/ SPIRIT LIFE THEODORE PARKER, NARRATED BY HIMSELF, THROUGH THE MEDIUMSHIP OF MISS ELIZABETH RAMSDELL. BOSTON: PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. 1870. & &' tfsu // PREFACE. The circumstances and conditions under which this book was written render their brief narration important, in jus- tice both to the medium and the inspiring intelligence. It is due to the medium, a lady of unimpeachable integ- rity and candor, because, whatever judgment unbiased criticism may render upon the statements and sentiments herein contained, or their form of expression, as corrobora- tive, or otherwise, of their purported authorship, it is quite certain that Miss Eamsdell can not, under the circumstances, be deemed to have originated them. It is due to the invisible author, because the limitations imposed upon the utterance of his thoughts by the peculi- arities of the medium's organization, and her limited literary culture, must necessarily have modified his effort. Miss Sarah A. E-amsdell, the amanuensis of this volume, was, at the time of her development as a medium, engaged with her sister in the business of dressmaking at Lake City, Minn. Attending by invitation two or three spirit- ual circles, she found herself, at one of these gatherings, thrown into a semi-trance condition, and powerfully im- pelled to write the thoughts that crowded upon her mind. 3 4 PREFACE. This she did ; and the result was, at several sittings, the production of short essays upon various subjects, purporting to be dictated by Theodore Parker in spirit-life. Miss Ramsdell had no acquaintance whatever with the history, character, or writings of Mr. Parker. She had heard of him, in a general way, but had never had occasion to know or think of him particularly. Some of these essaj^s were published in a spiritual journal, and others read before public assemblies in different places ; being received with decided pleasure and appreciation. In the spring of 1869, the author announced his intention of writing a history of his spirit-life ; but it was not commenced until the autumn of the same year. When writing, the medium experiences great exaltation of feeling ; a glow of intense pleasurable activity of the mental faculties, through which, thoughts and language seem to flow as from an inexhaustible fountain, without obstruction, save from the difficulty of writing fast enough to keep the stream of inspiration within the channel of language. Although intensely conscious of her occupation, she is so absorbed in it as to be practically unconscious of what is transpiring around her. The writing continues at each sitting so long as the mental control is retained by the spirit-author, and is resumed whenever a premonition of his desire to communicate is received. Having enjoyed no other advantages of education than those afforded by a common school in the country twenty- five years ago, Miss Ramsdell has never been ambitious of literary distinction ; nor had the thought of authorship ever PREFACE. 5 crossed her mind. Finding herself thus unexpectedly se- lected for what she believes to be an important and benefi- cent work, she desires, in humility, to prove faithful to her spirit-guide ; and therefore publishes this work at his desire. Having verified many of the facts communicated to her by the spirit, and feeling positive of his identity through the evidence interiorly imparted to her, she proposes still further to co-operate with him in these efforts to enlighten the world upon the great subject of man's spiritual nature and relations. This work is one of a large and constantly-accumulating class of volumes purporting to be written or constructed in the spiritual world by authors who were once mortal inhab- itants of the earth. Their intrinsic character alone will be the test by which the critical mind wiD judge of the proba- ble truthfulness of these claims. It is not, however, at all incompatible with honesty and good faith on the part of the mediums, if the books thus written should not, in all cases, justify their claim of authorship. The psychological border-land between the spheres of spiritual and mundane existence has not been yet so thor- oughly explored as to enable any one in the body to dog- matize upon the conditions under which mortals and immor- tals may best meet and hold communion together. They who have passed from earth seem in our day and geDeration to be experimenting in this direction ; and the crude results of their experiments, in the various forms of manifestation now so common, are properly the subject of patient study by those to whom they are submitted. THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF THEODORE PARKER. In giving my spirit-life to the world, I have two points at issue. First I desire to show to the world my present existence, outside, untrammeled, and for ever from the flesh ; show my whereabouts, condition, and occupation in my pres- ent locality. Now, in order to do this, I must get entire possession of my medium, through which my light will shine to the world. I must have her confidence, will, sight, and hearing ; must let loose my cable, and draw her to the spirit-world ; I must give her a tangible insight to my present sphere of use. This book contains my experience from 1854 until 1869, a period of fifteen years. I have been casting about for some time for the conditions by which I could labor to advantage. I now hope to give a work to the public that will be instructive, and worthy of a wide circu- lation. The second point at issue is the development of the lady under my control, — a lady of great mediumistic worth, pos- sessing rare powers in the background, to be brought for- ward when the demand calls for them. Fraternally yours, Theodore Parker. [Given through the mediumship of Miss Sarah A. Eamsdell when in a semi-trance condition, 1869.] CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. — My Spirit Home 11 CHAPTER II. — The Duties of Spirit-life 14 CHAPTER III 17 CHAPTER IV 19 CHAPTER V . . 22 CHAPTER VI 24 CHAPTER VII 28 CHAPTER VIII 30 CHAPTER IX 32 CHAPTER X 37 CHAPTER XI 39 CHAPTER XII 41 CHAPTER XIII. 44 CHAPTER XIV 48 CHAPTER XV 49 CHAPTER XVI . . 51 CHAPTER XVII 53 CHAPTER XVIII 55 CHAPTER XIX 59 CHAPTER XX 60 CHAPTER XXI 61 10 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXII 63 CHAPTER XXIII 64 CHAPTER XXIV 66 CHAPTER XXV 67 CHAPTER XXVI .68 CHAPTER XXVII 70 CHAPTER XXVIII 71 CHAPTER XXIX 72 CHAPTER XXX 73 CHAPTER XXXI 74 CHAPTER XXXII 75 CHAPTER XXXIII . 76 CHAPTER XXXIV 77 CHAPTER XXXV. — An Appendix to the Foregoing Wokk . 78 CHAPTER XXXVI 79 CHAPTER XXXVII 80 CHAPTER XXXVin 81 CHAPTER XXXIX 82 CHAPTER XL 83 THE SPIEIT-LIFE OF THEODORE PARKER. CHAPTER I. MY SPIRIT-HOME. Home is a word we love to linger on ; it brings around our hearts a confiding trust and repose ; it is a word above all others most beautiful ; it touches the heart with new springs of action, lights up our saddest mo- ments, and flings its halo of peace around the troubled waters of life. The word " home " thrills our whole emotional nature ; it gushes through our hearts like the rich cadence of some woodland bird, pouring forth its joy in song. My spirit-home, — it spreads around me like an ocean in repose, bathes me with the effulgent rajs of a summer's noontide glory ; it fathoms my every wish and thought, finds me wherever in space the line of my research takes me ; it fills my whole being with delight, and wafts me on to higher realms of thought. My spir- it-home ! ever fling your wealth of beauty around me, ever take me to your heart's deepest treasures of wealth and knowledge to the soul, ever bear me on the wings of love to fathom the mysterious courts hung out in 11 12 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OP space, fling out thy starry petals of love to catch the wayfaring children of earth, and bring them to a haven of repose where earth's temptations can not affect the soul. Thy gleaming lights are spread around my feet, are hoisted high above my head, spread far and wide to catch the onward march of mind. My spirit-home ! thy deep-seated attributes of truth and love I would now speak. I would now hold my spirit-life out to the world, to be tested by the hand of science, and fath- omed by God's delving-rod of philosophical merit. I would have the truth of my individualization now and for evermore a settled fact on earth. For me to say here, to declare through my present medium, that I still possess the blessing of life, still possess every attribute of mind, still possess the key-note to endless progres- sion, is not enough for the world to-day. I must bring forth evidence sufficient to substantiate my claim, I must lay aside every barrier, and step back to the world — Theodore Parker. When I cast off my worn-out physical nature, I was under sunny skies, tended by earth's ministering angels of love and mercy. Every care that earth could give was freely bestowed; but the law of Nature required her own, and I was forced to give up my earthly tabernacle, forced to enter on a new mission. I did not do that willingly, I felt I was being defrauded ; felt that the earth from which I was being removed was full of mysteries that I had hoped to fathom. I felt, that, deep w 7 ithin her receptacles, were truths for me to reach. I did not suppose, from the knowledge I then possessed, that the power would still be left me. I supposed that my labors would tend to the future ; that earth would hold nothing in common for me ; THEODORE PARKER. 