious slander, and he will 
 
 undoubtedlv strenuously attempt to convince others that it 
 19 
 
218 ANSWEES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 is not true, in which case the lady should make a public 
 sacrifice in the form of a solemn testimony. If however, 
 the betrayer has won all her heart, it will be morally 
 impossible for her to appear as his public accuser. 
 
 Second : Positively, then, let no one love and respect 
 her less. Society must not shut a door against her ; no 
 honest face should withhold its smile of friendship ; for 
 she did not err from a love of evil. Her danger is immi- 
 nent. If weak and aimless in temperament, she may, if 
 shunned and deserted, enter the dreary labyrinths of pros- 
 titution. If strong and earnest in temperament, being 
 repulsed and pitied, she is in danger of seeking revenge 
 and ending with suicide. 
 
 But the highest course is directly through the door of 
 unbounded forgiveness. JUSTICE, when pure, is never impa- 
 tient. The law of Progress will convey each human soul 
 beyond the silent grave, and by the same eternal Law 
 every private act is certain to be followed, sooner or later, 
 by the full magnitude of its legitimate consequences. 
 
 Immortality of Evil. 
 
 CXLI. — Question : " It is my intention to ask you a momentous 
 question. I will propose it in the form once expressed by a poet, viz : 
 
 " ' ShaU all defects of mind and fallacies 
 Of feeling be immortal?' 
 
 " Perhaps you have already answered this question, but not knovfing 
 I venture, to invite your attention to the subject. Another question : 
 How shall we determine the operation of conscience ? " 
 
 A NSWER : It is pleasant to be taught by the spirit of 
 Truth, for it is the heart of the Infinite God of Nature. 
 " The vail that is spread over all nations " is the foggy 
 garment of Ignorance, which is the first parent of all the 
 errors, and vices, and miseries of humankind. When the 
 spirit of Truth shines " into the darkness " of error, " the 
 
IMMORTALITY OF EVIL. 219 
 
 darkness comprehendeth it not." The poet, Thomson, 
 hath written — 
 
 " Yet bear op awhile, 
 
 And what thy bountled view (which only sees 
 
 A little part) deem'd evil, is no more ; 
 
 The storais of wintry time will quickly pass, 
 
 And one unbounded spring encircle All." 
 
 The miserable theory of everlasting evil is born oT 
 narrow and incomplete conceptions of the divine govern- 
 ment. We are moved to believe with the ancient Spirit- 
 ualist, who said : " The sufferings of this present time are 
 not worthy to be compared with the glory {or goodness) 
 which shall be revealed in us." The poet Bailey, has 
 expressed our convictions thus : 
 
 " We only know that God's best purposes 
 Are often wrought through dreadest means, and sinful. 
 Is thunder evil, and the dew. divine? 
 Does virtue lie in sunshine, not in storm ? > 
 
 Is not each natural, needful, wisest, best ? 
 How know we what is evil from what good?" 
 
 There are cases where very sincere persons suppose 
 that, in certain transactions, between themselves and fellow 
 men, the conscience of the other party is chiefly in error, 
 or hath an evil tendency, while, by more careful reflection, 
 it will be seen that the error or sin was not from the 
 conscience, but of the judgment. Judgment regards only 
 the means for the accomplishment of ends ; but conscience, 
 while it is blind in its knowledge of ways and instrumen- 
 talities, looks steadily toward ends and ultimates. With 
 the best intentions, with a pure conscience oftentimes, but 
 solely in conseqence of a defective judgment, many of the 
 worst deeds have been committed. Let us, therefore, 
 commiserate, but seldom condemn our fellow men. 
 
220 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Seeing and Doing Right. 
 
 CXLII. — Question : " Among your answers I find the following 
 statement : ' The human individual's responsibility is commensurate 
 with, or in proportion to the mind's power to conceive of justice and 
 freedom.' 
 
 " Now, what I want to ask is, whether the ability to discern 
 between the true and the false, the noble and the base, does, of 
 necessity, involve the ability to follow the good and reject the evil ? 
 that is : do we perceive Truth with the same set of faculties with 
 which we accept Truth? And may there not be such a malady as 
 paralysis of the will — practically incapacitating some from the incar- 
 nating in their lives that beauty and purity which they yet have power 
 to recognize and to love? Was not the poet Richard Savage thus 
 afflicted? And Hartley Coleridge ? And Edgar Allan Poe ? And, 
 among other singing and artist prophets, many 
 
 — ^'bright, immortal names 
 That were not born to die' ? 
 
 " For on what other hypothesis can we account for the terrible 
 discrepancies between the high and spiritual inculcations of their 
 works, and the solemn, warning lesson of their lives ?" 
 
 Answer : The power whereby the human mind perceives 
 Truth, as a principle of the Universe, is the same as the power 
 to personate and embody it. The power to conceive or 
 feel a principle is identical with the power to put it in 
 practice. 
 
 But the faculties with which the human mind perceives 
 the relations subsisting between one truth and another — as 
 between the law of gravitation in matter and the law of 
 progression in mind — are very different from those facul- 
 ties by which the principle itself is perceived and 
 appreciated. 
 
 A mind may perceive the multifarious relations existing 
 between different truths, and at the same time be wholly obli- 
 vious as to the principle itself v/h\c\\ lives behind such relations. 
 Such a mental condition is not adequate to the fulfillment 
 01 Truth's divine requirements. For example : There are 
 persons, very illustrious statesmen and eloquent scholars in 
 public stations, whose abilities shine brilliantly when 
 
THE SEEES OP ERRORS AND EVILS. 221 
 
 expatiating upon Lave bet\veen man and man, upon Justice 
 between producer and consumer, upon Equality between 
 the rich and poor, &c., but it is shockingly notorious that 
 many of these same logical politicians and inspired poets 
 are the first to transgress the beautiful relations they have 
 so rhetorically delineated. And why ? Because their 
 souls have not yet appreciated or conceived of the principles 
 of Love, Justice, Liberty, &c. ; and, consequently, such 
 experience no moral power (or will) to follow the good 
 or reject the evil. The Will is never paralyzed when the 
 . soul is fully inspired with the divinity and majesty of a 
 Principle. Men are weak when left to grope their way 
 through the wilderness of circumstances. "Doing your 
 best under the circumstances " is the same as putting 
 yourself under their arbitrary jurisdiction. But acting 
 from an inherent love of Principle — let consequences be 
 what they may — is ascending the throne of the Heavenly 
 King. The power to embody a truth is commensurate 
 with the mind's ability to be inspired by its spirit. An 
 uninspired soul is naturally disobedient. Poets and pro- 
 phets fall only when not inspired by principle. 
 
 The Seers of Errors and Evils. 
 
 CXLIII. — Question : " Why is it amid all your philosophizing, 
 you do not explain the prevalence of eyil, errors, and sins, in the 
 social and moral worlds ? Why don't you expose the great 
 scoundrels ? " 
 
 Answer: We have not, we think, neglected to treat 
 upon these subjects whenever they presented themselves for 
 consideration. But we discern the reason why our ques- ' 
 tioner is not satisfied with the universe as it is ; he is 
 himself constitutionally discordant ; is morally out of tune 
 with the tide and life of men and of things. He has alpo, 
 as a consequence of his hereditary bias, an iuF/tinet for 
 19* 
 
222 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 exaggerating what evil there is, and a marvelous power 
 of imagining evil where only good exists. This unfortu- 
 nate mind is a grumbler and a cynic ; a seer of errors and 
 evils, in everything and in everybody. 
 
 A true mind, on the other hand, constructed and 
 operating on the principles of justice, like a balance, will 
 look at the truth which is in the world rather than at its errors 
 and incidental follies. An angel will contemplate beauty, 
 and power, and wisdom, rather than deformity, and weak- 
 ness, and ignorance. We admonish you to fix your affec- 
 tions upon flowers ; let the thorns take care of themselves. 
 Lift your eyes toward the mountains ; let the dark ravines 
 exist where they must. Become a seer of the good that 
 men do ; let their evils make but little impression upon 
 your judgment. Some men are selfish by necessity of their 
 circumstances ; others, from the powerful force of their 
 inherited organizations and temperaments. Let your soul 
 overflow with a large fraternal charity. Sit in judgment 
 only upon your own condition ; and use severity only 
 among your own motives. " Judge not" the status of your 
 neighbor, until your judgment is made righteous by self- 
 purification and progress. Wordsworth, in his poem of the 
 Cumberland Beggar, wisely tell us that 
 
 " the poorest poor 
 Long for some moments ia a weary life 
 When they may know and feel that they have been 
 Themselves the authors and the givers out 
 Of some small blessings ; have been kind to those 
 That needed kindness ; for this single cause, 
 That we have, all of as, one human heakt." 
 
 The world will be lovelier when better loved. " Every 
 human heart is human." Hear and heed our words. Cease 
 complaining and foaming. From the moment you read this 
 paragraph, STOP ! Repent ! Reform ! Advance ! Your 
 
CENTRAL AND INTEGRAL PRINCIPLES. 223 
 
 children (unhappy little ones!) cry or run to hide whenever 
 you enter the house. Their ever-working mother, too, 
 (your long enduring wife,) dreads the hour of your 
 approach. Your physical selfishness is a sad disease of the 
 soul ; the eoU you see so clearly in others is in yourself. 
 What an infatuation is this passion of yours — " nothing 
 unless critical " — forever, hawk-like, picking flaws in 
 the conduct of others. Your moral eye is diseased ; it 
 cannot see the good there is in the world. The whole 
 secret of your trouble is this : Your character and conduct 
 are reflected in the life and actions of those about you. 
 
 Central and Integral Principles. 
 
 CXLIV. — Question : " It is frequently affirmed in your writings 
 that " Progress is the Central Law of the Universe. Granting this to 
 he so, I would like to know what you consider the Central Principle 
 of the human mind. There should be some analogy between the 
 
 constitution of the human spirit and that of the Divine Mind 
 
 Please impart an answer." 
 
 Answer : This question is so full of sublime suggestive- 
 ness, and the importance of a correct solution is so momen- 
 tous to every truth-lover, that we cannot but wish we had 
 more time to bestow upon it. But being quite limited 
 in the latter particular, and yet not feeling at liberty 
 to delay a reply to so excellent a question, we proceed at 
 once to treat the subject with brevity. 
 
 The human mind, like the material and spiritual 
 universe, is constructed upon musical principles. The 
 discords and imperfect notes in the world of matter are 
 made known to man's mind in consequence of these prin- 
 ciples ; and without them — i. e., the immanent principles 
 of perfect harmony or music — man could not know anything 
 discordant or inharmonious. The standard of conscious- 
 ness, and the infallible laws of reason or judgment, must 
 be inherent to the constitution of the mind. If man's 
 
224 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 mind was naturally and organically discordant — that is to 
 say, in other terms, if the infallible principles of Music (or 
 of Heaven) were not wrought into the very inmost essences 
 of the human spirit — then, manifestly, his mind, which 
 includes both his consciousness and his faculties of reasoning, 
 could have no sense of accord and harmonial proportions. 
 Therefore, from tlfe fact that man is exquisitely and 
 naturally conscious of discordant sounds and of anti- 
 musical proportions — the same in matter abovi him, as in 
 the operations and manifestations of his . own spirit — we 
 are philosophicilly and spiritually authorized to conclude 
 that his mind is constructed, like the stupendous universe 
 itself, upon the impersonal principles of perfect Music. 
 
 The cei-tral law of the spiritual universe — which per- 
 petually flows from and incessantly returns to the Divine 
 Mind — we are moved to name the Law op Progression. 
 The primary law is Association, and the iinal or ultimate law 
 is Development. The pivotal principle, on which the whole 
 system revolves, is " Progression," while the two wings, or 
 twin-laws of the infinite movement, are the perpetual causes 
 of Motion, Life, Sensation, and Intelligence. 
 
 The analogy and the truth are not less conspicuous to 
 the philosophical thinker when he approaches and observes 
 ihe constitution of man's mind. In former classifications, 
 Lo which we adhere with ever-refreshing confidence, 
 we have thus named the actuating principles, (i. e., the 
 loves) of the spirit: (L) Self Love; (2;) Conjugal Love; 
 (3.) Parental Love ; (4.) Fraternal Love ; (5.) Filial Love ; 
 (6.) Universal Love. These are the radical, involuntary 
 essential constituents, or vital forces, of man's inmost 
 spiritual constitution. Without these he could feel nothing ; 
 know nothing. The development and manifestations of 
 form and judgment are from the essences of the interna 
 
CENTRAL AND INTEGRAL PRINCIPLES. 225 
 
 invisible, but producing principles. These six principles 
 are arranged on nnusical laws, and their operations are, or 
 should be, and ultimately will be, in accordance with 
 music or harmony. We will indicate by difference in type, 
 the distinction between the major and minor Principles in 
 man's spirit, thus : 
 
 1. Self Love. 
 
 2. CONJUGAL LOVE, 
 
 3. Parental Love. 
 
 4. F E A T E R N A L LOVE. 
 
 5. Filial Love. 
 
 6. UNIVERSAL LOVE. 
 
 In the above table it will be observed that there are 
 three major and three minor principles in man's involuntary 
 constitution. The action and reaction, or attractions and 
 repulsions of these involuntary forces, result in a constant 
 disturbance of rest or equilibrium ; and the result of such 
 constant disturbance is expressed in all the diversities of 
 human sensation, emotion, thought, and action. In order 
 to understand which is the central of the three minor 
 principles, let your eye glance over the scale, which 
 instantly informs you that Parental Love (the affection 
 for offspring) is the central principle of the minor loves of 
 mankind. So, also, to ascertain the Central of the major 
 principles, fix your eye on the name in largest type, and 
 the following answer stands out iu bold relief : 
 
 1. Conjugal Love. 
 
 2. FRATERNAL LOVE. 
 
 3. Universal Love. 
 
 Here, then, is our first important conclusion, viz : the 
 central principle of all growth and progress iu man's spirit 
 is Fraternal Love. Glorious gospel of Brotkerhood ! 
 This explanation covers all the phases of religious and 
 national experience. Every political party, every religious 
 
226 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 sect, every artistic organization, every financial combina- 
 tion, every State, every municipal corporation, every 
 enterprise in the vitals of society, is predicated on the 
 central principle of attraction — namely, Fkateenal Love. 
 The priesthood, the legal profession, the medical schools, 
 are based on " Fraternity." The teaching of Jesus was 
 all to the effect that, being bound to one faith and to one 
 Father, " Ye are all brethren." Every religious teacher 
 has inculcated the principle of Brotherhood. Sisters of 
 Charity ! Brothers in Jesus ! Brothers and Sisters in the 
 Temperance Cause, in the Anti-Slavery Cause, in Spiritual- 
 ism, &c., &c. Thus the Central principle perpetually 
 urges itself to the surface ; and we, in applying the prin- 
 ciples of the Harmonial Philosophy, should work from the 
 heart of Fraternal Love. 
 
 Having given the key to the solution of the whole 
 question, we have but to give the scale of the Thinking- 
 principles in Man's mind, to make the truth yet more vivid 
 and conspicuous: (1.) Use; (2.) Justice; (3.) Power; 
 (4.) Beauty; (5.) Aspiration ; (6.) Harmony. Now let us 
 arrange these Wisdom-principles according to their major 
 and minor importance, indicating the distinction by type : 
 
 1. Use. 
 
 2. JUSTICE. 
 
 3. Power. 
 
 4. B E A U T Y . 
 
 5; Aspiration. 
 
 6. HARMONY. 
 In this scale the minor principles of Wisdom — in small 
 type— are (1.) Use; (2.) Power; (3.) Aspiration. The 
 Central Principle in this trinity of minor voluntary powers 
 in man's mind is " Power." From tliis we are authorized 
 to conclude that " power" is not the best and most influen- 
 tial principle, either in private life or in the application 
 
CENTRAL AND INTEGRAL PRINCIPLES. 227 
 
 of any law or rule to human society. We are rather 
 constrained to conclude that the use of "power" (ov force) 
 is best only in a minor, or subordinate sense, and while 
 under the sway of discordant circumstances. This conclu- 
 sion is both general and particular in its application, and 
 should, therefore, infl.uence public functionaries as much as 
 persons in the affairs of daily life. By glancing for a 
 moment at the scale again, you will perceive that the major 
 principles are also three, the Central being indicated by the 
 largest type : 
 
 1. Justice. 
 
 2. BEAUTY. 
 
 3. Harmony. 
 
 This scale gives the whole gospel of the Harmonial 
 Dispensation, in contradistinction to that of Adam, Noah, 
 Moses, Jesus, or of any other branch of human history in 
 any age. In Wisdom, Beauty is the Central principle of 
 all true reform and progress. What " Beauty " is we will 
 not stop to define, believing that most of our readers have 
 imbibed the spirit of former definitions. (See Harmonia, 
 vols. 2 and 4.) 
 
 In the prosecution of all true reform in this age, it is 
 essential that the teacher and practitioner be duly inspired 
 by the Central principle of his involuntary hemisphere, 
 which is Fraternal Love ; and it is equally necessary in 
 dealing with the errors and misfortunes of his fellow men, 
 that he be led by the Central principle of Wisdom, which 
 is " Beauty." This principle, which is the voluntary and 
 executive law of proportion and equilibrium, will, in 
 unison with Fraternal Love, accomplish all the ends of 
 " Justice " on the one hand, and of " Harmony " on the 
 other. Justice and Harmony are the wings of Wisdom — 
 the twin principles of all musical accord in soul, in society, 
 
228 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 and in the universe ; therefore, let all reformers, who 
 think they stand upon the Harmonial Platform, take heed 
 every moment lest they retard the growth of these princi- 
 ples among men. 
 
 The True Glory of Man. 
 
 CXLV. — Question : " The subject of finite and infinite has been 
 under some investigation here. A medium in the trance proposed the 
 question — ' Wherein the finite differs from the infinite. ' Our whole 
 circle decided, with one exception, that the principle m man is infinite. 
 Please give your ideas on this question." 
 
 Answer : Your circle are well impressed with the nature 
 of a principle. Principle signifies that which is infinite. 
 Man's life is full of infinite principles, but the limitations 
 of individual development, and therefore of private know- 
 ledge and experience, cause man to place himself in the 
 finite realm, by which he is wisely humiliated and tempo- 
 rarily circumscribed. 
 
 But the true glory of man is the supremacy of his 
 spiritual nature. His art, science, philosophy, literature, 
 are nothing, unless they spring out of the spiritual fountain. 
 The world is overwhelmed with materializing agencies — 
 the dead weights of selfishness and passion — by which the 
 exalted and ennobling aims of life are shorn of the wings 
 of progressive flight. Let the spiritual hold' dominion 
 over the material, just as the mind employs the body as its 
 ministering servant, and the result will be electrically 
 , telegraphed to the utmost bounds of humanity. From the 
 spiritual, then, let all the great enterprises start. This is 
 the true foundation for the development and upbuilding of 
 every race in the world. 
 
 And why ? Because the spiritual is fixed — " rooted 
 and grounded"— in the heart of that which is principle. 
 Principle is infinite. It is from and to the centeaI/ 
 
_T00 YOUNG TO TEACH OLD MEN. 229 
 
 PERFECTION. Principle is limited to man's consciousness 
 and memory, because man's development is not infinite. 
 
 And there is yet another reason why man should start 
 his enterprises, however external, from the spiritual stand- 
 point, viz : because the higher and wiser intelligences can 
 touch what is material only through and by means of the 
 spiritual. In all kinds of industry, merchandise, artistic 
 pursuits, &c., the man and woman should ask each other 
 at the start, " Why this effort ?" and the answer should be, 
 ■' The use of all life, industry, and wealth, is to pro- 
 mote the growth and happiness of the spirit." Make- this 
 resolve and good spirits will hasten to shower blessings 
 on your efforts. 
 
 Too Young to Teach Old Men. 
 
 CXLVI. — Question : " Knowing that you invite candor, or, at 
 least, will tolerate a free expression of views not your own, I take the 
 liberty to ask in all candor, whether you do not consider yourself too 
 young and inexperienced to teach old gray-headed men in the highest 
 walks of science ? I think you are. What is your candid opinion?" 
 
 Answer : We will be candid in every word we write, 
 and, so promising, will suggest that years neither authorize 
 nor invalidate any one's productions. The law of Progress 
 makes it easy for every one to be both a teacher and a 
 student ; to instruct others and be instructed at one and 
 the same time. 
 
 We do not profess to teach old gray-headed men in 
 particular. If we write or utter anything from the inex- 
 haustible interior — the teachings whereof correspond to the 
 established laws of Nature, Reason, and Intuition — we 
 _ expect that the question of parentage or years will not bo 
 raised. Prof. Maury, for example, yet a young man, has 
 almost reduced sea-storms to fixed principles. His charts, 
 made quietly on 'shore, and not at all on shipboard, educate 
 old captains how to navigate the mighty deep. With that 
 
 20 
 
230 ^ ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 young man's charts and philosophy of sea-voyaging to guide 
 them, the venerable ship-masters can escape terrific storms, 
 and reach port at least a month earlier than formerly, and 
 all taught by a young man ! 
 
 Once for all, then, let it be remembered that we desire 
 to stand or fall by the investigations and adjudications 
 of Reason. 
 
 Right Eye and Right Hand. 
 
 CXLVII. — Question : " I wish to obtain your impressions of the 
 peculiai language recorded in Matthew v and Mark ix, wherein 
 we are told to 'pluck but the right eye and cut off the right hand' in 
 case that we find these members offend." 
 
 Answer : Our impressions of the simple moral lesson 
 behind this language may be easily comprehended. 
 
 Human experience has established the superiority of ihe 
 right eye, hand, and foot, with respect to power and execu- 
 tiveness ; and hence it is deemed the greatest possible 
 physical misfortune to be deprived of either of these powerful 
 in^rumentalities. In the moral, intellectual, and social 
 departments of human interest, the same remarks are 
 immensely more applicable and impressive. That is, it 
 would be deemed the greatest misfortune to lose any social 
 or political pmoer by which men are enabled to acquire 
 wealth and influence in society. 
 
 Now it should be remembered that the occasional ser- 
 mons and extemporaneous lectures of the gentle Nazarene 
 were addressed to audiences composed, to a limited extent, 
 of very respectable, wealthy, and well-educated Jews. 
 These were the " Pharisees " — men of great worldly influ- 
 ence, brimful of self-righteousness, very jnous, of course, 
 the opponents of Free Speech, and the- antagonists of 
 spiritual progression, unless it was all on the side of Juda- 
 ism. To this class Jesus was somewhat fond of directing 
 
EIGHT EYE AND EIGHT HAND. 231 
 
 the severest rebukes and the most practicable lessons of 
 truth. His clear mind saw that " the right eye " of a Jew- 
 consisted of a lustful passion for popularity. The Pharisees 
 were blind on the spiritual side, not being able to see 
 anything but place, position, and pleasure. But the Teacher 
 said substantially this : " The great end of life is devotion 
 to Truth, regardless of consequences ; and, therefore, if 
 your worldly position or popularity ' offend thee ' or check 
 thee, just cut loose — 'pluck out' the eye with which you 
 can only see the mammon of unrighteousness^and thence- 
 forward become a free-minded child of your Heavenly 
 Father." 
 
 Again : The spiritual son of Joseph and Mary under- 
 stood perfectly that the " fight foot and right hand" of the 
 Pharisees were such attributes as high-mindedness, or 
 fride, egotism, or self -righteousness, and chieftainism, or the 
 love of power. The Teacher realized that these members in 
 the social body of the Jews were powerful hindrances to 
 individual progress in righteousness. Consequently, it was 
 very natural for him to say : " Cut off every habit, every 
 passion, every vice, which tends to cast thy whole life into dis- 
 cord and misery. " The hands and feet of pride and selfishness, 
 and the eyes of fashion and popularity, were stumbling-blocks 
 in the pathway of individual development. And Jesus, 
 being an " agitator" in society, and a preacher of " new 
 truths" to the people, counseled the rich folks to " sell all 
 they had" in order to follow the highest principles ; to 
 " pluck out " every offending obstacle ; and to " cut off " 
 every possible external impediment to their spiritual pro- 
 gression. It seems to our mind that this teaching is 
 particularly applicable in these days of supreme selfishness 
 and bigoted blindness. 
 
232 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 HovT to Live in this World. 
 
 CXLVIII. — Question : " I would solicit instructions in regard to 
 what course to pursue, in order to live right in this world. This desire 
 is unceasingly upon my mind." 
 
 Answer : It hath been written : " The spirit quickeneth, 
 the body profiteth nothing." We, on the other hand, 
 while admonishing you to believe that the spii-it is the only 
 " fount of every blessing," would urge you first of all 'to 
 ^nt your body in a harmonious and healthy condition. 
 
 1. Pure physical health is the foundation of every moral 
 excellence. 
 
 2. Individual impulses and interests, being undisciplined 
 and changeable, are liable to lead in uncertain and evil 
 ways. Therefore, let the principles of Love, Justice, 
 Truth, Wisdom, and Liberty, guide you in every relation 
 you sustain to individuals, to society, or to the world. By 
 adherence to these principles you will be many times 
 called upon to take a positive and open stand against every 
 person. Church, or State, which promotes the unmistakable 
 evils of hate, injustice, error, superstition, and tyranny. 
 
 3. The Past cannot be recalled. Regrets for deeds 
 already committed cannot aid your spiritual progress, 
 unless such regrets act as wholesome admonitions, saying : 
 " Go, sin no more." But if, on the contrary, your retro- 
 spections excite your soul to sadness, or arouse your 
 resisting faculties until feelings of revenge and cruelty 
 possess you, then say, " Get thee behind me, Satan !" 
 Cheerfulness and hopefulness are among the highest expres- 
 sions of spiritual help and virtue. 
 
 4. The embodiment of all terrestrial and heavenly prin- 
 cicles, IS God. Tlie essential half of God, is Mother 
 Nature. If you desire to become like unto these, strive 
 
TRAINING AND BIDING HORSES. 233 
 
 to evolve in daily practice all the principles of which you 
 can form any conception, both physical and mental. 
 
 5. Remember, the eternal gods are ever present ! Help 
 thyself then, and the gods will help thee. 
 
 Training and Riding Horses. 
 
 CXLIX. — Question : " Do you consider horsemanship and horse- 
 back riding natural and healthful ? Do you linow how long mankind 
 save used horses for such purposes ?" 
 
 Answer : Equitation, or the art of riding on horseback, 
 is a most graceful, healthful, and noble exercise. It is useful, 
 physiologically and psychologically, and should become a 
 universal custom. Carriages are very elegant and appro- 
 priate for the very infirm and sick ; but, except for long 
 journeys, carriage-riding is a most unnatural and unhealthy 
 practice. Let our American men and women, both young 
 and middle-aged, acquire the art of equitation. Nothing 
 can be more recreative and elegant. Written history does 
 not extend far enough in the remote past to report the 
 introduction of equestrianism. Genesis is called the 
 earliest history. The first mention of the horse as subser- 
 vient to the will and wishes of man, we find in Exodus. 
 It is there said, in relation to the flight of the Israelites, 
 that the " Egyptians pursued after them with the horses 
 and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen." In Grecian 
 history and poetry the glory and beauty of horsemanship are 
 frequently mentioned. Homer in the Odyssey compares 
 Ulysses, when shipwrecked and clinging to a plank, to a 
 well-trained horseman, keeping his seat across a restive 
 steed. In Egypt, Syria, Persia, Ethiopia, China, Greece, 
 Rome — indeed as far back as the memory of man extends 
 — we find positive evidences that there are natural affinities 
 between mankind and the noble horse. We say, never 
 exercise in a carriage when you can walk, or ride upon the 
 bajk of a horse. 20* 
 
234 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Swedenborg's Dietetic Habits. 
 
 OL. — Question : " A number of gentlemen have been recently 
 debating the question whether foods and dririks exert any positive 
 influence upon the action of the superior or spiritual faculties. Some 
 contend that, inasmuch as spirit in man is independent of the matter 
 composing his body, it is unreasonable to believe that physical habits 
 have any effect; while others contend for the opposite view, that 
 man's mind is a part of his corporeal frame, and must be benefited or 
 depressed by means of foods, drinks, &o. As the case of Swedenborg 
 was frequently alluded to, by both parties, to sustain the two theories, 
 I write to obtain from you the exact facts in the case of that great 
 Seer. Can you and will you state precisely what were the dietetic 
 habits of Swedenborg?" 
 
 Answer : Our correspondent's question requires a very 
 particular reply, because, notwithstanding the expressed 
 opinion that spirit is independent of the body, the great 
 facts of clear-mindedness, of clairvoyance, and of seership 
 in general, are inseparable from this question of eating, 
 drinking, and sleeping. What we have to oifer as testi- 
 mony on this head is reserved to a more suitable occasion. 
 In order to give the interrogator, and our readers 
 generally, a complete and important reply, we quote from 
 James John Garth Wilkinson's faithful Biography of the 
 great Seer of the North. The following paragraphs are 
 taken from' pp. 236-240 inclusive : 
 
 His diet was a constant harmony and prepa,ration of 
 his seership. " Bat not so much" was written over its 
 portal, and the instruction was obeyed throughout the 
 curriculum of his experiences. The vermin of gluttony 
 are all those bodily lives that exceed the dominion of 
 spiritual ; and these he cast out and kept out, fining down 
 the body to the shapely strictness of the soul. We read 
 of one excess that he committed, of so peculiar a nature, 
 that we tell it in his own words. It occurs in his Diary, 
 with the strong heading, «' The Stink of Intemperance." 
 " One evening," says he, " I took a greiit meal of milk and 
 
swedenborg's dietetic habits. 235 
 
 bread, more than the spirits considered good for -me. On 
 this occasion they dwelt upon intemperance, and accused 
 me of it." He then proceeds to say, that they made him 
 sensibly perceive the foulness •which their ideas attributed 
 to him. If so infantine a debauch wafe thus reproved, we 
 may imagine how sensitive a thermometer of appetite his 
 daily spiritual relations furnished ; how the spirits that 
 came to him opened a correspondence with the " animal 
 spirits" that were embodied by his diet. Seership, as a 
 general rule, is coincident with' abstemiousness, which is 
 the directest means of putting down the body, and, by the 
 law of the balance, of lifting up the soul; and where 
 seership is thus produced, it vrill, of itself, lead to new 
 demands from the soul, or new exigencies of temperance. 
 We might instance the Hindoo seers as examples of these 
 remarks, or we might support them bj' numerous cases 
 occurring in Europe, and even at the present time ; not to 
 mention that the germs of the experience are within every 
 man's knowledge. 
 
 As the man depends so much upon the dinner, and the 
 dinner upon the appetite and self-control, it is interesting 
 to know what was the diet of a man so industrious, peaceful, 
 and deep-eyed as Swedenborg. For some time after his 
 spiritual intercourse commenced, his mode of living 
 appears to have been not unusual, excepting that the 
 quantity was moderate ; he occasionally drank one or two 
 glasses of wine after dinner, but never more ; and he took 
 no supper. In company, throughout his life, he followed the 
 habit of the table, and took wine, " but always very moder- 
 ately." During the last fifteen years of his life he almost 
 abandoned the use of animal food, yet at times would eat 
 a little fish, eels particularly. His main stays were bread 
 and butter, milk and coffee, almonds and raisins, vegetables, 
 
236 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 biscuits, oakeSj and gingerbread, which he used frequently 
 to bring home with him, and share with the children. He 
 was a water-drinker, but his chief beverage was coffee 
 made very sweet, and without milk. Collin is correct 
 when he says that pensive men generally are fond of coffee. 
 At his house in Stockholm he had a fire from winter to 
 spring almost constantly in bis study, at which he made 
 his own coffee, and drank it often both in the day and the 
 night. He took snuff largely. It appears that he abstained 
 from animal food from dietetic considerations. At the 
 same time there dwelt in his mind a vegetarian tendencyj 
 pointed towards the future, or at least, what is the same 
 thing, crying out from the past. He writes on the subject 
 in his Arcana as follows : " Considered apart, eating the 
 flesh of animals is somewhat profane. The most ancient 
 people never on any account ate the flesh of either beast or 
 fowl, but lived entirely upon grain, especially on wheaten 
 bread, on fruit, vegetables, and herbs, various kinds of 
 milk, butter; &c. It was unlawful for them to kill animals, 
 or to eat their flesh. They looked upon it as bestial, and 
 were content with the uses and services that animals 
 afforded them. But in process of time, when men became 
 as cruel as wild beasts, yea, much more cruel, they began 
 to slay animals, and eat their flesh ; and in consideration 
 of this nature in man, the killing and eating of animals 
 was permitted, and continues to be so." 
 
 Some of Swedenborg's pursuers have alleged the whole 
 of his experiences to his coffee-drinking ; for coffee, acting 
 upon a pure temperament, will, they say, produce excita- 
 bility, sleeplessness, abnormal activity of mind and imagi- 
 nation, and fantastic visions; also loquacity. We credit 
 these effects of coffee. But he is a medical pedant who 
 would try to pour the Arcana or the Diarium out of a 
 
SWEDENBOBG S DIETETIC HABITS. 23'7 
 
 coffee-pot. Nevertheless, there is a truth in the allegation, 
 for if Swedenborg's was a life providential for a certain 
 end, then the coffee might be a part of the providence, and 
 lend its import to the seer. We forget that if God makes 
 the world, he also makes everything in it, and a new world 
 of things through other things. If coffee will dispose to 
 clear-seeing, surely the means do not injure the end. No 
 doubt seers are as regular fabrics as crystals, and not a 
 drug or berry is omitted from their build, when it is wanted. 
 Apart from metaphysics, the time has gone by when any- 
 thing is made out of nothing.. The question then is, not 
 only how Swedenborg came to be a visionary, but also 
 what are his visions worth ? Let the revelations criticise 
 the coffee, as well as vice versa. The prophets of old, 
 unless we are mistaken, had their diet enjoined ; but the 
 diet which supported, would be the last thing to contradict 
 the prophecy. The truth is, we do not yet know what diet 
 insures, or that it is the stuff in the potter's hands that 
 makes us either porcelain or common pot, either satin or 
 cotton. 
 
 Swedenborg was peculiar in the matter of sleep ; in his 
 later years he paid little attention to times and seasons ; 
 often labored through the whole night, and had no stated 
 periods of repose. " When I am sleepy," said he, " I go 
 to bed." He kept also little account of the days 
 of the week. As we have seen already, he some- 
 times continued in bed for several days together, when 
 enjoying his spiritual trances. He desired Shearsmith 
 never to disturb him at such times; an injunction which 
 was necessary, for the look of his face was so peculiar on 
 these occasions that Shearsmith sometimes feared that he 
 was dead. At other times, as soon as he awoke, he went 
 into his study, (when in Stockholm,) kindled the embers 
 
238 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 of his fire from a ready supply of dry wood and birch 
 bark, and immediately sat down to write. 
 
 He was not fluent in conversation ; indeed, he had an 
 impediment in his speech, which, perhaps, predisposed him 
 to the loss of it that he suffered from his apoplectic seizure. - 
 It does not appear that he had a remarkable facility for 
 acquiring languages, for we find that although he resi- 
 ded so long in London, he could not hold a running 
 conversation in English. He was, however, sufficiently 
 acquainted with the modern languages, as well as> with 
 Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. All the authorities agree 
 that his speech, though not facile, was impressive. He spoke 
 with deliberation, and when his voice was heard, it was a 
 signal for silence in others, while the slowness of his 
 delivery increased the curiosity of his listeners. He 
 entered into no disputes on matters of religion, but when 
 obliged to defend himself, he did it mildlyand briefly; 
 and if any one insisted upon argument, and became warm 
 against him,' he retired, with a recommendation to them " to 
 read his writings." One day, when Mr. Cookworthy was 
 with him in Coldbath Fields, a person present objected to 
 something that he said, and argued the point in .his own 
 way ; but Swedenborg only replied, " I receive information 
 from angels upon such things" — a response of a forcible 
 nature, supposing it true, for how many problems intro- 
 duction into the spiritual world would answer ; what a 
 smiting criticism, for instance, Polheim made, or rather wo*, 
 upon the burial service, just because he stood beyond the 
 grave, (p. 90.) Mr. Buckhardt relates that on one occa- 
 sion he was present when Swedenborg dined in London 
 with some of the Swedish clergy ; and a polemic arising 
 between him and one of them concerning the Lord^ and 
 the nature of our duty to him, Swedenborg " overthrew the 
 
METHOD OF SPIKIT COLTUEB. 239 
 
 tenets of his opponent, who appeared but a child to 
 him in knowledge." We can believe that there was a 
 formidable power in his slow utterances. 
 
 Were this the place, we might say much upon the almost 
 invariable partition that takes place between the gifts of 
 speaking and of thoughtful writing, so seldom united in 
 one person. The difference between the endowments lies 
 somewhat in mental velocities, the writer deploying his 
 forces with a slowness measured to the pen-strokes, the 
 orator rushing forth with his at voice-speed. The light 
 and heavy dragoons of intelligence fulfill different tactics 
 in the battles of the Word. Where impediment of speech 
 takes place, it is a sign of lacking communication between 
 the mind and the organs — of meanings in discourse coming 
 down flashwise ; and, in Swedenborg's instauce, it might 
 argue some predisposition for that separation and atisence 
 of soul from body for which his life was otherwise remark- 
 able — if this be not too medical an opinion. 
 
 Method of Spirit Culture. 
 
 CLI. Question: "Will you define the best means of mutual 
 
 improvement, or rather how two or more persons may aid each other 
 in the development of spirit and understanding ? " 
 
 Answer: The easiest source of mutual injury, or of 
 mutual benefit, is Conversation. Nothing is more efficient, 
 either for good or evil. Conversation is an art as well as 
 a natural gift., Some persons are chatty, incessant talkers, 
 or drizzling and monotonous tattlers, but few possess the 
 divine gift of imparting high thoughts by beautiful and easy 
 conversation. It is the most useful, the most natural, and 
 the most spiritual means of intellectual culture. Combative 
 conversation is invariably injurious and disgraceful. Small 
 talk is usually interlarded with vulgar stories and con- 
 temptible inuendoes. Chat is endurable for a brief period. 
 
240 ANSWERS T(f QUESTIONS. 
 
 But of all heathenisms, gossip is the most ruinous; it is 
 insulting and discouraging to the better parts of mind. 
 True, easy, graceful, natural conversation — up-flowing 
 from the heart's deep fountain — is profitable and attractive 
 to the last degree. Do not assume the attitude and import- 
 ance of au' orator while in conversation — make no parade 
 with your hands, as though you were addressing a multi- 
 tude — but let the tongue give expression, gesture, and 
 emphasis to your thought. Speak your words distinctly, 
 and not too fast, but sufficiently rapid to keep your com- 
 panion in sympathy with your theme. Never monopolize 
 the time or attention of any company — never talk while 
 another is speaking— but introduce your thoughts only 
 when the way is open. We know of no accomplishment 
 more advantageous than conversation. A man should talk 
 like a book and a book should talk like a man. 
 
 HoAV to 1)6001116 an Author. 
 
 OLII. — Question : " As I wish to take to the trade of Literature, 
 I would be obliged if you will tell me how to commence." 
 
 Answer: Commence with sincere conviction, with a 
 goodly measure of intuitional persuasion that you have 
 genuine intellectual abilities. Do not begin with borrowed 
 light, nor with the delusive impression that there is no 
 " green-room" of downright hard work. Words are mighty 
 only with the naturally intelligent or truly educated. And 
 there are no limits to the artistic knowledge and use of 
 implements by which word-painting is made attractively 
 perfect and influential. 
 
 But we do not like the employment of the word " trade," 
 in connection with the divine privilege of receiving and 
 imparting knowledge. It conveys a false and mischievous 
 impression. If you mean to acquire the art of mechanical 
 book-making, of merely selecting and syRtema+izing the 
 
HOW TO BECOME AN AUTHOR. S4l 
 
 literar}' labors of others, we do not object to the term. 
 For then your occupation would be like that of hundreds 
 of fine and beautiful minds in the sweep of civilization, 
 a mere physical use of thought and brains, with a remunera- 
 tion (except in rare instances) not more than one degree 
 above diurnal despair and material starvation. 
 
 As a general rule we should discourage any young 
 person from devotion to literature, if what are called 
 " learning" and " ambition" cotnprise the working capital- 
 stock in the beginner's soul. Polite literature or " belles- 
 lettres," is not worth the having. It is to the intellect 
 what artificial cokur de rose is to the cheek — beautiful and 
 attractive (and most rewardful) while it continues to 
 deceive. But real Literature is deeper than history, more 
 symmetrical than grammar, more eloquent than rhetoric, 
 more coherent than logic, and the true literati are more 
 immortal and influential than the mightiest rulers over 
 earthly kingdoms. 
 
 By this we mean that a real author is more than a 
 writer. The genuine thinker is almost never visible in his 
 thoughts. Egotism is never central, hardly incidental, to 
 the living picture of words. The impostor, on the other 
 hand, is ever sounding his excellencies. He cries up 
 his own ware, and flings discredit upon the works of his 
 neighbors. 
 
 There are, however, cases of simple embarrassment 
 which give the impression of egotism. Shakspeare was 
 never truly a genius except when representing others, self- 
 forgetful the while ; at such times he became " as broad 
 and casing as the general air." Above the petty tyrannies 
 of literary custom, superior to the profound jargon of the 
 classical.master of all the trammeling intricacies of thought, 
 " glancing from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven," 
 ' 21 
 
2 13 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 his genius swept the arena of life, and spirit, and passiou^ 
 and gave the world assurance of inspirations immeasurably 
 bevond the learning and language of the schools. 
 
 We answer you at length, reader, because the world 
 is teeming with pedants and cringing cowards — especially 
 is this true in the world of learning and literature. 
 Thousands there are who employ their brains and hands, 
 their thoughts and pens, their compositors and steam-presses, 
 to string together and sell idle words, servants to shallow 
 minds, apd who thus manage to get a living by " The Trade 
 of Literature." Such unprofitable writers — weak arbi- 
 trators between the almighty press and the people's real 
 necessities — are clients for incapacitated ofiSce-seekers, or 
 they will write puffs upon the Rt. Rev. Dr. Sonne's literary 
 sermons. It grieves us 
 
 " to the soul 
 
 To see how man submits to man's control ; 
 How overpowered and shackled minds are led 
 In vulgar tracks, and to submission bred." 
 
 We want minds who behold something beyond public 
 honors and proud titles, who will walk the billows of 
 Time's fitful ocean, who will cast their spiritual " bread 
 upon the waters" of Life's sorrowing sea, who will spread 
 the feast of eternal Reason as the flower unfolds its petals 
 in the sun's love-lit eye — and, reader ! may we hope that 
 you will choose to live and to labor in fraternal union 
 with the few, " the elect," of Love, Justice, Wisdom, 
 Liberty ! " Many are called ; few are chosen." 
 
