iiSiillaiidl z id Class _ii Book_ S 9 Copyright N°- COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. m0Mm W¥& rr^groW, ^ Border-land in Symbols By FRANK WAGNER, Vancouver, Wash, Printed by The Vancouver Columbian. Copyrighted by FRANK WAGNER 1913. ©CI.A332992 I CHAPTER I. A New Country. The thought of moving to a new country is present in the mind of most every person, Whole nations have in mind this thought. From childhood, some of the oppressed people in dif- ferent parts of the world, have this thought constantly in view. It is said the proper study of man is man. A more correct way to express it would be to say that the constant thought of man is to change location. One never tires in listening to a per- son who has traveled much over the world. Astrology and palmistry treats moving as a disease. They give the moon the blame for this ever restless desire of moving from place to place. If that he true, the moon has a strong grasp on the people of all nations. We find on the prairies conditions not at all like the con- ditions in mountainous places. On the prairie one can see for miles in every direction — see his neighbors at work in the fields, see the smoke curling from the chimney in the morning when the fire is lighted. One can know when anyone starts the morning meal by watching the smoke on the morning, gain a fair knowl- edge of the thrift of the people of the valley in that way. In the mountain regions the con- ditions are not similar to those in the valleys. 4 UORDKR-LAXD IX SYMBOLS People as a rule, frame a conception of a new place from what they know of the place of their abode with the exception, possibly that in the new place, the ideal place, all undesirable things are eliminated. I knew a farmer who moved from Ohio to Missouri and took with him his farm imple- ments. He had a great supply of plows, culti- vators, and other farm implements. They were worthless in the new location, as the soil where he moved to is of light loam and only plows made of cast-steel and hardened very hard, can be used. He had to throw away all his imple- ments and get new ones. At Chadron, Nebraska, I saw an immigrant unloading a car load of household goods, and among the goods were several pots of cactus. One of the boys in the family had placed all the pots of cactus to one side cut of danger. AYhen his mother came to assist in unloading the car, the son remarked to her : ' ' Mother, look across the prairie and see, as far as one can see, better specimens of cactus than you have brought from New York state.' ' There Was not a square rod in all that region that did not have as good, if not better, specimens of cactus than the ones the immigrant brought, A family moved from the middle west to the Pacific coast in the winter, without having first learned of the weather conditions there. "When they arrived, the rain was pouring in torrents and kept it up for a week without intermission. This was too much for the man. He at once A NEW COUNTRY 5 returned to his former home. The rain stopped the next day after he had started home. All the writing of friends as to the weather was time wasted lie had been there and saw for himself just what the climate was. A lady who lived near the state line between Virginia and West Virginia, who, by straight- ening the line, was brought into West Virginia, said she was delighted with the change as she always wanted to be in West Virginia. I pre- sume there was something in the climate Of West Virginia that appealed to her strongly. Suppose there should be an edict which would declare that after a certain fixed date we were all to be transported to a new country. What would be our minds concerning the mat- ter of going? The map of the world is changing. Nations are gaining territory; others losing all their territory. The map of the ancient countries reveal to use, that hearts have been bade to bleed over the loss of all they held dear in home, country, lands and customs. In the thirteenth chapter of Numbers, is an account of the search made in the land of Canaan. No one reading this account would take it as literal, as meaning only a political division of the country. There is a meaning in the cabalistic language signifying something more beautiful than the political division of Palestine. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: Send thou men, that thev may search the land 6 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS of Canaan, which I have given unto the chil- dren of Israel, of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, everyone a ruler among them. "And Moses by the commandment of the Lord, sent them from the wilderness of Paran — all these men were heads of the children of Israel. ' ' And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain. "And see the land, what it is and the people that dwell therein — whether they be strong or weak — few or many. "And what the land is where they dwell — whether it be good or bad, and wiiat cities they be that they dwell in — whether in tents or in strong-holds. "And what the land is — whether it be fat or lean; whether there be wood there, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land * * * . "And they returned after searching the land forty days. "And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the chil- dren of Israel, and shewed them the fruit of the land. "And they told him and said : We came un- to the land whether thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey. "Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in that place and the cities are walled, A NEW COUNTRY 7 and very great ; and moreover we saw the chil- dren of Anak there. "And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said : 'Let us go up and possess that land, for we are well able to overcome it. ' "But the men that went up with him said: ' AYe be not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than w r e. "And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the chil- dren of Israel, saying: 'The land through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof, and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. "And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which came of the giants — and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight/' Joshua and Caleb tell the people in the next chapter of Numbers, that it is not as bad as it is represented — that the danger is magnified, and that they need not fear the people who dwell there. "But all the congregation bade them stone them w r ith stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. * # _ * . "Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I swear to make you dwell therein — save Caleb the son of Jehunneh and Joshua, the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said would be a prey, them will T 8 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in the wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forxy years after the number of the days in which ye searched the land — even forty days, each day for a year, even forty years ; and ye shall know my breach of promise. " The Jewish people were forbidden to ha\e any images. They dare not worship any form or object created on the earth or in the heavens. To clothe their language in cabal- sitic words, they created the occult narrative as herein protrayed. The good people of the age referred to in this narrative and the people to- day believe with one accord that the occult land is peopled with giants. I do not mean that the giants are seen in the material sens--. They are seen, however, and appear as real as persons living — seen in the astral plane. In talking with people who dwell near the spirit- ual world, preachers of the orthodox churches, I find many have seen these giants, appearing a mile in height and universally in the same location. I have met men well advanced in the minis- try, preachers who would resent the imputa- tion that they might be spiritualist, and with these preachers I have freely conversed as to these giants. One good Baptist preacher — honest, earnest and true to the line of the Baptist doctrines — told me that lie was well acequainted with this A NEW COUNTRY 9 form of the giant in the heavens, and he thought it was a demon awaiting the coming of the disobedient children who had forsaken God's word and gone wrong. As to descrip- tion, I asked him how he found the giant com- pared with the account in Numbers. He said it tallied accurately, and the giant was seem- ingly a mile high; that the facial expression was not that of anger but to the contrary, quite pleasant in expression. There might be num- bered a thousand people whom you could ask of this giant and from each get the same de- tailed description. Can you turn aside all this array of evidence 1 There is not a rational being in the world who doubts the existence of the unseen — the occult world. And yet when it comes to de- fining what they really believe in detail, there is a wide difference in their beliefs. Specula- tion, deductions, fancies, theories are no better than the idle play of the fancy when it comes to a working basis in attaining this "Better Land." Solomon's Temple is as clearly described in the Bible as is the land of Canaan. Canaan flowed with milk and honey, so it was stated. When the children of Israel crossed the river Jordan, they did not find a great quantity of honey, and milk was as scarce as honey. There is a wild bee that makes a hole in the hill and deposits some little honey there or may find a place in the rocks where they make a home and deposit some honey. 10 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS On the Lewis river, in the State of Washing- ton, some bee hunters found one tree from which they took twenty-five gallons of the most perfect honey. There were many trees in the mountains that contained as much honey as did the one they cut. The valley of the Lewis river has never been reputed as being a land flowing with milk and honey. There is honey in the Lewis river valley; but one must hunt for it or they will not find it. Mark the bees with lint and follow them to their home, and the honey can be located easily. A rancher living in the mountains of the same valley and some distance from a wagon road, carried his cream to market by fastening two ten-gallon cans of cream to a pack saddle on a pony. One pony thus carrying cream, got away from his owner, ran down the mountain, and when the lid fell from the cans the cream was splashed high up on the trees and along the trail. The valley does not flow with milk, however, there is a plenty of milk and cream in the valley and I presume many times more milk than is, or ever was, in Palestine. With all the beauties of Solomon's Temple, there is no well posted Mason who believes that the Temple ever was anything more than a symbol referring to some spiritual truth. No one knows Avhere it stood; no archeologist can point to the location; not a fragment of the structure is known to exist — all its beauty is in its symbols. A NEW COUNTRY 11 Strange events occur as the world rolls on. For years the search for the "Better "World" was made by the churches. I believe any can- did mind will see today, that the churches have all settled down to the fact that the world of spiritual attainment, where there is a con- sciousness of the spirit is attained only after death. They will tell us that there are two bodies, one spiritual, the other material; that the spiritual is the real, the material the shadow. W 7 hen one asks for a more detailed account of the belief, they clear all by saying the spiritual consciousness is attained only af- ter death. Of the two hundred and fifty de- nominations of orthodox churches in America, there is not one that I know whose teachings are contrary to the above statement. Eminent physicians have discovered facts that lead them to believe that there are facul- ties in the mind which, when developed, reach into the unseen — the occult — and grasp the forces that are of those planes. Many of the most learned men are delving into the problems of life, and approach the border land, and while they are not all agreed on the methods to be used, they are bringing to light facts which prove beyond a doubt the reality of that which to material sight, unseen. They are arranging a working basis along lines spiritual, lines that must be followed in this new field of research, and that the proofs are such as to the data secured, it would stand in anv court in the land. One can demonstrate 12 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS the fact that the churches are fighting this movement with great efforts, and discourage their members from following the well known laws that bring about the consciousness of the occult faculties and knowledge of the phenom- ena of the occult. The universe supplies man with all the ma- terial from which to erect temples of Divinity. The arrangement of the Temple of Solomon, the symbolic ornaments which formed its chief decorations, the dress of the Priest, all had ref- erence to the order of the universe. The Tem- ple had reference to the sun, moon, the fixed planets, the seasons, the zodiac, elements and many details of the earth's hidden mysteries. Paul says: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth within you?' 7 J. Hamilton Dewey, a physician of New York, some years ago, published a work of great usefulness along the lines of occultism. In it he showed clearly that the cultivation of the hidden forces strengthened the mind, in- creased the faculties up to their best and en- abled the student to reach into the unseen world at pleasure, and take cognizance of the things at work there; interpret phenomena, and see in Nature much that was hidden from the material sight. (The publication is out of print.) The churches discourage, in every was pos- sible, the research into occult forces. They contend that the research along these lines is A NEW COUNTRY 13 dangerous, unbalances the mind and unfits one for the active duties of life. Take the published sermons by the best preachers, and you will find that they declare in positive terms that there is dual personality ; two distinct persons, one of which is spirit and one material. They declare that the spirit takes charge of the material, conducts the path of destiny, leads it along pleasant paths, and cares for, guards from danger the steps of the material form. That the spirit hovers near in sleep, and guards the material from danger. They tell us this in one breath, and in the next repudiate it all by declaring that no one knows anything of the spirit more than that revealed in the word of God. They hover near some musty volume, written by some one that knew less than they of the forces of the spirit. Preachers do preach on the unseen — the occult forces- — and when you listen to their reasoning, or rather want of reasoning, they return to what someone has said in the matter, not what they know positively in the matter — first hand. A great orator, a preacher of great fame, some years ago preached to an audience at the Ministerial Association in Portland, Ore. He said in the sermon, that angels hover near; spirits guard the bed; ministering forms guard every step of the individual, and the curtain of Heaven may be drawn aside and angels can be seen coming and going. The next Sunday he preached on another sermon. In it he said 14 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS there were some people so smart that they could converse with the spirits gone before, now in the Celestial spheres and call them down to earth. These people, he said, should be chained and placed for safe keeping behind strong bars. It is not safe, it is not wise nor expedient to make assertions that cannot be proven. I will ask you to go to any preacher, priest, or church lecturer and question them along these lines, and be convinced that what I have said is true. What interests us along the line of the occult is how to grasp the knowledge of the forces that lead to the strengthening of the faculties which interpret phenomena and enable one to interpret it correctly. When this is accom- plished the student is a long way on the road to success. The boy that said an education was not worth the effort to learn the alphabet, never became famous in letters. Language in the occult does not consist of words only. It includes all Nature in its lan- guage, symbols of Nature's creation, whereby lessons are taught for the use of man. The blind have a language mostly oral. They are learning a new language lately, through the kindness of teachers. The blind can now talk with the mutes by holding the hand of the mute and determining by the sign language what is said. The mutes are learning a new language by studying the lip movement in speaking, and in it they