13 that we were wide apart ; that her storehouse of treas- ures would be closed against me ; that far away in space I should find my work. I felt confident there was no power to chain my mind ; but I desired a longer earth- experience ; desired a wider cope with theology ; de- sired to bring Nature to combat, and show wherein the- ology had been weaving a web to get tangled in. I had been reared, or rather I had reared, a free platform whereon I could stand, and wait for truths to come to the rescue. I knew that error w r ould surely be washed, and I desired a life of materiality to help do the work. I now thank my God that the wish was denied me, for, in being removed from earth, I was brought nearer to her. I find myself holding more knowledge of God's laws than earth could have given me in the space of time ; I find myself invested with a power to unlock the scientific world, which years of research on earth would have only partially developed. I am brought nearer to earth by my desire to fathom all the mysteries of cause and effect, to uproot every hidden principle in her king- dom, to bring Nature to the platform for a thorough in- vestigation into all her subtle chambers wherein God has placed «, key to unlock the passages that lead from " nature up to nature's God." My soul drinks in the beauties of earth with new delight, takes up her pages of worth, and reads God's messages of love spread broadcast and free. O thou God in nature ! to thee we look for truths to lead us up to thy throne eternal ; to thee we look for a basis-ground to rear our tabernacle of trust and repose ; to thee my soul goes back with its divine afflatus of strength to leave no corner unsearched, no background in thy broad arena unculled. I must 14 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF have thy treasured wealth, O eartli ! to lead me up the steps of scientific exploration, — a field wherein all could gather strength and courage for the battle of life. CHAPTER II. THE PUTIES OF SPIEIT-LIFE. In the foregoing chapter, I alluded to my present ability to visit earth, or, rather, to the fact that earth holds me still by the power of social attraction and available truths, that I must have in order to culminate a pur- pose which God has in store for me. My duty lies in my ability, in my power to see and realize what is re- quired of me. God gave me a mind of research, and also gave me the power back of mind, the impetus of will, to aid me in pulling down theories, and establishing facts. Where God has given much, much is required. My innate power of comprehension throws much re- sponsibility around my soul. I am laboring to establish a free platform, whereon every person can stand and drink from the perennial spring of knowledge, unbiased or untrammeled by creeds. My duties lead in that direction. The sophistry of covering up truths and promulgating error is time-worn and unprofitable ; the hungry mind is becoming fastidious. The sugar-coating of egotism and self-delusion does not disguise the bitter pill of partial destruction. The mind is no longer will- ing to be fed from that source of enjoyment. There THEODORE PARKER. 15 is a disposition to break in on a new field, where sympa- thetic emotion can be felt, and the brain not paralyzed for want of the proper digestive nutriment. I may be fool- hardy to advance my system at the present time ; but " nothing venture, nothing have " is a true saying, and one I ever held to. My duty as a free-thinking, indi- vidualized character, surmounts every obstacle of policy, or any undue solicitude of public favor. Justice re- quires of me a full and descriptive detail of my present power to serve God and mammon ; or, in other words, to serve the kingdom of heaven by direct taxation on earth. I propose to divide my spirit-life into two cantos. The first shall embrace a portion of time while I was in the body, a wanderer on earth, with a spirit embodiment distinct in space. The second canto will take in my spiritual state, independent of my earth-form. A few years previous to my leaving earth (as the saying goes), I took up a new phase of life. I determined to live the religion I taught ; determined to embrace the Christ-principle in all the deeds done in the body ; de- termined to foster no ill-will to any one, to bind on my armor of trust and confidence in my own integrity of purpose to reach the standard to which I aimed. My spiritual existence was just as much a fact to me then as now. I knew the interior being was the true man ; I knew, as soon as dissolution of the body took place, I was winged for flight; I knew that the outstretch of worlds were within the pale of my research ; that eter- nity awaited me with its varied experiences that I must pass through ; and I determined to make my life one of duty, and reap my pleasures from that channel. Life always wore its serious face for me. I never could trifle 16 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF with time : it always seemed precious in my sight. Earth held charms for me I can never forget ; and, while I sought in the flesh to advance every Christian principle that came within my scope of experience, I also sought a life to correspond with my teachings. Up to 1854, my biographers would state my harassed con- dition of mind, and my unwavering determination to push my theory through every obstacle that impeded light to my famished soul. Creeds dropped away from me very easily, because they were not consistent with God's plan of salvation, which was to draw all nations unto himself in the fullness of his own time. I could not believe in a partial God that was so far removed from justice and right that I was never crucified in that direction. God ever rose above any impulse or change in my estimate of his characteristics. He was the im- perishable seed, rooted firm and deep in every thing bearing life. The Bible version of God wraps him in mystery. Now, if I am to have a Saviour outside of any power of my own, I desire a full and complete knowledge of that Saviour. Nothing short will satisfy me, because I am so constituted, so organized, that mys- teries contain no charm for me ; and never can I wor- ship a being clothed with attributes that do not reach my soul. Up to the period last stated, the world looked on me as an interloper ; considered me averse to the Christian religion, because I could not subscribe to creeds; called me fanatic, a chosen one to mete out destruction to a people who received religion second- handed from God, and done up more to suit emergen- cies than as an appeal to reason, or as a guide to our wandering footsteps. Thus, while the outside world THEODORE PARKER. 17 condemned me, I sought my convictions of right from nature, and my own innate purity of purpose. The year 1854 found ine a settled pastor over a peo- ple living within the confines of Boston. I was chosen there to give light to a few that needed rest from the- ologv. Their souls were famishing for the bread of life outside of the written testimony. Allegory was losing its power to succor the mind. Those few souls that needed me found me willing and ready to advance my theory of Unitarian salvation. I made my platform as broad as possible, and still it could not reach my wants. My hearers must have realized the dissatisfaction bear- ing down on me. I wanted to fly away from even that small restraint of creed. I wanted a worship that could take every soul to the altar of truth where no binding cord could lay its unction of claim. CHAPTER III. The parish over which I presided could not accept my theory only half-way. The bare outlines held them while I was drinking from the fountain inexhaustible, and trying to purify the outward channels that moved society. My life found its pleasures in the sure knowl- edge I W as gaining of the true religion. My labors were not thankless as far as the outward manifestations were displayed. I had many warm and genial friends, who took my counsel and advice as something needed about their souls. They, no doubt, thought me wild 18 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF and radical after my outreach after principles that to them seemed unnecessary to carry on a work of Chris- tian duty ; but the impetus that led me ever hore the stamp of success. I do not know why it is ; hut my mind wanders out on the chain of endless progression. I feel that there is truth somewhere for every noble impulse of my mind to grasp. I feel like taking earth on my journey of research, and making her castles of error disburse their flimsy stock of truth. I know my journey leads up many a steep and rugged path ; but my soul puts on its armor of defiance, and I walk gladly on. We too often let our souls lag for want of a purpose to claim our attention, and start us forward to find our end of God's progressive law. I never look back on my earth-experience but to find fault with my gleanings. Her pastures green should have fed me with more mo- tive power for action. I was too inefficient in my own strength. My energies should have been nursed by the thunderbolt of Puritanic discord ; I never should have slumbered over a gulf of uncertainty ; I should have sought my shadowed future for seeds of truth to have planted by the wayside, and made green every field of labor wherein rested a doubt of ultimate suc- cess. But my friends in Boston and vicinity must drink from the fountain of perpetual youth, made clear and plain by the ovations of hope, presented by the lao-o-ing; energies of Theodore Parker. I shall culmi- nate a purpose in your midst, that, fifteen years ago, seemed likely to terminate in defeat. I shall hoist my flag of truce, and come over to the enemy's quarters with a diligence-express bearing the seeds of promise that must root and grow in your midst. THEODORE PARKER. 