 Remember that when the noble mind bursts its prison- 
 doors of ignorance and egotism — by means of constant and 
 sublime exertion, in obedience to the laws of bodily health — 
 there is then no barrier between it (the mind; and the 
 eternal fountains of light and love which flow from beyond 
 
HOW TO GET PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE. 243 
 
 the stars. But unless your soul be pervaded with a deep, 
 divine conviction — as above indicated — it is hardly wise to 
 commence. For without the remuneration of affection 
 and reason, you would find no other reward equal to your 
 labors. 
 
 HoAV to Get Practical Knowledge. 
 
 CLIII. — Question : " Who obtains the most useful and practical 
 knowledge — the close observer with the aid of a common-school 
 education, or the classical student ? " 
 
 Answer : If you would take the impresssions of things 
 just as and where they are, and if you would sympathize 
 with the effects which those impressions produce on 
 the general mind, then look upon events and circumstances 
 with the healthy and sturdy discrimination of common 
 sense. But if your ambition is to bury thoughts in cum- 
 brous phraseology, to cast all your opinions into a given 
 mold, to think in a set form, to bind your impressions by 
 the statutes of scholastic routine, to become inflexible and 
 sternly critical, to know almost nothing, and at the same 
 time appear (grammatically and pbilologically) to know 
 everything impracticable and magnificently incomprehen- 
 sible — if this be your ambition, we advise you to become 
 what is termed a "classical student." 
 
 In saying this, however, we do not mean to reflect 
 unjustly upon a real practical knowledge of the several 
 languages. There is great advantage in such an education 
 as that which comprehends the native tongues of the 
 world's greatest builders in philosophy, morals, and science. 
 Putting Greek into the memory of certain industrious souls 
 is like placing Aladdin's Lamp in the hand of some worthy 
 mendicant ; for riches, lasting and beautiful, are certain 
 to flow through it into the whole world ; but to make a 
 " classical education " an ultimatum, as hundreds do-^a 
 
244 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 mere sounding substitute, for genuine common sense, strength- 
 ened by reasonable habits of observation-^is nearly as 
 great a misfortune as unteachable ignorance. 
 
 Of all kinds and grades of ignorance we know of none 
 more unteachable than that of the " Learned." Classical 
 students get the impression that intelligence of the best 
 quality was confined to the ancient masters. Perhaps Cicero 
 wrote the best things on " Duty" — perhaps Plato expressed 
 the finest perceptions of natural " truths," verging on the 
 spiritual — but a classical student is not so likely to appre- 
 ciate either, as the healthy, rational, progressive mind, iu 
 the humblest stations of civilized society. Let us get 
 knowledge and learning, but let each add the wisdom of 
 common sense. 
 
 The Pride of Intellect. 
 
 CLIV. — Question : " Does a study of the works of God develop 
 an intellectual pride antagonistic to the exercise of religious senti- 
 ments ? " 
 
 Answee: If by the words "exercise of religious senti- 
 ments," our interrogator means the sense of obligation and 
 of humility which man instinctively feels toward the 
 Infinite, we answer that the study of Nature is the only true 
 preventive of false intellectual pride, and the only practical 
 and normal method of making progress toward what is 
 celestial and heavenly. Mr. Gladstone, M. P., in his 
 speech before the Liverpool School of Science, uttered the 
 substance of what we would say : 
 
 " When a man comes to study and observe the kingdom 
 of Nature, he finds himself in contact with vast and 
 gigantic forces, that he cannot for a moment resist. He 
 feels himself absolutely in the power and at the disposal 
 of an Almighty Being, and he sinks into humility before 
 the majesty of that being. But while he thus learns 
 
YOUNG "WRITERS OF POETRY. 245 
 
 hmnility, and wliile he might almost be appalled by the 
 evidences of power — on the other hand, he sees those 
 cheering proofs multiplied from every side, of beneficent 
 design, which encourage him to repose a filial trust in the 
 goodness of that God who has so richly throughout the 
 natural kingdom provided for the support, the comfort, 
 and the advancement of human nature. And if we are 
 told that intellectual pride is to be the result of scientific 
 knowledge, all I can say is that intellectual pride was not 
 its result in the mind of Bacon, in the mind of Newton, in 
 the mind of most of those great men who have most faith- 
 fully and successfully dedicated themselves to those pur- 
 suits ; because they have always felt that whatever Nature 
 told to us was but a light which glanced upon other regions 
 as yet unexplored, and which testified to the existence of 
 an infinity of knowledge not as yet communicated, entirely 
 transcending that limited province within which it has as 
 yet been given to man to walk." 
 
 It seems to us impossible that any genuine student of 
 Nature should be puffed up " with vanity." The true 
 mind drinks " deep" of the waters of wisdom. A. super- 
 ficial knowledge of Science is doubtless productive of 
 egotism and pedantry. A substantial character is known 
 by its earnest devotion to the honest evidence of its senses 
 — in connection with logical deductions from experience, 
 and testimonies derived from intuition and reason. 
 
 Young Writers of Poetry. 
 
 CLV. — Question : " I send you a poetical contribution. There 
 must be a beginning to every intellectual pursuit in life ; and, as 
 ' nothing comes of nothing,' or, as great things from small ones flow, 
 BO may I not, by courage, and faith, and hope, labor for a still more 
 perfect period in my life's history ? " 
 
 Answer: Your remarks are particularly true with 
 
 regard to that branch of literature of which your contri- 
 21* 
 
246 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 bution forms a part. Poetry is one of the Pine Arts, like 
 Painting, Sculpture, and Music ; and it requires not only 
 natural genius in a certain direction, but patient industry 
 and severe discipline in the line of mental culture, to 
 become a proficient, much more a master, in the utterance 
 of that divine Poetic Principle which is " lyrical, and 
 sweet, and universal as the rising of the wind." Hence, 
 for an embryo Poet to send his first impulsive effusions to a 
 public journal, for insertion, would be like an embryo 
 Painter sending his first rude sketches to a public picture- 
 gallery for exhibition. Long and toilsome is usually the 
 journey to the summit of excellence in all high departments 
 of human attainment ; therefore, the youthful writer should 
 be neither surprised nor disheartened by the rejection of any 
 primary productioQ, since perfection comes out of imper- 
 fection, or, in other words, " practice makes perfect,'" 
 
 The Duty of Naturalization. 
 
 CLVI. — Question : " Presuming that I am entitled to the privilege 
 of addressing myself to you, in the capacity of an interrogator, I pro 
 ceed at once to ask of you an opinion relative to the legal enactment 
 by which a foreigner is enabled to take out papers of Naturalization. 
 Would you, being an advocate of a higher law, counsel me to become 
 naturalized'?" 
 
 Answer : Yes, friend. Do not delay an hour. Become 
 
 Naturalized at once ; and so remain, " world without end." 
 
 The Spirit, of Nature calls to thee from afar, and from 
 
 within your own soul not less, so that you need not neglect 
 
 the duty, nor plead ignorance of the steps necessary to 
 
 make you a naturalized citizen of the world. 
 
 " Look on yonder earth ! 
 The golden harvests spring ; the unfailing sun 
 Sheds light and Hfe; the fruits, the flowers, the trees 
 Arise in due succession ; all things speak 
 Peace, harmony, and love." 
 
 You have asked a strange question : " Would we 
 
THE DUTY OF lifATURALIZATION. 247 
 
 counsel you to become naturalized ? " Do you not know- 
 that the pure diffusion of Nature's essence throb? " alike 
 in every liuman heart " ? The poet's scriptures contain the 
 following assurance : 
 
 " There is uo danger to a man that knows 
 What life and death is : there's not any law 
 Exceeds his knowledge, neither is it lawful 
 That he should stoop to any other law.'''' 
 
 Thus, friend, you understand the "Higher Law" in 
 •ffhich we religiously believe. Our higher law is the law 
 of Harmony between body and soul, first of all; then 
 between man and man in the universal sense ; and lastly, 
 between universal man and the infinite principles of Father 
 and Mother. Can you not pledge yourself to support this 
 conjugal Union ? 
 
 You are entitled to all the rights and privileges of 
 Naturalization. You may be an " alien" to-day ; but, hap- 
 pily, you may renounce all other allegiance and become a 
 citizen at once. Nor is it necessary first to become twenty- 
 one years of age ; nor does the law require that you shall 
 be born with a masculine vesture ; nor that you must first 
 be a free white, with property and education ; nor that you 
 must have inherited a fortune in the form of a white skin, 
 with a fully developed cerebrum ; on the contrary, the law 
 requires that you make oath or affirmation before the 
 Supreme Court of Common Sense, that, renouncing all 
 allegiance to popular forms of bigotry and despotism, " be 
 the same more or less," you will henceforth support the 
 Constitution of body and soul, and otherwise make good 
 your loyal declarations. As in public, so also in private 
 relations to your fellow-men. 
 
 The Naturalization-oflice is situated in and through all 
 that portion of your organism called " The Beain." For- 
 
348 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 eigners, in the garb of new thoughts and ideas, keep 
 crowding the vestibule and the main hall-way. Each is 
 anxious to be received and transmogrified from a state of 
 cloudiness and uncertainty, to full-fledged voting sovereigns 
 of the Eternal Spirit. 
 
 The Rights of Races ? 
 
 CLVII. — Question : " Do you believe in any rights outside of th* 
 individual ? " 
 
 Answer : If our questioner's meaning is rightly appre- 
 hended, the reply may be briefly written. All natural (or 
 divine) Rights are inherent with the individual. But it 
 may be profitably remembered that an individual derive!) 
 his life from the life of the universal Father and Mother. 
 A man's independence is, therefore, encircled by the sphere 
 of his dependence, even as his individual rights are limited 
 and modified by his relations to the rest of mankind. 
 
 We answer, then, that no man can be " a sovereign," 
 except by the consent of his fellows. Individual rights, in 
 the social and national compact, are consequently relative, 
 and not absolute. Man's natural Rights are, to the great 
 body of mankind, what a note of music is to the entire 
 harmony. The spirit of Brotherhood must overcome the 
 passion of selfishness. 
 
 The Value of Just Critieism. 
 
 CLVIII. — Question : " I do not wiBh you to think that I believe 
 all you say to he true, for I believe you are liable to err as others are ; 
 yet 1 admire your writings. I think some of your positions are falsi. 
 6hall 1 try to demonstrate this opinion at some future time ? " 
 
 Answer : Truth only is infallible. And he is the best 
 
 citizen of any empire, and the noblest friend of his race, 
 
 who perceives and exemplifies the most of Love and Wisdom. 
 
 Men and Nations yearn — pray — hunger — thirst — for the 
 
 whole, well-rounded Troth. Let us fraternally, yet fear- 
 
BOOKS IN THE DARK AGES. 249 
 
 lessly, analyze each other's development. No hypocrisy 
 or concealment. JJealthy criticism is the best mental 
 fertilizer because it plows up the soil of thought, and pre- 
 pares it for the best seed-grains of truth. We agree with 
 our questioner iu his estimate of individual liability to err, 
 and shall, therefore, welcome any demonstration calculated 
 to overthrow error and establish truth instead. 
 
 " Peace, progress, knowledge, brotherhood, 
 The ignorant may sneer, 
 The bad deny, but we rely 
 To see their triumph near. 
 , No widow's groans shall load our cause; 
 No blood o( brethren slain , 
 We've won without such aid before, 
 And so we shall again.'" 
 
 Books in the Dark Ages. 
 
 CLIX. — Question : " I heard a discourse last Sunday against the 
 doctrine of ' Progress ' as advocated by yourself and others. The 
 preacher said ' Men had made but little advancement in point of 
 Literature, &c.' Will you give some few facts relative to the literary 
 advantages of this age ? " 
 
 Answer : People who lived before the invention of 
 printing and steam-presses were deprived of almost all the 
 advantages of books and public education. Mr. Lawrence, 
 in his Lives of the British Historians, says : " The libraries 
 of Italy were so totally ruined by the invasion of the 
 barbarians that the popes were often obliged to borrow 
 books from Germany. In France they were so scantily 
 supplied, that, in the ninth century, the abbot of Ferriers 
 sent to Pope Benedict HI., to beg a copy of Cicero de 
 Officis, as there was none in all France. At the beginning 
 of the tenth century, copies of the Bible were so rare in 
 Spain, that one copy ofton served for several monaste- 
 ries. It was a rule of the English monasteries, in 1072, 
 that the librarians should deliver to each monk one book 
 
250 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 at the beginning of the year ; and if at its close he had 
 not read it, he was obliged to do penance. The bishop of 
 Winchester's cathedral library consisted, in, 1224, of 
 seventeen books. This prelate borrowed from the convent 
 of St. Swithin, a copy of the Bible, in two folio volumes, 
 giving his bond for its safe return. The Bible had lately 
 been bequeathed to the convent, and so valuable was the 
 legacy, that a daily mass was said for the soul of the donor. 
 
 '• Books, in those days, were the most costly possessions, 
 yet no price could, in fact, exceed their value, since they 
 contained the germs of civilization and advancement. In 
 those few manuscripts, so reverenced and valued, was shut 
 up the great spirit of modern progress. 
 
 " But even had the simple monks beheld clearly all the 
 vast results that were to flow from the influence of books, 
 they could not have looked upon them with more reverence 
 than they did out of pure superstition, or for the sake of 
 their rarity. If any person gave a book to a holy house, 
 he was thought to have deserved salvation. Formidable 
 anatheaias were pronounced against any one who should 
 alienate or injure one of these costly possessions. The 
 sale of a book was attended with as many formalities as 
 that of a vast estate. Persons of character and import- 
 ance were invited to witness the transfer ; and a formal 
 record was made of the transaction. In 1225, Roger, 
 dean of York, gave several Latin Bibles to Oxford, with 
 a condition that the student who borrowed one of them 
 should deposit a pledge for its safe return. Oxford, the 
 seat of English learning, possessed, in the fourteenth 
 century, a library, consisting of a few tracts chained to the 
 wall, or kept in the chancel of St. Mary's church ; and 
 even so late as the fifteenth, it was ordered by the statute 
 of St. Mary's College, that no student should use a book 
 
HOW TO SECURE A FREE CONVENTION. 251 
 
 longer than an hour or two at most, so that all might profit 
 by the scanty collection. In France, at the opening of the 
 fourteenth century, the loyal library of Paris contained 
 but four classics, one copy each of Cicero, Ovid, Lacon, 
 and Boethius." 
 
 The World wants FeAW Words. 
 
 CLX. — Question : " Is it necessary for me to commit to memory 
 a great many -words, in order to write and conTsrse with ease and 
 fluency ? " 
 
 Answer : We think that a general and accurate know- 
 ledge of the English language is necessary to either good 
 writing or conversation, unless you write and speak by the 
 celestial electricity of pure inspiration. And yet only a 
 small part of the dictionary is brought into requisition. 
 Best writers use but few of the many thousands of words ; 
 but those few terms are strong, pertinent, and significant. 
 " While," says an exchange, "there are nearly 100,000 
 words in the English language, scarcely any one writer 
 uses more than 10,000, and few people use in conversation 
 more than 3,000. Shakspeare has not more than 15,000, 
 and Milton but 8,000. The wants of the world require 
 but few words for their expression. The Egyptians had 
 but 800 hieroglyphics, in which their history for successive 
 ages was written. 
 
 HoAV to Secure a Free Convention. 
 
 CLXI. — Question : " Our people very much want a convention. 
 What is the best mode of procedure according to your experience ?" 
 
 Answer : We have considerable experience as to the 
 internal arrangement and direction of public meetings. 
 A free-discussion gathering, with no by-laws, is the most 
 unprofitable of all institutions. Properly, wisely, and lov- 
 ingly managed, however, a Free Convention is the most 
 cheering and memorable event. We almost pity a town 
 
252 ANSWERS TO QUBSTIOXS. 
 
 or a city tliat has not had a real American Spiritual 
 Assemblage. They are useful and profitable in many ways, 
 and should be held wherever circumstances will aid them. 
 In places where reformers are not blest with worldly 
 goods in great abundance, and economy is necessary, we 
 respectfully suggest — 
 
 First : Procure the services of one or two speakers — 
 either normal or inspirational — of well-known abilities. 
 
 Second : Then publish a cordial call to the world, 
 inviting both skeptics and believers to meet on a free 
 platform. 
 
 Third, and lastly : Send written and special invitations 
 by mail to whomsoever the public may feel a wish to hear, 
 requesting such to generously contribute their personal 
 presence and spiritual influence. This procedure will be 
 likely to result in a large congregation of brave men and 
 Avomen. Of course the friendly citizens will, as far as 
 possible, open the doors and hospitalities of their homes. 
 Such accommodations should be pre-arranged. 
 
 But " Order is Heaven's first law." A truly Free 
 Convention is not a reckless institution, but is one of the 
 best illustrations of individuality harmonized with general 
 liberty. Our experience has resulted in the following 
 system of regulation ; for it should be remembered that 
 hearers have rights to be respected as well as speakers : 
 
 1. The Free Spiritual Convention will hold three 
 sessions per day, to wit : commencing at half-past 9 o'clock, 
 A. M., 2 o'clock, P. M., and 7 o'clock, evening. 
 
 2. Each session to open with music, to be followed by 
 a speech, limited in time only by the discretion of the 
 speaker ; each initial speaker to be engaged by the Busi- 
 ness Committee. 
 
 3. After the delivery of the opening speech, each sub- 
 
HOW TO SECURE A FREE CONVENTION. 253 
 
 sequent speaker will be regulated in time by a twenty 
 minutes rule. This will give every speaker an opportunity 
 to be heard once or more. But — 
 
 4. If the Convention wishes to extend any speaker's 
 time beyond twenty minutes, it may be done through the 
 Chairman. 
 
 5. In such a Convention, man's voice on all questions will 
 be counted equal to woman's. 
 
 6. It is proposed to abolish the custom of drafting and 
 insisting upon the adoption of resolutions — instead whereof 
 all speakers are requested to crystallize the pith of their 
 leading speech in the form of a resolution, and read it. 
 
 7. But all resolutions touching the necessary business 
 of the Convention will be offered for action and adoption-. 
 
 8. All sessions will be perfectly free to the public, 
 except the evening sessions, when the small fee of one dimt 
 will be taken at the door, to cover the expenses of the 
 Convention. 
 
 This plan, although not congenial to certain selfish 
 natures who are certain to imagine that their liberties as 
 speakers are tyrannically curtailed, gives the utmost satis- 
 faction to the audience. But in case of smaller gatherings, 
 perhaps none of these rules are advisable, a chairman 
 being all-sufficient. 
 
 In this connection, we remark, friends of the Spiritual 
 
 Philosophy, in all parts of the country, seem to regard a 
 
 system of establishing societies, with regular speaking, as 
 
 the best means of spreading and strengthening a knowledge 
 
 of the principles of the New Pispensation. There is, 
 
 unquestionably, much in this movement which will 
 
 have a direct and lasting influence on the future of our 
 
 universal cause. All reasonable minds are friendly to the 
 
 organization of circles and societies in different localities, 
 22 
 
254 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 in order to unite the feelings and strengthen the efforts of 
 friends in reform ; but it will hardly be within the range 
 of possibilities to attract Spiritualists into any arbitrary 
 system of Churchianity, by which their opinions will be 
 rendered subservient to the restrictions of a creed. There 
 is freedom in Spiritual gatherings and business organiza- 
 tions; but there is a lurking danger in that kind of 
 organization which is predicated upon definite Articles of 
 Faith ; and while earnestly suggesting that orderly meet- 
 ings and convocations may be instituted in every community 
 throughout the land, we warn all men against arbitrary 
 standards and dogmatic assumptions. To every one who 
 belongs to some creed, the poet puts the following 
 questions : 
 
 " What art thou ? Say, art thou not a slave, 
 
 Who to some master owes thy every thought — 
 Who blindly gropes from birth unto the grave, 
 
 Like some poor animal that has been bought, 
 And fed, and fattened ? Is thy thinking wrought 
 
 By the false littleness of some timid sage. 
 Who knows no more than what he has been taught, 
 
 And cyphers Truth out by a printed page. 
 Or, thinking, hides his thoughts, lest he should shock the Age?" 
 
 Coming of a Personal Savior. 
 
 CLXII. — Question : " Do you believe that the spirit of Jesus 
 Christ shall appear as a Man, glorious in form and majestic in 
 manner .... having an earthly body, &o. ?" 
 
 Answer : What could a single individual Jesus accom- 
 plish among 900,000,000 human beings ? If he should 
 spend a month at Washington, correcting the evils of 
 politics, would not other strongholds of evil be gaining 
 strength in the meantime ? He would be required in both 
 New York and London in the same afternoon. He could not 
 attend to his Father's business, in all places, if he should 
 come to earth as a person. Personality necessitates 
 
THEOCRATIC AND RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS. 255 
 
 locality. Locality necessitates partiality. Pa.rtiality neces- 
 sitates injustice. Injustice necessitates another martyrdom. 
 'Sow, reader, do let the old superstition of a personal Jesus, 
 as the world's Savior, pass quietly out of your thoughts and 
 writings. Men need more Principle and less individual- 
 ism in religion. 
 
 Theocratic and Religious Associations. 
 
 CLXIII. — Question : " What do you think of an association hased 
 upon a theocratical foundation ? Is such an association worthy of the 
 age ■? Is theocracy a true form of government ? What do you 
 thmk ? " 
 
 Answer : We think that Spiritualism is worth some- 
 ■".hing besides yielding a vast harvest of convincing demon- 
 strations that mankind live subsequent to the event of physi- 
 cal dissolution. Aside from this, we .regard the tendency 
 of Spiritualism as mighty in the work of emancipating the 
 human mind from the entanglements of arbitrary authority. 
 Over and above the social pleasures of Spiritual inter- 
 course, and paramount to the varied and widely interesting 
 truths which the proofs of immortality constantly impart 
 to the receiver's soul, there stands sublimely forth the 
 grand and glorious truth that each human mind is an indi- 
 vidualized combination of eternal principles. Effulgent 
 and fertilizing, like the rays of the sun in the blue immen- 
 sity, are the truths of " Individualism." Man's spirit is 
 an institution, per se, a reservoir of indestructible principles 
 — a miniature world of moral and intellectual powers — 
 which are endowed with the inherent capacity of endless 
 growth and unlimited expansion. These sacred facts of eter- 
 nal ^er*cma/i<y and co-equal responsibility shine vividly through 
 all the holy revelations of the present era. Essentially, 
 therefore, it is a sacred truth that mankind are compeers 
 and equals — the difference between men being, for the most 
 
256 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 part, external and temporary. In the light of Spiritualism, 
 we think it is impossible for any very philanthropic minds 
 to establish an arbitrary form of government, or to organ- 
 ize a social and economic movement, which shall permit 
 one man, or any combination of men, to curtail the right 
 of the individual to rule sole sovereign over himself. 
 
 News once came across the prairies that a " Harmonial 
 Society" had been organized in the State of Arkansas, and 
 that said association was an embodiment of inspirations 
 and principles vouchsafed from very high sources of intelli- 
 gence' and truth. We experienced emotions of joy and 
 gratitude, and yet we could not suppress a painful suspicion 
 that the movement concealed the cloven-foot of an old 
 (^D)evil, with which nations and races have had to struggle 
 for thousands and thousands of departed years. With the 
 celerity of lightning our thoughts flashed down the gory 
 grooves of Time, and contemplated the progressive devel- 
 opment of tribes and races, from the iirst savages to 
 the present population of America ; and nothing was 
 more vivid than that "Theocracy" is the form of govern- 
 ment to which only children in the art and science of self- 
 control will submit. Savages are natural anarchists. One 
 step forward, however, and the form of government will 
 be Patriarchal. Each tribe will have its own Father, 
 who is arbiter and absolute governor. But this form 
 gradually changes into Theocracy. A Theocracy means 
 the government of a people by the (supposed) immediate 
 direction of God. The Israelites furnish an example. The 
 chief priest, however, really had everything his own way. 
 He had but to say, " Thus saith the Lord," and his com- 
 mands, good or evil, were unhesitatingly obeyed. Then 
 comes the fourth form of government, which is Monarchy. 
 Monarchy is a government in which the supreme power is 
 
THEOCKATIC AND RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS. 257 
 
 lodged in the hands of a single person. The succeeding, 
 or filth form or government, is Republicanism. This is a 
 system in which majorities rule. The sovereign power is 
 lodged by the people in their representatives. Lastly, 
 comes the sixth form of government, which is Democracy. 
 A genuine Democratic form of government has never as yet 
 been developed on earth. The government of Athens, in 
 Greece, was an approach to it. Democracy is an institu- 
 tion in which the supreme power is lodged ia:ihe hands of 
 the people. America is not a Democracy : it is a Republic. 
 Republicanism invests representatives with all the power 
 of legislation : Democracy, on the other hand, is the power 
 of the people to legislate for themselves. Hence, we aspire 
 after a true Democratic form of government. It is supe- 
 rior to Republicanism. 
 
 But we labor for such a development of the individual 
 as will make even " Democracy" a perfectly useless form of 
 government. The full and free expansion of man's individual 
 powers and faculties will be attended with the overthrow 
 or decay of every arbitrary system. ' " Each man will be a 
 law unto himself." Where shall we expect such develop- 
 ment to commence ? Where, unless with the true Spirit- 
 ualist? Who can know anything of the " Liberty of the 
 Sons of God " except those who, as a reward for truth- 
 seeking in spite of public opinion, have been and are 
 blessed with the many and varied truths of a philosophical 
 Spiritualism ? 
 
 The first Harmonial Society will be a spontaneous com- 
 minglingof self-regulating and mutually-interested men, wo- 
 men, and children — a State in which each home will be held 
 sacred as a sanctuary of private rights and spiritual happi- 
 ness — a Society, in brief, wherein Selfishness cannot exist; 
 where Love is the only tie ; where Industry is honored ; 
 
 22* 
 
258 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 wliere Injustice cannot be done ; where Attraction will be 
 the only law of association ; and where Wisdom in each will 
 be the only Theocrat to which the individual is amenable. 
 Until human beings can dwell together " in the bonds of 
 peace"— naturally, and without arbitrary government — we 
 hold that it is far better to remain among existing institu- 
 tions. It is surely better to improve upon what is, rather 
 than to multiply " stumbling-blocks," and then scatter 
 them along th^ pathways of Progress. 
 
 Organized and Associative Effort. 
 
 CLXIV. — Question: "Is it- not about time for Spiritualists 
 and. Reformers to associate themselves together for purposes of self- 
 protection and philanthropy ? Can we not do more good as a body, 
 by organization and systematic effort, than by the present individual 
 and isolated method "? Does not Nature teach organization and 
 system ? " 
 
 Answer : All Nature works by organization, by system, 
 by co-operation, by unity of means and energies, and we 
 have never felt unfriendly to Nature's methods ; but we 
 have yet to learn that Nature builds a planet, a mountain 
 of granite, a tree, an animal, or a human being, by a con- 
 centration and organic conspiration of her laws and plastic 
 materials. A world is born out of matter with but little 
 aid from the materials or essences of other and older 
 bodies in space. A tree begins from a germ and grows 
 up into full-blown treehood without an organized effort by 
 the surrounding forest. An animal is brought forth and 
 grows up to its full measure without an organized exertion 
 by the animal kingdom. A human being, the most won- 
 derful and perfect of all organic forms, is not the work of 
 any systematic association on the part of mankind. All 
 these vast, delicate, complicated, harmonious results, are 
 accomplished without taxing the time, energies, and atten- 
 tion of the surrounding universe. These bodies obtain 
 
ORGANIZED AND ASSOCIATIVE EFFORT. 259 
 
 tteir substance and vitality from their immediate, inde- 
 pendent, benevolent neighbors, and not from a particular 
 treasury of essences and principles. A congress of animals 
 do not meet to legislate new animals into existence, nor to 
 decide when those already in being shall become extinct. 
 We never witnessed a convention of trees for the purpose 
 of organizing plans for the engermination and growth of 
 other trees. We never saw an organization of planets 
 holding "secret" sessions to arrange the future coming and 
 government of other planets. 
 
 Nevertheless, we believe in systematic and orderly 
 effort ; and, so believing, we do nearly all our work every 
 day in a systematic and orderly manner. We believe in 
 organization of labor, capital, and talent ; and so believ- 
 ing, we harmonize them as far as practicable in our deal- 
 ings with the living and moving world ; and we shall 
 welcome the hour when many may be as one (e pluribus 
 unum) in the practical concerns and interests of life. The 
 manifold economies and immense advantages of organized 
 efforts are evident to every thinker. But to the question, 
 Shall Spiritualists and Reformers organize ? " 
 
 In reply, we speak for ourself and for those only, who, 
 spontaneously and unsolicited, think as we think on the 
 subject. We shall most heartily encourage every reason- 
 able, practical effort for the world's advancement. We 
 deem every movement reasonable and practical, like a iire- 
 company or a prison-reform society, which goes directly 
 and systematically about its business and duties without 
 Bitting in judgment upon the political or religious convic- 
 tions of its members. Any ecclesiastical jurisdiction is a 
 hindrance to individual liberty. Personal freedom is most 
 important to spiritual growth. All civilization, not based 
 upon perfect, personal self-ownership, is false, semi-despotic. 
 
260 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 and will yet be " put aside " by true manhood, with all 
 other " childish things." 
 
 Spiritualists should not need a " Board of Directors " 
 to inform them when they may do good. The man or 
 woman tliat needs the dictum of a Society t« indicate the 
 " ways and means " of helping a fellow being, has hardly 
 outgrown the churches, and we counsel all such to remain 
 in some established sect or society, until they <;tbtain strength 
 enough to stand alone and to do good works from the 
 internal spirit and power of truth. 
 
 It is unquestionably best for local business organiza- 
 tions to be instituted. Traveling teachers of the New 
 Dispensation are sorely tried with the chaos and incon- 
 veniences of the present hap-hazard condition and methods 
 of conducting public meetings. Such local societies may 
 easily organize, in accordance with the laws of the State 
 in which they exist, and thus reach all the beneficent ends 
 that are accomplished by sectarian organizations, avoiding 
 as many of their follies and errors as possible. 
 
 We have no objections to such local, temporary, practical, 
 easily-managed, non-sectarian organizations. If some of our 
 Spiritualists want Odd-Fellowship, Free-Masonry, or other 
 forms of secret Societies, they ought to join themselves to 
 such bodies, and not spend their time, and mind, and means, 
 in concocting comprehensive spiritual movements, which can 
 accomplish little more than the several societies and reli- 
 gious schemes already organized and in full operation. To 
 all propositions of this nature, to attach ourself to such 
 schemes, we answer, emphatically, no ! The world is full 
 of them, and we shall not help to " organize more defeats." 
 But if any of our brethren want to involve themselves in 
 such fascinating ecclesiastical machinery, they shall have 
 
OEGAXIZED AND ASSOCIATIVE EFFORT. 261 
 
 our friendship as individuals just tlie same, but as "a body" 
 they may expect neither our sympathy nor approbation. 
 
 " The Spiritual Congress," (see Present Age and Inner 
 Life, p. 82,) contemplated nothing like the organizational 
 schemes which certain Spiritualists are striving to develop. 
 It is unqualifiedly assumed by some earnest minds that the 
 said Congress of Spirits is the prime source of these organ- 
 izational schemes. We hereby declare, with full know- 
 ledge of the facts, that every such assumption is untenable. 
 There is no foundation for it in truth. The members of 
 that Congress do not work for mankind in an associ- 
 ative capacity. They came together like earthly minds in 
 temporary convention. 
 
 " For what purpose ? " you ask. Read the reply on 
 page 94, thus : " For the purpose of weighing kings, 
 emperors, tyrants, teachers, and theologians, in the balance 
 of Justice and Truth. And mene, mene, tekel, upharsin, is 
 written all over their institutions. Men have commented 
 on the contents of the Bible with a gaudy show of skillful 
 erudition. But the true commentary is now being written. 
 When completed, it will bo found to be ' A New Dispensa- 
 tion ' — an era of psychological revealments and spiritual 
 progressions — the ripening up and culmination of all the 
 Experiences of Humanity — revealing a unitary combination 
 of Truths, unspeakably brighter than the noon-d^y sun ! " 
 
 The next question is, " When would the particular 
 labors of the delegates from that Congress terminate ? " 
 On page 95 the answer is given : " When they shall have 
 discovered from out of all the races of men, Twelve 
 Teachers of Philosophy, and enough media to awaken the 
 advocates of sacred superstitions from the delusive sleep 
 that has befallen them." 
 
 It now becomes a matter of importance to ascertain 
 
262 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 definitely what these twelve teachers are to be. See the 
 definition on page 95 : " By teachers of Philosophy is 
 meant those minds who can discern truthfully, so far as 
 capacity extends, the Love and Wisdom bodied forth in 
 things seen and unseen — minds, living on the earth, who 
 can utter both love and wisdom by mouth and by life 
 before the world." 
 
 Here then, we are unequivocally informed that the 
 whole mission of these delegates was to find persons who 
 could and would, as individuals, "utter love and wisdom 
 by mouth and life before the world," and not to get up 
 secret circles and sckemey organizations. 
 
 To the question, " Why did the members of that 
 Congress draw so near the earth ? " the reply (see page 
 118) was thus given: " We draw nigh to scan the terri- 
 tories of human Experience ; to examine the stratifications 
 of human Thought; to weigh the world in the scales of 
 Justice ; to establish a sustaining sympathy with the Pure, 
 the True, the Heroic — with the oppressed of every color — 
 with the tyrannized of every clime; and though it is true 
 that even spirits may sometimes look with pleasure upon the 
 spectacle of a great' man struggling vdth misfortune, yet is it 
 our purpose to do whatsoever good thing we find to do, 
 with one accord, for so shall at last Eternal Justice be 
 done on earth as it is in heaven." 
 
 This passage should read very differently to suit the 
 operations of the sectarizing class of Spiritualists. It 
 should read : " We draw nigh to influence two or three 
 mediums to ' consecrate ' and give ' names ' to several 
 persons in the country ; to get' up extraordinary machinery 
 for the physical salvation of men ; to purchase wonderful 
 ' springs ' in New York State ; to give innumerable 
 ' lectures ' on every nameable topic ; to give curious 
 
ORGANIZED AND ASSOCIATIVE EFFORT. 263 
 
 * illustrations ' of conjugal freedom ; and finally to get up a 
 theocracy, a ' circle-within-circle ' organization, for the 
 glorious purpose of ultimately getting everybody and every 
 thing to belong to it." 
 
 That the " Spiritual Congress" did not, and does not, 
 contemplate theocratic interposition in the progress of 
 mankind, is evidenced on page 1 1 9, where the philosophy 
 of moral unity preceding material harmony is thus 
 explained : 
 
 " All atomic harmony in the body of a man depends 
 upon a pre-existing harmony among the particles of the 
 mind. Unity of spirit begets and propagates the unity of 
 the form. A Congress of Nations on earth is possible only 
 after such a Congress is established in the Spirit Home .... 
 When a spiritual sympathy is perfected among the nations 
 which have, by individual representatives, left the earth, 
 and when that unity is made to exert its energizing, its 
 silent influence upon corresponding nations still remaining 
 on earth, then, consequently, the same most excellent consum- 
 mation will he possible among all the nations, kindreds, and 
 tongues, that are now everywhere disunited, and inharmo- 
 niously diversifying the globe." 
 
 In this passage we are taught not to expect harmony 
 on earth until there is harmony in the spirit-world. We 
 are not told that a Congress of Nations is possible through 
 the agency of some " commercial " enterprise, " Free- 
 Masonry," " Secret Heart," or any other of the external 
 schemes in the world. 
 
 After the " Twelve Teachers of Philosophy" are found 
 and put into the field (we do not say that they are not in 
 the field,) then a large harvest of believers are promised. 
 Now these believers are to be recognized by certain 
 "signs." What are the "signs" here referred to ? In 
 
264 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 order to meet the assumptions and operations of those who 
 have arrogated to themselves the true mission, the "signs" 
 should be these : " The believers will be impressed with 
 the greatness of their importance to mankind ; they will 
 believe in practical leadership and chieftainism in matters 
 of religion; they will go about finding whom they can 
 induce to join their movement; they will institute many 
 branches, circles, or departments, in their immense organ- 
 ization, and will induce persons to ' belong ' to one division, 
 and to co-operate in that, if not in all ; they will purchase 
 and obtain land here and there ; will make a large pro- 
 mise of establishing educational houses by which the young 
 may be converted into the true theocratic doctrines of 
 Spiritualism ; and lastly, they will fail, and fail, and fail, 
 ' to the last syllable of recorded time,' and lo ! the great ■ 
 millions of this world will not even know that the so- 
 called ' advanced ' and self-styled ' practical Spiritualists ' 
 have had an existence." 
 
 But mark how differently reads the passage (see page 
 122,) on this very point: "The believers (that is, those 
 fortunate ones who receive the teachings of the twelve 
 Teachers of Philosophy,) will show signs or deeds of Good- 
 ness, Truth, Temperance, Integrity; they will teach and heal 
 the sick i they will love and liberate their fellow men j they 
 will condemn nor despise no man in anger j neither will they 
 retard any more the union of love with wisdom ; nor procras- 
 tinate the development of Nature's own Religion in the earth." 
 
 Again, we assure all reformers and Spiritualists that, 
 in their honest efforts to organize the interests of society 
 into harmony with justice and freedom, they shall receive 
 our most hearty friendship and aid. Local movements, 
 also, in order to systematize the conduct of meetings, to 
 establish Sunday-schools, to bestow care upon the sick and 
 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE.' 265 
 
 infirm, to help on the cause of general education, to deal 
 justly with local speakei-s, traveling lecturers, and worthy 
 mediums — in all these movements, which are practicable, 
 and easy to inaugurate in every community, without having 
 a Central, ecclesiastical organization to legislate for and 
 control the local societies, you may look for our sympathy 
 and active co-operation. " Thus far— but no farther." 
 Let these local societies come up independently of each 
 other, like trees in Nature's broad domain, and they will 
 flourish iu the sunlight of spontaneous truth. A. kindly 
 sympathy, as between 'friendly persons, will grow up 
 between them. They may greatly differ in their internal 
 arrangements, like the legal and other codes of our 
 separate States ; but let them ask the heavens, and 
 not any earthly Central Society, to nourish and develop 
 them in the paths of peace and usefulpess. 
 
 Difference between Friendship and Love. 
 
 CLXV. — Question : " Is there any difference between friendship 
 and aifection ? In what does love differ from friendship ? " 
 
 Answer : Friendship is the margin that bounds the 
 ocean of love. Friendship gives sympathy and rest, but 
 " there is a higher and more tranquil bliss, when heart 
 communes with heart ; when two souls unite in one, like 
 mingling dew-drops on a rose, that scarcely touch the 
 flower, but mirror the heavens in their little orbs ; vrhen 
 perfect love transforms two souls, either man's or woman's, 
 each to the other's image ; when one heart beats in two 
 bosoms, one spirit speaks with a divided tongue ; when the 
 same soul is eloquent in mutual eyes — there is a rapture, 
 deep, serene, heartfelt, and abiding, in this mysterious 
 fellow-feeling with a congenial soul, which puts to shame 
 the cold sympathy of Matter, and the ecstatic but short- 
 lived bliss of G-enius iu his high and burning hour. 
 23 
 
266 ANSWEES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 It seems to us that this definition is sufficient to mark 
 the diiference between Friendship and Love. If not, we 
 delegate the final distinction to the heart and judgment of 
 our questioner. 
 
 The Law of Spirit-Gravitation. 
 
 CLXVI. — Question : " Do you recognize or believe in the existence 
 of any such law as that of spirit-attraction ? " 
 
 Answer : We do, and more : We believe that the 
 possibility of " peace on earth " is dependent upon the 
 operations of this law. In his admirable description of 
 the death of Minnehaha, Longfellow gives full expression 
 totheforpeof thi^ principle of soul-communion. In her 
 last earthly moments, hundreds of miles removed from her 
 heart's beloved, the suffering Minnehaha calls : 
 
 " Hiawatha ! Hiawatha ! 
 And the desolate Hiawatha, 
 Far away amid the forest, 
 Miles away among the mountains, 
 Heard that sadden cry of anguish, 
 Heard the voice of Minnehaha 
 Calling to him in the darkness, 
 
 Hiawatha ! Hiawatha ! " 
 
 The blood-relationships and surface-marriages of the 
 world are as nothing when compared with the holy ties 
 of spirit-attraction. They operate independently of parent- 
 age and regardless of material obstacles. Than this law, 
 by which soul answereth unto soul, through great mountains 
 and distances, there is none more positive, unalterable, 
 universal, or divine. 
 
 Illustrations of Spirit- Attraction. 
 
 CLXVn. — Question: "You refer to Minnehaha and Hiawatha. 
 Do you not remember that the talented author of 'Jane Byre' makes the 
 hero, Mr. Rochester, (who is represented as being the Spirit-mate of 
 the heroine thereof,) when lying and groaning in pain, many leagues 
 distant from his companion, pronounce the name of Jane three times — 
 
ATTRACTIONS AND KEPULSIONS. 267 
 
 Jane ! Jane 1 ! Jane lit' as it were, calling her to come to him, 
 while she — as she informs him at a subsequent meeting between them, 
 although far away at the time of his calling — hears his voice, and 
 answers, ' I am coming ! ' This authoress must have guessed that 
 there was something like what you term the law of soul-attraction ! " 
 
 Answer : Yes, we recall the beautiful and philoso- 
 phical illustration of " The Law of Spirit- Attraction," 
 given by Charlotte Bronte, in her wonderful production, 
 "Jane Evre," one of the most vigorous and naturally 
 truthful books ever written. Also we remember several 
 recognitions and delineations of the workings of this 
 divine principal, by authors of all countries. Poets and 
 writers, both in prose and verse, have divulged its interior 
 effects. George Sand, in her masterly conception of 
 " Consuelo," and its sequel, " The Countess of Eudolstadt," 
 indicates her knowledge of this heavenly law. By a well- 
 known German writer, we get the following recogtutioa 
 of soul-attraction : 
 
 " My heart! I bid thee answer — 
 
 How are love's marvels wrought? 
 ' Two hearts to one pulse beating, 
 
 Two spirits to one thought.' 
 
 " And tell me how love cometh ? 
 ' It comes unsought — unsent !' 
 And tell me how love goeth ? 
 ' That was not love which went!' " 
 
 Attractions and Repulsions. 
 
 CLXVIII. — Question : " Will you please explain, iTi the benefit 
 of some of your readers, why, in some instances, when two persobs 
 meet, one is attracted and the other repelled ? " 
 
 Answer : Because the two are not in the same spiritual 
 relation to each other. Each, consequently, does not per- 
 ceive in the other the same or equal cause of attraction. 
 For example : A gentleman, on entering a drawing-room, 
 may be instantly attracted by the voice of a, lady musician 
 at the piano; and, fascinated by the one prwerful attrac- 
 
268 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 lion, he may invest her character and disposition with 
 vai'ious charming traits and beauties, which she may not 
 in reality possess ; while he, on the other side of the ques- 
 tion, may present neither voice nor any higher possession 
 capable of attracting her attention or awakening her 
 affections. But whenever two persons are in the same 
 relation to each other, they are then almost absolutely 
 certain to experience reciprocal interests^ and attractions. 
 In many instances, genuine affections would grow up 
 between persons, and such would become steadfast friends, 
 were circumstances favorable to a true exhibition of the 
 Inner life and character. 
 