are becoming quite proficient. Years A NEW COUNTRY 15 ago this would have been regarded as impos- sible. I once saw a Crow Indian buying a bill of goods amounting to two hundred dollars or more. He could not speak a word of English. He had with him a Sioux Indian, and to him he gave signs. The Sioux Indian spoke in In- dian language to the interpreter and he to the owner of the store, and in that way the goods were purchased. The Crow Indian did not utter a word in all the transaction. Helen Keller was afflicted by sickness in childhood and a great part of the light and joy known to others was closed against her. She was deaf, blind and mute. By the as- sistance of teachers she learned to read Greek, Latin, German and French and mastered much of the sciences. For a long time after her teachers had traced on her hand the letter that stood for cat, dog, doll, and other simple words she did not comprehend their meaning. One day her teacher gave her a drink of water and traced on Helen's hand the word w-a-t-e-r. Then she understood what was wanted of her. Her soul bounded ahead. She wanted to know all about the big round world, wanted to know what held up the w r orld since it was so big and heavy. If Helen Keller was so intensely happy in her newly acquired language, by which she could learn so much of the world, how much more happy would a person be that learned the key to the oecult world and could see, while 16 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS in the physical form, the workings of the tCd- seen world? The world owes W. Hanna Thompson a debt of gratitude in bringing to light the process by which language is obtained in man. In April, 1861, an eminent French physician, named Paul Brocha read before the Paris Medi- cal Society a paper which treated on this mat- ter and won a world-wide fame. Thompson in "Brain and Personality/' said: "It is not easy at this time to appreciate what a perma- nent influence was exerted in the medical world by this school of Paris, whose lecture rooms were crowded by students from all coun- tries." "That there is a definite locality in the brain which is the sole seat of articulate speech, found in a limited area in the lower and pos- terior part of the convolution, called the third frontal and which is now known as 'Brochas Convolution.' This fact, of course, could only be demonstrated by injuries to that part of the human subject, and Brocha showed that in all such cases damage to that locality was demon- strable * * * . "Two conclusions inevitably follow upon these facts — first, that brain matter, as such, does not originate speech, for then both hemis- pheres would have their speech centers; and second, that either of the hemispheres is equally good for speech if something begins early enough in life to use it for that purpose. That something is the most used hand by the human A XEW COUNTRY 11 child, at the lime when it learns everything; for self education always begins in our race with the stretching forth of the hand, as anyone may note in the first action of the infant. The hand then, most used, determines which of the brain hemispheres should know speech and which hemispheres should remain silent or wordless, and therefore, thoughtless for life. "It was this discovery which put to rest for- ever the theories of phrenology, as a science/' Speaking further of this discovery, Thom- son says ; "In the visual area is a place which, if damaged, renders the person unable to recog- nize members of his own family, though he sees them : and hi the auditory area are places, one of which, if hurt causes the person to be no longer able to know his most familiar tunes when he hears them, while by injury in another place in the brain, he loses all power of distin- guishing sounds in general, in that he cannot tell the bark of a dog from the song of a bird, because they are all alike noises to him. And here again, these important brain areas in us, interpret what sight and sounds mean, and are found only in the left hemisphere of the right handed person and in the right hemisphere of a left-handed person: in other words in the hemisphere in which the seats of the faculty of speech are located." "With the great majority of people, the speech centers are located in the left hemis- phere of the brain. It is a part of the left su- perior temporal convolution which hears IS BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS words; it ig a part of the left angular gyrus which sees words; and it is the left Brocha's convolution which utters words. In all such persons the corresponding places in the right hemispheres are not speech areas at all. "Therefore, again, it is not brain structure, nor organization, nor locality, nor brain cells or fibres, nor any similar thing which is the first cause of word making. That first cause is something wholly different, namely, an agency, or agent, which visits these brain lo- calities, and finding them originally entirely unfamiliar with a single word of any kind, pro- ceeds by a long and incessant repetition process of teaching, to fashion those particles of gray matter to do what he proposes, here to receive words, therp to utter words. "Here we have come upon a most impressive fact, namely, that by constant repetition of a given stimulus, we can affect a permanent anatomical change in our brain stuff, which will add a specific and remarkable cerebral function to that place, which it never had be» fore, and which, therefore, it could not have had either originally or spantaneously. This material change must be there, though no mi* croscope will ever reveal it, or identify the Eng- lish reading from the French reading cells, in one who can read both languages, but yet there must be, or a blood clot or an umbrella tip, could not destroy it. "We must pause in our discussion, because we have come to a great principle which goes A NEW COUNTRY 19 to the foundation of every thing nervous — from the nervous system of a polypus to the brain of a philosopher. ''That principle is this: That a stimulus to nervous matter by calling forth a reaction in it. This change may be exceedingly slight after the first stimulus, but each repetition of the stim- ulus increases the change, until by constant re- petition a permanent alteration in the nervous matter stimulated occurs, which produces a fixed habit. In other words, the nervous mat- ter acquires a special way of working, that is of function, by habit. * * * It can be fashioned artificially, that is by education, so that it may acquire very many new functions or capacities which never came by birth nor by inheritance, but which can be stamped upon it as so many physical alternations in its propla- mic substance." In this splendid treatise of " brain and per- sonality' ' by Thomson, there is food for reflec- tion, and if what he declares is possible in the human brain in the way of new functions, the whole line of occult forces become tangible, and clear, all the phenomena is taken from the field of the " special providence" class and placed in the field of reason, of the possible working of the normal brain. To what degree the lower animals have a well defined language, is only a conjecture. In watching a flock of birds in a tree when some- thing approaches, which they are afraid of, a warning call is made and all the birds take to 20 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS the wing. When coming suddenly upon a mother quail with her little flock, the mother bird will give a warning cry when instantly every little quail will find a hiding place. When the danger is over she will call in another sound and her little ones will come to her. Hunters knowing this call, imitate it so perfectly that the young quail will come to them when the hunter can kill many at one shot. CHAPTER II. Good and Evil, "Thou shalt not kill,-" means one thing to one person and means nothing to another, un- der the same conditions. When two nations are doing their utmost to establish th-3 mastery, and the armies are en- trenching, shelling each other on every side, mowing soldiers down to death with the rapid fire guns, there is no disturbing influence at work in the breast of the soldiers thus engaged. As a disturbing element, do we care to think of the horrors of war? History proves nothing. On a "five-foot ref- erence shelf" not over six inches should be giv- en to history. We want to know who wrote the history before we even will condescend to look into the book. It is said that Charles Kingsley, having been appointed lecturer on history in the University of Oxford, resigned the position and the honors on the grounds of incompetency to fill the position, with the ap- proval of h.s conscience. Afterward, when meeting Froude, they compared notes, and they agreed that "We can never know whether Mary, Queen of Scots, was virtuous or vicious." When one takes the risk of turning traitor to his mother country, scatters discontent, is treasonable • aids and abets the enemies of his 22 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS country, that person brings down upon himself the anger of the nation. Of all the enemies of the nation, such a one is regarded as the worst. If all the medical fraternity now declare as to crime being an abnormal condition of the mind that can easily be corrected, what of the Guillotine, the scaffold, the dungeon, the straight-jackets that are used to punish wrong doers? If, even a part of this new declaration be true, what of the churches that sanction punishment of murder by death ? If my brother commits a wrong that the statute declared is punishable with death, and I deny him the benefit of the medical remedies, the operation by the surgeon that would correct the wrong; have I done the right thing by my brother? "Am I my brother's keeper?" If his brain needs attention and I send him to the scaffold instead, have I done my full duty? Professor Elmer Gates, a man of great re- search in medical lines made the discovery that in the criminals there is a precipitation of dif- ferent colored substances, found in the saliva of the party commiting the crime. Some years ago he conducted some experiments with parties who had committed different crimes, and was able to demonstrate to a certainty that the rule was perfectly established in this theory. He collected the saliva from noled criminals and universally the parties who had committed the same crimes ; each were pos- sessed with a precipitate that settled to the GOOD AND EVIL 23 bottom of the saliva collected. That some crimes produced a dark brown colored sub- stance, some of a lighter shade, owing to the magnitude of the crime committed. In people of jovial disposition, he collected saliva, and in these universally the precipitate was a white substance. That when this substance collected of the jovial, happy people, was placed on the tongue of others, that it created a like jovial disposition in them. In the New York Herald, of some years ago, Doctor Gates gives in an article the reason for his theories. "Dogs born in darkness and kept in dark places for a year, without seeing a ray of light, have no more brain cells in the seeing area of the breain than puppies just born. But dogs that have been given a special training, in accordance with the rules of the art of brain building, in the seeing of colors, tints, shades and hues have a greater number of brain cells than any dog of the same species has ever had before. "I discovetred long ago that whenever I put into any part of the brain new brain cells, the corresponding part of the body was thereby rendered stronger and more healthful. It may be tridy said that the body is but a portion of the brain extended; for, as a matter of fact, brain cells, by means of intervening fibres, are in a direct contact with the protoplasm of the cells of the body. If you will limit your atten- tion to some part of the body, as, for instance, to your hand, and refuse to allow any state of 24 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS consciousness to enter your mind except the feelings which may arise in that hand, you will soon become aware of a warmth and fullness in that organ, and which by practicing this upon different parts of the body several hours a day for five or six weeks, you will acquire skill in directing in- tense feeling very quickly in any part of the body you may select. This may be applied to the successful cures of several diseases." By this law there is established a well de- fined law by the use of which people can lift themselves out of and above the sordid planes that have a depressing influence. It appears that the churches have stood to one side and camped along the old trails that lead out in the woods and back again by a new path. A short time ago the newspapers gave an ac- count of a boy who developed a mania for mur- der. He was attending school — did not get his lessons and was going to the bad rapidly. A physician noticed the boy's actions and con- fided to the boy's father what he thought must be the matter — that some part of the skull was pressing on the brain and causing this mania. The boy underwent an operation, and it was found that a pressure on the brain was causing the trouble. The trouble was corrected and the boy regained his normal mental faculties and his place in the class was kept with ease; he no more desired to injure his playmates. Chil- dren who are afflicted with adenoids, lose their GOOD AXD EVIL 25 places in the classes at school, fall away in in- telligence, and while they may live to old age, they are handicapped greatly in all the walks of life, when a slight operation that would take but a few moments might restore them to use- fulness. Instead of searching for the disturbing ele- ments that cause crime, we lay awake at night wondering what new form of torture we can devise that will cause the wrongdoer to cease his wrong doing. The people of the State of South Carolina had it adopted in her constitution that no di- vorces shall be granted under any cause what- ever. That rule would meet with the approval of the most anti-divorce person, sect or denom- ination. There is another force at work in that state that modifies this rigid rule. Where parties cannot harmonize as husband and wife in that state, the one being wronged can go to the judge of the court and get an allowance, set apart from the estate to be used to keep a companion in the home. The equity court looks upon a thing done that should be done. The South Carolina rigid law is annulled by the court. It is possible -that the law makers of that state had not reck- oned on the law of equity. Had they so guarded the constitution of that state and made the law so rigid that the court of equity could not have intervened, such a law would have been useless for no power is delegated to nny set of law- 26 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS makers that can place a wall against courts of equity. A few years ago United States Senator Smoot from Utah, of whom it was charged had seven wives, was called upon to defend his right as a United States Senator. The whole world look- ed on, anxiously awaiting the result. Smoot kept his seat in the United States Senate. The South Carolinian keeps his wife decreed by the court and the world moves on. In the South American Republics, falsely, so called in some cases, there was a rule that no one excepting a Catholic could marry there. Parties sojourning there that could not comply with that law, or would not do so where they might, they married as under the rules of the country from whence they came. This was no marriage at all, but a violation of the land; punishable with imprisonment, and their chil- dren were illegitimate and the property ac- cumultated after the marriage was subject to confiscation by the church. /Phis went on for many years — over a hundred years at least. It never disturbed the conscience of any of the parties this illegally marring there. I think it was in President Hay 's administra- tion that there came up some trouble over this law from some punishment of some one violat- ing this law, and congress asked the South Am- erican Republics to amend this law, whereby parties might marry under the law by officials of the law, and also declaring the children born GOOD AND EVIL 27 to the parties before this marriage as legiti- mate. In one of the Pacific Coast states, after equal suffrage was established, a criminal charge was lodged against a party for a crime specified un- der the laws of that state. The jurors were women. The prosecuting attorney made a clear case. This crime was not denied. The case was given the jury and the prosecuting attorney smiled a knowing smile, which meant "he will get all that is coming to him." The jury were out but a few moments. They return- ed with a verdict