19 CHAPTER IV. It may be well to state my determination to push my theory in and about every triumphant seat of error in the land. I shall adopt the ways and means that I can best command. I shall send forth my speakers whenever I can harness them with my individuality, whenever I can control the synopsis of their fete with- out injury to any part of their being. This is a work that few in spirit-life undertake, because it is fraught with such uncertain results. There is no power to hold me back from duty. I must use my lever of strength to suit the demand of the times. I must lay my unction of hope on the altar of well doing, and abide by the re- sults of my labors. I must grasp every tree that bears a branch of use to help carry on my work of destruc- tion, to help lay aside the fettered yoke of ignorance and superstition. I would that my friends on the earth- plane could realize how much of my energetic hope is vested in their welfare, how much my spirit clings around the vesper-chimes of bygone days, how much I feel for the welfare of the world that gave me birth, how I cling to those old associations that bridge up the past with the present and future, how I long to break the spell, and let the captive world free to drink from the fountain that never runs dry ! I must await the prestige of time, that ever deals gently and truly with the purposes of eternity. It may be remembered by my biographers, that, late in the fall of 1850, I was at- tacked with hemorrhage of the lungs ; that it was con- 20 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF sidered advisable for me to flee to some warmer clime ; that the terror of earth was bearing down on me with sure success. I witnessed the innovations of the de- stroyer with feelings that bordered on madness. I saw my sustaining props leaving me one by one, saw my in- efficiency to keep my body before the public, saw the sure destruction of my earthly tabernacle ; and I wa- vered in my idea of a just God. I started on my tour of investigation for ways and means to patch up the outward man, while the inner citadel of strength could pull away the obsolete theories that were traveling through the world without purpose or aim. I visited Santa Cruz, and found in her utmost limits of sunshine and shadow no spiral wreath of hope for me. The mys- tic touches of a funeral-pyre looked me in the face. I tried to think myself submissive ; tried, to see my way clear through the drifting events that were crowding around me ; tried to think my duty lay in submission : but the calmness that was presented to the world was all on the fading surface. When I saw my physical power departing from me without regard to any skill of man, I formed a resolution to break away from the bonds of the Church. I thought, on entering on my untried mission, that I would have no binding cord but the one of friendship left on earth and in my heart. I had grown away from every restraint of church creed ; I had no friendship for the tie ; it hung around me like an error that my judgment disapproved of; it had its mountain-weight of infidelity to truth. I could not see my way clear while I had that attachment of inefficient aid; it bound me outwardly with its influence, while my mind was walking bold and upright away from the THEODORE PARKER. 21 restraint. Let me here state, as an axiom of truth, that no individualized mind capable of ferreting out the ways and means to the true salvation should allow the stain of creed to mar the surface of the free torch presented to the world. I do not say there should be no syste- matic course in conducting Christianity on earth ; but I do say, let there be a broad basis of freedom underlying every institution that gathers the seeds of the Christian religion into its fold of worship. I do say, let Christ triumph, let his spirit enter every church-door with every individual entrance, and creed would soon drop from our midst, and we would find our way securely, supported by the props of love and duty to each other. The Christian religion was entered upon in the days when mind was in its infancy of attainment and research, when barbaric ignorance was creeping away from Christ's fold of love and mercy. The Christian religion has worked its way, step by step, into the soul-element of humanity ; has dug its way through every stage of development of mind and matter to the present time in the world's history ; and each offshoot from the old Mecca of intolerant despotism has taken a broader plat- form of liberal thought, and every outreach of princi- ple has gathered more love into its stringent receptacles. The world has carried on her work with even-handed justice and mercy ; no serious outgushes of fanatic dis- cord have disturbed the social elements of her quiet ways. 22 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF CHAPTER V. The law of affinity has worked through every gene- ration ; the mind has affinitized with the element of success through every stage of harmonial design. The law of affinity has never been brought to bear on the conflicting elements that fashion the creed-bound world ; all harmonious feeling has been disregarded ; the mind has been coerced by dogmatic fancies ; literal destruc- tion, partial destruction, and God's sustaining grace, held forth for all to taste that willed, on the condition of church-security from the temptations of Satan, who was laboring to establish an institution that would run parallel with God's seat of glory. I often thought, while traveling my round of earthly duties, that the true and honest piety of heart was found in the by-ways of poverty. I have seen many a true soul struggling away from the Tempter, — struggling to maintain the outward respectability to harmonize with the interior integrity of purpose ; and I say, " Of such is the king- dom of heaven." Such have wrought out their seat of honor by the self-sacrificing spirit of Christ ; such are ready to enter on the holy mission of soul-redemption from the bondage of sin ; and such are ready to lend a sustaining hand of help to those of weaker spiritual pur- poses in life. God's sustaining arm of progressive law hoists a flag of success for every individual. The mean- dering finger of Time works us through the earth-expe- rience with vigilant dexterity, that notes every bar let down that lends a chance of egress to the enemy of THEODORE PARKER. 23 success. The List few years of my earth-experience are fraught with sadness. My soul starts back on its retrograde movement to patch up the deformities that stand out apparent and bold, unprotected by earth's sophistries ; that cover up rather than eradicate the er- rors born in her vineyard. My ministerial career in Boston binds me to that locality with unerring precision of movement. I started to do a work there that the hand of Time cat short. My friends tried their utmost skill of purse, advice, counsel, and every free gift of heart-and-mind dictation to keep me with them in form while I promulgated the seeds their hungry souls thirsted for. Their realms of thought were expanding under the homoeopathic doses of liberal food distilled from nature and from humanity at large. They were not contented to sit under their own vine and fig-tree as long as it sprouted errors that reason held unprofitable. I well remember hearing Rufus Choate expound the science of religion. He was an able exponent in finan- cial and political matters ; but Theology stood her ground with him. His basis of salvation was the atoning blood of Christ; but methinks, when Rufus Choate found him- self winged for his spiritual platform, that the wide dif- fusion of Christ's blood never entered into his compact of salvation. The reason of my introducing Rufus Choate here at this time and in this place is to ex- pound a little on the ideas he put forth in the article above mentioned. The great orator, gifted as few are with eloquence that burned into the soul, left his lever of strength unsheathed and folded away. Rufus Choate, in spirit-realms, is searching deep and wide for the