 The LaTO- of True Mating. 
 
 CLXIX. — Question : " "What is the true law of marriage, with 
 regard to the happiness of the pair, and also for the good of the 
 ofl'spring ? Should likes marry likes, or should opposites marry 
 opposites ? Should a highly developed and piirely moral person 
 marry an opposite nature, in order that the children may have a 
 correct and well-balanced organism ? Which would prove the best 
 in results, for two highly combative organisms to come together ia 
 wedlock, or one combative and one meek and gentle ? " 
 
 Answer : The law of true wedlock is written in matter 
 and in man. It is sublime in its process, and divine in its 
 revelations of trutli. The male and female principles, or 
 positives and negatives, exist and govern everywhere. 
 
 The nuptial law, of which these opposites are expres- 
 sions, most explicitly declares that, to the ends of happi- 
 ness and harmonious offspring, opposite temperaments 
 should marry, but only when there is a similarity of 
 capacity and development. That is to say : The social, 
 moral, intellectual endowments, attainments, and tastes of 
 the parties, should bear some considerable likeness to each 
 other, and yet the temperaments (except the ceptrals,) may 
 and should be almost exactly opposite. So, therefore, 
 while rapid and torpid, hot and cold, acid and alkaliuo 
 
SERVITUDE OP WHITE WOMEN. 269 
 
 temperaments, will favorably affect each other in marriage 
 and result in true parentage, the effect would be exactly- 
 otherwise if the unlikeuess extended into social and intel- 
 lectual capacities and dispositions. It will not answer 
 to marry a foolish man to an intelligent woman, nor a 
 combative to a gentle nature, nor a beast to an angel, for 
 misery and diseased offspring would ensue. 
 
 Servitude of White Women. 
 
 CLXX. — Question : •' Please do not consider my intrusion unpar- 
 donable. * # * jvjy eldest brother, for many years a member of 
 
 the Rev. Dr. 's congregation, contests all my legal and moral 
 
 rights upon Bible grounds. Now, sir, I may be a very wicked crea- 
 ture to argue my ' Eights ' against such authority, but I cannot 
 be a Christian, if such aubmissioQ and resignation are demanded as 
 incidental virtues in a woman. * * * Will you state the Bible 
 texts wherein the personal and intellectual rights of woman are made 
 subservieut to those of her brother man ? "' 
 
 Answer : The Christian world has a very deep truth 
 yet to learn. It must learn that God's authority lies in 
 the tranquil realms of eternal principles, written, unmis- 
 takeably, in the constitution of mankind. It must learn 
 that each is an eternal fact, with identical rights and 
 parallel privileges, which no other fact or personality 
 has a right to curtail or embarrass. The following are the 
 principal biblical texts which, with unequivocal religious 
 seriousness, teach wholesale error and injustice : 
 
 1 Corinthians, xiv. — 34. Let your women keep silence 
 in the Churches : for it is not permitted unto them to speak: 
 but they are commanded to be under obedience as also 
 saith the law. 
 
 35. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their 
 husbands at home ; for it is a shame for women to speak in 
 the Church. 
 
 Ephesians, v. — 22. Wives, submit yourselves unto your 
 
 own husbands, as unto the Lord. 
 23* 
 
270 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 23. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as 
 Christ is the head of the Church : and he is the Savior 
 of the body. 
 
 24. Therefore, as the Church is subject unto Christ, 
 so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 
 
 CoLOSSiANS, III 18. Wives, submit yourselves unto 
 
 your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. 
 
 1 Timothy, v. — 14. I will, therefore, that the younger 
 women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none 
 occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. 
 
 15. For some are already turned aside after Satan. 
 
 1 Peter, hi. — I. Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection 
 to your own husbands. 
 
 A Child's Question on Marriage. 
 
 CLXXI. — Question : " Will it please you to tell me if you think the 
 time will ever come, when it will no longer be considered improper 
 or immodest for woman to ask the man whom she loves to marry her, 
 any more than it is now for man to ask the woman he loves to marry 
 him 1 
 
 " Thoughts upon this subject forcibly presented themselves to my 
 mind, when, a few days ago, (after having read a book,) my little 
 daughter came to me with the inquiry : ' What does a woman do when 
 she wishes to marry any one ? ' Of course I could not tell the innocent 
 child that woman must not breathe a word on the subject, but that 
 many women set all sorts of traps to catch men, and invent all sorts 
 of artifices to induce men to ' pop the question ! ' 
 
 " All the answer that I could consistently give her was, that she 
 must diligently cultivate such virtues as should make her beloved by 
 all who come to be acquainted with her, and especially try to improve 
 her heart and intellect in those qualities which she perceived in that 
 man whom she loved, respected, and adnaired the most. 
 
 " But society has no right to condemn in woman what she approves 
 and sanctions in man, and I shall be very glad to peruse a few sug- 
 gestive thoughts from your pen upon this important subject." 
 
 Answer : The above startling question was propounded 
 by a darling little innocent daughter, only nine years of 
 age, to her faithful and conscientious mother, whose answer 
 is givefl in the above paragraph. 
 
 Be very candid, honored reader, and inform us whether 
 
A child's question on marriage. 271 
 
 the popular and intelligent response of the regardful 
 mother is final and satisfactory. Does it meet the child's 
 deep-flowing interrogatoiy, which tends like the tide of 
 eternal justice toward the ocean of equality, fraternity, and 
 unity? We are free to confess, before the full-spread 
 prejudices of superstitious millions, that the sweet-minded 
 mother's reply does not fill our soul with perfect satisfac- 
 tion. And yet, when morally interpreted, her maternal 
 counsel is tenderly prudential and tremulously applicable 
 to the child's future welfare, as society is now constituted. 
 
 But the mother herself is dissatisfied. She writes, 
 therefore, and petitions for " more light." What ! Did 
 you not give your daughter to understand that your answer 
 was find ? Does she not this very moment believe that 
 her " ma " has imparted all the possible intelligence upon 
 such a question ? When the weeks, and months, and 
 years shall have planted the seeds of experience within 
 her constitution, will there not grow up in their midst this 
 deep-rooted weed of superstition ? Will she not retain 
 the memory of very early years that her affectionate and 
 wise mother gave her " the whole truth " upon the relative 
 position of the sexes ? And will she not, in consequence 
 thereof, become a bigot or a slave in the matter of public 
 Opinion. In short, have you not perjured your noble soul 
 just as millions of blessed parents have done, and are 
 doing? We urge you to review the whole ground on 
 which, spiritually speaking, you stood before the question- 
 ing mind of your honest-hearted daughter. 
 
 .You realized the hollow-heartedness of Custom with 
 regard to the wife-hunting rights of men. You involun- 
 tarily crimsoned at the thought that your darling daughter, 
 just like the millions of daughters in human homes every- 
 where, is destined to fix herself artificially and superficially, 
 
272 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS- 
 
 in order to attract the handsomest and best young man in 
 her neighborhood. She may concdive an attachmont for 
 some worthy gentleman, himself campanionless and "honor- 
 ably in quest of a true mate, but society impaiatively 
 denies the right of your daughter to signify hor sacred 
 interest. She must blush and pretend to cherish different 
 feelings ; or, in silence and society, she is constrained to 
 conceal every honest emotion- Should she take an hun- 
 dredth part of the liberties with the chosen one that society 
 accords to him, the chances are that both raen and women, 
 young and old, pious and impious, editors and readers, 
 would howl, and insinuatt, and heartlessly misrepresent, 
 until affrighted, or intrenched in her pride, she would either 
 precipitously retreat, or advance still further in the forbid- 
 den way. Then, oh then, " think of her tenderly." 
 
 "We ask you, intelligent mother, why you did not inform 
 your daughter that, for the present, society is bound by 
 customs which cannot be overpassed without incurring this, 
 that, and the other misfortune — especially so with respect 
 to the rights of courtship and liberties in the marriage 
 relation— but it was your sincere conviction that, when 
 mankind were more civilized and refined, more noble and 
 pure, and less given to misconstrue the best impulses of the 
 soul, then — but not a day before — "it will no longer be 
 considered improper or immodest for a woman to ask the 
 man whom she loves to marry her." That this era will 
 dawn we ardently believe, and we shall labor to hasten it. 
 
 An Uncongenial Marriage. 
 
 CLXXII. — Question : " Can you give an illustration of what you 
 term an ' uncongenial marriage ' ? " 
 
 Answer: In a certain human forest, away from the 
 
 common herd, lived one Mr. W. Boar. Mr. B. is a gross, 
 
 grunting, selfish individual ; but he is exceedingly wealthy. 
 
AX UXCONGEXIAL MARRIAGE. 273 
 
 and proportionally influential among his fellow-citizens. Hp 
 is much dreaded and hated by the lower and middle classes, 
 and proportionally honored and loved (for his wealth's 
 sake) by the upper ten thousand, who reside in the upland 
 regions and attractive avenues. But there is an episode in 
 his life worth telling : 
 
 — One day Mr. Boar, while walking and grunting for 
 his health's sake, and more especially to get up an appetite 
 for his late dinner, chanced to meet the beautiful Miss 
 Gazelle. Miss G. was a sweet, gay, beaming, graceful crea- 
 ture, and beautiful to look upon. She was a wild young 
 member of the family of plebeian mountaineers — plebeian, 
 because obliged to earn her own food and raiment every 
 day ; but by every natural gift and endowment she was a 
 high-born and most noble patrician. 
 
 — Now Mr. Boar was as yet unmated. He therefore 
 followed Miss G., and at once sought the young damsel's 
 hand in marriage / Miss G. was gloriously beautiful in 
 a crimson flush of indignation. She detested the touch of 
 the rough and tedious lover, and fled his presence with the 
 speed of the reindeer. But her parents, who were morbidly 
 ambitious of gaining position in the Boar family, urged 
 their daughter, and threatened her. They resolutely 
 insisted upon the proffered marriage ! She was a Christian 
 Gazelle, and had early learned the lesson of obedience to 
 parents. Amid tears of agony, and amid remonstrances, 
 loaded to the muzzle with the ammunition of resistance, she 
 outwardly consented. 
 
 — The marriage-day was forthwith fixed, and the silver- 
 edged invitation cards were duly distributed among the 
 Boars of all that region. The hour arrived, the occasion 
 was awfully solemnized by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Boar, of Boreas 
 Chapel, corner Boarway and Fifth avenue. During the 
 
274 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 impressive ceremony, the distinguished divine said, " What 
 God hath joined together let no man put asunder," et.c. 
 And then all the editorial Boars of the city responded — 
 " Amen " — so mote it be — let God be true," etc. Now it 
 should be recorded that the wedding was perfectly mag- 
 nificent, superb, princely, a perfect jubilee. "Wealthy Boars 
 danced with the relatives of the beautiful bride, and the 
 entire Gazelle family were delighted immeasurably. The 
 bride's parents were especially charmed with the elegant 
 attentions and pulmonary flattery of the magnificent Boars. 
 Miss Gazelle, although transformed by the priestly wand 
 into the important Mrs. Boar, was still wild and sad, but 
 most beautiful in her deportment, and' charming even in all 
 her expressions of displeasure. 
 
 — * * * Six months have fled forever, and with 
 them has flown the connubial happiness of the wealthy 
 Mr. Boar. The beautiful bride grew more and more cold 
 toward her legal lord and " master." On the least 
 approach of Mr. Boar, the blood of her heart would 
 tremble with a chilling hatred, and its surface become 
 frosted with increasing repugnance. 
 
 — And yet, notwithstanding all the ice and snow about 
 her affections towards Mr. Boar, to another (a stranger in 
 the forest,) she was as warm and genial as the sunbeams 
 of midsummer. At length, the fact was too conspicuous 
 for concealment — she hated Mr. Boar and loved one who 
 answered to the indwelling voice of her soul. The story 
 is finished. 
 
 —What is to be done ? Who can tell ? Thirty thou- 
 gand aristocratic Boars may grunt and grumble, and 
 editorial Boars may quote Scripture and expound statute 
 law — but the divine laws of Mother Nature are immutable. 
 
 and no man can long resist their legitimate manifestations. 
 
ORIGIN OP THE MALE AND FEMALE. 275 
 
 — The question is, " Can Mrs. Boar (who is still inte- 
 riorly Miss Gazelle, and unmated) depart for her mountain 
 home ? Is the right of " Secession," in such a case, consti- 
 tutional and best? Mr. Boar is hourly grunting with 
 selfish agonies irrepressible, and all the wealthy Boars are 
 grumbling with scandal unspeakable, and all the news- 
 papers are selling the scandal to the lower ten millions — 
 and yet, the question is : Will Nature ever sanction a legal' 
 marriage between a Gazelle and a Boar ? 
 
 Origin of the Male and Female. 
 
 CLXXIII. — Question : " I beg you will explain a seeming contra- 
 diction : 'Woman is the equal of man.' [Harmonia, vol. iv.] Elsewhere 
 you have said : ' The female sex is the result of an arrest of develop- 
 ment : the nature of the male being characterized by the highest 
 degree of foetal development.' [Nat. Div. Rev., page 303, ^ 62.] If I 
 understand you, the less developed is negative and inferior to the 
 more perfect. How is this ? " 
 
 Answer : The statement in Nat. Div. Eev. is one-sided 
 and incomplete. The thought designed in that particular 
 sentence is, that the female sex, like " the opposite sex," 
 is determined by an arrest of the straight-lined fcetal 
 development. The different stages of foetal growth of 
 either sex are the same up to a certain point, when the pro- 
 cess is arrested, so to speak, which is immediately followed 
 by a divergence of development either to the right or to 
 the left of the uterus — eventuating in a female on the 
 positive side, or in a male on the negative. We repeat, 
 the line of foetal development is straight and continuous 
 until the question of " sex " is to be decided. Then an 
 '• arrest " occurs, followed by a rapid divergence and some 
 perturbation, and a discreet degree in organization is at 
 once effected. This process does not impair the constitu- 
 tional equality of man and woman. 
 
276 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Concerning the Six Human Loves. 
 
 CLXXIV. — Question: "In the 4th vol. of the ' Ilarmonia' you 
 desoi'ibe the six human loves. JSow I would ask, 'Can Fraternal or 
 rilial Love be developed before Conjugal and Parental, or is it neces- 
 sary that they succeed one another in their natural order ? " 
 
 Akswee : Love is the Life of Man. It is the eternal 
 Spirit living in the form of the finite. Some anthropolo- 
 gists divide man's brain into special compartments. We do 
 not ; and yet there is truth in the theory that special 
 organs in the cerebral substance are empowered with 
 certain powers for the performance of definite missions in 
 the life of the individual. 
 
 Man's energizing and sympathetic powers, yea, and all 
 the glorious faculties of penetration and knowledge, are 
 summed up in that much dishonored term, " Love." The 
 subversion of love is hatred or repulsion. Its inversion is 
 seen in selfishness, arctic rigidity, and misanthropy. And 
 Irom its unrestrained but extreme energies, issue all 
 violence, passion, vice, and consequent misery. 
 
 The six human loves grow naturally and progressively 
 
 each out of the other. Their inter-dependence and polar 
 
 attractiveness are mutual and beautiful. Their proper 
 
 unfoldments are like the sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils, 
 
 of the beauteous flower that the Great Spirit planted in 
 
 your garden. And although it is possible to feel, and to 
 
 be powerfully actuated by Fraternal" and Filial Love in 
 
 advance of the normal growth of their ancestral affections, 
 
 yet it must be remarked, as very self-evident in practical 
 
 life, that none of the Loves are truly wise and happy, 
 
 unless educated and naturally unfolded by their appointed 
 
 predecessors. 
 
 The Population Question. 
 
 CLXXV. — Question : " Can you inform me what the rate of 
 natural increase is on the American continent, or in the whole world?" 
 
AMALGAMATION, AND HUMAN HYBRIDS. 277 
 
 Answer: It has been carefully calculated (by Mr. 
 Owen,) that human increase of population, when unre- 
 strained by reason, will double itself every thirty-three and 
 a third years. That it has done so, (without reckoning the 
 increase from emigration,) in many parts of this continent, 
 is certain. Then, if we suppose the present numerous 
 checks to population — viz., want, war, vice, and misery — 
 removed by national reform, and if we assume the present 
 population of the world at one thousand millions, we shall 
 find the rate of increase as follows : 
 
 At the end of 100 years there will he 8,000 millions. 
 
 200 " " 64,000 " 
 
 « 300 " " 512,000 " 
 
 " " 400 " « 4,096,000 " 
 
 " " 500 " « 32,768,000 " 
 
 And so on, multiplying by 8 for every additional hundred 
 years. So that, in 500 years, there would be more than 
 thirty thousand times as many as at present: and in 1,000 
 years upwards of a thousand million times as many human 
 beings as at this moment : consequently, one single pair, if 
 suffered to increase without check, would, in 1,000 years, 
 increase to more than double the present population of the globe. 
 
 Amalgamation, and Human Hybrids. 
 
 CLXXVI. — Question : " I desire to ask you a few questions on the 
 subject of Mongrels — ' concrete men.' ist. Does not the amalgamation 
 of Negro and White produce in all things, (physical stamina included^ 
 an inferior race ? 2d. Is it possible to perfectly hybridize the two 
 species ? In the mulatto is not the union incomplete, or do the two 
 blnods perfectly blend ? Can a mulatto ever get above ' halfuess' ? " 
 
 Answer : There is a spiritul geometry in the forms of 
 the constituents of blood. It is our impression that phy- 
 siologists and chemists have the best things yet to discover 
 in the life-secrets of the human heart. In this answer, 
 we confine our remarks only to the great general facts 
 
 underlying the visible fluid. 
 24 
 
278 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 I. The spermatozoa of the male and female of any 
 nation will not perfectly blend, unless the shape of the 
 blood-p9.rticles be consistent with the imperative require- 
 ments of the masculine and feminine principles. 
 
 II. The most perfect blending occurs in the harmonious 
 conjunction of healthy males and females of the same 
 general type or species — as two Grecians, two Mongolians, 
 two A.fricans, two Americans, &c — showing that the best 
 offspring are obtained from parents of exactly opposite 
 temperaments, but of the same nationality. 
 
 III. But the shape of the blood's particles is interiorly 
 different, and consequently uncongenial, in parents of 
 exactly opposite nationalities ; although in the matter of 
 temperament they may be organized in a similar manner, 
 by virtue of which they may be iStted for all the require- 
 ments and advantages of Brotherhood. 
 
 IV. Therefore, it will forever remain physiologically 
 impossible to perfectly — i. e., harmoniously and conjugally 
 — blend or hybridize the reproductive blood of extreme 
 nationalities. Let it be observed that we use the word 
 " extreme" nationality, because when the White and Black 
 are not exactly opposite, the offspring may be considerably 
 perfect, both physically and mentally. The reproductive 
 qualities of Greece, for illustration, could not afiinitize 
 with those of America. Proof : The development of 
 various go-betweens, or intermediates, and conductors — 
 through much time and space — so that American blood 
 might at length exist, and triumphantly prevail. Anglo- 
 Saxonism in us is rapidly departing. Americans are 
 imperceptibly growing like the aboriginal inhabitants of 
 the continent. 
 
 V. and lastly : It will likewise remain physiologically 
 iTipcssible to obtain permanently happy and progressive 
 
THE GARMENTS OF FREEDOM. 279 
 
 offspring from the external conjugation (or marriage) of 
 full-blooded America with full-blooded Africa. But partial 
 blood may coalesce. Amalgamation, therefore, cannot be 
 practiced with impunity. The children of all incompatible 
 blood-globules will exhibit, both by disposition of character 
 and habitual conduct, the angular particles which (unaffin- 
 itized) circulate in their veins and brain. In these conclu- 
 sions, we utter not a word respecting inferiority or 
 superiority ; so that no human soul need suffer depression 
 or experience elevation. 
 
 It is well-known, we believe, that the inter-breeding 
 of domestic animals cannot be long continued without an 
 adulteration of the germinal properties which established 
 the original type. Crossing different breeds of sheep or 
 horses is attended with considerable success, and yet it is 
 of the first importance that certain standard stock- varieties 
 be kept perfectly distinct and full-blooded. Nature is 
 faithful to her original offspring. 
 
 The Garments of Freedom. 
 
 CLXXVII. — Question : " Do you think the time will ever come 
 ■when we women can dispense with ornamentation in dress ? " 
 
 Answer : In civilized society men wear few ornaments. 
 Utility, not beauty, is studied. While, in the same social 
 state, women exhibit strong attractions for profusion, 
 various colors, and artificial ornamentation. They culti- 
 vate a taste for delicate laces, graceful costumes, head- 
 dresses of every imaginable variety, and gems and jewels 
 of every manufacture and degree of expensiveness. Men, 
 on the other hand, wear garments the plainest, most 
 shnple, and most utilitarian ; their chief variety consisting 
 of black cloth over white linen, with a hat or cap of the 
 soberest color and of a melancholy pattern. 
 
 Notwithstanding the conceded ungracefulness of man's 
 
280 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 dress, and the absence of what on woman's form seemeth 
 appropriate and beautiful, yet we are free to confess, our 
 preferences for the masculine attire. 
 
 Some opponents seem to think that they can persuade 
 reason out of all desire to see a change in woman's mode 
 of dress, on the score of its " long, graceful lines," 
 " variegated colors," " ornamentation," &c. Nay, nay, 
 woman must rise above these physical manacles put on by 
 her own hand. She must put on the garment of freedom ! 
 Bodily, let her demolish the prison confinements of fashion, 
 and dress henceforth like a child of progress. 
 
 Truly and Eternally Married. 
 
 CLXXVIII. — Question : " Will you mention the book or treatise 
 that you consider the best, as a guide for those who seek to become 
 purely, truly, and eternally married or mated ? Another question : 
 Do you consider love that grows out of mere friendship — equal to, 
 and as liable to be eternal as that attraction which is commonly 
 termed ' love at first sight' ? " 
 
 Answer : The best book, as a guide for those who 
 desire to become " purely, truly, and eternally married," 
 is the Book op Nature. The best interpreter of the con- 
 tents of this everlasting volume is the most harmonious 
 human spirit. The truth-loving spirit is educated by 
 its mistakes, the wisdom- loving by its errors, , the 
 selfish by its sufferings, and the sensual by its misery. 
 The Book of Nature contains prescriptions for every 
 description of moral disease, and infallible directions, 
 also, for the consummation of the true and eternal union 
 of two loving souls. " Love at first sight " is most likely 
 to ultimate in harmonial marriage ; yet many minds are so 
 constituted as not to be able to decide, in after moments, 
 whether the initial attraction was complete, or only partial. 
 In the latter case, the opposite party is not likely ever to 
 experience the same degree or kind of attraction ; and such 
 
lEULY AND ETEENALLT MAEEIED. 281 
 
 a marriage, unless very carefully guarded by external 
 attentions, will finally be "null and void." The Book of 
 Nature says : " True marriage is predicated upon mutual 
 conjugal attraction between two souls, whether ' at first 
 sight,' or as the result of long acquaintance and intimate 
 friendship." No third party, either mortal or angel, 
 should be consulted. Our common Mother is wiser than 
 any or all of her offspring. But that mind, human or 
 angelic, is nearest the Father, who, by spiritual harmony, 
 can best interpret the maternal lessons. In true conjugal 
 attraction, there is perfect satisfaction ; and one calleth to 
 
 the other thus : 
 
 Come ! come ! come ! 
 Come to our home, 
 Never to roam ; 
 For my spirit is waiting thee, 
 Thou with the brave and buoyant tread, 
 Thou by crystal fountains led, 
 Oh ! haste to dwell with me ! 
 Low, low, low, 
 Gentle and low, 
 Like the rivulet's flow, 
 Does thy spirit respond to me ; 
 Like the song of the Seraphim soft and sweet, 
 Like the viewless tread of an angel's feet, 
 Is thy spirit minstrelsy. 
 
 Blest,- blest, blest ! 
 Oh ! forever blest, 
 In its bower of rest. 
 Is the heart that awaiteth thee : 
 For thou breathest a song of love divine- ■ 
 Pure as the stars that in heaven shine, 
 Boundless, and strong, and free. 
 
 Thine, thine, thine ! 
 Thus, my heart singeth, 
 "While thy soul bringeth 
 Treasures untold to me ; 
 Thine, as the rolling years pass by, 
 Tkinc, when our home is in the sky, 
 24* Thine THBonGH eteknitvI 
 
282 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 g^"" Young man ! young woman ! every human soul ! 
 
 if you cannot, with your whole heart, and will, and reason, 
 
 thus call the One you love, then beware ; for the fiat of a 
 
 divine law is about to go forth against your false relation. 
 
 Never marry any one to whom you would not sing the 
 
 soul's song from your heart's core. This principle is 
 
 universal. 
 
 Temperaments and Human Offspring. 
 
 CLXXIX. — Question : " Do I understand you to teach that 
 persons should not marry unless their temperaments exactly corres- 
 pond to each other? There is much testimony to the effect that like 
 
 temperaments do not produce healthy and long-lived offspring 
 
 Any light on this point will be acceptable to every true nature, 
 either man or vroman, for it is intimately connected with their, future 
 interests and happiness?" 
 
 Answer : No, good reader, we do not teach that 
 persons of similar constitutions should marry. It is impos- 
 sible that the zoosperms of like temperaments should meet 
 and blend perfectly in a new cJrganization. The fact that 
 there is a difference in gender does not fulfill the interior 
 requirements of the reproductive law. The shape and 
 sphere of the blood-globules must be different, dissimilar, 
 in order that the foundations of another being may be 
 firmly and harmoniously laid. 
 
 We have many times urged this view, and yet it has 
 been misapprehended, because, at the same time we 
 have as strongly urged the necessity, yea, indispensa- 
 bleness of the identity or likeness of the central temper- 
 aments. The sameness of these temperaments in opposite 
 sex does not presuppose sameness of the entire character 
 and constitution. If the central or pivotal temperaments 
 be identical, the feelings and disposition of the parties will 
 eventually grow more and more alike and harmonial, but 
 not otherwise. Years of daily association, instead of 
 uniting persons of different central temperaments, result 
 
TEMPERAMENTS AND HUMAN OFFSPRING. 283 
 
 in more perfectly putting them " asunder." On the con- 
 trary, persons of different education, different also in their 
 habits, tastes, and dispositions, but with like central tem- 
 peraments, may not only begin marriage on the right 
 foundation with vital peace and love, but they may gradu- 
 ally approximate nearer, and imperceptibly blend more 
 and more completely, until all major differences and 
 antagonisms be overcome, and pure happiness crown the 
 union. 
 
 We discern very clearly a principle at the basis of the 
 marriage relation, which cannot be disregarded with impu- 
 nity. It is the principle of vital unity, in contradistinction 
 to the dictates of arbitrary custom, and above the require- 
 ments of statute law. The principle is illustrated in every 
 whole thing, by which the two halves, and all the parts 
 and atoms composing them, are perfectly and absolutely 
 blended. Suppose (for example,) that Adam and Eve were 
 perfectly married ; their central temperaments harmonized ; 
 their feelings, tastes, disposition, thoughts, and character, 
 subordinate to the Conjugal Love; the result would be 
 healthy and long-lived children, with kind and well- 
 balanced tempers. But brothers and sisters, however 
 similar in temper and organization, could not produce good 
 fruits. Their offspring would be feeble, irritable, subject 
 to disease, and generally short-lived. The law against 
 "incest" is inherent in the constitution of man. Sisters, 
 as wives to their own brothers, would have sterility to 
 contend with, or sickly and idiotic children, full of every 
 misfortune and disaster. 
 
 And why 1 Because the interior zoosperms of similarly 
 constituted persons will not perfectly blend. The issues 
 of such incestuous marriages are usually " half-made up," 
 loosely organized of poor materials, " sent into this breath- 
 
284 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 ing world before their time," and the public institutions 
 are their destiny. They become inmates of madhouses, 
 candidates for the state prison, or are soon deposited in the 
 cemetery. And all because wives have husbands with 
 temperaments like their own. Such persons have little 
 happiness or satisfaction in marriage. They remain 
 together like the twins of fate, with nothing like central 
 peace and attraction. The statute law is satisfied, but the 
 divine law, the God-code, is oifended. Society, the wrong- 
 doer in the premises, is punished. It must build asylums, 
 prisons, poor-houses, and hospitals, to rid itself of the 
 children of incest. 
 
 The marriage law demonstrates that the human family 
 did not originate from one pair. The children of 
 Adam and Eve could not have produced children who 
 could perpetuate the race of man. All nations, there- 
 fore, are no< of "one blood." The same kind of blood- 
 essences will not blend in the womb. Diiferent races 
 came from different sources, and originated at different 
 periods in the earth's development. But this fact does not, 
 in our discernment, militate ag.ainst the doctrine that '• all 
 men are Brethren." Bi\)therhood is based on an inner- 
 most principle. It is of the spirit, which is forever master 
 of the physiological incidents of birth or parentage. All 
 are Brothers and Sisters in the love and wisdom of Nature 
 and God. 
 
 Freelovism and Spiritualism. 
 
 CLXXX. — Question : " In all sincerity I wish to inquire whether 
 Spiritualism cannot be separated from the doctrines of Freelovism ? " 
 
 Answer : We have never been able to detect any con- 
 nection between the theory of Spiritualism and the so-called 
 doctrines of Free-Love. 
 
 The two are essentially different ; both in their facts 
 
FRBELOTISM AND SPIRITUALISM. 285 
 
 and in their teachings. The former, Spiritualism, is a 
 beautiful science of Future individual life, based upon 
 countless monumental facts of undoubted intercourse, 
 between human beings and the spirits of the departed ; 
 while the latter, Freelovism, is a social theory, enter- 
 tained and practiced by persons both honest and dishonest, 
 that conjugal love between the sexes should be regulated 
 by affinitive inclinations only. 
 
 That there are a few openly avowed Pree-lovers, who 
 are also Spiritualists in belief, we do not for one moment 
 deny. But we have repeatedly aflSrmed, as susceptible of 
 every proof, that Spiritualism is not responsible for the 
 existence of Freelovism, nor can the teachings of Spiritual- 
 ism be made to sustain any unholy conduct on the part 
 of its advocates. We have confidence that every justice- 
 loving and candid mind, whether friend or foe to the cause 
 of Progress, will exercise judgment and discrimination on 
 the difference between Spiritualism, per se, and Freelovism, 
 per se, both with respect to their theories and their prac- 
 tical influence in societ}'. Because the effect of Spiritualism 
 is universally liberalizing, and because it lovingly and 
 hopefully enfolds all mankind in its hospitable embrace, 
 are we thence to conclude that all extremisms and every 
 error of its adherents are legitimate fruits of the Spiritual 
 soil? Spiritualism is a science by itself, and. its facts are 
 facts by themselves, and as such the doctrines should be 
 studied and weighed in the balance of reason. 
 
 Of Freelovism we say the same. It is a theory by 
 itself, and its legitimate practices are practices by them- 
 selves in the social fabric, and we believe that as such they 
 challenge the most thorough examination. The facts of 
 Free-lovers should be fearlessly met, and their arguments 
 should be squarely weighed in the limpid light of principles. 
 
286 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 All petulancy and intolerance will prove inefficacious. We 
 have many times urged our objections to the doctrines of 
 Free-lovers. They know full well that we do not fellow- 
 ship their theories, and that much of their practice we 
 unutterably abhor. But they also know that we advocate 
 free discussion, and justice to opponents, and on this 
 ground we think all questions should be investigated. Free 
 speech is the inalienable prerogative of every human mind. 
 
 A Catholioon for Moral Diseases. 
 
 CLXXXI. — Question : " You say that there are many Moral 
 Diseases among the people, including Spiritualists. I would simply 
 ask, W ho is there that is well ? And in your reference to the pub- 
 lished Harmonial Philosophy, do you mean to say that that is the grand 
 oatholicon for all those numerous moral ills ? " 
 
 Answer : Mankind on earth are all more or less imper- 
 fect and diseased, both physically and spiritually, and the 
 same is true on far higher planes of existence ; but the 
 conceded fact does not discharge Reformers and Spiritual- 
 ists from the duty of individual and social improyement. 
 It is every man's and every woman's privilege and duty to 
 improve, personally and socially, as far as they have light 
 and strength, to sustain them. If we had knowledge of 
 any system of scientific, social, intellectual, or spiritual 
 truth, superior to that published in the volumes on Harmo- 
 nial Philosophy, it would be both our pleasure and our 
 duty to promulgate the same for the benefit of our fellow- 
 men. It is our deep persuasion that 
 
 " He who has a truth and keeps it, 
 Keeps what not to him belongs, 
 I But performs a selfish action, 
 
 And a fellow-mortal wrongs." 
 
 Under the powerful sway of this principle we falter 
 not to recommend the moral precepts and philosophical 
 teachings of the Harmonial Philosophy as the best reme- 
 
VALUE OP THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 287 
 
 dies for all ph3-sical, social, political, intellectual, and 
 spiritual disorders. If any Brother or Sister knows a 
 " better way " — a higher truth — a more rational system of 
 spirit growth — we urge such friend to explain it for the 
 benefit of all humankind. 
 
 Value of the Marriage Ceremony. 
 
 CLXXXII. — Question : " Is sexual intercourse ever justifiable 
 except for the purpose of procreation ? and has the marriage ceremony 
 anything to do with the righteousness or sinfulness of sexual inter- 
 course ? " 
 
 Answer : It should be constantly remembered that 
 mankind, while passing from the inferior kingdoms to the 
 high elevation of true manhood, manifest all the varieties 
 and excesses peculiar to transitional situations and condi- 
 tions. There is no possibility of passing from one point to 
 another without going through the intervening space. The 
 distance between any two places must be traversed by the 
 pilgrim. And he is compelled, by the circumstances and 
 conditions of the middle position, to partake more or less 
 of the transitional habits. 
 
 This is emphatically illustrated in all ifidividual and 
 national history. The period of youth is between babyhood" 
 and manhood, and the individual is necessitated, in 
 his development, to take on the appearances and pecu- 
 liarities of youth. And so with a nation or people. The 
 war period is between savagism and spiritualization, and 
 the inhabitants are certain to put on the armor and zeal of 
 warfare. 
 
 In the conjugal sphere the same law is faithfully exhib- 
 ited. Between the purely quadruped state and the stage 
 of spiritualized manhood there are every conceivable variety 
 and illustration of unregulated life in the marriage rela- 
 tion. The animal world is faithful to the instinct of repro- 
 duction. The instinctive desire of progeny is within the 
 
2c)N ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. >_ 
 
 springs to sexual intercourse. And the same is true with 
 a high order of human life ; only what "was merely instinct- 
 ive and impulsive with the animal is highly intellectual and 
 intuitional in mankind. Between the faithful instinct of 
 the animal and the spiritual intellect of true manhood, are 
 all the varieties and gradations of passion, impulse, and 
 discord. 
 
 This explanation is designed to give reasons why, in the 
 present stage of' human development, it is felt to be so 
 difiOicult to regulate the sexual loves. The world is in a 
 transition state. Men and women are, as mankind have 
 been for long centuries, in the valley of passion between 
 savagism and spiritualization. And while the mass of 
 human beings live on this transitional plane, it is absurd to 
 expect that they will act inconsistently with their moral 
 status and social development. But when the age of true 
 spiritual manhood dawns, in either the man or woman soul, 
 then will be practiced the gospel that intercourse is right 
 only for purposes of reproduction. Then, too, it will be un- 
 natural and impossible for either men or women to esteem 
 marriage as they now do. It will be sanctified..by a new 
 and holier significance. 
 
 The second question, whether the " marriage ceremony 
 has anytliing to do with the righteousness or sinfulness of 
 sexual intercourse," we answer briefly : 
 
 Society, finding that individual sovereignty is often 
 practiced at the cost of the happiness of- many, and not 
 wisely, for the complete enjoyment and personal liberty of 
 all, instituted laws to compel responsibility and a recogni- 
 tion by the individual of the rights and liberties of the 
 whole. One of these laws is the state law of marriage. 
 The ceremony cannot affect the nature of the relation 
 between the sexes. Virtue does not consist in the mar- 
 
A DIVINE LAW AGAINST POLYGAMY. 289 
 
 riage certificate, neither is the marriage certificate a 
 protection against vice between husband and wife, but the 
 ceremony and record serve to fix the individuals in a 
 responsible relation to each other in society. For these 
 general reasons, and to regulate the ownership of property, 
 as between parents and children, by wills, legacies, &c., the 
 marriage service was instituted. We can see no objec- 
 tion, in the present state of society, to the faithful recognition 
 of the legal ceremony. For further reasons see fourth 
 volume of the " Harmonia." 
 
 A Divine La-wr Against Polygamy. 
 
 CLXXXIII. — Question : " For eome time past my attention has 
 been directed to an examination of your arguments against free-love 
 relations or polygamy- It seems to me that Nature, one of your 
 
 authorities, does not support your conclusions Yon invite 
 
 questions, therefore I ask : Does not Nature practically teach that 
 one male may produce healthy and equally good progeny through 
 many females? And is the reverse not also true? In the bird and 
 animal kingdoms this fact is plainly set forth ; and is it not as plainly 
 practiced among men and women ? One man, according to the laws 
 of the land, may marry after the death of his wife ; and one woman 
 also, after the death of her husband ; thus, by the death of one party, 
 the other may enter into the marriage relation and produce progeny: 
 Thus, legally, one woman may have several husbands, and vice versa, 
 and Nature seems never to set up any positive objections. Now, sir, 
 I want to know how you dispose of this sort of natural polygamy, or 
 practical free-love ? " 
 
 Answer : Our interrogator is misled by a too extensive 
 reliance upon the organs of perception. Reflection, after 
 perception, is necessary to the discovery of truth. You 
 know, doubtless, how frequently we have urged the world 
 to become less sensuous in its thinking and reasonings. 
 Facts are always floating and drifting on the surface, like 
 foam on the ocean's bosom ; but Truths, which are the 
 very elemente of the ocean itself, are hidden from the 
 senses in depths almost unfathomable. Nothing is easier 
 than to be mistaken, when you rely wholly and unquestion- 
 
 25 
 
290 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 ingly on the " evidence of your senses." Philosophers 
 regard the senses of the body as you regard the doors and 
 ■windows of your house — " mediums " for the reception and 
 iujpartation of light and vital currents — necessary to the 
 growth, cheerfulness, health, and progress of the dwellers 
 within. 
 
 You will allow the suggestion that your conclusions 
 flow from a too superficial knowledge of the laws and 
 . operations of Nature. A man really gets no deep inform- 
 ation concerning the spiritual through the senses. That is 
 to say, he cannot with his senses " see into the life of things." 
 The manifestations which that life puts on under every 
 variety of circumstance, are alone revealed to his senses ; 
 and inasmuch as conditions and circumstances incessantly 
 modify and change the form of such manifestations, so is 
 the sensuous observer perplexed in his reasonings and par- 
 adoxical in his conclusions. Always bear in mind that 
 interior investigation is required of every truth-seeker. 
 " This we know, that where the share is deepest driven, the 
 best fruits grow." With these remarks we proceed to con- 
 sider the question. 
 
 As a basis, let us take the truth that all Nature is con- 
 structed on the principles of Man and Woman. Every 
 element, every atom, is integrally positive (male,) and 
 negative (female.) The male is equaled by the female. 
 They are different in constitution, but equal in essentials and 
 attributes. The female principle begins at the heart (that 
 is, at the center of life,) and flows spontaneously in con- 
 genial channels to embrace the circumference, which 
 means the outermost of the sphere. In like manner the 
 male principle begins at the circumference (that is, in the 
 most external part of the sphere,) and flows in appropriate 
 channels until it meets and mingles, emlDracingly, with the 
 
A DIVINE LAW AGAINST POLYGAMY. 291 
 
 lit'e-principle of the heart. In the wide, deep, eternal 
 universe, this male and female proceeding of immutable 
 principles is an interior truth, which only here and there 
 is fully manifested to human senses. We cannot now stop 
 to detail the reasons and proof-arguments, but simply make 
 the statement, assured that the science of future ages will 
 demonstrate its truth. At present you are referred to the 
 glimmerings and indistinct affirmations of your own 
 Intuition. 
 
 Upon this basis, then, let your reasonings rest. Leav- 
 ing the sphere of impersonal principles, come to the plane 
 of embodiments — to personal, organized, individual man 
 and woman. If the principles are coequal and equilibri- 
 ated, as are the two halves of one whole, do not the 
 embodiments also stand equally balanced as each other's 
 counterparts? Principles crop out into individualities. 
 Eifects and causes correspond. Hence the visible man and 
 woman represent the invisible principles out of which they 
 came into existence. If a marriage is ever permanent and 
 eternal between any two congenial principles, would you 
 not conclude that a like relation should be eternal between 
 any two congenial persons ? If, for example, the principle 
 of gravitation is eternally wedded to the principle of weight 
 in matter — or, if the principle of light is indissolubly 
 married to the principle of heat in the sun, by which all 
 things grow into perfection — then is it not reasonable to 
 conclude that one man may be eternally related to one 
 woman, as circumference and center are permanently 
 united, so that nothing in "time" or "eternity" can 
 separate them or alienate them from each other's interest 
 and embracing affection ? 
 
 But. suppose all this reasoning to be mere assumption, 
 fallacious and untenable. Suppose ("for the argument's 
 
292 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 sake ") that one male can naturally become temporarily the 
 true conjugal mate of many females — which would include 
 the reverse — let us see what the fruits of such conjunctions 
 would be. The children, under the blessing of Natui-e's 
 divinest sanction, would be exact representatives of the 
 parents who produced them. The peculiarities of the 
 husband, pro tern., would be perfectly transmitted and. har- 
 moniously blended with the constitutional traits of the 
 pro tern. wife. The fact that he had sustained intimate 
 relations to another woman or to several others, and the 
 parallel fact that the woman had sustained conjugal rela- 
 tions to another man, or to several others, would not at 
 all influence the constitution, personal appearance, charac- 
 ter, or traits of the offspring. 
 
 Kemember, we say that this would be true on the sup- 
 position that Nature sanctions free-love relations, or 
 polygamy, whether legal or in opposition to the laws of 
 the land. But what are the facts ? Let us look deeply 
 into the law of Reproduction for a true solution of facts 
 developed. What is this divine law ? We answer : 
 
 1. The hum.an mind is the flower of the whole organi- 
 zation, and the brain is the soil in which that flower unfolds. 
 
 2. All the powers and attributes of the mind are 
 momentarily dependent upon the integrity, purity, and 
 harmony of the Brain. 
 
 3. The nervous system is fed by the Brain. And upon 
 the magnetisms and electricities of the nervous system 
 depend the functions, purity, and harmony, of all the vital 
 organs — including the osseous, muscular, and vascular 
 systems. t 
 
 4. Therefore, out of the Brain originate all of the 
 temperaments and characteristics of the personality. The 
 brain is the first point in the existence of the individual. 
 