of "not guilty as charged.' ' One can lead a horse to water, but cannot make it drink. That jury had to take the instruc- tions from the court, but the law granted them the right to find "beyond a reasonable doubt," and they were the sole judges as to the evi- dence. About that time I knew a party that was charged with the same crime. He had promised to marry a lady and met another lady that he liked better, and married her. The first one brought a criminal charge against him. He was sentenced to the penitentiary for one year. He was made a trusty at the penitentiary, and made himself useful by doing odd jobs. When, in eight months, he had earned the credits for good behaviour, he returned home ; a company of 100 or more met him and welcomed him home. They had a jollification on his return. His wife was among the crowd who welcomed the ex-convict back. Later this man was re- warded by his friends by being appointed to & 28 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS prominent political position of trust. The same year in which this occurred, there was a logger who became restless after getting his pay check and longed to be with the boys of the city. He spent his money in short order, by the assistance of friendly bar-tenders, and late in the night he went in search of a place to sleep. He wandered along the bank of the river, found a shed and pushed in the door and made a bed on some grain sacks. In the morn- ing the freight men found an intruder in the grain shed and reported it to the sheriff. The man was arrested and taken to jail on a charge of burglary. The prosecuting attorney told the man to plead guilty, that the charges would be punished lightly. The man plead guilty and was given fifteen years in the penitentiary. The man did not impress me as a criminal. I secured his parole. I loaned him money to pay his carfare and hotel bills until he reached the place where he had secured work with his friend, who had vouched for the criminal's good behaviour. He went to work, was faith- ful as he had been in former years. He return- the money I advanced him with the remark, "Here is your money and some more. Thanks. I will not forget you." Later that summer there came a forest fire that raged over the woods where he was hook-tender in the logging camp. Lie was lost track of and has not been heard of since. It was thought that he had taken passage on a ship bound for Australia, as there were ships leaving about that time. That GOOD AND EVIL 29 man. though not a bad man. has a horror of the injustice of the law on the Pacific Coast. If in years to come, that man becomes an orator, he may be found on a soap box telling the peo- ple of the injustice of the laws of the land. A man in California, was sentenced to one year in the penitentiary for horse stealing. He went with the sheriff in search of the peniten- tiary, as it seemed, and on the way the sheriff lost the man. The convict went on to the pen- itentiary and gave himself up. As there was no commitment papers giving the warden au- thority to take charge of the criminal, the criminal had to wait the coming of the sheriff. That criminal did not cause the warden any trouble, he was made a trusty, and became general roust-about. His conscience never dis- turbed him in the least over the crime he was charged with committing. It is said that a noted actress was a great favorite of one of the kings in Europe. One day. while the guest of the king, this lady, in a playful mood, dropped a small piece of ice down the king's back. It is said that the king "never quite forgave her for the insult." Strange as it might seem to an American, the rule or law of custom about the great and near great, the noble of royal degrees, it appears to be a crime to approach any of the royal mem- bers without their consent and permission. In days under the rule of despotism the touch of any member of the royal family in a jest, or rude manner, was punishable with death. 30 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS The fair jiaiden musing beneath the scenes, forgets the festive rays and masquers gay. She sees a mist, a darkness, passing before her vision, and beyond these she sees pain and death. She inquires of her mother if this is all of life — pleasure today, pain and death to- morrow ? Slowly the people awaken from their long sleep, rub their eyes and look about in a dreamy manner upon the surrounding conditions that hampers the minds of the people. In the his- tory of the United States of America, there was never a greater disturbing element than the African slavery practice. There were two equal divisions of the country. South of the Mason and Dixon's line was slavery, with all its horrors. North of this line the opposition to slavery was intense. The " under ground road" was a well known fact. Where I lived in Indiana the good people living there, would take the runaway slaves and in ttie night the friends of the negroes would go with them, traveling all night taking the slaves to their destination to cross over into Canada to be free. When the Dread Scott decision came it was the last straw that broke the camel's back. By this law or Supreme Court decision, any slave owner could follow the runaway slave in- to any of the northern states and take his slave, and compel people to turn out and hunt for the slave. It is not the purpose here to repeat history. All have volumes of American history in your GOOD AND EVIL 31 libraries. Only that we may get a glimpse in- to the mind that will enable us to fathom the law wherein crime works as a disturbing ele- ment to the degree that it turns back the hands of time and compels the race to work up against great disadvantages and ages of labor are lost in vain, Lincoln's speech in 1858, reveals much of the mind of the people concerning slavery. He said in that speech: "If w r e could first know T where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now in the fifth year since a policy was initiated with the avow r ed object, and con- fident promise of putting down slavery agita- tion. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation not only has not ceased but has con- stantly augmented. In my opinion, it w r ill not cease until a crisis has been reached and passed # * * . Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction ; or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all states, old as w r ell as new, north as w^ell as south. Let anyone who doubts carefully contemplate that new, almost complete, legal combination piece of machinery, so to speak — compounded of the Nebraska doctrine ana the Dread Scott decision # * * , We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming that the people of Missouri are on the verge of making their state free, and we shall awake to the real- 32 BORDERLAND IX SYMBOLS ity. instead, that the Supreme Court had made Illinois a slave state. To meet and to over- throw that dynasty is the work before all those who would prevent that eonsumation. That is what we have to do. How can we do it? "When he invites any people, willing to have slavery, to abolish it, he is blowing out the moral lights around us. When he (Douglas) says that he cares not whether slavery is voted down or up — that it is a sacred right of self- government — he is, in my mind, penetrating the human soul and eradicating the light of reason and love of liberty in this American people." As a disturbing element, nothing in the his- tory of the American continent has been as pro- lific of evil as the unrest, the constant turmoil over slavery. As long as time lasts the conflict will go on. fading at times, brightening up at others, but forever working an unrest in the minds of the people. One year the laws make it a crime to inter-marry the whites with the colored race, the next year it is permissible ; and state after state is confronted with this monster that will never down. In Lincoln's inaugeral address in 1861, he de- clares that he had no intention of disturbing slavery 'of the south. He said in that speech: ''Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the southern states, that by the accession of the Eepublican administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There never was any reason- te for such apprehension. Indeed, the D AND EVIL 06 most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. * * * I have no intention, directly or indi- rectly, to interfere with the institution of slav- ery in the states where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so. ' 5 "When slavery was in its infancy, William Pinkney, in a speech delivered in 1788, said t "The generous mind, that has adequate ideas of the inherent rights of mankind and knows the value of them, must feel its indignation rise against the shameful traffic that introduces slavery into a country which seemed to have been designed by providence as an asylum for those whom the arm of power has persecuted and not as a nursery for wretches stripped of every privilege which Heaven intended for its rational creatures, and reduced to a level with ■ — nay, become themselves— the mere goods and chattels of their masters. Sir, by the eternal principles of natural justice, no master in the states has a right to hold his slave in bondage for a single hour; but the law of the land, which we cannot in prudence or from a regard to individual rights abolish, has authorized a slavery as bad or w r orse than the most absolute, unconditional servitude that ever England knew in the early ages of its empire, under the tyranical policy of the Danes, the feudal ten- ures of the Saxons or the pure villanage of the Normans/' When Thoreau was imprisoned because he re- fused to pay some unjust, iniquitous tax, Emer- 34 UCRDEll-LAKD IN SYMBOLS son visited him in the prison and asked Thoreau why he was there. Thoreau said: "It is not so much why I am here, but why are you not here, Emerson ?" A microbe in a drop of water became enraged at some fancied injury on the part of some oth- er microbe, and in his fury killed many com- panions. After he had vented his fury he apologized to the drop of water for his rude- ness. The drop of water said : "I had not noticed that you were doing anything, were you acting badly ?" A whale became enraged in the ocean and upset boats killed many people and lashed the sea into a foam. After it had cooled down a little and saw the folly of the act, the whale asked the sea for its forgiveness* The seas asked : "Have you been acting badly.' ' "Yes," said the wdiale, "did you not notice me killing people and lashing the sea to a foam?" "No," replied the sea, "I did not no- tice your acting badly." A tornado tore across the country and de- vastated many villages and cities, killing and injuring many people. After it has become calm and reason restored, it asked the sun for forgiveness. The sun replied that everything seemed to be working about as usual, that there was no noticeable disturbance. An item was published in the newspapers of a punishment inflicted on a Prussian soldier, that seems out of all proportion. The reserv- ists had been called in for fourteen days prac- tice, and during this period aviators gave an ,) AND EVIL 35 exhibition. The crowd insisted on breaking through the barriers surrounding the aviation field and an under officer ordered a dragoon to ride his horse into the crowd. Gustav Pieper, a reservist, who happened to be in the crowd, seeing women and children threatened by the charging horse, seized the bridle and held the animal. He was sentenced to seven months imprisonment. I presume, had the horseman allowed the horse to trample upon a child and crush out its life, he would have been cautioned to be careful. A friend of mine, who served one term in the navy, related his experience in the line of discipline. They were ordered to paint the boat. All hands went to work and the boat was paint- ed a beautiful white in the interior. After a week's work and the ship was painted inside and out, there came an order to coal up. The paint was fresh. The fact made no difference. The coal went thundering into the ship from a dozen places. The coal dust covered the en- tire ship, and the fresh paint was a sight to behold. When the coaling was completed, the orders came to scrape off the paint. The only good that could have come of these crazy or- ders was to crush the manhood of the soldiers and make them mere sticks in the hands of the officers. When the soldiers were guarding the rail- roads in California, some years ago, a striker asked a soldier friend if he would shoot down S6 BORDER-LAND IK SYMBOLS his friends. The soldier replied, "Ask the captain." A few years ago the country was a witness to one of the most flagrant wrongs that could be perpetrated on the public in the Aalskan gold craze. It seemed to have been originated by an emmigration society for the purpose of pure greed and gain. Newspaper plants were purchased, space was paid for by the year in the leading daily papers, train loads of literature was printed and scat- tered broad-cast all over the United States, Glaring reports of gold discoveries were pub- lished in every paper in the land. Parties re- turning from the gold field — destitute and hav- ing spent all they had taken, and borrowed more ; parties returning home to stay, were in- terviewed and made to say that they had re- turned on business; that they had left their mines in the care of an agent. When the advertisements of the rich gold field had done its deadly Avork, the stream of gold seekers started north. They came in swarms, in companies, every mode of convey- ance that could be pressed into use to carry the emigrants to the gateways of the Pacific Coast, were pressed into use. Every form of floating craft that could be used, either sail boat, gaso- line, steamboats were packed with freight and passengers going to the land of gold. Young and old, strong and decrepit, old women lean- ing on canes, old men using crutches, rich, poor and all nationalities were represented in the GOOD AND EVIL 37 people making the venture. From the day the parties sold their home, or mortgaged it to se- cure money to make the trip to the day they landed, it was one round of grab, greed, graft and every turn in the road was met with adver- sity from start to dismal finish. When Alaska was readied the labor began to get the supplies to the gold fields. At the coast landings the parties having goods or sup- plies, had to carry the same to the summit, a distance of many miles. This was up a canyon to reach the top of the divide. Goods were carried for a distance of a mile or two miles or more as much as the owner or packers could carry. The goods were placed in a pile and the other goods carried to this deposit until all was carried to the first deposit, and then a new place was selected and the goods carried to that place, and so on until the top of the table land "was reached. AVhen the summit was reached, and the lake leached, there was more trouble. Lumber had to be sawed with a whip saw out of the stand- ing green timber at the lake's edge, and boats or scows were made to transport the goods across the chain of lakes. This took more time and cost of labor. When the boats were made and filled, trouble arose by the wind and waves on the lake, damaging the goods in the boats from leakage of the boats. The gold fields were reached after many week's hardship of the fortunate ones. Many fell by the wayside, met death in snow slides or the narrow ::N BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS passes. Others drowned b} r boats upsetting on the lakes. When camp was reached houses had to be made of canvas, clay, sticks and logs as best they could of the material at hand. The camps were thinned with disease, ty- phoid fever, malarial fevers, scurvy and many other forms of disease made inroads on the camps. Some gold was found, but not one dollar was taken away for every ten dollars spent by the gold seekers. It was one chain of adversity after another all along the line. No one could have stopped the craze. No- one thousand men with a mililon dollars at their command could have brushed aside the craze, once it was fanned into existence. When a person loses his life at the hands of an as- sassin the murderer is run to cover and his life taken as a forfeiture. When one loses goods, the thief is found and placed in the peni- tentiary for the crime. Someone must atone for the crime. In the Alaskan craze, where an army of un- known number, lost their lives in that land of adversity ; lost all they had made in a lifetime by toil ; and in trying to place the blame, one would be at a loss to know where to begin. When the weary bankrupt miner started home to the land of plenty, he possibly was waiting for the last boat out from Alaska for the fall. The boat was a