im- perishable grains that lie will drop on earth in due time. 24 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF The wily chief that darkens the doorway of faitli must soon loose his dexterous skill : he has too long held the reins in governmental power, wherein the inner life of man is concerned. The science of religion, to the mind of Rufus Choate, appeared in tracing the bare outlines of man's historic career set forth in Holy Writ. Had he taken as deep a research in theology as he did in law, he would have culled his science from a broader field. Now, the science laid down in ancient history, and promulgated as the basis-ground for truth J has no more to do with the true religion — the religion of Christ's deeds of love — than it has in carrying us the overland route to California or Kamtschatka Isle, or any other remote region. It would seem more like a bar put up to impede our progress in the right channel. That book of saving grace is filled with scattered relics of pagan industry, compiled without regard to system, forethought, or knowledge ; and still it answers for a basis-ground of hope for the salvation of the whole hu- man family, or the basis-ground of destruction for as many as do not subscribe to creeds. CHAPTER VI. Since I have been an inhabitant of the spirit-world, I have sought no discussive ground in a w T ay that peo- ple fully understood my powei* and ability to deal with the errors of theology to an extent that earth never gave me. Now I propose to build up a fortress of THEODORE PARKER. 25 strength, and pick my way through every department of theology. I propose to keep reason uppermost in the chase after truth. I propose to discuss the science of religion in a way, that every shade of basis- ground will disappear from ancient history, and take lodgement in the under-current of Christ's teachings. When Herodotus pushed his vigilant war through the Egyptian temples of hideous errors, he was only laying waste the bulwarks that sustained the festering rubbish of knight-errantry and the kingly power of ignorant assumption. Herodotus, in bringing the Egyptians to acknowledge his power, opened an avenue for the light of Christianity. Lycurgus was another heathen ex- plorer, that delved deep in fanaticism, picked his way through the cruelties of an Egyptian court, and came forth purified as a brand from the burning. Every age has had its monument of strength in the heart and purity of purpose in some individual, who puts up the bar of progress at every stage of advancement the world takes on. The old heathen philosophers swept their boards clear of any stucco or varnish of liberal sentiment. They believed in the holy wrath of God's imperishable wisdom, manifested in his instru- ments of humanity. Heathen philosophers were averse to any code of liberal teachings. Their intolerance and ignorant superstition barred up all avenues from the light of Christian duty manifested toward each other. Their fire-gods and corrupt fetich of barbaric splendor, served their coarse and uncultured minds. They sup- posed, in serving graven images likened to the God- head, — whose superhuman skill at concealment they could not fathom, — they were building a power on 2G THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF earth that God would recognize with great pleasure. Barbarity, in any form, has no part in the Christian religion. It had its birth-hour when mind was steeped in the gross material of earth ; when the soul was thought to take form in some planet, and the ruling spirit that assumed the greatest range of cruelty and power was expected to come forth from the second birth a representation of the higher constellations ; and thus you see the basis-ground for salvation to the hea-» then world was distinctive merit in cruelty. The starry pillar of truth was too far in the advance for their mud- dled vision to control. Lycurgus made way for the reign of Csesar, the world-renowned conqueror, with the stamp of humanity underlying all his victories. The life of Csesar is an illustrated boon of strength to the world ; his fortitude, perseverance, and courage to maintain the supremacy of power, and foster in its midst the spirit of Christ. That increeping spirit of the loving Jesus has gathered new sprigs of worth to gladden the heart of every advance stage in knowledge. That is the basis- ground that has reared success, and the basis-ground that will maintain success throughout all time and eter- nity. Let me here enlarge upon that principle in hu- manity, because that is what will constitute our heaven, whether on the earth-plane, or when earth shall have yielded up the true man to the infinite seat of progress. What is there in the whole life of Jesus but love, mani- fested through every channel wherein he had a purpose to aid humanity ? He never stopped for motives. The fervid outgushes of love ever impelled his movements ; his words of chastisement were ever given with a basis of love to further their import. Both Jew and Gentile THEODORE PARKER. 27 were served alike from his storehouse of love. He spread his table alike for all that came within his knowledge of research. It was no flimsy coating to disguise a bitter pill, but a free gift from a heajt overflowing with kind- ness. His self-abnegating spirit made success over temptation an easy matter. The power of the destroy- ing ansrel had no charms for him. He was incased in the armor of holy purposes. He meant his life should be an example to the world in which he lived. He in- herited his meek and loving spirit from his mother Mary, and his intrepid daring from his father Joseph. His power to perform miracles was his mediumistic worth. Spirits ever found him accessible. He was so imbued with the attributes of the higher life, that his guardian spirits impressed his whole being with his holy mission to humanity. He lived in the two worlds. Death had no victory over him. The higher life was his home, and death the doorway through which he must pass. That knowledge, taken to the heart and soul as Jesus took it in, would bless humanity with di- vine purposes to each other. We are not so unlike Jesus as we suppose. We have the crustations of self- ishness to contend with which Jesus did not possess ; and we have the illiberal sentiments of ghastly theology that dares to pick places in the vast storehouse of eter- nity, where some must wrestle with destruction, and cry out for the God of Israel to have compassion on their souls, with no answering response from a God who immolates his Son on the shrine of affection for hu- manity. Jesus had no such theology to contend with. His disciples and followers were ignorant of creeds. If Jesus was the true Messiah, they- were all willing to ac- 28 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF cept him ; were willing to give up their burnt-offerings and sacrificial altars, and accept Christ as their light. All they asked was assurance of his genuineness to serve them. They had no boitled-up portions of excellence that clamored for upper seats in God's kingdom, with egotistical assurance of superior merit. Those olden times had the merit of simplicity of heart. What they lacked in culture and refinement they showed forth in courage and zeal to maintain some fortress of strength for future use. CHAPTER VII. In the crucifixion of Christ, there is a great deal of allegorical matter, — a great deal of the spurious mixed witli the true. His advent into life was no miraculous interposition of Providence ; it was merely the process of natural law, through which he became manifest to the world : and his exit from earth followed on his failing to meet the demand of the ignorant classes that he had to deal with. His ascension was no physical flight, but a soul-redemption from sin, but portrayed in the figurative language of flesh and blood. It does seem as though the nineteenth century should be above the supposition of crude materiality entering the precincts of heaven. There is no law to sustain matter above the confines of earth. Christ died, was buried ; and his redeemed spirit went on its mission to fathom the world that was already familiar to him by his pure and unassuming earth-life. Christ's element of success was recognized more after THEODORE PARKER. 