A DITIXB LAW AGAINST POLYGAMY. 293 
 
 Upon the Brain and nervous system are built the veins 
 and arteries, and thence are developed the parts and pro- 
 portions of the physical organism. 
 
 5. Several years after birth are required by the Brain 
 to perfect the different parts of the body and prepare them 
 for life and reproduction. This particular labor of the 
 brain is principally terminated at what is generally called 
 fuberif). This Is the period of life at which the human being, 
 without experiencing any important vital change, is capable 
 of reproduction. 
 
 6. The Brainis the fountain whence flow the most highly 
 vitalized essences, by which alone reproduction is possible. 
 Of either sex, the same is absolutely true. Phrenologists 
 have demonstrated that the lower brain (the cerebellum) 
 presides over the organs and attractions of reproduction. 
 
 7. It is absolutely impossible for a human Brain to re- 
 produce another brain without contributing particles and 
 essences of itself to the generative work. 
 
 8. These particles and essences of the living Brain are 
 living bodies called spermatozoa, which are contained in 
 cells or eggs inconceivably minute and sensitive. They 
 are the finest, best, most vital, absolutely essential parts of 
 the human brain. The most vital essence of the most 
 important organ (the brain) is taxed to begin the constitu- 
 tion of another individual. The peculiarities and tempera- 
 ments, idiosyncracies and physical weaknesses, of parents, 
 are thus transmitted. 
 
 9. It is a fatal error, advocated by some physiologists 
 and adopted by intelligent libertines, that the blood is the 
 only source of the spermatic essences. The argument is, 
 that as the blood is the source, and the testes the summoning 
 organ, therefore great expenditures can be made up by 
 eating and drinking. The truth is that the zoosperras are 
 
 25* 
 
294 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 elaborated in the vitals of the brain, while the mucous and 
 serum which surround them are contributed by the essen- 
 tial parts of the blood, the testes being only the fulcrum of 
 intense, expulsive energy. 
 
 10. The impulse of procreation is the most intense of 
 all vital and spiritual emotions, and its exercise involves 
 every power, every sentiment, every part and principle of 
 body and mind. Every zoosperm, generated and dispatched 
 by the Brain, is an absolute loss sustained at the center of 
 soul and intellect. 
 
 11. Muscular exercises, physical employments, and 
 intellectual activities, use up the spermatozoa in the brain 
 and nervous system. The whole organization and the spi- 
 ritual life of the individual are saved from exhaustion, 
 injury, and degradation, when the zoosperms and blood- 
 essences are appropriated only to reproductive purposes. 
 
 12. Hence all excess or inversipnism of the reproduc- 
 tive principles is always a drain upon the Brain, and also 
 upon the most highly spiritualized elements of the blood, 
 all which is certain to entail nervous irritation, feebleness 
 of the muscular system, loss of memory, disorders of the 
 imagination, monomanias, emaciation, depression, diseases 
 of the spiritual life, and driveling insanity. 
 
 13. These facts, although long known by physiologists 
 and by teachers of public schools, are not known by the 
 multitudes of parents who have the responsibility of rear- 
 ing human offspring. 
 
 Now from these premises you perceive that the repro- 
 ductive organs must tax the magnetism and still deeper life- 
 principles of both man and woman. The Brain, be it 
 remembered, is the source of the love-essences — the sper- 
 matozoa — which form the basis of the future child. Con- 
 sequently there can be no love-relation where the brain is 
 
A DIVINE LAW AGAINST POLYGAMY. 296 
 
 not involved. "Whenever the brain is thus taxed, then the 
 soul's magnetic power is exerted and imparted, and some- 
 times almost exchanged. No man or woman is capable of 
 sustaining the conjugal relations without being internally 
 affected by the vital magnetism which such relations most 
 powerfully and energetically develop. Consequently, the 
 woman who bears children by a second husband, is certain 
 to impart to them something, either physical or mental, 
 which was constitutional or characteristic of the first hus- 
 band. And the children by a third husband will gather 
 (from the reproductive energies,) traits, diseases, features, 
 or some other mark, which was characteristic of both the 
 previous husbands ; and thus, in harmony with the law of 
 hereditary transmission, the female imparts through herself 
 not only something of the actual father, but also sub- 
 influences received from preceding conjugal associations. 
 
 From this cause you see two or three sets of children 
 by the same mother, having some traits and certain fea- 
 tures in common, but yet inharmonious from the fact that 
 none of the later children have inherited an unmixed blood. 
 And the same is equally true, but in a modified form, with 
 regard to man. Widowers who re-marry and become the 
 fathers of children, impart something of the diseases, traits, 
 and constitutions of the previous wives and mothers. It 
 is seldom that a young woman, who, becoming a mother to 
 the child of a man who had been the conjugal associate of 
 some other, can see only herself and her husband in the 
 little one. There is in such child, although concealed from 
 the eyes of observers, a taint of each one who had once 
 been in conjugal intimacy with the husband. Diseases are 
 often thus communicated. A libertine becoming the hus- 
 band of a woman never before in conjugal relation to man, 
 cannot produce an unmixed child. Hybrid! ty, or some 
 
296 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 evil eccentricity of either body or character, will be that 
 child's earthly inheritance. Moral monsters — the worst 
 characters, are thus propagated. It takes Mother Nature 
 two or three generations of difficult labor to bring such 
 progeny to " the fullness of the stature." 
 
 It seems not to be fully known, even by the most deli- 
 cate women, that the conjugal embrace is the magnetic cli- 
 max of spirit life ; by which all — all there is in body, soul, 
 and spirit-— is involved and imparted in the form of an im- 
 palpable principle. The world does not look 
 " With that deep insight which detects 
 All great things in the small, 
 And learn how each one's life affects 
 The spiritual life oj 011?"* 
 
 Hereditary transmission is regulated by a law so divine, 
 so just, so invariably mathematical, so all-comprehensive, 
 and withal so exquisitely delicate and celestial, that poly- 
 gamy, or free-love relations, cannot be practiced without 
 incurring frightful risks and lasting punishments. Who 
 but wants to look into the face of pure, untainted, happy 
 childhood ? Who wants to carry about in his veins the 
 vicious impregnations of some unknown progenitor ? Every 
 child yearns to be legitimate — that is, to be a full-blooded 
 and purely-derived offspring of a truly wedded pair. 
 Free-love relations, however honestly cherished and 
 sacredly virtuous while they continue, produce human mis- 
 eries which crop out in the moral monsters that infest 
 society. Give to pure woman her true mate, and let true 
 man be one with his actual wife, and in that family we 
 shall not see human hybrids, insane unfortunates — ugly, 
 gnarly, snarly, gouty, crabbed, disease-propagating char- 
 acters; — whose existence is simply a "warning" to all 
 men, saying : " Dangerous ! Don't come this way ! ! This 
 is the broad road that leadeth to destruction! !! " 
 
WHAT IS A TRUE CHILD? 297 
 
 If it were possible for the reproductive organism — 
 through which the soul's very life rushes during the conju- 
 gal embrace — to be unsullied by the propagative act, then 
 iudeed would Nature sanction promiscuous intercourse , 
 between men and women. But the world's hybridized 
 population is demonstration enough that the conjugal ■ 
 organs cannot be used with impunity out of the true mono- 
 gamic relation. Incestuous relations begin the moment 
 you depart from the sphere of true wedlock. We do not 
 expect much of mankind as long as so many of the " chil- 
 dren of men" continue to be "illegitimate." The sons 
 of light and the daughters of love are the offspring of 
 uncontaminated conjugal relations. 
 
 What is a True Child? 
 
 CLXXXIV. — Question : " What is a. true child ? — I mean the 
 child of truly mated parents ? Is the estate of childhood compre- 
 hended by those who believe in the old doctrine of ' Innate Sin'"? 
 The majority of teachers in our schools, like the Sunday-school books 
 of New England, inculcate the old theological creeds. They use the 
 whip in our city schools in accordance with Solomon's counsel, lest 
 the child ' be spoiled.' Now I ask — What is a true child ? What 
 is its nature and needs?" 
 
 Answer : Look comprehensively through Nature, and 
 you will be rapidly educated to believe that extremes meet 
 and fraternize at one common center. The intermediates 
 and betweenites, so to speak, are the " natural bridges " 
 over which exact opposites travel into and through each 
 other ; just as the magnetism and electricities of the earth's 
 poles converge and intermingle at the equator. Children 
 and parents, on this beautiful principle, are natural com- 
 panions. They are irresistibly inspired and attracted, from 
 opposite stations, into each other's fond embrace. Thev 
 love, and cling and twine about each other, with unfeigned 
 tenderness and deathless endearments. And the golden 
 
298 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 center where they spontaneously meet and blend, the spirit- 
 ual equator within which they unfold and bloom into each 
 other's likeness, is the Home. At this sacred center the 
 young grow old, and the old grow young ; and so opposites 
 promote one another's development and happiness. 
 
 "What is a child ? "We answer, and our confidence in 
 the truth of our position is unbounded, that a child is the 
 repository of infinite possibilities. 
 
 Perhaps our reply is too transcendental for every-day 
 use — too extended and vague to impress the world's com- 
 mon understanding. "We think not. For men are but 
 children of a " larger growth." Childhood is yet alive 
 in every human heart, regardless of years or experience. 
 We hold that no man has altogether outlived the simple 
 consciousness of his early life, nor lost the divine power of 
 apprehending the charmed world in which children " live, 
 move, and have their being." 
 
 "We judge others, in part, by the standard of self- 
 experience. In youth and early manhood we were prema- 
 turely solemn and patriarchal ; did not much fancy the 
 sports and heedless conduct of the juveniles and young- 
 sters of our acquaintance ; thought they were rattle- 
 hearted and unmindful of the impending solemnities of 
 etei-nity ; but now, with thrice as many years crowded into 
 our physical constitution, and knowing for certain a million 
 more facts and truths than at that period, we experience and 
 entertain a thousand youthful impulses, and conceive of 
 childhood, and appreciate its sports and attributes with a 
 soul overflowipg with gratitude and tenderness. Doubtless 
 we have sometimes appeared " proper," and " dignified," 
 and seemed to " act like a Man " in the presence of com- 
 pany ; but somehow, without thinking or feeling the 
 restraining check of owlish associates, our soul would burst 
 
WHAT IS A TRUE CHILD? 299 
 
 out and overflow its embarrassments, just like the soul of 
 any other child. And even now, when some metaphysical 
 friend or cadaverous minister of the cross attempts to 
 impose the lugubrious expression of his countenance or 
 creed, the temptation to be " young again " comes upon us 
 with irresistible persuasiveness, and — we yield ! 
 
 "We are, consequently, growing more and more " child- 
 ish " every day, and we expect to make progress far 
 enough in this Eden -direction to preach a life-long sermon 
 from the text : " Except a Man be converted and become 
 as a little child — be born again, and delivered from the 
 superficial and unreal — he cannot enter into the angelic 
 sphere of Harmony." 
 
 In speaking of childhtiod, then, we report directly from 
 the inspirations of personal consciousness. This is first 
 and highest authority. If we fail to reveal the attributes, 
 and realities, and necessities of a child, it will be because, 
 as yet, our spiritual development in that charmed sphere 
 is either unsound or incomplete — perhaps both — ^judge ye, 
 therefore, and render your verdict in the light of Nature 
 and Reason, so that he who runs may read its truthfulness 
 and be compelled to acknowledge its importance to man- 
 kind. 
 
 Children are born with two distinct characters. One 
 inherited from the Fount of every blessing ; the other from 
 their immediate progenitors. The first, derived from God 
 and Nature, is spiritual and eternal ; the second, being the 
 organizing and constructive process, is arbitrary, and will 
 not always continue. In after years, however, when the 
 child is thoroughly drawn away from its inmost con- 
 sciousness by the illusions of the external senses, a third 
 character is formed, which is still more external and corres- 
 pondingly epheniuial. And yet, owing to the impressi- 
 
300 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 bility of the spiritual life cuirents of the inmost, the 
 person's mind and disposition are very generally fashioned 
 in this world by the last character, which society, through 
 its many and varied circumstances, has manufactured and 
 put upon the individual spirit. Although an English- 
 man is in esse the same as a Erenchman, yet they will con- 
 duct themselves differently — with different tastes, creeds, 
 poetry, literature, philosophy, etc. — because, aside from the 
 unlikeness arising from different parentage, these two per- 
 sons, as spiritual beings, are, to some extent, necessitated to 
 act and manifest themselves through the world-made charac- 
 ter, which, although superficial and arbitrary, is neverthe- 
 less pre-eminently successful in its supremacy for the time 
 being. 
 
 Assuming as a fact that the third character is educa- 
 tional, and that the Spirit is in general necessitated to act 
 through and by means of it, (as a person is obliged to speak 
 with the words he remembers,) we think parents should 
 calmly consider what sort of teachers, what class of hooks, 
 and lastly, what kind of schools, are best adapted to unfold 
 the real excellencies, and to develop the truest character 
 of childhood. 
 
 In relation to childhood, by itself considered, we are 
 moved to remark that it is the condition of simple super- 
 sensuous consciousness. What is the proof ? This : that 
 the child-heart is earliest influenced by divine principles. 
 What do we mean ? That the young spirit, is the first to 
 take on the lesson of innocent, unselfish love ; and that its 
 earliest impressions are redolent of divine simplicity and 
 unsuspecting truthfulness. The spiritual integrity and 
 unselfish lovingness of the young are facts of universal 
 observation and consciousness. Tlie mother's genial touch, 
 or her reverent spirit stealing its way into the young mind, 
 
WHAT IS A TRUE CHILD? 301 
 
 may awaken thought, enkindle feeling, and quicken to 
 duty, and explore the realms of consciousnses — or, as in 
 too many cases, the incapacitated parent may leave the 
 tender, undepraved soil uncultivated— just as, perhaps, her 
 own was neglected by those who gave it an embodied 
 existence. 
 
 Children, because so spiritually impressible, should be 
 fortified and guarded against the psychology of imitation. 
 They asfume the thoughts and actions of their companions 
 as unconsciously as by contact they absorb the magnetism 
 and likeness of epidemics — measles, mumps, croup, scarlet 
 fever, &c. Yet it is never wise to deem children incapable 
 of originality. If we regard, with more confiding atten- 
 tion, the chance-sayings that drop ever and anon from their 
 rosy lips, our own progress will be greatly accelerated 
 angel-ward. Men fancy themselves wiser than children — 
 because, forsooth, they have seen more with the bodily 
 senses, and remember more of the world's contemptible 
 ways. Let no one deem such knowledge, wisdom. The 
 true, unspoiled child, is wise, and its unsophisticated genius 
 is divine ; compared with which the education of a Bacon 
 is but transitional intelligence and systematic folly. Child- 
 hood is incessantly uttering sage words worthy of the 
 oldest philosophy. Its simple improvisations are revela- 
 tions of great future possibilities. Analyze a child's con- 
 sciousness, listen now and then to its affirmations and aspi- 
 rations for whatsoever is Good, and Beautiful, and Wise, 
 and Spiritual, and you will be instructed beyond books and 
 priests. Treat tenderly, never scoffingly, the bright visions 
 of youth. Let childhood teach you to recall the spiritual 
 kingdom away down in your own soul's heart. The gentle 
 Nazarene believed that children would apprehend his 
 teachings far quicker than the learned Rabbi and salaried 
 26 
 
302 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 priests of the temples. And he was not mistaken. Little 
 children did comprehend his principles through his beauti- 
 ful parables (or stories, with morals;) and besides these, 
 may be mentioned the "Mothers" and daughters of hu- 
 manity ; for wherever beats an intuitive heart, there the 
 teachings of the tme teacher are best appreciated. 
 
 In replying we feel that we have written enough — per- 
 haps more than is required — to bring this world-wide ques- 
 tion home to all parents. 
 
 Attributes of a Child's Spirit. 
 
 CLXXXV. — Question : " I do not quite understand your reply to 
 the preceding question. You deal in too many vague and ' glittering 
 generalities. ' Please be more explicit in analyzing and revealing the 
 spirit of a true Child. What are its natural characteristics and 
 attractions ? " 
 
 Answer: A free-born natural child is an ineffable 
 wonder. To the scholastically-trained and educated, such 
 an offspring of human parents is a marvel, a genuine 
 prodigy, a Jesus — "a later revelation, breaking with 
 laughter from the lake divine, whence all things flow. " 
 A natural, spontaneous, unfallen child, is the " flower " of 
 the whole human family — a miracle, unfolded by the inces- 
 santly active and wisely immutable principles of the inner 
 universe. 
 
 Such a marvelous development of humankind is justly 
 and inevitably glorified, and honored, and worshiped. The 
 God-taught soul of every parent swells spontaneously with 
 mingling convictions of awe and adoration. With all its 
 helplessness and immediate dependencies, with every indi- 
 cation that its reasoning faculties lie undeveloped in the 
 hidden folds of the brain, the natural child extracts unre- 
 strained love and adoration from the assembled multitude. 
 The scholastic mind pronounces it an eccentric and beauti- 
 ful creature — a genius, perchance — whose incipient reason- 
 
ATTRIBUTES OP A CHILD's SPIRIT. 303 
 
 ing powers need the master's routine and discipline. 
 Unless wisely applied, this method would result in the 
 extinguishment of every natural manifestation, and thus 
 would « end " the glory of the child. If, on the other 
 hand, the young spirit be enough fortunate, without either 
 parental or scholastic government, to unfold the graceful 
 simplicity and grandeur of wisdom, then the ignorant and 
 intelligent alike commence to glorify, and honor, and wor- 
 ship. This practice, long continued, eventuates in soul- 
 cramping idolatry on the part of the people; and this 
 adoration results in servile imitation of the loved one's 
 characteristics ; and all this, combined in the form of secta- 
 rianism, generates innumerable obstacles to the easy pro- 
 gress of the race. 
 
 What is a natural Child? One who is, in practical 
 daily manifestation, consistent with its inherent attributes. 
 What are the constitutional constituents of a natural Child ? 
 The basic elements of the child-spirit, in the most general 
 definition, are Love, Will, and Wisdom. 
 
 These fundamental principles are implanted by the 
 spirit's true and only parents, namely, God (the masculine), 
 and Nature (the feminine), equal forms and parts of the 
 spiritual universe. 
 
 In the last reply, we termed this Character the firat 
 and inmost ; the deepest and divinest ; the last to be 
 developed, aad eternal in duration. We will now classify 
 the constituents of Love in the Child-spirit, and state them 
 in six sentences, and in ordinary phraseology : 
 
 First. The instinct of Existence — Self-Love. 
 
 Second. Tiie instinct of Mating — Conjugal Love. 
 
 Third. The instinct of Fostering — Parental Love. 
 
 Fourth. The instinct of Friendship — Fraternal Love. 
 
 Fifth. The instinct of Dependence — Filial Love. 
 
 Sixth. The instinct of Philanthropy — Universal Love. 
 
304 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 The foregoing are, in the light of modern philosophical 
 investigations, the basilar principles enshrined in the Love- 
 germ of the natural Child. What, then, is the mission of 
 the true teacher ? Is it the teacher's duty to develop these 
 principles by various appeals to them ? Gr, is it his or her 
 mission rather to watch, and guard, and protect the tender 
 plant, so that nothing shall interfere with the progressive 
 outflowing of its inherent principles ? This, to tell the 
 truth, is the pivoted question in all theories of children and 
 thgjr proper education. For the present, we leave it for 
 future reflections, and pass on to consider the next impor- 
 tant problem, viz : What is the Child's second C/iaracter ? 
 
 The Second, or intermediate Character, is an embodi- 
 ment of the peculiarities and temperaments of parents. In 
 most cases, it will be observed that one progenitor pre- 
 dominates in the body, and the other in the mental con- 
 formations and disposition. Sometimes, though rarely, it 
 happens that remote ancestors contribute largely, by the 
 elements of blood, to the organization of the just-born off- 
 spring. It matters not, however, in examining the consti- 
 tution of the intermediate character, how many ancestral 
 progenitors, or which of the immediate parents, are pre- 
 ponderatingly reproduced in the human child. It is simply 
 essential to a right and comprehensive understanding of 
 " ourselves," that we, in this practical analysis, confine our 
 remarks more to the sphere of universal effects in the 
 homes and cradles of humanity. 
 
 The inherited elements of Character will be exhibited 
 either in malformations, inversions, or exaggerations of the 
 basic principles as already named and classified. No human 
 being is essentially different in the germs — attributes of 
 spirit — from every other illustration of the common organ- 
 ization. Therefore, it is well and wise to afSrm that, in 
 
ATTRIBUTES OF A CHILD'S SPIRIT. 305 
 
 the heart-life of the mind, there is no difference between a 
 God and a Devil. 
 
 Mark our words! Do not be too quick to force a 
 ■wrong construction, for we know it is possible that you, 
 honored reader, may be struggling with some vicious intel- 
 lectual propensity imbedded in your intermediate Character, 
 or which, by unfortunate circumstances, you may have 
 acquired since birth in the circles and angles of contiguous 
 society. Yea, mark our expression. We aflSrm that, essen- 
 tiality — i. e., in the essences of which the child-spirit is 
 composed — there is no difference between an angel and a 
 demon ! These conditions and personages are opposites, 
 however — and fearfully so — because of inherited or ac- 
 quired characteristics. This simple explanation covers the 
 whole question, solves the world-distracting problem, makes 
 prospective friends of present enemies, and attracts gods and 
 devils from extremes into golden centers. In this con- 
 nection let us inquire : What are the forms of the inher- 
 ited Character? We make answer that, taking the given 
 scale of basic-principles as the natural order, the full Inver- 
 sions of them would manifest themselves thus : 
 
 First. Personal negligence and self-abuse — Heedlessness. 
 Second. Isolated life and habitual saturnity— Loneliness. 
 Third. Repulsed by youthfulness and simplicity — Harshness. 
 Fourth. Cares little for the happiness of man or beast — Selfishness. 
 Fifth. Realization of no gratitude or obligations— Impiousness. 
 Sixth. Misanthropical and world-hating disposition — Bitterness. 
 
 But here let it be borne in reason, that a child may 
 exhibit only one or two inversions of the inherent love- 
 principles, and those to a very slight degree, while other 
 loves mav remain inactive and without manifestation in any 
 direction; or, on the other hand, the love-germs may be by 
 defective parentage forced from their natural positions, and 
 
 26* 
 
806 ANSWEES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 SO rescued from inverted forms of developmeBt, by being 
 pushed and constrained into some extreme, and therefore 
 equally unhealthy developments. With this supposition, 
 and following the order above indicated as natural, we 
 would observe, 
 
 First. Excessive labor and parsimony — AcauisiTivENESS. 
 Second. Sexual indulgences and polygamy — Amativeness. 
 Third — Idolatry of pets and over-tenderness — Philopjiogenitiveness 
 Fourth. Sacrifices of every kind for friendship — Adhesiveness. 
 Fifth. Convictions of dependence and unworthiness — Veneration. 
 Sixth. Over-sympathetic deeds for humanity — Benevolence. 
 
 We have ventured to extend our commentary, on each 
 extreme operation of the six radical Love-principles, by 
 the employment of proper phrenological terms^in part, 
 because these familiar words convey briefly the whole 
 thought intended — and, also, because we hold that modern 
 anthropologists have unwisely given names to mani/estqtions 
 instead of organs ; thus impressing the world to believe 
 that the God of goodness originally organized man with 
 faculties of theft, suicide, cruelty, hypocrisy, selfishness, sensu- 
 ality, Ifc. ; and yet, when popular phrenology is perfectly 
 comprehended, it will be found that no mental discoveries 
 establish the doctrine of innate evil, but only that the mind 
 is (as we teach) susceptible to a great variety of degrees 
 and shades of manifestation. 
 
 How can the foregoing analysis apply to the Child- 
 spirit, or to its education by teachers and books ? Thus : 
 When a human being is born with the whole scale of radi- 
 cal loves in natural order, and without subversions or inver- 
 sions of any kind, then behold a "miracle" in human 
 form — a prodigy, a genius of intuition, a son or daughter 
 of God, a goddess or a Jesus — upon whose childlike head, 
 which'is of necessity attractive and harmonious with grace- 
 
ATTRIBaTES OP A CHILD'S SPIRIT. 307 
 
 ful outlines and flowing hair, the world places the immortal 
 
 crown made beautiful by love, respect, awe, adoration, and 
 worship. 
 
 But, alas! the perfect conformation of parental condi- 
 tions with the natural Love-principles, is an event so 
 extremely rare and well-nigh impossible, that, when it 
 does happen, the world is astounded as by a supernatural 
 act from the throne of the highest heaven. What wonder 
 mankind make long pilgrimages to pay respectful and 
 grateful homage to the birth-place of its rarely-developed 
 gods and goddesses, its saviors and princesses, in the* 
 sublime realm of interior and spiritual things ! We should ' 
 wonder if it were otherwise. 
 
 But the glorious and heavenly era has at length 
 dawned, as we are impressed, when human men and 
 women — both those who are parents and those likely to 
 become thus honorable — may, by understanding the consti- 
 tution of the Child-spirit, greatly " multiply and replen- 
 ish " the Jesus-realm of humanity. We do not use the term 
 " Christ," because this word signiiies a divine Principle, 
 which the Jesus of an age may not always exemplify in his 
 character and conduct. In a short sentence: we are 
 impressively taught that the birth of good Child-spirits is 
 just as possible in every- rightly constituted family, as it 
 was once only possible for one, with such goodness and 
 sweetness, to be born in the psych ogestatiou of many 
 misery-freighted centuries. The principles and methods of 
 such desirable and possible effects cannot be set forth in a 
 single article, nor yet in several, it may be. So, then, we 
 crave the opportunities of time, and the patience of honest 
 inquirers and readers not less, in order to elaborate and 
 complete our impressions and treatment of Childhood. 
 
 It will be observed that we have not considered the 
 
308 AUSWKRS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 third Character, which is made by society, and influences 
 operative subsequent to birth, nor have we analyzed 
 any of the intellectual perversities of children, because 
 these departments necessarily belong to more extended and 
 prospective statements of the question. 
 
 Let us venture, in closing, to utter a few practical sug- 
 gestions for the benefit of all believers in the fearful teach- 
 ings of old Theology. 
 
 The Natural Child-spirit is wholly unacquainted with any 
 of the cardinal doctrines of popular sectarian religion. The 
 young soul is a " later revelation, breaking with laughter 
 from the lake divine whence all things flow," and strange 
 to write! not one of its intuitive attributes — which of 
 necessity are wholly God and Nature-taught — know any- 
 thing or dream anything of the time-sanctified tenets of 
 religious creeds. Original Sin ! " What's that, Pa ? " 
 Atonement! "Ma, what's that?" Faith! "Is it good 
 to eat ? " Special Providences, and Repentance, and Re- 
 generation ! " Can I have some to play with. Ma ? " Hell, 
 filled with ungovernable goats — Heaven, a good-sized sheep- 
 fold — God, a great personality seated eternally on a great 
 white throne! "What's all tliem things, Pa?" 
 
 The scholastically educated gentleman enters the family 
 arena. Prom the Bible he reads the doleful news of thing's 
 traditionally Past — impossibly Present — (and never to 
 come) — in which the Child-spirit, left to itself, takes less 
 intuitive interest than it does in trees and flowing water. 
 Why ? Because the God-taught soul is born replete with 
 radical attractions toward whatever is intrinsically good 
 for itself and substantially true for others. Therefore, if it 
 ever receive the doctrines of Theology and the Churches, 
 the fact is owing to t\m formation of a third Character, inio 
 the fashion and ugly image of which the more plastic ele- 
 
TRUE EDUCATION AND TETIE TEACHERS. 309 
 
 ments within are year by year, and day by day, compelled 
 to flow and effect tlieir semi-systematic manifestation. 
 
 Tlieologiaus, and gentle-minded mothers under the 
 minister's psychology, will impress the young mind to adopt 
 the ugliest conceptions of Death, Duty, and Deity. The 
 common-place explanation why Children are not Christimis, 
 is : " They are depraved." A more abominable error was 
 never hatched in the nest of sectarian ignorance ! 
 
 Human nature, as revealed in the Child-spirit, is the 
 infallible Word of God. Compared with this Book of 
 Spirit-life, both eternal and reasonable, the Bible is a use- 
 less parlor-table ornament. But understood as a record of 
 what the ancients believed, and did, and experienced, in 
 the realms of spiritual intercourse, the Bible becomes very 
 useful both as a monument and a teacher. Beware then, 
 how ye miseducate, and (while on bended knees) honestly, 
 yet ignorantly, deceive and persecute the Child-spirit ; for 
 the truth of the Universe is written out, naturally and inef- 
 faceably, upon the spiritual constitution of all humankind, 
 and the young are first to know the mind of God as 
 imparted to Mother Nature. 
 
 True Education and True Teachers. 
 
 CLXXXVI. — Ql'estion : " Granting that the spirit of a true child 
 is organized as described in your lieply to Question 185, it next 
 becomes a most interesting problem as to how such a child is to be 
 truly educated. Of education itself the world seems to know but 
 little. I wish, therefore, to ask two questions — (1st) How shall a truly 
 natural child be truly educated ? and (2dj What is true Education ? " 
 
 Answer: "I shall not," says Paley, in his work on 
 
 Natural Theology, "I shall not be contradicted when I 
 
 say, that if one train of thinking be more desirable than 
 
 another, it is that which regards the phenomena of Nature, 
 
 with a constant reference to a supreme, intelligent Author. 
 
 The world thenceforth becomes a temple, and life itself one 
 
310 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 continued act of adoration." In this train of thinking we 
 propose the education of the Children of the future — that 
 is, of all generations born after the dawn of that glorious 
 day when Nature is received by humanity as the only mani- 
 festation of Deity — as the only true and infallible Bible. '• 
 
 Children are naturally shy of ministers, but they love 
 fishermen and travelers. Children shrink from the baptis- 
 mal font, but they love to leap from the moss-covered rock, 
 and to swim in the flowing stream. Is this depravity? 
 Children fear to encounter the dogmas of Theology, but 
 they love the frolicsome pet lambs just over the fence. 
 
 There is nothing compulsory in Nature ; her lessons are 
 easily learned ; but in Theology everything is arbitrary and 
 incomprehensible. "Invisible things," in Nature, "are 
 clearly seen, being, understood by the things that are 
 made." But in Theology " invisible things " are incom- 
 prehensible or nonsensical, because the " things that are 
 made " are never intelligently studied. Excellent parents 
 there are who gravely imagine themselves acquainted with 
 Nature, because they remember to have once taken lessons 
 in botany, physiology, natural philosophy, and geography. 
 They are superficial enough to fancy themselves profound. 
 They are ignorant enough to suppose that a Bible is neces- 
 sary to explain "the ways of God to man." They are 
 popular enough to send their children to the fashionable 
 Sunday School, and superstitious enough to believe that the 
 New Testament is more surely from God than the blossom- 
 ing universe of life and harmony. These are the conceited 
 few who " can get nothing new." They profess to have read 
 all theories, have scaled all the far-stretching and lofty 
 mountains of philosophy, have measured the temple of Orion, 
 have comprehended every problem in Spiritualism, have 
 exploded all pantheistic systems, have tied the threads of 
 
TRUE EDUCATION AND TRUE TEACHERS. 311 
 
 possibilities together, and the result is — they do not read 
 anything further, but instead are willing to attend 
 "divine service." 
 
 With these remarks we turn to the questions before us. 
 The natural principles and inner characteristics of the 
 Child-spirit were considered briefly in our last response. 
 In that repl}', also, we systematized and mentioned the 
 several inversions and excessive manifestations of the ori- 
 ginal or primitive elements of human life. It will be 
 remembered that we classified all defects, deficiencies, per- 
 versities, and extremisms of the young Spirit, under the 
 head of the Second Character; meaning by this term, 
 those particular combinations and organizations of the ori- 
 ginal elements generally denominated " hereditary pecu- 
 liarities." 
 
 The Second Character, so variously diversified, is the 
 bestowment of the immediate parents. Children bring into 
 the world with them the peculiar attributes and conditions 
 of their progenitors. Some young spirits are, in conse- 
 quence, more social and affectionate than others. By con- 
 stitutional differences certain little ones are selfish and 
 quarrelsome, while others, perhaps originating from the 
 same parents, inherit benevolence and the finest intel- 
 lectual powers. 
 
 Why this contradiction ? Because the parents impart 
 their natural dispositions and habits not only, but also the 
 eflects which certain external circumstances planted within 
 the mind of the parents. Thus, for example, one Child- 
 spirit may be conceived and organized under the natural 
 play of parental characteristics — in which case the child's 
 disposition will, for the most part, resemble that of which- 
 ever parent was most positive in the early stages of utero- 
 gestation, while the body and face will follow the pattern 
 
312 ANSWERS TO QUESTIOKS. 
 
 of the most negative parent during the same period — and 
 then, perhaps, the very next Child vrill exhibit a .disposi- 
 tion unlike either parent : but it is certain that, by careful 
 analysis of the conditions and circumstances which sur- 
 rounded and acted upon the parents during gestation, the 
 whole mystery will be explained. While progenitors are 
 economizing and studying how to save property and 
 become wealthy, they are likely to produce selfish and 
 almost thievish offspring ; but as soon as the ease and idle- 
 ness of wealth have entered into their affections and expe- 
 rience, their Children will from birth be more benevolent, 
 and perhaps prodigal. The same law obtains in other 
 respects, by which parents impart bodily habits, disease, 
 and other deformities, making up the Second Character. 
 
 But the Third Character is wholly educational. This 
 form of mind is manufactured by whatever impresses and 
 educates the young Spirit. And because it is the last form, 
 it is therefore the most immediately influential upon the 
 forms of the more hidden Characters. " Nature will out," 
 but it almost invariably takes the shape of the educational 
 bias. A New Englander, for illustration, born and reared 
 in Constantinople, receiving the social and religious 
 instructions of the Mahommedans, will, notwithstanding 
 his parentage, manifest his mind and spirit in general har- 
 mony with the shape of his education. He would be more 
 Oriental than American in his manifestations and per- 
 sonal tastes. And the reverse would be equally true ; for 
 the principle is applicable to everybody in all parts of the 
 universe. And yet, however well educated or impressed 
 by tertiary influences, one thing is certain : that the Third 
 Character will yield by slow degrees to the inherited cha- 
 racter ; and so, this in its turn, but far more gradually, is 
 destined to depart before the yet more powerful form (the 
 
TRUE EDUCATION AND TKUE TEACHEES. 313 
 
 First Character) which is iumost, divine, beautiful, and 
 eternal. 
 
 In view of these three Characters, this question natur- 
 ally arises : What is the true object and aim of education ? 
 
 Answer : The true and only end of education should be 
 the harmonization of the individual. 
 
 Question : But does not this imply a pattern or standard 
 by which to fashion and measure the individual from 
 childhood ? 
 
 A. Yes! 
 
 Q. What and where is that standard ? 
 
 A. The natural character, with its six loves in natural 
 play. 
 
 Q. But is it natural for every individual Child to pos- 
 sess the six LOVES to the same degree, and in the same rela- 
 tive position to each other ? 
 
 A. No ; but it is natural for each Child to possess them, 
 and to a degree, and with internal relationships, consistent 
 with its natural temperaments ; yet it is neither best, nor 
 good, nor natural for any one of the loves to be either 
 inverted or excessive in manifestation. 
 
 The true method, then, is : to ascertain the leading 
 organic temperament, the predominating constitutional pro- 
 clivity of the Child, and then, instead of fighting against 
 it as a wicked propensity, just proceed with the educational 
 process in order to balance the Character in accordance 
 with such temperament, which is the key-note. 
 
 By " temperament " we do not mean a perversion or 
 extremism in the disposition of the Child, but the chief, 
 organic, inborn, constitutional, integral tendency of both 
 the mind and body. For instance: Some children are 
 muscular and mechanical : others, emotional and musical ; 
 some are nutritive and agricultural ; others, spiritual and 
 
 27 
 
314 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 artistic ; some are cold and intellectual ; others, affection- 
 ate and intuitional ; one learns by seeing, another by hear- 
 ing, a third by feeling, a fourth by thinking ; one is calcu- 
 lating and mercantile ; another is scientific and inventive ; 
 and still another is mystical and religious. Thus the pre- 
 dominating temperaments are describable in almost every 
 Child before its tenth year, and true education consists in 
 harmonizing the loves and wisdom attributes of the soul with 
 the natural demands of such proclivities. If this method 
 be not applied, the consequences are that the individual, 
 male or female, grows up in discord and out of place. 
 
 Thus, the natural mechanic is educated to merchandise ; 
 the natural artist is forced to till the ground ; the natural 
 inventor is put into the pulpit ; the true lawyer is a sea 
 captain ; the true clergyman is at the head of an army ; 
 the true physician is sawing wood and digging ditches ; the 
 natural fool is put upon the throne of an empire ; and the 
 next stratifica-tion of consequence is the world-wide discord 
 in all human interests. There is here no social music, 
 because the notes, as well as the musicians, are sadly out of 
 their natural places. " Where is my sphere ? " " What is my 
 true gift ? " " To what am I adapted ? " These questions are 
 put by almost every tongue in every land. One says : " 1 
 was educated for the legal profession, but I don't like it." 
 Another : " My father placed me in a dry goods store, but 
 I yearn for a farm in the West." A third : " I am in the 
 ministry, but I would gladly change situations with the 
 thrifty mechanic." A fourth: "My father sends me to 
 school, but I would rather learn how to build ships and 
 houses." Who ever heard a word of complaint from the 
 rightly occupied mind and body ? He who is truly employed 
 is happy. The industry of the congenially employed is 
 attractive and pleasurable. But discord emanates from the 
 
TRUE EDUCATION AND TEUE TEACHERS. 315 
 
 wrongh'-situated and the falsely-employed ; or rather, the 
 world's trouble is generated by persons in absurd relations 
 to the public good ; the result of human activities in depart- 
 ments and positions by persons naturally incompetent to fill 
 them. That these misplacements exist, and that they occur 
 in consequence of ignorance and the arbitrations of poverty, 
 no one attempts to deny. 
 
 No thinker ever deemed the existing situations and 
 occupations of men and women in society as natural and 
 wise. But these universal misplacements are inevitable, 
 under the world's religious creeds and systems of educa- 
 tion. Those, therefore, who would improve the circum- 
 stances and morals of their fellow men, must first improve 
 the institutions and theories by which society is governed. 
 No beautiful castings can result from an ugly pattern. 
 Society, with its theories and institutions, is the pattern ; 
 the individual's outside Character is an exact copy thereof; 
 if you do not like the latter, then improve the fashion of 
 the former. 
 
 The Child-spirit is cast into the popular mold. It 
 must be measured by the ruts of the conservative wagon, 
 else society will unmercifully Joft the individual upon the 
 corrugations of misrepresentation and unpopularity. Pa- 
 rents know this full well, many of them too well for imme- 
 diate happiness; and such, therefore, consent to "bring 
 up" their children "in the fear of" the world's Opinion. 
 Thus a Third Character is manufactured for your little 
 daughter and for your precious darling boy, which will be 
 worn by each into society, just like the fashionable clothing 
 upon the body. 
 
 Can you expect truth and spontaneity under these con- 
 ditions ? As well might we look for pleasure in pandemo- 
 nium, or for happiness in the carnage of a battle-field. 
 
316 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Children, especially, are creatures of sympathy and imita- 
 tion. They yield to the predominating attraction, and very 
 soon take upon themselves its image and tendencies. There- 
 fore how essential that Nature, not Society, should be their 
 teacher ! The relation between the Child-Spirit and the 
 Spirit of Nature is most intimate. There is a spontaneous 
 friendship, a sweet love, binding them inseparably together. 
 Children may be shy of strange human beings, but they are 
 never afraid of Nature, for there is nothing obtrusive or 
 repulsive about her. The truesj; influence of Nature is 
 spiritual. She exalts and ennobles the intellectual powers 
 of her Children, but only after she has won their hearts 
 through the loves that inspire and fill them. Nothing is 
 more positively certain than this : that the only true teacher 
 of little children is Mother Nature, and that the best 
 parents are they who, regardless of a weak and supersti- 
 tious public sentiment, will take their innocent Ones forth 
 into the temple of motion, life, sensation, and intelligence, 
 and thus, by observation and from actual facts and things, 
 in the presence of the young minds, deduce and induce 
 those divine truths which polish the intellect and exalt the 
 affections. 
 
 Origin and Causes of Civilization. 
 
 CLXXXVII. — QuKSTiON : " You say that ' children naturally 
 shrink from ministers,' and that the young spirit is by nature ' wholly 
 ignorant of the cardinal doctrines of popular religion.' Now I would 
 ask whether Christianity is not the origin of all progress ? Is not the 
 religion of the Bible the cause of all civilization "? " 
 
 > Answer : Well meaning men in pulpits will say of us 
 
 that we have studiously evaded the relation of Christianity 
 
 to the cause and progress of civilization. Ministers believe 
 
 and urge upon their congregations the theory that, without 
 
 the religion of Jesus, the present evidences of social and 
 
 moral progress would not exist. 
 
"ORIGIN AND CAUSES OF CIVILIZATIONI 317 
 
 There is truth in this theory. For every good word 
 and every good work has eventuated in corresponding 
 effects within and upon mankind. But this is no more true 
 of Jesus than it is of Socrates. The sum total of 'the Chris- 
 tian gospel is in strict harmony with the intuitive teachings 
 of every enlightened mind — i. e., " Love the great Good (or 
 Lord God,) with all thy heart, mind, and strength, and thy 
 neighbor as thyself." This is the civilizing principle 
 inculcated by pure Christianity. We recognize this eter- 
 nal truth, not as an arbitrary commandment from heaven, 
 but as a divine principle natural to and inseparable from 
 the spiritual constitution of man. ^ 
 
 So far, then, we deem the teachings of Jesus consistent 
 with the laws of Father God, which are operative and 
 exemplified in human nature ; and, so far, therefore, do we 
 acknowledge Christianity to be an important essential to 
 the progress of civilization. But in so saying, we do not 
 indorse a word of the atrocious theology of American and 
 European churches. This theology is based in total 
 depravity, a disease which ramifies throughout the incum- 
 bent superstructure. A vicarious " Atonement " is built 
 upon the Original Sin ; a " Faith " in the supernatural 
 is required of all men ; and a miraculous " Regeneration " 
 is promised as the crowning result of faith. To all this 
 theology we put in our unqualified protest, and reject it as 
 cordi'ally as we accept 9,nd love the central principle of 
 Christianity. 
 
 The remonstrance of enlightened reason to the mytholo- 
 gies which cluster about pure Christianity, is absolute, as ■ 
 was proved by the fact that the great revival of 1858 
 made two infidels where it made one convert to its doc- 
 trines ; that is, 400,000 skeptics by the same revival which 
 caused 200,000 believers. 
 
 27* 
 
318 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 What is civilization? One lexicographer (Webster,) 
 answers : " the state of being refined in manners from the 
 grossness of savage life, and improved in arts and learn- 
 ing." This state, the ministers say, is the legitimate off- 
 spring of the Bible and Christianity. Let us look without 
 prejudice at this popular superstition, and endeavor to 
 ascertain the exact historic facta. 
 