dilapidated old tub, and it was taking the risk or stay in the frigid north. The risk was taken and in some instances it was the winding sheet of the returning miners. GOOD AND EVIL 39 An Eastern Oregon rabbit drive by the farm- ers, where miles of guide wire fence is spread to guide the rabbits to the pen of death, where boys, men on horseback, and dogs are driv- ing the rabbits to their doom, is no surer of re- sults than the craze that set Alaska on fire some years ago. The transportation companies take no blame. The merchants that sold the goods at exorbitant prices to the gold seekers claim they are not to blame. The steamboat companies share no blame in the matter. The fact is clear that the gold seekers were duped, deceived, misled, met adversity on every hand, lost ail they had ; came home sick, destitute and had to begin life anew. The symbols of adver- sity were on every hand in the entire trip. What more could a sane person have planned than they gathered? Father Flynn, now ninety- seven years of age, hale, hearty, contented in living in the valley at the foothills of the Cascade mountains in Oregon, where the vio- lets, crocus, hyacinths and other early blooming plants come in bloom the first of March every year, sometimes earlier, has kept his life free from these trips that contain only adversity, and is happy. CHAPTER III Spiritual Consciousness. The subject of spiritual consciousness is little understood. The very few care anything about it, rarely discuss or think of it. People are afraid of the subject; many of the bravest people in the world fear the darkness, fear that they will be confronted with a spirit, a ghost, 1 know a very intelligent Christian lady who will not go into a dark room for any price. One night, while in a darkened room, she saw a face and ever after that she fears the dark. Pos- sibly if she could be made to understand from whence came the form of the face she would fear the dark less than the light. The ma- jority of the people believe, are taught in church and Sunday School, that the spirit is quickened after death, never before; that af- ter death we become a spirit. To test this mat- ter you have but to ask any child, any teacher, any preacher in Christendom and be convinced that this statement is not true. It is wrong to teach that we will gain a spirit. We are spirit* We are spirit and know it not. The introduc- tion has been attempted in a thousand ways from childhood to old age, yet We cannot, or will not understand. The doctrine has been advanced that after death we will gain a spirit- ual body of perfection, and live on and on for* SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS 41 ever, gain wisdom and strength and go the rounds of the planets in the progress in the up- per planes. We will not disagree over the matter at this time. The point of difference is as to time only. We are spirit now. We will he spirit after death also and then all will be clear. All can be made clear now if we will that it be so. The one that puts off the knowing for a fact that they are spirit, will pass to death and have gained little, will be drift wood on the shores of eternity, there to regain a consciousness that might be gained here in life. An enterprising man had many sons. He gave them all the advantages that could be given in position, schooling and in business. The sons had been allowed to select their choice in churches : Mike lrad joined the Catholic church ; Calvin found a home in the Presbyter- ian church; Newton was a Congregationalist; Campbell found the Christian church his ideal; Eddy became a Scientist; Swedenhorg found a home with the Spiritualists; Joseph found the latest, the Independents, and with them he cast his lot and made his home and abiding faith; Daniel found the key to solvation was in the prophesies of Daniel, and that the keeper of the keys was the Advents. Each was happy in the extreme in life belief or want of belief. At the parental home there was a reunion of the family. They gathered there as they had each year after leaving home. They talked of the events *of the day, the political prospects, 42 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS and finally drifted into the theological teach- ings that interested each the most. Mike said that his church settled all the disputes relative to immortal life, that he never worried over the issues of the church, that all that worry was left with the priest. Newton said that as to the essentials and non- essentials, we could agree near enough on the essentials and let alone the non-essentials. The Congregational people are never amenable to trials for heresy, by this rule of action. Calvin thought that the law of "foreordina- tion and predestination' 7 were establshed, and that all understood the law and none were ex- cused from the law. Campbell found that it was easy in the combine of the il preacher, the word and the subject," along with plenty of water. Eddy said the matters referred to by his brothers was not clear and explicit, and that his church treated the matter differently. That Mrs. Eddy taught that iL those who reach the transition, called death, without rightly im- proving the lessons of this primary school of mortal existence, — and still believe in matter's reality, pleasure and pain, — are not ready to understand immortality. Hence they awake into only another sphere of experience, and must pass through another probationary state before it can be said of them : ' Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.' (See page 3 of " Unity of Good," by Mary Baker Eddy.) Swedenborg replied that that sounded like re- incarnation to him if it had any meaning. SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS 43 Joseph related to his brothers that he had learned a new doctrine, one that seemed ration- al and by its use a degree of consciousness could be attained whereby one might know the "will of the Father/' and follow it without stumbling. That by the cultivation of the fac- ulties that are given man to use, one can prove beyond a doubt that man lives now as a spirit, that he is spirit. That one need not wait the death of the physical body before knowing that the spirit was the real part of the being, as known in life. Daniel came to the reunion quite late. It be- ing Sunday he had some work that had to be done and as he had rested on the Sabbath, he eame late in the day. He brought with him the newest revelation on the prophesies of Daniel and expounded these to his brethren. Joseph remarked that "if the Russian gov- ernment wouldn't tie up the war dogs the prophesies of Daniel might work a fair revela- tion in Europe. 1 " Swedenborg and Joseph were busily engaged in the themes nearest their hearts, when the other brothers retired for the night. In "Unity of Good, 9 ' page 28, Mrs. Eddy de- plores the idea of there being a spiritual con- sciousness. She says: "Who then, dares de- fine the soul as something within man? As well might you declare some old castle to be peopled with demons or angels, though never a tight or form was discerned therein, &nd not & 44 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS spectre had ever been seen going in or coming out." Suppose you were to take a blind man to a castle and tell him the castle was inhabited by a pretty lady. Suppose the blind man would say he heard no sound of footsteps about the castle, therefore, it was not inhabited. Sup- pose one were to take a deaf man to the castle and tell him the castle was inhabited by a pretty maiden. He could see, but saw no form there, he therefore, declared there was no one in the castle. I lived for nearly a year by a neighbor in Nebraska whom I thought had abandoned his homestead. I lived but a short distance from him, not a quarter of a mile were our houses apart. I remarked one day to a neighbor that the man seemed to have abandon- ed his home. My friend replied that I was mis- taken, that the neighbor referred to spent ev- ery night in his home. The neighbor whom I thought had abandoned his home, was working, building a barn some miles away, and came home late every night. When Joshua lead the children of Israel across the Jordan into the land of Canaan, did he find it flowing with milk and honey? Did they find the Anakins there. In the thirty- fourth chapter of Numbers there is the bound- ary of the land that the children of Israel should possess. It was not as large as the State of Ohio, when in President McKinley's administration it was described by a congress- man as bounded on the north by the Arctic SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS 45 Ocean, on the east by the Atlantic, on the south by the gulf and on the west by contingencies. "What became of the land flowing with milk and honey that forty years before the twelve spies discovered, now the children of Israel were crossing the Jordan to possess it? Why did Moses charge them to "Drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images and pull down all their high places. "And ye shall disposess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein, for I have given you the land to possess it. And ye shall divide the land b}^ lot for an inheritance." When Moses died, Joshua was told to go and possess the land, that the Lord had promised the chil- dren of Israel. He charged him "only be thou strong and of great courage. That thou mayest observe to do according to the law which my servant Moses commanded thee, turn not from it to the right hand or to the left hand that thou mayest prosper whither- soever thou goest." Who knows the history of the tribes that crossed over Jordan? Speculation on every hand as to the ten lost tribes — where they went, what was their final destiny, has been the theme of Christendom for ages and it is no nearer solved today than it was a thousand years ago. Was the history of the children of Israel an occult story, a cabalistic story, or was it the 4G BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS transaction of a nation? Take your choice be- tween the two. When the microscope came into use it opened to us a new world, not before known. Life was clearer understood. The building of the body was revealed by the use of this instrument to be conducted like the building of a castle, or a wall, the builders being officered by captains and the work was divided between companies of workmen, all officered by a leader. That one set of workers carried away the waste tissues, cleared the ground and other workers carried the material and repaired the structure. A new world is thus revealed. When the telescope came into use it opened to us a new world as mysterious as a fable. Peo- ple with eyesight better than the average of the people declared there was a bright star near the middle star on the handle of the " dipper/ f known in England as the "plough," but why they gave it that name no one can conjecture. This star is known as "Jack by the middle horse." How was it possible, before the tele- scope to prove there was a bright star at that location, only a few feet below the middle star as referred to? Those who could see it with the naked eye, might declare its location and fact, but to all with poor sight this assertion carried little weight. When the telescope and the field glass came into use all could prove the fact in this way. If you want to test your sight go some clear night and look closely for a few moments below the middle star on the dip- SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS 47 per handle and you will see it, a bright red star a few inches, as it seems, below and a little to the left downwards or near a right angle with the range of the three stars forming the handle of the dipper. If you cannot see it with the eyesight, then take a field glass and you will find it and be convinced. This does not prove spiritual consciousness. No, possibly not. However, we have set at rest the fact that there existed this star that was beyond the range of the sight of many. Suppose one were to say that there might be a large company of trustworthy people who would declare that the body did possess a be- ing, a mate, an inmate within the castle, and that to follow certain well defined rules the fact could be demonstrated, would their testi- mony be taken! Would you say with the thousands, before the telescope and field glass were invented, that the "Jack by the middle horse" was only a myth, until the fact was proven; that the castle is not inhabited? If Mrs. Eddy has not seen the inmate does that prove that there is no inhabitant of the castle ! Mere assertions, as such, signify nothing. People claim they want proof. The fact is that the masses of the people take for granted near- ly everything with which they have to deal — take other people's word for it. Possibly the spiritual features of life are an exception to this rule. They said of Jesus : "Let him come down from the cross if he be the Savior." They smote him and said, "tell us who smote you." 4S BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS The Christian, as well as the agnostic, or in- fidel, when it comes to the occult feature of life demand a "sign." One lies down to sleep and leaves the working of the body to the invol- untary action of the body, the respiration, the digestion, the heart's action and all is well. No one knows why or how the heart beats, or how digestion is accomplished, yet no one worries over that fact. Someone is caring for the body while it is at rest. It is not the purpose of this article to ask any one to blindly believe any spiritual state- ment unsupported by proofs. Do you desire to know, for a certainty, that the body is inhabited ? If so, then we can soon agree on the facts ; have the proof and you will be grateful for the proof. If it does not in- terest you, then our time is not well spent in the discussion. Do you care to become conscious of the spiritual consciousness that you might serve others and assist the world in being* happy, then your desires are well grounded, and only success will attend the efforts. If idle curosity prompts you in the investigation, take warning and leave it alone. You are deal- ing with fire and will meet with disappoint- ment that will cost you something. You may have the proof first hand, need not ask a medium or other teacher for any revelations for they are yours to take once you know how. For idle curiosity, we have come to the parting r of the way, from this line forward to the close of the book will lead to a disappointment, if SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS 49 you are seeking amusement for idle curiosity alone. There is a preparatory process in the occult, that must be carried forward, and certain well established rules must be followed before one can attain to the consciousness of the spirit to know that there is an inmate that dwells in the castle with us. It takes years of prayer, years of painstaking effort to master the sun's rays and to come into the light. CHAPTER IV. Counting the Cost. Are you satisfied with your attainment lii Spiritual consciousness? If so, you are to be congratulated. If you long to know more of the unseen world, long to know more of the Father, then the pursuit of knowledge will lead you into pleasant paths. Teachers will come out in the open and will lead you. When one crosses the threshold and declares that he will seek diligenth' for wisdom, then wisdom will be attained. Possibly not from the standpoint of the church rule, can one hope to attain to the desired knowledge, for the churches are all hedged about with a wall of doctrines which sacredly guard the flock from seeking wisdom along any lines but those prescribed in that church. No one would for a moment place any hindrance in the way of the churches doing a missionary work, making life as pleasant as possible by placing the fallen on a plane above the planes of the sensual and criminal classes. We cannot point with pride to any higher at- tainments reached by the churches. By a care- ful canvass, both in Europe, Africa and Am- erica it is declared, by the churches, both Cath- olic and Orthodox, that they are losing ground. That little interest is taken in the churches of today in any part of the world. They are fall- COUNTING THE COST Si ing off in spiritual attainments, so it is de- clared by themselves. They claim they are losing hold on the people, that their members are indifferent to the rales of the churches in all parts of the world. As Israel went away^ was lost sight of, possibly, Christendom may follow. In searching with care the experience of Job When he was making the effort of his life to gain wisdom from above, and discarding the supposed truths of the wise of earth as then known who expounded to him what they thought was wisdom, one can see that the effort cost Job no little. When