29 liis departure from earth. That spirit of meek forbear- ance troubled the hearts of his disciples : they began to realize his worth, and miss the charm of his presence; and would, no doubt, have recalled him, could such have been. But the death of Christ at that time was auspi- cious for the world's improvement : his hol} r spirit sur- mounts every difficulty that bars the road to progress. Christ is the illuminated page that will ever be read to advantage. The history of Christ is the history of a redeemed spirit on earth, — the history of all pure and holy purposes embodied in earth-form. As an example of purity, power, and self-abnegation, Christ has never been excelled; and, though ages may roll along the track of time, there may not be another such combina- tion of holy assurance given to humanity. There is a spell around his name that will ever lend its influence around society. Let Christ be man or angel, it matters not : he has been the sustaining strength in every reform since Calvary reared her ebon cross to stain the charac- ter of her written testimony. The Jewish nation la- bored to establish a broader basis of salvation for the human family. Christ seemed inefficient to them as a Saviour and Redeemer : they sought an embodiment of external power. They could not appreciate the indwell- ing Spirit of saving grace : the external world was all they could fathom to secure support to their upward career of worldly achievements. Power to them was distinctive glory in heaven ; and, as Christ assumed no wordly distinction or honors, they thought him an inter- loper, not capable of serving them : therefore they sought and obtained his overthrow. And, to this day, the Jewish nation remains unreconciled to any plan of sal- 30 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF vation : they are wanderers on the face of the earth, seeking the divine afflatus still, but with something of the old stoicism, that power rules in the kingdom of heaven. The Jews have fought dry their well-springs of success ; their shattered glory is the Rubicon of error over which they have passed. The Jews are merging toward extinction ; their holocaust of strength is nearly expended ; there is no harmonious element to keep peace in their souls ; the dewdrops of the harmonial law has never entered their inner lives. The Jewish nation will one day become but a ripple on the great ocean of time, and eternity will have caught the waif- lings to the utter disregard of human will or power. Eternity lays its fangs of strength on all of earth's pos- sessions, from the tiniest flower to the wide range of upheaved mountain skill. All Nature has its part in the resurrection morn of ethereal grandeur and syste- matic beauty; all Nature drinks from the fountain of the unseen ; her spiral points pierce the elements of success to sustain her unwearied efforts at perfection. Nature goes on in successive routine : it fashions and builds for God's storehouse of eternity. CHAPTER VIII. The widest range of thought is sure to Quench its thirst at every passing stream ; gathering new forces and beauty for its detail of encounters from one stage of life to another. Man little realizes on earth the power given THEODORE PARKER. 31 the mind for expansion : it doubles its growth at every sweep in the great ocean of eternity. Were I to say here the mind of man possesses the innate seeds, or, in other words, the culminating particles, to rear a world, I should no doubt be deemed insane; but, nevertheless, the hand of science will yet demonstrate the fact to the world. I ask, what has reared the world to-day from chaotic sameness to its present point of interest and beauty, but the mind of man ? But some will say, man has only brought out and fashioned what was in the beginning. Allowing that to be so, allowing the world to be a crucible where man is experiment- ing, does it not show conclusively that mind will never stop picking in matter until her every recepta- cle that contains a seed to sprout and grow is laid open for investigation ? And who shall say mind can not create when it understands the process of creation ? There is no cheat in God's law of development : it is systematic process from beginning to end. There are no lost keys to any drawer of the material universe, and each mind can and will unlock its own particular drawer. It is not always easy or best to unlock the future before time, or promulgate undue circumstances ; but I must throw out this fact here, that time will clothe with truth, that, in less than a century of time, the mind of man will cope with the external forces to create a world. It is no more than mind in eternity, or mind disembodied from matter, is capable of doing at the present time. My life-history will reveal facts instead of fables. It will be no revelation clothed in mystery for mind to wander around, and become fogged in its attempts to extricate a few grains of truth that reason 32 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF will find, however deep the rubbish. At the present day, spirit-communion is no concealed fact. It is an ushering-in of the New Jerusalem ; the time earnestly looked for in every generation ; the clad tidings of great joy come to bless the world in its spring-time of social and moral elevation. It sprouted in the midst of refine- ment and wealth; and it will accumulate strength to maintain its support, until every locality in the universe of matter is sprinkled with its divine afflatus of truth and love. CHAPTER IX. The more I attempt to harness on my earth-life, the more barrenness I discover in fields that should- have grown ripe to my advantage ; and, but for that old theological atmosphere of oppression, I would be wan- dering; in fields where now I onlv catch the shadowed light. I will refer to my spiritual growth from 1854 to 1859, shadowed as it was by the conflicting elements of time. 1854 found me verging toward a social re- form ; or, in other words, seeking to instill the need of rendering the social element into the folds of the Christian Church. It was like -a galvanic battery to the lunatics in an insane asylum. It touched every fiber of the world's holy horror of mixing up any thing with religion but burnt-offerings in the shape of special prayer-meetings, special days of worship, and special demagogues or prelates to keep sacred their fold of contracted sentiment and pent-up selfishness. Those THEODORE PARKER. 33 days to me were fraught with bitterness of spirit. I could not brook the many insults offered me, without sinking some of the wormwood and gall into my own secret caverns of thought. I well remember the anathe- mas raised against me ; well remember the sounding clarion of public animosity and hatred that warbled forth its discordant notes throughout my field of action. I could not labor to advantage in the frozen atmosphere of undulating sentiment. It paralyzed the life-blood of hope, and chilled the impetuosity of my movements toward sustaining my platform of truth toward hu- manity. Were I to step back, clothed with the habili- ments of earth, or to step back to that point in my life where I wrestled with uncertainty in regard to the soul's ultimate success over time and eternity, I could meet the exigencies of doubt from ten thousand worlds, and find myself buoyant in maintaining the platform I started on in 1854. The past can never be bridged over nor walled up : it will ever remain a thread in the great web of life, a reference-mark, keeping our time and place in eternity. My past life is one of the dis- tinctive elements that holds me to the present and future. You can no more get away from the past than you can from the future : they are the two diverging lines in life, — the one impelling us forward, the other holding our march by the law of recompense that never fails in its duty toward the children of earth. In start- ing on a tour of investigation, we should have our lamps trimmed and burning. We should delve as far into the future as we can with benefit to our reason ; and, in fact, we can not sink logic deeper than reason will hold true. Our reason is our safeguard, our monitor of 34 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF strength, our impelling force to action. Therefore, when we would have facts instead of fables, let rea- son hold the light to guide the way to knowledge. My early years of earth-experience were fool-hardy with expectations of a successful career through life. That was before I had weighed the public mind by any scales but hope. Youth is ever imaginative, ever building airy castles to crumble at the breath of public disfavor. My life was even-handed as far as I could make it by steady application to study, and a determination to overcome the prejudice and fanatic discord which came within the scope of my experience. My whole earth-career was simply a trial adventure, — a breaker put forth to battle with the storms and quicksands on the rolling sea of life. That I did not fill my measure to completeness in earth's diluted beverages of wisdom is now fully apparent to me ; and, if that sentence can have any weight to the gleaners in earth's vineyards, it will not have been uttered in vain. When people start out on a platform to evangelize society, they will ever find themselves rowing against the current ; will find life spicy and full of acrimony ; find themselves a disturbing element in the slough-pools of indolent ease, and war- ring with the spirit of rest to the world's discomfort, and to the world's dread of being found wanting in the essential elements to success. I do not regret my earth- experiences : they were all needed for my purposes of action ; all held out their hand of help to aid in the great battle of life. Through trials and tribulations, the soul radiates to glory, and also radiates to the true worth in humanity. I have friends in Boston and vicinity that I visit daily: the cord of love and friend- THEODORE PARKER. 