 Out of the 1,000,000,000 of earth's population, only about 
 270,000,000 profess belief in the Bible of the Christians. 
 And the larger portion of this number are Roman or 
 Greek Catholics. Of Protestants to these forms of Catho- 
 licity there are only about 70,000,000, and these Protest- 
 ants are divided and split up into many and various forms 
 of rationalistic reformation ; such as Unitarians, Univer- 
 salists, Quakers, Mormons, Infidels, Come-outers, and 
 Nothingarians, making, on the whole, the most unprece- 
 dented and self-destructive conglomeration of religious 
 opinions and prejudices. Of course Protestants imagine 
 themselves to be the only true Christians. The Bible, under 
 their interpretations and engineering, is the alleged cause 
 of civilization. We deny it in toto, not only of Protestants, 
 but of all religious sects, ancieiit or modern. 
 
 If the Bible is the cause of civilization, how happened it 
 that the first astronomical observations which began to 
 enlarge mind, were made 2,234 yeirs before the birth of 
 Jesus ? If it is Christianity that refines us, how was it 
 possible for men to chisel out beautiful pictures and grace- 
 ful forms 1,900 years before Christ? The first agent of 
 commerce, a ship, arrived at Rhodes, in Greece, from 
 Pagan Egypt, 1,585 years before the existence of the 
 Christian's Bible. And the next agent of intercourse and 
 navigation, i. e., the seaman's compass, was invented in 
 Heathen China 1,120 years before Paul preached to the 
 
ORIGIN AND CAUSES OP CIVILIZATION. 319 
 
 GeBtiles. And the principle of justice and equity between 
 man and man cropped out in the system of " weights and 
 measures," which was invented and adopted among the 
 Oriental traders 869 years before the birth of Jesus. 
 School-teaching and scientific instructions were introduced 
 by Anaximander 600 years before Paul's conversion to 
 Christianity. 526 years before the angels shouted " Glory 
 to God in the highest" to the Judean Shepherd, a public 
 library of valuable books was established at Athens in 
 civilized Greece. 
 
 These arts and this learning, and these civilizing influ- 
 ences and sciences, came without and in advailce of 
 Christianity. But since the theology of priests has afQicted 
 men's minds, and since the Heathen here and there have 
 accepted of its peculiar form of civilization, we have the 
 invention of powder, muskets, bayonets, and other instru- 
 mentalities of defensive and aggressive war. Also, on the 
 other hand, we have steam-engines, steam-presses, labor- 
 saving machines, and many physical means of earthly 
 progress. 
 
 Now, what is the cause of civilization ? Answer : The 
 causes and agents of civilization are the same as those influ- 
 ences in Nature by which germs unfold to blooming ulti- 
 mates. As it is the inevitable decree of God's immutable 
 nature that spring grains should ripen into autumnal har- 
 vests, that babies should become full grown men, that 
 thorns should in due time be crowned with the fragrant 
 flower, so is it the irresistible ordination of the same natural 
 God that tribes should form communities, that races should 
 bloom out into nationalities, and that confederated people 
 should unfold all the essential facts and principles of civili- 
 zation. The Greek, the Roman, the Celtic, the Saxon, the 
 Teutonic, and the yet more recent forms of progressive 
 
320 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 power, combiiie and make improvements, by means both 
 automatic and intentional. 
 
 Man is by nature a lover of Science, which means a 
 knowledge of facts and forces ; and of Art also, which means 
 the voluntary control of forces. He is such a being, not by 
 virtue of any creed or authority in either politics or reli- 
 gion, but wholly from the fact that man is a spiritual exist- 
 ence, a formation of mental and moral principles, an inherit- 
 ance from his Eternal Parents. 
 
 This duality of man's organization, and these forces and 
 tendencies which are inseparable from his essential nature, 
 taken together, explain the cause of civilization. Society 
 is an expression of man's nature and development ; not of 
 man individually, but of man in the aggregate. Hence the 
 present state of American society is a perfect reflection of 
 the interior condition of the mass of the people, but not of 
 the vanguard thousands who yearn day and night for the 
 era of peace and justice. Of existing civilization there are 
 ten good and ten evil concomitants : 
 
 GOOD CONCOMITANTS. EVIL CONCOMITANTS. 
 
 1. Kepresentative Government. 1. Sectarianism. 
 
 2. Trial by Jury. 2. Vindictive Punishment. 
 
 3. Family Relation. 3. War. 
 
 4. Education. 4. Avarice. 
 
 5. Liberty of Conscience. 5- Gambling. 
 
 6. Emigration. 6. Licentiousness. 
 
 7. Commerce. 7. Subjection of Women. 
 
 8. Religious Institutions. 8. Chattel Slavery. 
 
 9. Art and Music. 9. Intemperance. 
 10. Spirituality. 10. Infidelity. 
 
 These evils will be overcome and abolished just as fast 
 as man's spiritual faculties, including his reasoning endow- 
 ments, become developed and inherently harmonized. A 
 true education, not a creed or a system of opinions, is the 
 
THE INHEEENT NECESSITY OP WAB. 321 
 
 true remedy. Let your young men grow up in harmony 
 with the laws of their entire nature, and let your young 
 women venerate principles physical and spiritual — over- 
 coming disease with health, deformity with beauty, ignor- 
 ance with wisdom — let your ministers teach, not preach ; 
 tell them to make progress in all directions, not stand still ,' 
 and dogmatize at one point of the infinite radius ; love the ; 
 great Good with all your heart, mind, and strength, which 
 is the best form of universal love.— do these things, or at 
 least help get society and government so fixed that you can 
 act out the good which is within, and our present civiliza- 
 tion is savagism compared with that which would then 
 exist. 
 
 The Inherent Necessity of War. 
 
 CLXXXVIII. — Question : " Is war a necessity under any circum- 
 stances ? It would seem that war is a natural process, because, by 
 means of war, the world has made civil and religious progress. Is 
 not this true, or am I mistaken? Does Nature teach that death is 
 necessary to life 2 ''' 
 
 Answer : Nature's heart is filled with forces and princi- 
 ples of perfection, and nothing can resist their ultimate 
 manifestation. A strongly constituted man, for example, 
 will recover from sickness in spite of blue pills and the 
 lancet. So the whole body of mankind, being filled with 
 every adequate energy, and with conquering principles, 
 will make progress in spite of earthquakes, epidemics, bad 
 religions, oppressive governments, and destructive wars. 
 
 It is true, however, that sections of Nature (below the 
 spiritual Man) constitute a kind of War Department — a 
 West Point Academy — where the quadruped brain (which 
 yet remains in some raenj acquires the art of living by 
 means of violence and bloodshed. Life feasts upon Death. 
 Construction employs Major-General Destruction to super- 
 
322 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 intend the progressive advancement of organic existence. 
 That which lives in the world depends upon that which 
 dies in the world. Destruction spreads the table for the 
 support of Construction. All departments of Nature, there- 
 fore, are regulated by the mutually operative wings of 
 Progress, viz : Destruction and Construction, or Death and 
 Life, or War and Peace. The bird eats the fly, the owl 
 eats the bird, the hawk eats the owl, man kills the hawk, 
 and so on all the way up the steps of organic growth; 
 and yet we hold that Human Beings are not designed to be 
 influenced and educated by their inferiors — by the fish, and 
 birds, and animals, that live and breathe at the foot of the 
 throne on which mankind sits — " a little lower than the 
 angels." 
 
 Minerals, vegetables, and animals climb up to the pro- 
 duction and position of Mankind by means of force-won 
 possessions. Beasts have war establishments in their brain, 
 and teeth, and claws. Race eats race, as streams run into 
 streams, to make the ultimate. Force and violence are 
 natural, until the spiritual is reached ; then the spiritual is 
 the natural, and force and war are monstrous and unne- 
 cessary. Let each reader ask himself the question : " Is 
 war congenial to my reason and aifections ? " If the spirit 
 within shall whisper " yes," then blushingly and sadly we 
 write the verdict — your development is not spiritual. 
 
 Spirit of American Loyalty. 
 
 CLXXXrX.— Question : " "What was the spirit of the people of the 
 Free States when the Southern States rebelled ? " 
 
 Answer: The American Government, with its imper- 
 fections, is the best on earth. It is founded on the most 
 perfect " preamble " of eternal principles, and its constitu- 
 tional laws, thence derived, are the most beneficent of any 
 
SPIRIT OF AMEEICAN LOYALTY. 323 
 
 ever conceived by the human mind. That the Constitu- 
 ticu: may be amended and thus rendered vastly more Free 
 and more Just, all candid Statesmen and thoughtful Citi- 
 zens equally concede. But this work is the work of the 
 law of Progress, which, step by step, develops the masses 
 up to the level of broader and juster views of Human 
 Eights aad Liberties. 
 
 This Government had been menaced and encircled by 
 unutterable dangers. Party dissensions and political dif- 
 ferences had shaken our institutions to their solid founda- 
 tions. The demon of Dissolution stalked defiantly up and 
 down the land, from ocean to ocean, and his mouth breathed 
 forth threateningg too wicked to repeat. National and 
 social prosperities were suddenly struck with the deadly 
 wand of civil war. And yet, amid all these and a thousand 
 more terrible symptoms of national dissolution and death, 
 the great North remained apparently cold and indifferent. 
 A fearful apathy seemed to pervade all classes and parties. 
 in the Free States. The insensibility of the people, at a 
 time when the formidable dangers of " Secession " were 
 menacing the very existence of the Government, filled 
 patriotic hearts with mingled feelings of astonishment and 
 despair. 
 
 But lo ! in the twinkling of an eye, the North became 
 radiant with a fearful inspiration. The country's banner 
 was unfurled in every direction. Cities and villages were 
 moved by a sublime enthusiasm. This great Republic was 
 summoned to strike a powerful blow for Free Institutions. 
 There is a glorious destiny in store for the inhabitants of 
 this continent. The Stars and Stripes, the emblem of our 
 country's past history, may yet wave over a free, happy, and 
 progressive people. 
 
324 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 The Rebellious Spirit of Conservatism. 
 
 CLXL. — QoESTioN : "When the Southern rebellion heoame 
 formidable, what was the spirit of the leading Northern Journals ? 
 Were they for the Union, or for Freedom and Progress ? " 
 
 Answer: The Union aS' a mere form, under the sway 
 of time-serving lawyers and professional politicians, is not 
 worth an ounce of human blood. The shape and form of 
 any earthly development, are subject to the inexorable 
 mutations of immutable laws. The incessant changes 
 wrought by Nature's unchangeable principles, are not only 
 inevitable, but also absolutely necessary and promotive of 
 the ends, aims, and purposes of Peogress. 
 
 We have shown that the principle of Progression is 
 Heaven's central law. It is the very life-element of Deity. 
 To resist its natural operations, whether in matter or in 
 institutions, is to rebel against the central will of the Divine 
 Mind. Prom this position 
 
 We ask — are our leading politicians Rebels ? The 
 question is a fair one, and we have a right to put it earn- 
 estly. Are the people of the North all conservatives of 
 form, and, therefore, " rebels " to Progress in their very 
 heart ? Are the policy- wise editors of our loyal journals 
 all traitors and rebels, and " miserable sinners," in the eyes 
 of higher intelligences, and before high heaven ? Do they 
 design to bestow wealth and to sacrifice human life to pro- 
 tect and perpetuate a mere form of Government ? We do 
 not judge their moral or intellectual status, but our inmost 
 heart is trembling and swelling with, " Father, forgive them, 
 for they know not what they do ! " 
 
 Conservatives say that this " War is for the Union ! " 
 Progressionists say that the /orm of no earthly institution 
 is worth an ounce of human blood. They say that this 
 struggle is to " maintain the Constitution, and to enforce its 
 
THE REBELLIOUS SPIRIT OP CONSERVATISM. 325 
 
 laws, in all the States of the Union." We say that neither 
 the Constitution nor its laws, in themselves considered, are 
 worth the horror and expense of a single fratricidal bat- 
 tle. And furthermore we say, tliat the people of the North 
 will be yet more demoralized and politically prostrated, 
 unless leading men very soon transcend the form and 
 letter and expediencies of their political organizations, and 
 proclaim : « This War is for Freedom and Progress." 
 We must regard " Union " as one of the consequences of a 
 great, glorious, sublime struggle for Civilization and Pro- 
 gression. Americans should start with the fixed, invinci- 
 ble Will to fight for the establishment of more Freedom on 
 this continent, otherwise they will fail to accomplish the 
 ends which present " golden opportunities " bring almost 
 within the nation's grasp. The people of the South rebel 
 against the expansion and enforcement of constitutional 
 law ; but (mark the fact !) the people of the North refuse 
 to obey the central law of Heaven. Which is the worst 
 rebellion ? Instead of inspiring our brave Brothers with 
 the principle of Freedom, as the inherent right of all men 
 of every race and condition, our politicians simply cry : 
 " Save the Union — down with traitors — enforce the laws." 
 To all this progressionists respond a thousand times, 
 " Amen ! " but only because these efibrts are stepping-stones 
 to the expansion of civilization, on a yet higher- plane. 
 We cannot too profoundly thank our enemies for the oppor- 
 tunities which they present for the improvement of our con- 
 stitution, and the consequent progress of our Government. 
 And we cannot too earnestly impress the patriotic people 
 of America that their success in this war will turn, not on 
 their devotion to the letter and form of the Union, but on ' 
 their faithfulness and united allegiance to the principles of, 
 
 Freedom and Progress. 
 28 
 
326 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 The Origin of Fillibustering. 
 
 CLXLI. — Question : " I want to ask one question : What are 
 your views of fillibustering ? " 
 
 Answer : The name of the secret spring in the fillibus- 
 tering machinery, is Vandalism. In the evolutions of unfor- 
 tunate parentage, it is almost certain that, now and then, a 
 Vandal will be born aad projected into a Nation's vitals. 
 A constitutional Ishmael, whose hand is raised against the 
 neighbor's interest, is a monstrous production. He is a 
 Vandal, a Goth, a Wanderer, a Barbarian, a Spoiler of 
 others' rights, a Selfish member of the human family, and 
 the benevolence and intelligence of the family should atone 
 for his existence by kindly restraining his blood and 
 patiently educating his unfortunate brain. All fillibuster- 
 ing is beneath humanity. If a people are wild and wholly 
 unfit for self-government, and the fact is appreciated by a 
 neighboring nation, it is right to projTose to them the arts 
 and sciences, and the divine blessings of education. But 
 to march an army into their cities, to desolate their homes, 
 to overthrow their government, to overrun their lands 
 with fire and the sword, is barbarian Vandalism of the 
 most degraded and degrading character. 
 
 National Thunder and Lightning. 
 
 CLXLII. — Question: "Most persons of my acquaintance are 
 gratified with the stand you have assumed on the present war; and 
 yet nearly every person has expressed some surprise that you, a 
 peaceable and non-fighting man, should 'go in ' for the extremest 
 measures. It would interest many if you would define the reasons 
 why you advocate war." 
 
 Answer : We have not advocated, and do not advocate, 
 war. The central principle which we most earnestly 
 teach to mankind, is Progression. This is the pivotal law, 
 on which all events and all centuries turn, and for this 
 
SPIRITPv -IS-' ^ IN THE ARMY AND NAYT. 327 
 
 reason we advocate its requirements and accept its develop- 
 ments. Naturally and philosophically growing out of its 
 operations, we recognize this terrific struggle between the 
 Past and the Future — this mortal combat between Slaveoc- 
 racy and the spirit of Freedom — which is nothing less than. 
 the meeting of two naturally opposite and antagonistic 
 powers, and the concussion is announced by the thunder and 
 lightning of the battle-field and the navy. If the present 
 struggle was anywise different — a war of fillibuster and 
 conquest, like the wars of the Israelites against the Midi- 
 anites and other people — we should do our best to break 
 down the effort. Progression — as a divine law — demands 
 all we are now doing, and very much more, in order to 
 cleanse the political atmosphere and make way for the 
 advent of an American Brotherhood. Thunder and light- 
 ning are forcible expressions of the law of equilibrium. 
 The good Father and Mother dwell together through it 
 all, being no respecter of persons or institutions, and so 
 we behold lightning smiting public and private property 
 alike, sparing neither " tower, nor spire, nor gilded ball, 
 nor the very cross itself." Institutions are nothing in such 
 a storm as this. Justice, truth, right, are the thunder and 
 lightning of the principle of Progression. Music cannot 
 resound through the beauteous Isle of Liberty until the 
 dead -weights of Slavery are scattered to the free winds. 
 Let the storm rage ; the world will be serene by-and-by. 
 
 Spiritualists in the Array and Navy. 
 
 CLXLIII.— Question : " A great crisis is upon us. The war-cry 
 is sounded. What is the duty of Spiritualists in this trial hour ? 
 Shall they take up the sword ? . The world's philosophy says, ' Yes.' 
 The voice of God in my own soul says, ' No.' All is excitement, com- 
 motion, and apprehension around me. Everybody is arming and pre- 
 paring to arm, not even excepting Quakers and previous non-resist- 
 ante. I believe I stand alone in the doctrine of Peace. * * * 
 What is the course and the duty of the true Harmomal Philosopher, 
 
328 ANSWERS TO QUESTI0N8- 
 
 at this hour ? Shall we remaia exposed among those ' who take the 
 sword,' and thus ' perish,' by the side of those who rely on the sword ? 
 or, shall we find a refuge among those whose voice and testimony are 
 for Peace, and whose weapons are spiritual ? The war-spirit is 
 thoroughly aroused throughoat the land. How do you and your 
 companions feel, in view of what is coming upon us? " 
 
 Answer : We reply, under the authoritative impression 
 of the only unchangeable and divine sources — Nature, 
 Reason, and Intuition ; and yet, as the reader fully com- 
 prehends, we can give expression to only our individual 
 perceptions of the lessons taught by these authorities; 
 consequently, it will be the extreme of injustice to accept 
 or rally around our individual standard as a "rule of faith 
 and practice." It would be absurd and dangerous to indi- 
 vidual independence for any mind fully to adopt our 
 reasonings and impressions as a substitute for his own 
 sovereign cogitations and perceptions of right and wrong. 
 With this protest to the question whether we can tell 
 " what Spiritualists and Harmonialists should do under 
 the circumstances," we proceed to consider the existing War 
 between Union and Rebellion, or Liberty and Slavery. 
 
 In the first place, we ask attention to the workings of 
 Nature's God in the paths of human history. Looking 
 down the declivities of Time we behold successive stratifi- 
 cations of the race — first, Savagism ; then Barbarism ; 
 next, Patriarchalism — each with its characteristic attributes 
 and appropriate corresponding manifestations. Or, in a 
 religious and spiritual direction, we behold, first, a Force, 
 or Mosaic Dispensation ; second, a Love, or Christian Dis- 
 pensation ; and lastly, a Wisdom, or Harmonial Dispensa- 
 tion. These eras, or ages, succeed each other as pro- 
 gressively as a tree grows from germ to fruition. 
 
 Now it is established that the lowest contains the 
 qualities. and properties of the highest, undeveloped; and 
 
SPIRITUALISTS IN THE ARMY AND NAVX. 329 
 
 reversely, that the highest is the reservoir or embodiment 
 of all the elements and principles out of which it was suc- 
 cessively unfolded. 
 
 The first era of spiritual development was characterized 
 by Force. " An eye for an eye." Savage brutality, 
 rapine, and spoliations, or land privateering, and sanctimo- 
 nious slaughtering of innocent human beings, in order to 
 subjugate them and obtain their property, were character- 
 istics of the Savage or Mosaic era in history. 
 
 Then came the reactionary stage of development, termed 
 the Christian, or the age of " Love ye one another." This 
 period seemed to supersede its despotic predecessor. But 
 this was, not, and is not, the truth with regard to Chris- 
 tianity. Jesus did not supersede Moses. Christianity was 
 merely supplemental ; an appendix to the volume that was 
 published. -The so-called Gospel Age does nothing more 
 than modify and smooth off the brutalities and angulari- 
 ties of the parent which produced it. Practice speaks 
 louder than theory. And history is more truly an expo- 
 nent of God than any hypothesis in either politics or reli- 
 gion. The testimony of history is that Christians are Jews 
 in a modified form, with higher estimates of humanity, and 
 with nobler applications of the principle of Force. 
 
 So also the third stage, the Spiritual and Harmonial, 
 which inaugurates the era of '• "Wisdom." It seems to nul- 
 lify and overthrow the Christian era. But this seeming is 
 also a misapprehension of its import and mission. The 
 Harmonial Age does nothing more, and will do nothing 
 more, than to give a new direction to the integral princi- 
 ples of its predecessors. The testimony of future history 
 regarding this new Dispensation, will be that Harmonial 
 Philosophy, with its fresher inspirations of light and love, 
 gave higher and mightier impetus to the car of Progres- 
 
 28* 
 
330 ANSWERS TO QDESTIONS. 
 
 sion. There will of necessity come newer and fresher 
 forms of truth, and yet broader streams of fraternal lo7e, 
 which will re-mold and still further augment the era of 
 Peace on earth. 
 
 Thus, then, you perceive the logical necessity, in spite 
 of all theory and behind all aspirations for peace, that 
 mankind will manifest feelings in accordance with the inhe- 
 rent principles of progress. That is to say, although the 
 enlightened Christian ignores " an eye for an eye," he is 
 nevertheless ready to take up the sword for his country's 
 sake, or for the defense of his religion. But, unlike the 
 Mosaic man, he will not seek to spread his religion, or to 
 enforce his politics, by means of carnal weapons. (Be sure 
 that you draw a strong mark of difference between 
 defensive and aggressive warfare.) In like manner the 
 enlightened Harmonialist, although he would not fight even 
 to defend his religion, nor take up arms merely to sustain 
 a particular /brm of Grovernment, would nevertheless stand 
 firm as the everlasting hills, sword in hand it may be, to 
 defend Individual Freedom. 
 
 Man is ^ man through all history. And, thanks to 
 Father God ! he will continue to be man, through all eter- 
 nitjj ! His organization is unalterable — only his thoughts 
 are capable of expansion, and only his motives susceptible 
 of endless improvement. The Force of Moses was " good " 
 until the world grew to a position where something 
 " better " was developed : then Lme gave Force a newer 
 and a holier direction ; but the world has discovered that 
 both Force and Lo/oe need a controlling power. Therefore 
 the " best " form of mind, called Wisdom, must take the 
 reins of Government. When Wisdom takes up her sword 
 against any members of the human family, who are yet 
 unapproachable through the gentler and nobler attributes, 
 
THE JEWEL OP CONSISTENCY. 331 
 
 her motive will be Individual Freedom— not for one man 
 but for all mew— not to the people of one country, but 
 Freedom to the individual citizens of all countries. 
 
 We are fully conscious of the fact that there is great 
 ■Sanger in the theory that war is ever promotive of 
 human liberty. But, on the other hand, there is greater 
 danger in fo.'^'iO'ing a servile and cowardly spirit, and in sub- 
 mitting to the atrocious burdens and exactions of unyield- 
 ing tyrants. The human race has made progress through 
 a bloody resistance to tyranny, but the world is almost 
 enough enlightened to rely immovably upon the uncon- 
 querable Will consequent upon an Harmonial Mind. Retalia- 
 tion is a low and brutal exhibition of character, but 
 "resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." This resist- 
 ance should be moral and spiritual, but sometimes the 
 physical is most effective, and for this reason it is some- 
 times the best prevention of formidable evils to mankind. 
 
 The Je-wel of Consistency. 
 
 CLXLIV. — Question : " It is said ttat ' consistency is a jewel.' I 
 have hitherto found fine specimens of that precious gem in your 
 writings. Of late, however, I must confess to a feeling of disappoint- 
 ment. In your Medical Chapters you have opposed the allopathic 
 practice of ' blood-letting.' You pronounce it unnatural, and never 
 necessary to adopt in the treatment of any disease. But you favor 
 physical resistance in the present War! What is this war but an 
 allopathical method of treating an 'inflammation' — thus, perchance, 
 saving the life of the patient (Union,) by 'blood-letting' ? Can you 
 remove the inconsistency of your position ? " 
 
 Answer : We hasten to inform the questioner that the 
 gem of ' consistency ' is not half so brilliant in our estima- 
 tion as the ' Jewel of Truth.' In a worldly point of view, 
 judging of a position by the popular standard of what con- 
 stitutes right and wrong, the jewel of Consistency is far 
 more attractive, and vastly more influential, than the sim- 
 ple Truth. Our internal self-questionings have always 
 
332 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 resulted in compelling us to act consistently with our "present 
 discernment of Truth, liowever much sucli action may seem 
 to conflict with what we thought, believed, and advocated 
 yesterday. We have never promised to believe and teach 
 to-morrow exactly what we believe and teach to-day, for 
 the simple and uusophistical reason that being actuated by 
 the ever-working energies of the principle of Progression, 
 we may come in contact with new forms of thought 
 between this and to-morrow, and fresher evidences of 
 never before believed Truths, by virtue of which our con- 
 victions may undergo a modification, or, perhaps, a 
 thorough alteration, with reference to a cherished senti- 
 ment ; and the consequence is, that we are consciantiously 
 compelled, in the presence of the additional force, or new 
 evidence, to occupy another, and it may be a totally differ- 
 ent, position. No disciple of the heaven-descended and all- 
 embracing principle of Progress can do otherwise. He 
 must be consistent with Truth, rather than consistent with 
 what he believed and taught yesterday, because he may 
 have, and ought to have, more Truth to-day, and therefore 
 more knowledge. 
 
 Pursuing this pathway for sixteen earthly years, and 
 fearing no human threat or disapprobation, we have 
 (strange to say!; been apparently more " consistent" than 
 our critical opponents. And this, too, without the least 
 effort on our part to make to-day's convictions square and 
 dove-tail mathematically with those of yesterday. .Another 
 evidence of that unsought-for, and therefore involuntary 
 " consistency," , is furnished in the case of the supposed 
 inconsistency to which the questioner very frankly directs 
 our immediate attention. 
 
 In regard to the popular system of " lilood-letting," in 
 the treatment of certain diseases by Allopathic physicians, 
 
THE JEWEL OP CONSISTENUr. 333 
 
 we have (see 1st vol. of Harmonia) open]j- expressed our 
 unqualified opposition. And yet, contemplating the multi- 
 tudinous contingencies and various accidents of the human 
 individual, we have acknowledged that there are, and have 
 been, and doubtless will be, cases in which " blood-letting" 
 is not only advisable, but the very best mode of subduing 
 inflammatory conditions, and of saving or prolonging the 
 life of the patient. But as part of a system of therapeuti- 
 cal practice, as a popular remedial method in the creed of 
 a physician, we have nothing but opposition to present. 
 
 So also, without wishing to secure the approbation of 
 any mind, we have taught concerning the present war with 
 rebellion and slavery. Instead of advocating " blood- 
 letting " as a practical method of overcoming the Disease 
 (disunion,) or as the surest practice for our Government to 
 save the patient's life, we have, on the contrary, /rom the 
 first, urged the speedy and universal arming and forward 
 marching of the North* as the surest and most practical 
 plan of overcoming all the conditions in slaveholdiug 
 States by which this War was originated and strengthened. 
 We would prevent " blood-letting " by the application of 
 army and navy forces, too vast and too formidable to invite 
 a day's opposition in the form of battle. Therefore — 
 
 1. We believe to-day, on this subject, just what we 
 wrote weeks ago — that the present War is for the protec- 
 tion, and support, and perpetuation, of the best government 
 ever yet organized on earth. 
 
 2. And that the unfraternal attitude of the South to 
 this government is an effect of which African Slavery is the 
 producing cause. 
 
 3. And lastly, that it would bo the noblest exhibition 
 
 This was written very soon after the Eebellion commenced. 
 
334 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 of political power, and of fraternal love not less, to bring 
 into the field and on the water, such an array of military 
 force as shall make all attempts at " blood-letting " on the 
 part of either party simply unnecessary, and consequently 
 impracticable. 
 
 When we see differently, and entertain other views of 
 this question, we shall make haste to announce the fact. 
 
 Which is Best — Constitution, or Revolution? 
 
 CLXLV. — Question : " I am told that you would favor the prose- 
 cution of this War, not for the restoration of the Union, but for the 
 abolition of Slavery. Will you, at your earliest convenience, please 
 to define your position ? " 
 
 Answer : We have no objection to this question. In 
 fact, we feel to thank the questioner for furnishing the 
 opportunity — being satisfied that an honest expression of 
 honest conviction is particularly necessary at this time. 
 
 Our reply, then, is : We would treat a sick person, not 
 for the purpose of preserving his favorite creeds and cher- 
 ished traditions, but for the removal of both the causes and 
 effects of his disease. The Constitution of the United 
 States is not exempted from the action of the law of Pro- 
 gress. If it is not in favor of universal rights and equal 
 human liberties, then it is not adequate to the removal of 
 the cause of this national struggle, and the sooner we pro- 
 claim Revolution for freedom's sake, the quicker will the 
 ends of justice be accomplished. We would rather die in 
 a good cause than an evil one — ^would prefer to fall in a 
 battle for Freedom for all men of every clime, than to die in 
 the defense of a system which embodies the political creeds 
 and pet dogmas of time-serving lawyers and theological 
 pettifoggers. 
 
 We go for progressive changes — for revolutions and 
 improvements, not for old constitutions and disease — for 
 
CAN LOVE BE DEVELOPED BY POECE? 335 
 
 freedom and justice, not for servitude and misery — for 
 breaking through all unwise constitutional restraints, not 
 for nursing and fostering absurd and unjust laws — and 
 thus we would overthrow the cause of the present rebellion, 
 and give a healthier Constitution to so much of the Union 
 as happily outrode the sublime storm. 
 
 The Government is now almost paralyzed with excessive 
 tenderness for the pet creed of the Republican party, which 
 is, like its Democratic opponent, the friend and supporter 
 of Slavery, in the particular and favored localities where 
 it is at present found to prevail. " Let justice be done, 
 though the heavens fall." It is well to remember that the 
 temple of the universe is upheld by Justice, and that the 
 blessings of Heaven always descend like a dove upon all 
 those who walk in the paths of wisdom and righteousness. 
 
 Can Love "be Developed by Force ? 
 
 CLXLVI. — Question : " For the gratification of a few friends, 
 myself included, I am induced to submit the following pertinent and 
 highly important questions : 
 
 " 1. Do you advocate the prosecution of the present civil war in the 
 States of America ? Does it accord with your superior intellectual 
 and moral ' status ' ? 
 
 " 2. Does war, violence, or physical force, instituted and brought to 
 bear by the passions and fanatical errors of mankind, correspond with 
 the truth as revealed and proclaimed by your late moral and pro- 
 gressive Spiritualism ? 
 
 " 3. Do you justify war by the sword under any contingency, where 
 peace might reign instead ? 
 
 " 4. Can loyalty, love, and submission, be obtained by human cru- 
 elty and military despotism ? 
 
 " 5. Does natural law teach that wrong is right because of its 
 popularity, or that wrong may be forced right by the Dagon- 
 policy — coercion ? " 
 
 Answer : We acknowledge the importance of the fore- 
 going questions. 
 
 In answering them it is necessary to forget self and at 
 once ascend to the plane of the universal. When a surgeon 
 
336 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 examines a wounded soldier and decides that an arm or leg 
 must be amputated, his examination and decision refer to 
 the circumstances and welfare of the patient, and not to 
 anything selfish or personal. The surgeon does not decide 
 that his own limb is to be amputated. He does not advo- 
 cate such a measure with reference to himself. He is not , 
 the patient under treatment, and of course he is not the 
 subject of his convictions and decision. 
 
 Thus, with reference to the present war. In advo- 
 cating the right of a Government to protect itself by the 
 use of the Army and Navy, we do not say that we, indi- 
 vidually, should or would resort to physical force to over- 
 come the injustice or encroachments of a personal enemy. 
 We believe a man, like a Government, should be true to 
 recognized principles. If, for example, this Government 
 was based and constituted on the principle of non-resist- 
 ance, it would then be wrong and monstrous for the Presi- 
 dent to call out armed men under any circumstances. So, 
 too, it would be a frightful departure from Right for a 
 man with non-resistant principles to take up carnal 
 weapons aginst a fellow being, under any conceivable 
 circumstances. 
 
 But suppose the case as it stands : Here is a Demo- 
 cratic form of Government. In most respects, no country 
 ever had so good a system for the expansion of civilization. 
 The Army and Navy are parts of its mechanism. The 
 Government rests upon the people, and the people repose 
 upon the Government; each looks to the other for 
 guidance, strength, and protection ; and both rely upon 
 physical force as a measure of self-protection in cases of 
 foreign invasion or local insubordination. Now a Govern- 
 ment so constructed, and a people thus relying and believ- 
 
CAN LOVE BE DEVELOPED BY FORCE? 337 
 
 ing, would b(3 recreant and unrighteous if it or tlicy failed 
 to obey the recognized principles. 
 
 No such principles or measures can be morally bindinii' 
 upon the conscience of any person who does not believe in 
 force as a natural law of self-defense. Our individual 
 "status" does not come into these universal questions.,. 
 We should oppose the war if the Government was con- 
 structed upon a basis of non-resistance. For then wc 
 should hold it responsible to the recognized vital principles 
 of its own existence. And the saue reasoning holds good 
 when applied to the' individual. Let every thing — institu- 
 tion, system, or person — be true to the recognized standard 
 of right. If the standard be wrong, the results of obedi- 
 ence to it will be evil and misery ; then it is the duty of the 
 people to reject such standard and erect a better one for 
 ^future recognition and obedience. Thus much in reply to 
 your first question. 
 
 To the second interrogatory we reply that the " pro- 
 gressive principles of Spiritualism " do not indorse " war, 
 violence, and physical force." This you probably knew 
 before you asked the question. 
 
 Individually, to your third question, we reply, " No." 
 It would be folly, yea, wickedness, to "justify war " when 
 it was evident that "peace might reign instead." We 
 think the general Government would make a similai' 
 answer. But here is an Administration which cannot 
 peacefully enforce its laws among all the people who Jive 
 beneath its sheltering wings. Insubordination, rebellion, 
 repudiation,\ piracy, arise defiantly before its face. The 
 ways of peace are pursued until forts, arsenals, ships, mints, 
 and public property, to a large amount, are taken out of the 
 Government's hands. At length forbearance "ceases to 
 be a virtue," and the Army and Navy are summoned to the 
 
 29 
 
338 ANSWERS 10 QUESTIONS. 
 
 ■work of self-protection. With these weapons uplifted, it 
 were folly to carry the "olive branch " in either hand. To 
 act with vigor, to down with the rebellion, to enlarge 
 the boundaries of freedom, to strike a death-blow to all 
 Slavery — these ends were all within the grasp of the Gov- 
 ernment. But the people are not developed up to the best 
 uses of war. They would not fight for unbounded freedom, 
 but for the " Constitution as it is and the Union as it was," 
 and the consequences of such disobedience to the law of 
 Progress, are rushing like a flood over the faithless North. 
 We do not believe in any war unless it will leave mankind 
 much better than they were before the struggle and death- 
 storm. We do not believe in " holy wars." All wars are 
 evils, originating from the undevelopment of the people ; 
 but never from the angel-world, neither from the Great 
 Positive Mind, who liveth in unchangeable principles. 
 
 To your fifth and final question we reply that natural 
 law never teaches that " wrong is right " under any cir- 
 cumstances. For this reason progressive minds do not 
 believe that Slavery is right, although in a large portion of 
 the Union the system is dignified as an " institution," and 
 is " popular " with people whose selfish interests are inter- 
 woven with the pecuniary proceeds of such servitude. We 
 do not believe that Slavery can be " forced right," even by 
 the " Dagon-policy — coercion." The inhabitants of Africa 
 never would have voluntarily visited this continent. Some 
 Dagon-policy originally " coerced " them to come amon^ us. 
 Who did it ? When was that " policy " inaugurated ? At 
 what time and under what combination 6f circumstances 
 will the attempt to show that that " wrong is right " be 
 terminated ? We do not expect that " loyalty, love, and sub- 
 mission," will long endure under " military despotism ; " nei- 
 ther do we expect that there will ever be harmony between 
 
LIBEETY, HUMANITY, HYPOCKISY, AXD HATE. 339 
 
 Free Labor and involuntary Servitude. Oj' two things, it 
 seems that one must corae to pass — either the Union will 
 be permanently dissolved by the present revolution, or else 
 chattel Slavery will die an everlasting death. 
 
 It is now some consolation to us that we have never cast 
 a vote to support an administration or a government which 
 sanctions the hydra-headed evil of African servitude. And 
 it is also a pleasing reflection that we have never said or 
 written a word in favor of tliis war, unless we felt per- 
 suaded that the struggle was ultimately to secure Febb 
 Laboe, Free Speech, and Feee Press, as in the Northern, 
 so, also, in the Southern States of America. 
 
 Liberty, Humanity, Hypocrisy, and Hate. 
 
 CLXLVII. — Question : " I started with you when you were at 
 the top of the mountain, and have been with you ever. Yet I have 
 known that you were descending its sides, and I see you at last 
 plunged into the vortex of passion and politics at its base. Here wa 
 part. You have joined the pack of howling idiots, who propose, by 
 means of war, to subject the South to the despicable despotisni they 
 have inaugurated, and to tear from their happy homes our children 
 and slaves — the former to be ' massacred,' (I think that is the pro- 
 position,) and the latter to be ' set free,' (which means to be demoral- 
 iiied and starved.) And these things you propose to do in the name 
 of ' Liberty ' and ' Humanity.' 
 
 " Viewed in the light of your answers, all your past professions of 
 love toward God and man were false — you cannot be less than a hypo- 
 crite nor more than a knave. 
 
 " Man ! you might as well talk of emancipating our children as oui 
 slaves. The enormity would be the same — consisting less in oui 
 deprivation than in theirs. Although your pack is too blind in theii 
 fury to see the measureless insolence of this proposition, they will 
 have tl;eir eyes open in time to reckon the cost. 
 
 " I will not withhold the expression of my sorrow that your Har- 
 monial Philosophy should prove a simulation, and your magic staff a 
 rotten reed. 
 
 " Sir, we (of the South) do not believe here that the North will 
 fight; she acts so like a blustering, cowardly bully. But if she begins 
 upon the South a war for abolition, it will take a long time to count 
 the souls that will have to kiss the skies. 
 
 " As I am the enemy of all who are enemies of my country, tlie 
 South, I am henceforth yours." 
 
3i0 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Answee: " Come, let us reason together." Let us, ere 
 we part on the interminable path of Progression, exchange 
 at least a few kindly words. 
 
 There is a code of just and righteous laws in the con- 
 stitution of the Spiritual Universe, to which the lively and 
 willing intellect of man is amenable. By the graceful and 
 immutable operation of these Laws, all men, at a certain 
 period in their individual progress through eternity, are 
 purified and advanced to power, wisdom, goodness, justice, 
 unity, and truth. These undying energies, qualities, and 
 attributes, together with all the enchanting effects upon 
 character and conduct that grow out of them, will eventu- 
 ally crown, distinguish, and glorify every progressive 
 human spirit. All men are progressive human spirits ; and 
 the Laws of the Spiritual Universe work unceasingly i7i 
 all men; therefore, all. men, either in this life or the next, 
 will be characterized and beautified by those immortal 
 attributes. In all this wise and grand and harmonial plan 
 of progress, we behold, with grateful emotions, the spi- 
 ritual presence and sublime influence of our Father and 
 Mother. 
 
 Harmonial Spiritualists, however much they may difi'er 
 on the items of religion and politics, entertain but one con- 
 viction regarding the Divine Plan of Progress. They see 
 that in all departments of creation, the material precedes 
 the spiritual. They see that development is characterized 
 by successive degrees — that different manifestations of 
 matter and mind occur on each different step — and, ulti- 
 mately, that all efforts of Nature and all qualities of mind 
 shine forth in flowers of immortal beauty and perfection. 
 
 And Society is no exception. Governments and insti- 
 tutions, however stupendous and judicious, are subject to 
 the unchangeable Law of Progress. They may crumble 
 
LIBERTY, HUMANITY, HYPOCRISY, AND HATE. 341 
 
 away piece by piece, or be- superseded step by step, by the 
 advancing power of new developments. But it is mani- 
 festly the way of wisdom to remain in the old and 
 well-tried forms of government and society until the unfold- 
 ments of Progress shall make plain the outlines and archi- 
 tectural perfections of a higher and yet more appropriate 
 temple of political or Social Truth. 
 
 Do you not know in your heart's secret recesses that the 
 foregoing gospel has been proclaimed by the Harmonial 
 Philosophy from its natal day to the present moment ? From 
 the first word we ever uttered or penned for the world's 
 eye, to this hour, this immortal doctrine has steadily flowed 
 from the inward founts of inspiration. Ignorance is chrono- 
 logically before knowledge ; so is error the predecessor of 
 truth ; so prejudice precedes impartiality ; so selfish inter- 
 ests go before benevolence and principle ; so discord and 
 folly antedate the enchanting manifestations of Harmony 
 and Wisdom. The expansion of distributive justice among 
 men is slow, but certain ; and not less tardy,- nor less cer- 
 tain, is the departure of injustice and oppression. 
 
 All through our individual career, whether in the lowly 
 valley or on the mountain's top, we have hailed the United 
 States of America as the harbinger of a better Government 
 not only, but as the womb of civilization already pregnant 
 with innumerable blessings, both material and spiritual. 
 Under the protection of that religious freedom which is 
 everywhere guaranteed by the Stars and Stripes, we have 
 been permitted to search through Nature up to the world 
 of spirits. Enfolded by this banner— the emblem of more 
 independence than is vouchsafed to any other Nation— our 
 spiritual eyes this day rest admiringly and lovingly on the 
 horizon of a new era about to appear ! With remarkable 
 stillness, like the rolling of this stupendous universe through 
 
 29* 
 
343 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 immensity, the Better Age will dawn. It will be born 
 through the political and spiritual revolutions of America. 
 AlU births are accomplished and accompanied with solici- 
 tude, apprehension, prostration, pain, sometimes with agony 
 and terror in the maternal body and soul. America is the 
 mother of great liberties not only,, but of spiritual condi- 
 tions and invisible circumstances also, whereby a divinely 
 glorious Bra will burst with living grandeur all over the 
 world. 
 
 And yet, because we love the interior significance of the 
 Stars and Stripes, and because we cry aloud for the perpe- 
 tuity of the United States Government, which is the preg- 
 nant Mother of this better era, you think we have joined a 
 " pack of howling idiots, who propose, by means of war, to 
 subject a people to despotism." 
 
 Let us look at your affirmation ; let us see the truth as 
 it is. The truth is, that the United States Government, 
 whose present chief administrator is Abraham Lincoln, has 
 not proposed to make war upon any part of the country 
 for the purpose of destroying '• homes " and freeing the 
 "slaves," but for the purpose of recovering its property 
 and fulfilling the necessary conditions of constitutional law. 
 This is the truth, and nothing more. The design of the 
 republican administration is not directed to the " emanci- 
 pation of your slaves." (This was written before Congress 
 passed the " Confiscation-Emancipation Act," which is 
 about to go into practical operation.) 
 