he "paid the price 9f and stood in the light of the sun he had demon- strated what it meant to follow, determinedly, a rigid pursuit after wisdom. In ancient times, when a man wanted to wage war on some enemy he would pledge all his property, his gold and silver plate ; get his army, their equipment and begin his war*. If he had not counted the cost with care he would be improverished. When the day of re- demption came, if he could not pay, he lost all he had pledged. In some instances where the soldier could not meet the obligation, and no extension could be granted on the property pledged, the warrior wotild kill the man from whom he had borrowed the money and by the death of the lender of the money the warrior had one year in which to pay the money bor* rowed. The lender of money, in those days, took chances of losing his life if he played 62 BORDERLAND IN SYMBOLS "Shyloek and the pound of flesh," in a busi- ness transaction. I know a widow who was left some money by insurance of her husband when he died. She started a structure of great proportions, which was not half completed when her money was gone. It stood weather beaten for years when it was sold for a small part of the cost to her. She lost all in the enterprise, went to cooking for a means of earning a livilihood. The money left her would have kept her in comfort for many years, had it been rightly used. All over the land one sees houses weather beaten and unfinished, the scaffolding yet up, the braces nailed to the sides of the house, and the place inhabited in that condition. An uncompleted structure never looks well. It fills the mind with horror. When one begins to build a castle, a temple immortal, to make his body a dwelling place for the spirit, it is well to look to the cost there. When one gets it partly completed, to a degree that it is possible to house an inmate, it is well to see that it is built of good material. Leo Tolstoi withdrew from the world and builded well, placed only the best material in the temple. People, who were at the home of the Count, tell us that Tolstoi and his daughter, who assisted him in his literary work, would sit at the dining table, partake of their frugal meal of brown bread and porridge and milk, then quietly retire. The wife would occupy the other end of the table surrounded with of- COUNTING THE COST 53 ficers and nobles of rank. Tolstoi will live for over in the memory of the people of every na- tion, as a grand man. According to a recent publication by a Russian, on the life of Jesus, he tells us in de- tail of the disappearance of Jesus at thirteen years of age, and of his studies among the Jugernauts, who gave Jesus his education, and of his studies and preaching in different parts of the world ; that Jesus withdrew from the ac- tive callings of the world to prepare himself for the work later engaged in after his return to Palestine. When St. Paul was converted, he seems to have gone down into Arabia to the school of Metaphysics there, as it was reported where Jesus had gone before him. Paul said he did not go to Jerusalem but went down into Arabia. In the life of Mary Baker Eddy, she says she was a recluse for many years. That she was away from the active cares in the preparation of "Science and Health." Yet, with her prep- aration, as others had done in accomplishing the same mission, she gained much wisdom ; yet seems not to have discovered that the temple is inhabited. Sarah Thacher, of Applegate, California, was a recluse for many months in a deserted lime kiln. She was a great student of literature; was a teacher of marked ability, yet she chose the wiser part. She builded well. Every piece of material that went into the Temple Beautiful was a perfect piece of material. 54 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS One might mention many who have done likewise. What does it mean? When you be- gin an education you start with the alphabet. Then the trouble begins. The boy who said an education was not worth the effort it took in learning the alphabet, never became famous as a scholar. Take one of those souls who have paid the price and try to barter something you possess for what they possess and see what they ask for their part of the schooling. When a child begins to acquire an education he leaves behind all thoughts of playmates who idle away their time. It it a serious business with him. He knows what others before him have accomplished by the same efforts. He knows no defeat. The pinch of poverty only whets his ambition. It means a new coat, a new life, new surroundings when he can mea- sure his life with the best of the land. After the reign of terror in Israel and the corruption of the rulers, Elijah came among them and demonstrated to them some phenom- ena that convinced many of the people, but called down upon his head the wrath of Jeze- bel. "And Jezebel sent a messenger unto Eli- jah, saying, so let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. "When he saw that he arose and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which be_- longeth to Judah, and left his servant there. "But lie himself went a day's journey (30 miles) into the wilderness, and came and sat COUNTING THE COST 55 down under a juniper tree : and he requested for himself that he might die * * * .'' "And he said, go forth and stand on the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake ; and after the earth- quake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. "And it was so that when Elijah heard it, that he wraped his face in his mantle, and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold there came a voice unto him, and said : 'What doest thou here, Elijah' " This account, as recorded in the ninteenth chapter of first Kings, reveals a lesson along the line of cabal- istic or Esoteric Masonry, but clothed in or- iental language. Elizabeth Towne of the Nau- tilus, if called upon to describe this light would call it the illumination or light from the solar plexus, and thus make it Western, and strip from it all tracings of Special Providence miracles, where it rightly belongs. Moses saw the "burning bush" that was not consumed. Saul of Tarsus, when converted, saw the "light shine from Heaven" and heard the still small voice. A rose though called by another name is just as sweet. There are thousands all over the world that are conversant with the light of the solar o6 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS plexus, the illumination of the interior and the "still small voice." These people, while they are taught by the spirit in the minute affairs of the daily life, do not regard it as a visitation of Divine favor. It is the independent, the self-sustaining in- dividual who makes the world the better for their living. I knew a young lady teacher of sterling worth, that in passing an examination for a teacher's certificate misspelled a word given by the examining board. When told that she had spelled it wrong she insisted that she had not, that she knew perfectly well that she had spelled it correctly. She was denied a certificate. A principal of a denominational college heard of the incident, sent for the lady and gave her employment as a teacher in his school, saying that he wanted all the teachers of that class that he could find. The individual in the army is what makes a strong army. Every German soldier, from the highest officer to the lowest private, is educated as to his duties when the call Ki io arms" is giv- en. Every man is ready to jump to his post and execute his orders to the letter, there and then. When the call comes, the world will tremble with the execution of those orders. The individual in mechanics, in the crafts, in the trades, is what makes a strong nation. Every man that can do his part and do it right. Today every trade journal, every religious paper, every magazine, from all over the world, laments that the churches and the people are COUNTING THE COST 57 separating ; that a wide gap is being formed be- tween them that will not be bridged; that this ever widening gap threatens destruction to all religious organization. What else can be ex- pected? What else has been on the "trestle board" for the last hundred years? In ilartin Luther 's time the greatest problem was how many devils could dance on the point of a cambric needle. When a pebble cast in the pool and made a commotion on the water that the waves were caused by the devils stir- ring about in the water. Read the life of Mar- tin Luther. July, 1912, when 4,000 Bible stu- dent met in Washington, D. C, and passed res- olutions that the hell-fire, as mentioned in the Bible, was not literal fire and brimstone. One hundred years, and such an advancement as that to be accounted for in all those years of labor and wealth expended in religion ! Years ago, at an age of which no one knows that day or age, there were stone cutters that formed a union and gathered about them such members who understood the facts concerning the illumination of the interior and the still small voice. They used the utmost care that only those were admitted to membership. They individualized to that extent and their gatherings w^ere fruitful of great good. They formed an altar in the lodge to symbolize lhe internal fire, placed the altar in the center of the lodge and thereon kept an illumination. They held the altar and its fire so sacred that Tio op.p would pass between the altar and the 58 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS Master. It was an association of like minded people meeting whereby they might exchange observations along the line of the illuminating force and the still small voice of the spirit teaching the independent, the individual, the way of life. In the union they gained strength. The "still small voice" as known to the Stone- cutter's Union was a knowledge known to each individual member and it need not be imparted by a master. If the churches had a few thous- and individualists, or independents there would not be the want of faith in the churches and teachers that is now creating so much unrest. Swedenborg said that angels were as real as men; that they lived in houses as do men; that they had organs like those in man. We find splendid characters who are preachers in the different orthodox churches who assure us that they have seen Jesus, the Christ. With all the positive conviction of their soul, they believe the form seen was in fact the visitation of Jesus, and that his appearance was a Divine revelation planned for their individual bene- fit. It is a belief in the minds of the best phychics, that the form, as known as Jesus, is a religious thought form only — a national form built by the combined pictural forms of Jesus as known from childhood ; that Jesus as a sep- arate spirit has long ages ago gone beyond the range of the keenest psychic sight. If one will take the pains to inquire of the many profound religious or sensitive or psychic people who are living near, one will find that among them they COUNTING THE COST 59 have seen the form all exactly alike. Some seeing the form of Jesus crucified on a cross, others on a tree, but in every instance the facial expression has been the same with all who have seen the form. Try it and be con- vinced that this is true. I know of six different individuals living in one small town, who have seen the form of Jesus and upon careful inquiry as to the de- scription of the form as seen by each person, there w^as not the slightest variation in the form, or facial expression, cut of hair or style of the beard. In other places I have met with the same facts and they too. see the same re- ligious form as was seen by the others men- tioned. We have a limitation of our organs. Some have faculties so developed that they excel others in one way, in some special faculty and yet may be limited in some other faculty. I knew a good lumberman that always secured the best wages for his knowledge of timber and logging skill. This man would get lost when alone, and it was with great difficulty that he would go into a tract of wooded land without getting lost. He loved to hunt in winter, when not in the lumber business. He always went with hunters that carried a horn and would de- pend on them to guide him through the woods. On one occasion while in the woods be became lost and when the other hunters took his track in the snow and trailed him up, they found him sitting on a log fixing his pocket compass. 60 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS When they assured him that his compass was not out of order, that he was lost, he w^ould not believe it, and it w r as with difficulty that they persuaded him to follow them. A year later he lost his life in the woods hunting, and was not found until the snow melted the next spring. He would not follow a compass even when lost ; so sure was he that his sense of di- rection was correct that nothing could per- suade him differently. Not being fully con- scious of his limitation he would blindly wan- der on, ignoring all traces of landmarks by which he might have been guided home. Divine visitations. Special providence, is not getting the attention that it once received, and religion is fast undergoing a change. Jesus is no less real today than when he taught as a teacher in Israel. If there is any change created by the new thought creation, it is in favor of Jesus as now contemplated along lines possible to be attained by the mortal, aside from the special providence and Divine visita- tions and the individual or the independent who has labored in the vineyard is worthy his hire and should have fair compensation for his labors. There was a good old circuit rider who would often stay over night and often over Sunday at my father's house in Dekalb County, Mo. This good old man, Hugh Teel, on one of these occasions, told my parents that he had been visited by Jesus recently, he said; that he was going home after finishing his circuit preach- COUNTING THE COST 61 tag and that he stopped one very warm day to let his horse rest in the shade of a tree, and there he was visited by Jesus, in form as clear- ly as if in the flesh. I listened with great earnestness, and mentally prayed that such a great blessing would some time be my lot. The good old preacher improved in the earnestness of his work, renewed his efforts to save souls and it seemed to be nearing Heaven to listen to his words after knowing that he had been Di- vinely visited by the Savior. I met another Methodist preacher later, that had nearly the same experience as the one mentioned with Hugh Teel. After I had met many such people some of whom were not believers and some of whom were infidels, it began to dawn upon me that there was another reason for the vision, aside from Divine visitations. Far be it from me to say that these might not be all they claimed in the way of Divine visitations. Give them all the credit the facts will bear. If some one sees farther into Heaven than we, and can get a better interpretation of phenomena than we, it is to their credit and we can but say in large capital letters God bless them. In the practical world when one is tracing the thoughts of the sick, attempting to create the form of perfection in the mind of the sick, or the one in trouble, in distress financially, physically, that they meet with the form of Jesus more often than any other form. It is human to appeal, in time of trouble, to a higher G2 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS power, and one when trying to establish a forni, an emblem of peace in one that is crushed to earth by a load of worry and trouble and when the form of Jesus appears one cannot but feel like taking off their shoes and calling that holy ground upon which the form of Jesus appears. Let the troubled appeal to Jesus. They will get a benefit, a consolation from it and no harm will come of it. Do not take from any one their support. CHAPTER \\ Methods of Attainment There is said to be about fifteen hundred dif- ferent methods of spiritual attainment, any one of which would meet the desired result. I read a work, by Heartman, I believe it was, which mentioned a process that was giv- en by some monks to the people to secure this attainment. The monks got in great trouble over it and were expelled from the church in disgrace for so doing. The process was to face the east, sitting at regular intervals for half an hour daily, and later increase the duration to a longer time. There is known a process called the crystal gazing process. This does not meet with fa- vor with the Western students of occultism. H. E. Butler, in a work called "Narrow Way of Attainment," goes into details as to the In- dian method of attainment. This is similar to the above method with the difference that in "Narrow Way of Attainment" the idea of the Deity must be