85 ship lias never been severed ; its binding influence cheers my onward march. Boston is the acme of earth's soluble friendships: it reared my Christian growth, and supported my lagging energies when public disfavor trampled me with its heel of vengeance. There are many hearts in Boston that throw out their silver linings for me to catch the reflected purity of their souls. In wafting my thoughts backward, I seem to catch the welcome glance of friendship, and the prof- fered hand of love ; I 'seem to hear the whispered fare- well at my departure for the sunny isle that gave me rest from suffering beneath her cool and sunny skies. When I take up my backward track, there is ever an impetus to cheer the local habitations of earth's children with the effulgent rays of spirit-commnnion. I can not rest me quiet in my spirit-home. I must seek to dispel illusory customs of earth ; seek an entrance into the fields of theoloo;v, and brave ao;ain the contumacious doubting of the world. My seed-time and harvest is not completed on earth ; I have only set my stakes, and measured out my ground for the present, and am awaiting the weather-sweep of time to make favorable the conditions for sprouting the seeds which I shall promulgate on earth. When Herodotus warred in the Egyptian temples of feme, he spilled the Cartha- ginian blood of ancestral bigotry and fanaticism. He warred with precepts and principles ; he warred with the illiberal sentiments of ghastly theology ; he warred with the hideous daring of Grecian autocrats, who shuffled all responsibility into the church militant, which was the cesspool through which all found a passage leading to life eternal. Since Herodotus' 3G THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF reign, the camp-fires of a more liberal sentiment have lighted ii]) every period in the cycle of time. Hero- dotus was a Grecian king, a stipulator for the am- nesty of power through the channel of the operative law of social reformation. Every age has had its by- play to foster the element of progress ; every age has suited the action to the word of renovation ; every move has been forward march in the line of battalion array. The pickets on duty have warned us of every approach on the enemy's quarters. And those guards on duty clearly discover the lion at bay by the howling demand of the successful monster that ever tramples what it means to destroy. Let me again refer to the science of religion. Let me take up the life-history of religion, its time, place, and culture, its advent into the world, and its exit therefrom, without a thread left in the old loom of ancient mythology. Religion is based on God's law of harmony : its fundamental precepts are love, hope, and trust ; its organized institutions should be an even-handed justice spread broadcast throughout hu- manity, and a friendship made soluble by deeds done in times of need. Earth should hold no religion, only what comports with the highest attributes of man's instinctive nature. All other is froth on the surface of human wants ; all other is a needless expenditure of time and money, as far as fostering the true seeds of worship are concerned ; and all other is the harbin- ger of the coming wind, that will sweep the chaff from its seat of honor. The science of religion, is the master- key that will unlock the fountain that has too long been cjioked by the accumulated rubbish of all ages of time; THEODORE PARKER. 37 and the clear and purling stream of silvery love and friendship will flow from the old despotic fountain of selfish inhannony and strife. CHAPTER X. Religion is a- want to the human mind ; it is a neces- sity to the soul, a peace-offering from God to man ; it is a sentiment that needs the fostering hand of love to keep green. Religion sprang up in the dark ages, when the soul craved food to sustain its highest functions of being ; when no power but God's, speaking through the essential element of humanity, could stay around the benighted hearthstone of darkened mythology. God speaking in his thunderbolts of terror was losing its charm. There was a congenial softening of heart grow- ing out of the long-continued rasping and warfare : it flooded its own spirit, and gave birth to a new type of questionable religion, or questionable theology, because religion and theology are two distinctive elements in so- ciety, — the one harnesses up a team for show, the other picks its way on foot, if need be, but still intent on find- ing out the needs of humanity. Religion is an under- current that moves along with the tide of fashion ; and when fashion sickens, as is ofttimes the case, religion holds out her panacea of strength to grasp the sickened soul into her haven of rest. Religion is the fundamental earthquake that will upheave and demolish every type of spurious metal the world takes on as a harness of sal- 38 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF vation. The advent of the Christian religion, or what is termed the Christian era, is a marked period in the world's history : it fashioned its growth after the hidden teachings of Christ ; it has run parallel with ancient history since ancient history assumed the power to save mankind. Religion has a sway entirely its own ; it never builds from any particular style ; its principles of structure are firmly rooted, branching ever in the direc- tion of use ; taking up life as best it may, still intent in serving for the highest good, aiming always to supplant evil by sowing the good seed of loving-kind- ness that will root where illiberal dealings can find no en- trance. Religion strips herself clear of any outward show or manifestation of egotism ; she never takes more than her due of credit for favors bestowed ; she asks no high tariff of the world's applause ; she simply asks the priv- ilege of showing her skill at renovation, at tearing down pillars of show, and erecting structures of strength to meet the demand of human wants. Religion is a true financier, delving in the cesspools of political w T arfare, and toning up the moral functions of the parties in power. Religion is destined to sweep the board of pub- lic welfare of all the rubbish of false pretense and all false stars that shine to no purpose in life. Religious culture is the ebb and flow of the tidal waves of cur- rent events that fashion the world we live in ; religious culture would string our lives with pearls did we but let go of self long enough to grasp the true essence of her mission. She can not feed us with the true light of revelation until we open our hearts to receive the light from her many-hued tapers that are spread broadcast and free. There is no tax to be paid on our gleanings THEODORE PARKER. 39 in religious culture ; we can take all we can digest with- out fear of its hurting our digestive functions. It is a harmless remedy for all the ills of life ; it clears our pathway of all false rubbish, of all graven images, sprouted for no use to the soul's salvation, but a lumbering car filled with weapons of destruction to slay our peace and comfort. Religion grasps our true life ; it sprouts no other for us to cling to ; it radiates around no false pre- cepts or examples ; it tunes its harp for the great choir of humanity. Religion has set its seal of contempt on all false doctrines that soothe us to slumber over an abyss of doubt and uncertainty. No false coloring suits the majestic grandeur of her quiet ways ; she feels no impulse for a life of double dealing ; she sips the nectar of truth from God's vast arena of nature, and fills every heart that is open to receive the free and proffered gift. CHAPTER XI. Nothing can so suit the heart of humanity, nothing can so delve around all selfishness, nothing so pick its way to the spirit of unrest, as the true and shining light of religion. It garners its stores with always a door left open for the w 7 ayfarer who is being pelted by the storms of adversity. Christ was a religious man from intuition. His spirit sought the wants of human nature ; he affinitized with the highest element in hu- manity ; he ever sought the world's vortex of confiding trust, in the highest means to serve the greatest good. Christ left his spirit of religion to bless the world ; he 40 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF left his footprints of princely daring and virtues to guide the< stranded ones of earth to their haven of safety. There never has been a light, in the world that has shone so radiantly, lighting up all the by-ways, sending its halo of glory into all desolate places, and weaving its web of royal brightness to hang over the earth in her times of moral darkness. The religion of Christ was heart- felt, and realized as his sustaining strength when earth threw her mantle of trouble around him. Religion, in the abstract, signifies harmony of soul with the divinity of purpose ; but the world has mixed the true purpose of religion with the outward show of mock ceremony, until one-half of the minds on earth to-day never dip deeper than the customs of past generations for succor to maintain the soul. What but the light of revelation from God's storehouse of intuitive reasoning could grasp this unseen lever of strength, and apply it for the world's improvement ! God shines forth his luminations of truth in every corner of the world's use. The gradual unfoldment of divine purpose creates no jar in the infinitude of mind and matter. The even hand of a beneficent Creator smooths all the rugged places by some straying ray of truth let loose for the occasion. Di- vinity shapes our course most unflinchingly. It is no ner- vous hand that grasps the rudder of our destiny ; it is no tremulous wave on the great ocean of eternity that moves our course of action. We were not dropped here without a purpose to culminate, without the power given us to locate our destiny, without the pickax of accumulation left within our grasp. God's law of rec- ompense never cheats us a particle, never sifts an error in our path but what Reason could pick to pieces if she THEODORE PARKER. 