 Do you suppose that the population of the Tree States 
 have any murderous designs upon Southern homes and 
 institutions ? The war impending, is self-protective. It 
 is not yet aggressive, notwithstanding the many insults and 
 outrages committed against the honor of the Government. 
 We have all along protested against the assertion that 
 
LIBERTY, HUMANITY, HYPOCRISY, AND HATE. 343 
 
 loyalists are favorable to John Brown raids. Nothing 
 is remoter from the exact truth. The abolition of Slavery- 
 is possible only by and through the steady law of progress, 
 lifting the intellect and affections of mankind above the 
 conditions of wrong and wretchedness. 
 
 We advocate military preparations, on a large and 
 formidable scale, as the best, directest, and most practical 
 method to terminate the struggle. For ourself, we do not 
 believe in aiming a deadly weapon at any brother's heart ; 
 neither do we deem it consistent with the law of self- 
 preservation, to permit any brother to do a like evil to us ; 
 and, whether on the mountain or in the valley, we have thus 
 far been enabled to live up to this reasonable faith. 
 
 Your remarkable statements, and the foregoing reflec- 
 tions concerning existing conflicts, excitfe in our memory 
 utterances of long ago. (See Nat. Div. Rev. p. 778.) Our 
 country, its interests, wealth, and government, are fear- 
 fully involved in a peace-destroying war, the result of 
 which will be a powerful reaction on every mind ; and this 
 will accelerate the insinuation of these principles and their 
 practice. The Era is nigh ; the judgment-day, when wis- 
 dom shall predominate, will soon arrive; and this will 
 banish ignorance, error, prejudice, and fanaticism, from the 
 earth. A general revolution is at hand ! It is already 
 kindled. Wisdom will fan the sparks into a flame, and 
 this will consume contention and sin, and all will come 
 forth purifled, elevated, happy ! This is the flame of 
 LoTE— the consuming vengeance of Truth and Goodness. 
 For it is a fact that whatever new truth is presented to 
 the world— no matter how gentle, lovely, and fascinating, 
 it may be— it is, to prejudice, like a consuming fire of ven- 
 geance. Hence it is opposed : and the conflict demonstrates 
 the difference between truth and error, reason and I'anati- 
 
344 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 cism. But the prospect is clear — the purifying fire of 
 Love, Truth, and Knowledge, will consume all else, and 
 vengeance will only be manifested in the conflict of estab- 
 lished prejudices. 
 
 The great movements of the day are all advancing the 
 public to this desirable consummation. The efforts for the 
 limitation of slavery ; those for the repeal of capital pun- 
 ishment ; the reform of prison discipline ; the temperance 
 reformation; the growing liberality of the various sects; 
 the general open demand of the public mind for some relief 
 from social and mental embarrassments ; the agitation in 
 various portions of Europe; the elevation of the public 
 morals; the manifest sympathies toward the poor and 
 degraded ; the general condition of France ; the liberal 
 investigations of Germany ; the researches among the 
 tombs and monuments of Egypt, revealing the truths of 
 national antiquity ; the absolute predominance of spiritual 
 facts over theological imagination, and truth over error ; the 
 general condition of the heathen world ; and finally, the 
 movements among every nation of the earth, social, sci- 
 entific, and spiritual — all proclaim the approach of this 
 sublime Era. * * * "When distributive justice pervades 
 the social world, then virtue and morality will bloom with 
 an immortal beauty. The sun of righteousness will arise la 
 the horizon of universal industry, and shed its genial rays 
 over all the fields of peace, plenty, and human happiness ! 
 
 In conclusion, you are led to affirm yourself our 
 "enemy." Thi,s mental state is greatly unfavorable to 
 progress in the direction of truth and happiness. We do 
 not deeply deplore the abrupt withdrawal of your sympa- 
 thies from our individual course, because, under the existing 
 excitements and painful misunderstandings, such disaffec- 
 tion is not unnatural; but we do heartily regret that 
 
THE BEST PUNISHMENT OF TKAITOES. 345 
 
 persons who are well educated in new truths, and whose 
 affections have been touched by spiritual principles, both 
 natural and eternal, should voluntarily assume hostile posi- 
 tions toward each other in times of trial. 
 
 The Best Punishment of Traitors. 
 
 CLXLVIII. — Question : " Iq times of War, when men of influ- 
 ence turn traitors or pirates, it is important to know what is the best 
 punishment. Would you hang them in accordance with the recog- 
 nized law of capital punishment, or would you treat them with loving 
 kindness '? " 
 
 xYxswEE : The tyrant's code of inexorable laws should 
 exert no positive influence upon the advanced American 
 mind. Progressive and liberty-loving rulers — as the Chiefs 
 of the nation ought to be — will not be regulated by the 
 bloody decrees of the brutal past. The death penalty is a 
 relic of ancient barbarism, and should be entombed in the 
 age that instituted it. Revenge, and wrong, and evil, 
 according to the laws of cause and effect, are certain to 
 reproduce their kind. He who commits a wrong will surely 
 suffer for it. You need not make baste to aid " Provi- 
 dence " in applying the appropriate penalty. " The way 
 of the transgressor is hard." The severity and duration 
 of the punishment are invariably and mathematically in 
 proportion to the nature and extent of the crime. The 
 God-code of laws, with their legitimate verdicts and penal- 
 tieg, should be obeyed and applied by all our legal and 
 military chiefs. 
 
 According to this immutable code, no man is obliged to 
 suffer premature death by arbitrary means. Death, like 
 birth, is natural. It is a mistake to die by accident or by 
 disease, by war, or by any unnatural and arbitrary agency. 
 And yet the world is filled with all these causes of death. 
 Thousands, not wise and obedient to the ways of life, suffer 
 
346 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 death accordingly. Of course such receive the just and 
 natural consequences of their ignorance, heedlessness, or 
 willful violations. 
 
 Traitors,' Pirates, and Prisoners of War, will begin to 
 multiply upon us rapidly — many of them, according to the 
 rules of war, guilty of crimes punishable with death. The 
 question is, Shall our people favor the execution of a 
 penalty so barbarous ? We answer, no j never destroy a 
 human life if you can save it. If a man is wicked, and 
 therefore dangerous to the peace and happiness of a 
 brother man, or if he be an enemy to the peaceful progress 
 of an industrious people, then it may be wise, and not cruel 
 or barbarous, to deprive him of liberty. He would be 
 receiving the consequences of his evil actions — reaping as 
 he sowed. It seems to us that, if an offensive and wicked 
 man be within your power, and so bound and circumscribed 
 in personality as not to be longer dangerous, then it cannot 
 be right to deprive him of his life. Our forts and prisons 
 are large and strong enough to receive and confine these 
 pirates and enemies to Freedom. Let our Government 
 never be guilty of taking the life of a human being, how- 
 ever evil his motives or atrocious his crimes, after he has 
 fallen within our lines and under our ample protection. 
 There is no salutary end to be accomplished by shooting a 
 traitor or hanging a prisoner. He is not ready for a life 
 in the other world, but he can be made better and useful 
 on earth. Only give him an opportunity, plenty of time, 
 proper food, and plenty of useful work in a healthful prison, 
 and he will be likely to improve in both body and mind. 
 "Imprisonment for life " is a penalty far more terrible than 
 "death" to most convicts. The preservation of the indi- 
 vidual, during the natural term of years in this life, may 
 result in great reformation of character. If, however, this 
 
THE BEST PUNISHMENT OP TRAITORS. 347 
 
 reformation does not take place in the culprit's heart, the 
 world will not be in any danger from his presence and 
 manacled life in a fort or prison. 
 
 We urge the greatest leniency toward all enemies who 
 fall within our power. Let human life be sacred, unless its 
 possessor is an active foe to the peace and progress of 
 millions; then Principles ordy are sacred, while persons 
 appear as grains of sand upon the iron track of an 
 advancing train. It should be remembered that the traitors, 
 and pirates, and prisoners of war, are men and brethren. 
 They have the dire misfortune of being evil. But where 
 one man is evil from his organization, a thousand are thus 
 from the magnetic force of their circumstances, and there- 
 fore " ninety and nine " in every hundred culprits are 
 entitled to our protection and commiseration. Let our 
 Government retain, in strong prisons, every arrested enemy 
 to Freedom and Progress. In future months, or years 
 perchance, they may have repented, "in their very 
 hearts," whereupon it may be deemed wise to open the 
 prison door to every captive, whether good or evil, and 
 
 " Then they will return with shame 
 To the place from whence they came, 
 And the blood they shed will speak 
 In hot blushes on their cheek : 
 
 " Every woman in the land 
 "Will point at them as they stand — 
 They will hardly dare to greet 
 Their acquaintance in the street : 
 
 '' And the bold, true warriors, 
 Who have hugged danger in the wars, 
 Will turn to those who would be free. 
 Ashamed of such base company." 
 
 • In short, "the mark of Cain " will be burned deep into 
 the brow of every foe to the peaceful progress of America. 
 
348 JINSWEES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 The mothers of such sons will not welcome them home 
 again. The hearts of loyal maidens will be sealed to the 
 sons of all traitors to America's welfare.- Sisters will shut 
 their homes against once beloved brothers, who betrayed 
 the best and freest of Governments. The natural punish- 
 ment of all pirates, -and renegades, and conspirators, will 
 be "greater than they can bear." The God-code of pun- 
 ishment is the best. Therefore let us abolish the death 
 penalty, which is a relic of barbarism and a shame to 
 civilization. 
 
 Free Speech in Times of War. 
 
 CLXLIX. — QuESTiOK : " In these very ,' troublous times,' the 
 Government has stretched forth its strong arm to stop the fire of 
 rebellion. It has ordered the suppression of the disloyal newspapers, 
 and has imprisoned many traitorous editors and rebellious publishers. 
 Now do you approve of such a course? Is it not practically the 
 destruction of Free Speech in the Free States, where there is no chat- 
 tel Slavery?" 
 
 Answer : The real friend of freedom is the last man to 
 be a pretender. He commits himself fully to a principle of 
 Justice and Progress, and acts upon it with a buoyant con- 
 sciousness of harmony with the rights of humanity. He 
 loves Truth and Right with a jealous love. A pure and 
 lofty patriotism sanctifies and exalts his character. Claim- 
 ing no superiority, but eflSciently working to bring all men 
 to his plane, he sets up no pretensions to virtues not pos- 
 sessed by the neighbor. The spirit of Truth fills his reason 
 with far-sighted anticipations, and his love of Freedom 
 inspires him with a cheerful moral independence ; there is 
 no want of courage, no , lack of industry, no hesitation to 
 conform to high principles, na rebellion, in that man's 
 soul ; for he is naturally and spontaneously the friend of 
 Freedom, and the defender of mankind's dearest liberties. 
 
 On the other hand, by way of contralst, we observe that 
 
FREE SPEECH IN TIMES OP WAR. 349 
 
 the self-conscious traitor to human rights is a great " pro- 
 fessor " of patriotism, and a very loud-mouthed expounder 
 of " Free Speech." His soul is very easily disgusted with 
 any public abridgment of his individual " right " to mal- 
 treat and misrepresent the country and its Government. 
 The midnight robber is certain to hate the police. The 
 outlaw and the fillibuster entertain profound contempt for 
 the agents of Government. And the boldest thief that ever 
 hung on the cross, beside a crucified humanity, is the 
 quickest to cry, " Let me alone ! "* The habitual hypocrite, 
 if occupying a public position, is the first to advertise his 
 immaculate piety ; and the private foe to Freedom, accord- 
 ing to the same law' is the first to raise the shallow-hearted 
 cry of " Despotism." The morally bad man is the loudest 
 and burliest opponent oT distributive Justice ; and the self- 
 ishly rich man, acting upon the same rule, is the first and 
 biggest clog in the wheels of Progress and Reform. No 
 man ever more eloquently and heartily prayed " to be let 
 alone " than did Arnold after the discovery of his trea- 
 sonable work. When you detect a brother man in dark 
 deeds of treachery, he will either attempt to destroy you, 
 on the false theory that " dead men tell no tales," or he 
 will fold his arms, with an air of bold defiance, and elo- 
 quently plead his right to act in a/ree country, not forgetting 
 to round off his peroration by the plausible sentence, " All 
 I ask is to be let alone." If a man should be caught in a 
 formidable conspiracy, or in armed rebellion to the consti- 
 tutional voice of the millions, he will at once oppose all 
 " coercion " on the part of the Government, as a means of 
 crushing his conspiracy and treason. Kidd, and Gibbs, and 
 
 * " All we ask is to be let alone," was the first expression of the friends 
 of the Southern Confederacy, after their rebellion was inaugarated. 
 30 
 
350 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Burr, and even the late President of the .United States, 
 wanted " to be let alone." Sometimes a man is condemned 
 out of his own mouth. An angel is sometimes behind the 
 will and schemes of a traitor; and thus, in rare instances, 
 a man's evil deed is " overruled for good ; " and thus, too, 
 many foes to mankind do really " build wiser than they 
 know." No more remarkable illustration of such " over- 
 ruling," and of such "building," was ever given than is 
 emtwdicd in these sayings and deeds of our " opposing 
 brethren " in the Seceded States. And the same remark 
 is applicable to the few pseudo-democrats and slavery- 
 loving editors of the everywhere-spreading North. 
 
 We have been led into this train of reflection by the 
 question at the head of this response. The moSocratic, and 
 occasionally the legal, suppression' of the circulation or 
 publication of the Opposition newspapers, starts the ques- 
 tion, " Are Free Speech and a Free Press in danger ? " 
 
 We are particularly interested in the drift of these 
 public demonstrations. From Maine to California, and 
 from the Atlantic to the far-away Pacific, it is well known 
 that the Herald of Peogrbss* is the pledged organ of 
 " Free Speech " — that its correspondents, whether political 
 or religious, attack with boldness and originality nearly 
 all the established " institutions " of the land — ranging 
 over a wide field of subjects, from popular Theology to a 
 reform in woman's dress, from the mysteries of spirit inter- 
 course to the plainest facts in human physiology, from the 
 profundities of history and philosophy to poetry and mis- 
 cellany — in all which, with very few exceptions, we incul- 
 cate the largest personal independence of all authority, and 
 
 • This is the title of a Weekly Jourual edited by the author, and pub- 
 lished ill New York. 
 
FREE SPEECH IN TIMES OF WAR. 351 
 
 the freest expression of opinion concerning each and every 
 " institution," without reference to the particular points of 
 compass where such institution is most popular. Therefore 
 we ask, " Is Free Speech in danger ? " Are our rights 
 soon to be invaded ? And is it true that we shall not be 
 at liberty to publish all sides of any question ? Is it true 
 that the Herald of Progress — an organ of the most 
 unbounded Freedom of Speech — must soon fold its wings 
 and fall dead from the tree of Liberty ? 
 
 We answer that from such a source we have nothing to 
 fear. And why ? Because we invite investigation, and 
 encourage a candid expression of sentiments, from every man, 
 of whatever country or form of faith. This is not the plan 
 of the Opposition newspapers. If we attacked the doctrines 
 of the Church with a spirit of contempt and bitterness, if 
 we habitually misquoted the words of our opposers, if we 
 unsparingly denounced every clergyman as a hypocrite, and 
 every sectarian as a deadly foe to truth and common 
 sense — then, indeed, our " Free Speech " might be imper- 
 iled, and perhaps our office destroyed by a mob, or summa- 
 rily closed " by an order from Washington," even in times 
 of peace. And we hold that, in so doing, the public would 
 not be acting far from what is right. For manifestly it is 
 not wisdom for an editor to abuse a privilege — neither is 
 it the prerogative of any person to violate the innate deli- 
 cacies of human nature — in his zeal, or partisan efforts, to 
 proclaim his peculiar, and perhaps erroneous, individual 
 opinions. ' 
 
 We have seen several " Reform Conventions " abnost 
 mobbed — not because the audience did not recognize tmth 
 in most of the speeches, but because the combative and 
 unfair method of certain speakers was pre-eminently calcu- 
 lated to arouse the prejudice of their unprepared hearers. 
 
352 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 The manver of a Reformer, more frequently than the sub- 
 stance of his discourse, is mobbed. There is a great deal 
 of immutable human nature in mankind, and happy is the 
 Reformer who has wisdom enough to harmonize therewith. 
 
 Human nature is still more emphatic in times of War. 
 The law of self-preservation is aroused to its depths when- 
 ever person and property are in imminent peril. Ordinary 
 civilities and private conveniences are, of necessity, 
 unheeded in the rush for a position of safety. An enemy 
 is hated, not feared; and he is destroyed, not placated. All 
 this is in accordance with the mind of Father God, as 
 revealed in the fixed principles of human nature. 
 
 Now look at the method of the Opposition newspapers : 
 read their hypocritical editorials ; note their misrepresenta- 
 tions of the causes of the present struggle ; taste their 
 bitterness when speaking of the Government; hear their 
 oaths of allegiance to the cause of the rebellion, given in 
 the heavenly name of " Peace ; " witness their attempts to 
 pervert the acts of the Administration ; observe hOw inces- 
 santly thej seek to instill feelings of disrespect and mutiny 
 in our volunteers, toward the Government : mark how such 
 editors demoralize and degrade the entire cause of real 
 Freedom, by abusing their rights and violating their liber- 
 ties in the midst of these troublous times — and you will not 
 longer wonder that toward them " forbearance ceases to 
 be a virtue " — that an order from " Washington " bolts the 
 law upon them — that, in their fury and confusion, they 
 eloquently plead, " All we ask is to be let alone ! " 
 
 In view of the facts, we reply that the closing of the 
 rebel newspaper offices throughout the North — by the 
 Government, mark you ! and not by the lawless mob — is a 
 glorious sign that Free Speech is not only rwt in danger, 
 but that the rights and privileges thereof are to be hence- 
 
LIGHT FROM THE WORLD OP CAUSES. 353 
 
 forth yet more secure to the genuine friends of Freedom 
 AND Progress. If the Opposition press were a noble, 
 brave, bold, respectful influence in community — if it made 
 its charges against the Government in a truth- loving spirit, 
 invited " investigation," and would publish both sides of a 
 question candidly — then the mob would never visit their 
 ofl&ces, neither would the Government embarrass their cir- 
 culation. But the facts are all arrayed powerfully against 
 them ; and so, also, is the great public of the North. Of 
 course the disappointed and humiliated editors will imme- 
 diately raise a false issue — that "Freedom of the Press" 
 is at an end ; that the reign of " Despotism " is about to 
 commence ; that the age of " Persecution " has dawned on 
 America ; that the prerogative of " Free Speech " is 
 
 trampled upon by the present Administration, &c all 
 
 which is the same as the plausible objections usually urged 
 by traitors, when caught by the loyal powers, and made to 
 take the legitimate consequences of their misconduct. 
 
 We hold that all progress and true development are 
 achieved by an improvement in public opinion, which is 
 accomplished imperceptibly by means of educational influ- 
 ences, emanating from sources both terrestrial and celestial, 
 first upon the individual, and then upon the whole people; 
 and furthermore, that, in times of peace as in the trials of 
 War, it is the duty of every real friend of Truth and 
 Right to defend Free Speech and Freedom of the Press, 
 by politically opposing every measure, and leaving unread 
 every paper that would, in his candid judgment, insult the 
 one or destroy the other. 
 
 Light from the World of Causes. 
 
 CC. Question : " As you profess to be familiar with the world 
 
 of causes, i. expect to find in your views a revelation of the future, 
 which might reconcile us to the inevitable decrees of fate — but I am 
 3D* 
 
354 ANSWERS 'TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 disappointed. Many of your opinions, like those of ordinary indi- 
 viduals, seem to be of the earth, earthy, and are not formed from 
 observations made in the world of spirits. You say, in substance, if I 
 pursue a certain line of conduct, certain results will follow. Now, I 
 suppose, from teachings in many of your published works, that this 
 earth is a place where effects are produced, and not a sphere of 
 causes. 
 
 " The world of causes may be represented as an exhaustless reser- 
 voir of water, and the beings on this earth as so many mills, and the 
 spirits as so many millers. The spirits turn the water upon the mills 
 — which represent men — and they are made to go fast or slow, or 
 may be kept stationary, as suits the pleasure of the spirits. The mills 
 themselves are simply agents acted upon, and have no volition of their 
 own. This, 1 believe, is your theory, and hence you argue that evil 
 is only a lower form of good, and that man is not accountable for his 
 actions. 
 
 " If I have stated your views correctly, and if I give credit to 
 statements that you have been in the world of spirits, and know what 
 is going on there — I have a right to expect that you will tell us about 
 the future. Having continual communication with spirits, you can 
 probably learn from them what is to take place in this generation — 
 just as a miller might be supposed to Enow how many revolutions a 
 wheel would make, acted upon by a certain force of water, and what 
 amount of work it would perform. 
 
 " Your views as a politician will attract little attention, because 
 they conflict with your theory of cause and effect ; but your views as 
 a Spiritualist would, doubtless, attract considerable notice, especially 
 if they referred to the future. Why do you not publish the events of 
 the next six months in advance, and show us what must happen, for 
 we are going round and round, without knowing the why or the 
 wherefore ? '"' 
 
 Answer : There is a strange and mischievous admixture 
 of truth and error in the above statements. The error and 
 mischief, however, greatly preponderate ; so much so that 
 we are moved to make a brief reply. The misrepresenta- 
 tion of the teachings of our philosophy is glaring, and 
 cannot but be detrimental to the progress of common sense 
 among men. 
 
 The interrogator has evidently confounded the doctrines 
 of Harmonial Philosophy with the theories propounded by 
 several external Spiritualists, who, it would seem, know 
 as yet little or nothing of the great general principles 
 which we inculcate. We are misapprehended and mis- 
 
LIGHT FROM THE WORLD OP CAUSES. 355 
 
 stated, very frequently, oa the most vital and essential 
 points of philosophic and spiritual truth ; and this, too, 
 many times, by eloquent and publicly-pledged Spiritualists, 
 and by a class of writers indicated by the foregoing quota- 
 tion. If we suffer in the hands of friends in this particular, 
 and to this extent, it is unreasonable . to expect better 
 treatment from enemies and strangers. 
 
 It is true that, in the new philosophy, this world is 
 regarded as the realm of Effects, and that the world of 
 Causes is invisible and hidden from sensuous observations ; 
 but it is not true, as the writer alleges, that " the spirits 
 are so many millers," by whose management the " mills " 
 (or mankind,) " are made to go fast or slow, or may be 
 kept stationary." We are represented as teaching that 
 " the beings on this earth are so many mills," under the 
 incessant influence of spirits, and that " the mills them- 
 selves are simply agents acted upon, having no volition of 
 their own." The questioner professes to have gleaned 
 this doctrine " from many of our published works." 
 
 This statement has not the least foundation in works 
 on the Harmonial Philosophy, and we hereby challenge any 
 one who can intelligently read the English language, to 
 find any such doctrine in those works. 
 
 And yet we have been many times asked, in all sin- 
 cerity, by very worthy persons, whether we did not teach 
 that the " world of spirits was the region of Causes, and 
 this world the sphere of Effects, under the control and 
 administration of spirits ? " And, replying negatively, we 
 could not but observe the astonishment of the questioner, 
 who supposed himself reasonably well-informed concerning 
 the teachings of Harmonial Philosophy. And here it may 
 be remarked that this unfortunate misapprehension of the 
 truth, in this essential particular, has led to more sectarian 
 
356^ ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 prejudice and bitter mis-statements than all other things 
 put together. Supposing us to teach and believe this doc- 
 trine, the world has accused us of every imaginable folly 
 and fanaticism. The truth is, we have had to battle against 
 the superstitions of certain Spiritualists in this very par- 
 ticular, knowing that several mediums and prominent 
 characters did profess to be " mills," passively under the 
 control of " millers." Such mediums, or " mills," and such 
 Spiritualists, or " agents without volition," have (far more 
 than the prejudice of the world,) done very much to set 
 back the tide of investigation among intelligent and truth- 
 seeking minds. • This being the fact inside the arena of 
 Spiritualism, how can we complain when an " outsider " 
 gets things " mixed up," as this interrogator has done. 
 Consistently with his erroneous premises, he says : " Having 
 continual communication with spirits, you can probably 
 learn from them what is to take place in this generation — 
 just as a miller might be supposed to know how many 
 revolutions a wheel would make, acted upon by a certain 
 force of water, and what amount of work it would per- 
 form." On this principle, he calls upon us to " publish the 
 events of the next six months in advance.'" 
 
 Now, if our questioner had ever read ten lines of our 
 philosophy of Prophecy, as given in " Nature's Divine 
 Revelations," and as further illustrated and enforced in 
 subsequent works, he would have had too much light to 
 have publicly made that statement and request. The world 
 of Causes (see 5th vol. Harmonia,) is composed of Imper- 
 sonal Principles, which, as intelligent thoughts of God 
 and Nature, execute the ends and designs of the universe. 
 Men are personalities and powers, not " mills " and passive 
 " agents," and the spirit world is composed of beings that 
 were once men, women, and children, on earth. Although 
 
EXTINCTION OF EED AND BLACK MEN. 357 
 
 we hold that « evil is only a lower form of good," we deny 
 that " man is not accountable for his actions." And 
 although we know and teach that spirits hold communica- 
 tion with mankind, in many diversified forms, we deny that 
 spirits are masters of individuals on earth— deny, also, that 
 they can " make men go fast or slow, or keep them sta- 
 tionary at their pleasure " — and deny that any human, 
 however much he may enjoy communion with the spirit 
 world, can be put in possession of very accurate informa- 
 tion respecting the details of the future. We have urged 
 and illustrated this doctrine over and again, and began 
 to rest in the assurance that no conscientious man, 
 friend or enemy, would put in our mouth, a different gospel. 
 Alas ! for the departed in the realms of science and philo- 
 sophy, if the living be thus misconstrued and twisted out 
 of joint by uninformed friends and careless or quack 
 editors. 
 
 It is not denied that the affairs of men are more or less 
 influenced and modified, or diverted into different channels, 
 by power and wisdom emanating from groups and co- 
 operative Brotherhoods in the spirit land ; but that spirits 
 exert supreme control over the thoughts, motives, and 
 actions of men, is a doctrine which, although urged by a 
 certain class of Spiritualists, is strenuously and constantly 
 opposed by every one who accepts the fundamental teachings 
 of the Harmonial Philosophy. And we trust that our 
 questioner will make reasonable explanations to all who 
 have been misled by his misapprehensions. 
 
 Extinction of" Red and Black Men. 
 
 QQl, Question : " I perceive in the minds of many of our states- 
 men (?) the thought that the race of blacks is ephemeral and will 
 now pass rapidly away before the progress of the age—' whose soul is 
 marching on.' Like the American Indians, the Negro will soon 
 become extinct. Is it their destiny ? " 
 
358 ANSWKES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Answer : There is a natural law at the bottom of every 
 question. The origin, multiplication, and perpetuity of a 
 race of men, can never be understood without first ascer- 
 taining the bottom law which pertains especially to such 
 race. It is with a people as it is with a tree. Certain 
 branches and twigs may be removed without injury. 
 Pruning is sometimes necessary to the welfare of the tree 
 and to the growth and perfection of its fruit. But there 
 are certain other branches and fruit-spurs which cannot be 
 removed without greatly incapacitating the whole tree. 
 More especially it is impossible to safely remove any of the 
 main roots leading to the body. 
 
 So with the human race. It is a tree — with roots, body, 
 intermediate limbs and fruit-bearing branches. Go down 
 low enough in human history, and you will come to the 
 germ of the tree, together with all the great roots which 
 pushed up and fed the main body. Doubtless our " states- 
 men " would be shockingly alarmed, and perhaps many deli- 
 cate pro-slavery Christian ladies will be likely to " faint," 
 when they discover the ethnological truth that the Negro 
 race is one of the main roots of the tree of humanity. 
 
 There were several root-races, but this black family is 
 equal in importance to any one of the others. Perhaps it 
 would be still more alarming to say that the white and 
 black races began the " foot-race " of existence about the 
 same time, but that they started from diiferent parts of the 
 eastern hemisphere. And yet further : These two opposite 
 races instantly began to run toward, into, through, and over 
 each other, like hop- vines and grape-vines growing in close 
 proximity — they are certain to get into each other's- way, 
 become tangled up, inextricably snarled, and yet both will 
 do something in the direction of fruit-bearing. 
 
 It is philosophically absurd to suppose that the black 
 
EXTINCTION OP RED AND BLACK MEN. 359 
 
 race is to be supplanted by the white. They are the twin- 
 born races of the world. The negro is a primal product 
 of our common Mother. So is the race of white men. 
 They originated fr^m different immediate progenitors, but 
 the same Father-spirit " breathed into their nostrils." .As 
 the roots of a tree grow up, and, by blending, become the 
 body, so have the root-races grown together into the human 
 family as it now is. But the tree has side-branches and 
 non-producing twiglets, which, although they resemble the 
 best, and look promising, are practically of no essential 
 importance. These are the transition branches — the 
 growths intermediate ^between two equally important 
 developments. Thus there are certain human branches in 
 every primary race of men, which wither and become extinct 
 as the ages roll away. They flourish for a few centuries, 
 but ultimately perish. Many Asiatic and European peoples 
 have already experienced this fate. They were nothing 
 more than transition races — non-producing branches, or 
 rather not essential parts to the welfare of the whole body. 
 Their uses were temporary, and so were their duration 
 among the primal races. 
 
 The African blood is as permanent as the blood of the 
 Anglo-Saxon. They are both fundamental and " full- 
 blooded," and the propagative attributes of each are the 
 same. 
 
 The Indian, on the other hand, is merely a transition 
 branch, not one of the root-races, and for this reason his 
 people will become extinct. The same process is at work 
 among the people of Mexico, in Spain, and in several parts 
 of South America. 
 
 When men and women are born without /eef and hands, 
 then the God of the human family will destroy the black 
 and white races, but not one moment before. Can the hands 
 
360 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 say to the feet, " We need ye not ! " or can the feet and the 
 hands dispense with the services of the body and the brain? 
 If the great and strong ultimately exterminate the weak 
 and wicked, why will not the celestial race of archangels 
 some day destroy the majority of our " statesmen " ? Intel- 
 ligent and conquering races do not destroy ignorant 
 peoples, for the same reason that brain never deprives the 
 body of hailds and feet. 
 
 The After Effects of War. 
 
 coil. — Question : "Will vou oblige me by giving your irapres- 
 sions as to the after eifects of the presgnt war "? " 
 
 Answer : We regard the present war as the best evil 
 of the kind the world has ever known, because there is an 
 under-love of Freedom in the efforts and sacrifices of our 
 armed and disciplined men. While it is true that, for the 
 first few months, some of our chieftains were selfish in their 
 patriotism, and self-seeking in their conduct of the strug- 
 gle, yet our soldiers, as a body, were moved by nobler 
 and subiimer impulses — -to defend our free institutions and 
 the best government ever known, against the encroachments 
 of patriarchal barbarities and time-cemented crimes which 
 had become organized into a formidable power. The evil 
 of this war is robbed of its most deadly sting by the politi- 
 cal sublimity and moral grandeur of its object — to over- 
 throw the enemies of the people's rights and liberties. 
 
 The immediate effects will indeed be crushing to many 
 buman hearts. Thousands of loving natures will feel 
 bruised and grief-etricken for years after the rebellion has 
 been annihilated. There will be anguish and despair that 
 only an angel's sympathy can assuage. The life of many a 
 home will tremble with mournful memories every day for 
 years after peace is restored. And human wrecks, too, 
 will lie here and there on the bosom of society, broken and 
 
A NATION IN OUTEK DARKNESS. 361 
 
 battered by the terrible storm throiigli wliicli the country- 
 will have passed. Aud thousiuids of private ibrtiiues will 
 be swept away, and the Xalion's finaucial resources will be 
 impoverished aud exhausted iu many ways. Cut these 
 eflfecis, tliough foruudabie aud crushiug iu their proportious 
 to those who are eireuuastauced to feel them intiuaately. are 
 yet as nothing wiien properly compared with the unparal- 
 leled benefits — botli political and spiritual, which all coming 
 time will realize from this greatest and best of Wars. 
 
 The immutable law of Compensation, which flows per- 
 petually and omnipotently forth from out of the Infinite 
 Heart, will overcome all this " seeming evil with universal 
 good." The political atmosphere, so long tainted with 
 party corruptions, will be greatly purified. Nothing less 
 than a national thunder-storm, loaded to the muzzle with 
 the lightning-bolts of destruction, could remove the 
 deadly miasm from the various departments of State. The 
 American Church has long since ceased to be a chastening 
 power. It is most powerful on the side of intolerance and 
 sectarian strife. Hence a shock was necessary to start 
 political demagogues and religious bigots from their cor- 
 rupt and fanatical institutions. Patriotic impulses, honest 
 talent, and intellectual power, will have a resurrection; 
 aud the power of the almighty dollar will, for a time, bo 
 broken with the neck of the rebellion. Humanity is to 
 receive a new onward impulse. Reforming influences will 
 soon spring out of this terrible war, as out of evil cometh 
 good, and the world will approach nearer to the era of 
 " Peace on Earth." 
 
 A Nation in Outer Darkness. 
 
 com. Question : " Can you tell why our vast and well-disci- 
 plined armies do not succeed ? The country calls upon every one 
 who can give a word of prophecy, to speak. Why do we, the people 
 of Aiu'jrici, fail to crush this armed aud wicked rebellion!'" 
 
362 ABTSWEES TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Answer: It is midnight, my Country! the winter 
 storm Cometh over thy institutions. A trial hour. flUed with 
 unutterable suffering, has come to- thee. The feast of 
 destruction is prepared. Loudly sing the chiefs of evil. 
 Like the light of steel, and as heartless, is the smile of thine 
 enemies. Glad is the heart of every king. No song of 
 grief is heard in distant palaces. Emperors of the old world 
 regard thee as already vanquished. They turn to their people 
 and say : " Behold ! our foe, in his youth, has fallen." 
 
 But big tears tremble in the eyes of the nations. For 
 thou, my country ! art even now the world's gladdest 
 hope. The voice of thy youth was " Freedom ! " The sun 
 of righteousness shone on thy beautiful fields. "White-armed 
 purity dwelt in thy heart. She breathed poetry through 
 all thy prayers. In thy deeds of boundless liberty was the 
 golden image of truth. 
 
 Alas, now is the day of sorrow ! Truth, like a man 
 heavily clothed for a storm, is not seen. His strong, white, 
 pure body, is hid from observation. Only his face and 
 hands are visible. Fair Justice, too, walketh in masque- 
 rade. She looketh upon her friends, but they do not see 
 her. Her clear voice is louder than the tempest, but her 
 lovers do not hear the sound. When she speaks to them, 
 they are deaf. They hear only the mournful songs of the 
 suffering. Their bosoms heave like the ocean. Like ravens 
 on the air, their thoughts seem swift and nightly. sad 
 are they who yearn to give Freedom to all the people ! 
 
 The gates of Progress stand open, wide and free; but 
 the people do not enter them. G-ems of immortal truth 
 burn on. every side ; but the people do not admire them. 
 Hymns of the angels sound within the gates, and gardens 
 of endless bloom, trod by the feet of the beautiful, are 
 unfolded beyond ; but the people do not regard them,; they 
 
A NATION IN OUTER DARKNESS. 363 
 
 keep their ej-es upon tlie low earth, and search down- 
 wards lor glory. Sorrow and death do not enter the gates 
 of light; but the people do not know the truth; therefore 
 the}- walk in the broad road of ignorance and misery. Olive 
 trees and white lilies grow in the gardens of light ; but the 
 people do not attract the fragrance thereof; they cling to 
 the swamps of discord and eat the weeds of error. Dwel- 
 lers in the world of truth never grow old ; but the people 
 sacrifice their youth in the land of darkness. 
 
 It is midnight, my country ! the war-storm is breaking 
 in iury through thy beautiful hills. Warriors are covering 
 thy mountains. Streamy plains are red with the blood of 
 thy sons. Beautiful maidens close their hearts against 
 thee. They are touched with the madness of the South. 
 ' The winds of the South bear to thee prayers and curses. 
 The down- trodden pray for their deliverance ; the oppres- 
 sor lifts up his angry voice to condemn thee ; and thou, 
 though strong as a lion, art weak and fearful. The truth 
 is hid from thee ; Justice is clad in new garments ; and 
 thou knowest neither the one nor the other. 
 
 And why art thou so blind ? Why knowest thou Bot 
 what is right ? The answer is surging through the world : 
 Because thou art faithless to Freedom. 
 
 It is midnight, my country! and thou canst not see 
 the hand of Justice before thy face. It is so dark ! In 
 vain thou call'st upon heaven for the light of the clear 
 morning's sun. The night is dark ; it is the night of evil. 
 Thou art false to thy mission. God said, « Break every 
 yoke." Thy people dared to disobey. Brave, strong, loyal 
 hearts are breaking, but not the chains of the enslaved. 
 The light of heaven will shine on the land of Freedom. 
 Wilt thou be that land, beautiful America ? The people 
 are deaf to the anthem of liberty. The trumpet-blast of 
 
364 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Justice is sounding on the hills. Oppression's idol is in tlie 
 nation's temple. God says, " Overthrow that idol ! " The 
 people, from the battle-towers, dare to disobey ! Oh, the 
 terrible fire that burneth in the heart of the people. Pride, 
 envy, vice, will be kept in this fire until the hour of triumph. 
 As lightnings gleam along the heavens, so victory will 
 shine like a pillar of fire. But not till the people break 
 every yoke — then cometh the light of day. Lift up thine 
 arm, my country ! Strike at the heart of thine enemy. 
 Break not the hearts of thy people, but give liberty to the 
 captive. The young warrior is trembling for one lightning- 
 word from thy lips. Children of pride rise up to oppose 
 thee. Let them not check the flow of thy power. The 
 world will follow thee in the path of Freedom. The sad 
 eyes of enslaved millions are turned toward thee. Bid them 
 dry up their tears. Like the rolling sea let thy love till 
 the deep valleys of sorrow. The people are with thee, 
 my country! " Righteousness exalteth a nation." Awake, 
 the hour of trial has come. Let the midnight depart. 
 " Let there be light ! " The people yearn for Love, Wisdom, 
 Liberty. 
 
 Missionaries in the Sunimer Land. 
 
 CCIV. — Question: "The horrors of the present war -would be 
 greatly lessened if the friends and relatives of the killed could he 
 assured that it was well with the departed. Where do the spirits of 
 the slain go ? How do they appear ? Bo they receive attention and 
 affection in the spirit world ? " 
 
 Answer : Your question may be truthfully solved by 
 
 mental penetrations. Let us take a morning excursion 
 
 heavenward on the wings of the spirit's power. Let us 
 
 look at the earth from a dizzy hight. Come, friendly 
 
 interrogator ! the chariot of Clairvoyance is already at the 
 
 door. Steeds of light stand before it. Their harness is 
 
 made of star-rays. The reins are principles. They are as 
 
MISSIONARIES TN THE SUMMER LAND. 365 
 
 strong as the Infinite will : beautiful as the ways of wisdom. 
 Come ! let us ascend. 
 
 The gates of the morning are open. Heavy clouds have 
 rolled away. Sunbeams dart across the earth. The mist 
 is rising from the hills. Winds murmur through the trees 
 of the valleys. The foliage of spring is still sleeping in the 
 buds. Swollen streams are flowing rapidly through the 
 lowlands. The meadows are wet with the dissolving snows 
 of winter. Northern mountains look cold and frosty. But, 
 over all, the beams of heaven shine with ineffable beauty 
 and tenderness. Yet we weary of this local habitation. 
 We would rise on the wings of inspiration. We would join 
 the group of blue-eyed visitors from the Land of Summer. 
 Yv e would mount with them and soar above the land of 
 strangers. With them we would look down into the sad 
 eyes of the world. With them we would 'hear the chant 
 of the worshiper, the prayers of the widow and orphan, the 
 voices of the working people, the curses of the discordant, 
 and the rich anthems of the pure in heart. We would join 
 the generous angels in their labors of mercy, would rise 
 above the world to lift the lowly, and would stand upon 
 high mountains to contemplate the works of Wisdom. 
 
 We enter the chariot of Clairvoyance. The glittering 
 reins are in our right hand. The steeds of light, clad in 
 their harness of brightness, arise gently as the morning 
 dew. They do not dilate with hot blood, neither do they 
 start like a ball from the throat of a cannon. But their 
 flight is as noiseless as truth; and their speed is swift and 
 sure, like the electric life of the Infinite. 
 
 Behold the earth sinking lower— deeper— a vast earthen 
 bowl dropped in the sea. There is little difference in the 
 appearance of low valleys and high mountains. Rough 
 places are smoothed and crooked things are straightened 
 
 31* 
 
366 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 by' distance and generalization. Tumultuous rivers flow 
 peacefully below, thunderous waterfalls are melodious as 
 church organs, and dark-rolling oceans look white and still 
 in their soft beds. The costly mansions of the rich dwindle 
 to the size of bird-cages. The proud landlord looks like a 
 puppet in a showman's box. Villages seem like clusters of 
 painted boxes. Great trees look like small bushes in the 
 garden. Most beautiful shrubbery is lost in the grasses of 
 the plain. Distant cities, mostly hidden by mists and 
 clouds, seem like mole-hills. The people so important in 
 opinion and so splendid in dress, look like bugs and pig- 
 mies. They run in and out like flies on a July cheese. 
 They leap to and fro like frogs on the margins of stagnant 
 ponds. They cross and re-cross each other's paths like 
 ants in a hill of sand. They dig into each other's interests 
 like rats in a cellar. They meet and part from one another 
 like different birds confined in the same cage. ' There .is 
 no difference between the I'ich and poor. Distance levels 
 all distinctions. Brocades and tinsel look no better than 
 rags and tatters. Horses look like little dogs. Dogs are 
 small as mice. Men look like quadrupeds walking on their 
 hind legs. It is impossible to distinguish clergymen from 
 'Other sinners. Mechanics are brighter than ministers. 
 Churches look like Court-houses. Tactories and machine- 
 shops glimmer and shine like blocks studded with diamonds. 
 They look attractive and beautiful. 
 
 The earth looks low and dark-bdsomed. Yet it is 
 sparkling below in a deep-rolling sea of sunbeams distilled 
 from on high. An ocean of clouds is between our eyes and 
 the still sinking globe. A dismal and stormy -night, with 
 roaring winds, surrounds us and ends all observation. Yet 
 onward and upward we sail through the tempest. The 
 clouds of earth drop beneath our flying chariot. These 
 
MISSIONARIES IN THE SUMMER LAND. 367 
 
 steeds of light travel through the darkness of error. They 
 rush without noise. They run straight, like the life-lines 
 of the Eternal Mind. They fearlessly invade the storm- 
 clouds of ignorance. They scatter the sunshine of truth 
 upon the hills of error. They awaken the notes of harmony 
 in the valley of shadows. Like a rising thought we soar 
 above the region of storm. The sunken earth, in the midst 
 of thousands of clouds, is already forgotten. A new world 
 is visible in the distance. It is bathed in the light of 
 beauty. Its face is brightened with the smiles of celestial 
 wisdom. With measureless magnitude it opens in every 
 direction. The imagination cannot embrace a world so 
 vast. It is the Summer Land. 
 