kept ever in prayerful memory, and an appeal made for such light, wisdom and guidance as the student desires. This work is 'of great worth to those desiring to know the process of attainment. In "Mental Evolution" by Samuel Rastal, the development in the independent process is 64 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS somewhat similar to the above mentioned pro- cesses. In this he says, ' c endeavor to make the mind blank as near as possible ; but do not doze. Stop thinking, but do not lose consciousness. At first the thought forces will be very active, but after a while will become restful and com- posed." Somewhere along the line there was a leak of Divine guidance and much censure was pro- nounced upon some one unnamed for the leak- age. Whether the party divulging the information was attempting to do a great and lasting bene- fit or what the reason for censure was, I never learned. The martyr defenders of the truth w T ere of this class, unguarded, unprotected and it was no great sacrifice on their part to be compelled to die for the cause. Ingersol said he was not made of the stuff that martyrs are made of, One Pacific Coast lady said, after she had traveled around the world, and had learned of what martyrdom meant, that she would re- nounce, with the great calmness and heroic sub- mission, anything that appeared to be attached to her mental make-up. Ingersol and this lady mentioned, stand high in my estimation of real worth, in what appears to them as the truth. Possibly with Ingersol, Thomas Pain and other infidels, or those that failed to see as did the church in matters of theology, that they leveled down the edifices that did not METHODS OF ATTAINMENT 60 appeal to their mode of thinking and did not build in return for the structures torn down. One other detrimental delusion is the crush- ing out influence that attacks the early seeker for truth in Methaphysics. There are schools and sects which advocate the crushing out the affections. It is a delusion as much as the one that impoverishes the student. It is the law of cause and effect. Passing the moon vibra- tions, incidental to the new life, opens the gate for a flood of negations these are the first ones to seek admittance. There is an evolutionary process at work lifting the race to a higher plane. This is slow. Ages are required in accomplishing what might be accomplished in a few years in this attain- ment. There was a man of refinement who had a well kept castle. He lived all alone, as he sup- posed. He was given to meditation, was of a quiet nature. As the days went by, he thought he detected the working of someone in friendly offices in his welfare. He was positive that no one but himself occupied the castle. The min- istration was continued day by day. He knew that his sight and hearing were normal, that no defect existed in either. What could it mean? After the evidence became too strong for fur- ther doubt, he resigned himself to the fact that there was a ministering hand at work there for his benefit. He knew the party could not be but a friend. He watched with eager eyes nearly constantly. He listened witli the most 66 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS acute ear to catch any sound that might be made in the castle. After thus bending every effort to catch the sight and sound of the party dwelling there with him in the temple or castle, he became aware of the presence of a form, a person, an influence; yet his sight was unable to de- tect who or what it was — yet it was there. Af- ter a long time, there appeared to be a gray cloud come before his vision, and in this gray cloud or light, he noticed forms of birds, flow- ers, trees, people, cities, lakes, rivers. There appeared to be a panorama of the most fascin- ating scenes float past as he watched now seem- ingly not with the material sight, but with a new sight that had been acquired, and also there came to him voices of people in broken sentences at first. Yet the form that he had been seeking was not yet apparent to him. It was this one mission that he had started on, and amid the scenes that fascinated him he kept a sharp lookout for the party in that castle with him — his friend. After he had acquired a mint of knowledge as an incident to the watch he had kept up, the form appeared to him, face to face, clear, white, a form the per- fect counterpart of himself, only youthful in appearance. Was he seeing himself was his first wonder? Then it dawned upon him that this was "spiritual consciousness.' ' Then he knew that he was a spirit. That he had always been one and knew it not. This great discov- ery astonished him and in making researches METHODS OF ATTAINMENT 67 among others, he found that others had made the same discovery — not many, but a chosen few— who had camped on the path of perpetual perseverence. A lady whom he met had pass- ed through the same experience, and these two had many experiences, in common, to relate, much to be thankful that they now had at- tained to a degree whereby there was no dis- tance in nature ; that the spirit could commune with like spirits of those living at any distance. Let all who do not know, declare the temple is not inhabited. To those who know better, it is idle talk. The human body is likened to a violin, or it is said to be a violin. I knew a young man that traded for a violin. He was proud of the advancement he was making with the instru- ment. He neglected his father's fields, how- ever, which did not meet with his father's ap- proval. One day his father smashed the fiddle over the bed post and made splinters of it. The boy's brother was a carpenter and took the pieces and glued them in place as best he could. The violin was greatly improved in sound after being fixed. Adversity improved it greatly. A violin maker on the Pacific coast made two violins. They were made of the same kind of wood, made over the same pattern, and no one could detect the slightest difference in them by looks. One proved to be a splendid instru- ment ; is today doing splendid work in Europe, where it is used at the royal feasts and balls. 68 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS It is worth its weight in gold. The other violin, its exact mate, was a dismal failure, and was consigned to the scrap heap in its infancy. If words refuse to come at command to clothe the thoughts in trying to explain this beautiful theme of the soul's consciousness, there is no possible way in which to bridge over the difficulty. Theosophists had to invent a language en- tirely new, having no relation with the words as met with in the transaction of any relation, social, moral, political, or anything under the sun or in the earth beneath. Jesus wrote but a few words. Swedenborg wrote largely. It is said that in his last days he repented that he had written anything. He had lived along parallel with his efforts to make the people understand wdiat he was try- ing to explain. He had lived too long or he made a mistake in attempting to make himself understood* One philosopher of the old school taught that nature worked in circles. Now a new teacher comes in the arena and declares that nature works in spirals; that there are no circles in nature. Astronomers inform us that all the planetary systems have a motion about another system, and that they are many thousand years in mak- ing the journey. That two or more suns with all their planets that circle about them obey the same law as to some other larger sun, and that they carry all their planets about that larger METHODS OF ATTAINMENT 69 sun and make the jouney in many thousands of years ; all circling about and traveling on in space to an unknown destiny. Thus, the planetary space is governed by some law that carries all the planets on and on around circles, while yet traveling to a far point beyond the possible range of the most powerful telescope. The perusal of a single lesson in astronomy fills one with wonder and bewilderment in contem- plating infinity. I met Death in my garden — Now what could death be wanting there For naught my garden holdeth, Save roses blooming fair ? I made a parley with him — ■ If he would leave to me My roses- — I would give him A wreath from my laurel tree. But never a word Death answered. Oh, Life thou art sweet ! The rose leaves fell all dying Beneath Death's passing feet, I listened all the night : God did not speak a word ; I only heard my own wild heart With its wild longings stirred. I looked to the fartherst star, God did not show his face. Between the stars and me I saw A phantom with your grace. TO BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS I felt the livelong night That God was not anywhere, In Heaven or upon the earth — But you and I were there. —Jean, CHAPTER VI Symbols. The world is an open book of symbols if one would but look about and read. There is only one book — the book of Nature. It does not record one false entry. The law of pro- duction may be obscured to the mind of the finite, but the infinite makes no false entries. The Alchemists worked with great care in the discovery of the secrets of nature. They mixed base metals in the furnace, it is said, and in the molten mass they put their thoughts, that the mass might be a metal of superior val- ue. That is the way the world reads the transac- tion. Those having spiritual consciousness see in this process another working aside from the gathering of metals of great worth. In the visions of the prophet and seer there appears gold, silver, gems, jewels and base metals, all portraying a line of lessons in the occult. The mental student sees in the vision a lesson by the use of gold portrayed in a dream, or vision. He sees also silver, which is, in a lesser degree, a lesson of great value. All along the line these appear, and in the crusible, the solar plexus furnace, the sea of fire, which is known only to the spiritually conscious per- son — the Alchemist, the metal scientist moulds his destiny. Materialists see in the story only T2 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS the material metals of the minerologist and ponder over the story and wonder how anyone could be so short-sighted as to mix metals with thought. Let it go that way. A lifetime of explanation would not make it clear to a mind wholly absorbed in the material things of life. Happy might we be were the ancient grove worship re-established in its original purity- free from the base designs to which it was put in the base designs of man. Trees form a long line of beautiful lessons to the spiritually conscious or the independent, as lie should be called. One could never tire in listening to a child of God revealing the lessons in the beautiful symbol language of the tree life. The spirit has no limitation. Man is finite, lias a narrow range of vision as a man, a think* hag being, before he is made one with the spirit. Emerson says: ''We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree ; but the whole, of which these are the shining parts, is the soul. It is only by the vision of that Wisdom that the horoscope of the ages can be read, and it is only by falling back on our better thoughts, by yielding to the spirit of prophesy which is innate in every man, that we can know what it saith. ?> In the forests of Washington, on the Pacific- coast, lie prone on the ground, red cedar trees that register an age of two thousand five hun- dred years, over which are growing the same class of cedar that have pinned, with their SYMBOLS 73 roots, the fallen trees and that register an age of one thousand five hundred years ; making a history of at least four thousand years. It must even be more than that, for the fallen cedars were lying on the ground the seeds from the by-standing trees dropped the seeds that took root on the bark of the fallen cedars, and these seeds germinated and the roots of the young cedars traveled around the bark of the fallen cedars and thus went into the ground and pinned the fallen trees. At the Lewis and Clarke centennial in 1907, at Portland, Ore., a section of both the under cedar and the green lost. The lady could not believe that it was so bad as that. In a few days she met the independent again and showed him a telegram which read: "Mr. Blank is dying. Come quick/' His body wa^ shipped home. He died in San Francisco with not a friend near. He had property, and now that was to be accounted for. The man^ brother's son took consumption, he traveled, doctored and spent all the money of the estate and left the children of the deceased destitute. Thus, the whole vision was consumated. An attorney of prominence, in Nebraska, had asked for the office of oil inspector for the state. He sent a friend to intercede with the governor for the place for him. Later the man's wife dreamed that their team of bay horses ran away, scattered the wagon along the road, the team ran away out of sight. There mbols along with this dream. She SYMBOLS 8i related the matter to a friend and was assured that her husband s place was taken by another and lost. The party wrote to the governor and got a reply that Mr. — , the same man whom the attorney had sent to assist him to get the place, w r as appointed. The agent of the attorney played a mean trick and stole the place which he had been sent to get for his friend ; had been paid for his efforts to get the place. An inventor who had a combination rat trap* paper rack, mole trap and bread toaster was selling al)Out enough of the invention to pay his expenses. He dreamed that by combining a part of another invention he w r ould do better, lie made the combination and when he showed all the advantages of the invention to a lady she did not care for it. When he showed her that by the use of the two combined she could see and hear all that was being said and done in a closed room adjoining, she took a dozen of the machines. She could loan some of them to friends, could attend church, or theaters with- out getting a new gow r n. Parties have asked: "Does God condescend to meddle w r ith the affairs of the people ?" He appeared to Joseph in a dream, warned him to go to Egypt. People ask for grain, good crops, health, happiness. Preachers pray that the arm of the army will be strengthened so the soldiers might kill more of the enemy and thus hasten the peace. One does not have to be a Christian to have 82 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS his requests granted. One prominent New Thought lecturer advocated the idea that one might swear at the Almighty if he so chose ; that God rather admired a man that got up courage enough to do something. T heard an attorney relate a dream that dis- turbed him. He dreamed that he met a starved, lean horse. The horse tried to injure him by biting, striking and pushing him against the fence. It was with difficulty that he calmed the angered animal. The next day he knew what was before him. He had not long to wait. A client came to him for whom he had lost a suit in court. The fault was all the client's as he had omitted to get the right witnesses want- ed ; had put his hopes on the attorney without good evidence. Tn place of smashing the furni- ture over the head of the angry client, the at- torney made the matter clear as to how the suit was lost, and thus saved trouble by know- ing what was before him. A lady in Indiana, east of Chicago. w r as seen one morning by her cousin on the Pacific coast, while she was in the act of digging some holes in the yard with a spade. It was the middle of December and the ground was frozen. AYhen her Pacific coast cousin wrote her and asked why she was digging that time of the year, she replied that at that hour, which was ten o'clock, she was going to attend a funeral of a friend, she feared that the grave was not finished as the ground was frozen six feet deep. SYMBOLS 83 Lincoln saw himself in state some weeks be- fore the assassin fired the fatal shot. Mark Twain related that at a reception where many people had gathered he saw a lad}' come in at a door at the opposite side of the house, He waited in line for the lady to pass. As she did not appear he asked where she was. When told that the lady had not been present he wrote to her and asked how it could be that he had seen her there. She replied that she great- ly desired to attend the reception, that she was prevented from so doing but her mind was centered on the reception and in that way she appeared to him. He relates another instance while on the Mississippi river, where in a dream he saw the body of his brother. The narrative went the rounds of the newspapers, and all are familiar with the event. The report of the location of a drowned woman, Mrs. Lucy Sommers, who wandered away from her sister, Mrs. R. B. Craig, of 822 Fayett St., Peoria, 111., by Grace Holmes, a girl of ten years, created some excitement