41 willed to do so. But when we allow reason to lay dor- mant, and let out the job of thought to the highest bidder alter wordly renown, why call God a cheat, and say he has harnessed our team, but left us no driv- er, when it is plainly evident he intends us to be our own teamsters along the road of life ? And he has so fashioned our team, that it has the capacity for expansion or contraction ; the capacity for gaining strength by accumulation, or becoming weakened by disease. God ever stares us in the face with our mission ; ever puts up bars for us to climb over : and, if we fall in the attempt to master the difficulties in our pathway, the right hand of fellowship is extended from the spiritual platform to keep good our efforts at success. CHAPTER XII. The harmonial law is working in unison with the law of religious culture. There is sympathetic emotion be- tween the two elements of reform ; they are starting out on a tour of investigation, with the determination to assist each other in overcomino; the difficulties of priestly triumph. The harmonial law is destined to become the law of success. It has picked its way through numberless difficulties, and still steins the cur- rent of public disfavor. When the dynasties of Europe sought the overthrow of Charles the Second, it was in accordance with the primeval teachings of the ancestral line of successive generations, that no power but kingly 42 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF power, manifested in the gibbet, in racks of torture, and in the guillotine, or scaffold of impious sacrifice, should claim a seat at their national board of honor ; and hence the harmonious outreach of principle at that pe- riod was allowed no footing. But subsequent years have fostered the germ that sprouted when earth could not contain its growth. The Babylonish captivity was a more ancient onslaught on the principle of harmonial growth. The world was flooded to secure that harmony that after-years sought to overthrow. The Babylonish captivity served as food to maintain the fierce and cruel system through which the world was then passing ; and yet, in this nineteenth century of moral and intellectual growth, there is no work from the pen of any inspired writer, that can push its way up to the hearthstone of every nation as that time-worn book of fabled mythol- ogy and sanctified cruelty. The Bible, proclaimed as the word of God from every pulpit in the world, bear- ing the stamp of legalized Christianity, abounds in atrocities that this age can not enact, even in imagina- tion, without a shudder and a creeping-away of soul from the pictured scenes of ancient history, legalized to the world as God's token of mercy and love. I wonder at the fashion of keeping food that does not serve our purpose ; of passing round a dish that all partake of, but few like or relish : but I find, from my spiritual locality, that earth is creeping away from the trap set so many years ago, and sprung at every footfall of progress, until its springs are becoming old and rusty from decay. I hold no reverence for a system of laws that can not withstand the picking hand of Time, and remain firm in the united effort at success. I hold no reverence for THEODORE PARKER. 43 a theologian who climbs the hill of science, and sprouts no new themes for the distilling dews of admixture to lift from the rubbish of the past. I hold no truth sacred, or beyond cavil, that flinches at the hand of in- vestigation. The Old World garners her stores of wealth in accordance with her valuation of monopolized grandeur and kingly assumption. The Old World is beating her bars of iron will against any invasion of democratic power. The master-spirit of ancient chiv- alry finds no response from their fattened cloisters of papal glory. England masters every emotion of sym- pathetic daring brought to her knowledge ; she allows no straying sheep from her fold of domineering great- ness ; she folds her hands with the utmost complacency over her systems of oppression. The serfs that flood her streets are a libel on her escutcheon of power ; she has never entered into compact with the spirit of Christ ; the herald of mercy has never entered her door of oppression, that is closed to every call but the one of moneyed interest. When England drives a more liberal team in this great world of cause and effect, she will feel the ennobling influences that wrought out free- dom on the American continent. The world is filled with oppressive systems ; and the Anglo-Saxon blood is the master-key that binds the cord of stringent measures around society. The Anglo-Saxon fibers that consti- tute the underpinning of American society are sprouting their helmet of strength into every channel of arbitra- tion in this great world of commerce and strife. There is no reason why America should not pick her way into every department of human zeal and courage. America should foster no feeling of supremacy, but should set 44 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF to work with a movement of soul to galvanize the heathen world with the aroma of knowledge and free- dom. The advantage America claims over all other countries is due to her liberal platform of deal ; is ow- ing to her free passports of strength, that slumber a dead weight on all other nationalities in the world. While I maintained my earthly tabernacle, I fought every system of oppression, I warred with every mon- ster that reared a head above the confines of public good. I have never changed one iota in my sentiments with regard to the demon of oppression in any form. I still hold to a legalized surrender of every perch that collects the fauna of society, whether that perch be hid from public view, or flaunted forth in genteel society. CHAPTER XIII. When the great war proclaims the world's salvation from the law of ignorance, then will the evils that now surround mankind drop apart, and light will shine through the darkened temples of defamation. There is nothing that so hampers the mind as distrust. It is like a darkened veil thrown before our outward vision, im- peding our progress, and making us stumblers on the highway of life. It is a true saying, that " life is a thorny road to travel ; " and many a bramble and thorn will spring up in our path unless we cultivate the soil as w T e proceed on our journey. Life is one long illus- trated roadway ; and the illustrations are pictures in THEODORE PARKER. 45 allegory, descriptive of our inner struggles around temp- tations that beset our pathway. Earth is man's trial course of action. We may beat our prison-doors ever so much ; but, until the hand of Fate springs the lock, we are prisoners on the course of time ; anglers around the great bait of eternity, throwing our hook into ten thousand pools, to find it nibbled by some speculator on our field of action. There is nothing so worthy of in- vestigation as God's plan of salvation. It should claim the attention of every sane mind on earth ; it should be brought to the door of every child's understanding, there to await the light of reason to lay aside every barrier of restraint. The world has too long sought safety from destruction in her Hellenic authors of doubt- ful report. She should have a cataplasm or antidote of a soothing nature after this purging process of fire and brimstone that has lit the target hurled at so many gen- erations, and never swept the board of any of the evils it sought to destroy. I must say here and now that I pity any mind bound to any theology extant in the world, with no loophole of egress to confront the enemy of progress. The Sicilian captive, bound with the fet- tering chains of anarchy, was no more a captive than the stickler to one code of worship, one code of laws, and one code of morals, for this age of reasonable out- growth from dogmatic prejudice and assumption. What Hecletus saw on the Tower of Babel puzzled the Greek philosopher. He wondered at the idiosyncrasies of be- nighted Babylon ; he -wondered at the deformities of heathen barbarity. As system after system sweeps along the course of time, the liberal hand of justice points the way to the sunny side of life. Thermopylae 46 