 Like a bird we sail down to the shining soil, and press 
 the soft grass with our feet. The fair-browed sons of light, 
 and the blue-eyed daughters of love, pair by pair, or 
 grouped by the side of musical rivers, reflect their images 
 upon our wondering vision. Everlasting hills of beauty 
 fill the landscape with marvelous splendor. Silence, like 
 the stillness of twilight, hovers over the scene. The spirit 
 of meditation is upon our heart. We contemplate the fear- 
 ful sublimities. We enter into a realization of the glorious 
 scene. The mellow light of distant suns is visible among 
 the grasses and upon the beautiful flowers. Immortal fra- 
 grance is wafted through the graceful trees. Songs of 
 many birds blend with ' gently swaying foliage, and the 
 melody of many streams is harmonizing with human voices. 
 Yet a divine silence pervades all the scene. Glorious 
 unfoldings of the Eternal Mind! How dimly seen are 
 these expressions. A comprehension of the plenitude of 
 thy wondrous power is to us impossible. The bounty of 
 thy thought is known in its fullness only to thyself. But 
 the human spirit can explore the depths of divine love ; 
 
368 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 can search for truth through mountains of error ; can burn 
 its way through manifold dungeons of darkness to obtain 
 the pearls of wisdom — still will remain unsolved the mystery 
 of God, still uncomprehended the mighty " whole " of his 
 perfections. 
 
 Like the winged germs of autumnal flowers, come the 
 gentle invitations of angels. Over our thoughts they flow 
 like the waves of music on the evening air. Again we 
 mount the Chariot. Away, amid the responding choruses 
 of the angel group. Anon, we light among those who lift 
 the weary. It is another realm in the Land of Summer. 
 We walk among those who, with gentleness and love, 
 receive the thorns and flowers of earth. The spirit of the 
 babe, just died on the earth beneath, comes directly here. 
 Here, too, come the spirits of the brave. The young man 
 comes here whose spirit has just left its body on the field of 
 battle. Here come the spirits of the so-called mighty. The 
 spirits of the aged are arriving with the others. Spirits 
 of children come in with every wave of the magnetic river. 
 Here come beautiful daughters from the earthly homes of 
 sorrow-stricken parents. The prayer-laden exertions of 
 earthly relatives could not retain the spirits of these young 
 men who have just entered. Streams of tears on earth — 
 joy and thanksgiving here ! With gentleness the discord- 
 ant earthling is received. Tall above the rest are seen the 
 missionaries of love to the passion-tossed. The half-opened 
 heart is warmed with purity. No blast of passion is driven 
 into those who have been wrecked by the storm of evil. 
 
 The silent sunshine of a celestial heaven is poured over 
 this missionary realm. In this work we behold the philan- 
 thropy of the angel world. Earth mourns for the dead. 
 Here the dead are " brought to life," and tears drop from 
 the eyes of the grateful. The joy-lit heart is perfect and 
 
MISSJONARIES IN THE SUMMER LAND. 369 
 
 beautiful as a sunbeam. The desert-heart is showered upon 
 until it becomes fertile, and brinjrs forth both fruit and 
 flowers. The dismal roar of eartlily discord is not heard 
 here. Neither do they hear tlie groans of those on earth 
 who give themselves away to the agony of grief. Here is 
 action, action for all the poor and needy who arrive. This 
 realm is " missionary ground." Heathen from the civilized 
 homes of men are here received and taught. The Great 
 Spirit hath unfolded the savage and the man-eater ; the 
 same power unfolded the benevolent and the philanthropist; 
 and here, in this part of the Summer Land, the extremes 
 meet and dwell together. Fellow angels and fellow men, 
 the celestial and the- terrestrial, meet under the cover of 
 this blue sky. Earthly ties do not prevail here. Thgre is 
 liere more philanthropy than sympathy. Great minds over- 
 look the small, and capacious nearts make room for the 
 discords of the undeveloped. 
 
 The magnitude of this missionary realm is vast. It could 
 contain the earth's entire population. But it is merely the 
 quarantine department — the vestibule and the initiary hos- 
 pital of realms, and domains, and habitations infinitely 
 more vast. It is impossible for the good to be separated 
 from the evil. Every heart would be sundered by such a 
 division ; for every heart contains both discord and har- 
 mony, the elements of " good " and the possible or actual 
 misdirection, which is "evil." Behold how beautiful is this 
 system of truth ! How the necessities of both good and evil 
 are known, either practically or intuitionally, by every 
 heart. The sea is not more true to its tide than ia human 
 life to the spirit of God. The crash and the blast of 
 battle, like the song and dance of joy, are in harmony 
 with the Infinite life. The sun will soon rise in the east ; 
 soon it will set in the west. To-day the white flag of peace 
 
370 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 floats over the city ; anon, the boom of cannon shakes the 
 strong towers of error. On either side we find the heavenly 
 sunbeams, and the God, also, from whose fountains all 
 things flow. The plains of peace are battle-fields ; and the 
 battle-fields are plains of peace. Polly is before wisdom. 
 Sadness darkens the heart as night covers the earth ; but 
 soon joy cometh to the heart, like the daylight to the globe. 
 Time wasteth the blackest body of error, as rain dissolveth 
 the hardest stratum of granite ; but the spirit of truth, like 
 the sun of heaven, is positive and imperishable. 
 
 In this realm we would remain always. Hither come 
 our earthly acquaintances. The night of ignorance casts 
 none of its shadows here. We have feasted on the mani- 
 festations of God. Gradually vanish our earthly memo- 
 ries. Evening is not more sacred than are the golden-hued 
 leaves of these healing trees. The people are gathered 
 around the flowers of gladness. Music arises from beauti- 
 ful natures. It floats over this realm in responding wave- 
 lets. The universe seems filled with its unspeakable riches. 
 We would remain. ...... 
 
 The Chariot is ready. The steeds of light, clad in 
 their beautiful harness, look out toward the distant hori- 
 zon. In the midst of song we mount and fly. The Summer 
 Land glides from our vision. Like a note of music it dieth 
 away. We move among the clouds of space. Vapors and 
 mists envelop us. We drop below the region of cold into 
 the region of storm. The rim of the earth is visible. We 
 do not appear to move, but the earth seems to rise to meet 
 us. It rises through the clouds. Mountains, valleys, rivers, 
 cities, villages, people, all become visible. They all seem 
 to rise and spread out, grow large, and become exceedingly 
 
 important 
 
 Our Chariot has rolled out of sight, the steeds have dis- 
 
THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. 371 
 
 appeared, the trip by Clairvoyance is ended, and thus we 
 return from our Morning Excursion. 
 
 The Savior of the World. 
 
 CCV. — Question : " You have in many of your writings shown the 
 world's jargon on the subject of a Savioy. Different religions have 
 different gods, and different schemes of salvation have different 
 Saviors ; so that it is perplexing to many sincere and truly religious 
 minds to know which is right and which wrong. What have you to 
 communicate on this subject ? Will you not define what or who you 
 regard as the world's true Savior ? " 
 
 Answer : Behold the light that comes with morning ! 
 It is charged with the swift electricities of space. The life 
 of innumerable stars pours through it. It fills and enriches 
 the world with magnetic splendors. Birds respond to the 
 sublime attraction. Flowers awake and bloom in their 
 perfection and beauty. Seed in the soil is quickened. The 
 red blood of all life is made to tingle. Angels of energetic 
 thought speed from home to home. Spirits of incessant 
 action visit both young and old. The just-born babe cries 
 to heaven. Its paradise is not afar. The love of God 
 throbs in the mother's bosom. Voices of mountain-tops 
 blend with the sounds of the valleys. The young man 
 leaps to his labor. " Awake and act ! " is the first shout 
 of the middle-aged and earnest. " Seek your labor ! " is 
 the quick command of the striving mechanic. The friendly 
 wife prepares the morning meal. Strong men sit to be fed 
 and nourished. No one stops to watch his neighbor. Dawn- 
 light streams through the windows. The dwelling is filled 
 with its glory. The world is vocal with the songs of 
 labor. 
 
 The shepherds of the plain sing to-day as of yore. The 
 Star of Bethlehem shines with auroral brightness. A 
 Savior is born. The angels sung last night. Their silvery 
 son"- floated around my soul. Ripples from a sea of mn^io 
 
372 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 » 
 
 kissed the shores of Time. The dawn-lights of by-gone 
 ages played among the shells that lay on the shore. Around 
 me stood the oaks of the ages. Enchanting notes of wood- 
 land music stole through my senses. My soul was blended 
 with light and Deity, '^'hen the Savior that was born came 
 out from the manger. His garment was seamless. It was 
 perfumed with the heifer's meadow-breath. In his voice I 
 heard the low of the kine. Soft as the falling dew, and 
 musical as the sparrow's note, were the words of his wis- 
 dom. He spoke like the sea. Deep thoughts flowed from 
 his mouth. They flowed gracefully, playfully, and spontane- 
 ously — so free and so easy was his utterance that I thought 
 little of his meaning at the moment — but now, this beautiful 
 morning, they sound all through my soul with love-bora 
 purity, full of wisdom. 
 
 He preached the gospel of "Labor." And the poor 
 heard him " gladly," for he promised them both Peace and 
 Justice. He contrasted the magnificent habitations of the 
 rich with the humble abodes of the poor. Sumptuous 
 palaces stood beside repulsive hovels. The strong sons of 
 Labor and the scions of nobility came out for judgment. 
 Health bloomed on the cheeks of Labor. The blotches of 
 disease disfigured the cheeks of wealth. The over- worked 
 and the under-worked stood side by side. There was in 
 them neither health nor happiness. They were bent and 
 bowed with Care. The weeping willows of sorrow shaded 
 the life-streams of their hearts. They were wearied with 
 sin-promptings. The over-worked meditated theft, false- 
 hood, and suicide ; the under-worked thought of sensuality, 
 gaming, and nightly amusements. Neither knew the heavenly 
 " rest " of honest Labor. The stout heart and resolute 
 will of the Worker were unknown to them. They mourned 
 
THE SAVIOE OF THE WORLD. 373 
 
 in sadness. Pure slumbers would not visit their pillows. 
 They wept in darkness, and each was a child of sorrow. 
 
 Justice and Freedom, like sentinels of time, spoke words 
 of peace. Sunlight from the zenith was showered upon the 
 abodes of poverty. As dew-drops drip from myrtle boughs, 
 so did sad-eyed Sorrow shed the tears of wretchedness. 
 Loveliest " green spots" in the domain of Wealth were 
 blighted by the deadly shade of injustice. Luxuriant 
 tresses of friendship were twined with cypress. dark- 
 bosomed Society ! how hast thou curbed the spirit of Right ! 
 The days of chivalry are gone behind the sun. Embosomed 
 deep in eternal spheres are the truly noble. The names of 
 the departed wise sound through the nations. The hours 
 shake truth from their golden wings as they fly. But who 
 unsheathes the ■' sword of the spirit " in defense of Justice 
 and Freedom ? The fountains of Truth are clad in silvery 
 robes. Who forsaketh his " wine-cup " for water flowing 
 from the infinite spring ? The ethereal mysteries of light 
 are the enchantments of Truth. Who cometh under the 
 wand of its power ? Who is transfigured into the image 
 and likeness of Truth ? Dim shadows of error, injustice, 
 and misery, flit across the path of man. Imperfections 
 becloud his skies. The sun of Truth is not yet full-orbed 
 in his heaven. 
 
 High and holy, above all the world, stands the Savior. 
 He is the spirit and the power of honest Labor. The sweat 
 on his brow is beautiful. The dews of Hermon do not 
 shine more brightly. In his right hand are millions of 
 homes for the industrious.. Villages and cities bloom out 
 of his footsteps. Waste places blossom beneath his hand. 
 Indian hordes awake to spontaneous homage. The wampum 
 belt is hung upon the willow. Garments of civilization 
 adorn the sachem's manly form. Strong and free is the 
 ' 32 
 
374 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 tread of the forest monarch. The panther, the wolf, the 
 bear, the snake — how they hide away in distant moun- 
 tains ! They dare not meet the army of Labor. School- 
 houses decorate the once solitary places. Laughing 
 children blend their voices with the hammer's clank in the 
 " anvil chorus." High hills are crowned with colleges. 
 Revelations of Nature are everywhere given to the earnest- 
 minded. And noiseless charities, that never tire, go about 
 thi'ough the thronging generations, " doing good." 
 
 Let us ride in the Chariot of Clairvoyance over the city 
 of homes. We mount above the heads of men, higher than 
 their habitations, to an elevation beyond the hopes of 
 millions. The bespangled city is beneath. Let us look 
 with special interest into the drawing-room of yon beauti- 
 fully adorned lady. She is gay and glorious to the physical 
 eye, but why is her pillow wet with the tears of bitterness ? 
 Has she not wealth? Does she not move in high "circles," 
 and is ■ she not the happy " observed of all observers " ? 
 Let us look backward through the dark halls of her 
 past 
 
 She was born with beauty, in a lowly cot by the sea. 
 Her mother's form lay white and cold. Her clay-garment 
 was rent. Onward through the dark portal, from earth's 
 mournful prison, her radiant spirit was lifted to the 
 Summer Land. A father's hand clothed and fed the bereft 
 babe. From the fierceness of sea-storms the fisherman 
 shielded his beautiful daughter. Years were gathered into 
 the young girl's soul. Her father was swallowed by the 
 engulfing wave. There was darkness in the daughter's 
 bosom. She wept long. Anon she was the bride of her 
 heart's chosen. They came near the city. They were 
 earnest, truthful, kind, happy. In the calm depth of their 
 loving eyes were mirrored the beautiful and the pure. . . . 
 
THE. SAVIOR OP THE WORLD. 375 
 
 Five years more wrought great changes. The beautiful 
 bride had become the mother of two lovely children. They 
 were happy, light-footed, sparkling. In the midst of glad- 
 ness the pall of death fell upon the home. The husband 
 and the father died. An awful gloom spread through the 
 habitation. The mother and widow could not be comforted. 
 She was most beautiful still, and had her little ones, but 
 oh ! how desolate and broken-hearted ! With the husband's 
 death died the flowers of plenty. Poverty walked in at the 
 unbolted door. He clanked his iron chains before the little 
 ones. The sound thereof fell like the rain of fire upon the 
 reeling senses of the broken-hearted. . . . 
 
 The next two yeacs brought billows of sorrow. With 
 her little ones the beautiful and loving lady arrived at a 
 room iiie had rented in the lower part of this city. The 
 spirit and power of Labor were upon her. She sought to 
 work for the wealthy. With her needle she labored all 
 the h^urs of every day. For months she shielded herself 
 and the little daughters from the encroachments of Want. 
 Still onward rolled the mysterious tide of her destiny. 
 Weariness and illness visited her. Injustice had paid her 
 for her labor. She had over-worked for under-pay, and 
 she wept in her sorrow all the day long. She lived in a 
 city of strangers. Alone in the world, she wept the tears 
 of desolation. Want and despair came to dwell with her. 
 The succeeding few weeks changed the career of that 
 lonely lady. A being crossed her path, disguised in the 
 livery of pure friendship. Amidst the rush of the busy 
 world a man sought the humble apartment. He presented 
 linen to be wrought into garments. In seeming sympathy 
 he paid a high price in advance of Labor. The sick lady 
 was inspirited. She toiled on to complete the work. It 
 was soon done. More was kindly furnished, for which 
 
376 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 siill more money was advanced. Her health again broke. 
 Labor was not possible; yet lived she and the innocent ones 
 on the stranger's treasure. Her gratitude was boundless. 
 Love was kindled on the altar of respect. . . . 
 
 A few days more. The stranger called with a carriage. 
 He explained how his sisters, who live up town in affluence, 
 had consented to receive a visit. The sick lady was 
 attracted to accompany the stranger. The little daughters 
 were not forsaken. The four went with gladness to the 
 new place of plenty. She lifted up her heart in gratitude 
 to the Heavenly Father. In the seclusion of her new- 
 found home she received the spirit of contentment. Anon, 
 health returned to her beautiful cheeks, and she besought 
 her friend to restore her to the lonely room and to Labor. 
 But a cannon-shot went through her heart when her 
 request was denied. " These gay ladies are not my sis- 
 ters," said the stranger. " They are the creatures of 
 pleasure," he continued. " You are lost in the world's 
 opinion." He added : "The eyes of the multitude v/ill be 
 upon you should you venture from this dwelling. Yield, 
 therefore, and live henceforth in ease and luxury ! " In 
 shame and anguish she wept, sending forth a waidng cry 
 which alarmed the innocent children. They w';re then 
 taken from her. The door of her room was locked, and 
 she was left to herself in that dungeon of infamy. . . . 
 She accepted her fate. Her beauty and her powerful 
 impulsiveness, urged on by the energy of a concealed 
 despair, placed her very soon in the front rank of the 
 degraded profession. Oh, that she had only been rewarded 
 by Justice for her Labor in the apartment of peverty and 
 virtue ! Or, if there had only been some " Home for Women 
 who do not want to become Outcasts ! " For he- there was 
 no such harbor of safety. In high-born pride, i i the angry 
 
THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. 377 
 
 tide of desecrated love, she took the scepter and wielded 
 it. The Stranger consigned the mansion of Infamy to her. 
 She ruled like an abandoned queen. All obeyed her. Her 
 refinement was inverted. She became coarse, profane, 
 vulgar. Poor fallen angel ! Her palace of pleasure was 
 the " talk of the town." It became the magnet of the rich 
 profligate and libertine. It was filled with beautiful lost 
 ones from all stations of society. Poor fallen angel ! A 
 malefactor's knell is music, compared with the throbbings 
 of her heart. The frowning gallows is a " thing of beauty," 
 compared with the image of sorrow that wept in her bosom. 
 The felon's horrid doom is a joy, compared to the life of 
 that beautiful lady. Poor fallen angel ! . . . . 
 
 But who is that beautiful woman we just saw in the 
 drawing-room ? She is gay, but why is her pillow wet 
 with tears ? There comes a voice like the rushing wind. 
 It whispers : " She is the only living daughter of that poor 
 fallen angel ! " The waves of the ocean sweep over her 
 grave. Memories of past distress live in the daughter's 
 soul. Drear hours, lull of wintry blasts, cluster in her 
 memory. Falsehood and vice no longer bear sway in her 
 spirit. She is redeemed ! Past injuries leave but few 
 lines on the young soul, because her life is now devoted to 
 Labor for others. The mother is in the Summer Land, 
 with the companioli of her bridal years. The youngest 
 daughter, too, is there with those best beloved. Anon, in 
 the stillness of the evening hour, a whisper comes from the 
 now rich, arisen angel ! But her labor is only just begun. 
 And her reward is meted out by the hand of eternal Justice. 
 Listen, and you will hear her repeat : 
 
 " I thank thee, Father, that I live, 
 Thpugh wailings fill this earth of thine ; 
 To Labor for thy suffering ones 
 Is joy divine I " 
 32* 
 
378 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 All true Labor '■ is joy divine ! " Never shun your 
 Labor. Darkly come the blasts of poverty. Labor is 
 pregnant with every blessing. Castle -and fortress are 
 destroyed by the labor of the ivy, the lichen, and the wall- 
 flower. Ignorance is overthrown by the labors of 
 knowledge. Rock-built citadels decay beneath the inces- 
 sant action of harmoniously rolling seasons. Vice is dis- 
 placed by the labor of virtue. Life is exalted by the action 
 of its varied elements. Go, then, and do whatsoever good 
 work your hands find to do — " with all your might," with 
 your whole heart, and will, and judgment — work, act, labor, 
 produce, and enrich the world. Plow, sow, harrow, and 
 reap! Let Justice regulate thy life. Give every one 
 something good and useful to do. Reward the laborer 
 with the price of righteousness. Freedom is the flower of 
 great development. Development' is possible only through 
 association, action, labor. Before this gospel nobles and 
 priests grow pale with fear. They do not labor for the 
 world's nourishment. The days of their power are in pro- 
 portion to the industry of reformers. It required labor to 
 roll the "stone from the mouth of the sepulcher." Let the 
 true Savior come forth. He is the spirit and the power of 
 Labor. Under the sway of his scepter, the world will 
 be changed into a paradise. First, the material ; then the 
 spiritual. 
 
 Intervention of a Celestial Personage. 
 
 CCVI. — Question : " I am aware that you teach that spirits are 
 seen, recognized, and conversed with. Now I am not one of those who 
 reject a whole class of well-substantiated facts just because there is 
 nothing in my individual experience to corroborate them. It is 
 undoubtedly true that the so-called spiritual appearances and mani- 
 festations of the present age are as well-attested, and are authenticated 
 by as large and respectable an array of witnesses, as are correspond- 
 ing facts and appearances of any past period of the world. Stili I am 
 unable to realize how the facts occur, especially how a spirit can make 
 
INTERVENTION OP A CELESTIAL PERSONAGE. 379 
 
 itself so palpable aud so certain in person as to bo seen, recognized, and 
 conversed with by any mortal man. When such a fact is developed 
 to the senses of a Seer, can and do other persons present, not clairvoy- 
 ant, realize anything unusual? Did you ever see and converse with 
 a spirit in the presence of men and women ? If so, did any of the 
 company speak or act in any manner unusual? Do spirits who make 
 themselves tangible to a Seer or medium, exert an influence on the 
 thoughts or actions of others ? 
 
 " Perhaps you will be able to perceive wliat T would ask you. Havo 
 you personally any experience like that related in the New Testament 
 (testified to by five witnesses) such as Moses and Elias appearing and 
 conversing as tliough they were still in mortal bodies ? I want to 
 realize the practical workings of such manifestations. Can you relate 
 anything of your own certain knowledge — something positive and 
 palpable in your own experi^ce — which will serve to bring this sub- 
 ject within my comprehension? " 
 
 Answer: The human mind is so organized as to present 
 two apparently contradictory phases — that of Faith, with- 
 out the least grain of external evidence, and that of Know- 
 ledge, without the least light from internal faith. Men 
 will sacrifice more, struggle longer, and die as martyrs for 
 Faith ; while for Knowledge, they will do little and care 
 less, as though the human soul was made to live and die 
 for unsubstantial convictions and sentiments. Few minds 
 realize the astounding influence of Ideas. The Real, about 
 which the world clamors so vehemently, is of least import- 
 ance to countless multitudes. In defense of Faith (the 
 "Ideal") the inhabitants of every country will declare 
 war ; and for shadowy convictions all warriors will cheer- 
 fully brave every danger, to the death. 
 
 Our interrogator is very earnest in the wish to bring 
 another's experience " to his own bosom." To see what 
 another has seen, and to feel what another has felt, is 
 impossible. But it is possible, however, to paint a picture, 
 to relate an adventure, or to tell a story " founded on 
 facts," BO vividly as to distinctly impress the scenes and 
 incidents, even the appearance of personages and their 
 actions, whereby another's mind may be made to partici- 
 
380 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 pate and realize the thoughts and emotions of the artist or 
 narrator. In this manner the moat lasting impressions can 
 be imparted by one mind to another. The method is better 
 than philosophy for the millions, who deem Faith " a pearl 
 of great price," and Knowledge at best but a great 
 " stone " which the angels of light roll away from the 
 tomb of ignorance. Deeming ihe preceding pages amply 
 freighted with philosophic hints and explanationSj safl&cient 
 to answer nearly all essential qaestions in our particular 
 line of thought, we pass to the followJLg account as the 
 most practical response to questitins jis'i propounded. 
 " Why do you run, my lad ? Do yrm not know me ? " 
 It was nearly dark when these wiirds reached my ear. 
 I was just returning from one of the neighbors. It was 
 over a mile to our house. The road ran through a dense 
 forest for about half the distance. I was quite young, not 
 yet nine years old. The neighbor's boys had coaxed me 
 over to their house " for fun." They seemed to know that 
 I was afraid to return unaccompanied through the dark, 
 dreary woods. My stay with them was prolonged by the 
 cheerful " supper " of which I was permitted to partake 
 with the family. While engaged in the fascinating luxury 
 of eating " good things " at a farmer's well supplied table, 
 the sun went down, twilight departed unobserved, candles 
 were lighted to enable " all hands " to finish the meal, and 
 so I was caught " in the dark " away from home — a deep 
 black iorest between me and the bed I longed to be in. 
 
 " Why do you run, my lad '? Do you not know me ? " 
 There is a man ! He is following me! I saw nothing, but 
 heard footsteps behind me approaching nearer and nearer, 
 although I was running at full speed. I had but just entered 
 the woods. There was no moon, and the sky was filled 
 with October clouds : but happily the road was white with 
 
TKTEliVENTION OF A CELESTIAL PERSONAGE. 381 
 
 dust, SO I could distinctly have seen any object either 
 before or behind. # 
 
 The Yoicu came from some one at a distance. Afraid 
 either to look back or to slacken my pace, I affected not to 
 hear the words. With all the speed and breath at my 
 command, I pushed homeward. 
 
 " If the man don't run," thought I, " he won't catch 
 me, for I am running faster than any man can walk." 
 
 Yet nearer and nearer came the steady "footsteps" of 
 the man behind me. I tried to recall the sound of the 
 voice. It was not familiar : It was the voice of a stranger ! 
 My fright was hightened at this thought, for I was a 
 mere child. Oh, how miserable was I away from my 
 mother ! I stretched forth my hands in the direction of 
 the house we called " home." I wanted her to realize my 
 anguish. A child in the woods ! a strange man after me, 
 and no escape ! 
 
 Again the voice ! It was very near, and the steps just 
 behind ! I was breathless and unable to run. Stagger- 
 ingly I tried to stop and to look backward. At that 
 moment a tall, dark figure rose (as it then seemed to me) 
 from the ground ! I was almost frightened to death, and 
 had no power to stir or speak. There was a kindly grace 
 in his appearance that instantly delighted me. Although 
 it was dark, I could see his face, and his white hair, and 
 snowy beard, and felt the touch of his forefinger on my 
 left temple. The effect of the touch was electrical. 
 
 At that early age I had heard nothing about visions 
 and hallucinations. What my mother used to relate in her 
 own experience seemed as real as anything else in the 
 world about me. Somehow her religious and simple man- 
 ner of telling her visions removed from me all fears or 
 thoughts like those inspired by ghost stories or tales of 
 
382 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 frightful apparitions. Her dreams were no illusions to 
 H»e ; they were apocalyptic and matter-of-fact. 
 
 Therefore this tall, dark figure — with a beard like snow, 
 and hair as white as his beard — ^was something new. He 
 seemed to come up from the ground, and yet his footstep I ' 
 had heard for many minutes behind me, out-walking my ■ 
 best running speed. To this hour I remember with thrilling 
 vividness the feeling of his forefinger on my left temple. In 
 that lonely road, surrounded by a dense forest, midway 
 between the farm-house behind and my own home before ! 
 But his inspiring touch, more than the peculiar sound of his 
 voice, seemed to dispel all my .fears in an instant. 
 
 "Why do you run, my lad?" he again asked. "Do 
 you not know me ? " 
 
 Soothed and assured by the kindness of his speech, I 
 had power to answer, " No, sir, I do not know you." 
 
 " Life is very brief," he said. "It passes quickly by. 
 You can not outrun it." 
 
 Drawing nearer, almost touching me with his dress, 
 and with a voice full of tenderness and strength, he said, 
 "Tell me, my lad. Why do you run? " 
 
 " I'm going home, sir. Mother will be looking for me. 
 I've been playing with the neighbor's boys. It was dark 
 before we got supper, and I'm running home." 
 
 " Cfoing home ! " His tone was filled with love and 
 meditation. " I, too, am going home." 
 
 "Are you going this way?" I asked, pointing toward 
 our house, and taking a few steps forward. 
 
 "Yes, my lad. We will walk together." 
 
 His beautiful form towered up by my side. The road 
 was scarcely visible, and the old trees sounded dolefully, 
 but I was not afraid. Together we walked in silence 
 
INTERVKNTION OP A CELESTIAL PEESOIfAGB. 3gJ 
 
 through the wood and up the road toward " home." I was 
 about to ask him to enter with me, but he was gone ! 
 
 " Gone ! " exclaimed I, more frightened than ever. 
 Yes ! There was not a sound in any direction. I listened 
 at the gate to catch the retreating footsteps. All was 
 silent in the darkness. Amid the rushing currents of my 
 boyish heart was a feeling of sorrow — a vague regret — an 
 undefinable yearning — a hymn of thanksgiving — a desire 
 to speak once more with the stranger who met me in the 
 hour of darkness. 
 
 * * * * . * 
 
 The ensuing eight years of my life were eventful. (See 
 the " Magic Staff," giving a history of the author's life.) 
 In my seventeenth year I was residing in New York. 
 Every day was occupied in the examination of the sick who 
 sought relief through the powers of clairvoyance. A lec- 
 ture was given every evening on the Revelations of Nature. 
 Thus days and evenings were appropriated. 
 
 Under the pretense of being ill, or seeking aid for feome 
 absent friend, many persons would place themselves in the 
 chair before me. The object in every case was different. 
 Some wanted tidings of wandering relatives, who had sud- 
 denly disappeared from their homes, and had not been 
 heard from since. Others wanted information relative to 
 property affairs, &c. But no visitors of this class ever 
 diverted my mind from the Sick and the Lectures. Inva- 
 riably they were refused the attention they so persistently 
 sought. 
 
 One day the letter-carrier brought a note for me. It 
 contained a card with these penciled words — "At home, 
 to-morrow evening at 8 o'clock." On the opposite side 
 was the engraved name of " Sarah J. Bartoni." The note 
 was beautifully written, and very brief, thus — 
 
.isl - answers to qdestions. 
 
 "New Yoek, Nov., 1846. 
 
 " Mrs. George Wilson Bartoni presents her compli- 
 ments to Mr. Davis, the great clairvoyant physician, and 
 begs that he will give her the pleasure of his company 
 to-morrow evening. She will expect not to be disap- 
 pointed, as she has taken great interest in Alexis, the won- 
 derful clairvoyant of Paris, and wishes to form the 
 acquaintance of his brother Seer in America. Invited 
 guests will also be happy to see Mr. Davis to-morrow 
 evening. 
 
 " 1 do not give Mr. Davis my address, as I have already 
 ordered a carriage to call for him at half past seven." 
 
 Instantly ray feeling was strong against the whole pro- 
 ceeding. In" the first place I knew that my clairvoyant 
 powers could not be exercised without the co-operation of 
 my magnetizer. In the sepond place it was not right, nor 
 our custom, to give parlor exhibitions of the faculty. In 
 the third place I did not want to be so conspicuous in an 
 assemblage of fashionable ladies and gentlemen. In the 
 fourth place I was decidedly disinclined to riding in a car- 
 riage to anybody's residence in New York, especially to 
 make a call upon " utter strangers." In the fifth and last 
 place I did not like the peremptory style of the note ; not 
 even giving me an opportunity of either accepting or 
 declining " the honor " ; but the lady had already ordered 
 a carriage to call for me " at half-past seven." 
 
 Notwithstanding all my disinclinations and painful 
 shrinkings from the undertaking, when the hour arrived I 
 unhesitatingly entered the close carriage, and was driven 
 away at a rapid rate. 
 
 In about half an hour the vehicle stopped in front of an 
 old high brick house somewhere toward the Battery, in 
 Greenwich street, as I supposed. 
 
 The driver seemed to know his business perfectly. 
 Opening the carriage door, he said — " This is the place." 
 
INTERVENTION OP A CELESTIAL PERSONAGE. 385 
 
 Nothing could have been more prompt than the ring I 
 gave the door-bell. Unaccustomed though 1 was to 
 fashionable folks and brilliant parties, and timid to a pain- 
 ful degree whenever conspicuous, yet now, somehow, I felt 
 quite self-possefsed and fully up to the occasion. 
 
 The door was soon opened by a grim-looking old 
 woman. 
 
 " Is this the residence of Mrs. Bartoni ? " I asked. 
 
 She growled something aflarmative, and asked me 
 " what I wanted.'' 
 
 Stepping into the hall, I said— "Tell her that Mr. Davis 
 is here, and would like to see her, according to an invita- 
 tion." 
 
 ""Walk this way, Mr.," said another female at the top 
 of the stairs. 
 
 The hall was dimly lighted, only partly carpeted, smelt 
 old and dirty. There was in it nothing in the shape of a 
 table or hat-stand. At this distance of time the thought 
 of the place causes me to shudder. 
 
 " Not much fashion here," thought I. Up stairs I went, 
 hat in hand, and followed a dirty looking servant-girl into 
 a back room on the second floor. 
 
 " The company will soon be in," she said, and imme- 
 diately withdrew. 
 
 The room was lighted by a small lamp on the center- 
 table. An old carpet covered the floor. One dusty por- 
 trait, and two ridiculous cheap pictures of horse racing, 
 hung on the yellow-painted wall. The mantle was orna- 
 mented with glasses, bottles, packs of cards, dice, back- 
 gammon boards, a cork screw, and an old clock, which 
 long since had lost the power of telling the truth. 
 
 While pondering on the extremely disagreeable situa- 
 tion in which I had voluntarily placed myself, the door 
 
386 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 opened and a very showy, laced-up, star-bespangled, pomp- 
 ous lady entered, followed by five gentlemen in good 
 clothea and exceedingly polite manners. 
 
 The lady graciously pronounced my name and intro? 
 duced me to her guests as her " friend the great American 
 brother of the wonder of all Paris, Alexis" 
 
 Of course I was non-plussed. Not knowing who the 
 ." wonder of all Paris " was — never having heard of 
 «* Alexis," never having seen the lady before — I could not 
 deny the alleged relationship. The assurance and enthu- 
 siasm with which the star-bespangled lady introduced me 
 as her " friend," completely dispossessed my young brain. 
 Of course I bowed entire agreement to everything she had 
 the splendid presumption to affirm. The guests therefore 
 accepted me, or pretended to, as the lady's " friend " and 
 " brother " of the Great Parisian, whoever he might be. 
 
 " Mr. Davis," began the tinseled Mrs. Bartoni, with 
 the air of one who expects that your kindness and gal- 
 lantry will instantly cause you to agree to everything she 
 may feel incliqed to say or propose. 
 
 " Mr. Davis ! " a delicious smile breaking out all over 
 her artistic face. " Mr. Davis, my engagement, at the Park 
 Theater commences next Wednesday evening." 
 
 " "What a glorious Lady Macbeth ! " interrupted one of 
 the gentlemen admiringly. She smiled artistically at the 
 irresistible gush of audible applause. 
 
 " Mr. Davis," she blandly proceeded, " before my first 
 appearance in America,, it is my ambition to convince these 
 particular friends of mine that you are the veritable brother 
 of Alexis. Oh, he is so infinitely charming ! He would do 
 anything for me, Mr. Davis — anything — at my soirees in 
 Paris. He was the favorite of all the beaux who visited 
 me at my hotel. I may Say that the beautiful Alexis was 
 
INTERVENTION OP A CELESTIAL PERSONAGE. 387 
 
 my protege. So perfectly fascinating, Mr. Davis, was the 
 young man — such wonderful freedom in the exhibition of 
 his faculty — a perfect, delicious tSte-d-iite — every time the 
 young man would enter one of his states and open the 
 evening's conversation. And, Mr. Davis " 
 
 " One moment," I interrupted. " There must be some 
 difference between the Paris clairvoyant and me. For I" — 
 
 " No, no — not the least, Mr. Davis — not the least. 0, 
 Mr. Davis how could you say so. What a phenomenon you 
 are, Mr. Davis. There is a something about you so — what 
 shall I call it — Je ne sais quoi. 0, Mr. Davis, you " 
 
 " Please let me just say that I " 
 
 " Impossible, Mr. Davis — impossible ! You do so truly 
 belong to my coterie — no, no, it is impossible. Mr. 
 Davis ! " 
 
 What she was driving at I could not tell. She talked 
 very rapidly, and urged the " impossible " with such vehe- 
 mence, I was more than ever bewildered. She employed 
 fifty words to my one. The gentlemen, all except the one 
 seated nearest the door, entered into the spirit of the lady's 
 extraordinary discourse. Of all the talk, her emphatic use 
 of the term " impossible" was the least comprehensible. I 
 obtained a sense that something was very "impossible." 
 She would not let me explain my state and position. 
 
 The chance for me to speak ten words was quite 
 " impossible," so I settled back in the old cane-bottomed 
 chair and resigned myself to her overpowering style and 
 splendid oratory. 
 
 " You wrong me, Mr. Davis. Frail mortality trembles 
 before a power so fearful. And Mr. Davis " 
 
 One of the five gentlemen here interrupted with — 
 '' Will the young man give us a show of his power ? " 
 
 I was about to reply, when the lady continued : 
 
388 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 " Most certainly, Mr. Elbridge. The roidnight deepens 
 on all who do not 
 
 " Let him do so now," gruffly interposed a short- 
 bodied, black-haired, long-fingered gentleman — one of the 
 five. 
 
 At this moment the gentleman who was nearest the 
 door walked across the room and back to his chair. No 
 one seemed to notice him. He was silent, thoughtful, 
 and the handsomest of the party. I thought he wanted to 
 get rid of his associates. Compared with him, they looked 
 like ruffians and genteel gamblers, and I did not wonder at 
 his uneasiness and their inattention. 
 
 " How much you could comfort me, Mr. Davis " — con- 
 tinued the lady — " if you would. I am a deeply wronged — 
 a desolate" 
 
 Tears filled her eyes. Her tones became plaintive, or 
 sharp, and expressive of heartfelt suffering. The evidence 
 of grief was overwhelming. She seemed to want to hide 
 her tears. But her agony was overpowering. 
 
 " Damnation ! " ejaculated another of the five. He 
 glanced angrily at me, as though 1 had deeply injured the 
 sobbing lady. 
 
 The outrageous plot was perfect. I had a faint glim- 
 mering of it, but was as yet unable to comprehend the 
 object. I knew that the lady was pretending — acting — and 
 that something was wanted of the clairvoyant faculty. For 
 a moment I felt alone — among enemies — and doomed to 
 some dark end. Unguarded, young, and unused to that 
 order of society, it was natural to be apprehensive. In a 
 moment of fear I started toward the door. 
 
 " Not so fast, young man," exclaimed one of the five, 
 grasping my arm. 
 
INTERVENTION OP A CELESTIAL PERSONAGE. 389 
 
 "0, Ml-. Davis," said the pleading lady— "it is impos- 
 sible." 
 
 " I must go home,' said I. " The hour is already late, 
 and my magnetizer will be anxious for my return.'' 
 
 '• Cuss your magnetizer," growled one of the five. 
 " Give us a show of your power." 
 
 " What do you wish ? " I asked. 
 
 "Tell this party what tickets will draw prizes in the 
 Delaware Lottery next day after to-morrow. If you don't, 
 I'll" 
 
 The threatening words of this man shocked me, and 
 caused a sense of helplessness to overcome me for a moment, 
 but the next instant a thrill of strength went all through 
 my frame, and I replied — 
 
 " Gentlemen ! this lady sent her carriage for me. I 
 came in it to attend a party of persons who she said would 
 be glad to see me socially. Her note of invitation is in 
 my possession. But this meeting is all a wicked conspiracy 
 to compel clairvoyance to serve your selfish purposes. You 
 are mistaken, gentlemen, I " 
 
 "See here, young man," interrupted one of the five, in 
 a passion, " you can't leave this house till you look into that 
 lottery business." 
 
 " Good evening," I replied, and stepped out toward the 
 hall door. The silent gentleman who had stood nearest 
 the door, instantly placed himself between. me and the man 
 who last spoke. They seemed to take no notice of his 
 interposition. Yet to my eyes he was dressed not unlike 
 his companions, and was, if anything, the tallest man in the 
 
 room. 
 
 « Stay a bit, young man," said the lady, with an angry 
 and scornful expression. " You shall not leave us unpaid 
 
 33* 
 
390 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 for all the expenses we have been to. A moment's use of 
 your faculty will give us all we ask." ' 
 
 "I have no power to serve you," I replied. " Good 
 night ! " 
 
 The burly, short, black-haired rufiSan attempted to 
 catch my arm again. He was prevented by the silent tall 
 gentleman, who for an instant stepped between us, and as 
 quickly back to his place by the door. 
 
 The whole company now rose to their feet. They 
 looked villainous and revengeful. But before one of them 
 could speak, I opened the door and hastened down stairs 
 to the street door. The lock bolt was in the staple, and 
 the key was out of the lock. The light was so dim I could 
 scarcely discern anything. 
 
 At this moment the tall gentleman unlocked the door, 
 and stepped out with me upon the sidewalk. The locality 
 was strange to me, but I knew that the North river was to 
 my left as I faced the north, and thus determined my course 
 homeward. Not stopping to thank the gentleman for 
 unlocking the door, I started at a rapid pace for Hudson 
 street which crosses Spring, wherein we were then resid- 
 ing. While hastening along, almost on a run, a voice 
 behind me said — 
 
 " Why do you run, my son ? Do you not know me ? " 
 
 It was past the midnight hour. The city was still. 
 And that voice sounded clear and distinct as it did years 
 before in the road which led through the forest. I was not 
 afraid. Slackening my pace, the gentleman glided up to 
 my side, touched my left temple with the forefinger of his 
 right hand, and said — 
 
 " Why do you go so rapidly, my son ? and whither ? " 
 
 " It is late," I replied. " The folks are expecting lae, 
 and I'm going home." 
 
INTERVENTION OF A CELESTIAL PERSONAGE. 391 
 
 « Going home! " he exclaimed with deep tenderness— 
 " I too, am going home." 
 
 Years had dropped away since first these similar words 
 were spoken to my ear. I became greatly agitated. « Are 
 you not the same personage who overtook me many years 
 ago ? " I asked with considerable apprehension. 
 
 " Do you not know me ? " he tenderly inquired. Then 
 hurriedly, and without pause, he added : « We may meet 
 again." 
 
 I was overcome with surprise, not uiimingled with 
 reverence for my unknown friend. 
 
 Together We walked in silence up Hudson street to the 
 corner of Spring, which was but a few steps from our office 
 and residence. As we turned the corner, I ventured to 
 look squarely at the face of the stranger. He certainly was 
 the same tall, silent, graceful gentleman who had protected 
 me in the gambler's parlor, and who let me out at the front 
 door ; and How, seeing his white hair and snow-like beard, 
 I fully recognized him as the companion who overtook me 
 in the dense old woods. Assured on these points, I was 
 about to express my astonishment and my gratitude, when, 
 in an instant he disappeared. As before, I listened to catch 
 the sound of his retreating steps. Only the watchman's feet 
 on the opposite corner disturbed the stillness of the street.^ 
 I stood transfixed, unable for the moment to move or speak. 
 Perhaps the policeman mistook me for a night thief. He 
 crossed over and said, " Which way ? What are you stop- 
 ping for ? " 
 
 " I live close by," I returned — " at 252 Spring. A 
 strange gentleman waS walking with me," I added. "He 
 left me very suddenly around the corner, and I'm stopping 
 to find out which way he went." 
 