some years ago. The Mrs. Sommers was afflicted with dementia and in the night wandered from her sister's home. A search for her with blood hounds proved of no avail. The little prophet- ess told the searchers that she saw the lady wandering in the night ; she went with the party and followed each street, went to the Illinois river, showed the party w^here the lady walked in. went down and was lost sight of. A S4 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS search for her where the young lady indicated, brought no satisfaction, yet the girl said the net dragged the body, did not catch it. The girl appealed to a steamboat captain to go and get the drowned woman where she was fastened to a snag. But the captain dismissed her appeal as had others. When the river ice broke up, the body was found floating in the exact place indicated by the young girl. The foregoing instances will serve our pur- pose in relating instances that cannot well be set aside. The life of an independent is filled with instances of every day occurrences. They may not relate them, but they occur in and as a part of their lives. It is well not to con- found the mere accidental happenings of peo- ple where they by chance have a stray sight into the unknown with the well established sight of the independent who has been develop- ed, as have the other senses. A vast difference is noticeable. Where one has a glimpse once in a lifetime is very different from one that has the same sight about every hour, or a pan- orama of symbols floating past momentarily or as the silence is entered. If you desire more of the phenomena you can be abundantly satisfied by "providing all things," and learn the way by which the phen- omena are gathered. The faculty of vision, dreams or trance is beyond the power of the finite mind to explain. We harness the wind, the water falls, the elec- tric forces and make them do our bidding. SYMBOLS SB AVhen one attempts to define the power, the source, the utility of vision or dream, they are at once lost from want of words to define it. A student will awaken from a dream in which the solution of an intricate mathematical prob- lem has been solved and at once put the prob* 3 em on paper and find it to be correct. A Scotch cattle dealer, when he had driven some fat cattle to market, some miles from his home, dreamed that his family was being killed by a burglar; that all had been killed but a daughter wiio had escaped and had gone to a cave some distance away and had hidden there. He dreamed the same over again, and it made such an impression on his mind that he went home at once and found all true as dreamed. He saw a track at the side of the house in the snow, of his daughter, and follow- ed it to the cave and there found his daughter, the only member of the family left, the others all killed as revealed in the dream. The cat family plays a large part in the land of dreams and visions. Any medium or inde- pendent you may find has a dread, a horor of any member of the feline family. It means so much to them, that they could heartily wish that there were no cats in the world. It is treachery all along the line wherever the vision or dream of a cat takes place. A fierce cat will haunt one and threaten to injure, and one is not at a loss to know that a guard must be thrown around one's footsteps to ward off the danger. SG BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS Snakes play a large part in the symbol lan- guage in revealing treachery, deception, cun- ning and danger. While in a vision or dream where one kills the snake it reveals a degree of overcoming the treachery. I presume, that person never lived who has not at some time been warned, in dream or vision of threatened danger, treachery or dup- licity, and there is no more perfect symbol of this than to dream of or see a vision of snakes threatening the party. One dark night, while in company with a friend, we were walking along an unlighted street. We passed along a stone wall and as we had nearly passed the wall my friend stopped and looked about. He then went on again for a few steps and stopped and looked back again. I asked him what was wrong, for he seemed puzzled. He replied that he felt like an as- sassin was behind the stone wall. We went close to the wall along the path we had come, and under a limb of a tree on the wall there was crouched a large black cat. That satisfied the man, and he stated that whenever coming in contact with a cat after night the sensation was as if meeting an assassin. He said : "A cat means so much in symbol. 5 ' People with loving dispositions will pet a cat and take the greatest care of one, and in the night that cat will roam the streets killing every bird they come to, and it is said that a eat will kill fifty birds a week. We wonder why there are no birds in town where people love them so much SYMBOLS! S7 and feed them. They feed them to make them tame for the murderous eats to kill. The symbols of snow when in vision or dream reveal adversity. If one slides over the snow and barely touches it, it indicates a degree of success in overcoming adversity. It means ad- versity in any symbol that snow can be referred to. While mud and muddy water indicates ad- versity, it is of another class of adversity and just in proportion to the thickness of the mud, the number of the steps in crossing it, does the adversity continue. If but a few steps are tak- en in passing over a muddy road, the duration of the sickness will be that long in proportion, When one finds himself mired in a swamp from which he cannot extricate himself, he will re- member all that life has held for him, for his days are numbered- — smile as he may at the wisdom of God and the foolishness of man as it is called. He will go hence and all the physi- cians or metaphysicians on earth will not be able to turn the adversity aside ; he will go soon after that symbol is revealed. Should you find yourself in but a few steps of mire and you reach the solid earth in a step or two, you can laugh at the temporary- adversity and let it pass. The dreamer is delighted with clear water in dream or vision, and wherever this is revealed delight comes from it and only pleasure results from such symbols and the dreamer is rewarded by getting glad tidings — a letter from a friend or some evidence of gladness. One cannot but SS BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS contemplate what a contrast there is in the con- dition of the two symbols. The Bible speaks of the floods, the clear waters, the brooks, and wherever it refers to these it brings a pleasure to the reader. In song, in romance, the clear streams are woven in as a pleasant dream — a Heaven of rest. There is not the slightest difference in the nationality wherein the spirit reveals the beau- ties of the symbols in spiritual lessons. God is no respecter of persons — does not select any one nation on which to bestow his loving kindness. There are schools of religion that deny their own senses — discard all that is good. A lady dreamed that her son drowned in a deep pool of muddy water; that she saw him swept over the falls and lost from sight. She followed along the stream and in a pool of clear water she saw him and carried him home. Her son was in good health at the time of the dream, but was taken sick and went down rapidly and was at death's door for weeks^ but recovered. Herbert Spencer was a good billiard player. He said that to be a good billiard player was evidence of scholarship. One day a young bil- liard player engaged Spencer in a game of bil- liards and defeated him badly. Spencer saidr 4 'To be a good billiard player is evidence of scholarship, but to be too good a player is evi- dence of much wasted time. " There are well educated men, scientists, that discard all evidence of the spirit in symbol form, treating it as a weakness. They declare SYMBOLS 89 that a faculty above the normal, strengthened to a degree above the level of the ordinary man shows that person to be insane to the degree in which he possesses the superiority over others. Edison goes in the stillness of the midnight hours and alone he communes with nature, and declares that in this way has gained all his great discoveries. Richard Wagner would spend many an hour in his garden in the late hours of the night when all was hushed and -still and in this way caught the harmonic sounds that made him famous as a musician. CHAPTER VII. Silence. Silence has been the mystery all down the ages. It is the bridge of the Gods. The bridge over the gulf between the finite and the infinite. Here the noisy rabble of the pulsating, throb- bing being the material man must in a measure quiet down, and allow the spirit to come to the fore and watch the destinies of the passing as- sociates. It has to do with man primarily, for man is a god, a creator, a builder, an architect, a designer. He must build his own house, and whether that be good or bad, a palace or a hovel, a castle or a hut, he must dwell in it. If it falls on him and he is crushed, the fault is only his own. No man has anything to fear but himself. He has no other great enemy to contend with. Here the furnace, the crucible, the retort into which the choice metals along with the base metals are poured and separated. Every man is his own Alchemist. Gold will mingle with the baser metals, but if the admix- ture is not more nearly gold, if the proportion is not more gold than base metals, the composi- tion will not stand the acid test ; the application of the test will reveal the deception. Spirit has no limitation. Spirit speaks and other spirits hear; spirit acts and other spirits act in conjunction with it. Spirit never sleeps. SILENCE n That man was formed in mortal flesh, made a temple for the indwelling of a spirit or is a -spirit and mortal man being used as its messen- ger, its hired servant, its obedient servant, is the work of God for a purpose. When the observing designer, who formed the image of the Sphinx and placed it as a symbol that the whole world might look and take a lesson of the upbuilding of passion to the attri- butes of a God, he gave us a good lesson. The sphinx is part lion, part man, part demon, part god. Of all the animals that roam the earth, the lion is the most cold blooded lover to be found. No other lion that falls into his grasp has the least hope of mercy. He asks no excuses ; he grants no excuse to turn away his lusts. Age or condition appeals to him not in the least. Submission or death is the lot of the opposing mate. Silence is approached by the laity as was the borderland of Canaan when Moses sent out the -spies to search the land. It is the same place of wonder where Joshua was prepared to cross the river Jordan, when he sent out two spies to see what was in the land they desired to possess. Silence is the crossing of the clear stream, the murmering brook — the still waters. Into the 5 tfefct kill sheep, will go many miles from home to carry on their depredations, DuChailku I believe it was, while hunting in Africa, tells of the cunning work of & gorilla. One day while hunting in the forest of Africa, he came upon & large male gorilla standing in an open place in the forest, intently watching in the distance across the open. Presently there came from the opposite side of the field a young and powerful gorilla, and with him a fe- male gorilla. The two males met and fought the true Queensbtirry rules; and round after round they bit, tore, struck and clinched to break away, came again and get better ad- vantages. They fought for some time, and the *odds seemed to be in favor of the older male, who was battle scarred in many places. In •one clinch and desperate struggle, the younger male placed his arm around the neck of the old gorilla, and by a supreme effort pushed his head back: over his own arm and broke the neck of the old gorilla. When the young gorilla loosened his grasp ♦and the old gorilla fell dead at his feet, the fe- male gorilla, who had been silent up to that time, danced and hopped about in great delight &nd hugged the young gorilla, as much as to say : "I wanted you to win the battle. I had a grievance against the old fellow."' They then went away into the jungles—lost to view. DuChaiiki tells of another experience while hunting in Africa. A male gorilla stole and carried awny from a tillage, a girl about eigh- 106 BORDER-LAND IX SYMBOLS teen years of age. Her absence was noticed, and a searching party of natives went to look for her; everywhere that anyone could be lo- cated. The search was fruitless. The girl re- turned later with her story of her capture by the gorilla. She said he carried her many miles far into the jungles, away from any pos- sible discovery by any of the tribesmen. She said he was kind to her. That they moved ev- ery day: that at night the gorilla would build a rude hut for protection by gathering boughs and palms. He would gather food for meals. Yet they kept moving constantly. One day they came upon a large snake. He beat it to death with a club. One day while following* the edge of a stream, they came upon a croco- dile. The gorilla was amusing himself by breaking the legs of the crocodile, by pressing* them across its back. While he was thus amus- ing himself the girl started for home in all pos- sible haste. She had kept the direction of her home in mind and she lost no time in widening the distance between her captor and herself. Through thorns, over rocks, through tangled brush, she traveled as fast as her strength would let her go. The sun was going down as she was making the last lap for home. She gained her home and nearly exhausted — site fell in the rude hut of her parents. A watch was kept for the return of the gor- illa. They had not many days to wait. He ap- peared on the edge of the forest and was killed by the hunters. He yet longed for his common REASON OR INSTINCT 3 07 Uvw wife and would have carried her away ■again had he captured her. He possibly had beckoned on having trouble with her parents, *so took her to a safe distance as he thought. -She was not happy and longed for home. The scientist would not call this reason, for it was an animal that has not been accredited with reason — so instinct was all the gorilla -could •have had. History tells of a great warrior that took a wife from a lot of prisoners that he had taken in battle. While he was away at battle some one stole away his bride. He lamented over the loss; the great wrong done him, and it w^as "this, I presume, where the quotation, "man's inhumanity to man makes countless legions mourn/ ' It is a noticeable fact that as animals stand ^rect, that the degree of intelligence is in pro- portion to the perpendicular standing of the animal. "The horizontal must be raised to the perpendicular, 1 " the man is the crowning vic- tory of reason. If one will take a bar of iron two feet or 'more in length and stand it up or suspend it by a cord and place a small pocket compass to the iron bar, that the bottom of the bar will be indicated to be the south, that is the south point of the compass needle will cling to the lower end of the bar, and as the compass is slowly raised and the center of the bar reached, the needle of the compass will slowly turn about, and when the equator, or center is pass- 108 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS eel and the top approached, the north point of the needle will cling to the top of the needle. Is it that man is thus polarized! It he a north and south pole magnet. When the queen of Sheba came up from the south, and when Solo- mon showed her the secret passages to the temple that it referred to the polarization of man ? What is in the economy of man that he must thus stand erect and that a snake is cursed and must crawl on its belly ! No sane man denies the law of evolution, Darwin has lost out on the theory of the sur- vival of the fittest. W. Hanna Thompson in "What is Physical Life," said, "opinions the world over have little connection with evidence, so that many of them have instead geographical boundaries. This of itself, is enough, for reason as such has no more connection with geography than with meterorology. Opinions, on the other hand, come usually from the interest engendered by circumstances, such as birth-place, inheritance, historical influences, party or sect. One would not expect that a native of New England and a native of China would have any opinions in common. And so the great conflicts of history were not settled by reasoning. One such con- flict lately occurred in America, in which two branches of the same race, one as well equipped with reasoning power as the other, entertained such opposite opinions, according to the side of the Mason and Dixon's geographical lines. REASON OR INSTINCT 109 that finally their opinions were settled — not by argument — but by powder and ball," Flakes of Gold, In early childhood, while living on the plain, In a sluggish stream I found flakes of gold. The gold was not plentiful — was hard to find; The flakes came from the mountains, I was told. The time seemed to drag, wore slowly on; My thoughts were constantly of the West— I longed to go for an abundant supply Of wealth, that I might be rich at last. With that thought in view, I started West, Leaving the valley of golden grain ; And by slow marches reached the foot hills $ Keeping ever in view the richer gain. As I journeyed, the mountains came in view; The snow-capped peaks reaching the sky. In the streams I found nuggets of gold, And gems in the gravel deposits near by. As I toiled up the mountain's side. The scenery became beautiful and grand. I met many returning, faint and weary From efforts to gain the enchanted land. Others were returning with rich treasure, Going back to their old native land ; Bidding farewell to the mountain — forever. And to the delights of that fairy land. CHAPTER IK, Compensation. li is asserted, by one school of metaphysics, that there is nothing in the law of inheritance' or hereditary gifts. Possibly this may be true* in the broadest sense ; but after ages of reason- ing from cause to effect, we have become set in that belief and cannot depart from that idea. We have been instructed that to raise a child properly we should begin with it's grand par- ents. In the history of the children of Israel, we" find them rebelling against the guidance of the teachers— refusing to be guided by reason. When Joshua lead the hosts across the river Jordan, there became the same want of faithful following after the counsel of the leaders and the destiny of that race had been written in dark colors; they were lost and no trace of the lost tribes is known in all the earth. There lived two farmers adjoining, a w^agon road divided their farms. They were well equipped with all that could go to make farm life happy and prosperous, and the broad fields of each told of their earnest labors. One had five boys and one girl. There was a want of due affection on the part of the husband and wife; the wife stood apart from her husband in supposed rank and station in life. The chih COMPENSATION 111 dren never in any .stage of their lives ever thought of obeying anything their parents told them to do. They were little rebels from birth. They were little short of demons. Across the road lived the other farmer with the same number of acres, the same evidence of thrift — the farmer and his wife lived as one. They were harmonious, loving, kind to each other and each shared the same station in social life. This man had six sons and three daughters. From infancy, these children never knew what it was to receive a punishment from their father. In the neighborhood these sons and daughters were regarded with great worth. The war came on. The sons of each family went to the war. The boys in the rebelious home went from bad to worse and the jail, the penitentiary gave them a home the greater part of their lives, and some of them found early graves. The sons and daughters of the other family, wherein harmony ruled the home, lived to be useful men and women in the neighbor- hood and filled positions of trust. The father of the sons that turned out so badly, died in sorrow. The father of the other family lived to be ninety-three years of age — laid down to rest, went to sleep in the confidence of a trust- ing Savior and went home to his reward. Pos- sibly it is not correct to say, that these sons and daughters inherited the kindness of the father and mother. The swallows in the fall, go to the sunny South and leave the little ones to gain strength 11% BORDER-LAND iK SYMBOLS in their wings and follow later. How the lit- tle ones, who have never before been over the road, know where to go, seems strange. Was it inherited instinct that guides them the way? The wasp has for ages, built their mud tubes> and in them placed their eggs, and in the tubes place spiders and ants, which they sting and stupefy that their young, when they hatch the next year, may have food to live on. They seem to have inherited the instinct from their parents. The old wasp is dead many months' when the young hatch out in the Spring. No mother wasp is near to guide the operation of the building of the mud tttbes or the gathering: of the ants and spiders. The honey bee seems to live by a law, pe- culiarly its own; When the male becomes no- more useful, but purely ornamental, the colony vselect two old maid sisters and they will lead the male to one side and sting him to death. They have been doing this for ages and will continue on to the end of time. Is it inherited instinct f The honey bee uses what material it can? gather. If the flowers are plentiful and sweet the bee will make honey out of the blossoms of the wild parsnip, and thus make poisoniou^ honey. One can tell what plants were used by the bees fr«om the color of the honey— the fire weed and clover, making elear honey ; the gold- etfcr&d or other yellow flowers will make dark COMPENSATION I ; CU' Jreliow honey. They are like the child, they build from the material that is offered them. In a primary school there were in attendance two children — Fred and Julia. In the play grounds at the school there was teeter boards. One of these teeter boards was appropriated by these two play-mates. They would sit, each at the extreme end of the teeter, would teeter and bump on the ground and talk in their childish prattle. In later years they advanced to the grammar grade. They continued to use the same teeter, but they came nearer to each other on the board, resting their feet against the sup- porting timber on which the teeter rested. From the grammar grade to the high school, and then to college these people traveled. After college days were over, they returned home ; met again on the old school play grounds. The teeter was yet there, and they occupied it, Now they stood upon the teeter, arm in arm, swaying the board up and down as in the years before, but their minds were now on matters of greater weight than the childish prattle. They swayed as the board raised and fell, and in strong em- brace they held each other as they talked of plans for the future. It was remarked that these parties were following in the footsteps of their parents. In one noted case a century or more ago, a girl of good family married a worthless trapper. In one century there were twelve hundred members of that family that served terms in the penitentiary or other reformatory insti- 114 BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS tutes. Many of these decendants were hung, others lynched, and they went to the bad gen- erally. The world looked upon it as a heridi- tary trait in them to go to the bad. Every community has one or more families that are following this law on the down grade. It may not be logical to teach, there is truth in inherited traits. It appeals to the average mind that this law is fixed, that the law applies. Abraham was the richest man in all the east. All the Jews resemble him in this trait, and in the gentleness of their natures. An Irishman is an Irishman in all lands and climes — witty and ready in a flash with a repartee. The Frenchman talks today with his hands as he did centuries ago. He is French all over the world. One dip of African blood will crop out after many generations and show in what all along the line were white people. Every animal has its father and mother. Every weed* plant, grain, shrub or tree has its parent. They resemble each other in form, regardless of the location. The monkey makes his rude wind brake; the African makes his mud hut; the Indian his cabin or wigwam; the Englishman makes his castle. The plants of the annual varieties shed their seeds in the fall ; the winter holds them in icy embrace during the winter months, yet in the spring they come forth to follow the example of the parent without a word of counsel to follow r . The wild animals have the same habits noM that they had a cen- tury or ten centuries ago ; they resemble in ev- COMPENSATION 119 ery detail ail down Hie ages. We take the wild plants and domesticate them by giving them plenty of room and abundant food, and they re- turn a compensation for the labor given them \ they retain their shape and habits of growth that w r e cannot alter — nature says stop, and w T e obey. Does a mother plant, when dying, speak a word to the tiny seeds that cling to her as the cold winds break her from the ground, and does she tell them what to do in the coming Spring? The faithful shall be finally rewarded, "There is a city not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens." As true as that statement is one wdio attempted to describe that city, would be regarded with curiosity. There is a New York, a London, a Paris, and parties returning from those cities enter into a description of those places and we get a fair idea of them. The Celestial city is just as real, just as well and perfectly located, and as sus- ceptible of description as are the places men- tioned. Many millions of people will never see New York, London, or Paris, and other mil- lions will never see the Celestial city this side of the grave. "A city set upon a hill cannot be hid." The Celestial city is located on a hill, people have viewed its magnificence, its grandeur, its eternal beauty, and have been intoxicated by it. When the gate that leads to the city is neared, the gate opens, and as the traveler approaches near the gate it is noticed 116 BORDER-LAND IX SYMBOLS that it will admit him easily. The streets are paved, clean, beautiful; the walls are a gray- white, the buildings are all of a nearly clear white ; a restful gray- white and the architec- ture is of the peculiar workmanship which is so impossible to describe. To know of the beauty of this Celestial ?ity one should see it. You may. The road is not fenced. It is not guarded against anyone who cares to go there. The gate stands ajar. The avenues are all free from any obstruction and you have but to en- ter and make it your resting place. The law of compensation is ready to fully compensate anyone that cares to pay the easy payments for the journey. 44 Behold the fowls of the air; for they toil not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns ; yet your Heavenly Father f eedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? "Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature ? 44 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lillies of the field, how they grow ; they toil not neither do they spin. 44 And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these * * * ." 44 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. ' ' What a wealth of encouragement is contain- ed in the foregoing words of Jesus. Nature spreads a table for the most humble animals, COMPENSATION 117 and places the food supply within easy reach. Along the western coast of the United States the table is spread when the tide is out, and for a thousand miles lining the beach man can sustain himself with comfort ; can gather more than he wants and sell the surplus and revel in the luxuries of the land. In Portland, Ore., recently there were fifty- four tramps taken from one building, and the combined company had only seventy cents. These misfit beings, calling themselves men, have not rightlv understood the meaning of life. When one sees a beautiful street corner in the large cities, disfigured with a soap box or- ator and blaspheming the name of God, foam and rant when an auto toots its horn in pass- ing, it makes one reflect on what generous gov- ernment this is that will stand for any such disfigurement of the beauties of nature; much less a street corner. We are told that in Hyde Park, London, most any day one can hear a soap box orator abusing the royal family in the most bitter terms. They, too, have a kindness for the weakness of man and let it pass. A beaver will gather bark for it winter *s sup- ply. The chipmunk will store up a supply of nuts in a hollow tree for winter. The soap box orator will find his way to the garbage heap at the commission house and gather decayed fruit and have a feed and drag himself away to some deserted shack and sleep ; the next day to again go the same rounds. 118 BORDERLAND IN SYMBOLS We hear often the term "cultivating the spirit/' There is no such thing as cultivating the spirit, The spirit is the same today in man that it was when the first man was created, We may cultivate the graces. We may culti- vate the material so that the dense materialism can be thinned down, so that the spirit can shine through and give some light. "When the north winds blows hard, and it rains sadly, we do not sit down sadly in it and cry ; but de- fend ourselves against it with a warm garment, or a good fire and a dry roof. So when a storm of mischance beats upon our spirits, we may turn it into something good, if we resolve to make it so ; and with equanimity and patience may shelter ourselves from its inclement piti- less pelting; for so a wise man shall overrule his stars, and have a greater influence upon hist own content, then all the constellations and planets of the firmament. tk Compare not thy condition with the few above thee, but to secure thy content, look up- on those thousands with whom thou wouldest not for any interest change thy fortune and condition. A soldier must not think himself unprosperous if he be not successful as Alex- ander or Wellington ; nor any man deem him- self unfortunate that he hath not the fortune of a Rothchild; but rather let him rejoice that he is not lessened like the many generals who went down horse and man before Napoleon, anl that he is not a beggar who, bareheaded COMPENSATION 119 in the bleak winter wind holds out his tattered hat for charity * * * "The blessings of immunity, safeguard, lib- erty, and intergrity deserve the thanks of a whole life. We are quit from a thousand calam- ities everyone of which if it were upon us ? would make us insensible of our present sorrow and glad to receive it in exchange for that greater affliction. M When a small boy, living with my parents on the bank of the Little Kankakee river in In- diana, I would join boys of my age and we would gather fire flies, or lightening bugs, as we called them, and put them in a clear glass bottle and in that way have a pretty fair Ian* tern that would make a light for a few steps ahead on a dark rainy night. About then we got our first coal oil lamp. Mother was afraid of it wiien it would blow out the wick, explode or act as only lamps of that make could act. Mother used the lamp only when company came, resorting to the tallow candle for safe- ty. For years after the lamps were made safe and the coal oil was safe to use, mother stored in the chimney closet a supply of greese pots and tallow dips for use if needed. We then went to Sunday school barefoot, to near the school house where Sunday school was held, and there put on our Sunday shoes and attend- ed the Sunday school. On returning home we would take off the Sunday shoes and return home barefoot — and happy. Such words as happiness, contentment, were in the diction- 1M BORDER-LAND IN SYMBOLS aries in those years. Now that we are in the twentieth century we call a taxicab, automobile street car or flying machine and attend church Upon examination of the dictionaries of lat- print, we find such words as sorrow^ discon tent, pain, disappointment, death. The world rolls on. We advance a step foi ward. The colleges are turning out finisher scholars. Theological seminaries send fortl educated men and women in theology to en lighten the people. In "People's Pulpit, " Vol. 4, No. 7, pub Hshed in this twentieth century, in July, 1912, one is informed that in Washington, D. C, "a monstrous event in the ecclesiastical Heavens transpired at Washington, D. C, July 8, 191 2> when 4,000 International Bible Students un- unanimously adopted a resolution repudiating the belief in a literal hell of fire and brimstone as a place, state or condition for the eternal tor* ment of the wicked." Dr. Lymon Abbott repudiates hell: "I find nothing in the New Testament to warrant the terrible opinion that God sustains the life of his creatures throughout eternity, only that they may continue in sin and misery. *' Men dare to think now, is the declaration from the Atlanta Constitution. The editor says after reading "The Divine Plan of the Ages," the first of a series of six volumes of studies in the scripture by Pastor Sussell \ ;, It is impossible to read this book without lov- ing' the write* and pondering his wonderful COMPENSATION 121 solution of the great mysteries that have troubled us all our lives. There is hardly a family to be found that has not lost some loved