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF was destroyed to suit the exigencies of power. The Old World is filled with its sacrificial altars, its crisp and dry rubbish, that makes the Past seem like old age creeping along in its dotage to overtake the gay and happy child, who springs at the touch of the myriads of keys that unlock its bright and buoyant soul. The Past is the stagnant water in the great pool of life, and no drainage from the nineteenth century can bring so much as a silver ripple across its sullen face. Its shores will beat against the Future like a brand of despair hurled at the retreating enemy in advance. The mushroom type of society ignore present and future revelation ; they ac- cept the Bible as a moiety to sustain the even hand of Justice, that never flinches in doing an act of duty. Let our acquirements be what they will in the seeds of old theology, Justice never tampers with the affairs of men. She clothes herself with the habiliments of truth and equity, and warbles forth no strains of discord. Our pillar of strength is our fortitude to branch out in life, and hold on to the rein of just deal with our fellow- beings. I no longer marvel at inconsistencies in human nature. Every individual possesses the distinctive ele- ment to rear a platform of free purposes of action ; but there is always a hinge loose that makes the platform shaky, and beyond our control to manage to advantage. The next course pursued is, instead of seeking a remedy to remove the defect, we give up the ship entirely, and sink to the float-bridge, that is ever ready to catch the unstable and dilatory ones of earth. Human nature lays no plan of escape from the vestments of sin. Sin binds itself, with its armor of truth, to the purpose it serves. There is no sin but what has its concordant THEODORE PARKER, 47 element of defeat crowing beside the still waters of despair. The word " sin " implies the absence of good ; sin Anglicized implies inharmony in the constituents moving our course of life. Now, the absence of the element which we all condemn, and which we all im- bibe, would leave the world in a state of nude purpose. The element of conflict is as necessary as the element of peace. Both rest quiescent in their orbit of perpetual movement. The gyrating hand of Time can never pick the system of good and evil apart. They are twins in the field of cause and effect ; they are co-workers for the kingdom of heaven ; Siamese in nature and prin- ciple to maintain the binding cord of unity of purpose to serve mankind. Sin has no separate purpose from good. It bears its relative value in the current arti- cles before the world. Sin never yet mastered the emotion of good. Good is more tranquil in nature than the opposing element, leading us to suppose the ascen- dency has been gained over the more quiet movements of the soul. After Nature has had her fits of howling discord, the golden-crowned monarch lifts his head ex- ultingly, and proclaims the sure defeat over assumptive power. We, in our nature, partake of the great solar systems that encompass our being. The laws that gov- ern our natural orbit on earth run parallel with the laws that govern the universe of matter. Mind is the deific figure, the stamp-mark branded on our ultimate posses- sions over gross materiality. 48 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF CHAPTER XIV. The solar systems govern the harmonial law of our interior individualization. The solar key unlocks the prisoned earth, and lets her captives free. The solar nucleus springs our system of nerve-power, unhinges our slothful habits, and awakens us to the grandeur of activity. We are a part and parcel of the great ma- chinery of natural laws, acted upon by every thing in the kingdom of Nature ; acted upon by every ray of light from the great mining-house of God ; prone to do evil because it is a concomitant in Nature ; prone to do good because that balances the wheel of error. Has not every person having a foothold on earth had to acknowledge the ever recurring presence of the smitten angel, that passed from the house of God with visor drawn, and the brand of dishonor hurled at his retreat- ing figure ? The Devil, it would seem, has occupied every seat of honor ; he has had his reign supreme on earth, and broke bread with the angels in Heaven ; and, to this day he rules the affairs of men with systematic precision of movement, coupled with a determination to revenue the insult shown him at the gate of heaven. The Devil rules by force of circumstances*: he picks his way with perfect adaptation to the call received and the means to overcome to obey the call. The Devil seldom asks charity : that spirit of meekness does not suit his dignity of purpose. I ever found in my earth- experience that the temptations of Satan ever followed on our letting down the bars at our vineyard of strength, THEODORE PARKER. 49 and leaving no watch at the gap. The Devil is perfectly fool-hardy ; fear never enters the vocabulary of his speech ; he trails the flag of truce in the dust, and beats no retreat as long as the word " conquer" stares him in the distance : and another peculiarity his Majesty assumes is his deft and cunning ways, ofttimes leading us with his hand of skill, that assures us of perfect safety, when it is shaking with the palsied effort to maintain the dis- guise until we are anchored on the side of unsafe foot- ing. The Devil masters every emotion of guile, spread- ing his wings with perfect sangfroid; clasping you by the hand, and showing his face of honest integrity, but with a sly wink that bodes mischief in the future. And so on I might trace the subtle winding of King Evil to obtain a lasting footing with the children of earth : but as that is not my speciality in this present work, al- though, at some future time, I may show the monstrous bugbear, bearing the term Devil, to the world, holding a part in all materiality and in all spirituality, showing him to the world as a necessary evil, branded with con- tempt, but bearing the stamp of use. CHAPTER XV. There is one point to be gained over society before the harmonious element can sweep the world's board of error; and that one point is as defiant as the unsheathed weapon of a daring foe. This braggadocio of defen- sive skill is world-renowned for its activity in picking 4 50 THE SPIRIT-LIFE OF seeds of use from the dry and barren fields of theologic lore. There are, no doubt, morsels of worth interlaced in that mighty fabric composed to suit the emergencies of the heathen world. It never was designed or labeled food for all time : if such had been the case, why has the stamp of discontent found its way to the sideboard of every generation ? why have there been anglers after truth not found in sacred history ? why have our palates refused to discover the secret aroma that has its binding worth above any tinsel or glitter of false pres- entation ? The Bible is filled with its seeds of corrup- tion; its fields of bloody umpire, that the soul revolts and creeps away from. I ask of any mind to-day, lighted by the torch of reason, how the Bible version of the world's formation accords with their faculty of thought ? No sane mind at this age considers the miraculous con- ception of the world's birth, promulgated in history, as an appeal to their credit, unless the statement can be dressed in some figurative style to suit the demand of reason. Man's reason is his highest orbit of sense, his highest faculty of intuition, the lens through which he looks to detect the spurious from the true : reason is not soluble by any scales but the preponderating law of cause and effect. The world is fast losing its start- ing-point. It is no longer assumed by learned minds that it sprang from chaotic ruin, or that it took form in the space of one week, and rolled out into ethereality ready for the redeeming hand of man, not ,yet fash- ioned. I wonder at the inconsistency of thought. I won- der at the strange idiosyncrasies in human nature as applied to the religious element fostered in society. I wonder at man's faith to obtain succor from dry husks, THEODORE PARKER. 51 potted down, and seasoned with the bitter herb of mal- ice prepense. It is a sad thought that human nature possessed the attribute to derive pleasure, hope, or sym- pathetic emotion, from the presentation of mock heroism, and selfish anarchy, protruded at an age when Devils were manufactured in heaven. Why is it that peo- ple go back for messages from God ? Why not receive them daily, and bind them as a truth about their hearts ? Why pick in fields that have been culled so long, to the exclusion of receiving fruit ready to be dropped by the angelic band traveling for the world's restoration to happiness and content ? CHAPTER XVI. Man fashions his own life ; that is, he binds the nectar of peace about his heart-strings, or fills his field with patches of barren waste. Youth should be early taught the financiering of life ; should early take up the lesson of self-culture ; should early promise a gift to the soul, and scorn to break the promise. Earth is filled with starry- s;ems that the recording an