392 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 An exclamation of doubt escaped the watchman. 
 " Which way did you come ? " he asked. 
 
 " Up Hudson street." 
 
 " What was the appearance of the man who was with 
 you ? " 
 
 " He was tall, with white hair and beard." 
 
 " Did he come with you to this corner ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir. He overtook me at St. John's Park and 
 accompanied me up to this corner." 
 
 " You're mistaken, young man," said the policeman in an 
 irritated tone. 
 
 " No, sir, I'm not mistaken," I replied. " I am willing 
 to be qualified by the most solemn oath that a tall gentle- 
 man, with white hair and beard, came by my side from the 
 south end of St. John's Park to this corner." 
 
 The policeman seemed to believe me in earnest, but he 
 certajnly doubted my sanity. " Surely, young man — do 
 you mean to say, really, that anybody walked up the street 
 with you ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir — I do declare that a tall gentleman accom- 
 panied me." 
 
 The officer started toward me as though he meant to 
 arrest me, but immediately halted and said — "I've been on 
 this beat for two hours ; I saw you by the light of the 
 street lamps when you were two blocks below this ; and I'll 
 swear that you was alone ; not even the shadow of a man 
 within three blocks of you." 
 
 " What is the meaning of all this ? " said I in an under 
 tone. " It is an awful experience ; it must be a deception ; 
 or — what was it that accompanied me to this corner ? " 
 
 " Come, come, sir," said the watchman. " Where do 
 you live ? what number ? " 
 
 " This way," 1 ' replied. On • reaching the door, the 
 
INTERVENTION OP A CELESTIAL PERSONAGE. 393 
 
 ■watchman violently runt)- the bell, for he was in doubt as 
 
 to my case, and wished to ascertain whether anybody in 
 
 that house would recognize and admit me. Fortunately, 
 
 one of the inmates came down stairs and joyfully accepted 
 
 me in presence of the vigilant officer. What an escape from 
 
 a night in a New York watch-house ! 
 
 ****** 
 
 About two years afterwards, in the early spring time, 
 I went with an acquaintance to the residence of Isaac T. 
 Hopper, the well-known New York philanthropist. We 
 were cordially admitted by the noble-hearted and venerable 
 Quaker gentleman, who himself opened the door and led 
 the way to the plainly furnished parlor on the second floor. 
 There were present five persons besides ourselves — friend 
 Hopper, two ladies, a beautiful little girl, and a gentleman. 
 
 Friend Hopper, in his usually straightforward manner, 
 introduced the company to each other by a wholesale 
 remark, without distinctly mentioning any one's name. Hap- 
 pily I was acquainted with one of the ladies, and through 
 her was immediately introduced to the other lady, who was 
 young and beautiful, and exceedingly fond of music. 
 
 The conversation was on the recent exhibitions of the 
 celebrated Ole Bull. My friend and I listened to the beau- 
 tiful sentiments uttered by the talented authoress (one of 
 the ladies) concerning the matchless art and wonderful 
 genius of the great performer. 
 
 The intelligent countenance of the gentleman, on whose 
 knee sat the tender-eyed little girl, particularly attracted 
 my attention. He seemed utterly absorbed in the eloquent 
 conversation, but remained silent while the ladies dilated 
 on the uses and delights of music. The happy and lovely 
 little girl meanwhile not taking interest in either the 
 ladies or their topic, occupied her moments in playing with 
 the flowing beard of tlie gentleman. 
 
394 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 Presently one of the ladies addressed herself to me and 
 said : " Mr. Davis, may it not be true that poets, sages, and 
 musicians, who have passed away, still take active interest 
 in what they so loved on earth ? " 
 
 « I think they do," I replied. " Death does not destroy 
 the poet's heart nor annihilate the sage's soul." 
 
 " How wonderful and beautiful ! " exclaimed the other 
 lady with enthusiasm. " The dead are everywhere," she 
 added, " and yet to think that the dead are living / that to 
 weep at the grave is to shed tears on error ! " 
 
 The beautiful little girl now listened, and the gentle- 
 man rose and walked to the window where something 
 without seemed particularly to engage, his attention. ^. 
 
 " 'The tomb is not an empty affair," said the venerable 
 Quaker. " The scriptures speak of graves and sepulchers 
 in a serious way. The sister of Lazarus went to the grave 
 to weep." 
 
 The gentleman began walking to and fro, his counte- 
 nance wearing an uneasy expression, and his lips moving as 
 though whispering something to himself. 
 
 The little girl, pale and agitated, drew near him. She 
 threw back and forth her head, and put her hand on his 
 palm, endeavoring to draw his eyes toward her. 
 
 " Faith destroys the sting of death," said the noble phi- 
 lanthropist. " Better depend on Faith to give you victory 
 over the grave." 
 
 " I believe that the spirit is emancipated at the moment 
 of death," said one of the ladies. " The tomb of yesterday 
 is nothing to the spirit whose cast-off body was laid in it. 
 Isn't that trice, Mr. Davis ? Do tell me something about 
 this subject." 
 
 The company seemed to take no interest in the gentle- 
 man, who was pacing the floor, at the end of the parlor, 
 
INTERVENTION OF A CELESTIAL PERSONAGE. 395 
 
 nor did they notice the beautiful little girl that walked and 
 played by his side. My conclusion was that they knew 
 him very intimately and did not care to break in upon his 
 mood. Her was a stranger to me, however, and I expe- 
 rienced some regret that friend Hopper did not introduce 
 him by name. I longed with much curiosity to know who 
 he was. 
 
 " The grave is a gloomy place," was my response to the 
 remarks of the lady. " But it is not gloomy to those who 
 can see beyond the tomb. If the sister of Lazarus had had 
 power given her to look over the burial ground to the 
 fertile plains of the Spirit Land, her tears would have 
 been tears of joy rather than those of sorrow and lone- 
 liness." 
 
 " That's my belief," responded the lady — « but I would 
 give worlds of wealth, if I had them to give, to know it is 
 all true." 
 
 The door-bell rang at this moment, and the noble phi- 
 lanthropist answered it instead of the servant. He left the 
 parlor door open as he went out. The gentleman and the 
 little girl passed out into the hall, and as I thought, from 
 the sound of their footsteps, ascended the stairs. They 
 seemed to be so entirely at home, and everything they did 
 was seemingly so entirely congenial to friend Hopper and 
 the ladies, that I hesitated no longer to inquire who they 
 were. 
 
 " A gentleman and a little girl ! " exclaimed the ladies, 
 looking from one to the other with the greatest wonder 
 and interest. 
 
 I smiled at their curious and excited expressions, and 
 said: "Yes! I mean the gentleman and little girl who 
 have juat gone out of the room." 
 
396 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 " 1 have no faith in anything of the kind," was friend 
 Hopper's response. 
 
 My acquaintunce looked at me with a comical expression 
 of bewilderment. His eye had the gaze of one groping his 
 way in the darkness. In fact he was as much surprised at 
 my question as any other person present. 
 
 For a moment, as the company looked in silence at each 
 other, I endeavored to collect myself to meet the excited 
 condition of the party. Gathering my thoughts into a 
 definite purpose, I asked — 
 
 " Do you, friend Hopper, mean to say that you did not 
 know the gentleman and little girl who left the parlor 
 when you answered the door-bell ? " 
 
 The honest old man looked at me with a clear, stern, 
 searching expression on his face, as much as to say — " Do 
 you mean to trifle with me ? " But his good-nature domi- 
 nated all other feelings, and he replied, smiling, " I have 
 no faith in anything of the kind." 
 
 Seeing that further remark would be regarded as 
 impertinent, I kept silent while the honored philanthropist 
 told one of his stories, with the greatest particularity of 
 incident and detail of language used by himself and others 
 years and yeara ago. The whole company was charmed 
 with the •' moral " of the story, and equally astonished at 
 his perfect recollection of all persons and parts which ori- 
 ginally entered into the composition of the story, which 
 every one present instinctively accepted as unquestionably 
 accurate. 
 
 On the way across the city to our residence, my com- 
 panion kept up a running conversation regarding the gen- 
 tleman and the beautiful little girl. 
 
 " You get things and shadows strangely mixed up," he 
 remarked. " One knows not what to believe. Your 
 
INTEETENTION OF A CELESTIAL PERSONAGE. 397 
 
 iiiquiries had a Gtuniiing effect upon the old Quaker and 
 the ladies. Macbeth on seeing the ghost of Bauquo could 
 not have been half so cool and quiet as you. You had 
 more than sjbilline indifference. What an intensified inter- 
 est you aroused in one of the ladies ! And you, unmoved 
 by the great mystery of your question, remained incredibly 
 indifferent ! 
 
 « Why should I have been agitated ? " I responded. 
 " Was there anything unusual in my simply asking who the 
 gentleman and little girl were ? " 
 
 " But, my dear sir — don't you understand that no one 
 in that room saw any such persons present ? " 
 
 " It is difBcult for me to believe that" I replied. 
 
 At this moment the same gentleman, leading the beauti- 
 ful little giri by the hand, came directly in front of us from 
 a cross street ! His beard and hair were silky and white 
 as the driven snow ! He smiled and gracefully bowed as 
 he passed. The same tall, beautiful personage who had so 
 suddenly disappeared months previous on the corner of 
 Hudson and Spring streets. 
 
 Keturning the stranger's salutation, as he passed us, I 
 directed my companion's attention toward him. " There 
 he goes ! " said I hastily. " Do you not recognize him as 
 the man we saw in friend Hopper's parlor?" 
 
 The streets were filled with pedestrians at that hour, 
 and the stranger had time to disappear among the people 
 before the eye could follow him. On further inquiry, 
 however, I ascertained that my friend had not even seen the 
 gentleman with the little girl, when they bowed and passed 
 us at the crossing ! While the whole operation seemed to 
 me to be perfectly natural and common-place, yet those 
 who heard me speak of it expressed themselves as incapa- 
 ble of believing that I had seen any such persons described. 
 
 34 
 
398 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 ***** 
 
 There is one more incident to relate relative to the 
 unexpected appearance and sudden departure of the tall, 
 silent gentleman, whom no one but myself seems to see. 
 It may be remarked in this place, lest the reader may not 
 receive the whole force of these experiences, that, while the 
 personage is perfectly distinct and as natural an object to 
 my eyes as is the form, face, and personal appearance of 
 any other human being, yet it is surprising that no one 
 beside myself seems to take any cognizance of him, no more, 
 in fact, than any one would notice a portion of empty space. 
 Notwithstanding this, there is always something in my own 
 history to prove that the gentleman is a real personage. 
 His words are as vividly remembered as are the words of 
 my most intimate acquaintances. His interpositions at par- 
 ticular crises in my individual life have been as positive 
 and effectual as the influences of any private friend and 
 benefactor. These things I mention to give the facts their 
 full force upon the question, " Whether Spirits return in 
 palpable form? and whether, while moving among man- 
 kind, they can influence human thoughts and conduct ? " 
 
 The object of the appearance, in the parlor of the phi- 
 lanthrophic Quaker, was uever fully made known ; but 1 
 now think it had some connection with the heavenward 
 journey of friend Hopper's spirit, which was not long 
 delayed after that memorable visitation. 
 
 The last incident of the kind occurred between my 
 present residence and the city of Newark. Very early on 
 Monday morning, when the village was all astir over some 
 recent news from "the seat of war" (1861), I had a pre- 
 sentiment of some " news " which would come to me from a 
 different quarter of the world. Soon after breakfast I 
 we!^t forth to enjoy the light of the rising sun, to examine 
 
INTERVENTION OF A CELESTIAL PERSONAGE. 399 
 
 the beauty of the landscape, to hear the songs of the birds, 
 and, more than all, to ascertain what was meant by the 
 presentiment of " news " that I was to receive. Leisurely 
 and thoughtlessly I walked onward. 
 
 My favorite resort is away among the hilly slopes and 
 mountain-paths of Llewellyn Park, one mile west of home 
 in the beautiful village. Prom the sheer force of attrac- 
 tion and habit, one would naturally think my steps would 
 have involuntarily turned thitlier ; but, unthinking and 
 objectless still, and contrary to the routine of custom in 
 rambling, I went through the village eastward, in the 
 direction of Newark. At length I took the side path lead- 
 ing toward a grove of almost leafless trees. Observing a 
 beautiful rock near the corner of an open field, 1 hastened 
 to its side and rested tranquilly for many minutes. Those 
 moments were filled to the brim with a peculiar happiness. 
 Strains of distant bands of music seemed to touch the very 
 fibers of my brain, thrilling each organ with thoughts and 
 sensations of melody, more delicate and enchanting than 
 any emotions ever awakened by the music of earth. 
 
 As the first freshness of the morning passed away, and 
 the sun went round to the south, the music ceased, and I, 
 not perfectly satisfied with what had happened, turned my 
 steps once more toward the city of Newark, thinking that 
 I would take a long walk before the dining hour. Observ- 
 ing, however, that the forenoon was already far spent, I 
 reversed my direction and started leisurely for home. 
 Finding myself on a portion of the road not visible to any 
 one for some distance, and feeling a need of more vigorous 
 exercise than walking, I set out on a full run ; when, sud- 
 denly, hearing footsteps behind me, I turned and instantly 
 recognized the beautiful face, the snowy beard, and the sii- 
 
400 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 vered hair of the tall, silent, graceful gentleman! He 
 came close to me as I stood to welcome him. 
 
 " Why do you run so fast, my son ? " he asked with 
 his customary sweetness and rich depth of tone. 
 
 " I'm going home," I replied. " Only running for exer- 
 cise this morning." 
 
 " I, too, am going home" he responded with a tone of 
 more than usual meaning. This particular expression he 
 had used in my hearing already three times, several years 
 intervening between each utterance, and methought it 
 sounded like the lament of a wanderer. So at once I 
 asked — 
 
 " Are you a resident of this world ? Or, tell me, are 
 you a spirit ? " 
 
 " Why do you ask ? " he affectionately inquired. 
 
 " I ask,'' said I, " because you resemble a mortal man 
 as much as any one I meet in human society, and yet, on 
 occasions when you have been perfectly visible to my eyes, 
 others declare solemnly that they see nothing." 
 
 " Do you not know me, my son ? " he responded 
 tenderly. 
 
 " Yes, I know you are the personage who has been my 
 friend and benefactor ; but I do not know where you 
 reside, who you are, nor what I can do to reciprocate your 
 kindly ofl&ces." 
 
 " Feel my hand," he said, extending his- left hand, 
 while with his right forefinger he touched the same spot on 
 my left temple. 
 
 (Since writing the first part of this narrative, I have 
 examined the skin on my left temple, and strange to say, 
 there is a light red spot seemingly on the surface, having no 
 sensitiveness, in exactly the place where, in memory, I can 
 recall and vividly realize the soft, electric, strengthening 
 
INTERVENTION OP A CELESTIAL PERSONAGE. 401 
 
 touch of the tall, silent gentleman. This peculiar red spot 
 on my temple did not appear until after my conversation 
 with him in Hudson street, New York.) 
 
 I took the left hand which he extended toward me. It 
 felt as warm, as tangible, and as real as any hand I ever 
 grasped. "This hand is flesh and blood," said I, laughing 
 at the foolishness of my skepticism. 
 
 " Is it wrong in me," I asked, " to take your hand as 
 though I doubted your existence ? " 
 
 " There is nothing evil in honest doubt," he promptly 
 replied. 
 
 But the thought returned to me that he had several 
 times appeared and disappeared in contradiction to the 
 habits of mortals. So remembering, and thereby again 
 doubting whether he was a real human being, I asked — 
 ' I^now know that you are not a spirit, but a real gentle- 
 man still living in the mortal body, and yet I am at a loss 
 to determine the modus operandi of your sudden disappear- 
 ances." 
 
 " You do not yet know me," he returned in a somewhat 
 sad tone, touched with a shade of disappointment. 
 
 " How should I know you," said I, " except as the same 
 silent gentleman, who has on several occasions befriended 
 me?" 
 
 « You ask me to explain the art of my sudden disappear- 
 ances." 
 
 " That is what I am exceedingly anxious to compre- 
 hend." 
 
 " Would you believe me," he pleasantly asked, " if I 
 
 should tell you that I have never suddenly disappeared from 
 
 your side ? " He rapidly added — " And could you believe 
 
 that the change has, on every occasion, occurred in you, and 
 
 not in me? " 
 34* 
 
402 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 "la me! " exclaimed I — "the change in me, and not 
 In you ! ! " 
 
 " Yes, my son ! The question is for you to answer. 
 Can yoii believe that you, and not I, pass, in and out of 
 sight in the twinkling of an eye ? " 
 
 " There is nothihg in my experience to substantiate such 
 a belief," said I. 
 
 " Oh ! do you so misapprehend yourself ? " 
 
 " How ? " I inquisitively and quickly asked. " How 
 do I misapprehend myself ? " 
 
 " Changes of state in yourself you suppose and allege to 
 be appearaiilces and disappearances in me." 
 
 Glimmerings in the truth of psychology began to influ- 
 ence aind perva:de my understanding. Thinking the thought 
 into words, I asked — " iDo you mean to teach me that, if I 
 rdtaained in the same state of perception, that your presence 
 would be visible and palpable to me at all times and in all 
 places ? " 
 
 "Not at all times, nor in all places," he responded. 
 " But my departures from you would never be sudden if you 
 did not so suddenly pass out of perception into your 
 senses." 
 
 " But you are flesh and blood, are you not ? " I asked, 
 with as much eagerness to know as ever. 
 
 " Did yoti not just now touch and press my hand ? " he 
 smilingly inquired. 
 
 " Indeed I did," was my reply, " but I would like to 
 feel it again — just once more — to make certain that you are 
 a hunian being, and not a spirit." 
 
 " You do not know me yet ! " There was an under- 
 tone of disappointment in his utterance. He smiled pleas- 
 antly, however, as though not painfully tried with m.y 
 ignorance. 
 
INTERVENTION OP A CELESTIAL PERSONAGE. 403 
 
 A feeling of impatience with my own lack of compre- 
 hension pervaded my mind for a moment. But rallying 
 quickly, I inquired whether he could tell what caused a 
 presentiment in -my mind that I was to get some valuable 
 " news." 
 
 Pointing toward the grove, which I haid left an hour 
 before, he said — " To-morrow, if your mind is as free of 
 thought as it was this morning, you may behold a vision." 
 
 I looked over toward the grove, and then turned to 
 say one word more, when lo ! in the instant that my eyes 
 were diverted, he had disappeared ! There was no denying 
 the startling fact — he was nowhere to be seen ! A real 
 man, with hands of flesh and blood, with white hair and a 
 beard like snow, he was not within the reach of my physi- 
 cal eyes ! 
 
 On the following morning, a fresh November day, I had 
 the happiness to receive a most impressive and significant 
 " Vision "—partly prophetic, and mostly to keep the world 
 reminded that the inhabitants of other spheres do not neg- 
 lect to take interest in the progress of mankind — the whole 
 being applicable to America and the war with rebellion.* 
 And it is worthy of remark that the Vision was rendered 
 visible to me from beyond the grove which the Gentleman 
 had pointed out. 
 
 In closing, allow me to say that this is the only celes- 
 tial visitor who has manifested hin:)self to me in a manner 
 and appearance so external as to require on myipart but a 
 slight, even inappreciable departure from the ordinary 
 
 state. 
 
 Therefore to this day, notwithstanding the frequency 
 
 • See a " Memorable Vision " published m the Hebald of PRoaaESS, 
 Vol.2, No. 91. 
 
404 ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. 
 
 and positiveness of my. experiences, and the beautiful les- 
 sons taught me by these celestial friends, it yet remains 
 difficult at times for me to realize that the tall, silent, 
 graceful Gentleman is not a resident of ea{-th~, but, on the 
 contrary, in reality a spirit, palpably manifested to the clair- 
 voyant perceptions. 
 
 It is important to keep in mind that my state, not his, 
 was the cause of the mysteriousness and seeming superna- 
 turalism of his disappearances. 
 
A PSYCHOMETRICAL EXAMINATION OP 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 By particular request, a friend in Washington furnished the 
 President's autograph and a scrap of his hand-writing. By this 
 method a connection with the characteristics of Mr. Lincoln was per- 
 fected, and the results of the examination are herewith respectfully 
 suhmitted. I have no personal knowledge of the mental peculiarities 
 of the President. What is here given, therefore, must stand or fall, 
 according to the facts in possession of those who know^ him best. I 
 shall welcome the verdict of his most intimate friends ; more espe- 
 cially do I wait for proofs to be furnished by him as President of the 
 United States. (The following was written soon after Mr. Lincoln 
 entered upon the duties of his ofSce in 1861.) 
 
 Impressions on Viewing him Objectively. — His physi- 
 cal system is muscularly, but not vitally, powerful. It is 
 unevenly developed in tlie joints and sockets. He is not 
 nervous, elastic, or sensitive ; and yet, with respect to bodily 
 endurance, he is remarkably easy, steady, and unyielding. 
 With care, he can resist the approach of disease in any foi-m 
 except in the loins and throat. His internal organs are 
 not large, but their functions are steadily and fully per- 
 formed. He is built to sustain a prodigious quantity of 
 either manual or mental labor ; but such labor, to be well 
 done, must be very carefully graduated by an orderly divi- 
 sion of days and hours. He must not be hurried and urged 
 beyond his natural deiiberateness. He is rapid only when 
 under the action of his own temperaments. All outward 
 stimuli, in the shape of air, and foods, and drinks, exert 
 but little effect. 
 
406 PSYCHOMETRICAL EXAMINATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 In conversation, or when addressing a multitude, the 
 same self-steadiness is exhibited. There is no dissimula- 
 tion in his manners ; no attempt to stand straighter, to look 
 handsomer, to speak more eloquently, or to act more grace- 
 fully, than when alone with a friend or in the retiremeflt of 
 his family. He is not impetuous in physical gesture, but 
 emphatic and strong, with an irregularity which is almost 
 eccentric and quite original. 
 
 He appears like a man not fond of parlor-life. Tem- 
 poral comforts do not tempt him from the rugged paths of 
 duty. His features are indicative of honor, sincerity, 
 simplicity, generosity, and good nature, with much of the 
 indomitable and unchangeable. 
 
 II. Impressions on Viewing him Socially. — His domes- 
 tic affections are temperate and unwavering, but not pow- 
 erful ; and yet, at home with his family^ there is no man 
 more happy and contented. Children are interesting to 
 him when they are playful. But his tongue is the quickest 
 to interest the young. He appreciates the young mind, is 
 attracted by its simplicities, and is ever ready to hear or 
 relate a story. But this man is not over-much wedded to 
 locality. He is not a traveler by nature, and yet a change 
 of place is rather a relief to, than a- tax upon, his feelings. 
 
 His private life is remarkable for artless^ess and \\m- 
 form truthfulness. Warm and confiding to his friends, and 
 never embittered toward his enemies, he smooths the path 
 of many in his vicinity. He is fond of pr^iise, but is likely 
 to remain firm in friendship, under the lash of private dis- 
 approbation. He is not hasty to demolish his opponent, 
 even when he has been sorely aggrieved by him, but rather 
 inclines to give his enemy another opportunity for reflec- 
 tion. 
 
PSTCHOMETEICAL EXAMINATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 407 
 
 III. Impressions on Viewing him Intellectually. — -, 
 There is a singular texture of brain for his ijiind to act 
 through. It is elastic only after repeated exertions to 
 bring it into action. Then his intellectual organs act sepa- 
 rately, so to say, or one at a time — each, like an inde- 
 pendent conscious entity, doing its duty singly, and without 
 consulting the feelings or inclinations of its fellow-labor- 
 ers. His understanding of a matter is at first unsatisfactory 
 to himself. The facts, and fragments, and data of an event, 
 or case, first occupy all the spare rooms in the department 
 of his intelligence. Things, and persons, and places, and 
 the acts of agents in relation to them, cluster in chaotic 
 groups before his perceptions. He is, therefore, not cer- 
 tain, at first, whether he sees things in their proper places^ 
 and whether he appreciates the full import and force of a 
 single fact ; but, guided by a wholesome and powerful love 
 of accuracy, he persists in observing, and arranging, and 
 recombining the items df a matter, until, with an approba- 
 tion wholly internal, he fixes his opinions and proceeds 
 therefrom to act. 
 
 There is a critical and studied adhesion to established 
 rules of thought and reasoning. He dreads an unauthor- 
 ized digression from the recognized powers in either law, 
 politics, or religion. And yet he pays deferential respect 
 to the deductions of no one mind in any department of 
 human interest. His perceptive powers are active, and 
 readily discover the errors and tricks of men, and are 
 equally quick to detect a ridiculous flaw in an argument, or 
 the most assailable point in a general proposition. He will 
 rely on his own judgment, and is unwavering in attachment 
 to his own conclusions. 
 
 There is nothing impetuous in the deliberations of such 
 a mind. The lightning flash of genius, though it might 
 
408 PSYCHOMETRIC AL EXAMINATION OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 ■ reveal to his eyes the infinite unity of the universe, would 
 not move him. The range of real principles he must infer 
 from the position, magnitude, multiplicity, and force of 
 
 facts. He cannot penetrate the surface by intuition, but 
 must enter in at the open door of events and data. Shel- 
 ley's poetry could interest his mind rarely, but he would 
 glean much poetry from the sermons of Dr. Chauning. 
 History would give much rest to his intellect, but science, 
 if it should smell of mountains, and forests, and grand 
 objects in space, as geology and astronomy, would yield the 
 largest gratification. And yet this man's mind is never 
 satisfied unless its deductions are consistent with the major 
 elements of human nature. 
 
 IV. Impressions on Viewing him Morally. — By this 
 I mean spiritually, or with reference to the most interior 
 and religious attributes of his being. He is a man of talent 
 and industry, but no genius, no nM,n for the moment, no 
 ability to decide in advance of reflection and analysis. The 
 pian of intuition is impolitic and revolutionary. Mr. Lin- 
 coln is no such man. He is willing to accept a great 
 responsibility, to act well his whole duty, and to leave 
 things as he found them. A new State and the foundations 
 of new Laws are the electrical eliminations of genius. 
 Strong minds are certain to elaborate and administer the 
 inspirations of genius, but such minds cannot electrify a 
 country with the enunciation of any very revolutionary 
 law. No new truth ever bubbles over the bowl 0/ their 
 lives. Mental powers are unfertile, unless fed and fostered 
 by the endless fires of truth and justice. 
 
 Morally speaking, Mr. Lincoln is what the religious 
 world would call a " naturally good man." "Whether 
 sanctified by faith or not, his " works " are distinguished 
 t>y an extremely sensitive regard to everybody's rights and 
 
PSYCHOMETRIC AL EXAMINATION OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 409 
 
 everybody's greatest welfare. Justice, when tempered with 
 a gentle paternal mercy, is dear to him. He is, however, 
 more benevolent than conservative, and more humanely 
 sympathetic than conscientious, and is therefore liable to 
 err aad come short under the pressure of appeals from the 
 unfortunate. In all matters intrusted to his care and con- 
 trol, he is self-sacrificing and faithful to the end, with 
 very much beautiful self-forgetfulness and straightforward 
 integrity. 
 
 But there is a remarkable trait in this man's spirit, not 
 often found among professed politicians, and that is, a wil- 
 lingness to concede that he does not know what will occur 
 to-morrow. For this reason he is teachable, and is most 
 anxious to gain knowledge from almost every imaginable 
 source. How earnestly and sincerely, how calmly and 
 faithfully, does Mr. Lincoln give audience, even to the dis- 
 course of the least of his associates ! The modesty of his 
 manner is an earnest of his moral excellence. He cannot 
 be certain that his knowledge is up to the measure of 
 to-morrow's consequences ; wherefore he, unlike the con- 
 ceited pettifogger and political mountebank, is open to 
 more light and instruction. I think he would be much 
 rejoiced to icarn of the departed concerning the eternal 
 to-morrow. 
 
 But shall we not also mention that this man is a close- 
 mouthed keeper of "his own counsels"? This trait is 
 observable, even to his most intimate friends, with whom 
 he is ever confiding. Whenever there is the least obscu- 
 rity, he hesitates, checks his impulses, and looks steadily 
 toward consequences. Tlie doctrine of Retribution, so far 
 as he is individually concerned, would seem to have no 
 weight. He is above personal fear, and does not court 
 public favor or position: but the question whether the results 
 35 
 
410 PBTCHOMETRICAL EXAMINATION OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 of a given course will subserve the interests of mankind, is 
 very deliberately revolved by his moral faculties. Cajoling 
 demagogues cannot captivate this man's moral forces. He 
 is silent, but firm, amid cotton-lords and slave-dealing 
 monopolies. He is fond of progressive civilization, amid 
 the strongholds of conservatism and aristocracy, and the 
 God of his heart is for lawful freedom and unitary strength. 
 He appreciates the loathsomeness of treason, sees its deadly 
 blight as it steals over the minds of once faithful iflen, and 
 yet entertains glorious hopes and undimmed faith in the 
 direction of freedoni and peace. 
 
 V. Impressions on Viewing him Individually. — Under 
 this head I propose to give the sum of Mr. Lincoln's cha- 
 racter in its relation to the world. He is cordial, loves to 
 entertain friends, but is not fastidious in "the matter of 
 selection ; and is a devoted friend and brother to all. But, 
 intellectually and morally, he is too cautious and too fear- 
 ful of doing wrong, to be party to any very original or 
 revolutionary scheme. He will step slowly, and firmly, and 
 independently ; but, in the meantime, many things will come 
 to light, and events will transpire which will compel a 
 modification of procedure. Of enemies, Mr. Lincoln will 
 have but few. Of friends, among all parties, as long as he 
 lives, there will be a great multitude. He is a true Ameri- 
 can citizen, and believes not in leading public sentiment, 
 but following it, guided only by the Constitution and the 
 laws of Congress. 
 
 "While he listens deferentially to those about him, 
 including the constituents of his Cabinet, he is not the man 
 to be carried beyond his own judgment. He will surely 
 act according to the orders of his individual reason and 
 will. It is folly to suppose that any diplomatist or intlu- 
 
PSTCHOMETRICAL EXAMINATION OF ABEAHAM LINCOLN. 411 
 
 ential legislator can succeed long in warping the judgment 
 of tins conscientious man. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln is a very prudential character, and would 
 not transcend the letter of the law. Its letter and its spirit 
 are inseparable in his eyes. He is pre-eminently a man of 
 "peace," and would not object to a "compromise," if the 
 people so declared their wishes ; but from him the world 
 may never expect such a proposition to emanate. There is, 
 however, some danger to be apprehended from the exceed- 
 ingly sympathetic, cautious, legal, and economical suggestions 
 of his peculiar mental structure. The poet has very nearly 
 defined his conception of what should constitute the foun- 
 dations and glory of our Government : 
 
 " Men, high-minded men, 
 
 With powers as far above the brutes endued, 
 
 In forest, brake, or den. 
 As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude — 
 
 Men who their duties know, 
 But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain, 
 
 Prevent the long aimed blow. 
 And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain : 
 
 These constitute a State ; 
 And sovereign Law, that State's collected will, 
 
 O'er thrones and globes elate 
 Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill." 
 
 Let the country take counsel of its hopes, and despair 
 not, for there is a divinity, behind the presidential mind, 
 which will direct heaven's high purposes, and bring a 
 better day out of this black and awful night. Mr. Lincoln 
 will betray no trust, neither will he shrink from still more 
 pressing responsibilities ; and the people would do well to 
 share the burthen of sympathy and care with which he is 
 oppressed. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 FAOB 
 
 Animals in the Spirit World, . . - - 61 
 
 Accidental Death and Suicide, .... 77 
 Apparition, What is an? . . . . .80 
 
 Atheism, Is the Bible the Antidote of? ... 129 
 
 Age of the Human Bace, . - . . - 133 
 
 Adam and Eve in the Garden, .... 14,5 
 Architecture of Reform Meeting Houses, - . .159 
 
 Annihilation, Dread of, - . - . - 211 
 
 Amalgamation and Human Hybrids, .... 277 
 
 American Loyalty, Spirit of, - . . . 322 
 
 American War, Consistency of advocating the, ... 331 
 
 American War: Questions of Love and Force, - . 335 
 
 After Effects of the Present War, - . - . 860 
 
 A Nation in Outer Darkness, .... s^i 
 
 A Clairvoyant Morning Excursion, .... 355 
 
 Asceticism, Definition of, - - - 177 
 
 Body, Soul, and Spirit, Question Concerning, - - - S4 
 
 Bible, Origin of the, ... . - 131 
 
 Biblical Contradictions, Authors of, - - - - 136 
 
 Book of Life, The, - - - - - 164 
 
 Body and Mind, Training of, .... 212 
 
 Books in the Dark Ages, .... 249 
 
 Best Writers use Pew Words, .... 251 
 Bible verms The Rights of Woman, - - -269 
 
 Consciousness, The Indubitable Certainty of, - - . 16 
 
 Comets, Nature and Motion of, . - - 23 
 
 Conflicting Testimony on Important Facts, - - 62 
 
 Can Spirits see Material Objects ? - - - - 69 
 
 Concerning the Spiritual Vocabulary, . - - 74 
 
 Circle-holding, An Excess of, - - - - 87 
 
 Cock-lane Ghost, The, - - - - - 94 
 35* 
 
41-4 INDEX. 
 
 FAOS 
 
 Central Siin of the Spirit, - - - .93 
 
 Council of Nice, ..... - 131 
 
 Christiaaity, Is it a Religion? .... 147 
 
 Change of Heart, Explanation of the, .... 167 
 
 Christ's Kingdom, The Advent of, ... 166 
 
 Correspondences, The Doctrine of, - - - - 172 
 
 Compensation, The Law of, .... 182 
 
 Compensation, Is Suffering Rewarded by the Law of? - - 187 
 
 Can Mind act without Motives ? - - - - 205 
 
 Central and Integral Principles, .... 223 
 
 Coming of a Personal Savior, .... 254 
 
 Concerning the Six Human Loves, .... 276 
 
 Childhood— What is a True Child ? - - - 297 
 
 Childhood— Attributes of a,0hlld-9pirit, . - .302 
 
 Childhood — True Education and True Teachers, - - 309 
 
 Dying Sensations on the Battle-Pield, ., - - - 49 
 
 Do Spirits wear Clothing? .... 69 
 
 Dream, What isa ? - - - - - - 90 
 
 Dream, Why the Mind May Not, .... 90 
 
 Deity, Personality of, - - - - - 119 
 
 Divine Spirit in all Things, - - . - 126 
 
 Death of an Unbaptized Obild, .... 155 
 
 Doctrines of Jesus, The, - . . .164 
 
 Divine Laws of Nature, ..... 179 
 
 Duty of Naturalization, .... 246 
 
 Eternal Things, The Order of, . - - - 12 
 
 Existence, The System of, - - - - 14 
 
 Earth a Magnetic Machine, - - - - - 28 
 
 Evergreens, The Perpetual Verdure of, - - - 31 
 
 Eternity of an Idea, - - - - - .47 
 
 Explanation ol Swedenborg's Guardianship, - - 78 
 
 Evil, The Use and Abuse of, .... 186 
 
 Evil, Extreme Abuse of, .... 191 
 
 Evil, What and Where is ? - - - - - 193 
 
 Evil and Sin Beyond the Grave, .... 195 
 
 Evil Spirits, The Reflex Action of, - - - - 214 
 
 Evil, Transient Nature of, .... 218 
 
 Errors and Evils, Seers of, - - - - - 221 
 
 Effects of Promiscuous Conjugal Relations, - . 295 
 
 Extinction of Red and Black Men, - - - .357 
 
 Frances Wright, The Spirit of, - - - - 63 
 
 Flowers in Wi.-.'iOin's Garden, - - - .98 
 
 Faith and K°uwIedao, Relatioij of, ... lOS 
 
INDEX. 415 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fat»il, Worship, The Uses of, ... . 114 
 
 Past Dix/s and Acts of Humiliation, - . . _ nf 
 
 Funeral Occasions, Ceremony for, - . . . jjg 
 
 Freedom of Truth, What is the P - . . . 151 
 
 Free Convention, How to secure a, . . . 251 
 
 Friendship and Love, Difference between, ... 2fi5 
 
 Freelovism and Spiritualism, - . . . 284 
 
 Fillibustering, Origin of, .... 326 
 
 Free Speech in Times of War, ... 343 
 
 Geologic Developments, Explanation of, . . . 26 
 
 Guardian Angels UniversMl, - . . . 77 
 
 God-Life in Scientific Laws, .... jgg 
 
 Hand- Writing, Character in the, . . . - 44 
 
 Haunted Houses, The Cause of, - . . 82 
 
 Hand-Communications from the Spirit World, ." . . 101 
 
 History versus the Mosaic Account, ... 139 
 
 Heart, What is the ? ..... igj 
 
 Hell, The Probable Extinction 0:^ ... 209 
 
 How to Live in this World, ' ... 232 
 
 How to become an Author, - . . . 240 
 
 How to Get Practical Knowledge, .... 243 
 
 la the Universe Overflowing? . . . .76 
 
 Inspiration, The Light of, . . . . .92 
 
 Interior Light of Shakspeare, .... 94 
 
 Inspiration and Revelation, - . - . . 145 
 
 Individuality of Character, .. . . . 200 
 
 Illustrations of Spirit. Attraction, - - . . 2C6 
 
 Intervention of a Celestial Personage, - - . 373 
 
 Kind and Gentle Manners, ..... jsg 
 
 Knowledge or Faith, Which is Highest ? - . . 175 
 
 Looking to God for Everything, .... m 
 
 Love to Man, Origin of the Idea of, ... jg5 
 
 Law of Spirit-Gravitation, - . . - . 261' 
 
 Law of True Mating, - . . . . 268 
 
 Liberty, Humanity, Hypocrisy, and Hate, ... 339 
 
 Light from the World of Causes, ... 353 
 
 Labor a Savior of the World, .... 371 
 
 Mind, Reason, Spirit, Soul, . . - . jg 
 
 Materialispi of Chemical Science, . . . .29 
 
 Mysteries of Memory, - - . - . gg 
 
 Mathematical Problems, Solution of, . . . . 100 
 
 Moral, but Not Religious, .... i]5 
 
 Man's Progress toward Deity, . . . .121 
 
416 INDEX. 
 
 PASS 
 
 Manuscripts, Sacred, The New, - - - - 135 
 
 Motive-Power of the Sects, - . - - 162 
 
 Man and the Earth, Progress oi, - - - - 179 
 
 Man's Three-fold Character, - - - - - 199 
 
 Major and Minor Principles in Man's Spirit, - - - 225 
 
 Method of Spirit Culture, - - - - - 239 
 
 Marriage, A Child's Question on, - - - - 270 
 Marriage, An Uncongenial, ----- 272 
 
 Married, Truly and Eternally, - - - . 280 
 
 Marriage Ceremony, Value of the, . - . - 287 
 
 Monogamic Marriage, Divine Law of, - - - 292 
 
 Missionaries in the Summer-Land, . - - . 364 
 
 Natural Principles and Deductions, - - - '9 
 
 Nature, No Accidents in, - - - - - 21 
 
 Nature and Nature's God, . . - . 123 
 
 Nature of True Repentance, The, - . - . 153 
 
 National Thunder and Lightning, - - - . 326 
 
 Obj ectivity and Subjectivity, - - - - 17 
 
 Optimism, .-..-. 177 
 
 Organized and Associative Effort, - . . . 258 
 
 Origin of the Male and Female, - - - . 275 
 
 Origin and Causes of Civilization, . . - . 316 
 
 Plants and Trees, Growth of, - - - - 33 
 
 Physical Organs and Spirit Life, - - - - 67 
 
 Providential Interpositions, - - - - 104 
 
 Pantheism, Is it a Natural Belief ? . . - . 127 
 
 Prophecies in the Book of Daniel, - . - - 141 
 
 Passion and Individuality After Death, . - . igs 
 
 Punishment, The Nature and Purpose of, - - - 209 
 
 Parental Obligations and Duties, - - - - 212 
 
 Pride of Intellect, . - . - . 244 
 
 Polygamy, A Divine Law Against, . - - . 289 
 
 Psychometrical Sketch of Abraham Lincoln, - - 405 
 
 Eeproduction in the Spirit-Land, - - - - 68 
 
 Religious Couhcils Uncertain, - . - . 134 
 Religion of Nature, The, ..... 147 
 
 Religious Temples, Why the Universality of, - - 148 
 
 Religion and Reason, . - . . . 150 
 
 Eight Eye and Right Hand, - - - p 230 
 Rights of Races, ..-.-. 248 
 
 Rules for a Free Convention, . . - . 262 
 Rebellious Spirit of Conservatism, .... 324 
 
 Spiritualist, Mission of the True, ... - 5 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Sun Rays and the Earth, 
 Stones and Minerals, Development of, 
 Storms, The Philosophy of, 
 Superior Condition, The, 
 Soul as Distinguished from Spirit, 
 Spirit-Land, Nearness of the, 
 Spirit World, Definition of, 
 Summer Land, The, ... 
 
 Spiritual Habitations After Death, 
 Spirit Body, "Weight of the. 
 Spiritual Substance, The, 
 Striking the Spirit Body, 
 Speech of the Soul, The, 
 Spirit Facts versus Philosophy, 
 Spirit's Recuperation, The, - 
 Spring of Human Conduct, The, . 
 Seeing and Doing Right, 
 Swedenborg's Dietetic Habits, 
 Secret Spiritual Societies, 
 Spiritualists in the Army and Navy, 
 Thought, Origin and Mission of. 
 Thoughts, Control of, - 
 Theology, Religion, Morality, 
 Truth, The Final Triumph of. 
 True Glory of Man, The, 
 Training and Riding Horses, 
 Theocratic and Religious Associations, 
 Temperaments and Human Offspring, 
 Tale of the Betrayed and Broken-Hearted, 
 UniTerse, Center of the, . . - 
 
 Unsought and Unlooked for Phenomena, 
 Urim and Thummim, Uses of the, . 
 Vocal Converse After Death, 
 Veneration, Sincere Expressions of. 
 Value of Just Criticism, 
 Wind, Cause of the, . - . 
 
 Why do Spirits appear in Earthly Dress ? 
 Writing, The History of, 
 Word about the Devil, 
 Which — Revenge or Forgiveness ? 
 Wbicli is Best — Constitution or Revolution ? 
 Young Writers of Poetry, 
 
 417 
 
 PAOS 
 
 36 
 41 
 
 42 
 
 - 47 
 67 
 
 - 67 
 59 
 64 
 65 
 66 
 67 
 72 
 86 
 
 202 
 
 203 
 
 220 
 
 231 
 
 260 
 
 327 
 
 96 
 
 97 
 
 168 
 
 170 
 
 228 
 
 233 
 
 265 
 
 282 
 
 374 
 
 15 
 
 95 
 
 99 
 
 74 
 
 112 
 
 ■ 248 
 
 39 
 
 71 
 
 135 
 
 214 
 
 216 
 
 ■ 334 
 245